[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-264":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},336601,598,"Chapter 264: The King’s Shadow (2)","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-264",264,"\u003Cp>But the image I expected ...the princess with her once golden hair now turned black never appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, as a phantom-like projection of myself, I drifted through a realm of endless darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Void. Absolute void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wrapped in a cocoon of shadows, I began to wonder if the ability had malfunctioned or if something was interfering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had never behaved like this before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the longer I remained trapped in that abyss, the stronger a certain feeling grew inside me ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An unbearable sense of unease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if something… or someone… was watching me from beyond the veil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make matters worse, I couldn't deactivate the Third-Person Pov. I was stuck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minutes passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the fear only grew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Something is wrong…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where was I? What was this place?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being stranded in the dark for this long… it was torture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt like I was sinking deep into the bottom of the ocean, cut off from all light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to break free.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I fought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I clawed and thrashed and pushed against the void…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until something grabbed me by the throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sticky, black hand clamped down on my neck. Its claws dug into my skin, and I couldn't even comprehend what was happening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was supposed to be a projection. Intangible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this pain—it was real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to grab at the hand crushing my windpipe, but it was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thing crawled over my skin, and a whisper echoed directly into my ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The word repeated endlessly, a hushed mantra of death as the grip tightened around my throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I began losing consciousness, unable to speak or move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All I could see was darkness… a hand tightening around my throat, trying to steal my life. And something—something—whispering in my ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At some point, I stopped hearing it chant for my death. Instead, I heard only the pounding of my heart, thundering in my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My awareness began to fade completely… but in the final moment, a surge of intense blue light exploded, wrapping around my body, tearing away the black hand, and dragging me back to reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seconds later, I jolted awake, falling violently from my desk chair, drenched in cold sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I clutched my throat ... right where that hand had gripped me only to feel something slick and damp still clinging to my skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…What just happened?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the first question I asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I froze again… when I saw something crawling along my arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something black. Laced with red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A shadow…?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No. It was the same thing that had tried to kill me moments ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…Impossible.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was in a ghost-like projection. None of this should've been possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet… there it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The claws that dug into my neck… the sticky black hand…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a panic, I unleashed a full-force wave of violet aura ... my full power condensed into a single burst that instantly obliterated the mass of darkness clinging to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It evaporated in a blink, leaving me stunned where I stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not because of what had just happened—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because I recognized it. I recognized that power. That place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The King's Shadow…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There's no way…!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That kind of power shouldn't be able to be mimicked by a human.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could a mere human replicate a power that only one of the strongest high demons in existence possessed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A power that came directly from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't even bring myself to say his name ... afraid that doing so might trigger something unforgivable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wanted so badly to be wrong… but the reality was too clear, and what I felt just now was far too real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With something like that involved, I could no longer rely on the direct advice alone to deal with what was coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That thing… had just nullified a system ability right in front of my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to be sure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I needed to confirm the truth of what I'd just seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without realizing it, I found myself preparing to use another Future Snapshot—my second since all this began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is going to cost more achievement points…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I had no other choice at this point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Show me the future… ten days from now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spoke to the system, and in an instant, another 1000 achievement points were drained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world shifted around me as I swallowed hard, bracing for what I was about to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I even questioned whether what I was seeing counted as \"the future.\" I knew little about time and space… wasn't the future supposed to be uncertain?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was what I saw truly the future… or merely one of countless possibilities?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought hard about it… even as the scene began to take shape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once again, I was flying high above the Moon Castle ... or what was left of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the future showed no mercy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Valerion Domain…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An entire province reduced to ash… a bloody massacre had unfolded inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the corpses, inside the ruins of the Moon Castle…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two mutilated bodies lay in a pool of blood, limbs shredded, wounds grotesque.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first was Oliver Khan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the second…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…I'm dead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't even be surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not before a guttural, inhuman roar shattered the air like a thunderclap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the distance, I saw a monstrous figure rise ... shadow swirling around it , and clash against a man descending from the sky, wielding a colossal thunder spear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maekar was fighting that thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their battle shook the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shockwave of overwhelming power threw me backward and .. I returned to the present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in my room, frozen still, trying to process what I'd just witnessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…I died. Sansa killed me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much for the \"direct advice.\" To hell with that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm dead, you bastard system…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was that really it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That simple?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…No.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness swirled in my vision as thoughts exploded in my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't die yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not without doing something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I found myself sprawled in my chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, a strained smile curling my lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Looks like… I really will have to kill you, Sansa.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1036,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:12.387Z",1,"novelbin.me","c489d1bebc9441bb922ac102642bf0a806445ee939d2afb9d57a755a4a166860","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-265","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-263",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]