THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 711: A Spark Before the Collapse (2)

“Expose your true nature… for the whole world to see.”

Those very colors..

The ones destined to be her downfall.

Maika harbored no doubts regarding Carmen’s character:

Egocentric.

Callous.

A woman who existed solely for her own sake..

This was the conviction he held in every fiber of his soul.

His perspective had been forged by years of agony,

years of being cast aside,

and years of a hatred so profound it had warped him into a grotesque version of himself.

To his mind, his entire existence served as evidence—

Carmen Starlight lived only for herself.

Frey perceived this clearly…

and once more, he cursed the heavens for the cruel way the world conspired against him.

“Observe carefully, Maika Starlight..

this shall be the final sight you ever behold.”

Frey’s tone was hushed and freezing.

Maika could feel the heat of Frey’s wrath..

yet something felt misplaced.

Where was the hopelessness?

Where was the insanity?

Ada’s life was on the line..

and Frey cherished his sister above all others.

Her loss should have shattered his mind completely.

Instead, he remained poised.

Infuriated—certainly.

Repulsed—without a doubt.

But still in control.

Why?

Maika lacked the answer.

His gaze shifted back to the trial,

where Carmen now stood directly before Ada.

The mature woman and the young girl locked eyes in a heavy silence…

second after agonizing second…

Until a mere sixty seconds remained on the clock.

Finally, Carmen broke the silence.

“Ada… look at me.

Look at yourself.

Look at the predicament we face.”

She reached out, her hand resting softly on Ada’s head in a gentle caress.

“The world we inhabit… is governed by strength.

Nothing else holds weight.

Regardless of your talent or your wit…

without power, you will achieve nothing.”

“That is the harsh truth life instilled in me.”

Had Ada possessed the power of the other Great Clan heads…

Maika would never have succeeded in capturing her.

Had Ada been as formidable as her brother Frey…

this tragedy would never have unfolded.

“No one can protect you forever, Ada.

You must depend on yourself.. on your own inner strength.”

“You will find allies.. and that is beneficial.

You will encounter enemies.. and that is simply the way of things.

You will endure suffering, time and again… but keep this in mind, Ada:

your strength alone shall determine your fate.

Discard your frailty, open your eyes to reality…

for your time is running thin.”

Carmen’s voice was a whisper, followed by the faint, soft curve of a smile on her lips.

“As for me… my own time is much shorter than yours.

Haha… I am truly sorry, Ada.

I’m… sorry.”

In that fleeting instant,

Ada understood.

“C–Carmen… what are you—”

But the moment had passed.

In a flash,

Carmen’s arm erupted in a brilliant radiance..

..and a violent blast rocked the arena as crimson sprayed in every direction.

Ada’s reactions were too slow.

But Frey and Maika witnessed the truth clearly.

Carmen had thrust her own hand into her chest..

piercing deep,

shattering her own heart.

Blood splattered across Ada’s face and clothes as Carmen slumped to the floor, the red tide flowing quickly and staining the earth.

For a heartbeat,

Ada stood motionless before Carmen’s failing form.

A sharp intake of breath escaped her.

“Huh?”

A small, confused gasp.. one that betrayed her total failure to comprehend the scene.

Then, the timer froze.

The trial concluded, revealing a singular reality:

Carmen Starlight… was the one who had been executed. By her own hand.

“No… Carmen… Carmen… why… for my sake… why!!”

Ada fell over Carmen’s cold body, her wail echoing through the chamber—a cry drenched in sorrow and unbearable torture.

For the first time, Ada experienced a mere fragment of the suffering Frey lived with.

The trauma of watching someone perish for your sake.

Carmen had sacrificed herself so Ada could live… but Ada realized she would never know a normal life again.

The burden of that offered soul would haunt her for eternity.

Frey understood that better than anyone.

From the start, he had never truly feared for Ada’s life.. not even for a second.

He knew Carmen would never lay a finger on her.

Carmen loved them both with all she had, and she had been prepared to die for them long ago.

Frey’s trust in her had never wavered, even after discovering what she had done to her own son…

Nevertheless, her passing left a deep mark upon him.

Perhaps not as deep as the one left on Ada.

But Carmen was important.. she was family.

And that was why the fury within him began to churn like a hurricane.

On the opposite side, Maika stood paralyzed, unable to process what he had seen.

The selfish woman he had loathed for years had just traded her life…

For another.

She, of all people… died for someone else?

That simple fact shattered his internal world.

“No… don’t toy with me, you bastards!!! Stand up, you damn woman! Wake up!! You—of all people—you die for another?!”

“Don’t mock me!!!”

He surged forward in a rage, his aura exploding outward and smashing the glass wall that kept him from Ada and Carmen.

Nothing he saw brought him peace.

Nothing made sense.

He charged toward Ada and the corpse she cradled.. yet he failed to realize how miserable he appeared.

The moment he took a step, his frame locked up.. and a massive wave of dark stellar aura engulfed him, hoisting him into the air.

In a heartbeat, he found himself dangling from Frey’s grip.

Frey held him up with a single arm, showing no effort.

“I told you, didn’t I? I warned you… that your death was imminent.”

In that breath… Frey ceased to look human.

He resembled a reaper, ready to claim a pathetic soul.

His power was so immense that Maika could not even flinch.

Meanwhile, Ada finally noticed her brother’s presence once he stepped into the light.

“…Frey…”

Seeing him there.. covered in tears and Carmen’s blood.. she knew he had seen it all.

That thought only made her fractured heart throb with more pain.

She hadn’t wanted him to endure this.

Yet she had forced him to feel it once more.

Then, something impossible occurred—

“Frey…”

It was the voice of Carmen.

Carmen, collapsed on the floor with a ruined chest, clinging to the final embers of life.

She looked directly at Frey.. at the young man clutching her only son by the throat.

The son who represented her deepest remorse.

Her unforgivable crime.

She had offered that boy nothing but hopelessness… agony… and spite.

She was aware of that. She embraced it.

She offered no apology.

But with the final breath in her lungs, she spoke to Frey.

“Please… let him… let him live…”

Those were her parting words.

Carmen’s final request…

was merely for her son’s life to be spared.

He had committed countless sins…

But she wanted him to at least survive.. not perish because of her.

And so, she pleaded with Frey in her final moment.

Frey heard her clearly.

He knew these were the last words he would ever receive from Carmen.. the woman who had stood by him for years, who had shielded him time and again.

He looked at her for a brief second.

Then, he turned his gaze back to Maika.

“No.”

That was his solitary reply.

Freezing. Final.

Before Maika could draw a breath, Frey pulverized his skull.. reducing his head to nothingness right before the mother who died at that very same moment.

Slowly, Frey let the body fall to the floor.

Silence filled the room.

The only remaining sound… was the sound of Ada’s quiet weeping.

Frey looked toward his sister, his face devoid of emotion.

“I can’t believe… I’m actually getting used to this…”

His voice sounded hollow.. almost like a machine.

After so many waves of despair, mourning, trauma, and death… Frey had become dead inside.

Carmen’s passing pained him.

But it was merely another scar on a body already covered in them.

At this stage… even agony had lost its sting.

He looked at Ada.

She gazed back at him.

Neither could find the words.

Neither knew how to proceed.

The heavy pressure of the moment weighed on Frey’s chest.

It weighed on his mind.

It weighed on everything.

His expression flickered.. from emptiness… to sadness… to grief…

And then..

pure shock.

His eyes snapped wide.

His mouth parted.

His foot dug into the ground..

as a warning from Nameless thundered in his mind.

In the next heartbeat, Frey vanished at impossible speeds.

He materialized in front of Ada, seizing her and shielding her with his entire frame..

He pulled her into a fierce hug.

Ada blinked in confusion, not understanding the sudden movement..

But then..

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!*

In an instant, the world turned white.

A thunderous blast consumed everything around them..

wiping the temple from existence in a single, catastrophic blow.

On that day… in that very second…

The temple was destroyed.

A solitary, overwhelming strike had zeroed in on Frey’s location.. and that attack signaled the start of the war.