THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 825 Supernova Ignition

Perhaps the most enduring memory from war, aside from the carnage, the flames, the clash of steel, and the devastation, is the sound.

The sound of screams.

Of agony endured.

The primal roars of battle that erupt uncontrollably from within.

Sound is an integral component of warfare.

It reflects the collective spirit of an entire army...

and at times, it alone possesses the power to alter the course of conflict.

Between the Ultras and the Empire...

it was starkly apparent which side commanded superiority in this regard.

The monstrous cries of demons,

the grating shriek of iron automatons—

completely overshadowed the shouts of the Empire's valiant soldiers.

Initially, the humans cried out with spirit,

fighting with the determination to hold their ground until their very last breath.

But at some point, that spirit began to wane.

Gradually...

it transformed into utter despair.

The disparity in power was simply too immense.

Ordinary soldiers—those of lower designations like A and B—

stood no chance against beings that surpassed the SS rank.

And consequently... with the exception of the powerful few—

they perished.

Swiftly.

They met their end.

Terrifyingly swiftly.

So rapidly that their numbers had dwindled to less than half of their initial strength at the battle's commencement...

despite a relatively short time having elapsed.

One could deem it an unavoidable outcome.

And in reality—

few harbored concerns for the lives of those common soldiers.

Somewhere amidst the human formations...

the elite prodigies congregated, battling shoulder-to-shoulder for their very survival.

Their performance was commendable—

far superior to that of the average trooper, owing to their exceptional innate talents and cultivated abilities.

At their core stood Dawn Polaris, blessed with unparalleled fortune...

a figure who navigated every peril unscathed.

They fought valiantly.

But their countenances were strained.

Grim.

And growing harsher with every passing moment.

09:44

Because of the bloodshed.

The dismembered limbs.

The spilled entrails.

The heads severed and rolling across the battlefield, detached from their torsos.

Imperial warriors were falling...

at a rate far exceeding any prior prediction.

Their supposed protectors did not shield them.

They were fully engrossed—

in their own titanic struggles.

The progenitors of illustrious clans.

The champions of the Shadow Sect.

Even the formidable figures positioned above—

including Frey Starlight, upon whom countless hopes were placed.

He foresaw their demise in such a manner.

Nevertheless... he did not divert his gaze.

For, in his estimation—

their sacrifices were a prerequisite.

He remained indifferent.

Yet, someone of his own lineage felt differently.

At the vanguard of the chaotic melee...

after his luminous blades had already cleaved through immense swaths of both demons and Ultras...

Abraham Starlight was the sole individual to turn back.

And the scene that greeted him—

was his own kin succumbing.

Falling at a terrifying velocity.

He inhaled deeply... drawing air thick with the metallic tang of blood and the miasma of death.

His grasp on his sword intensified.

His gaze sharpened into a glare.

One of the grotesque, mutated Ultras lunged in an attempt to ambush him—

but Abraham's blade moved with the swiftness of pure light, obliterating it before it could even entertain the notion of striking him.

"This conflict..." he uttered, his voice resonating deeply.

"...is unlike any other. Entirely dissimilar to any battle I have ever engaged in."

He had ventured far ahead of the Empire's main forces—

having propelled himself alone into the heart of the enemy's territory.

His intention was that such a maneuver would alleviate the pressure exerted upon the army...

even if only to a minimal degree.

But what confronted him...

was but a minuscule fraction of an unending multitude.

The sheer number of adversaries was overwhelming.

And the reinforcements dispatched from Hellmond—

were no trivial matter.

Abraham comprehended the overarching strategy.

He knew it intimately.

But witnessing the grim reality unfold before his very eyes...

doubt began to creep into his resolve.

Elevating his sword before his countenance,

the luminescence of his aura was mirrored within his eyes, cast upon the blade's surface.

"Frey... this is not a conventional war."

"This is a war that threatens the very existence... the extinction of the entire human race."

"Only a mere few thousand of us remain... and the majority are presently here, entrenched in this very battle."

He advanced through the monstrous horde, cleaving them asunder with practiced ease—

yet his thoughts remained resolutely anchored to the trajectory the war had adopted.

Humanity's remaining population on this world was sparse.

The bulk of them were converged here—

engaged in combat.

Those who lingered within the confines of the Shadow Sect—

were the young, the infirm, and the ordinary women—

individuals incapable of sustaining themselves independently.

All the most potent combatants had been marshaled to the field of battle.

And this realization prompted a profound question within Abraham...

a query that reverberated within his very soul.

"Is it justifiable... to sacrifice all these souls—"

"merely to conserve resources for future engagements?"

"Should I exercise restraint... when I possess the capacity to rescue them?"

"I acknowledge that victory demands a sacrifice... and perhaps the price we pay today encompasses all these lives being extinguished with every passing second..."

"I understand..."

His jaw clenched tightly.

The radiance emanating from his swords began to diminish.

"I understand... but I vehemently reject this course of action."

Abraham closed his eyes, a flicker of resolve in their depths.

And relinquished his defensive posture entirely.

He stood immobile in the center of the ravaged battlefield—

utterly unprotected.

Profound regret etched upon his face.

The surrounding monsters surged towards him instantaneously—

piling onto him in a frenzy, eager to tear apart this ferocious human warrior.

Within mere seconds—

dozens of them sprang upon him, piling over his body until Abraham was completely concealed beneath the monstrous heap.

This sudden, unexpected turn of events captured the attention of all onlookers.

They found themselves unable to comprehend his actions.

"...Father," Frey uttered, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

The very same question resonated in the minds of those positioned above—and those observing from below.

The monstrous creatures continued their relentless assault.

And in less than a minute's time...

Abraham was swallowed by an immense pile of demons and beasts.

Not a trace of him was visible.

Only the oppressive darkness.

And the repulsive filth.

Yet, this situation was not to last.

A radiant light erupted from within the churning mass.

A brilliant luminescence—

akin to a star poised on the brink of a cataclysmic explosion.

"I'm not finished yet."

Abraham's voice boomed from beneath the immense weight of countless monsters.

In that precise instant... the demons and the mindless mutated Ultras began to tremble.

They were beings supposedly devoid of any emotion, including fear.

And yet—

a single man... had utterly altered that reality.

A peculiar surge of aura commenced to boil within him—

and an overwhelming, suffocating pressure began to spread across the battlefield where Abraham stood.

Slowly, the eyes of Frey and the others widened as they keenly felt that abnormal surge of power.

Without the slightest warning—

blinding light erupted outwards.

Every single creature that had dared to lay a hand on Abraham was violently flung away in an instant.

Eerging from beneath the suffocating heap...

he rose once more.

Not a single mark or injury marred his pristine body.

He remained the same man—

yet he was also completely transformed.

His long, raven-black hair ignited with a resonant white glow, subtly tinged with silver...

as if it had been intricately woven from pure, ethereal starlight.

His very aura had undergone a complete metamorphosis.

It now resembled a blazing silver flame... a brilliant hue that verged on becoming pure gold.

It exuded an aura of profound calm.

An unshakeable stillness.

Yet, the immense, palpable pressure it radiated made one crucial fact undeniably clear—

this was no ordinary, mundane transformation.

"If no one else cares... then I do."

Abraham's voice now resonated with an undeniable, commanding weight.

A new sword materialized within his grasp.

A different sword indeed... colossal, exceeding two meters in length...

shimmering with the same potent, radiant power.

"In the end... I am human."

"And it is my solemn duty to fight for humanity's survival."

"If this power I wield can become the very reason this race endures—then it is absolutely worth unleashing!"

He transitioned into a completely altered combat stance.

His teeth were clenched tightly.

Then—

he let out a mighty roar.

A thunderous, earth-shattering cry that vibrated through the very fabric of the battlefield.

"Stacked Ignition: Supernova!!"

From the initial ignition that burned within him...

another level of power ignited.

A star exploded, transforming into something entirely new, something beyond comprehension.

Abraham had achieved a feat that defied all understanding.

He did not content himself with a single ignition.

After witnessing his own profound shortcomings—his stark weakness when compared to his formidable enemies...

and even when contrasted with his own son...

he shattered his limits once more, pushing beyond all perceived boundaries.

Reminding every single soul present—

why he had been initially hailed as nothing short of a miracle.

A colossal pillar of pure, incandescent light erupted from his very being, ascending higher and higher...

until it finally breached the outermost bounds of the heavens.

Even in the desolate expanse of space—

Snow's eyes widened in sheer astonishment as the luminous pillar reached his position,

compelled by the sheer, unfathomable scale of the emanating aura.

But upon closer inspection, it was not merely a pillar.

It was Abraham's mighty sword—

held aloft, poised high against the sky.

And then, with unhesitating resolve, he brought it crashing down.

Without a shred of mercy.

Before the petrified, horrified gazes of all who bore witness.

The colossal blade descended with agonizing slowness...

its sheer, overwhelming size transforming it into a drawn-out, inevitable death sentence for all unfortunate souls positioned beneath it.

SLAAAAAAAAAASH!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The furious war... abruptly ceased.

Every single combatant froze in their tracks.

Time itself seemed to suspend its relentless march.

All eyes, without exception, turned toward an unprecedented catastrophe—

a spectacle of destruction far surpassing anything they had ever witnessed before.