A searing pain lanced through his left eye. When he opened it again, the world had fractured into red lines—the sight of . The power of absolute command. He tested it on a soldier.

As Lelouch fell toward the burning earth, C.C. caught him in her arms, floating above the inferno.

Cornelia's backup arrived. The Black Knights, betrayed by their own intelligence officer (a Geass-corrected mole), turned on Zero. And in the chaos, Suzaku's Lancelot punched through Zero's cockpit.

He had two choices: dissolve the Black Knights in shame, or use the tragedy.