Lord of the Truth

"...What exactly happened here?!"

Rumble Rumble

The Overlord, or Helen's, shadow's voice alone sent tremors across the entire eastern region, shaking the land with such force that the last remnants of the dome's walls collapsed into dust.

Beneath the shadow of her crimson hood, her eyes —glowing with a searing, blood-red intensity— trembled with both rage and shock.

Helen, the one known as the Goddess of Blood and Destruction, had fought through countless battlefields. She had witnessed mountains collapse and rivers boil. But it had been centuries since she had seen anything like this.

The first thing she laid her eyes on was the inside of the ruined dome—

The once-stable ground had been reshaped into jagged miniature mountains, torn apart by violent upheavals. Rivers of lava and boiling underground waters clashed, sending pillars of superheated steam into the toxic air.

The sheer devastation made her furrow her brows for a moment.

But then—

From the corner of her vision, something outside the dome caught her eye.
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And in that instant—

She realized that what lay inside the dome was nothing short of a safe haven compared to what had formed outside.

Bloop… Bloop…

A sea of fire.

Not a lake —not a pool— but a vast, unending ocean of molten hellfire stretching as far as the eye could see.

Unlike the jagged terrain inside the dome, there were no floating islands or broken structures out there.

Nothing but a sheet of searing lava, pulsing like the surface of a dying star.

Helen's gaze darted around, checking and rechecking the coordinates of the planet where the Cataclysm Seal Cube had been activated.

"This… is Planet Nehari…!?"

She struggled to match this nightmare with the planet she remembered.

Nehari, as she knew it, had never harbored an infernal ocean like this.

But as she continued scanning her surroundings, she noticed something else— something that sent an even deeper chill down her spine.

Four disturbing details stood out:

First— the lava sea level was much lower than the dome's remains. The landmass beneath the dome stood like a towering mountain in the middle of the molten abyss.

But it wasn't a stable mountain.

All it takes is one strong push from an Emperor realm warrior and it would collapse— sinking into the hellish depths below.

Second— the sea's bottom was uneven, filled with massive hollows shaped like semi-circles, that were too precise, too uniform to have formed naturally.

Each one was a scar of destruction, the aftermath of an unimaginable series of catastrophic explosions.

Third— the lava level was still rising.

The earth's core was still vomiting fire, pushing more and more molten death to the surface.

And fourth —most chilling of all—

The corpses.

Helen saw them floating everywhere on the lava's surface.

Not just the ones visible to the naked eye—

With a simple sweep of her soul sense, she felt them.

Thousands. Tens of thousands.

Shattered bodies, charred bones, melted armor, broken weapons.

An entire army, slaughtered to the last soldier.

The sheer density of death in the air was enough to form a spectral fog—a lingering mist of restless, wandering souls that had yet to realize they were no longer among the living.

Helen inhaled deeply.

The scent of freshly scorched earth still lingered.

The energy of newly severed lives still rippled in the air.

Everything here was recent.

Everything here had just happened.

Her expression darkened.

"This destruction… is fresh."

"The stench of burning land is still raw. The screams of the dead still echo in the air."

Her voice turned ice-cold.

"Who?"

"Who in the name of the Eternal Warbringer caused this?"

"This level of devastation… the complete annihilation of an entire army…"

"Only a being of World Cataclysm Realm could have done this!"

"Ugh... Ggghh..."

Helen's sharp eyes caught something unusual— something that looked like a corpse floating on the surface of the lava sea, its body trembling slightly as it gurgled weakly.

Whoosh! In an instant, Helen extended her hand, pulling the barely alive figure toward her with a swift motion. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she examined the broken body before her. "This epic armor... I recognize it. Aren't you one of the Imperial Guards?"

The figure before her was more dead than alive— a wrecked husk of a man. He was missing both legs and an arm, one of his eyes had been destroyed, and a large portion of his face was charred beyond recognition. His armor had been nearly obliterated, the left side of his abdomen exposed where the metal had melted away, revealing burned, blackened flesh. A massive hole in his torso still smoldered from the lava that had seared through his body. The fact that he was still breathing, however faintly, was nothing short of a miracle.

Helen's voice was cold, sharp as a blade. "What exactly happened here? Tell me what happened to all of you!"

The soldier's remaining eye twitched erratically, filled with raw, primal terror. He hadn't even acknowledged the enormous black-and-red silhouette looming behind Helen, but just remembering what had occurred made his broken body tremble violently.

"E-explosion..." His voice was ragged, barely audible. His breath hitched as if the very word itself was poison on his tongue. "E-everyone... f-from the inside... explosion... ex—"

Before he could finish his sentence, his body spasmed one final time. His jaw locked, his remaining eye rolled back, and then— silence.

Helen scowled. Useless. She let go of the corpse, allowing it to drop back into the sea of molten rock with a soft plop. Turning her gaze toward the ruined battlefield, she called out, her voice laced with irritation.

"Who activated the Cataclysm Seal Cube? And why does my manifestation have this degree of consciousness? This form should only have twenty soul units— barely enough to complete a single task. What exactly is going on here—"

She froze.

Her glowing red eyes widened in shock as she turned toward the broken remains of a figure lying not too far from her.

"...Baithor?"

His body had been reduced to a grotesque mass of flesh and bone, reverting to its incomplete form before he had fully regenerated. He had perished before even reclaiming his full strength. And yet, despite his mutilation, the remnants of his powerful aura still clung to his corpse— an undeniable testament to the peak-level might he once wielded. Helen, who had known him for ten thousand years, recognized him immediately.

A voice interrupted her stunned silence, "I'm afraid he won't be able to answer you anymore."

Helen's gaze snapped toward the source of the voice. A bloodied figure struggled to sit up amidst the debris, his every movement sluggish, labored. "And you are...?"

Crackle.

Robin, groaning in pain, used every ounce of strength he had left to push himself backward, dragging his body across the rubble-strewn ground. After a painstaking effort, he reached a jagged rock and leaned against it, using both hands and his back to stabilize himself. He took a deep breath, forcing an exhausted grin onto his blood-covered face.

"Oh, come on. You don't recognize me? All those souls that were extinguished in the war, and you don't even know me..." His voice was hoarse, yet laced with an almost amused edge. "That really hurts my confidence..."

Helen looked him up and down, "...Should I remember you?" observing him like one might observe an insect struggling in the dirt. The only reason she hadn't vaporized him yet was simple— he was the only conscious being left who could still speak.

Robin chuckled, shaking his head. "Ouch. That really stings the ego. But I suppose I should have expected it... after all, I'm just a small character in the grand scheme of things, aren't I? Someone you thought you could terminate without seeing his face once." His smirk widened slightly as he looked up at her, his eyes gleaming with defiance. "Then please, let this small fry introduce himself."

He straightened his posture as best as he could, ignoring the searing pain in his ribs. His next words were spoken with unwavering authority.

"I am the one who you ordered your follower to kill, saying that my head equals Nihari itself. I am the Third Truth Chosen —the one to whom all tongues show reverence and all heads bow. I am the victor of the war against Baithor and his horde. I am Robin Burton."

Then, with a triumphant grin, he declared,

"Today, I proclaim myself as the sole ruler of the thirteen planets in the Young Planetary Belt—including Nihari itself. These thirteen shall be my foothold... the first step toward greater conquests yet to come."

His bloodied hand clenched into a fist.

"I am Planetary Emperor Robin Burton."

RUMBLE.

The sky trembled violently at this very moment.

Thick, swirling clouds materialized above the battlefield, stretching endlessly across the heavens. The deep dark color of the clouds was split apart by brilliant flashes of colorful lightning, each bolt as thick as an ancient tree, each one radiating an immense, terrifying power.

KRRRRZZT— BOOM!