Published at 28th of December 2025 7:58 am

Chapter 1874 Spider Web 2

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Poof.

Orion collapsed back into his seat once more, the furious and panicked expression draining from his features as though it had been carved off by an invisible hand. In its place settled a stillness - a quiet heavy with fatigue, resignation, and a sense of spiraling defeat. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he lifted his head again toward Theo.

"...What kind of books... could even contain all of this? Where did you read such things?"

Theo responded with a soft, almost serene smile, saying nothing - a silence that somehow felt more telling than any spoken answer.

The Shadow Swords, accompanied by several elite Imperial Guards from the Space Division, had managed to track down and seize multiple elders of the Pureheart family amid the chaotic storm of events. They also apprehended several mercenaries and uncovered a collection of ancient scrolls dating all the way back to the very early era of the galaxy's founding. Infiltrating Bright Galaxy had not been an effortless task by any means - but it was never an impossible one either.

Inside, there were only mercenaries who held no real loyalty to the place and felt no obligation to protect it, and administrators from the Pureheart family who had absolutely no understanding of defense, counter-intelligence, or proper secrecy measures. Evading the galaxy's arrays had been difficult and nerve-wracking, but with the full support of the Imperial Guard, they had pushed through every obstacle and successfully bypassed every barrier.

As for the most fortified zones - supposedly the strongholds of the galaxy- they were utterly helpless before the fused might of the Space Darkness Merged Law, which tore through their protections like thin fabric.

The people standing behind Orion twisted their faces with shame and bitterness, their gazes sinking to the ground. One of them even began to tear up, his shoulders trembling, unable to hide his humiliation.

They had accompanied Lord Orion to the domains of the Behemoth of Curses and the Savage Behemoth, yet despite their attempts, their loud pleas, their gifts, and their humiliating concessions, they had always been treated as insignificant insects - denied any audience, denied any recognition, denied even the slightest respect.

Hedrick, Draice, and Hegra, however, furrowed their brows just slightly. Something in their eyes shifted - the hostility, defiance, and sharp judgment they had held earlier softened... transforming into a gaze heavy with pity, even reluctant sympathy.

Orion noticed the change in Hedrick's eyes and turned away sharply, bitterness flaring. "Keep your thoughts to yourself. We are still a respectable Behemoth Galaxy, no matter what you think."

"... You're nothing more than an entity with no sovereignty," Hedrick muttered, almost regretfully. "A galaxy seed utterly wasted on you."

"Nonsense!" Orion snapped, waving his arm in a burst of raw emotion. "Tell me, what would you have done if you were in my mother's place? If you were born into a family already forced to kneel under a Behemoth, and suddenly a galaxy seed appeared before you? Would you seize the chance, use reality itself, reshape your fate, and fight toward independence? Or would you ignore it and stay a subordinate forever?!"

"I don't see many attempts to reshape anything" Hedrick replied, the pity in his eyes deepening. "What I see is a spider's web tightening steadily around you... tightening until everything is suffocated."

"We didn't account-!!" Orion stopped himself abruptly, forcing down the rising frustration. He lowered his voice again, speaking with a quiet that carried both resignation and pain as his gaze dropped to the floor.

"...We didn't account for the Behemoth of Curses choosing that strategy. Even after my mother became a Behemoth, he didn't confront her directly. He didn't try to bend her will. Instead, he seized control of everything around her - everything she depended on - and he kept advancing deeper and deeper, tightening his hold year after year."

Then he lifted his head again, voice rising with helpless anger,

"If you were in our place, what would you possibly do? What is the worth of my will, or even my mother's will, when they control absolutely everything?! When they control our armaments, our fleets, the very education and training of our children? Even the crushing taxes we collect - the Cursed Behemoth Galaxy takes ninety percent of them! What choices do we have left?!"

Then he pointed toward the horizon.

"That day, when the fleets moved to encircle the forces of the Big Six, it wasn't us who mobilized them. The engines ignited on their own, and the fleets flew without a single command from our side, controlled entirely by the mercenaries who had already sold their loyalty. A handful of my brothers rushed after them in pure panic, chasing the fleets simply to save the galaxy's reputation-just to pretend before the public and the higher authorities that we were the ones who had issued the order in the first place and try to stop whatever they were going to do!"

His voice dropped even lower, heavy with bitterness.

"...And the best outcome my siblings managed to achieve after running themselves ragged- was maintaining a neutral stance and forcing the armada to retreat again without firing a single shot. They had to conduct brutal negotiations with the Marshals, practically begging them to stop, promising that they would personally shoulder the consequences before the Behemoth of Curses. They even surrendered piles upon piles of bribes, fortunes large enough to bankrupt small empires."

"Damn it..."

Orion squeezed his head with both hands, almost wringing it as if trying to crush the frustration out of his skull.

"My mother spread rumors that I was trying to get rid of my brothers and sisters by marrying them off outside the sector so I could comfortably control the galaxy. It was the only explanation that made sense to the public. Even my sister Serene -beloved by everyone, the sparkling jewel of the sector, the one they all consider the rightful heir to my mother because of her overwhelming talent- I was blamed for getting rid of her! And yet, in reality, it was a direct order from Darvion himself to marry her to his son. How is that my fault?! How am I supposed to fight an accusation built on a lie that benefits everyone

except me?"

He pressed harder on his head, his voice dimming to a defeated whisper.

"...I do all of this, and even more, because playing the villain is still better than appearing as a puppet who has no control over his own fate, someone whose strings are pulled by forces far beyond him."

""

Hedrick stared at Orion, who was teetering on the edge of collapse, then slowly turned toward Theo.

"But I still don't understand something. What does the Savage Behemoth have

to do with all of this?"

"...I would also like to know that," Orion muttered, lifting his head slowly, eyes

dark with exhaustion.

"...?!"

Hedrick froze at Orion's words, then looked back at Theo in sudden realization.

A truth had been carved into his heart long ago:

Anything he wanted to understand... Theo would inevitably know.

The secret behind the attack on the Young Sector 101? Even if the Bright Galaxy didn'tknow, the Shadow Swords certainly did.

In fact, everyone inside the tent turned their eyes toward Theo, waiting eagerly -almost fearfully- for his answer. Even Orion's followers, hardened veterans, leaned forward. Their trust in the words spoken by this martial emperor had grown beyond measure, reaching a level no one could contest or even

question.

"In truth, the matter is a little complicated... yet strangely simple at the same time," Theo said, not disappointing anyone.

"Zavaros the Savage was the only Behemoth who knew exactly what the

Behemoth of Curses was doing in the Young Sector 101. He knew the true origin of the Pureheart family, and he knew that the Cursed Behemoth practically controlled two sectors, not just one. And that is because Zavaros has followers planted in nearly every sector in the universe his influence spreads like wildfire- and he already has five entire empires loyal to him here in Sector 101."

"According to the evidence, and from observing the interactions between the Cursed Behemoth and the Savage Behemoth, the Savage Behemoth used this forbidden knowledge to pressure him repeatedly during commercial agreements and in every sector where their interests clashed. He would threaten to reveal everything to the Stellar Academies-who would then immediately report it to the Cosmic Elder, who had strictly forbidden interference between sectors."

"This blackmail continued relentlessly... until the discovery of the galaxy seed Verillion-a second seed appearing in the same sector, the very one that fell in Lord Hedrick's hands, the natural and absolute enemy of the Savage Behemoth. At that moment, the Cursed Behemoth rejoiced at this new twist of fate, sensing the arrival of a long-awaited opportunity... and he began to play."

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