THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 285: Light and Shadow (1)

– Frey Starlightʼs Pov –

Our journey had just begun .. into a place called Londor.

And to be honest, I had no idea what this place was.

Trapped with no way back, we barely survived the first trial... and that was just the beginning.

I stepped away from Snow and Ghost, who remained near the corpse of the beast we had just slain, and opened the system interface. I needed to know why the system had brought us here. We couldnʼt afford to wander aimlessly and hope to stumble across what it wanted from us. This place... it was an entire planet.

So once again, the system was my only guide.

The familiar blue screen appeared.

I was expecting a quest. A hint. Anything.

But instead… the three locked slots had been revealed:

Puzzle Pieces:

– Memory: ???

– Sword: ???

– Shield: ???

I read the words again and again.

Puzzle pieces?

Was this some kind of riddle I needed to solve?

No matter how I looked at it, it felt like the system wanted me to find these things.

The sword and shield sounded like material items .. maybe weapons. But ”memory”... I had no idea what that one meant.

Still, I had a hunch that one of these pieces would be here, in Londor.

The sword...

That word stuck with me.

I already had Dark Sister and Balerion .. they were supposed to be among the strongest weapons out there.

So was the system really asking me to find another sword? Or was ”sword” meant to be metaphorical?

I sat down on the red sand and sighed, giving up for now.

Overthinking it was only making things worse.

The real issue was: how was I supposed to find any of these pieces?

There wasnʼt even a hint from the system this time.

Which meant I only had one tool left .. the one that had saved me countless times before.

System Advice.

My own personal compass.

Resting my chin on my palm, I debated how to approach this.

Usually, Iʼd just use the ”direct advice,” but I was too afraid of what kind of obstacle it might throw at me this time.

In the worst-case scenario… I might end up facing Lord of Graves, who I recently discovered could be on this planet.

There was absolutely no way ..even if the heavens flipped and the earth shattered .. that I could survive an encounter with one of the Top 10 Demon Lords, especially since each of them possessed one of Agarothʼs destructive abilities. And among them, Lord of Graves was easily one of the worst… a monster that brought death wherever he walked.

I had to avoid him at all costs.

Which meant grinding my brain over the vague nonsense of the random advice instead.

Using the achievement points Iʼd earned from my last mission, I bought one random advice.

– Where should I go if I want to complete the systemʼs mission?

I asked the system, and the screen lit up, revealing the answer to me.

Ding!

— Oh? A random advice ! Itʼs been a while! But what can I say? The dumb user finally decided to use his head!

— Listen closely, and try to understand the words youʼre about to read! They might just save your life!

— The answer to your question is: The Starborn, Heart of Darkness, The Villainous Hero... the Unlucky Lucky One! And the Crazy Idiot!

— Get it? Of course you donʼt. But hey .. maybe those words will save you from doom. Who knows?

...

Iʼd like to say I was surprised by the advice .. but Iʼd long since gotten used to the systemʼs nonsense.

Still, I couldnʼt begin to understand how that mess of a description was supposed to point me in any direction.

Scratching my head, I sighed in defeat. That was 250 achievement points... wasted.

And as always, the price changed however the system pleased. A total scam.

With no clue what that string of vague words was supposed to mean, I had no choice but to use the direct route.

Honestly? I hesitated.

I really didnʼt want to trigger a challenge that would summon The Graveʼs Lord himself...

But I was running out of options.

Despite everything, I hadnʼt given up on deciphering the riddle behind the systemʼs random advice. Iʼd keep searching for answers .. but we couldnʼt afford to stay idle forever.

For now, Iʼd move forward, relying on the direct instruction, hoping Iʼd find the real answer before the ”obstacle” showed up.

Direct advice

– Head north.

Straightforward. Easy to understand.

I nearly cursed at the absurd contrast between this and the cryptic nonsense from earlier .. but I had no other option.

”North...”

I got up and made my way back to Snow and Ghost.

They had tried to reason with the deranged creature weʼd just fought, but it had only spiraled deeper into madness the moment he uttered the name Grave Lord.

In that state—headless and broken—he left us no choice but to put him down. A merciful end.

”Letʼs move, guys.”

We couldnʼt stay here any longer.

”Which way?” Ghost asked.

I raised my sword and pointed to the horizon.

”This way.”

All three of us stared toward the vast expanse of barren crimson sand stretching into the distance.

We didnʼt waste time ... we set off immediately, keeping a fast, steady pace.

There was silence for a while, until Snow finally spoke.

”Never thought Iʼd be running across the surface of another planet.”

”Neither did I,” I replied shortly.

”But... it looks like weʼre not the first.”

Snow made a good point .. something that creature had said earlier stuck with us.

”He knew humans.”

And not only that .. he spoke our language.

”Could there really be humans here?”

If so, the real question was—how?

It was a headache just thinking about it, but not entirely impossible. Many powerful warriors had vanished without a trace in the past ... especially during the old era, when SSS-ranked humans still existed.

”Whether theyʼre here or not... weʼll find out eventually.”

I had a strong feeling that the existence of humans on this world was directly connected to what I was searching for.

In fact, I was willing to bet on it.

There were too many unknowns, and overthinking it wouldnʼt help .. so I shifted the topic.

”That creature put us in a tough spot.”

Snow nodded. ”Yeah... he was insanely strong.”

Strong enough that Snow had to use his own version of Ignition ..the Grand cosmic formation formed through Vermithor.

”I didnʼt know you had another weapon, Frey.”

In response, I lifted the black katana still in my hand.

”It belonged to my father.”

”Abraham Starlight, huh... that explains the power boost. Impressive.”

The Dark Sister definitely enhanced my strength .. but the real surprise wasnʼt me or my sword. It was someone else Iʼd been thinking about for a while now.

”I think the real shock here is our quiet friend back there.”

Sharing a look, Snow and I both turned to the assassin walking behind us.

”Agreed.”