[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-216":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},336653,598,"Chapter 216: The Birth of Shadow","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-216",216,"\u003Cp>The Victoriad final had ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it would not easily fade from the minds of those who had witnessed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That battle… had made everything else feel utterly meaningless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, a cloud of questions loomed over the Empire ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>none larger than the mystery of the young man named Frey Starlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The future had become utterly unpredictable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maekar Valerion, the current Emperor, had seen everything with his own eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Khan, get in touch with Ivar as soon as possible. Tell him to come to me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Understood.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was time to uncover the truth behind all this...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>to find the real source of that overwhelming power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the current head of House Starlight wasn't sitting quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was running through the corridors, Carmen trailing close behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ada! There's no point in going now ...we won't be able to do anything!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our family's healers are already taking care of him. There's no need to worry, for heaven's sake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ada didn't listen at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She simply kept running, rushing toward her brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carmen sighed quietly, watching Ada disappear down the hallway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young people are always so restless.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carmen walked slowly, no longer bothering to chase after her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Frey was receiving treatment nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While walking, she casually pulled out a luxurious cigar, igniting it with a flick of her fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hooof.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elegant lady of House Starlight exhaled a cloud of smoke, leaning calmly against the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wore white trousers, a white shirt, and a black blazer, her hands covered with sleek gloves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that cigar in hand, she looked nothing short of striking ..powerful, composed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stared indifferently at the wall in front of her, lost deep in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From time to time, people passed by: workers from the arena or lost spectators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she was about to finish her cigar,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>she heard footsteps approaching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carmen immediately sensed the powerful aura radiating from the figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet she didn't bother to look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, powerful warriors filled these stands by the hundreds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then the voice spoke ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and her eyes snapped wide open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Still smoking as always, huh? You haven't changed a bit.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A familiar voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carmen turned around, stunned ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>her face twisted in a frightening mixture of emotions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before her stood a young man, smiling,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>his black eyes glowing faintly behind his reading glasses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Micah…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why do you look so surprised? As if you've seen a ghost.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man walked casually toward her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How many years has it been?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don't even remember anymore...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had grown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had grown so much that Carmen was rendered speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's been a while... Mother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Micah was perfectly calm, in stark contrast to Carmen's shaken state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how one looked at it,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>this didn't feel like a reunion between a mother and her long-lost son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their eyes locked in silence for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You've gotten much stronger... SS- rank, huh? Congratulations.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing Micah's casual tone, Carmen finally snapped, raising her voice in frustration ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you doing here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just doing my job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I became a Bishop recently, after all.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why did you leave?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carmen's voice trembled as she shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why... did you abandon the family?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At a time when House Starlight had been struggling,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>their greatest talent had walked away ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>choosing instead to follow the Path of Light and join the Church.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been a devastating blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why did you abandon... us?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the trembling Carmen,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Micah's smile widened with clear disdain in his glowing eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can't even say it properly, can you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What you really want to ask is why I abandoned you, Mother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved closer to her, his eyes sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you can't say that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because people like you...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>you don't even deserve the question.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Micah leaned in closer, his face mere inches from hers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How dare you even ask,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>you who abandoned me when I couldn't even stand on my own two feet?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Know your place, you wretched old hag.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carmen remained silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because his words carved deep into her, dredging up memories she had buried long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Micah resumed walking, his usual smile returning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you'll always be my mother, won't you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if you're nothing more than a filthy old hag.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned back one last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So heed my warning ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leave House Starlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you stay... death is all that awaits you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With those parting words, Bishop Micah Starlight walked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, Carmen stood frozen in place,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>shattered by meeting her only son after all those long, lonely years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time in a very, very long time,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>she felt a true emptiness inside her heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thus ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the final day of the Victoriad came to a end,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>marking the end of an era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>— Frey Starlight's Pov —\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An endless, suffocating darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I clutched my body tightly, overwhelmed by an unbearable emptiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew I was dreaming again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I dreamt of my family, my world.. just like always.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this time, they left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They left without saying a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to run after them ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but it was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They simply abandoned me, drowning alone in the void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had always wondered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After everything I've gone through here,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>am I truly worthy of returning to that place?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Am I, the version of myself who survived in this blood-soaked world,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>still fit to call them family?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was no longer the fragile writer I once was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew it better than anyone ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>how much I had changed...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>into the monster I had become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to my world, to my family, was the only thing I ever wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had yearned for it so desperately that I walked through hell itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terrified of what would happen if they saw what I had become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would they really...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>accept this version of me as their son?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As their brother?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As their friend?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who even was I anymore?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I ran.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I ran, desperately chasing after the shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite everything ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I really, truly, desperately...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>missed them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stretching my hand out into the darkness,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I suddenly stumbled into a faint, misty light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Startled, I jolted awake, gasping for breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frantically, I reached out, trying to feel my surroundings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was lying on a bed ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>my eyes covered by a thick blindfold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I tore it off, I could barely see anything at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pain shot through my skull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My body was wrapped in bandages from head to toe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, my hazy mind started to piece everything together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I leapt up instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My vision was still blurry,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a side effect of pushing Ascension and Hawk Eyes beyond their limits for too long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was practically blind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But none of that mattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I won!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had won the Victoriad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those memories ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>that insane battle ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>they weren't a dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had done it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I did it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two years of struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two years of agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart felt like it might explode inside my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately, I summoned my personal laptop from Balerion's storage tattoo,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>my hands trembling as I held it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slumped to the floor, sweating so profusely it felt like I was about to lose my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I opened the laptop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The answer...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer I had waited so long to find.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer I had bled and suffered for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The screen flickered on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't see clearly ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to press my face right up against it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Author Tools had vanished completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only a few words remained on the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Barely able to make them out, I read—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In bold letters across the interface:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Final Mission: Win the Victoriad (Completed)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reward: 10,000 Achievement Points\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>System Question: The Author may now submit one question to the System Engineer, who must answer ... no matter what the question is.\u003C\u002Fp>",1312,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:12.387Z",1,"novelbin.me","b8bb675d9a1397a57408b85cbb9988eda9f08dfcafc3f8b241b300ec84d1244f","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-217","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-215",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]