Silence...

A profound, unsettling silence.

With extraordinary calmness, Caesar continued observing the scene unfolding before him like a living painting woven from death itself.

The gentle gust of air that had risen quietly across the battlefield drifted upward before brushing against the marshal of the ground forces, the generals, and the officers gathered within that area. The moment it touched them, the flames burning within their chests dimmed rapidly before vanishing entirely, while the radiant lamps inside their heads flickered weakly and faded one after another. Soon afterward, their faces began surfacing within the black cloud.

Faces darkened by terror.

Twisted expressions filled with pain, confusion, and desperate panic.

They struggled violently inside the cloud as though trying to break free from some invisible prison, their mouths stretched wide in endless screams while the darkness swallowed them deeper and deeper.

Then heavy shackles suddenly emerged from within the black mist itself.

Dark chains lined with blade-like protrusions wrapped around their necks and foreheads, tightening mercilessly and causing their suffering to intensify further. Caesar instinctively understood what those chains represented without needing anyone to explain it.

Negative karma.

Their sins.

The accumulated weight of everything they had done throughout their lives.

The strangest part was that those faces did not join the battlefield fog surrounding the countless ordinary dead soldiers. The cloud treated them differently, dragging them downward beneath the earth once more before slowly returning toward Caesar’s leg, as though it had marked them specifically and refused to release them afterward.

The sight was horrifying enough to shatter the sanity of experienced veterans if they witnessed it directly. Any ordinary soldier would likely collapse mentally after seeing those screaming faces struggling hopelessly against the black cloud and the restraining chains surrounding them.

Yet to Caesar...

The scene felt strangely comforting.

Peaceful.

Warm, even.

Like a girl receiving flowers from her loved one.

Like a father quietly watching his children laugh and play nearby.

From beginning to end, Caesar remained entirely relaxed, his eyes closed while observing everything through that strange perception. He never realized his state had already begun affecting the outside world, nor did he notice the horrifying changes surrounding him as his experiment continued deepening further and further.

Or at least...

That was what he believed.

"Marshal!!"

Raiden’s terrified shout suddenly echoed across the battlefield as he looked toward the command platform.

A horrifying dark aura had erupted around Caesar.

The blackness surrounding him twisted violently like a living abyss, expanding outward in unstable waves that caused everyone nearby to flee in terror the moment they sensed it. Those too slow to escape collapsed instantly without even understanding what had killed them.

Caesar’s eyes were open now.

Entirely white.

Not glowing faintly, but radiating an unnatural pale brilliance that made him seem less like a living being and more like something wearing human skin temporarily. Thin strands of black mist escaped continuously from his nose and mouth, while thick dark veins spread beneath his skin, pulsing violently as though they were moments away from tearing his body apart from within.

That aura...

It absolutely did not belong to a Martial Emperor.

Far above the battlefield, the World Cataclysms and Nexus States quickly noticed the disturbance below. Several of them immediately launched attacks downward, hoping to erase Caesar before whatever was happening around him could worsen further, but the forces of the Multiple Centennial Cradle Empire intercepted the incoming attacks almost instantly, causing explosions to erupt across the skies once more.

"MARSHAL!!"

Raiden rushed toward him at full speed until he reached the borders of the expanding black fog surrounding the platform.

"Marshal, can you hear me?!"

No response came.

Caesar remained completely immersed within the strange world only he could perceive, his entire focus fixed upon the black cloud, the endless battlefield fog, and the terrifying success of his experiment.

Meanwhile, the dark radius around him continued expanding gradually.

"General, the field is growing larger!!" one of the surviving officers shouted anxiously while retreating several more steps backward.

If this continued much longer, the black fog would begin disrupting army formations completely and tear apart the battlefield itself from the inside.

"Dammit..." Lightning flickered violently within Raiden’s eyes as he stared toward Caesar with frustration and worry mixing across his face. A few moments later, he exhaled heavily before muttering,

"...Forgive me."

KATCHAAAA

A final lightning strike suddenly descended from above.

The one who launched it...

Was Raiden himself.

BOOOOOOOOOOM

The attack did not strike Caesar directly. Instead, the lightning curved sharply before crashing into the command platform beneath him, completely destroying it in a violent explosion that shattered the surrounding structure apart and disrupted the unstable black field surrounding him.

------------------------

...

"..Mmm." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Caesar’s eyelid twitched slightly before his eyes slowly opened.

At first, his thoughts remained clouded and unfocused. The battlefield, the screams, and the endless black fog had all vanished, replaced instead by stillness and a familiar ceiling painted with grand animated murals depicting ancient wars and legendary figures.

A ceiling he recognized immediately.

Slowly supporting himself with his arms, Caesar pushed his body upright before glancing around in confusion.

Indeed...

He was inside his personal chamber on Planet Originus, the capital world of the Cradle Empire.

"Good morning, Marshal."

The only girl inside the room spoke with a composed smile.

"I’m glad to see you safe, your highness."

She was a golden-haired young woman wearing elegant glasses, lipstick, and tight office attire. As one of the Burton family descendants, she served as Caesar’s personal assistant, handling his office affairs and organizing visitors on his behalf.

"How long have I been here?" Caesar finally asked while straightening his posture and resting his head against one hand. "The last thing I remember was..."

His voice stopped midway.

Then Caesar’s eyes widened slightly as fragments of memory resurfaced within his mind once more.

The last thing Caesar remembered was the cloud.

That endless black cloud filled with twisted, screaming faces.

He remembered watching it draw closer and closer until it finally reached him, slipping into the sole of his foot as though his body itself had become its destination from the very beginning. Afterward, he had attempted to understand the sensation spreading through him, trying to examine what exactly happened when the cloud returned to him instead of dispersing naturally like the surrounding battlefield fog.

Its touch had not felt painful.

Nor cold.

If anything, it had felt disturbingly natural.

Comfortable, even.

He remembered himself focusing entirely on that strange sensation, trying to grasp the laws hidden behind it, trying to understand why those faces were drawn toward him specifically and what the black cloud truly represented.

Then...

Nothing.

The next thing he knew, he had opened his eyes here.

"General Raiden brought you back yesterday alongside several attendants," the assistant explained calmly from nearby. "According to the General, you were struck indirectly by a lightning attack and suffered several bruises because you had not raised any defensive measures whatsoever. After ensuring your condition stabilized, he returned to the battlefield shortly afterward."

"A lightning strike?" Caesar slowly raised an eyebrow before an irritated smile appeared on his face. "Where is that little bastard?"

"What I’m about to say is not intended as a defense of General Raiden," the assistant replied seriously, "but everyone present during the battle whom I questioned, including the Swords of Shadow responsible for observation and battlefield point calculations, described the same thing. They said you entered an extremely strange state and began attacking several of your own aides unintentionally. Some of them were killed before the situation was brought under control."

Then she reached into her ring and retrieved a small glowing disk before handing it toward him.

Caesar hesitated briefly.

"..."

Eventually, he accepted it and activated the recording.

The moment the projection appeared before him, his expression changed slightly.

He saw the horrifying scene exactly as everyone else had witnessed it.

The black aura.

The expanding fog.

The distorted appearance of his body.

And most importantly...

His eyes.

Pure white.

Emotionless.

Inhuman.

For a brief moment, Caesar was reminded of the undead generals described throughout the ancient records and forbidden books he had spent years studying in secret.

Creatures standing somewhere between life and death.

Immediately, his heart began pounding heavily inside his chest.

Without another word, he lowered the disk and set it aside before supporting his forehead with both hands once more.

Now that he thought about it carefully...

The cloud had never been aimed toward his subordinates.

He himself never perceived anything dangerous occurring around him during the entire process, even until the moment he lost consciousness. From his perspective, he had merely been observing and experimenting quietly while standing still atop the platform.

Meanwhile, from everyone else’s perspective...

He had become a terrifying anomaly releasing deadly black fog capable of killing allies indiscriminately.

No wonder Raiden attacked him.

No wonder the others panicked.

Several long seconds passed in silence before Caesar finally spoke again, his voice noticeably heavier than before.

"...They were good men."

The words came out slowly. Heavy.

Then, after another brief silence, he continued with visible difficulty,

"Whatever compensation is usually granted to the family of a fallen martyr... increase it tenfold for every person who died because of this incident."

"Understood." The assistant nodded immediately. "We already prepared an honorable story regarding the circumstances of their deaths, and we ensured every witness was silenced appropriately. General Raiden, General Martin, and the Shadow Swords personally oversaw the matter."

"....."

Although it was technically deception, Caesar did not object.

In truth, there was no better alternative.

If rumors spread that he had lost control and killed his own people, trust in him would collapse immediately. The soldiers fighting beneath his command might hesitate beside him during future battles, and the officers who once stood fearlessly at his side could begin fearing him more than the enemy itself.

A commander feared by his own army...

Was already halfway ruined.

Caesar slowly rubbed his face several times with both hands, exhaustion and irritation mixing within his expression.

What happened on that battlefield had exceeded his expectations completely.

No...

That was putting it lightly.

Something had clearly gone wrong.

Or perhaps...

Something had gone too right.

The thought alone caused his eyes to narrow slightly.

That black cloud.

Those screaming faces.

The feeling of familiarity.

The strange comfort he experienced while observing them.

And the fact that negative karma itself appeared visibly before him...

None of it resembled ordinary manifestations of the Death Law anymore.

It was becoming something else.

Something dangerous.

Something he did not yet understand.

Finally, Caesar exhaled quietly before speaking in a tired voice,

"Leave me alone for a while."

"Understood."

The assistant bowed her head respectfully before turning toward the door. However, just as her hand grasped the handle, she suddenly paused as though remembering something important.

Then she glanced back toward him.

"By the way, the Shadow Swords brought a rather unusual coffin a short while ago and requested permission to store it inside one of the secured vaults. I informed them to wait until you regained consciousness, Marshal, so you could make the decision personally."

"...?" Caesar frowned slightly.

A strange coffin?

For several moments, he remained silent.

Then suddenly, he pushed the blanket aside and rose from the bed before beginning to wear his usual clothes without further hesitation.

"Take me to them."

The assistant blinked briefly in surprise.

"You wish to go immediately?"

"Yes."

His response came without hesitation.

Returning to work immediately felt far preferable to remaining alone with his thoughts.

Because the moment silence returned...

So did the memory of those men collapsing around him.