THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 308: Journey’s End (1)

-Frey Starlight's Pov-

There are so things in life you simply can't believe .. even when you see them with your own eyes.

That's the best way to describe my state of mind as I tried to process those mories.

Naless…

I only glimpsed fragnts of his legendary tale ...a being who had lived for thousands of years. A figure who pushed himself to the absolute limit, devoting everything to growth and evolution… and nothing else.

He reached heights so monuntal that he beca a deity, worshiped by countless beings from all across the races.

I once wrote an entire novel—The Land of Survival—a story that chronicled this world in vivid detail.

I built the lore, the twists, the world itself… and it beca my reality.

But never—not even in my wildest dreams—did I think I'd witness, with my own two eyes, soone powerful enough to stand against him…

To challenge Agaroth.

Just the thought of it defies everything I thought I knew.

Naless. The Engineer. And the retinue that followed them.

I never wrote about any of them. Which only reinforced what I had long begun to suspect .. this wasn't the novel I created. This was sothing else entirely.

His life—from beginning to end—was awe-inspiring, even by my own standards… and I've seen more than most.

Naless. Agaroth. Giants among giants, existing on a level I couldn't even dream of reaching.

Naless truly was… a legend.

But then I asked myself—what did any of this have to do with ?

A revered king, followed by millions. The one who once stood as the shield of the world against death incarnate: Agaroth.

So why ?

Once I received so of the answers… I began asking a whole new set of questions.

Why ?

I'm just a nobody. A fragile human.

Even with the power of aura, I'd be lucky to live just over a hundred years.

So what could they possibly expect from ?

I've suffered endlessly ... physically and ntally.

I've endured every imaginable form of tornt to beco stronger, but… do they really want to beco sothing like that monster?

A monster on the level of Agaroth?

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"If that's what you want from , Blue Eyes, I'm sorry to disappoint you."

You're asking for the impossible.

I don't have the qualifications—or even the desire—to try.

Even with the mask that contains all the knowledge of Naless himself… I can't do it. I can't even wear it for more than a minute.

In other words… you failed, Engineer.

I ant every word, smiling in bitter acceptance.

But that smile faded… as a certain mory crept back into my mind.

That lunatic Naless .. manipulating souls through aura like it was the simplest thing in the world.

I still rember the image of him pouring it into those vessels.

Vessels… souls…

And in that mont, my father's warning resurfaced—his words echoing from sowhere deep inside .

The realization struck with eerie clarity.

I didn't overreact. Not after everything I'd been through.

But deep down, I asked myself:

"What am I, really?"

Could it be… I'm just a vessel?

Like Angry… Smiley… Sad…

Am I just like them?

A more advanced version? More expressive? More alive?

But still… just a vessel ... crafted to host the one they called Naless?

Within that subconscious realm… the place where all that knowledge and mory had been dumped… I found myself laughing again.

"I didn't think I'd fall apart this easily…"

107 tis… I endured every one of those cycles. Until my hair turned white.

My tears had dried. My resolve had hardened.

I truly believed I'd never be shaken again.

But this… this was too much.

Unable to form any coherent response, I realized just how cruel fate had been to .

All that pain. All that struggle through the swamp of despair, rising and falling, over and over… just to be told I'm a vessel?

A borrowed body. A temporary will—crafted solely to pave the way for the true king?

"That's cruel."

Too cruel.

And knowing I didn't even have the right to object…

I accepted my fate .

As the world around … faded to black.

...

...

...

"Frey!"

When I woke up again, I found myself lying on the cold floor of a dark room.

Familiar faces surrounded .

Bloodied, but alive.

On my left and right, they stared silently, though their eyes said more than words ever could.

Slowly, I raised my upper body, sitting upright beside them and instinctively reaching for my head, which was still pulsing with pain.

"How long has it been?"

I was the first to break the silence, speaking in a calm voice.

"We just woke up..."

Snow answered, his tone heavy with fatigue and the daze of recent defeat.

From that alone, I could tell—he had lost to Angry, even after using the War King Form.

With a light pat on his shoulder, I offered a gesture of comfort and rose to my feet.

"It's fine. That defeat was inevitable. He's in the SSS class, after all."

I said it casually, brushing past Snow ... who was visibly taken aback by my words.

From the beginning, Angry had toyed with us the way an adult would with children, showing only a sliver of his true power.

And how did I know that?

The answer was right in my hand.

I lifted it slowly, staring at the object resting in my palm.

The black tallic mask, still and silent—emanating not even the faintest trace of power.

Who would've thought that this unassuming artifact contained knowledge vast enough to fill the universe?

And I had just received a fraction of it...

"Let's go."

I called to my friends with a smile, and both of them followed without hesitation.

"To where?"

"To loot this castle."

I answered simply.

Ever since we woke up here, there had been no sign of Angry or that damn Engineer.

I was sure they were still nearby ... watching us, capable of reaching at any mont. But I couldn't do the sa to them.

So I decided to do the one thing I still could.

Part of the knowledge I gained earlier included everything about this castle.

Now that I fully understood its inner workings, I realized just how important this place was.

Delving deeper, I began opening hidden passageways with such ease and precision that even Ghost—the assassin—was visibly impressed.

Eventually, we found ourselves inside a vast chamber.

Snow and Ghost were visibly awestruck by what they saw.

A room the size of an arena, overflowing with golden treasures so dazzling they could blind anyone who stared too long.

"Take whatever you want, guys. Ghost, I think you'll find a weapon here that suits you."

I spoke with casual indifference, like the place belonged to .

But my friends' eyes never left .

"What?" I asked with a smile. "Is there sothing on my face?"

"Are you okay, Frey? You look kind of…"

Snow hesitated with his words, but Ghost didn't.

"You look like a completely different person."

They weren't wrong. One glance at my reflection told everything.

If I once looked like a wicked prince with that white hair…

Now I looked more like a tyrant king—ruler of an ancient, forgotten kingdom.

Ironically, that Naless entity had white hair too.

Sohow, I suppose I'll end up looking more and more like him one day...

"I'm fine, guys. Thanks for your concern."

"But—"

"That's enough."

I cut off Snow, who looked like he was about to press further.

"I said I'm fine, So just drop it, alright?"

I was truly grateful for his concern.

Really, I was.

But I wasn't in the right state to show it.

Not when that Naless figure still filled my mind ...

Fortunately, Snow and Ghost weren't the type who couldn't read the mood. They let it go.