THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 804 A Choice for Death

Thanatos now perched on an imposing throne forged from bones lashed tightly together, overlooking everything below—his face shrouded in darkness.

His countenance was razor-sharp and frigid.

Those eyes held a deadly void, shimmering with that eerie blue hue from another realm.

His presence hung heavy, murky, and shadowy… coiling around him and pressing down the atmosphere itself.

"What a strange world… these humans are pathetically frail. The feeblest I've encountered."

He swiveled his head toward the east, where the Shadow Sect lay.

"Yet… hidden among them are beings of immense might. I detect the carrier of the Light Soul there."

Next, his eyes turned to the west.

"Meanwhile, hordes of vile demons swarm the opposite side, scheming to seize this land… with me sandwiched in between."

Gradually, Thanatos balled his hand into a fist.

"That cursed Agaroth… you couldn't finish me off. You'll rue the day when I come back and rip your head clean off. Then you'll know the real lord of death."

Having returned at last, the death incarnate steadied himself after his prior fury.

He wasn't stupid.

He knew perfectly well a head-on clash with the Demon King was beyond him.

Thus…

Thanatos started devising his following strategy.

"I need to reassemble my forces… and seize back the Soul of Death that was taken from me."

That stood as his top priority.

"The Soul of Death lies distant for the moment. But the army… it's right here, handed to me gift-wrapped."

To one flank loomed the Shadow Sect, brimming with formidable fighters.

To the other, the demons… harboring endless hordes of beasts.

"Once I fold them all into my ranks, I'll restore my losses… maybe claim even more."

"Thus… I'll let them clash and annihilate each other freely."

"And take the survivors for myself."

The scheme was straightforward.

Yet potent.

Thanatos planned to stay aloof from the brewing conflict… biding his time until the ideal instant to butcher the winner, then bend every soul into loyal thralls eager to battle in his name.

Visions of his reborn legions ignited Thanatos's vengeful fire, sparking a thunderous laugh from deep within.

He roared with laughter.

And kept laughing.

Until the peals rattled the whole capital.

But the mirth faded swiftly.

His grin dissolved… supplanted by grim resolve and lethal fury as his stare fixed on a shadowy nook nearby.

"You in the shadows… show yourself. Or forfeit your life."

His voice dripped menace.

He'd picked up on a nearby intruder.

And he meant every word… poised to unleash death in a heartbeat.

This intruder had crept dangerously near.

Near enough that Thanatos only sensed him at the last second.

Which signaled…

No mere foe.

Silence hung at first.

But briefly.

Footsteps soon echoed for Thanatos.

From the gloom emerged a figure in human guise.

"Your perception is razor-keen, Embodiment of death, Thanatos," the man declared.

"I meant to stay hidden from you to the last… but you spotted me anyway."

He advanced into the glow.

And at the sight…

Thanatos's eyes tightened in familiarity.

"You… I glimpsed you earlier. On the battleground where I reentered."

Recognition dawned.

The unique markers… the pitch-black mask.

The snow-white locks.

The obsidian sword.

No other fit.

"I'm Frey Starlight. I've come to you, Thanatos… bearing an offer."

Frey materialized from thin air—at the doorstep of death itself.

Thanatos vaulted from his seat, touching down before the man.

"What choice do you presume to give me?" Thanatos demanded, erupting with a torrent of aura.

"No soul in this realm dictates to me. I rule. Alone."

The death king's emanation was no trifle.

One word summed it: Overwhelming.

Still, Frey stood unmoved before it.

He strode forward through the choking force like it was air.

"You're just a lost wretch… adrift in an era and land not your own."

Frey's form blazed with Black Hole Aura mingled with soul essence.

"Choose, Thanatos. Aim your blade at our shared foe—the demons, that breed under the king you despise utterly—"

He halted, letting his words sink in while radiating a slayer's will that jolted Thanatos.

"—or perish right here… by my strike."

Frey's ultimatum reverberated across the capital.

A blatant.

Open challenge.

The Death King quivered.

Not in terror…

But wrath.

Blazing azure flames of rage and scorn flared up in Thanatos' eyes. His aura surged to its peak intensity, bearing down with full force on the man standing before him.

"Kill me? Me?"

"Hehehe… hahahaha!!!"

Coarse and beastly, Thanatos' laughter thundered forth, chilling the blood of anyone who heard it.

"You are truly naive, human. I am death itself. Even the Demon King failed to erase me. How could a fool like you hope to succeed?"

Thanatos shifted into a combat pose.

That served as his reply.

"You came to me of your own accord. Do not regret it when you become one of my shadow soldiers!"

BOOOOOOM!!

The earth under Thanatos shattered as he rocketed ahead like a howling blue meteor.

His punch crashed straight into the Dark Sister, the impact hurling Frey through the air—his form smashing past countless buildings and barriers until it came to a halt.

Thanatos gave chase at once, cackling wildly.

"What a fool you are! You should have fought your pathetic war quietly instead of coming to me!"

He materialized in front of Frey and lashed out with a kick, but Frey parried and dodged the full strike at the final moment.

Thanatos' velocity and might were utterly terrifying.

At first look, total dominance seemed his.

But in one fleeting instant ..

As Thanatos' fist neared its target ..

Frey vanished.

Once Thanatos steadied himself, Frey had already outstripped him in swiftness.

"Unlike Agaroth… I can kill you, Thanatos."

SLAAASH!!

A lone slash, infused with Black Hole Aura and the power of myriad souls ..

Frey ripped through Thanatos' chest, dark blue blood gushing out.

Thanatos snapped back fast and launched a counterstrike ..

But Frey blinked out of sight once more, rematerializing nearby.

"The Demon King does not understand the Law of Life and Death. That is why he failed to end you."

"Unlike me… I can break it as easily as you do."

Frey's frame blazed with even more savage purple fires as he incinerated extra souls to amplify his strength.

From the slits in Nameless' mask, his frigid stare pierced Thanatos.

"Choose, Thanatos. Either fight my enemies… or die, and I will use your soul as fuel to stoke my own Soul Flame."

"Neither," Thanatos answered with a horrifying smirk.

"The only option before me is to kill you and make use of that body of yours."

He surged ahead.

Frey mirrored the move.

Ferociously they smashed together, auras colliding in a deafening blast that rattled the whole capital.

"Very well."

Frey uttered coolly ..

And launched into combat against death personified, Thanatos.