[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-194":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","THE VILLAIN'S POV",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},336881,598,"Chapter 194 194: Preliminaries Results","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-194",194,"\u003Cp>The young man closed his eyes, distancing himself—if only briefly—from the hell he'd endured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The students gathered around Frey Starlight, casting silent glances at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some couldn't bear the sight for long and quickly looked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others stared with a mix of sympathy, and some with complete confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His injuries were grotesque—his bones jutted out, and his internal organs were partially visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them, two girls stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoenix noticed them immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stay where you are.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his command, Clana Starlight and Emilia Atarax froze in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah... we only want to help. I—I'm family with Frey...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the troubled girl shaken by Frey's state, and the frightened girl trailing behind her, Phoenix recognized a familiar aura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Holy aura... Are you from the Church, by any chance?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Startled by his question, Emilia flinched. Phoenix's overwhelming presence made her nervous, but she still stammered her answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Y-Yes... I'm the Saintess Candidate from Year One... I can... help him...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice lacked confidence. After all, she had never seen someone so broken before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Very well, then.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoenix stepped aside, allowing her to proceed. Clana stood behind her, watching in distress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to their teamwork, the two had managed to survive thus far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Emilia channeled her healing power into Frey's body, her expression darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She closed her eyes tightly, horrified by what she discovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"His body... how is he even still alive?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The extent of his injuries was absurd—it was difficult to find a single unscathed spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She poured her aura into him, doing her best, but even she couldn't do much—especially for his destroyed aura pathways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had heard of warriors damaging their pathways from overusing their powers...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Frey's case, it was like trying to push an elephant through the eye of a needle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can heal his external wounds, but his aura pathways...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her tone shifted—gone was her usual childish demeanor, replaced with cold seriousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't think he'll ever be able to fight again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoenix said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had already come to the same conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey Starlight's body wouldn't be able to endure another battle—he knew that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn't want to accept it, not yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least for now, he wanted to honor the resolve of the boy who had crawled through hell just to finish the exam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, everyone present was left with far more questions than answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive explosion that shook the entire island...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey Starlight's near-death state...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People like Daemon Valerion didn't care what happened to Frey. Their minds never connected him to that explosion—it was something they saw as far beyond him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If he can't fight anymore... then that's his limit.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With those words, Daemon walked off, followed by the other students, one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost's mind was blank as he stared at the collapsed figure before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, the silent assassin had chosen Frey Starlight as his light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to be his shadow—for the brighter the light, the darker the shadow that followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now that light had dimmed. No—perhaps it had been extinguished entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had he made the wrong choice? Was picking Frey over the likes of Snow and Daemon just foolishness?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or maybe… maybe he was the one unworthy of being Frey's shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He no longer knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And unlike those who pitied him…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prince Aegon watched with a different emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaiser and Kaen Moonlight were dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Erased, really.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the tools he had provided them with weren't enough to save them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Frey Starlight... was still alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aegon placed his hand over his face, trying to hide the twisted expression growing on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did he survive?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What happened?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prince had imagined countless scenarios—yet not a single one of them had come true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did someone help him from the shadows?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlikely. Aegon had prepared far too well for such interference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was supposed to be checkmate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At best, he expected Frey to escape with his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he hadn't run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd killed his opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aegon felt something strange. For the first time…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood before a question mark, blank and immense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if Frey was most likely crippled now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That boy had won.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And worse… Aegon didn't even know how.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prince turned and walked away—angry for the first time in a long, long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Final Rankings – Island Trial:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>1. Daemon Valerion – 6450 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>2. Snow Lionheart – 6430 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>3. Frey Starlight – 4500 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>4. Seris Moonlight – 4400 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>5. Danzo Smasher – 3900 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>6. Ghost Umbra – 3880 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>7. Dawn Polaris – 3700 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>8. Ragna Cloud – 3650 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>9. Magnus Grell – 3400 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>10. Clana Starlight – 3000 points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The official qualifiers had finally been decided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daemon Valerion won the Island Trial after an intense duel with Snow Lionheart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the son of Ivar found no joy in his victory. Instead, he exchanged a silent look with Snow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We'll settle this properly in the next round.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That battle-hardened pride of his wouldn't rest until he'd defeated Snow in a true head-to-head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow, still disturbed by the sight of Frey's broken body earlier, responded with a golden aura surging around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't worry… I'll make sure to shatter that pride of yours.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The qualifiers had ended, but the crowd was now eager for the true beginning:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main event of the Victoriad—Elimination Rounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most anticipated phase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Battles held before their very eyes, on a grand stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The public, who had only seen what Ivar allowed them to see, remained blind to the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had no idea about what truly happened on that island.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn't know about the dark side of the exam that had claimed the lives of so many students.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the overall numbers fell within \"expected casualties,\" the number of permanent injuries was unusually high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In contrast, the exam held for the upper years had gone far better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where only 28 students out of 500 from the first three years survived, over 100 passed from the fourth through sixth years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the top rank? It was claimed by the Student Council President, Ellen White, who earned an absurd 9000 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having already won the Victoriad five times, she now stood one step away from matching Phoenix Sunlight's record, on the path toward her sixth star.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These headlines dominated the spotlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And like that, a full day passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A day in which the students were finally returned to safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey Starlight remained unconscious, lying among the many injured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoenix Sunlight had personally shielded him from the public eye, allowing him to escape unwanted attention—for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the instructors were left bewildered by what had transpired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thankfully, the idea that someone as \"weak\" as Frey Starlight could be tied to such a disaster seemed far-fetched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make matters worse, two Temple professors had died under mysterious circumstances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the sharpest minds had reached the same conclusion—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>that they were erased by that previous explosion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between this and that… the case was quietly closed, with no clear answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at long last, the countdown had begun.\u003C\u002Fp>",1184,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:13.202Z",1,"novelbin.me","88066fe9bb098cfd52e018e7effd8f7c108abe3c1eaee596ef086e551af5d48c","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-195","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-193",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]