THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 705: The Path Stained in Violet

— Frey Starlight’s POV —

Only a few hours had passed since I arrived on imperial territory.

To be perfectly honest, my exploration of the Empire had been non-existent since the moment I reincarnated into the body of Frey Starlight.

I possessed almost no memories of this place.

I had spent the vast majority of my existence confined within the Temple or wandering the Nightmare Lands.

Consequently, traversing these city streets felt like I was discovering a foreign land for the very first time.

As I moved, I witnessed humans struggling desperately to stay alive—fragile beings who possessed no means of self-defense.

They were being hunted by mindless corpses, mere marionettes dancing on the strings of Geppetto, the 13th Upper Demon.

Mixing with the undead were true demons: primitive, gray-skinned monsters with hollow gazes and elongated horns.

While they were formidable enough to slaughter ordinary humans, they were nothing more than minor nuisances to me.

SLASH!!

Occasionally, a violent flash of purple radiance would tear through the shroud of night, vibrating across the entire district.

A second later, the demons and corpses were nothing but shredded remains painting the pavement.

The escaping humans would freeze in shock, unable to process what had occurred or identify who had saved them.

I never stayed long enough for them to find out. I lacked the luxury of time to act as their shepherd or lead them to a sanctuary.

Survival was a burden they had to carry themselves.

“You claim to leave them to their fate, yet you are the one intervening to save them.”

The voice of Nameless resonated in my mind, challenging my logic.

“I only happened to cross paths with them. It isn’t as if I went out of my way for a rescue mission,” I replied curtly.

Nameless persisted, “Do human lives truly mean so little to you? Or is that simply the lie you tell yourself?”

“...What are you trying to say?”

Silence followed for several seconds before his chilling, heavy voice pierced my thoughts once more.

“By destroying those corpses, you alert their master that this sector is compromised. You are effectively increasing the risk of the enemy pinpointing your location.”

Because of Geppetto’s unique ability, he maintained a constant connection with every corpse he reanimated. The loss of even a single puppet would be sensed instantly.

Despite Nameless advising me to avoid conflict until we located Ada, I had ignored him, slaughtering every demon in my path.

“Your recklessness might compromise your sister’s rescue. You have disregarded my counsel. From this moment on, you will engage the enemy only as I dictate... no arguments.”

The sheer weight of authority in his tone immediately sparked my irritation.

“And what exactly is this ‘command’?” I inquired, genuinely puzzled.

The response from Nameless made my face contort in frustration.

“From this point forward, your standard aura is restricted. You are permitted to fight using only Black Hole Aura.”

I came to a dead stop the moment the words left him.

“Is this a joke? I can’t maintain Black Hole Aura indefinitely. The consumption rate is too high.”

“Then you must learn to adapt. Since the higher stages of Shadow Adaptation are still sealed, it is the only weapon effective against superior demons.”

“Starting now, Dark Aura and Shadow Aura are forbidden. Use only the Black Hole.”

As he reinforced the order, I fell into a brooding silence. Black Hole Aura drained my energy at a terrifying speed—at least fifty times faster than my standard reserves.

Even with my SSS-rank capacity, I wouldn’t last an hour if I relied on it exclusively.

What was Nameless playing at? It seemed completely illogical, yet I was cornered.

If I wanted his cooperation in the future, I had to submit to his training now.

Slowly, the purple glow surrounding me dissipated, replaced by a light-swallowing, starlit radiance: the Black Hole Aura.

My power surged instantly, but the physical strain on my frame increased tenfold. Without the Dark Ascension state to provide an SSS-rank output, my SS-rank body struggled to contain the Black Hole’s pressure.

“Forget Ada... I’ll be lucky if I can even walk to her under this kind of stress...”

The Black Hole was intended to be a finishing move for powerful foes, not a constant state for travel.

“That very mindset is why you are trapped beneath your limits. It is the logic of the weak.”

Nameless’s cold voice echoed, and suddenly, I was pulled into the dark expanse of my own consciousness.

In the deepest reaches of my inner world, Nameless stood with his hands behind his back, his violet eyes glowing intensely behind his mask.

“During my prime, I could maintain Black Hole Aura for eternity. Do you understand why?”

I took a moment to consider the question.

“Because your aura capacity was infinite?”

It was the only logical conclusion I could reach, but Nameless clearly found it lacking.

“An infinite aura reserve does not exist... unless one possesses a reality-warping ability, which I have never encountered.”

“My reserves were never the largest. In fact, I didn't even rank in the top ten for total capacity.”

Nameless demonstrated his point by manifesting a small flickering flame of aura above his palm.

“The Demon King Agaroth, for instance, had a pool of aura many times greater than mine. Yet, during our clash, he was the one who ran dry first.”

Despite the massive difference in raw volume, the Demon King had exhausted his power while Nameless remained fueled.

“The secret... lies in control.”

A glowing circle materialized around Nameless, sending out ripples of aura like waves on a turbulent sea. The energy churned and reshaped itself continuously, growing more intense rather than fading.

“Agaroth may have had more raw power, but my manipulation of that power was vastly superior. By mastering the essence of your aura and controlling it with absolute precision, you can minimize consumption to nearly zero.”

A stunning display began to unfold before me. Nameless was expending aura at a rate that should have emptied his Dantian in seconds.

However, his reserves were being replenished just as quickly as they were used. The circle around him acted as a vacuum; the aura leaving his body was immediately seized from the surrounding atmosphere and pulled back inside.

He was recycling his own power in a closed loop.

While it looked simple in theory, it was a feat that should have been impossible. It was as if Nameless held absolute sovereignty over the energy in the air.

He forced the aura into a perfect, eternal cycle so that it could never dissipate.

If Nameless had 1,000 units of aura and his foe had 10,000, the enemy would eventually hit zero while Nameless remained at 1,000.

“Unbelievable...” the word escaped me.

What I was seeing defied everything I knew about Cultivation. How could anyone develop such a technique? And more importantly, how could I possibly replicate it?

“You are capable of this as well, Frey Starlight. Aura is naturally drawn to you, just as it is to me.”

Nameless addressed my doubts directly. “Mastery is within your reach, provided you commit yourself entirely.”

I remained quiet for a moment before giving a firm nod. This wasn't just a lesson; it was a realization that even as a mere fragment of his former self, the man before me was the same warrior who once challenged the heavens.

With such a monster as my mentor, I felt that I truly could change my destiny.

Adhering to his strict guidance, I continued my trek through the Empire, fueled only by Black Hole Aura. I pushed my limits to mimic his method of manipulation, carving the technique into my very soul.

My search for Ada continued, one step at a time, through the heart of the Empire.