[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-522":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},337075,598,"Chapter 522: The Stand Against Oblivion (2)","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-522",522,"\u003Cp>With a face twisted in pain, and clenched teeth... Iris muttered bitterly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m truly... afraid of dying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had always believed he wouldn’t hesitate when the time came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had lived long enough, and it wouldn’t be so bad to throw his life away for those younger than him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in that final moment, he didn’t think like a great lord or a commander.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply thought like a human being.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A human who feared death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m sorry...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris apologized—to the empty air before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pain made him hallucinate, seeing faces that no longer existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt like he was about to lose himself completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And just as the madness was about to consume him...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only device that survived within his burned clothing lit up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It let out a mechanical beep and flashed with a red light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris hastily pulled it out, gazing at it with tear-filled eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few seconds later, he pressed the single button and answered the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before him, a holographic figure appeared .. a familiar young man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your Highness...\" Iris muttered hesitantly, staring at Aegon Valerion standing before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re in miserable shape, Lord Iris... It seems things are even worse than I imagined,\" said the prince with a face that showed mild disappointment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was fully armored ..something odd, given that he was supposed to be on the other side of the world...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Iris wasn’t in the mental state to notice that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his one remaining eye, he glared at the prince in front of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aegon... nearly ten thousand of our soldiers were just wiped out... and we’ve lost the Claymore bearer,\" Iris lamented.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aegon simply nodded with indifference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes... quite disappointing,\" he said, then paused—which only fueled Iris’s anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Disappointing? We were annihilated!\" Iris roared, unable to contain himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aegon chuckled coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Annihilated by one man .. and you couldn’t even touch him. That’s a disgrace. You’ve brought great shame upon us, Lord Iris.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris froze, struggling to process what he’d just heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did you... how did you know we only faced one man?\" he asked in disbelief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How? What a foolish question, Lord Iris Sunlight. I monitor the battlefield constantly ..I have eyes everywhere.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The moment you came under attack, I was informed of everything. Yes, your opponent was strong, but I assumed you’d handle him. After all, you outnumbered him greatly. But in the end... you failed. As I said...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You brought shame upon us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris found himself speechless .. before this prince who clearly didn’t care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not for his life...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And not for the twenty thousand soldiers who had just died under his command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to argue, but his shattered state, his exhaustion, and his pain... all made him lower his head and speak in a faint tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The enemy possesses abilities similar to Frey Starlight’s. His power level is extremely high. I believe he ranks within SS+ tier... We’ll need the Emperor himself—or someone equal—to deal with him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iris spoke, while Aegon simply sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just hold out with what you have for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You have the real Frey Starlight among you, don’t you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But—!\" Iris tried to object, but Aegon cut him off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No need to worry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You and I are now standing on the same land.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you talking about?\" Iris asked in confusion, as the prince rolled his eyes toward the vast land around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of him... an entire city had been burned to the ground, its inhabitants slaughtered, while the imperial forces under his command marched forward, destroying everything in their path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the fifth city he had conquered in a single day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"While you were distracting the enemy from the front, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to knock on their back door. After all... it wouldn’t be fair for you to hog all the fun.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a simple plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stupid plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So reckless and insane that only a child would dare think of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Prince Aegon actually carried it out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Frey Starlight had conquered the Eastern Nightmare Lands, the Empire and its forces marched across that cursed terrain, then simply sailed through—reaching the opposite side of the Ultras Continent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Preparing and executing the plan had taken a long time, and it had been done in such absolute secrecy that even Iris hadn’t heard a word of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then—just twenty-four hours ago—they landed on the western shore of the Ultras Continent... and began their extermination campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside Aegon stood thirty thousand soldiers. A relatively decent number.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what truly gave their force power...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the names marching with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Valerion family had joined the campaign, with Emperor Maekar Valerion and Ser Alon leading the charge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their mere presence made the imperial force a terrifying engine of war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This army was now marching from the west, taking the enemy completely by surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From both the east and the west... war had been declared upon the Ultras.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking in the madness of the situation, Iris Sunlight cursed under his breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is absolute madness!! Are you seriously trying to pull off an anvil-and-hammer maneuver on an entire continent?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a known battlefield tactic: pinning the enemy between a fortified frontal force—the anvil—and a devastating assault from the rear—the hammer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that tactic was meant for battlefields... not an entire continent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet Aegon spoke of it with a childlike simplicity, as if such a plan made perfect sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was lunacy. It was doomed. And still, Aegon smiled cheerfully at Iris’s outburst.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. So hang in there until we arrive, will you~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing that response, cold sweat slid down Iris’s neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re insane.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha! I don’t want to hear that from an old man who couldn’t even handle a single young man,\" Aegon laughed, waving mockingly at Iris.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Anyway, I’m counting on you to hold out. Especially Frey Starlight .. tell him I really do love him!\" The prince laughed again before cutting the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Encircling an entire continent...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaning back, he tossed the communication gem aside and stared up at the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s like we’re playing some kind of twisted game... not fighting a war that could cost millions of lives.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This world really is full of lunatics...\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1049,"2026-05-30T03:41:39.413Z","2026-06-01T04:30:13.202Z",1,"novelbin.me","714186679f47a6f6e2f55ac6a1ed6e1add432a6dff93696064f24627a587593c","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-523","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-521",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]