Facing Magnus's question, which was filled with madness and hostility, Leticia's expression did not change in the slightest.
She simply stood there calmly, as if the towering one-eyed giant before her, and his heaven-shaking rage capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, were merely an insignificant breeze brushing against the hem of her clothes.
She did not even rush to answer his question.
"An illusion?"
The corners of Leticia's lips curled into a faint arc, seemingly carrying a trace of pity.
That light laugh was crisp and pleasant, yet it was like an incomparably sharp scalpel forged from absolute truth, precisely and mercilessly dissecting the thick disguise Magnus had constructed from rage and despair.
"No."
She spoke slowly; her voice was not loud, but it contained a weight that made the soul tremble.
"I am more real than anything you see."
"I have come to collect the 'price'."
"The price?!"
Magnus acted as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the universe.
He roared, supporting himself on the ground with both hands, as his incomparably massive body slowly and tremblingly stood up.
When he stood fully upright, his mountain-like shadow completely engulfed Leticia and the three Sisters behind her.
He lowered his head and, with that single eye burning with intense rage, stared down at the figure beneath his feet, who was as small and insignificant as an ant.
"The price?!"
He roared again, his voice filled with endless absurdity and indignation, the resulting sound waves causing the surrounding space to ripple visibly.
"I have given everything for knowledge!!"
"I broke the edict of Nikaea to warn my blinded father!"
"I delved into the mysteries of the Subspace to seek the truths of the universe!"
"I offered my loyalty! I offered my home! I offered the lives of my ten thousand sons who looked upon me as a father!!"
"Now, you thing that appeared out of nowhere, how dare you stand before me and demand a 'price' from me?!"
"What else do you want?!"
"What else do you want to take from me?!"
His roar was a blood-and-tear accusation from the deepest part of his soul.
It was his most desperate questioning of this unjust universe.
However, Leticia just listened quietly.
She met his gaze, which was filled with enough rage and sorrow to melt steel, and slowly shook her head.
Her eyes remained calm, but beneath that calmness, there was a trace of deep pity, like a god looking down upon mortals.
"What you paid was not the price."
Her words were understated, devoid of any worldly agitation.
Yet, they were like an invisible giant hammer forged from billions of tons of ice, slamming heavily onto Magnus's burning soul.
Bringing his earth-shaking roar to an abrupt halt.
"It was stupidity."
Leticia uttered the final three words.
Magnus froze completely.
His massive body seemed instantly petrified, and even the flames burning within his single eye froze for a moment.
"You love knowledge and desire truth; there is nothing wrong with that."
Leticia's voice became sharp at this moment, like a sword of judgment piercing through all delusions.
"It is one of the noblest pursuits in the universe."
"But your mistake is that you only know how to demand knowledge from the universe like a greedy child, yet you have never thought about how to protect the knowledge you have obtained."
"You possess vast knowledge capable of shaking the universe, yet you lack the matching wisdom required to protect it."
"You possess powerful strength capable of changing fate, yet you lack the matching... temperament to wield it."
Leticia raised her eyes, her gaze piercing directly into Magnus's single eye, which had widened slightly in shock.
Every word of hers was like a precise, poison-tipped steel needle, mercilessly stabbing into the deepest, most painful, and most unwilling-to-admit wound in Magnus's heart.
"To warn your father, you did not hesitate to break the Webway, using forbidden psychic powers to tear open a shortcut to Terra."
"You thought this was filial piety, a stroke of wit."
"But your eyes, blinded by pride, could not see what a massive breach your reckless behavior tore into Terra's defenses! You personally delivered an irresistible gift to your father's enemies!"
"To explore the truths of the Subspace, you recklessly absorbed its knowledge and made deals with the entities within."
"You thought this was bravery, exploration."
"But your ridiculously naive soul never considered that you were facing a Trickster God who has lived for billions of years and takes pleasure in playing with fate! You were smugly confident that you saw through the chessboard, not knowing that from the very beginning, you were just the most pathetic and laughable piece on that board!"
Leticia took a step forward, and the aura of divinity upon her became majestic and solemn in that moment.
She raised her hand, pointing from afar at the broken giant, as if declaring a final verdict from a supreme tribunal.
"You possess the strength to slay dragons, yet you were wounded by your own innocence and arrogance, ultimately becoming a plaything for the evil dragon."
"You held the torch of truth in your hands, yet due to your own incompetence and stupidity, you personally ignited your home and burned all your children to death."
"Magnus."
Leticia's voice became cold and resolute at this moment.
"Your tragedy was never because you pursued knowledge."
"But rather, it stemmed from your... incompetence!"
"Boom!!!"
These last two words were like two bolts of chaotic divine thunder from the dawn of creation, striking fiercely at the very source of Magnus's soul.
He was struck as if by lightning.
His incomparably massive body trembled violently as he staggered back uncontrollably, the ground beneath his feet cracking with every step.
"Incompetence..."
"Incompetence..."
This word, like an inescapable curse, echoed frantically in his mind, over and over again.
Grinding his last shred of pride derived from knowledge, and his last shred of dignity as a Primarch, completely into dust!
The wisdom he was so proud of...
Everything he insisted upon...
His determination to pursue truth at any cost...
Before the words of the woman in front of him, were actually refuted... completely.
He could not even find a single word to refute her.
Because every word she spoke was correct.
They were all the truth that he, deep within his heart, that self curled up in a corner and constantly weeping, had already known...
With his psychological defenses completely shattered, the fire of reason in Magnus's single eye was extinguished at this moment.
All the pain, all the regret, all the humiliation, in this instant, were all transformed into a pure, destructive, and meaningless desire for annihilation!
"Shut up!!"
He let out an earth-shaking roar that did not sound human.
Vast, crimson psychic energy, like a bursting cosmic torrent, surged frantically from within his body, gathering into a psychic storm capable of destroying the entire continent, mixed with thousands of vicious curses and schemes of change!
"I want you!!"
"To disappear along with your damned 'truth'!!"
The next second, that world-destroying storm swept toward Leticia's small figure.
------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the fanfiction has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 or more chapters in advance over on my patreon: patreon.com/FTLGenBen
Also every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone, Thanks.