Chapter 2511

2511 - A Step Back

Somewhere in Sector 170 Middle—

Leusar, the one-eyed individual of the White Plague, was gazing toward the sky with his wide-open eye, his mouth partially open with saliva dripping from it.

During the broadcast, he had been cursing his luck, the demons, and the misfortunes that had come his way while he enjoyed the endless feasts. But near the end, during the event of the Buffer Zones' destruction… silence.

A few hours had passed since the broadcast ended, and he had not changed his posture since.

The danger had passed and the terror of the Buffer Zones' destruction had subsided, but the sky was still rippling magically as if reassuring everyone about The New Era.

The new Spacetime Fabric had not yet fully stabilized in its new form, nor had Leusar's mind settled.

His world had been turned upside down and all his plans had gone with the wind…

The initial plan was to rid himself of the severe soul oath that Robin had bound him with, using his plague-like soul nature…

And it had happened.

He had indeed become free, bound by no oath, and no consequences would fall upon him no matter what he did.

The next step was to turn against the Cosmic Academies after they had proven their failure to help him, following the spread of rumors that they were sheltering and strengthening the Crimson Plague.

And it had almost happened.

He had gathered a number of his close officers who had not taken an oath upon themselves and who were not from the Burton families and the families affiliated with them. He enticed them with his power and what he could offer them and a new high status, and he had indeed made a party of his own and begun attacking the Crimson Plague foci.

The third step was to declare himself a mercenary Crimson, Black, and Blue Plague combat unit with the forces that followed him, moving freely between the Sectors for whoever paid him to rid them of their Plague problem. In this way he would accumulate wealth that would let him increase the size of his army and form a Fleet and planets and a headquarters of his own, while at the same time continuing to eat at his leisure.

And indeed he had begun communicating with several parties privately, and he pulled himself away to eliminate a focus in Sector 170 so as to distance himself from The Master's influence as much as possible.

After that point, he would be the one everyone contacts when a focus appears. Everyone would forget the academies and their filth and the continuous taxes. Everyone would protect him if The Master Robin or those from The Syndicate or the Council of Thrones tried to brutalize him, because he provides them a real service.

That is, if he needed protection at all… after the tremendous power he had obtained.

But what happened today…

"Nyaftek." From behind Leusar, one of his loyal followers spoke—a non-human with green skin wearing white and red armor that Leusar had designed for his followers. "...What do we do now?"

"......"

"...Nyaftek?" The follower decided to ask him, "We were supposed to announce the secession this month. What do we do?!"

"Huh?" Leusar was surprised. "Secede from whom? I don't know anything about what you're talking about."

Then he turned calmly, his eye startled. "Secede from whom?" Then he pointed toward the sky. "From the one who just did that?"

"...." The follower looked up in fear.

He wasn't the only one afraid to look—all of Leusar's followers who had agreed with his dreams were terrified now... They had nearly been about to declare rebellion against that person within a month?!

"Close the subject entirely," Leusar waved. "Whoever mentions it again, I'll kill him myself." Then he gritted his broad, milk-white teeth. "...There's... there's no need for secession anyway. We wanted to continue attacking the Plague Foci at our leisure, and the Cosmic Academies were hindering us because of rumors of their involvement with the Plague. Now no one will care about those rumors even if they see the Crimson Plague playing cards with the heads of the Academies."

"So...?" The follower hadn't received complete orders.

"Then go, and let us finish cleaning up the Sector and wait for new orders from Lady Morgana and His Grace Lord Blokan!!" Leusar shouted.

Sacred Covenant Academy—

Inside a tightly sealed building, there were more than two hundred boys and girls in a large hall.

Although their ages spanned decades and centuries, their features, clothing, and posture said that all of them still considered themselves students… they were the sons of the Cosmic Elder.

"I told you!" the eldest son among those present shouted happily, "I told you the godfather would never harm Our Father, I told you to wait and not be swept up by rumors, haha."

He was laughing madly, placing both hands on his hair with joy.

He had suffered greatly over the past years trying to keep his brothers steady and persuade them to stay quiet and walk along the wall.

A number of them had caused trouble in the lesson halls, some had refused to leave their homes, and some had tried to flee the Academy entirely, and he was the one who resolved matters each time and punished his brothers.

They had even begun to treat him like a jailer and a person loyal to the system, and they no longer discussed things with him as a Big Brother whose counsel should be sought, but rather looked at him as somewhat of a traitor.

But he had to keep watching what he was doing alongside a small handful of his level-headed brothers… If their father had not come to take them, and they had fled The Academy, where exactly would they go?!

Even if there was a 1% doubt in the Godfather, they had to stay in place and pretend everything was fine—that was the rational thing!

So what happened today… what happened today was the last straw that broke his resolve and turned him into a weeping child, out of joy and relief.

"…What happened today was nothing but a show of force," one of the sons who had previously tried to escape attempted to defend his position with a stammer, "…Our Father still hasn't appeared, and the Godfather is still saying things with no witnesses."

"A show of force is enough." An elder sister intervened, "He did what Our Father could never do. He once told me in person that his failure to break the Buffer Zones was the greatest regret and failure of his life, and the Godfather broke them swiftly in a fit of rage, and he still seemed to be in good condition."

Then her eyes swept over everyone, "This tells us he has no need to betray Our Father—he is strong enough to kill him face to face. Why would he betray or kill him when he treated him from the brink of death and then cared for us and strengthened us until today? Whom would he fear?"

"….."

"You're right."

"I was a fool to believe those rumors."

"Father is fighting the Ancestors of the Space Beasts outside The Shell right now to protect the universe? That's terrifying—I'll make sure to brag about this later!"

"The Godfather is terrifying too!!"