"Ah!!" The Cosmic Elder let out a startled cry, as though a venomous serpent had bitten him. He jerked his head away and clutched his only hand over both eyes in pain.

"Elder!!" Althera rushed to his side, alarm flooding her voice. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"I—I don't know… I was just—!!" The old man tried to look again in Robin's direction, wanting to understand the source of that sudden, stabbing pain.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that," came Jabba's voice from behind. His tone was casual, but there was a knowing edge in it. "That thing hurts, I know—I've tried."

"...?" The elder turned toward him, confusion deepening his wrinkles. "What do you mean, 'hurts' exactly? What is it that hurts?!"

"You tried peeking into the master's eyes, didn't you?" Jabba tilted his head toward him while still trying to revive Shaddad. "Happened to me once. Feels like a needle stabbing straight into your eyeball—you can't help but shut them tight after that."

He then forced open Shaddad's mouth and started stuffing sand into it. "I once looked briefly into little brother Shaddad's eyes—mine are first-grade, his are third—and even then, I never felt that kind of pain. It's something… unique to the master."

"Wh—Wait!! Cough! Cough—!!" Shaddad suddenly gasped awake, sputtering and blinking rapidly as he tried to grasp where he was. "...Damn it! Wasn't that all a dream?!"

"Nope," Jabba smirked, patting him on the shoulder before giving him a playful kick. "Now go take a swim. You're soaked in sweat. That's an order from your big brother—and you stink."

"...." The old man watched the two bicker for a few moments before exhaling a tired sigh. "So that's how it is then..."

"What did you understand, Elder?" Althera asked softly, tilting her head.

"When that golden scale appeared in his hand, I felt a faint suppression pressing on me," the elder murmured, eyes distant. "I'm a sixth-grade wielder, and that scale was merely first-grade. I thought it was my imagination—shock from seeing someone wield the Master Law of Balance—but it seems… I was not imagining it after all."

He turned toward Robin again, his expression heavy with realization. "...His Golden Eyes of Truth hold an inherent authority—an overwhelming pressure—over all other Eyes of Truth. And for some reason, even the other Master Laws he wields carry traces of that same dominance… suppressing anyone who commands the same Law."

"That's impossible… why would—" Althera frowned deeply, before her eyes widened slightly as if remembering something dreadful. "...Is it because of that entity?"

Just one look into Robin's golden eyes had been enough for her to recognize his nature—he was a candidate of that ancient being.

"I always wondered," the elder continued, voice now softer, reflective, "why that golden radiance exists—why it draws attention and exposes the identity of its candidates. For a time, I believed it was meant to make their trial harder, to sift the strongest from the rest. Later, when I saw the unique blessings each candidate possessed, I thought the color came from those blessings..."

He looked at Robin once more, not daring to gaze into his eyes directly this time. "...But now that I've confirmed his power can suppress even other wielders of Master Laws… it makes me wonder..."

The old man's gaze lingered on Robin's serene face, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "...Just what kind of being is that entity?"

"...." Althera fell silent as well, her expression tight with unease.

The mere presence of a candidate could make a sixth-stage wielder fell some oppressions? The thought alone sent chills through her. Why would any being need such power—to grant it to mortals of all things? It was terrifying beyond measure.

"Heh~ how discouraging," the elder finally muttered, lifting his hand to his face once more. Oom—with a strange, soft sound, both his eyes detached and appeared in his palm as two glimmering crystal orbs. Without hesitation, he tossed them into the sea. Plop!

Whoosh Whoosh—a wave of motion rippled through the water as countless small fish leapt up, fighting each other over the shining orbs.

"Master!!" Althera's voice broke in shock. "What—what did you just do?!"

"Shh—leave me a shred of dignity, girl," the old man muttered, slumping backward as if too weary to stand. Slowly, he drew a bandage down over his now-empty sockets. "It wiped the floor enough for one day..."

Althera didn't utter a single word—she simply crossed her arms, her gaze fixed on Robin, brows furrowed with a mix of curiosity and worry.

It was only natural for the Cosmic Elder to feel a sting of frustration after being suppressed not once, but twice, by someone who, in his eyes, was still barely out of childhood. His only real comfort now was to convince himself that this suppression didn't come from Robin's personal strength, but from that ancient, incomprehensible entity backing him. As long as he could cling to that belief, he could still preserve a fragment of dignity… enough courage to face the cosmos once more without feeling small.

Time trickled by—minutes bled into hours—

"…" The old man lay flat on his back, pretending to rest, his frail-looking body floating slightly above the soft grass as he stared into the endless sky. The shimmering constellations reflected faintly across his skin. Yet despite his stillness, his soul perception was honed razor-sharp, locked on Robin like a predator waiting for movement.

The engraving Robin was forming in the air had long stopped resembling any recognizable sigil or runic formula. It was chaos incarnate—an impossible constellation of luminous golden threads twisting and weaving, splitting and reconnecting in fractal layers. Every line shimmered with purpose yet looked utterly random. Each filament was so fine that even with enhanced perception, one had to strain and focus deeply just to catch a glimpse.

But that wasn't what truly unnerved the Elder.

No—what chilled him was the fact that Robin's energy level had already dropped to the third stage, and yet he continued to sink deeper without pause. His spiritual essence was burning steadily, feeding the golden construct with his very foundation.

What would happen if he exhausted his energy before finishing the engraving? Would his body collapse? Would his soul fracture from the rebound? The thought alone sent a tremor down the elder's spine.

And then, after what felt like an eternity suspended between awe and dread—

"Whew~" Robin exhaled, long and calm, dragging the back of his hand across his damp forehead. A tired but satisfied smile crept onto his lips. "That's it! My first time ever completing a full formation mold… let's see if it actually works this time."

He turned toward Althera and lifted his arm in a casual beckon. "Your honor, the next step belongs to you."

"Tell me what I need to do." Althera strode forward, her voice firm, her expression as composed as the ruler she was.

"Just channel a flow of your energy into the pattern," Robin said, stepping back with deliberate care. "Once you do, the formation will handle the rest on its own."

"…?" Althera raised an eyebrow at his sudden caution but followed his instruction nonetheless. She stepped closer to the glowing mass of lines, raised a single finger, and released a steady current of energy. Whoooosh.

Clutch!

"Hm?!" Her brow furrowed sharply as she felt a jolt—the pattern had seized her energy stream instantly and began sucking it in like a living creature, pulling directly from her core without permission or restraint. "It's… draining me?!"

"Don't stop it!" Robin shouted from behind her, voice laced with both urgency and excitement. "If the energy flow breaks before it finishes charging, we'll lose everything and have to start from scratch!"

"Do as he says, girl!!" the Cosmic Elder barked, suddenly sitting up straight, tension snapping through his voice.

"…Very well," Althera muttered through gritted teeth. Though she agreed, she kept her soul senses wide open, wary of what might happen next.

Minutes dragged on. The energy transfer grew heavier, the air itself trembling from the pressure—

And then, before their eyes, the engraving began to transform. The thin, almost invisible filaments expanded until each strand resembled a golden ribbon as wide as her palm. The once-soft glow became a searing brilliance, flooding the island with radiant light. Even the sky itself turned gold, as if the heavens bowed before the Creation Law at work.

Althera gasped quietly; she could feel the drain. Nearly a quarter of her total reserves were gone, devoured in moments. That much energy would've taken weeks of absorbing Primordial Chaos to gather—it was enough to cast seventh-stage techniques capable of annihilating continents. Yet all of it was consumed by a mere second-stage pattern.

So this… this was the difference between Fundamental Laws and the Master Laws.

The realization sent a chill down her spine even as the heat of her energy burned through her veins.

Whooooshhh----

At last, the last trace of her energy vanished into the pattern. The golden light dimmed, leaving behind a perfect, intricate sigil floating in the air—stable, alive, and humming like the heart of a newborn star.

"There we go…" Robin clapped his hands, smiling with exhaustion and satisfaction alike. His golden eyes glowed faintly as he turned toward the old man.

"So then, old timer—" he said, his grin widening playfully, "—are you ready to relive your youth?"

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