Chapter 2298: The obvious
Chapter 2298: The obvious
"Y-Your Majesty!!" Aro jolted upright from his reclining chair the instant he recognized Robin, his body reacting before his mind could even catch up.
But the sudden movement immediately sent a sharp wave of pain through his battered body.
"Urgh..."
His expression twisted involuntarily, and his attempt to stand slowed almost to a halt as the lingering injuries throughout his body reminded him that he had not yet fully recovered.
"Your Majesty!!!" Flora instinctively covered her mouth with both hands, her beautiful eyes widening in complete disbelief. Robin’s appearance had been so sudden and unexpected that, for several moments, she completely forgot about helping her injured husband, remaining frozen where she stood as she stared at the visitors.
"Sit."
Robin casually waved twice toward Aro, his expression still carrying obvious irritation that had yet to fade after leaving Arkail’s territory.
Then, with a simple flick of his hand, an ordinary chair appeared before him.
Unlike the stone throne he had created earlier, this one was completely ordinary and he took it out from his ring.
Robin sat down directly across from Aro before immediately turning his head toward the others behind him.
"What do you mean, calm down?"
His brows remained slightly furrowed.
"Didn’t you see that attitude? Were we even part of the same conversation?"
After finishing his sentence, Robin casually waved one hand once again.
The small golden door quietly closed behind Richard and Glatheon, disappearing without leaving even the slightest trace behind.
"Hello."
Richard lazily waved toward Aro with an exhausted smile before slowly dragging his battered body forward.
Without the slightest concern for appearances, he simply collapsed beside Aro, stretched himself out comfortably, and released a long, relieved sigh as though finally reaching a place where he could rest.
As for Glatheon, he immediately turned toward Robin, his expression carrying a mixture of helplessness and concern.
"My lord, what I witnessed was your own approach. Why were you so hostile from the very beginning? Surely things didn’t have to escalate quite that quickly."
"What do you mean I was hostile?" Robin’s voice rose slightly, genuine disbelief appearing across his face. "Didn’t we leave with his head still attached to his shoulders? Do you have any idea how much self-restraint it took for me to walk away like that? I exercised more patience today than I have in a very long time."
"...?" Aro looked thoroughly bewildered by the exchange.
Leaning slightly toward Richard, he lowered his voice until it was barely above a whisper.
"Who managed to anger His Majesty this badly? I’ve almost never seen him remain irritated after leaving a meeting."
"Arkail The Temporal," Richard answered without even opening his eyes, sounding far too tired to elaborate any further.
"Wha—?!" Aro froze where he sat.
His eyes widened before he instinctively began replaying every detail of what he had just heard together with everything he knew about Arkail, trying to imagine what kind of conversation could possibly have ended like this."Akhhh..."
"My lord," Glatheon continued quickly, unwilling to let Robin’s frustration grow any further, "as someone who has personally witnessed your strength with my own eyes, I know just how merciful and broad-minded you were by choosing not to punish him in any way. Frankly speaking, I was surprised you remained that patient."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"But someone who doesn’t know you simply can’t be expected to carry that same understanding. It’s only natural that he’d harbor doubts. From his perspective, he simply lacked the information necessary to judge the situation correctly, and everything he heard today challenged the very foundations of what he believed possible."
"Oh, I see."
Robin slowly raised both hands with exaggerated resignation.
"So I’m the problem."
His tone became noticeably more sarcastic.
"I should have sat there explaining all of my strengths in painstaking detail before saying anything else, introducing myself one accomplishment at a time until he finally felt satisfied."
He then turned toward Aro.
"You. Say something!"
"Y-Yes!" Aro answered instantly without the slightest hesitation, "Yes, that’s... that’s not right at all!!"
"..." Flora quietly reached out before gently rubbing Aro’s back.
She could clearly feel the rapid pounding of his heart beneath her hand.
His breathing had become noticeably faster as well.
The poor man had only wanted to recover from his injuries, yet somehow he had suddenly found himself sitting in the middle of a conversation involving Robin, Glatheon, Richard, Arkail, the Archon, and the Elder Cosmic—all within a matter of minutes.
Robin, meanwhile, turned his attention back toward Glatheon.
"When Zolan and Sevar traveled throughout the universe, did they personally visit everyone one by one to demonstrate their strength? Did they stop before every ruler and explain exactly why they deserved respect?"
"No, My Lord, they didn’t." Glatheon slowly shook his head. "But they never needed to. Each of them publicly demonstrated his strength more than once, and each possessed an immense force supporting him, whether it was the Syndicate or the Academies. Their reputations spread naturally because countless people witnessed their achievements firsthand."
Snap.
Robin snapped his fingers.
"Exactly."
He leaned back slightly before continuing.
"Before Zolan publicly appeared and slew adult Space Beasts, would any Behemoth have welcomed him warmly, invited him to sit down, and patiently listened while he explained every detail of his own strength? Would anyone have believed him if all he had offered were words?"
His eyes remained calm.
"And before Sevar publicly wiped the three Behemoths before the entire universe, did anyone truly take him seriously? Did anyone genuinely respect him simply because he has a master law?"
"...." Glatheon slowly shook his head.
"Words are useless, Glatheon." Robin dismissed the matter with a casual wave of his hand. "I already showed him glimpses of what I could do, yet he didn’t care enough to reconsider his assumptions. Even if I sat there until sunrise explaining every detail of my strength, every law I possess, and every battle I’ve fought, I still wouldn’t achieve what I actually want. At best, I’d only succeed in convincing him that he’s extraordinarily important because I spent so much of my own precious time and effort trying to persuade him that I’m powerful."
Robin leaned back slightly before continuing.
"And after that? He’d begin negotiating with me as though we were equals, even while fully aware that I’m the stronger one."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Why? Because the moment he realizes I’m trying to win him over, he’ll immediately start behaving as though he’s the last piece of candy left in the entire market. He’ll deliberately make himself harder to obtain, expect me to continue investing time into convincing him, and gradually raise his own perceived value simply because he’ll know I still want something from him."
He suddenly turned toward Aro.
"Should I let him act like a hot potato on front of me?!"
"Khhaa! Never!" Aro answered almost instinctively, laughing so nervously that his voice nearly cracked. "No one alive should dare act as potato in front of Your Majesty!!"
The sheer pressure of being unexpectedly dragged into Robin’s argument almost made him faint on the spot.
"But that way of thinking is dangerous, Your Majesty." Glatheon frowned, carefully choosing every word before speaking. "You already possess tremendous prestige because of your relationship with the Elder Cosmic and because you serve as President of the Cosmic Academy. Those accomplishments alone place you above almost everyone in the universe."
He paused briefly.
"But they’re still external sources of influence. They can compel respect. They cannot compel submission." He looked directly at Robin. "According to your own reasoning, what you truly need isn’t another conversation but a single monumental event."
"Something so overwhelming that everyone throughout the universe learns your name because of it... and fears you because of it as well."
"And that’s exactly what’s going to happen." Robin casually waved one hand, speaking with complete certainty. "Nihari’s ascension won’t be delayed much longer anyway. Once that happens, everything else will naturally fall into place."
"I don’t know exactly what you mean by that," Glatheon replied without hesitation, "but what about everything that happens before then? What are you planning to do during those remaining years? For example..."
His expression became more serious.
"What will you do about the Syndicate’s army if the Time Behemoth refuses your proposal and decides not to help?"
"Hmph."
Robin’s frown deepened immediately.
"The Syndicate deliberately sent exactly five thousand fleets because they anticipated only two possible outcomes."
He calmly raised one finger.
"Either the Time Behemoth withdraws all of his forces to reinforce his own defenses.... or he abandons the battlefield entirely and retreats."
Robin lowered both hands.
"In either case, the result is exactly the same. He’ll be forced to withdraw every one of his troops."
His expression became noticeably colder.
"That leaves the Sorcerer Behemoth, his sons, and whatever remains of their armies completely free to move throughout Mid Sector 98 and 99... at the direct expense of my own interests."
He firmly struck his thigh.
"A filthy trick."
His eyes narrowed.
"And the filthiest part isn’t even the strategy itself. It’s the fact that they’re treating me as though all I possess is money and connections. They genuinely believe that without Arkail standing beside me, I’ll become nothing more than a fish lying helplessly upon a butcher’s block."
He let out a quiet laugh devoid of amusement.
"They actually think Mid Sector 99 will slip through my fingers simply because they’ve managed to remove Arkail from the board."
Robin slowly shook his head.
"What an insult."
He looked off into the distance, genuine anger becoming unmistakable within his eyes.
"I sincerely hope Arkail rejects my offer. From the bottom of my heart I hope he withdraws completely."
He smiled.
"So I can personally demonstrate to those Syndicate dogs that he was nothing more than an ornament adding to my appearance."
His voice remained perfectly calm.
"And that even without him..."
"...I’ll still accomplish whatever I wish."
"...whenever I wish."
"...."
Glatheon’s frozen heart pounded heavily inside his chest.
Even he—a Guardian and a two-thousand-year Martial Emperor who had witnessed countless extraordinary figures throughout history—found himself completely unaccustomed to hearing confidence expressed on such an overwhelming scale.
He couldn’t even decide whether what Robin was saying bordered upon madness...
Or whether it simply reflected a reality that only Robin himself could see.
"May I ask what you intend to do if the Time Behemoth truly withdraws?" Glatheon asked after quietly gathering his composure once more. "Perhaps, with the little experience I possess, I might still be able to offer some useful advice or point out something worth considering."
"There’s nothing for you to advise." Robin answered immediately, without the slightest hesitation. "What I’m going to do is considerably simpler than anything you’re imagining."
His eyes slowly lifted toward the storm-filled sky.
"And I’m going to do it specifically to send a direct message to every single individual who intends to stand against me in the future."
He lowered his gaze once more.
"The Syndicate fleet will arrive at the operational zone in ten years."
"Their objective is to neutralize Arkail and force me into confronting Zargul and his sons directly, without anyone coming to my assistance."
Robin tilted his head slightly.
"That’s correct, isn’t it?"
"...."
Glatheon silently nodded.
Bang.
Robin firmly struck both thighs with his palms before speaking in a voice filled with absolute certainty.
"Then Zargul will die before the Syndicate fleet ever reaches the battlefield."
His expression never changed.
"That is my personal promise."
He placed one hand against his own chest.
"A promise from me..."
"Robin Burton."
A faint smile slowly appeared across his face.
"I truly want to see what those bastards will do after traveling across sectors for years..."
"...only to discover that the reason for their journey no longer exists."
"Wha—?!" Glatheon’s eyes flew completely open, unable to conceal his astonishment any longer.
The declaration wasn’t merely bold.
It overturned the entire strategic foundation upon which the Syndicate had built its plans.
"Urgh...!!"
Aro instinctively clutched his chest.
Listening to Robin speak so casually about killing a Behemoth before an army of five thousand fleets could even arrive genuinely made him feel as though he had suddenly aged twice his lifetime.
"Hehe..."
Richard simply laughed quietly while continuing to lie comfortably where he was, looking thoroughly unsurprised.
By now...
Conversations like this had become almost ordinary whenever his father was involved.