The Past is now and so am I

"Shut up!" Kaido scoffed angrily.With a death blank stare.

All faces turned in his direction.

Everything in his biography was true. He had once been a forge maester, working alongside his wife, Iris, who had taught him the craft. She was known as one of the most skilled forge maesters in the kingdom. Kaido had started as her apprentice, but their relationship soon turned from master to apprentice into love. They married, had three children—a daughter and two sons—and life had been good.

Until it wasn't.

His wife got into a conflict with a General In the army over a trivial issue. What started as a trivial dispute escalated into something far more dangerous. And then, she was killed.

Iris.

Big green eyes. Dimpled cheeks. Uneven hair. Womanish freckles on a button nose.

He had failed to protect her. He hadn't been a skilled warrior then. He hadn't been able to do anything. But still, he blamed himself.

Like any man would, he sought revenge. But he was easily thrown into prison, and his children were taken captive. In mere days, the happy world he had built crumbled to dust. To make it worse, the news spread to the public was a lie: she had allegedly tried to seduce the general to steal an important artifact and had been caught and executed.

The lie didn't even make sense. He and his family were scorned and looked as herectis to the whole state.

"You make me sick."Kaido blurt out looking at the old man in his eyes with a overwhelming murdering intent. The old man took a defensive stance shivering in fear.

Kaido did not look like a man who had accepted his fate. His eyes still burned with fight. Everyone here knew the truth about his wife's death, yet they chose to ignore it, judging him only for what he had done in response—not for what had driven him to it.

"Damn hypocrites."

No one dared to speak. Even though Kaido was injured, everyone knew what he was capable of. The artifacts in his arsenal were dangerous, and if he truly wished, he could take one of them to his grave, ensuring that someone else went with him.

Yet someone laughed.

It was Noc.

He laughed so hard he held his stomach. Kaido's eyes locked onto him.

Noc was one of the four legendary rank warriors in the kingdom, sharing the same elemental affinity as Kaido. Kaido knew it was only a matter of time before they sent someone like him to either capture or kill Kaido. The kingdom warriors had failed too many times. Now, their only option was to send their strongest.

Kaido had often wondered what the so-called "Night Shadow" was like. A man rumored to control thousands of shadows, overflowing with mana. A man no one had seen physically since achieving legendary rank—even the one standing before Kaido now was merely a shadow replica, yet just as powerful as the original.

Kaido hadn't expected him to be the laughing type.

"Was it worth it?" Noc asked, his tone turning serious.

Kaido didn't respond, pretending not to understand. But deep down, he knew exactly what Noc meant.

"Let's assume your wife was killed exactly as you claim," Noc continued. "And let's say you were thrown into prison just in case you tried to take revenge. But tell me—" He took slow, deliberate steps, circling Kaido. "Was it worth it? The countless lives you've taken, all in the name of eradicating the monarchy?" They eyes met.

Kaido remained silent.

"You said you wanted to free the people from suffering so they wouldn't go through what you did… suffering and loss of family but guess what? You've killed more of those people than the ones you set out to punish. Guards, innocents, bystanders—collateral damage in your quest for vengeance."

Noc was right. Kaido never had some grand goal of overthrowing the monarchy. It had all started with revenge. And after he killed the general, the government came for his family, one after another, forcing his war to continue.

"Your so-called salvation has turned into nothing but a massacre. And now, you stand alone, without family or friends. Even your own clan—" Noc gestured to a man in brown robes with flowing black hair. Zlyan Ishtar, the current leader of the Ishtar Clan.

"—sees you as nothing but a heretic and a plague upon society. Is this what your wife would have wanted?"

Kaido stared at him, expression unreadable.

"Is this your justice, Kaido? Huh?!"

Kaido's hands trembled. Not out of fear or regret but out of not more thhter

He was laughing.

Fool.

"Justice? Don't make me laugh." His voice dripped with venom. His breath was no longer ragged from exhaustion. His body still ached, but the pain was nothing compared to the emptiness within.

"All I ever sought was vengeance. And guess what? It was the best feeling ever."

Justice was an illusion, a cruel joke played by the gods. It never came for those who needed it most. It favored the lucky, the privileged. Kaido had never been lucky. And he had long abandoned the notion that justice was something he even wanted.

"Justice takes away the joy of watching your enemies die in your arms, the same way they slaughtered your comrades. It denies you the satisfaction of feeling their bodies grow cold."

His fists clenched.

"I once chose peace. I wasn't even good with a sword. But violence found me. And when it did, I embraced it."

A voice echoed from the darkness.

Noc.

"But you could have stopped it."

Kaido hesitated.

Could he have? Perhaps.

But if he had… what would his life have meant? His wife was dead. His children were gone. And he knew who had done it.

"Look at me," he scoffed. "Do I look like a fool? I ignored it. I walked away. And still, it found me. Tell me, why should my family lie dead while their murderers dine in comfort?"

His voice broke.

"If that is justice, then I never wanted it."

Noc took a step closer.

"Then tell me, Kaido… why do you wish to die?"

Kaido's grip tightened.

He had avenged his wife, his children, his family. One life after another, he had drowned in blood. But there was no peace. Only emptiness.

And when he heard the Night Shadow was hunting him, he felt something he hadn't in a long time.

Relief.

"The answer is simple." He raised his hand to his mouth, swallowing something.

A high-concentrated mana restoration potion.

A surge of power exploded from his core. Noc tensed, as did everyone else. Kaido had only engaged in conversation to buy time. To stabilize his mana core.

"Now," Kaido growled, slamming his sword into the ground, "let me give you a taste of your own medicine, Night Shadow."

Kaido mana surround him like a circle with him shoving his sword into the ground hard, As an artifact appeared in his hand . A staff. The size of a scroll with blue emerald at both side with serveral markings around it.

THE STAFF OF THE UNDEAD MONSTERS

Silent technique: Summoning Quiet Dancers

The staff glowed then crumbled into dust. 

His mana slowly lowered revealing a group of monsters surrounding him , they looked invisible but not , they had materialistic body-monster like- but looked like moving sound waves, they figure varying from little to big to mage class to a normal warrior type of different kind.

They were living . They were dangerous and ready to kill.

Noc smiled barbarically with every other person trembling fro the insane amount of summoning Kaido had performed Using the staff of the undead monsters which worked based on the user attribute and his attribute in this aspect was like sound .

"As from now on no one is allowed to attack Kaido only I -" Noc smiled stretching his left hand to the people behind him, even if he hadn't said it no one had actually planned attacked Kaido everyone loved their dear life than to face that monster.

"Wake up SHADOWS!" Red violent eyes , dark figurines appeared marching Kaido summons in number .

"KAIDO YOU ARE MY OPPONENT TODAY" Noc yelled with joy, With that Shadows clashed with the undead transparent warriors

This bastard is war-deprived.