Lord of the Truth-Chapter 2086: Lovers’ fight

Mid Sector 105 – The Beast Garden

Crunch

Zavaros grabbed the thigh of a massive bird nearly the size of his entire body, tore into it with a savage bite, and began chewing with brutal strength, his jaws working as he opened his mouth wide, crushing flesh and bone alike. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Then, with a lazy flick of his arm, whoosh, he hurled what remained of the thigh in a random direction, as if discarding nothing more than a scrap.

Crash

Several kilometers away, multiple towering trees shattered violently, their trunks splitting apart, and from between the debris emerged a gigantic dog-like creature. It leapt through the broken wood, snatched the roasted meat in mid-air, and vanished once more into the wild, its presence fading as quickly as it appeared.

"Heh heh, good boy."

Zavaros laughed deeply, the sound thick and heavy, then extended his hand toward another platter, already reaching for more food without hesitation.

"Father."

At that moment, a feminine voice sounded, calm yet firm, as a woman descended beside Zavaros and landed with controlled force.

"What have you decided?"

She stood over two meters tall, her dark hair trailing until it touched the ground, her body overflowing with maturity, dominance, and raw power. Two horns rose from her forehead, her expression sharp, focused, and disciplined, with a smaller, underdeveloped horn at the center. The right side of her face was covered in scale-like cracks, rough and alien in texture, yet aside from that, she possessed clearly human features. Even while standing before Zavaros, she stood firmly and proudly, powerful, stable, and unshaken, her presence solid and imposing.

"About what?"

Zavaros took a massive bite of smoked ribs, swallowing them bone and all with brutal ease, then tossed the rest aside without a second thought.

"If it’s something ordinary, handle it as usual, Zina. Don’t burden my head with such matters."

"About what was stated in Brother Zarion’s message regarding the man who supports Lord Hedrick against us," the girl frowned, her expression tightening.

"About the announcement of founding the Cosmic Academies!" she continued, her voice carrying pressure and urgency.

"How do you expect me to make decisions on matters of this magnitude?!"

Zavaros stopped eating and looked at his daughter for a few moments in silence, his expression unreadable.

"Both major matters that require my personal intervention revolve around the same person. Don’t you find that strange?"

"....."

Zina nodded slowly.

"What’s strange isn’t that Lord Robin is the center of both matters, but how fundamentally different they are," she said.

"In one, he fights us through proxy warfare, through his armadas and the Shadow Swords, living up to his title as a true ’War Chosen’ as people call him. In the other, he is a close friend of the Cosmic Elder, seeking global peace, stability, and the protection of people across worlds?"

"It seems our man has far too much free time and doesn’t know how to fill it."

Zavaros wiped his hand clean of food, brushing away grease and ash.

"...I’ve thought about what we should do, and I want your opinion, since you are my assistant and the supervisor of your remaining siblings, and the one who coordinates them all."

"Go on."

Zina nodded firmly, her posture straight and resolute, ready to listen.

She did not govern one of the galaxy’s arms or a galaxy itself as the other first-rank siblings did. Instead, because of her intelligence, clarity of mind, and discipline, her father chose her to oversee them and coordinate between them.

She might not be able to give them direct orders, but they listened to her regardless, respecting her authority and position. If she complained to their father about any of them, the consequences would be severe, decisive, and impossible to escape.

"For the matter of the Cosmic Academy," Zavaros waved calmly, his tone steady and controlled, "the Cosmic Elder appeared to be in good condition during the announcement, so it’s safe to comply with his legislation for now and avoid unnecessary friction. If a Cosmic Academy appears in any sector near us, allow the forces to grant them tax privileges without resistance. And if they wish to open a branch in our Mid Sector 105, make things easy for them, remove obstacles, and facilitate every procedure."

"...We have three fourth-raw scions in the Sacred Covenant Cosmic Academy, correct? I’ve heard of their achievements there, and now that the Sacred Covenant Academy has become the pearl of all academies, those achievements carry far greater weight and influence. Make them third-raw scions. Give them a few solar systems to manage so they can test themselves, sharpen their abilities, and prove their worth in real governance... and send 30 additional third- and fourth-raw scions there as well, so our presence becomes firmly rooted."

"Hm... I also want you to send a few gifts to the Sacred Covenant Cosmic Academy. Prefabricated buildings, perhaps beast bones, resources and materials, things that can be used to build more academies in other sectors. I think it would be an appropriate and symbolic gift. They’ll most likely need them very soon, perhaps sooner than they themselves expect... what do you think?"

"I have no comment."

Zina let out a long, relieved breath.

She had come with her heart pounding violently, fearing that he might disregard the Cosmic Elder’s recommendations regarding the academy entirely, since he had done so before when the Cosmic Elder forbade attacking Behemoths in other sectors.

For her father to try to avoid direct hostility with the Cosmic Elder was the safest option. Even if he disobeyed him in one matter, he could escape the problem by obeying in another. Continued defiance could lead him into the same fate as Qarun, the only one in history to have received a direct threat from the Cosmic Elder.

"What about Lord Human’s involvement in Hedrick’s war?" Zina frowned slightly, her expression tense.

"According to his response to my brother Zarion, he doesn’t want to fight us. It’s clear he’s inviting us to leave the sector by tempting us with money, trying to buy our withdrawal instead of confronting us directly."

"Heh heh."

Zavaros seemed to laugh with his entire body, his massive frame subtly shaking.

"Who else would try to tempt a Behemoth with money?" Then he slapped his thigh with amusement. "But he’s serious, and I’m interested, very interested!"

"Interested?" Zina asked in surprise, her brows lifting.

"Very."

Zavaros nodded slowly, then raised his index finger with emphasis.

"I intervene in Mid Sector 101 for one reason only: to weaken Darvion, the Behemoth closest to my galaxy, who was controlling that sector by proxy. Without my interference, he would have imposed full control there by now and turned it into a fortress of influence."

He continued, "...and currently we are attacking all the forces, flattening them completely, or deliberately engaging in battles against fleets and major figures there to make that sector sterile, broken, and unable to assist Darvion if he takes control..."

Then he shook his head slowly.

"I don’t care about Mid Sector 101 itself, nor about the seed I can’t get out from there. All that matters to me is destroying the powers of Mid Sector 101, fueling the situation by increasing casualties, igniting chaos, encouraging Darvion to send more of his armies to fall into the blood trap there, and in the end... I take control of Mid Sector 101 and destroy the Curse Galaxy in a single, decisive strike!"

"And what changed in your view?" Zina frowned slightly, clearly trying to understand.

"Didn’t Robin Burton say that his enemy is Darvion because he opposes his son’s mother-on-law?"

Zavaros laughed deeply.

"Then let’s take a step back and let them grind each other down. Let them bleed each other dry. It’s a fight on the bride’s hand. What does it have to do with us?"