THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 598: The Torch Passed On

The Engineer had been there since the first day of the invasion, watching the war unfold from beginning to end.

He interfered only occasionally. It is even said that Cheon Ma himself had once been his follower—but chose instead to defy him, to fight, and to die against the demons.

”He told us that in our age, victory against the demons was impossible. Utterly impossible.”

”But far into the future... in a different era, with different warriors, he claimed humanity would have its chance. He said he knew the future, knew the secrets it held.”

According to him, the only chance of victory lay hundreds of years ahead. His words were absurd—but undeniable in the wake of their crushing defeat.

Many resisted his claim. But with the shadows of their dead comrades looming over them, despair crept in. They were forced to admit the truth: they could not defeat the demons if the true army ever turned its gaze toward them.

The only reason they had survived as long as they had was because other, stronger races were fighting the demons elsewhere—drawing away the deadliest of their kind.

The Engineer urged them to endure, to remain hidden, to build a foundation for the future of their species.

He promised that if they did, one day they would have their chance. However slim.

What was strange—disturbing—was how the Readers agreed with him completely, blindly, as though their minds had been bent to his will.

There was too much mystery surrounding that man. To trust him so absolutely was madness.

But humanity had no choice. Their strongest had been slaughtered in an instant, their pride and hope reduced to ash.

A single demon had plunged them all into despair.

And so they clung to the only light of hope left before them.

The Engineer showed them the path. And they chose to follow it.

”We decided to believe him...”

Whether it was the Readers, or the heroes of the old generation...

They chose to place their faith in the generations yet to come.

”After that... everything happened quickly.”

In order to give humanity an environment where new generations could rise, the gates—those ever-looming threats that could unleash demonic invasions at any moment—had to be dealt with.

It was then that Kazis Valerion chose to sacrifice himself to seal them.

At that time, the old generation of heroes waged their final battle. It ended with Kazis Valerion burning his own soul, consuming every last drop of his life and power to seal the gates shut.

Many opposed what he intended to do. But Kazis was a true hero, one with the courage and resolve to do what was right before anyone else.

The gates closed. The threat of invasion was lifted—at least for a time.

Before his sacrifice, Kazis Valerion had left behind a family.

And so did the leaders of the great houses. They passed down their bloodlines and their combat legacies, ensuring their descendants would inherit both skill and duty. Thus they laid the foundation for the next generation, passing the torch to their sons, and their sons’ sons.

And once they had prepared everything, each of them walked his own path, after making the same vow.

”We swore that one day, in the distant future, we would return and fight again. To achieve the victory that strange man had foretold...”

He had told them that stronger heroes would one day arise—heroes capable of accomplishing what they themselves could not.

Their role was to prepare the way, to support those future champions.

And to achieve that, the great warriors of old had to vanish. Their continued presence would only draw unwanted attention. So, one by one, they let themselves fall into obscurity, deliberately erasing their own existence.

The Saint, Liora, bound herself to the World Tree. It embraced her body, preserving her through the ages. She hid all that time, waiting for the promised moment.

But in the end...

She broke her vow. She could not watch Frey and the others die before her eyes. She believed that those young men were among the heroes they had awaited.

And so she stepped forth before her appointed time, returning to the world after countless long years.

There were many details Liora did not share.

But overall, this was the story of humanity across those ancient centuries.

”Does this mean that everything humanity has gone through until now... was the result of manipulation by someone who wasn’t even human? And that all those Readers... and all the leaders of the great houses... are still alive somewhere?!” Uriel asked, pressing on the final point.

In answer, Liora merely shook her head.

”I do not know if the others managed to keep their vow. But some of them are certainly still here, somewhere in this world, hiding themselves until the proper time. Just as I did...”

”What we did was born of the urging of a being not of humanity. But at that time, what he showed us was the only seed of hope left to carry us forward. We trusted the Readers, who had become like chosen messengers in our eyes. They trusted him. And so, in the end, we followed too. That is what led to the world you know today... to the founding of the Great Houses.”

”Houses destined to be the cradle from which the long-awaited heroes would emerge.”

With that, Liora ended her tale, telling them all that needed to be told.

Because of that vow, she could not reveal herself through all those years. Her presence would have drawn enemies humanity could never withstand.

So she waited in silence, turning a blind eye to the horrors that plagued the world.

Another reason she had believed the Engineer’s words was that she herself had once followed a being who was not human: the mysterious Lord of Light, who had aided them by bestowing power upon Kazis Valerion.

So she had no reason to reject the Engineer simply for not being human.

And in the end... they all followed him.

Snow and Uriel needed time to absorb what their eyes and ears had just been shown.

But Frey...

For him, it only deepened the realization that Gehrman had been weaving his plans since a time far older than he had imagined—manipulating everyone on a scale far vaster than he had thought possible.

Everything that had happened to humanity... all the schemes, all the conspiracies...

It had all begun with him.

By urging the ancient heroes, the Engineer had shaped the very civilization the world knew today.

All of it, to pave the way for the appearance of the ”new generation” he had promised.

But that was a lie.

The only one the Engineer had truly been preparing the world for... was Frey Starlight himself.

The thought that the Engineer had gone so far—that he had built such a terrifying, far-reaching plan—only convinced Frey further.

There was no escaping his destined path.

A fate the Engineer had been constructing for a very, very long time.