Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2418 Threatening the dead

"Hooo~" Caesar released an intensely cold breath that carried an unnatural chill with it, then an unmistakably angry expression gradually appeared across his face as he spoke through his irritation. "Mortex, no more games. Not after you put me in that miserable position in front of my father... One quick visit, and then I'm leaving."

After saying those words, Caesar gritted his teeth tightly, the memory of what had happened still clearly bothering him whenever he recalled it.

<What can you possibly do to help me? Maybe you should get rid of that pathetic soul that's been stalking you first, then talk about helping me with something of this magnitude.>

Those harsh, cutting words still echoed vividly in Caesar's ears even to this day, refusing to disappear from his mind despite the time that had passed since he first heard them.

At that moment, when his father had suddenly shouted those words at him, Caesar hadn't understood what he meant at all. He had simply left him there and walked away, feeling incredibly small and insignificant... He, the Shield who had once declared without hesitation that he would fight death itself if it ever came to take his father away, had reached a point where he no longer seemed to be of any use.

But soon afterward, once he had enough time to think about what his father had actually said, Caesar began replaying his memories one after another, recalling all those occasions when he'd inexplicably felt uncomfortable, all those moments when he'd felt as though he wasn't entirely himself, and those strange times when other people had told him that he had been talking to himself without realizing it...

A soul stalking him?!

After hearing those words directly from his father, such a possibility suddenly seemed entirely plausible... but the problem was that Caesar understood virtually nothing about souls in the first place, and even his own Soul Force was extremely limited.

So Caesar isolated himself that very day and decided to deal with the unknown presence in the same manner he usually does things...

He threatened.

He angrily shouted into the empty surroundings that if the soul lurking around him didn't reveal itself immediately, he would simply go to his father and ask him to annihilate it.

And astonishingly enough, it actually appeared in response to his threat... Mortex, the Lord of Death.

The person who had founded the Necrofortress Galaxy and ultimately brought destruction upon himself at the hands of Athena personally, the person everyone believed had been thoroughly dead for tens of millions of years without any possibility of returning... was actually speaking to Caesar at that very moment.

For the first time, Mortex communicated with Caesar directly rather than remaining hidden, telling him that what existed between the two of them was merely a link, and that all he wanted was for that link between them not to be severed.

"What do you want?" Caesar asked roughly, showing no intention of treating the mysterious soul politely merely because he had finally revealed himself.

Mortex's answer was surprisingly simple: he merely wanted Caesar to try his luck in the Necrofortress Galaxy before deciding to sever the link between them. That was all he claimed to want from him.

It was obvious from the suspiciously innocent tone used by the soul that it wasn't harboring any particularly good intentions, so Caesar immediately moved to seek Morgana's help in getting rid of the soul link entirely, feeling too embarrassed to go back and ask his father for assistance after everything that had happened between them.

But when Caesar finally reached the door of that sealed room, he suddenly stopped where he stood before he could even extend his hand toward the door...

What had happened...

His father already knew about the link, yet despite knowing about it, he hadn't made any attempt to help Caesar get rid of it. In fact, he hadn't even said anything about its existence until that moment.

And clearly, his father hadn't simply discovered its existence while speaking with Helen either. He wasn't nearly idle enough to casually investigate something like that in the middle of everything else... Had he actually known about the soul link for quite some time already? ...And despite knowing about it, had he deliberately left it alone?

There were only two possible implications Caesar could draw from that realization.

Either his father wanted something bad to happen to him and had deliberately left him to suffer with this soul attached to him... or his father actually wanted what was best for him and believed that this mysterious soul would somehow benefit him.

Without the slightest hesitation after reaching that conclusion, Caesar turned around, went back to sit down that very day, and began asking Mortex for more details about exactly what he wanted from him.

Hooo~ Caesar's skin suddenly froze over as a muffled chuckle emerged through his mouth. "Don't worry, I've already seen enough of your father and his entourage to know better, and I don't want any trouble brought upon my galaxy because of them. Go there and try. If you can't do it, then simply leave."

Hissss~ The ice covering Caesar's skin evaporated during the process as control returned to him. "Ugh, try what exactly?! You just keep saying that same word without explaining anything!!"

"...."

"Tsk." Caesar clicked his tongue in irritation, but he already understood that if the answer hadn't come after asking this many times, then no answer was going to come no matter how much he continued demanding one.

His link with Mortex had grown considerably stronger after he entered Sector 666, and that connection continued becoming stronger and stronger with every step that brought him closer to the Necrofortress Galaxy, so if Mortex still refused to answer his question despite their increasingly powerful connection, then there was only one simple explanation: he simply didn't want to answer.

So Caesar eventually stood up from his seat, abandoned the pointless conversation, and returned to the cockpit of the ancient vessel. "Old man, what's the situation?"

"What do you think?" The captain replied without any unnecessary explanation, merely raising his hand and pointing toward the space directly ahead of them.

The moment Caesar finished asking his question and followed the captain's gesture, looking outward through the cracked window of the vessel, his eyebrows immediately rose in unmistakable astonishment at what had finally appeared before him...

A galaxy.

It wasn't a relatively small and orderly galaxy like Nihari, no... What stretched before Caesar was something absolutely enormous in comparison, a gigantic galaxy containing hundreds of millions of stars and billions upon billions of planets.

"Is that it..?" Caesar quietly muttered while continuing to stare through the cracked window at the enormous galaxy ahead.

"The Necrofortress Galaxy." The old man nodded.

"...From a distance, it really doesn't look anything like the stronghold of an unlimited undead army." Caesar spoke in a low voice while continuing to observe the astonishing beauty of the enormous galaxy spread out before him, finding nothing in its magnificent outward appearance that immediately matched the terrifying reputation surrounding it.

"The Law of Death affects living creatures, not celestial bodies." The old man shook his head as though Caesar's observation was only natural. "Whatever happens on the surfaces of those planets or in the space surrounding them doesn't affect their outward splendor or change how beautiful they appear when viewed from this distance." Then he chuckled strangely as another thought crossed his mind. "But you should see the souls of those miserable planets, hehe. That's an entirely different sight."

"...." Caesar remained silent for a moment before giving a small nod, then shifted his attention forward once again. "All right, increase the speed."

"Increase what? Have you completely lost your mind? I'm not getting anywhere near that place!" The captain immediately waved his hand dismissively, rejecting Caesar's order without even considering it.

"That wasn't our agreement!" Caesar's voice rose sharply as he turned toward the old man. "I paid you ten million pearls to take me aboard this miserable, broken-down wreck all the way to the Necrofortress Galaxy!"

"You're going there, not me." The old man pointed casually toward the rear section of the vessel as though the distinction should have been obvious from the beginning. "Take the small rescue vessel back there and continue the rest of the journey on your own." Then he snorted at Caesar's complaint. "If I personally went inside that galaxy every single time someone handed me ten million pearls to come here, I would've died ten million times by now!"

"....." Caesar stared at the captain for a moment without responding, then turned his head and looked toward the smaller vessel located at the rear, a tiny rescue vessel capable of carrying only a single person, before finally beginning to walk in its direction.

"Hey." The captain suddenly raised his voice before Caesar could leave. "...The Law of Death is excessively concentrated throughout that galaxy, and the moment you begin approaching it properly, you'll immediately start feeling its effects. The planets themselves continuously radiate that Law of Death into the space surrounding them... Take my advice and stay on the nearby planets for a thousand years first; you'll find low-level undead there. After that, move on to the nearby moons, where the density of the Law of Death is considerably higher, then stay on the farthest planet in the first belt for a few millennia before moving on to the next planet if what you really want is to gradually transform yourself into a powerful undead." His voice then became noticeably quieter and more serious as he gave his final warning. "If you simply take that little vessel and fly straight across the galaxy without doing any of that... you'll die before you ever manage to land on any planet."

"..." Caesar listened to the entire warning before giving the old man a small nod, but his steps didn't stop as he continued toward the rescue vessel. "We'll see about that."

Clank Clank Clank

The small rescue vessel gradually detached itself from the mother vessel before beginning to make its way forward through space on its own. Its interior was so cramped that Caesar could barely sit inside with his legs stretched out in front of him, while a simple control stick positioned before his seat seemed to be almost everything he had available to control it. Its speed was actually slightly higher than that of the ancient mother vessel, but judging from its construction and limited interior, it clearly wasn't designed for long-distance travel.

"...." The captain remained aboard his own vessel and silently watched Caesar's tiny rescue vessel as it moved farther and farther away, his eyes gradually revealing a trace of genuine sorrow as he followed the young man's departure.

He had personally brought an uncountable number of people to this place before, delivering one person after another toward the same terrifying destination, but this was the first time he had ever brought such a promising young man who hadn't even reached a thousand years of age yet… For someone so young and promising to die here truly seemed like an unfortunate waste.

"Hmmm?" The captain suddenly furrowed his brows slightly when he noticed something happening in the distance.

At that moment, the small rescue vessel carrying Caesar crossed directly through the boundaries of the Necrofortress Galaxy and officially entered its territory.

"That arrogant bastard..." The captain muttered beneath his breath as he continued watching the tiny vessel without looking away.

His expression gradually changed as he watched Caesar's small vessel cross the galaxy's outer belt without stopping and continue advancing deeper toward the next one.

"Tsk... He's dead." The captain clicked his tongue, having apparently already decided Caesar's fate after seeing him ignore the warning and continue heading deeper into the galaxy.

Then the old man released a long sigh, turned his ancient vessel around, and departed in the opposite direction... heading off to bring another fool.