Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2195 The truth about the dead

”...According to the quick examination performed by the Big Six on the corpse, they concluded that she is physically dead, but there appears to be a certain force surrounding her soul domain and preventing it from collapsing completely. They believe it originates from the Ashification Law itself.” The Shadow Sword explained calmly while maintaining his composed posture beside the coffin. ”The six of them requested keeping the corpse with them for further examination, and they even pledged to protect it personally, but they are still not official subordinates of the empire and have not sworn any oath binding them to our authority, so according to the laws we operate under, we were forced to retrieve her and bring her here instead.”

”....”

By now, the anger inside Serafinaʼs eyes had almost completely disappeared.

What remained instead was exhaustion.

And denial.

Although she did send a glance toward the Shadow Sword after hearing him use the word corpse twice in succession, she ultimately said nothing.

This was not the time for stubborn arguments or correcting terminology.

Not when her mistressʼs fate was literally resting in the hands of the people standing within this room.

”Interesting...” Caesar stepped closer until his thighs nearly touched the crystal coffin itself before lowering his gaze and examining Helen from an even closer distance than before. ”Very interesting...”

His expression gradually became more serious the longer he observed her.

What exactly was an undead being?

The answer itself sounded deceptively simple:

A dead creature that still moved.

But the true question was never what they were.

The true question was always:

How?

What fundamentally made someone alive boiled down to two core elements:

The presence of life force.

And the integrity of the soul domain.

As long as both remained healthy and intact, then the individual would still be considered alive beneath the heavenly laws, meaning the Law of One Hundred Thousand Years continued applying to them fully. Once a person reached that age, the heavenly laws themselves would begin opposing them relentlessly until death became inevitable...

Unless they became refiners of a planetary soul.

And becoming a planetary soul refiner meant stepping directly into the endless game of wars, powers, factions, alliances, and cosmic struggles because from that point onward simple isolation or escape was no longer truly possible.

But what happened if life force vanished completely?

Or if the soul domain collapsed entirely?

At that moment, the being would effectively leave the classification of ”living creature” altogether, causing the heavenly laws themselves to gradually ignore it completely and treat it no differently than ordinary stones scattered across the universe.

And therein existed the loophole.

The undead were creatures that lost one of the two keys of life, whether intentionally or accidentally, while desperately preserving the other.

The overwhelming majority of undead belonged to the first category, namely those who existed during Mortixʼs death and the transformation of the galaxy itself. Their soul domains withered entirely while their primal souls escaped or dispersed, yet their life veins became sealed while still preserving what remained inside them.

That type existed far closer to death than life because everything truly making a person unique vanished alongside the primal soul, leaving behind only fragments carved deeply into the dried soul domain itself, such as law inscriptions studied previously or exceptionally powerful memories impossible to erase completely.

But the ability for rational thought...

Was gone.

The life vein itself remained responsible for the half-life they still possessed, releasing microscopic traces of life force, perhaps one-millionth of what they once contained, just enough to allow movement while preventing their bodies from becoming entirely rigid. Yet that amount was simultaneously far too small to preserve them properly, causing all of them to rot eventually, though the process itself became so unbelievably slow that millions of years might pass before visible decay truly appeared.

Those undead formed the overwhelming majority of The Necrofortress Galaxyʼs population and acted as its primary army. The second type, meanwhile, could control them rather easily because the first category neither argued nor feared anything anymore.

They simply obeyed.

And eventually, once every final trace of life force inside their bodies disappeared entirely, they would reach complete death as well...

Though nobody truly knew how long that process required.

The second category...

That was what Helen reminded Caesar of now.

Those were the individuals who voluntarily chose transformation into undead existence, either to escape the one-hundred-thousand-year limit, punish themselves for horrific sins committed during life, cling desperately to existence after suffering fatal injuries, or for countless other personal reasons unique to each individual.

Unlike the first category, these undead preserved their soul domains almost entirely intact.

Their minds remained functional.

Their personalities survived.

Their memories, intelligence, emotions, ambitions, and awareness all continued existing normally because their primal souls never truly vanished.

Instead...

They sacrificed the other half of life.

Their life force.

Those individuals intentionally extinguished or sealed away their own life veins while preserving the soul domain itself through special methods, causing them to become something horrifyingly unnatural: beings mentally alive but physically dead.

And because their soul domains still functioned properly, they retained the ability to think, learn, cultivate, command armies, hold conversations, and even continue researching laws.

In some cases...

They became even more terrifying after death than they ever were during life.

Of course, such a transformation carried unbearable consequences.

The overwhelming majority of people attempting it failed instantly and collapsed into complete death before stabilizing properly, while even successful transformations usually left behind severe mental distortions over time because the soul domain itself was never truly designed to exist independently from life force forever.

Still...

Many continued choosing that path willingly.

Some feared death.

Some feared the heavenly laws as they grow older.

Some wished to continue protecting their families or empires beyond the hundred-thousand-year limit, having the delusion that they would still care after they turn.

And some...

Simply lost the will to remain properly alive after experiencing enough pain.

They performed forbidden secret rituals upon the life vein itself, causing it to sever while leaking everything contained within it toward the bones, whereas a tiny remaining portion was redirected and used to seal the soul domain in place.

By the end of the ritual, the new undead beingʼs bones became hard, living, and absurdly durable, capable of enduring millions of years without cracking or collapsing, while the remainder of the body immediately began rotting and falling apart rapidly.

As for the soul domain, it remained stable for a period of time before eventually beginning its own slow decay as well, causing the person to gradually lose pieces of themselves little by little until, over the passing ages, they ultimately forgot even their own identity and became nothing more than moving skeletons wandering endlessly through the dead worlds of The Necrofortress Galaxy.

But despite that horrifying fate...

They became powerful moving skeletons.

Those were the commanders and generals of The Necrofortress Galaxy, the terrifying undead capable of preserving fragments of intelligence and combat ability long after abandoning ordinary life itself.

Rumors claimed that this category of undead possessed a special cultivation method allowing them to continue growing stronger while simultaneously extending the amount of time they retained their memories, personalities, and awareness, but nobody truly knew what that method was, and frankly, nobody wished to know as long as the undead continued remaining isolated within their dead galaxy far away from the rest of civilization.

Most powers preferred pretending The Necrofortress Galaxy simply did not exist at all.

”...Her life vein has completely dried up.” Caesar muttered while continuing to examine Helen through the crystal surface carefully, his eyes gradually narrowing with deeper thought. ”Most likely because of the curse Damir placed upon her years ago.”

Naturally, Caesar already possessed a rough understanding of what had happened there.

”She made a mistake going after the person known as the Son of Curse immediately after becoming a Monarch.”

”....”

Serafinaʼs lips trembled slightly before another tear escaped her eyes.

That was simply the kind of person her mistress had always been.

The moment Marshal Caesar injured her pride publicly that day, Serafina already knew Helen would eventually attempt something reckless in response. Honestly, it was already a miracle that she managed restraining herself until reaching the power of a Monarch before acting upon her hatred.

Thinking about it now...

Serafina slowly turned and shot Caesar an angry glare.

He was the reason behind all of this.

If he had not humiliated Helen that day...

If he had not crushed her dignity so mercilessly...

Then perhaps none of this would have happened.

”..?” Caesar immediately noticed the look and turned toward her with furrowed brows. ”If you want someone to blame, then blame your foolish mistress and your own inability to advise her properly. What exactly does this have to do with me?” His voice became colder afterward. ”Do you think I killed her simply because I used to give her money?”

”....”

Serafina lowered her gaze again without saying anything.

Because despite the anger burning inside her, part of her knew he was not entirely wrong.

Helen truly had chosen this path herself.

No one forced her to chase the Son of Curse immediately after her breakthrough, especially someone infamous even among the scions of the Cursed Behemoth for carrying horrifying curses and strange death-related abilities.

”Regardless.” Caesar waved dismissively before returning his attention toward the coffin once more. ”A depleted life vein combined with a protected soul domain means she now possesses every requirement necessary to become a second-type undead.”

The room itself gradually fell quieter afterward.

Even the Shadow Sword remained silent while Serafina stared at Helen helplessly through the transparent crystal.

”What are your orders, Your Highness?” Lily finally asked softly in her gentle angelic voice.

”...” Caesar continued staring silently at the crystal coffin for several more moments before finally speaking again. ”Bring a formation capable of continuously supplying life force, similar to the ones we use for medical treatment. A small formation will suffice. It should be enough to preserve the condition of her body and prevent decay from setting in.”

The moment those words left his mouth—

Serafinaʼs expression changed completely.

”Thank you, Marshal!” The relief inside her voice sounded almost desperate, as though she had just received heavenly forgiveness itself after standing upon the edge of despair moments earlier.

”No need.” Caesar shook his head calmly without even looking toward her. ”If my father personally ordered her rescue, then he obviously still has some use for her, and I have no intention of allowing her body to rot while itʼs under my supervision. Thatʼs all.”

His words remained cold and practical without the slightest attempt at comfort.

Yet Serafina did not care.

As long as Helen was protected...

As long as she would not be discarded or abandoned...

Then nothing else mattered right now.

Caesar neither softened his words nor waited for a response afterward, instead turning immediately as though preparing to leave the hall entirely.

But while walking away, his thoughts continued circling around Helenʼs condition repeatedly.

Because her state was far from ordinary.

If anything, it could be described as completely unique within the domains of life and death themselves.

A dead body.

A preserved soul domain.

And the Ashification Law somehow acting as the bridge preventing total collapse.

Even Caesar, someone already walking dangerously close to the Path of Death himself, failed to recall reading about anything exactly like this before.

And perhaps...

Studying Helenʼs condition carefully for some time might help him finally break through the barrier blocking his own understanding for so long.

The thought alone caused his expression to shift subtly.

Then suddenly—

Caesar stopped walking altogether.

His brows furrowed for a brief moment before his eyes narrowed slightly as though a strange connection had just surfaced inside his mind unexpectedly.

Helen.

Death.

The preserved soul domain.

And then...

The Silent Emperor.

That abnormal existence wandering silently around the palace without aging, without speaking, and without truly resembling an ordinary living person no matter how much time passed.

Then Caesar slowly snapped his fingers.

”...Bring me the Silent One.” His voice became quieter afterward, carrying a trace of seriousness absent moments earlier. ”I want to examine something.”