[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-403":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},336690,598,"Chapter 403: The Final Mission (1)","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-403",403,"\u003Cp>– Frey Starlight’s Pov –\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ghost...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My assassin friend appeared before me.. battered, bruised, and in a terrible state himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But seeing him brought a fleeting sense of relief to my heart, a fragile joy laced with worry, as I was still clueless about what had happened to the others...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I knew you wouldn’t die, Frey.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relief washed over Ghost’s face as well, revealing an expression he rarely showed anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I won’t die, my friend. Be certain of that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this vast universe, I’m the last person they should be worried about when it comes to survival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost was glad to see me, but his eyes lingered on the field of corpses behind me. That’s when he finally asked, puzzled—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Was this your doing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Nameless mask now hidden, I didn’t even glance at the carnage behind me. I simply looked forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I repelled one of their armies here. It bought us some time... but we need to move. More will be coming soon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Ghost here, I’d finally found a lead to the others .. thanks to the witch’s mark still with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s move. We have to find them before it’s too late!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After drifting in a mental void, I’d finally regained my grasp on reality ... remembering what happened, and why I fought so fiercely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My comrades... especially Danzo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They all faced terrifying enemies, and were closer to death than ever before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost shared my thoughts, so we didn’t waste a single moment. We took off immediately, guided by the witch’s mark still faintly glowing on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, I opened the system interface .. finally deciding to use the Third-Person pov, a feature I’d hesitated to activate until now, afraid of the harsh truths it might reveal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With my heart pounding, I stared anxiously at the system window as it lit up in front of me with a cold blue glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Host Name: Frey Starlight (Dual Soul)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Class: Swordsman\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talent: SS\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Current Rank: A\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strength: A−\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speed: A+\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Agility: A\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Endurance: S\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aura: SSS\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Magic: –\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Swordsmanship – Level 6] (Limit broken. User can now reach Level 7)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inherent Talents: {Swordsmanship}, {Aura Manipulation}, {Poison Resistance}\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Combat Style: Ten Thousand Steps of Shadow\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Skills:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Hawk Eyes (Grade A)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Ghost Steps (Grade A)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– seduction (Grade D)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Ascension (Grade S)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Ignition (Grade SS)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abilities:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Shadow Adaptation: 3\u002F7\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stage 1: Adaptation to all combat styles, allowing user to counterattack any opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stage 2: Adaptation to all types of physical damage, granting the ability to regenerate from any wound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stage 3: ???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anti-magic – Level 2\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Current Achievement Points: 0\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Main Mission: Survive the Pursuit (10,000 Achievement Points)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Final Mission: ???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As always, the system displayed my stats... my power had increased drastically since the last time I saw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I didn’t care about any of that. My focus was solely on the \"Affinity\" tab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, three names blinked in red:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Danzo Smasher\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Sansa Valerion\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Snow Lionheart\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I used the Third-Person Perspective on all three, over and over again—but no matter how hard I tried, all I found was darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each time I activated the skill on one of them, the screen would immediately go black. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t reach them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That cursed darkness only deepened my anxiety, and slowly, the dreadful thoughts began to eat away at me...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had already been so long since I fought that army... and since I faced Mergo...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enough time had passed for every battle to be over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant... everything had likely already ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then what was the meaning of that darkness?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were they simply unconscious? Or...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more the worst-case scenario began to take shape in my mind, the more painful the pressure in my head became.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clenching my fists tightly, I charged forward, pushing Ghost to pick up the pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We need to find them... as fast as possible!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ignoring the fatigue that dragged at my bloodied body, I forced myself to keep going—demanding more, giving more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All along the way, I kept trying to use the Third-Person Perspective on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no matter how many times I tried...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That cursed darkness never went away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that only made my anxiety worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I feared what I would find at the end of this road .. scattered corpses, limbs, blood... nothing more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just the thought of it nearly shattered me. So what would actually happen if those fears turned into reality?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t die...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words slipped from my mouth without conscious thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost heard them. He knew exactly what I was thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rushed ahead of me with renewed speed, following the faint trace of the witch’s mark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’ll find them, Frey. They’re strong. They won’t die so easily.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s what he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I knew... he didn’t truly believe it either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe it was just his way of comforting me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it didn’t change anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With all my senses honed on what lay ahead, I realized we’d entered a tunnel carved deep into one of the larger mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I examined the surroundings more closely, I recognized them—they looked eerily similar to the battlefield where I’d last seen Danzo fighting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A spark of hope ignited within the pit of black despair consuming me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ghost! Are you sure the mark is leading us here?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In response to my urgency, Ghost raised his hand and showed the faintly glowing witch’s mark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. One of them is definitely here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His confirmation stoked the hope within me even more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the mark was still active... that meant Danzo was still alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somewhere, deep within these dark caves, he was still breathing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knowing that, I couldn’t hold back anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Which way is it pointing?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shouted, and Ghost hesitated for a moment before pointing toward a solid wall of stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This entire mountain was a maze of intersecting tunnels .. if we kept taking turns and searching blindly, we’d never make it in time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Understanding that, I drew both swords and unleashed my aura once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a single wave of dark aura, I blasted through the stone wall ... carving our path by force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s go!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kept tearing through the rock without pause, forging a new path straight through the mountain, with Ghost close behind, guiding me toward the correct direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At this rate, the whole place might collapse on us, Frey!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost warned, worried we’d be buried alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I didn’t care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’ll make our own way out if we have to. We just need to reach him... now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had already given everything I had. I had fought until my body could barely move, until my breath ran dry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So please... Danzo...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hold on. Don’t die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was my only wish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Danzo Smasher’s Pov –\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My name is Danzo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m not a complicated guy. Not special, either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you asked me, I’d say I’m just... average.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My mother loved strong men. That’s why she married my father, who to me always represented what strength truly meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for me .. I was just a kid who loved his mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She admired my father’s strength, so from a young age...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I trained hard. I wanted to be strong too—strong enough to impress her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe in this world, she was the only person I ever truly wanted recognition from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she died too early...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t give me enough time to earn that recognition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My father was strong .. but even his strength couldn’t stop her from dying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s when I started asking myself:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of strength would I need to survive in a world like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the answer was clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More than I ever imagined. Enough to overcome everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I trained. I trained again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After my mother’s death, my father raised me on his own. He gave me everything he could. I was grateful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He taught me values.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He taught me what it meant to be a man—one who doesn’t betray his friends, one who keeps his word no matter what...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One who never gives up, no matter how many obstacles life throws in his way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All those values... they shaped the man I am today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when I hit the wall of talent, I never stopped. I kept moving forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I built my strength from nothing—every ounce of it was mine alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was something I forged with my own hands, something I’ve always taken pride in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that very strength... the strength I built my entire life... ended up betraying me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s when I realized ... I was still inside the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I barely opened my blood-soaked eyes, I found that same colossal dark fist descending upon me again, crushing my body bit by bit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Ah. That’s right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I remembered now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was still in the middle of a fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still battling that monster known as Gvardiol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Against a monster like that—I lost completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Silver Dragon Shield was shattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for my body... I didn’t want to look at it. No .. I couldn’t look at it anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of the battle, I saw Gvardiol tear open my chest by force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pain was... unbearable. So much so that I passed out more than once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And still—I didn’t die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did my resilience buy me a few extra minutes?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the pain... it was too much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bones shattered. Chest torn open. The world turned black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those memories of my mother... and my father... that flooded my mind earlier ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this what they call a person’s final moments?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment your life flashes before your eyes?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did that mean... I was dying?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this the end?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I genuinely wondered—especially once the pain vanished all of a sudden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s when I realized...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had lost all sensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This world had always been cruel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, it had forced me to face a wall so high—the wall of talent—that I became completely powerless before a monster like Gvardiol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With bleeding eyes, I stared into the void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Accepting it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was really going to die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I waited for the end in silence. I had nothing left to give.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had used everything—and I couldn’t even scratch him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, I sat there in quiet resignation, awaiting the end... with a bitter smile on my face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kept staring into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest... I truly wished someone—anyone—would appear out of nowhere and save me from this misery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I never thought I’d become so weak... that I’d start wishing for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But here I was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had slammed into the wall of reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, that selfish hope would never come true. No matter how long I waited, the truth remained ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was completely alone here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had no choice but to close my eyes... as everything faded into black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Ah. Father’s going to be so disappointed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Father... my friends...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m sorry.\u003C\u002Fp>",1825,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:12.387Z",1,"novelbin.me","7fef20090afe588193f3613a9696914c7957c5ce1f051816a15e022c6e714ee1","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-404","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-402",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]