Several minutes later—
Zavaros stood once again in the middle of his council area. This time, one hand rested behind his back while the other was extended casually at his side. His posture was relaxed, his shoulders no longer carrying the stiffness from before, and a broad smile covered his face as though he were genuinely weling an old acquaintance rather than preparing for another delicate conversation.
The moment he sensed the portal activating and someone approaching, Zavaros spread both arms wide in greeting, his smile growing even wider.
"Wele, my dear brother! Hahaha."
Whoosh.
A figure descended quietly from above. His aura blazed with anger and oppression, radiating enough pressure to make the surrounding air feel noticeably heavier, yet his face remained calm, as though every expression upon it had long since frozen beneath an unshakable layer of discipline.
He wore a black robe fastened by a broad gray belt around his waist. A massive war spear rested across his back, while his long black hair, tied into a ponytail, fluttered behind him as he slowly descended toward the ground with plete posure.
"Brother Zavaros."
The young man nodded calmly before landing on the ground, taking two measured steps forward, and firmly clasping Zavaros's hand with the confidence and familiarity of someone greeting an equal.
"It has been a long time."
"What do you mean, 'a long time?'" Zavaros laughed warmly. "This is your very first visit to my humble garden. It's a historic day, hahaha." He gestured toward one of the side seats with an inviting motion. "Please, Brother Kiryan, have a seat."
"....."
Kiryan, the Behemoth of Oppression, cast a brief, posed glance toward Marlik, who was lounging fortably on the main sofa as though he owned the place, before quietly walking over and sitting where Zavaros had indicated without another word.
"You don't seem surprised to see me, Kiryan." Marlik revealed a broad smile that carried unmistakable mockery. "If I were in your place, I'd be terrified beyond doubt."
"I was informed of your arrival by a representatives from the Savage Galaxy the moment I reached the Grand Space Gate."
Kiryan sat with dignified posure, his posture perfectly straight despite the tension filling the area.
"But I chose to e anyway."
He then stared coldly into Marlik's eyes without the slightest intention of looking away.
"We need to talk."
"Go ahead." Marlik waved a hand carelessly before casting a sideways glance toward Zavaros. "...So, you warned him, huh?"
"A guest has the right to know who the other guests are. It's simple courtesy, not a warning." Zavaros waved both hands with a practiced smile that hid his true thoughts remarkably well.
"Lord Marlik." Kiryan slightly raised his voice to draw everyone's attention before continuing in an unusually restrained tone. "May I ask why you chose to assist Helmor in what he did against me? To my knowledge, I pay my dues to you, I grant you access to my territory, and I continuously provide intelligence reports as well as reports detailing everything stored within my Empire's treasuries, just as every other Behemoth does. So why did you side with Helmor against me? No one has even informed me of the reason until now."
The veins across Kiryan's face began to bulge and twist beneath his skin as he spoke those humiliating words aloud, each sentence sounding as though it had been forced out only after tremendous restraint.
"You came at the perfect time." Marlik pointed beside himself with an amused expression. "I was just discussing the reason with Zavaros. Go on, explain it to your friend."
"...."
Zavaros struggled to maintain his smile as he looked toward Kiryan, clearly wishing he did not have to be the one saying it.
"He says the reason was your failure to carry out the order to attack the Shadow Swords."
"That's absurd!" Kiryan turned toward Marlik with tightly furrowed brows, the posure on his face finally beginning to crack. "What do we have to do with the Shadow Swords? And since when have we been taking orders from the Syndicate?" His tone became noticeably sharper with every word. "Isn't it enough that you bully us by collecting tributes, resources, and intelligence from us without any rightful claim, simply because you're backed by the Archon? Now we're expected to obey your orders as well?!"
"Haha."
Marlik slapped his own cheek before glancing toward Zavaros with an expression that made it clear he found the entire exchange entertaining.
"See that? That's exactly why Kiryan was chosen to be the first to fall... and why your turn was postponed until second."
"...Thank you?" Zavaros felt even more insulted, the awkward smile on his face being noticeably stiffer as he silently accepted yet another casual humiliation.
Meanwhile, Marlik turned back toward Kiryan, his face being pletely expressionless, the playful amusement from only moments earlier disappearing as though it had never existed.
"That's right. You are expected to carry out orders. What's the problem with that? The Archon possesses the power, the influence, and the followers necessary to do whatever he wishes, and despite that, we interfere in your affairs only on rare occasions. So whenever we give you an order, a remendation, or whatever name makes you feel better about it, you're expected to carry it out without argument."
"That's neither fair nor reasonable!" Kiryan rose with a sweep of his hand, unable to remain seated any longer. "Just because we don't want trouble with someone we barely even know, we've bee targets of the Syndicate? Have you all bee so narrow-minded and petty? I've tolerated the arrogance of your envoys and the disrespect of your representatives all these years because I still regarded Archon Sifar as one of the pillars and protectors of the universe, but if things have reached the point where you're handing us absurd orders under the threat of destruction, then to hell with that respect!"
"Haha... impressive."
Marlik casually tapped the scabbard of the nearest sword beside him, his smile growing wider instead of fading.
"e on, then. Let's see whether your strength is worthy of those grand words."
"Hold on!" Zavaros stood up immediately, forcing a laugh despite the tension. "Haha, this is the Beast Garden. People e here to relax and enjoy a warm drink, not to fight, alright?" He gestured for Kiryan to sit back down. "Everything has a solution. Sit down, my friend. You only just arrived."
"..."
Kiryan's expression twisted with frustration, his jaw tightening so hard that the muscles along his face visibly flexed, but after a long moment, he slowly sat back down without saying another word.
Regardless of the fact that the Archon himself had not made a personal move for an immeasurable number of years, Marlik was still here, and everyone knew exactly how terrifying he was.
That ancient monster wielded the seventh stage of a law from a technique derived from the Law of Causality—the Law of Cause Accumulation.
With that Law and his terrifying swordsmanship, he had bullied Behemoths before, killed some of them, humiliated countless others, and established a reputation that had endured for ages. No one had ever managed to make him sweat, and no one had ever escaped the inevitable oute once he decided to act, no matter how powerful or proud they had been beforehand.
"Hmph."
Marlik removed his hand from the scabbard, no longer even pretending he might draw his weapon.
"You e here acting like a great man in front of me after fleeing your own galaxy through a Space Portal just to avoid facing Helmor. You even abandoned your own army and disciples behind. How courageous of you."
Crack.
Kiryan clenched his fingers with tremendous force, enough to make his knuckles emit an audible sound.
13:00
"..."
Then he slowly turned toward Marlik.
"I've seen what his children are capable of. Since you're cooperating with them, you know exactly what they're like. There's something strange about them... and there's something strange about you as well."
"Shhh. Mind your manners."
Marlik casually motioned for him to be quiet before turning back toward Zavaros as though Kiryan's anger was of no consequence whatsoever.
"Listen. Our little fugitive here does have a point about one thing. If Helmor and his second- and third-generation children decide to e after you, you won't be able to stop them. All this fake atmosphere of hostility and rivalry that we've deliberately encouraged and announced won't help you in a real battle when they actually e knocking."
"...?!"
Zavaros ground his teeth together so hard that even his eyelids began trembling with anger, though he stubbornly maintained the smile on his face.
Every word Marlik spoke was layered with hidden meanings and veiled threats. One wrong response, one sentence spoken at the wrong moment, and Marlik would simply stand up and leave, ending any possibility of negotiation before it had truly begun.
Was he afraid of Helmor?
Probably not.
But if he angered the Syndicate, there would no longer be a place for him anywhere in the universe afterward.
Zavaros glanced toward Kiryan, who seemed to be burning with rage beside him, almost as though silently begging him to say something and relieve him of the responsibility of answering... but he immediately realized that was impossible. Kiryan's eyes were trembling violently as he stared at Marlik. They were the eyes of a man genuinely weighing whether death itself would be worth landing even a single blow on the Butcher before everything ended.
The situation was terrible for both of them. Marlik had e specifically to fish in troubled waters, and Zavaros now had to find some way to escape this disaster without insulting him or provoking him in the slightest. He needed to buy himself just a little more time until—
Hummm.
At that moment, a rectangular golden portal silently unfolded beside the council area, its ancient golden light immediately drawing everyone's attention, and Robin stepped out with one hand resting behind his back, speaking as though he had merely wandered into yet another minor annoyance.
"...Tsk~ First Arkyle, and now this woman. It's almost as if every place I go has someone waiting just to ruin my mood...."
"Hmm."
Robin stopped beside the council, facing several people who stared at him in plete shock without understanding how he had suddenly appeared. Then, with a pletely indifferent expression, he pointed toward the person sitting fortably on the central sofa.
"You. Get up from my seat and fuck off to the side."
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