[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-281":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},336618,598,"Chapter 281: A Journey into the Unknow (2)","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-281",281,"\u003Cp>Time flew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only one day remained before the system's deadline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We knew very little about the journey ahead .. not even how long it would last.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were risking everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There's a real chance we'll be gone for a long time …\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That would undoubtedly put us at odds with the Temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow didn't seem too concerned. He said the Temple hadn't given him much anyway, and what lay ahead mattered more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost, on the other hand, said the Temple was never a place that helped him grow to begin with .. reasonable, considering he had spent his entire life in the Shadow Court\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We packed everything we could: supplies, gear, rations. Enough to last us a long time. Enough to survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three of us slipped away in secret, heading toward the Ocklass Mountain range, near House Starlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, we met the mage I had arranged in advance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a Rank S mage from one of the major guilds .. bringing him here in secret had cost me a fortune, but it was the least I could do to make this trip to the Shadow Sect possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mage, wearing a loose robe and sporting a thick beard, stared at the three of us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were practically celebrities at this point ... especially the hero, Snow .. so he understood the weight of what he was about to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you really sure about this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was about to teleport the Empire's golden hero straight into the Nightmare Lands. No matter how he tried to justify it, it didn't sit right with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I responded without hesitation, my tone firm ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn't hire you to ask questions.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only reason I brought him here was to teleport us close to the Shadow Sect and make the journey easier. He was a money-hungry mutt who never said no if the price was high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mage nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fair enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his staff and began channeling his aura, expanding a glowing white circle beneath us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The coordinates you gave me weren't precise, but this should drop you somewhere near the place you're aiming for. Will that do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. Do it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, he increased the spell's intensity. I turned to my teammates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost disappeared instantly into my shadow, while Snow stood calmly at my side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were all wearing the same armor we'd used during the Victoriad bringing a rush of memories with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We exchanged a look. A single nod between us was all it took.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's do this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SWOOSH\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A piercing hum rang out as our bodies were hurled through the teleportation circle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world around me blurred, and a familiar sensation of nausea washed over me .. typical of spatial displacement. But then, as the world settled…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What entered my vision struck a chord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those towering trees… the overgrown vines creeping across every inch of soil…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We're here,\" I whispered. \"The Forest of Fear…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The very place where my journey had begun, two years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So this is the Eastern Nightmare Lands,\" Snow muttered, clearly awestruck. It was his first time venturing this deep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's move,\" I said firmly, already taking the lead. Snow followed immediately behind, with Ghost covering our backs from within the shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We advanced cautiously, prepared for anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it didn't take long before we encountered our first threat—Nightmare creatures crawling out from every corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a devastating sweep of Balerion and Vermithor right after .. we cleared everything in our path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fast. Precise. We didn't even pause. Everything that stood in our way fell as we kept moving forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scythe beasts, shriekers, and other horrors of the nightmare…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monsters that once brought me to the brink of death .. reduced to nothing with a single swing of my sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Changed more than I'd realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"These nightmare creatures are weaker than I expected,\" Snow noted aloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stay sharp,\" I replied immediately. \"We don't know what might be lurking.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, though ... I agreed with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike the other Nightmare Lands, the eastern side had no Nightmare Lord ruling over it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My father had slain the Amygdala long ago. That was the only being here that had surpassed SS rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had beings like the Cosmos, The Lady of Eight Legs, or even the Abyss watchers been present, this would've been a far more brutal journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to my surprise… none of those threats materialized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was so calm that I struggled to believe it was real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing before the massive stairway ..the one I had once crawled up, bleeding and broken .. I stared at that darkness again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow, still in awe, asked softly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Frey… is this it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Shadow Sect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That's all it took .. just one hour to reach the Shadow Sect and complete the mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt almost… anticlimactic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure, the mage had teleported us close, and I knew the way… Something about how easily we arrived didn't sit right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew it couldn't be that simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We climbed the staircase quickly, crossing the blackened, forgotten lands that once marked the boundary of the Shadow Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I expected to see Smiley or Sad at the very least .. but there wasn't a trace of either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What's going on here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked quietly, my tone sharp with unease as Snow trailed behind, surveying the place for himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I opened the system to check for answers… but the emergency mission had vanished. In its place, a new section appeared .. one I hadn't seen before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three empty entries, marked only by question marks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mystery deepened. And so did my sense of helplessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow's voice came from behind after his quiet exploration of the sect he had only ever heard about in my stories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We keep going,\" I said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was all I could say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We pressed forward until we reached the heart of the sect—where the old temple still stood, the one I'd once been sealed inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I glanced at Balerion instinctively, remembering the moment I obtained him—my first real companion in this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We stepped inside, expecting to find the altar where I had once shed blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something else stood in its place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All three of us froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow stared, wide-eyed. Ghost emerged from the shadows, silent but just as stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow's voice trailed off as I finally understood what the mission had meant all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The journey was never about crossing the empire to reach the Shadow Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This place… was just the starting point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let out a bitter laugh and walked toward the object that was now flooding the room with radiant light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A teleportation gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A portal into the unknown…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had no idea where it would take us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I knew one thing for certain—the real mission would begin the moment I stepped through that gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, I stood there, staring into the ominous red light spilling from its center… silently praying I hadn't just led everyone straight into ruin.\u003C\u002Fp>",1182,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:12.387Z",1,"novelbin.me","506bf0a4bdf7817f3407a740119fb810b9c6e416091f50e42b6a1a7b9bb4972c","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-282","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-280",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]