THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 308: Journey’s End (1)

-Frey Starlightʼs Pov-

There are some things in life you simply canʼt believe .. even when you see them with your own eyes.

Thatʼs the best way to describe my state of mind as I tried to process those memories.

Nameless…

I only glimpsed fragments 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 monumental that he became 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 became my reality.

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

To challenge Agaroth.

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

Nameless. 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 wasnʼt the novel I created. This was something else entirely.

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

Nameless. Agaroth. Giants among giants, existing on a level I couldnʼt even dream of reaching.

Nameless truly was… a legend.

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

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

So why me?

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

Why me?

Iʼm just a nobody. A fragile human.

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

So what could they possibly expect from me?

Iʼve suffered endlessly ... physically and mentally.

Iʼve endured every imaginable form of torment to become stronger, but… do they really want me to become something like that monster?

A monster on the level of Agaroth?

I couldnʼt help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

”If thatʼs what you want from me, Blue Eyes, Iʼm sorry to disappoint you.”

Youʼre asking for the impossible.

I donʼt have the qualifications—or even the desire—to try.

Even with the mask that contains all the knowledge of Nameless himself… I canʼt do it. I canʼt even wear it for more than a minute.

In other words… you failed, Engineer.

I meant every word, smiling in bitter acceptance.

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

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

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

Vessels… souls…

And in that moment, my fatherʼs warning resurfaced—his words echoing from somewhere deep inside me.

The realization struck me with eerie clarity.

I didnʼt overreact. Not after everything Iʼd been through.

But deep down, I asked myself:

”What am I, really?”

Could it be… Iʼm 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 Nameless?

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

”I didnʼt think Iʼd fall apart this easily…”

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

My tears had dried. My resolve had hardened.

I truly believed Iʼd 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 me.

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

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

”Thatʼs cruel.”

Too cruel.

And knowing I didnʼt even have the right to object…

I accepted my fate .

As the world around me… faded to black.

...

...

...

”Frey!”

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

Familiar faces surrounded me.

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.

”Itʼs fine. That defeat was inevitable. Heʼs 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 metallic mask, still and silent—emanating not even the faintest trace of power.

Who wouldʼve thought that this unassuming artifact contained knowledge vast enough to fill the universe?

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

”Letʼs 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 me at any moment. But I couldnʼt do the same 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 youʼll find a weapon here that suits you.”

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

But my friendsʼ eyes never left me.

”What?” I asked with a smile. ”Is there something on my face?”

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

Snow hesitated with his words, but Ghost didnʼt.

”You look like a completely different person.”

They werenʼt wrong. One glance at my reflection told me 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 Nameless entity had white hair too.

Somehow, I suppose Iʼll end up looking more and more like him one day...

”Iʼm fine, guys. Thanks for your concern.”

”But—”

”Thatʼs enough.”

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

”I said Iʼm fine, So just drop it, alright?”

I was truly grateful for his concern.

Really, I was.

But I wasnʼt in the right state to show it.

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

Fortunately, Snow and Ghost werenʼt the type who couldnʼt read the mood. They let it go.