THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 712: Until the Last Breath Between Us (1)

The temple had been obliterated...

A sprawling territory that functioned as a miniature city—the very place where Frey Starlight had resided for years since his reincarnation—was gone.

In a single, devastating heartbeat, the entire landscape was flattened and wiped from existence.

A colossal explosion erupted, illuminating the midnight sky and signaling the dawn of a fresh nightmare.

The blinding radiance of the blast hung in the air for several agonizing seconds before it finally dimmed. What remained was a mountain of rubble; the pulverized skeletons of the temple’s grand halls and facilities were now nothing more than debris scattered across the earth.

A heavy slab of stone was shoved aside from within the wreckage as a lone figure struggled to his feet.

It was Frey.

Beneath him was Ada, whom he had desperately protected by using his own body as a shield.

His back was a gruesome sight—shredded and scorched by the explosion, marked by a deep, crimson gash. However, his constitution immediately took over, and his flesh began to regenerate of its own accord.

Frey hauled himself up, casting a sharp gaze toward the heavens.

"Of all possible times... they choose to attack now?"

He hissed the words under his breath, his voice laced with growing irritation. Suddenly, Nameless’s voice echoed in his mind with an urgent warning:

"Several powerful adversaries are closing in on our position."

"I suspected as much..." Frey snapped back. Behind him, Ada slowly rose to a sitting position, still refusing to let go of Carmen’s lifeless form.

"Frey... what just happened?"

"We are under siege, Ada. Stay close to me and do not move. And leave Carmen’s body behind... she is gone, and clinging to her is useless."

He didn't spare her a glance. His focus remained locked on the sky, searching for the perpetrators of the strike.

Ada wavered, her grip on Carmen’s corpse tightening. Carmen lay there, silent and cold, with a horrific, empty hole where her heart used to be.

There was no doubt she was dead.

Yet, Ada felt the need to give her a proper burial at the very least. It was the final mercy she could show her. Carmen had perished in misery, forced to witness Frey slaughter her own son before her eyes.

Despite the sins she had committed, her final wish had been for her child to live... and Ada could not simply brush that aside.

Frey understood those emotions perfectly.

However, he disregarded Carmen’s dying wish without a second thought. To him, Carmen was now nothing more than a useless piece of carrion to be discarded.

Though Ada found his coldness cruel, she was not a fool. They were currently in the middle of a war zone, pursued by lethal predators. She was already a liability to Frey; she couldn't afford to carry a corpse as well.

With a heavy heart, she laid Carmen down and moved closer to Frey. She looked shattered, but she recognized her own helplessness. She lacked the strength to change their reality.

In that moment...

A fierce, astral pressure erupted from Frey as he unleashed the full, ruinous power of the Black Hole Aura.

"This is going to be difficult," Frey whispered, a tense smile playing on his lips as their attackers finally showed themselves.

Two figures hovered in the air, framed by the moonlight and the distorted glow of the fractured moon. Their sheer presence was suffocating—especially that of the familiar demon who had once filled Frey with genuine dread.

"Zibar... I didn’t think I’d have to look at your disgusting face again so soon."

Frey unsheathed the Dark Sister, while Balerion’s shadowy terror manifested around his arm like a dark, armored limb. His opponents were none other than:

—The Tenth Seat of the Upper Demons, Zibar. —And Thánatos, the puppet master Gepetto, Rank 13.

The two demons chuckled derisively as they descended toward the ruins.

"You have a debt to pay, Frey Starlight. Do not expect luck to pull you through this time."

Zibar flexed his hands, his frame vibrating with monstrous intent. A violent, chaotic power was barely contained beneath his massive obsidian plating—the Katarina Armor.

"The one standing before you isn't a mere clone... I am the true Tenth Upper Seat. Prepare yourself, for today you will experience a level of agony you’ve never known."

"You certainly have a big mouth for a dog who needed to bring a partner along for backup," Frey mocked, shifting his weight into a defensive stance to shield Ada.

Ada was paralyzed. The overlapping pressure radiating from the three demonic entities made it impossible for her to even breathe, let alone move.

Frey was trapped in a nightmare scenario. He was not only facing overwhelming odds but was also burdened with the task of protecting Ada. He secretly attempted to activate teleportation to get them out of there.

However, his foes had anticipated the move. They had already sealed the entire perimeter with an aura barrier. Frey’s teleportation technique relied on projecting his aura to a destination first, but with the barrier in place, his aura could not penetrate the boundary.

Wisker was not the type to fail twice—and this time, he had come prepared for every contingency.

"What’s the matter, Frey? Do you find this unfair? Hehehe..." Zibar’s laughter boomed as he pointed a finger at him.

"You have the legendary Nameless residing within you, don’t you? Don’t complain... this much is the bare minimum for an opponent like you."

"Using Nameless as a justification for a two-on-one fight? How pathetic. I never realized the 'great' Tenth Upper Demon was so desperate for a win."

Frey continued his verbal jabs, subtly repositioning himself as Gepetto began to circle them from the flank. Zibar didn't take the bait; instead, he laughed even harder.

"Two versus one? It seems you’ve miscalculated, Frey Starlight..."

His eyes flared with a sinister light, sending a jolt of alarm through Frey.

"This is actually three versus one."

As soon as the words were spoken, a crushing, absolute pressure descended upon the ruins, signaling the arrival of yet another titan. This new presence possessed power that rivaled Zibar’s—and perhaps even exceeded it.

Frey’s face went pale as he slowly turned his head toward the masked figure emerging from the shadows to stand beside Gepetto.

In that instant, Frey remembered the warning Snow had given him during their last clash with the Ultras. He remembered the masked monster that had dismantled Snow with terrifying ease—the one Snow had begged Frey to help him defeat.

Now, that very monster was standing there alongside Zibar and Gepetto.

"Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse... that bastard shows up."

Cornered by three monsters, Frey stood as the sole line of defense for his sister, the only family he had left. It was an utterly hopeless situation. He wasn't even sure he could take Zibar in a fair fight, let alone all three simultaneously.

Frey’s mind raced at an impossible speed, straining to find any loophole or escape route from this impending doom. Since the start of his second life, he had never been in a spot this dire.

No matter how many variables he calculated, every path led to a single conclusion: defeat.

Frey glanced back at Ada.

"I don’t care what happens to me... but Ada... she has to get out of this alive."

He knew his enemies wouldn't kill him immediately, as his capture was far more valuable to them. But Ada was expendable; there was no guarantee they would let her live.

"Think..."

He cursed himself, pushing his mental faculties to their absolute breaking point.

"Think, damn it! How do I survive this mess?!"

His brain felt like it was on fire, buckling under the sheer weight of the crisis. Frey was a genius whose cognitive speed surpassed any mortal, and in those few seconds, he simulated hundreds of potential strategies.

Every single one ended in death.

The only real chance was to let Nameless take the reins again, but the masked king had flatly refused, leaving Frey to face this trial on his own.

"Think, damn you!! There has to be a way out!"

He screamed within his own mind, pouring every ounce of his instinct and power into the search for an answer.

And then...

Just as he was about to break...

Time itself seemed to come to a standstill.

An event occurred that shattered his train of thought completely.

Frey’s eyes had been glued to his enemies: Zibar, Gepetto, and the dark-cloaked figure. But in that fleeting moment, the masked individual reached up and slowly pulled back his hood.