THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 654: A Voice in the Abyss

—Frey Starlight’s Pov—

”On that day, I stared into the abyss... and the abyss stared back at me.”

The fight against Zibar was different.

Different from anything I’ve suffered through so far.

It wasn’t the first time I’d stood before a presence vastly stronger than me .. I’d met the Engineer, Gehrman... and I’d once felt the nearness of the Sixth High Demon, Asmodeus.

I’ve spent my life defying giants.

But this was the first time I had to battle one of them to the death.

And it was hell.

Even with only half his power, Zibar overwhelmed me completely, a brutal reminder of what the Ten High Ranks truly are ..beings that exist on an entirely different plane.

Nameless Judgement was the only strike that dealt him real damage. Everything else I threw at him barely scratched him.

He, on the other hand, tore my body apart again and again ..then even shut down my regeneration.

I’d believed that ability triggered automatically against any injury. I was wrong. If I’m hit by a kind of damage my body has never endured before, regeneration won’t trigger at all. That’s how I ended up in that wretched state against Zibar.

That was the turning point. From there, my defeat felt inevitable.

At first, I was desperate. I genuinely thought I had no chance.

I used everything .. every ounce of strength, every skill .. and that was all the height I could reach.

I truly believed I’d hit my ceiling.

That belief shattered the moment he took over.

Nameless.

In the dark within that lightless void ..I floundered alone. The little campfire where I used to gather with my other ”selves” had gone out, and there was no trace of them.

Instead, it was just me and the masked man.

We shared the same space, yet we were impossibly far apart. The black around me pressed like deep-sea pressure, pinning me in place. Nameless sat across the gulf, back on that chair, head bowed.

I’ve long feared I was nothing more than a vessel for that terrifying being.

That fear has followed me for a long time, and lately it’s become a truth I can’t deny.

Nameless has returned, and his will grows stronger by the day .. and Shadow Adaptation seems tied to it.

As I looked at that masked figure, the feelings inside me kept piling up. Fear gave way to curiosity.

From afar I shouted, calling to him with everything I had. I wanted to speak to him .. anything. But my voice never reached him, as if something broke it in transit.

Little by little, the darkness grew heavier, freezing me in place.

All I could do was lie there in silence and stare at the man in the mask.

I knew I was unconscious in the real world. That last Nameless Judgement had bled me dry.

It was the strongest blow I’ve ever swung... and I’d never have reached it without him—without Nameless.

I thought I’d mastered my powers, that I’d reached my peak. He proved how wrong I was.

When Nameless took control, it wasn’t as if he summoned new power from nowhere—or added anything foreign.

He simply used what he found in my body .. the very abilities I suspect were his to begin with.

Shadow Adaptation at Stage Four. My dark weapons. A fighting style all his own, one I’m sure he forged himself.

All of that was already within me. And while I was being crushed... he won easily with the very same tools.

He redefined strength for me, laid my shortcomings bare, and showed me how far I still am from the top of what I already possess.

At the same time, he made me wonder:

If Nameless can do this much with my current body... how high is his true ceiling? The level at which he once traded even blows with the Demon King, Agaroth.

When I face that reality, I can’t help feeling small beside him. Without meaning to, I feel myself being pulled under.

Before a monster like that, how am I supposed to keep my body from being taken?

I felt like a thin shadow next to him... a shadow that could vanish at any moment under his presence.

So I fought desperately—to take myself back.

I was terrified of being lost forever to him.

But contrary to my fear and expectations... Nameless didn’t resist.

He relinquished my body quickly, and I returned to the battle with Zibar in the end.

Because of that because he yielded ..my fear turned into curiosity.

”Why?”

I asked quietly, my voice finally cutting through the dark.

”Why didn’t you resist?”

Why did you let me take control so easily?

At first I thought you couldn’t ..but that wasn’t true at all.

If Nameless had fought me for this body, I wouldn’t have been able to resist him, not for a second.

But he chose not to. He yielded of his own will.

”Why?”

I wanted the answer to that question, but I couldn’t get it .. my voice never reached him.

Slowly, the darkness thickened and I felt my awareness drift. That was how I knew I was about to wake up .. back in the real world.

In those last seconds, all I could do was stare at Nameless from afar.

And in that moment, he looked back.

Facing that monster who once walked the road of blood, I felt something strange toward him .. almost as if...

”I’ve known you before.”

Whatever the answer is, I won’t get it today. But someday, I will.

Of that, I was certain.

Those were my last thoughts in that closed, lightless space .. before I returned to reality.

...

...

...

Somewhere on the continent of the Ultras, beneath the ceaseless drum of heavy rain that hadn’t let up for days, Frey Starlight opened his eyes again ... aware he was still alive to see another day.

He pushed his upper body up slowly and took stock.

He was in a small cave .. no, a grotto carved out by the last battle with Zibar.

Checking himself over, he found no wounds. Someone had thrown a cover over him, and his aura reserves had been restored .. somewhat.

While he was still orienting himself, footsteps approached the cave mouth. Someone peeked in to check on him, and when she saw him awake, she dropped what she was carrying in surprise, eyes widening.

”Ah... Uriel.”

Of course .. it was the Saint. She had been tending to him the whole time he was out.