2333 - Double Punishment
"…Destroy 50% of your wealth?" Robin's smile vanished, but quickly returned. "Ah, you mean invest it? Or hand it over to him?"
"If I had invested it, I wouldn't be in this state." Zavarus shook his head. "If I had counted my money since the beginning of my journey, I would certainly be rivaling Intiras by now." Then he sighed. "And how could I hand it over to him when he died right after my success? He made me swear to follow this will, then passed away."
"…." With the same smile, Robin rose from his couch and began walking toward Zavarus. "You… have been continuously destroying half your wealth? Not just Pearls, but wealth in general? Does that include Emeralds, ancient plants, planets, and so on?"
"Yes." Zavarus was surprised by Robin's approach. "I calculate the total value of everything I own, then destroy the equivalent of half that value. So if everything I own is worth ten trillion Pearls, I choose items worth five trillion to destroy. And of course, most of the things I choose to destroy are Pearls, Emeralds, and other consumables."
After he finished speaking, he turned to Glacion and found him looking at him with fear, then turned to Kiryān and saw in his eyes… murderous intent?
"....?!" Zavarus furrowed his brows tightly. What exactly was wrong with them?
A step.
Robin arrived directly in front of Zavarus. The height difference made Robin's head barely align with Zavarus's.
Robin, without looking up, spoke in a low voice. "...Why?" Then he continued after a slight pause. "What reason do you give yourself to do something like this?"
"I don't give myself reasons; they were given to me." Zavarus sighed. "The old man told me that this way would make me focus on the path of strength, not on resources, and it would strengthen my resolve as I constantly gave up half my wealth. Also, my enemies wouldn't try to rob me as long as I remained permanently poor."
"Oh..." Robin continued with the same coldness. "And did that actually happen?"
"Not exactly." Zavarus scratched his head.
Thump.
Robin kicked Zavarus's knee with all his strength as a Ten-Star Spirit Master.
Then, *bang*, he grabbed his horn and pushed it down, forcing Zavarus onto one knee.
"Ah, what are you doing?!" Zavarus almost resisted but held himself back.
"Release the father immediately!!" Zavarus's Children, about seven Law Dominators standing nearby, all drew their weapons and unleashed their auras.
The golden light in Robin's eyes intensified, and golden engravings began to fill his body. He started preparing to discipline all seven together.
But—
Whoosh.
Kiryān drew his spear and swung it with force.
An immense, piercing spiritual power struck the spiritual domains of everyone present. All seven of Zavarus's children felt an overwhelming suppression, each sensing that if they took a single step forward, they would be slaughtered.
"Don't any of you dare take a step!" Kiryān roared in a commanding, deep voice. "If it is decided that your father is guilty, then all of you will die today. If Lord Robin won't do it, I'll do it myself!"
"What is going on here?!" Zavarus shouted.
Whoosh.
The tip of Kiryān's massive spear touched Zavarus's neck, and he addressed Robin while staring at Zavarus with murderous intent. "Don't dirty your hands—I'll do it."
"Do what?" Zavarus shouted fiercely. His aura began to stir as he prepared to defend himself, but he chose to speak to Robin first. "What's happening? Were you after my wealth or what?!"
"You stupid beast." Robin pulled Zavarus's horn closer to him. "You didn't just poison 90% of the Universe's inhabitants—you've also been systematically and continuously destroying the Universe's wealth. How many quadrillion Pearl have you destroyed over millions of years? How many million-year-old plants have you killed? How many beasts have you executed? How many planets have you erased?"
Then he brought him closer until Zavarus felt his breath on his face, staring intently into his eyes. "You, you stupid beast, have done what neither the Plague nor the Space Beasts combined could do. You are a plague—"
Then, *bam*.
He shoved him backward with force, knocking him onto his backside.
"A stupid plague that must be killed!"
"I'll do it!!" Kiryān raised his spear in fury.
If Kiryān had heard, before this day, that Zavarus was constantly getting rid of half his wealth by destroying it, he would have considered him nothing but a fool, then dismissed the matter after a few moments.
But after everything he had heard today about the universes, about the rival of the All-seeing God, about the lost technology, and about how Zavarus had indeed been poisoning the entire Universe with the blood of his own sons, and now he also learned that he had been discarding all those resources?
…All of this was tied to the character of a man who appeared suddenly and then died? Clearly, something was extremely strange.
"I will not allow anyone to bully me like this in my own home!!" Zavarus stood up, his Aura intensifying, and he prepared to transform into his bestial form.
In response, a red Aura began to envelop Kiryān's spear as he readied himself to strike.
"Enough!" Robin gestured for Kiryān to withdraw his thrust, then looked directly into Zavarus's face. "That person told you to aspire to power, but made you promise to destroy your wealth. How can the two be reconciled? In this universe, individual strength is of no use once you reach my level. You must possess an empire and followers to gain control, and to fully impose your dominance."
Then he pointed at Zavarus. "And you did it. You founded an empire, and of course you needed an army, you needed weapons, you needed infrastructure..." Then he smiled. "So you needed resources, so you destroyed half of them, so you needed more, so you married your children to beasts and sold the blood of your descendants."
Then he continued indignantly. "Do you think that someone capable of inventing such immense techniques wouldn't have been able to foresee what would happen? He gave you a few trivial reasons for his request, and you clung to them like a blind man because they were your only choice, because you were a young man who wanted to become stronger. Then you clung to them until today with an even greater degree of blindness, because you don't want to question what you've been doing your entire life!"
"...Morpheus harmed the Universe by preventing Spirit Power from spreading beyond his galaxy, and Intiras harmed the Universe by preventing everyone from touching the Fifth Level of the Law of Space—the most important Law in warfare, development, and travel. But at least those two were clear and straightforward in what they did." Then he pointed at him. "As for you, you harm the Universe in two ways at once, and in a covert and uglier manner: you poison people and destroy their resources. You let the words of a strange and suspicious figure bring out the worst in you, and you let them blind you and deafen you to what is right before your eyes." Then he clenched his fangs tightly. "Zavarus, you undoubtedly deserve to be killed."