Lord of the Truth

"Oh no... this looks bad, really bad!" Robin struggled with extreme difficulty as he moved to stand beside Caesar. His Eyes of Truth were fully activated, scanning his son's condition from head to toe with unparalleled focus.

His heartbeat slowed down dramatically, his blood had frozen in most of his veins, and his muscles had become rigid as stone. When Robin gently wiped his son's eyelids, he discovered that Caesar's pupils had turned grayish, with a large white spot right in their middle— almost as if they were on the verge of vanishing completely.

In every medical sense, this body was considered dead. However, Robin could still see the unstable energy fluctuating within Caesar's life arteries, trembling in fear, and his soul domain vibrating violently, refusing to fade away entirely.

The cavern they were in was under the influence of seven overlapping medical formations, operating simultaneously like a grand battlefield infirmary. It had been infused with an enormous quantity of energy pearls, designed to serve only the highest-ranking individuals, strictly forbidding ordinary soldiers and even martial emperors from approaching. It was, without a doubt, the most advanced medical facility the True Beginning Empire could provide.

And yet... it did nothing for Caesar. It did nothing for Amon either.

"Damn it... why did he have to push himself this far?!" Robin clenched his teeth in frustration, his expression dark with concern. Then, without hesitation, he gestured toward Richard. "Come here. I need you to use the Flame of Life to encircle his life artery. If we can at least stabilize it, he might have a chance."

"Understood." Richard responded without delay. Tossing aside what appeared to be a charred corpse he had been holding, he rushed toward his brother at full speed.

BAM!

Hulak crashed into the ground with great force. "Ugh... much appreciated for the help, but if you're taking requests, could you get me a feather pillow? I have a slight sensitivity to hard surfaces."

Shwa—Shwalaaa

With immense difficulty, Richard conjured a tiny flame, lowering it gently onto Caesar's heart, its glow flickering as if struggling to stay alive.

"..."

Robin pretended not to notice Richard's struggle, instead focusing all his attention on Caesar's unstable soul domain. He channeled every last bit of his 700 soul units into it, wrapping it entirely in an attempt to suppress its violent trembling.

Shoooo

At that moment, another figure entered the cave.

"My Lord, you're here? What happened in the battle?"

"We won." Robin replied in a matter-of-fact tone, as if it were old news, then turned toward Sakar. "Where were you?"

"We won? How?! What exactly happened?!"

Sakaar took two steps forward, stunned by the revelation, but his gaze quickly shifted to Amon's unconscious body. His instincts immediately took over, and he stepped toward him, pressing a single finger directly into Amon's abdomen, almost as if stabbing him. "Alright, alright... there you go..."

"I'll explain everything later," Robin cut him off, his voice firm. "For now, just focus on helping Amon."

Robin didn't need to focus too much to understand what Sakaar was doing—he was channeling a significant amount of fresh blood into Amon's body. Almost instantly, visible improvements appeared as Amon's wounds began closing at an astonishing rate.

"There's no need to worry about Amon, my Lord." Sakaar reassured him, noticing Robin's sharp gaze. "For demons, their disease is blood, and their cure is also blood. That's why I left—to gather some juice for him."

He continued his work, pouring more blood into Amon with one hand while realigning his bones with the other. "But the real question is Caesar. What happened to him? I examined him, but I couldn't understand his condition at all."

"He used an excessive amount of the Major Heavenly Law of Death." Robin sighed heavily. "In the technique I gave him, the instructions were clear— he was only supposed to merge 1% of the Major Heavenly Law of Death with 99% Major Heavenly Law of Fire. I even included a few advanced techniques at the end of the manual, guiding him on how to increase it safely, allowing him to use up to 3% Death and 97% Fire."

"But that boy is a genius. He must have figured out the secret behind the technique and bypassed the restrictions. He used at least 5% of the Death Law in that last attack, maybe even more... I wouldn't be surprised if he shattered the human limit and reached 7%!!"

Gasp!

For the first time since entering the cavern, Caesar took a deep, relieved breath and slowly exhaled. The combined efforts of Robin and Richard were finally yielding results.

Seeing this, Richard's tension eased slightly. "So 7% of the Major Heavenly Law of Death combined with 93% of the Law of Fire was enough to cause this kind of damage, Father? But why? Doesn't Caesar consume the Affinity Enhancement Elixir like the rest of us?"

"It's not that simple. You, Richard, can freely manipulate 100% of the Law of Life or 100% of the Law of Fire as you please. The level of concentration required to achieve such a feat is immense, but it is possible. However, your brother… I gave him the Major Heavenly Law of Death. I don't know what I was thinking at the time."

Robin shook his head in frustration. "Every time I have to work on developing a technique for Caesar, I feel like I'm going mad. The Major Heavenly Law of Death is the natural enemy of life itself! There is no elixir in existence that can increase a living being's affinity with death! Or maybe… there is one. Poison!"

Robin paused for a moment before continuing, as if organizing his thoughts. "The elixir that Caesar drinks is composed mostly of ingredients that enhance his affinity with the Primary Law of Fire. As for the Law of Death, it only contains a slight amount of Black Serpent Lily Nectar. But that nectar merely allows him to activate the fourth stage of the law— it does nothing to protect him from its effects!"

"Isn't there any other solution?!" Richard asked anxiously. Seeing his brother in such a dire state made his heart sink; for a moment back at the dome, he had even thought Caesar was already dead.

"The most straightforward solution is for him to stick to using only 1% of the Major Heavenly Law of Death, or if absolutely necessary, limit himself to 3% but finish his battles quickly!" Robin shrugged. "I know that's difficult, especially when he's facing opponents with a much stronger energy foundation than his own. But he has to come up with a solution. Maybe he should cultivate his soul further or master a combat style that utilizes that halberd of his."

"...The second solution is the Flame of Life. If that green fire surrounds his heart and life vein, it will shield him from most of the harmful effects of the Major Heavenly Law of Death. But you won't always be there to help him, Richard."

Robin tapped his thigh a few times before adding in a softer voice, "...Don't trouble yourself over it too much. I'll think of something for him."

Richard nodded repeatedly, his mind heavy with thoughts. "He must have known this would happen... If it weren't for General Amon's sacrifice and my brother Caesar's efforts, we all would have died in those explosions."

"Hmm... even you won't be able to fight for a while," Robin pointed out, studying his son carefully. "In fact, you won't even be able to sleep peacefully after the damage your body suffered from expelling such a massive amount of energy in such a short time."

Then, Robin turned his gaze toward Sakaar, who had been silent up until now. "...Hey, why did you suddenly shout and start giving orders to create that dome and clear the area of enemies? I understand that right after that, the explosions occurred, and your preparations saved everyone. But how did you know?"

Sakaar slowly lifted his head, his expression unreadable as he faced his lord, "...Can't you guess, Lord?"

Robin's heart skipped a beat. He felt a cold chill run down his spine, though he had already suspected the answer. "...I can. But I'd rather hear it from you."

Sakaar took a slow breath before speaking, his voice carrying a weight that made the air in the cave feel heavy.

"I heard his voice at that moment… the voice of Jabba."