Published at 14th of August 2026 8:24 am

Chapter 2335: Allies

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"...What about this version?" Glatheon let out another weary sigh as he walked over toward Kiryan for the seventh time, carrying yet another carefully revised draft. Although his expression remained composed, the repeated negotiations had clearly begun wearing on his patience.

"...." Kiryan accepted the small tablet without saying a word and immediately began reading through its contents once again. As his eyes slowly moved from one clause to another, his brows gradually drew together, carefully weighing every sentence before reaching any conclusion.

As far as the Oath of Allegiance was concerned, the version currently before him was already considerably less restrictive than the very first draft Glatheon had produced. Yet after six previous rounds of revisions and negotiations, the entire document had become even more flexible than before, with nearly every clause having been adjusted to leave Kiryan additional room for independent judgment.

For example, one of the original clauses Glatheon had initially written simply stated: Absolute loyalty to Lord Robin. After repeated discussions, however, that sentence had eventually been rewritten into: Absolute loyalty to Lord Robin’s objectives.

Kiryan’s reasoning had been straightforward and internally consistent. At the present time, his own goals aligned perfectly with Lord Robin’s objectives, meaning he had no objection whatsoever to following Robin’s commands under those circumstances. However, if a day ever came when new information emerged or circumstances fundamentally changed, forcing him toward another course of action, then he believed he should retain the right to determine his own fate rather than surrendering every future decision without exception.

The remaining clauses had undergone similar revisions as well, including the clause governing independent judgment. In the very first draft, Glatheon had required Kiryan to report back to either Lord Robin or the Shadow Swords before taking any significant action whatsoever, regardless of the urgency of the situation. After several rounds of discussion, objections, and amendments, however, that clause had gradually evolved until it granted Kiryan a clearly defined degree of freedom to improvise according to the information available to him at the time, provided none of his decisions disrupted the broader strategic picture or directly conflicted with Lord Robin’s long-term objectives.

"Hmm..." Kiryan slowly began reading the document from the beginning once more, his brows remaining tightly furrowed throughout the process. This time, he spent nearly an entire minute reviewing every single clause one by one, carefully examining every word, every condition, and every implication before finally raising a finger toward the very first clause.

"As for this one—"

"No, no, no." Glatheon immediately snatched the tablet back before Kiryan could continue speaking, almost as though he had anticipated another demand the instant Kiryan opened his mouth. "There’s absolutely no room left to weaken anything else. We’ve already reached the point beyond which Lord Robin would undoubtedly refuse to compromise. If we soften it any further, he’ll probably shout directly at you and demand complete and unconditional loyalty instead. You’ve already witnessed firsthand how domineering he can become the moment something genuinely irritates him, so let’s not continue pulling on that particular thread."

At that moment, Glatheon genuinely appeared nervous, perhaps even somewhat frightened.

The truth, however, was rather different.

He was perfectly prepared to continue negotiating for at least three additional rounds if circumstances demanded it. What he truly needed at this stage was for Kiryan to sincerely believe they had already arrived at the absolute limit of what could realistically be negotiated. Otherwise, Kiryan would simply continue requesting more revisions indefinitely, carefully shaving away one restriction after another until very little remained of the original oath.

From the very beginning, Glatheon had intentionally presented Kiryan with an exceptionally harsh collection of clauses, fully expecting to gradually relax them piece by piece throughout the negotiation process. His entire strategy rested upon Lord Robin’s own words—the very words granting both Kiryan and Zavaros the right to negotiate the terms before accepting them.

Far from being dissatisfied that Lord Robin had granted Kiryan and Zavaros such freedom, Glatheon had inwardly applauded the decision the very moment he heard it.

It had been an outstanding move.

People like Kiryan and Zavaros would never willingly accept an ordinary Oath of Allegiance. They had spent millions of years standing at the pinnacle of authority, issuing commands rather than receiving them, making decisions entirely according to their own judgment while bowing to no one. They had even openly chosen to oppose the Syndicate when it attempted to force them into carrying out actions they fundamentally rejected. Then, through an almost unbelievable twist of fate, they suddenly found themselves confronting external powers whose existence they had never even imagined before that day. They ultimately chose to stand alongside the faction selected by the Elder Cosmic, but that decision alone did not mean they could simply be pressured into accepting absolute servitude beneath another individual.

That was precisely why Lord Robin had deliberately given them this opportunity as a way of loosening the reins ever so slightly. He had allowed them to experience the feeling that they genuinely possessed freedom to choose, negotiate, and shape the final agreement with their own hands. Then he had quietly left behind a single condition—that they must never cross the limit. Those few seemingly casual words had, in reality, handed Glatheon the strongest bargaining position imaginable throughout the entire negotiation.

And now, Kiryan—the legendary Behemoth of Oppression, whose name had become synonymous with overwhelming battlefield supremacy across the universe—was personally reviewing, revising, and refining the very Oath of Allegiance he himself intended to swear.

"...." Kiryan cast one long, thoughtful glance toward the tablet still held tightly within Glatheon’s somewhat tense grip before finally releasing a slow sigh of resignation. "Very well. I can accept that version."

"..Hoo~ That’s excellent." Glatheon finally released a long breath of relief, the tension accumulated throughout the negotiations visibly easing from his shoulders.

He then turned toward Robin.

"A tablet over here, please."

"....." Without moving his head, without shifting his gaze from the distant horizon, and without lifting so much as a single finger, Robin casually waved his hand. Almost immediately, a metallic tablet roughly the size of an adult man’s torso emerged from elsewhere within the residence before slowly floating through the air with perfect stability until it gently came to a stop before Glatheon.

"...." Glatheon quietly sighed the instant he laid eyes upon it.

It looked almost identical to the tablet upon which he himself had sworn his own oath not long ago. The only visible distinction lay in the faint golden runes decorating its outer edges, runes whose presence alone made the artifact appear considerably more imposing.

He gently extended it toward Kiryan.

"Here. After I swore my oath upon this tablet, it honestly felt as though my eyes had finally been opened. Even if no one else noticed any difference, my own standing in my own heart rose tremendously. I’m genuinely convinced the same thing will happen to you."

"...." Kiryan frowned briefly, making little effort to hide the deep skepticism written plainly across his face. Had he not already been under attack, had his galaxy not stood upon the brink of complete annihilation, and had everything he had spent millions of years building not been on the verge of disappearing forever, he would never have willingly chosen this path under any imaginable circumstances.

After only a brief moment of hesitation, he finally accepted the enormous tablet with both hands. He slowly infused his Soul Power into it for several moments before beginning to recite the oath through his Soul Imprint, allowing every clause to become permanently engraved within both the tablet and his own spiritual signature.

"Fine. I’m finished." Kiryan tossed the tablet back toward Glatheon with restrained annoyance, unable to completely conceal the lingering frustration still buried within his voice.

Kiryan could not help feeling a deep sense of humiliation settling inside him. He, a Ten-Star Royal Soul Master who had stood at the peak of power for countless years and had commanded entire civilizations with a single order, was actually swearing a Soul Oath to another individual with his own free will.

Although he firmly believed that, given enough time, he might eventually become powerful enough to break the oath altogether, he still regarded it as little more than a symbolic restraint whose true purpose was forcing him to bow his head, acknowledge another’s authority, and temporarily swallow his pride. Besides—

Clack.

"Argh?!" Kiryan instinctively grabbed his chest as an intense sensation suddenly spread through his heart. He could distinctly feel chains wrapping themselves tightly around it as though they had always belonged there. "What... what is this?"

The chains were forged entirely from Soul Power, yet every single link was engraved with delicate golden patterns unlike anything he had ever encountered throughout his millions of years of cultivation. Their aura felt ancient, orderly, and strangely complete, making them seem fundamentally different from every Soul Oath he had ever witnessed.

"That’s a tablet I reserve for people I actually care about hehe. You didn’t seriously expect me to bind a Ten-Star Royal Soul Master with an ordinary Soul Oath, did you?" Robin chuckled quietly while continuing to stare toward Zavaros rather than Kiryan, as though the latter’s surprise had been entirely expected. "Don’t concern yourself with it. Within a few minutes, you’ll completely forget that it’s even there, and before long, you’ll stop noticing its existence altogether."

Then Robin’s brows gradually drew together.

"Even though it doesn’t come anywhere close to the Eternal Oath engraved upon Zavaros... it’ll still provide me with a certain degree of reassurance."

"....?" Kiryan’s anxiety immediately surged after hearing those words, countless possibilities flashing through his mind in an instant. Yet after only a brief moment, he gradually calmed himself once more. He had already chosen this road after weighing every consequence he could imagine, and now there was no point regretting it. Since he had committed himself to this path, he intended to walk it through to the very end.

"Hoo~" Robin dismissed the faint golden glow surrounding his body before calmly rubbing his eyes as though the entire matter required very little effort from him. "Pass the same tablet to Zavaros... and give him the very first version of the oath."

"Understood." Glatheon immediately obeyed, picking up the metallic oath tablet before handing it toward Zavaros together with the accompanying list of conditions attached to it.

The very first clause read:

Absolute loyalty.

"There’s no way any sane person would accept something like this!!" Zavaros shouted in disbelief the instant his eyes landed upon the opening condition. "We’re cooperating because there’s a war to fight! I’m not anyone’s slave, and I never will be!!"

"I’ve already copied the structure of your Eternal Oath directly from the Code of Creation engraved within your body." Robin smiled gently, speaking with complete confidence while maintaining steady eye contact. "I’m the only person in the entire universe capable of deciphering it and ultimately freeing you from the predicament into which you willingly placed yourself... the same predicament that caused you to betray the universe for tens of millions of years without ever realizing what you were actually doing."

"...And while we’ve been having this conversation, I’ve already assigned my Ninth and Tenth Consciousnesses to study the method involving the injection of Young Space Beast blood together with the process of assimilating the crystal." A faint smile slowly spread across Robin’s face as he continued. "So tell me... who else in this universe can save both you and your entire bloodline from eventually degenerating into nothing more than beasts? Because as far as I know... that person simply doesn’t exist."

Robin calmly gestured toward Kiryan.

"He can honestly claim that his objectives merely align with mine and that we’re assisting one another for the sake of winning this war."

Then Robin slowly pointed directly toward Zavaros.

"You, on the other hand... will take the oath quietly."

"...Damn it!" Zavaros growled through tightly clenched teeth, every instinct inside him screaming against what he was about to do. Nevertheless, after only a brief struggle, he ultimately injected his Soul Imprint into the tablet and slowly began reciting the oath exactly as written.

Clack.

Robin’s smile gradually widened the instant the final words of the oath were completed and the familiar golden chains quietly materialized around Zavaros’s heart just as they had around Kiryan’s moments earlier.

"Excellent."

He casually drew the metallic tablet back toward himself before carefully placing it inside his Space-Time Vault beside the sword and the remainder of his most valuable possessions, storing it with the same level of care he reserved for priceless treasures.

Then Robin slowly rose to his feet and pointed toward Kiryan.

"Return to your galaxy and continue participating in its defense. Reinforcements will reach you very soon, so hold your position until they arrive."

Next, he turned his attention toward Zavaros.

"Get some rest. Spend the coming period carefully thinking about everything that happened today while you wait for the reinforcements to arrive. After that..." Robin’s eyes narrowed slightly. "I want to witness the greatest sinner in the universe become one of its greatest benefactors instead. I’m placing very high expectations upon you, so don’t disappoint me."

Finally, Robin looked toward Glatheon with a relaxed smile that contrasted sharply with the intensity of everything that had just taken place.

"Let’s head to our next destination!"

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