[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-294":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},336631,598,"Chapter 294: Crownlands (2)","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-294",294,"\u003Cp>Frey kept his Hawk Eyes active, constantly surveying the distance far ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the view remained the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until the third day on Crownlands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey's subtle unease was enough to alert both Snow and Ghost, who quickly asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Something ahead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey responded immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Something's waiting for us… and a lot of it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could barely see it .. a distant mirage. But what he was certain of was this:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a massive number of strange beings lay in wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Worst-case scenario, it's another army,\" Frey said, worry evident in his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow and Ghost tensed, their expressions hardening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey didn't say it out loud, but the size of the army he saw was far greater than the one they had faced before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So vast, he couldn't see its end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wondered what kind of battle awaited them now…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That question lingered for quite some time as they continued running.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then .. after what felt like an eternity, with their nerves frayed and dread mounting under the weight of anticipation…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They finally arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey and the others came to a stop, eyes wide as they took in the sight before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The army was enormous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So enormous that what they had mistaken for ground in the distance… had been them all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They all wore the same tattered black robes. Their bodies were slightly larger than an average human's.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of them lay sprawled on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prostrated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Face down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey approached one of them cautiously, curious why they hadn't reacted to their presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he touched the figure ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It crumbled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Collapsing into ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wind scattered it like dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stunned, Frey checked the others—eyes wide—while Snow and Ghost did the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was when the three of them finally understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive army before them…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was nothing more than a field of skeletons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corpses so ancient that time had reduced them to nothing but dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confused, the three of them looked at each other…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They're all dead,\" Frey said, and Ghost confirmed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And they've been dead for a long, long time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever era these skeletal beings had once belonged to ... it was long gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what caught their attention… was the way they died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They died while bowing…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the remnants left behind .. the posture of their bodies, the way their heads were lowered .. it was clear they had died prostrating before something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before someone or something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They waited… until their veins dried, until their bodies withered away…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever strange race they once belonged to…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had died here. On their knees. Waiting for something to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hadn't been demons that killed them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Protected inside this barrier, their killer had been time itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Realizing this truth sent a chill through Frey and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What kind of loyalty is that…?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who was this great king that compelled such devotion ... devotion so absolute that an entire people remained kneeling until nothing remained of them but bone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Frey and his companions, that level of loyalty seemed like pure madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey turned his gaze forward—toward the direction every single corpse had been facing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all he could see…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was more bodies. More bowed skeletons. More of the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's go,\" he said flatly, beginning to walk through the field of kneeling corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They wove their way between the fallen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene repeated itself endlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of them had died the same way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Driven by a growing curiosity to uncover what lay at the end of this graveyard path, Frey and the others continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the corpses never stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that only deepened their unease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking for what felt like an eternity, they realized they had become a speck ..a single drop in an ocean of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their numbers…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had reached the millions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe…\" Snow said, stunned,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe this is where all of Londor's inhabitants ended up.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey nodded, remembering what that lashed corpse had told them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had said clearly: they waited for so long that some eventually chose to fight, while the rest remained behind… still waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those who chose to fight met a fate worse than death… forced to face the Lord of Graves himself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Understanding that grim truth, Frey continued:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But those who chose to wait… died here, kneeling—waiting for a king who never returned.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between death… and a fate worse than death…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three of them finally grasped the full extent of Londor's tragedy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with that realization, there was nothing left to do but keep moving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Step after step… they passed through this ancient, forgotten mass of mourners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without warning, a strange shiver ran down Frey's spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His heart pounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That same feeling from before returned—but stronger this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was when something else appeared before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time, something other than corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It stood in the distance, but they could see it clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A towering structure… looming ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A castle?\" Frey murmured, staring at the massive building forged from a strange black stone that shimmered like metal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moon hovered above that monolithic castle, casting pale light across the one place every single corpse had been kneeling toward…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like pilgrims… who had finally found their sacred destination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From every direction, the bodies surrounded it .. making the fortress look like an island in the middle of a vast, lifeless sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The castle was larger than anything the three of them had ever seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So massive, it made the Emperor's palace look like a worthless shack by comparison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the feeling growing inside Frey's chest…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confirmed that this place—this castle—was their true destination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Step by step, they moved forward ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until at last, they reached the edge of the sea of corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was there, at the final line of skeletons, that Frey and the others realized something else:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kneeling dead had left a clear space between themselves and the black castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A wide, circular gap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Untouched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one had dared cross that final threshold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond it stood the castle gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that wasn't all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frey's eyes went wide as he saw what stood before it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guarding the entrance…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was a statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A towering figure, over four meters tall, gripping a double-edged scythe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body was made of a dark, metallic material .. like forged shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A statue with a face Frey had never seen before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had seen smiles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had seen sorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this one…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This one wore rage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There it stood .. the statue of fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An ancient sentinel, standing guard over a timeless castle.\u003C\u002Fp>",1089,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:12.387Z",1,"novelbin.me","85e81ea27de0dad4bc4b71d57261363b0511cc7053ba6a48296679560728c5d9","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-295","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-293",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]