2212 – B 14
“…The terrifying space beast isn’t so terrifying after all.” Robin revealed a small smile, then his eyes slowly began to look up and down.
He saw a humanoid being… with a figure resembling that of a woman.
That female had skin as black as the void around her, with a nose, eyes, lips, and cheeks like a human’s, but exaggeratedly delicate, as if an artist had sculpted a statue titled “Perfection.”
Her ears were pulled long and backward, and she had white eyes and white hair resembling feathers.
But all of this was on one side of the scale, and a certain detail tipped the other side, pulling all of Robin’s focus…
That female was wearing armor.
Black armor with distinctive engravings, holding a metal weapon that couldn’t be identified as either a mace or a spear. She also wore something on her forehead, something resembling a head guard. That small guard extended down her cheeks from below and surpassed the boundaries of her head upward through five long protrusions.
That head guard looked like… a crown?
Robin’s smile quickly vanished… Why would a space beast wear human armor and a crown?!
“…Is this what the Ancestor Space Beast looks like?” Althera murmured, her amazement at the scene making her forget her fear for a moment.
"It's—no... it's her, an Ancestor Space Beast without a doubt." Blokan noticed the trembling of the beasts around him.
Then he narrowed his eyes and began to observe what Robin had noticed... the beast's clothing!
"O beast," Robin raised his head slightly, "since you love our human form and adopt it for yourself, why not make this a good opportunity to get acquainted, hmm?" He continued with a faint smile, "We exchange names and perhaps a few stories, and each goes their own way."
Then he gradually frowned, "But if you still seek to kill... that's fine too. I may die today, but you will lose a great deal, and after entering the universe, you will find someone who will finish you off completely."
After Robin's words, silence returned to the void once more. Everyone fell into a state of tension and waiting, whether beasts or humans.
Then, after about ten seconds, the female space beast's mouth opened only slightly, revealing no change in her frozen expression. Then Robin heard a soft voice in his head, "The power of humans... to what level has it reached inside Universe B-14?"
"...?!?!?!?!?!?"
"The Shell Breach... was shocking enough... but now..." The voice continued echoing in Robin's mind, "...someone using the Master Law of Truth at this level? What is happening inside B-14?"
"............!??!?!?!"
From the reactions of Althera, Blokan, Morgana, and Asr, it was clear that they too heard every word.
"What are you babbling about?" Robin's expression darkened.
"A pity." The soft voice continued with pity, "You appeared far too early. B-14 would have had a better chance if you had remained alive... Or rather, I should say, you grew too confident too soon by breaching the shell. You should have used your talent to know what was best for you... to know that the time had not yet come."
"What exactly is this? What is this tone?" Robin stepped back and raised his voice, "Are you a beast or a warden?!" Then he took a step forward and raised his voice even higher, "What is B-14? What is the right time? Why do you speak like this when you're just a damned beast?!"
Then he pointed at her, "Why do you creatures besiege the universe, you stray beings?"
"..." The female beast lifted her head slightly, continuing to gaze at Robin with pity in her white eyes. "A pity. A good candidate like you, so narrow-minded and short-sighted." Then she pointed her sharp scepter at him, "Don't misunderstand. We are not obliged to speak with you shell-breachers. We are only obliged to kill you and punish the universe you have breached. But I answer you out of pity for the state of a good candidate."
"Punishment of the Universe…?!" Robin's mind was in turmoil. Filtered? Where had he heard that term before?
"Yes," the Female Beast nodded gently. "A universe that produces a shell-breacher is considered to be advancing faster than necessary, and this poses a risk to the settings. Therefore, the shell-breacher is eliminated, and the universe is set back several million years." Then she tilted her head slightly. "This could be done by destroying random planets… eliminating major powers… splitting the universe into separate sectors… and there are several other, more extreme options."
Gulp.
Robin's eyes widened to their fullest… Isn't this exactly what the Ancestor Space Beast that faced Athena before had done?
"You… want to do this to the universe, just because I breached the Wall of the End of the World?" Robin asked hesitantly.
"No," the Female Beast shook her head. "Normally, the universe is judged based on the strength of the Shell-Breacher. Sometimes one punishment is applied, sometimes more than one..." Then she stared into Robin's eyes. "In your case, I will apply all of the above. Additionally, I will narrow the sectors to isolate every solar system from the others. I will implement the Principle of Starvation by cutting off your energy supplies from the center of the universe for a million years. I will increase the proportion of the Law of Chaos on every planet, and I will initiate Random Law Courts."
"Why the hell all of this?!" Robin screamed in terror. "And how do you even have the power to do something like this in the first place?!"
For a long time, Robin had been uncomfortable with the fact that the Ancestor of Space Beasts was the one who divided the universe into a thousand equal sectors, while the Cosmic Elder, who managed to kill a space beast, could not revoke this division. Athena and Sivar had also never attempted it, meaning it was either extremely difficult or impossible... In fact, just thinking about it and the vast scope of its impact made its impossibility clear.
The space beast had not only created barriers between the sectors but had also eliminated life in 90% of the universe and compressed it into Buffer Zones.
The punishment was more about narrowing the living space and killing 90% of the universe's population, rather than merely separating them.
All of this because he saw Athena's power?!