THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 741: The Peak of Shadow Adaptation
Previously on THE VILLAIN'S POV...
His hand shot out toward the Engineer's back... yet this time, Gehrman was prepared.
He barely dodged the attack by the narrowest margin.
"So... you managed to avoid it."
However, escaping that initial strike wasn't exactly fortunate news.
Amon swiftly followed up, closing in like a tightening snare.
Gehrman relied on his exceptional speed to the fullest... combined with his senses strained to their utmost... just to avoid Amon's assaults.
"Damn... I can't beat this foe at my present strength..."
Gehrman muttered to himself inwardly, fighting desperately to hold out longer.
One solid hit would finish him off, considering the vulnerability of his current body.
To stand any chance against such a rival, Gehrman would need to unleash his complete might.
Abraham Starlight attempted to step in multiple times... but he found it impossible.
"They're blurring so quickly that I can hardly keep pace with their movements..." Abraham confessed, stunned.
He hadn't anticipated seeing anyone who could rival Gehrman in velocity.
If the battle dragged on this way... disaster loomed ahead.
In another spot, Frey observed from afar.
"This is terrible... absolutely terrible..."
Having created sufficient separation from Ada and the fight, Frey remained near her, eyeing the confrontation.
"Amon is Crimson's little brother... and he's so formidable that he's viewed as a wild card among the High Ranks. His real power surpasses his official position by far."
Frey was aware of Amon, though his skills were mostly a mystery to him.
Such an adversary was undoubtedly superior to both Wesker and Vayne.
"If it keeps going like this... the Engineer and my dad won't stand a chance and will fall helplessly."
Should that occur, Frey would be dragged off to Helmond against his will, and all his allies—including Ada and Abraham—would perish.
Frey was determined not to let that happen, regardless of the sacrifice.
Without a second thought, he slipped Nameless's mask over his face once more.
"You're seeing this, right... Nameless?"
Instantly, Frey shut his eyes and slipped into that empty, void-like space... the secure haven in his thoughts.
Nameless was there, gazing off into the distance.
"Your troublesome underling is about to get defeated, and if he does, we'll be right back where we started. I refuse to let that slide, no matter what it costs," Frey declared resolutely as he neared the masked figure.
"I'm not demanding you battle for me. I don't plan to waste effort debating with you."
With that, Nameless turned toward him.
"Then what brings you here?"
In reply, Frey positioned himself directly in front of him.
"Tell me... how can I tap into this latent power within me?"
"The higher levels of Shadow Adaptation... those are the advanced ones, correct? They could let me handle that monster!"
Frey begged, yearning for the fifth and sixth stages of Shadow Adaptation to shift the battle's momentum.
Nameless paused for a moment before responding.
"You might pull off what you desire by fully harnessing the advanced stages... but in your present condition, you couldn't handle the strain," Nameless answered in his typical icy voice, making Frey scowl without thinking.
"My shaky base is dragging me down once more..." Frey grumbled.
"If only... I had reached SSS-rank..."
This remained Frey Starlight's biggest flaw... his inferior cultivation compared to his foes, and his deep dependence on skills and outside help.
Yet Nameless cut him off, pointing out a vital detail.
"Don't get it wrong, Frey Starlight. I meant something other than your cultivation level..."
As Nameless continued, the surrounding emptiness slowly grew dimmer.
"What I'm getting at is... your psyche won't hold up under it."
"What do you mean by that?" Frey questioned, bewildered.
"To even have a shot at fighting—much less with the fifth stage—you'd require the sixth stage's power."
"And that... is beyond what any human psyche can bear."
Right then, Nameless revealed the way ahead for Frey.
The shadowy emptiness broke apart... shifting to a deep red hue.
Frey's feet abruptly plunged into an odd substance... red, sticky, repulsive, and repulsive.
"Is this... blood?" Frey exclaimed, horrified.
But that was merely the start.
Slowly, horrifying forms started emerging from the bloody ocean...
Followed by the wails.
Wails that chilled Frey to the bone—cries of torment and fury, echoes from the depths... howls from spirits alien to this realm.
Ghosts extended their grasp, seizing Frey with frantic fingers, latching on and refusing to release.
Frey attempted to break free right away... but in mere moments...
Countless... no, innumerable cadavers surged from every side.
Deformed, ravaged forms that horrified Frey beyond all his past ordeals.
Once encircled, Frey vaulted upward into the emptiness, seeking his sole escape.
He ascended relentlessly, pushing toward the peak.
Yet when he glanced below, his dread intensified.
The bodies stacked upon each other, pursuing him without mercy, building a massive peak that swelled bigger every instant.
From his vantage, the truth dawned on Frey.
An infinite ocean of blood...
And bodies surfacing ceaselessly, all clawing toward him.
Charred, slaughtered, dismembered, warped remains...
Visions ripped from a night terror.
"Is this... hell?" Frey murmured, gazing at the horrifying scene.
Then the pile of bodies caught up to him.
Lifeless fingers slithered across his flesh.
Frey experienced utter horror... and struggled to resist.
But resistance proved pointless.
He was overwhelmingly feeble in this domain.
With no alternatives, he attempted to escape once more, scaling ever higher... but it was in vain.
The cadavers were boundless.
Within this hell drenched in blood...
Nameless hovered over it all, observing with his characteristic detached poise.
"So witness it yourself, Frey Starlight..."
"What the sixth stage of Shadow Adaptation really entails."
The phase for which Nameless had shed blood... rivers of blood without end.
"This phase follows the road of life and death..."
"And no human psyche can withstand it."
"So tell me..."
"Will you prove to be the outlier?"
Nameless inquired with interest...
But his words were drowned out by the dead's shrieks...
And by Frey Starlight's frantic resistance.