Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1187 1187: Treasures lying everywhere

"...Frost Fox, what exactly is this place? Are you trying to flee from me?"

The voice of the radiant being —shaped like a human made of pure white light— rang out through the grand plaza. It wasn't distinctly male or female, not warm nor cold. It had no tone of anger, nor one of peace. It was just there—direct, absolute. The words didn't echo… they simply arrived in everyone's ears at once, like commands of nature itself. Words so calm, yet so heavy, that breath halted in throats and time seemed to pause.

The sheer pressure radiating from that glowing figure was suffocating, overwhelming. It pressed down like the sky itself had collapsed upon them. There was no mistaking it: this entity had not come in peace. Its presence was like that of a judgment long overdue. Naturally, the entire gathering tensed, hearts pounding, instincts screaming.

"...I was merely attending a friend's ceremony, that's all," Divoc responded at last, his massive frame shifting slightly. He scratched the top of his head with the claw of his front right paw—an awkward, almost sheepish gesture, "Just a celebration, really. Nothing serious. I was planning to leave right after."

"A celebration? On another planet?" The shard's tone sharpened ever so slightly.

"Do you actually expect me to believe something that absurd? Move now—return the same way you came. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."

The glowing being raised a hand, light bending around it in waves. There was nothing soft in her demand this time. Her words struck like thunder, and it was clear she didn't believe the Frost Fox's excuse for a single moment.

"Of course, of course… you're right." The giant fox let out a slow, defeated sigh, the tips of his nine frosted tails twitching behind him. He began to rise, preparing to return the way he came—toward the space portal behind the golden walls.

"Divos, sit your tails down!" Another voice boomed through the space like a hammer smashing stone, this time from the central platform.

"You're on my land now. Here, I decide who comes and who goes."

Divos blinked. He glanced toward the group standing atop the platform, recognizing the speaker. Without hesitation, he sat again—obediently, even lazily, "You're right, I shouldn't go."

"Hmm?"

The soul shard turned her attention for the first time toward the platform. Her radiant gaze fell upon Caesar, who stood tall and composed, his posture brimming with confidence—like an anchor in a raging storm.

"And who might you be?" the shard asked, her expression unreadable.

"I was about asking the same, I don't recall sending you an invitation."

Caesar narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, calm and unmoved.

Despite the intense pressure rolling off the glowing figure, Caesar's demeanor didn't falter. It wasn't arrogance, but experience. This wasn't the first time he hears about a soul shard, and defiantly not the first time seeing one!

"A Martial Emperor, human?"

The shard tilted her head, scanning Caesar from head to toe, her glowing eyes narrowing slightly.

"Do people still pursue the Third Path… the costly route of elixirs and refinement? How quaint."

Her eyes then widened in surprise.

"And… is that a complete set of epic armor?! How rare."

"Who are you?" Caesar asked plainly, his voice clear and firm.

"And what may I call you?"

He made sure his tone remained respectful—steady but without submission.

But the luminous shard didn't seem interested in him anymore. After giving Caesar a brief once-over, she began to examine the surroundings, her attention drifting like a scanning beam.

"...A space warship? That design doesn't belong to any known interstellar fleets, nor have I seen it in the soul society or among the high-tier markets..."

Then she squinted, clearly disturbed by something.

"Wait… Is that a Snake Beast King?!"

Her glowing form tensed.

"And there—another Beast King, and a dragon descend no less! Three Beast Kings… gathered in one place?! What madness is this?!"

"...Hssssss..."

Durger, the massive serpent, instinctively drew back his head, a defensive aura flickering to life around him.

"Krrrrrrhhh..."

The Wyvern stood tall on its hind legs, flaring its wings. The gaze of the soul shard was invasive—probing—and no king enjoyed being looked at like prey.

"Can you please focus for a moment?!"

Caesar's voice cut through the tension, loud and commanding, shattering the spiral of chaos that had begun to form.

He could already feel the situation slipping toward a cliff's edge—and if he didn't take control now, things might descend into disaster.

"These massive screens surrounding us... are those light arrays? And the ground itself—it's not just reacting, it's alive... no, wait... the entire city is constructed as one gigantic array!"

The soul shard's voice trembled with astonishment, her glowing eyes darting around with an almost childlike sense of awe and disbelief. She seemed overwhelmed, as if what she was seeing defied every assumption she had about this region of the universe. Then suddenly, she pointed toward the distant outskirts of the city.

"Over there... I see seventeen spatial portals—lined up, fully functional? Seventeen?! Where in the cosmos did you find the materials and the energy, to build such a colossal network?"

Her expression shifted from awe to genuine shock as her gaze swept the ceremonial walkway, her senses tingling with power.

"...Those warriors... all of them are clad in epic-tier armor sets? There are no less than four hundred! And those towering structures— are they War Domination Arrays!? You actually have War Domination Arrays... in the young planetary belt?!"

"State your identity immediately!" Caesar's voice thundered from the high dais, echoing through the plaza with imperial authority.

"You cannot simply barge into the capital of our great empire and behave like a wandering god!"

Yet again, the shard paid him no heed. Her gaze locked instead onto the large fox seated on the right side of the platform. Her voice was now filled with ice and fire.

"Frost Fox!" she barked, her tone sharp enough to crack stone.

"Have you pledged loyalty to another Overlord in my absence? Did you abandon your homeland and flee all the way to a planet in the middle planetary belt just to escape me? Why?!"

Her voice trembled with indignation, as though betrayal itself was coursing through her veins.

"I granted you sanctuary... I raised an entire army of loyal servants to guard you, to fulfill your every need... and this is how you repay my grace? Very well. I'll raze this city to ash and drag you back myself. Your days as my general are over—your only role now will be to nourish me with your blood!"

"Your Majesty, please! Calm your rage!" the Frost Fox cried, ears flattened, body low in a posture of submission.

"How could a humble creature like myself ever dream of betraying you? I swear, I'm only here to attend a celebration—just a harmless gathering. This really is within the young planetary belt. And this empire... it's the stronghold of the True Begining Empire—a multi-planet civilization governed by none other than His Excellency, Robin Burton. He's an immensely powerful figure! He recently subdued the entire planet Gudah without a single casualty! How could I defy his command? I had no choice—I had to come!"

Of course, the fox was spinning the truth. He had tried to provoke Robin into clashing with this shard before, but Robin simply laughed it off. Still, if the two of them were to fight now... maybe, just maybe, he could slip away amidst the chaos and return to his slumber undisturbed.

"The young planetary belt?"

The shard muttered under her breath, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Impossible."

She raised her hand and gently waved it through the air, sensing the ether.

"The natural energy here… it's far too dense, and it flows with a refined purity—almost like that found on owned, developed planets. In the entire young belt, there are very few planets with established masters. And all of this around me—these matrices, constructs, and beings—none of it fits the profile of the young belt."

She glared at the fox with icy suspicion.

"If you're playing tricks on me, Frost Fox... then today will mark the end of your life."

"I would never dare!"

Divos instantly stood and backed away, tail tucked, ears flattened tightly against his head. His voice trembled with genuine fear.

"Frost Fox, you will—"

The shard began to step forward, her luminous body brimming with fury and control—but then she stopped. Her glow flickered ever so slightly.

"...There are restrictions on my soul force...?"

She looked down at her own glowing hands, then glanced upward.

"And the laws of this place—they're restricted to the Fourth Stage? This... this really is the young planetary belt?!"

SHWWWWWAAAAAALLLLLLLAAAAAA

A sudden, intense wave of danger surged behind her—she spun around, senses screaming in warning. There, standing tall and unmoved, was Caesar. He held his flaming glaive high, its blade wreathed in violent black fire. His eyes burned—not just with fury, but with a depth of willpower that even the shard hadn't expected. When he spoke, his voice cut through the tension like a sword.

"If you will not answer my questions... then you have no place on my land."

The shard froze.

Instead of retaliating, her eyes gleamed with a rare spark of interest. She stepped forward slowly, mesmerized by the pulsing black flame, her voice low and almost reverent.

"...Fascinating."

Her voice was softer now, tinged with something close to admiration.

"It has been eons... since I truly felt threatened. And this sensation... it's coming from a flame? This is no mere law technique... Tell me, is this... a martial art? Or... is it a merged law?"