THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 561: The Name

– Frey Starlight’s POV –

Aegon Valerion...

The prince had surpassed my expectations by miles. Though I thought I knew him, what he revealed just now proved the extent of my ignorance.

Dragoth, the human-demon... a monster of SS+ rank, nothing but a mere plaything in his hands.

He had forged his own demonic contract, twisted Dragoth’s power into his own, exploiting the Empire, and even exploiting me to finish the job of killing him.

What happened didn’t just grant Aegon the strength he sought—it also gave him the means to spy on the Ultras in a way no one would ever suspect.

The prince before me, though lacking in raw might, had proven himself a master of long-reaching manipulation... capable of weaving schemes whose effects spanned years. Even now, cornered here with only me and Snow, he stood there utterly calm, as though the situation meant nothing to him.

”’Aegon Valerion is an unpredictable variable... a schemer on the same tier as the Engineer himself...’

From that perspective, he was no lesser than such monsters. Nineteen years old, yet wielding the cunning of beings who had lived for centuries.

Keeping him alive any longer... will lead only to catastrophe.

He hid his cards with terrifying precision. I only uncovered the matter of Dragoth because he chose to reveal it to me. If he had decided otherwise, perhaps I would never have realized.

And who’s to say this was the only secret he had buried? There might be countless others... infernal plans waiting for the right moment to unfold.

I couldn’t afford to let him roam freely any longer. The enemies were many, their power ever-growing.

I could not fight with such a serpent slithering behind my back, waiting for the perfect moment to sink its fangs into my throat.

Here and now... I must kill him.

The very moment I resolved myself, the pressure in the air shifted like magic. Both Snow and Aegon’s eyes rolled instinctively toward me.

”Hold your hand, Frey. This isn’t the time nor the place for this,” Aegon said with a strained laugh, his smile carrying a nervous edge as he stepped back.

”Do you truly believe that? I’d say... there’s no better chance than now.” I replied, already prepared to move.

Snow wavered, uncertain. But he would not stand in my way.

Which meant I could strike Aegon directly, and end him here.

”Know this: if you try, you’ll spell the Empire’s end in this war. Believe it or not, but my mere presence alone keeps at bay horrors you cannot even imagine.”

”Like domino pieces toppling one after another, I may be a small stone... but my fall will collapse far greater things. Think carefully before you take your next step, Frey,” Aegon said, wagering everything on my hesitation.

”So what will it be? Do we fight here, or move on as if nothing happened?”

”I’ll take the gamble. I don’t think killing you will make my situation any worse than it already is, Aegon,” I said with a gentle smile, as my foot slammed the ground.

I lunged. My blade tore through the air, aiming straight for his neck.

At the last instant before his head could fly, Aegon unleashed a massive surge of that stolen black lightning, meeting my sword with his own. Valerion’s edge cut deep, slicing into a portion of his neck, barely sparing him from death.

He stumbled back, clutching the bloody wound with his free hand. That smile of his returned—but it wasn’t his usual mask of confidence.

No, this one was different. An anxious smile. A smile that hinted at some kind of anticipation.

Perhaps Aegon simply didn’t know how to show fear. Even if he was terrified, trembling within... all his face would ever display was that filthy grin.

”Frey! Are you seriously doing this now?!” Snow barked.

”Yes. Leaving him alive will bring nothing but disaster.”

Snow looked torn. He too had seen the prince as someone who needed to be kept in check. But killing him here... didn’t feel right to him.

That didn’t matter. I had to finish it before Snow could interfere.

True, Aegon’s strength grew significantly with the lightning he stole from Dragoth. But such power meant nothing to me. My next strike would end him.

A strike where I’d pour my full might into one blow—enough to sever his neck and kill him once and for all.

Through my eyes, I could see dozens of paths to his death in the battle ahead. He wasn’t my equal.

And yet I knew ..that wasn’t the truth.

Aegon Valerion... schemers like him never cast themselves into danger unless they had at least one way out.

That was certain. Which was why I pressed him to the edge—forced him to show whatever secret card he had hidden in his sleeve.

”Show me, Aegon. What are you really?”

What are you hiding? What power stands behind you?

I knew his fall would trigger calamities. But I was already a cursed man, doomed to fight beings beyond comprehension since long ago.

What difference would more curses make?

My blade’s aura of darkness surged, overwhelming his black lightning with ease.

Face to face with Aegon, I was seconds away from tearing him apart.

And all the while, I waited... waited for whatever trick the prince would unleash to survive.

Would it be some alien power? A forbidden weapon? Something far worse?

”What are you hiding, Aegon?”

Show me your truth. Show me your true color.

I had imagined many possibilities. Countless scenarios.

But in the end... Aegon revealed none of them.

No great weapon. No new power.

And yet—even without any of that—my sword froze before his neck at the last possible instant.

And for the first time in a while , a shock I couldn’t quite name carved itself across my face.

Snow stood off to the side, bewildered at how things had just ended.

Only a second ago, he was certain he’d see Aegon’s head separated from his body—but that scene never came.

”Did he... stop?” Snow asked, confused.

It wasn’t Aegon who halted me. It was I who froze before him—of my own will. Not forced, but choosing.

Cold sweat rolled heavily down Aegon’s back as he stumbled away, clutching his half-slashed throat and sighing in relief.

”That was close...”

Holding the wound to staunch the bleeding, he collapsed onto the ground. I, meanwhile, stood unmoving, staring at him.

My mind was in chaos, barely able to process what had just happened.

The reason I stopped wasn’t due to some power restraining me. It was because of something far simpler... words.

Words that Aegon had shaped with his lips at the last instant. He knew I could perceive even the slightest things, so he mouthed them silently, leaving me the only one who could notice.

And those words—just one word—were enough to paralyze me, to keep me from cutting him down.

A single word. Just one.

”Aegon... how the hell do you know that name?” I demanded, staring at him with new light in my eyes.

The prince chuckled softly, spitting blood from his mouth.

”Kill me, Frey. Who knows? Maybe then you’ll learn the answer to your question.”

Our cold gazes clashed. I found myself torn, unable to move forward.

With a single word, that damned prince had flipped the board. He had spoken a name I never expected to hear again.

At the very last moment, he mouthed it. No sound. And yet, I heard it as clearly as if he’d whispered into my ear.

It was my name. The true name I had abandoned long ago... the name I left behind when I became Frey Starlight.

A name lost for centuries. A name only the Demon King himself had ever spoken.

And now—by some impossible means—the prince had spoken it.

Just uttering it was enough to freeze me, my thoughts assaulted by a storm of questions.

Does he know I’m a reincarnator?

If so, how could he possibly know?

Is the one before me truly just a human prince not yet twenty years of age—or something else entirely?

Taking advantage of my hesitation, Aegon pressed on, still gripping his bleeding throat.

”We’re on the same side, Frey. You have your secrets... and I have mine. But in the end, we’re fighting on the same front in this war. Perhaps we’re destined to clash—but isn’t that the game you and I have always played?”

”You can try to kill me, or you can keep me alive and draw the answers from me. The choice is yours.”

His words were spoken lightly, as if they mattered little.

But I alone heard the true weight behind them.

Revealing my true name was no accident—it was proof that someone stood behind him.

Someone who knew what I truly was.

How much do they know? And who, exactly, is that entity?

I could kill Aegon now and maybe find out. But Aegon knew I couldn’t.

Because even I have my limits. If something powerful enough to uncover my secret truly stands behind him... then I cannot confront it with my current strength.

It could be an overwhelming monster... or something far simpler.

But I had no answer. Which meant I could not risk killing him here.

With a single word, he secured his survival.

”I see now... I underestimated you greatly.”

Whether he gained this leverage through his own skill or mere luck, it didn’t matter.

What mattered was that the prince had already stepped far outside the box I had placed him in. His boundaries were no longer clear to me.

”This world is vast, Frey. We are but tiny fragments drifting in the sea of existence. Each of us tries to play, to survive, to carve our fate with our own hands,” Aegon said, staring up at the sky.

”You’re tampering with forces you cannot withstand. Nor even comprehend,” I shot back coldly.

He shook his head.

”That doesn’t matter. As long as they serve their purpose, it’s enough. So long as I’m the one who wins in the end, nothing else matters.”

”We fight on the same side in this war. If it can be helped, I’ve no desire to be your enemy, Frey. Let me prove my good faith.” With a wide smile, Aegon chose his next words with surgical care.

”When this war ends, I promise you—I’ll tell you where I learned that name. What do you say?”

Out of nowhere, Aegon offered me a promise I never expected.

And truth be told... I had already been considering ways to force the truth out of him. But he preempted me, handing me the means himself.

”I know words alone won’t be enough. If you demand it, I’ll bind myself to an Aura Contract. I’ll give you what you want—in return, let’s fight this war side by side.”

Aegon Valerion seemed desperate to keep me on his flank—at least for the duration of this war.

Perhaps that was what he had been aiming for all along.

From the moment he came with me to this island...

Perhaps it had all been part of his plan.

I thought I had cornered him by dragging him here, isolated and alone. But the truth was the reverse.

From the very start, he had played me. Flawlessly.

I couldn’t kill him. I couldn’t force him to speak. Even torture would yield nothing.

He left me no choice but to do exactly what he wanted.

I had lost—utterly—against him.

For this time, the battle wasn’t fought on the field. It had already been decided long before.

Some battles aren’t won by the sword. And this was one of them.

The preferred battlefield of Prince Aegon Valerion.

That night, before Snow’s bewildered eyes—he who stood as a witness unable to understand what he was seeing—

I struck a pact with the prince.

Resolving that from this moment forward, we would fight the war together.