Lord of the Truth

"....." Caesar kept his gaze lowered toward the black sand that formed the small hill beneath him, cold sweat soaking his body as he struggled to identify exactly what emotion was overwhelming him after hearing all of that information and realizing the sheer scale of what Mortex had just confessed. You’re the reason for what’s happening now... No, you’re the reason for the evil that fills the universe? Damn what you’ve done, Mortex. Damn what you’ve done.

Mortex’s voice began to echo with a different weight than before,





...Then why didn’t the other powers attack the Necrofortress Galaxy and put an end to this entire matter of the contracts? Caesar quickly asked, unable to understand why something of this scale had been allowed to continue unchecked. Why don’t the Star Academies attack the powers that use these methods? Identifying the ones who use them shouldn’t be that difficult!!

Mortex laughed before continuing,

"...?!?!!?" Caesar’s eyes immediately widened to their absolute limits as the meaning behind Mortex’s words struck him. Qarun?!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH—!!!!!"

The human’s scream from the center of the enormous array suddenly intensified beyond anything Caesar had heard from him before, tearing through the surrounding area with an agony that had reached an entirely different level.

Caesar couldn’t stop himself from taking another look toward the center of the array after hearing that scream, and the instant he saw what was happening there, his expression transformed into a mixture of overwhelming pity and horror.

The other four devils had now begun skinning their victim alive as well, with each one of them working on a specific part of his body rather than all of them concentrating on the same place.

One was skinning the victim’s head to reach the soul domain, the dwelling place of his memories, while the second was digging deep into his chest to reach his life artery, the artery that had witnessed every stage of his life; the third was carefully excavating his spinal cord in search of every command it had carried from his head toward his limbs throughout his entire life, while the fourth was digging into the center where his energy gathered and searching through the patterns contained within it... And all of that was happening in addition to the fifth devil, which continued removing the layers covering the rest of his body one after another without stopping.

Mortex reminded him when he sensed Caesar’s vital functions beginning to worsen from everything he was witnessing.

"....." Caesar actually lowered his head and buried his forehead deeply in the sand beneath him, no longer willing to keep his eyes anywhere near the horrifying scene taking place on the other side of the small hill.

He found himself thinking about the fact that he was a military commander, someone who had personally watched millions of people being killed before his very eyes over the course of his battles, and had even been the one who gave the orders that led to the deaths of many of them, yet despite everything he had already seen and experienced, he still felt this overwhelming horror and uncontrollable trembling because of what was happening before him now... What would happen if an ordinary innocent person were here in his place and forced to witness the same thing?

But then again... Perhaps what had ultimately saved his soul throughout everything he had experienced and preserved at least some trace of innocence within it were the rules of clean warfare that his father had declared and imposed from the very day the Empire was founded... At this moment, that was the one thing Caesar could still hold onto firmly and genuinely feel proud of.

You said... Caesar slowly asked after remaining silent for a moment, that Qarun actually uses these methods?

Mortex laughed as he answered,

How... Caesar shouted inside his head as countless questions immediately rushed through his thoughts, How and why?! That man possesses all the treasures in the entire universe! That man has absolute authority over all the powers in the universe! That man is powerful enough to have remained firmly in his position for all these years despite never fighting even once! That man—

Yet while speaking and mentally listing everything he knew about Qarun, Caesar suddenly seemed to notice something hidden behind all those facts, causing his thoughts to stop halfway through what he had been saying. What exactly is going on here...



Mortex then continued,

Master Laws?! Caesar nearly shouted aloud when he heard those words. Qarun actually asked the devils for Master Laws? Laws, in the plural?!



"..." Caesar clenched both of his hands tightly as he absorbed the implications of what Mortex had just revealed, then asked, ...What exactly does he have to pay for each degree of a Master Law?

Mortex’s voice gradually grew heavier as he continued explaining,

...I have to stop this somehow. No matter what, I have to reach the heart of the galaxy. Caesar repeated those words firmly inside his head, then raised his gaze one final time and cast a long look toward the victim still trapped at the center of the array. ...I’m sorry. I can’t even give you a merciful death.

Afterward, Caesar began slowly retreating down the hill.