Chapter 2369

2369 - The Mountain

"What do you mean, Sahir?" Arkail was so taken aback that he turned toward his son, "Are you willing to let him keep calling you a boy?"

"If he gives me power like that, why not?" Sahir gestured toward the light disc.

"..." Arkail also looked ahead, "Have you noticed?"

"Of course." Sahir replied quickly, "Renara was a useless Nexus State just a few decades ago, and Hedrick wasn't able to face the armies of someone like Zarion—he kept moving around like a headless chicken in the Sector. Now look at both of them—roughly the same strength, moving at the same time, supported by the same vehicles, and what's happening is being broadcast in the same manner, by the Shadow Swords if my guess isn't wrong."

Then he furrowed his brows slightly, "He wouldn't have earned the support and loyalty of those two unless he was the reason behind their power. And he wouldn't have spoken to us in this manner unless he knew he didn't need us." Then he looked at his father, "I wouldn't rule out that he's stronger than both of them..."

"...There's no doubt about that." Arkail replied calmly, "If he were weaker, they wouldn't have obeyed him. Also... didn't you hear Glacion say that Lord Robin possesses Fifth-Level Spacetime? Not to mention the Truth and Balance we saw him use, and another law he used that I couldn't comprehend—does that make it four? At least?!"

"If you know all this." Sahir furrowed his brow slightly, "Why do you speak of joining the Syndicate to stop his advance and turn Sector 96 into a battlefield?"

"Because there is also the Archon and Marlik." Arkail looked ahead, "...And I didn't say I would join; I said it's an open path."

"...What's the next move?" Sahir showed an excited smile.

"We don't wait until our forces arrive at Middle Sector 96," Arkail spoke calmly, "You and your brothers move now toward Sectors 93 and 94 and cleanse the Behemoth of Gravity's forces from there, and declare loudly that acting against the Shadow Swords there constitutes an infringement on the Time Sand Galaxy and that we will not allow anyone to exceed Middle Sector 92 and beyond, whoever they may be."

Then he began tapping on the throne, "This move must happen now and quickly before Lord Robin absorbs Sectors 98 and 102 and turns his attention to us as a variable element. And if we do it and declare protection of the Shadow Swords, Glacion will send word to us again to negotiate terms for officially joining them. At that point, we will have chosen a side... the side of the True Beginning Empire with all its mystery."

"I like this one more." Sahir replied quickly.

"..?" Arkail was surprised and turned to his side again, "You seem very fond of humiliation?"

Sahir spoke quickly, "I love anything that doesn't turn Middle Sector 96 into a battlefield, and I certainly don't want us to be surrounded by the True Beginning Empire from 97 and 95 while we sit in 96 and pay the tribute that Lord Robin decides in silence and submission—that would be no better than just joining them." Then he furrowed his brow, "Don't you think so too?"

"....." Arkail gazed into the distance, "Before today, I wasn't certain, but after seeing Hedrick and Renara, I now have a clear goal."

"What is it?" Sahir swallowed his saliva.

Only after several seconds did Arkail answer, "...That Lord Robin himself comes to negotiate with us again instead of sending Glacion." Then he continued very slowly, "I am strong, Sahir, very strong, and this isn't because I'm diligent and did something no one else has done—no, I was born fortunate to belong to the Fundamental Path of Time, and from there I carved my way... time, which no one can stand against."

"...Perhaps no one knows the extent of my strength because I haven't joined any Cosmic War, perhaps everyone underestimated me because Zargul came and established his galaxy beside me and I let him... but you know that if I strike, I will hurt, and if I move, no one will remain still. I just don't want to—I tell myself... this isn't the right time to reveal my power."

He then looked toward his son, "After all this—me amassing my armies, strengthening my sons, increasing my support from the Major Law of Time, after I have hoarded, refined, and prepared for the appointed day I prophesied, nay, the day I am certain will descend upon the Sea of Time like a mountain before long—am I to go and serve under another person? Hand him everything so simply?!"

"... " Sahir looked down; he was the one who knew best what his father was talking about. He was the one who helped, using every available resource, to train as many brothers as possible in secret, build the finest fleets, craft the highest techniques of the Path of Time, and much more—all for that day his father had prophesied at the beginning of his journey, and every day drew them closer to it.

A day... drawing very near.

"What if..." Sahir spoke, "that day was linked to Lord Robin?" Then he gestured to the disc, "After all, his suspicious appearance at this timing... is it a coincidence?"

"... " Arkail opened his mouth slightly, "His speed of advancement is extraordinary, as if he operates within a temporal scope entirely different from ours, as if he entered an era of velocity we have never heard of, and yet..." He then looked at his son, "Is he sufficient for the prophecy of the Day of Judgment to revolve around him?"

"…" Sahir nodded, "He did all of this in just a thousand years." Then he stared into his father's eyes, "Can you predict what he'll do in another thousand years? A hundred years? …Ten years? It's him, hear it from me."

"…" Arkail nodded, "So is he the one who will strike the spark to shatter everything… or is he the one who will defend and end it?"

"…Does that really matter?"

"….." Arkail stared at the horizon with expressions full of shock and wonder.

Then he nodded,

"You're right."

Then he paused for a moment,

"It doesn't matter, as long as we'll be among the survivors on the day the mountain falls.."