THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 945: The Price of Defying Fate

"Phantom Blade: Infinite Execution."

I poured everything I had into that attack and began swinging my sword as fast as my body could possibly move.

The five phantoms did the same.

Their movements synchronized perfectly with mine.

Our swords moved together, and the specters attacked alongside me, drowning the world in black.

Pitch-dark slashes swallowed the blazing Aether flames of the First Writer.

Before Mother’s eyes, space itself filled with intersecting trails of dark blade-light.

Hundreds...

Then thousands of thin lines tore through the air from every possible angle, as though every slash had been unleashed at the exact same moment.

The arcs of our blades split apart the burning Aether stars just as Father had done before.

But this time, the scale was far greater.

And the speed far higher.

The sky returned to its original darkness after being dyed violet by Mother’s Aether.

In the end, nothing remained above us except the scars left behind by the slashes, a dense web of luminous arcs and intersecting lines stretching across the heavens.

Around me, the five phantoms slowly began to disappear after leaving destruction everywhere in their wake.

The moment the last specter vanished...

I collapsed as well.

I hit the ground, gasping desperately for air.

My entire body felt hollow.

As though every drop of blood had been drained from my veins, leaving nothing inside me but emptiness.

Mother was unharmed.

Unfortunately, Phantom Blade had failed to reach her after she surrounded herself with several defensive layers of Aether.

But I was still satisfied with what I had accomplished.

Because I had seen it clearly.

Shock.

For the first time, genuine shock had appeared upon her face.

I must have truly exceeded her expectations this time.

The same expression appeared on Father’s face.

And on everyone else who had witnessed the attack.

But it did not last long.

Soon, that terrifying pressure of Aether returned, reminding all of us that the battle was still far from over.

Then...

Out of nowhere...

The sound of applause echoed through the world.

It was Mother.

She was clapping.

Loudly.

The sound reverberated across the entire battlefield.

"Wonderful."

"Well done, Frey."

"If surprising me was what you wanted... then you’ve certainly succeeded."

She applauded one final time before finally lowering her hands.

Her Aether was no longer raging as it had before.

It had returned to its usual cold state.

That alone told me her anger had completely disappeared.

"You impressed me."

"But what comes next?"

She asked the question calmly.

And unlike me, standing there exhausted with almost no strength remaining...

Mother continued radiating the same horrifying pressure as though the battle had not even begun.

While I could barely breathe properly, she dyed the heavens violet once again.

This time...

She filled them with enormous spears.

Endless spears.

There were as many of them as raindrops in a violent storm.

The First Writer was simply...

Overwhelming.

Unreachable.

"Didn’t I teach you never to enter a battle you cannot win, Frey?"

The tips of every spear turned toward me.

Mother had seized control of the entire sky.

And yet she continued lecturing me.

"Those impressive sword strikes."

"Your fusion of Aether and Aura."

"Even your father’s assistance."

Her gaze hardened.

"You knew from the very beginning that none of it would be enough."

"And yet you chose to fight me anyway."

Her words echoed deeply inside my mind, as though she were speaking directly beside my ear through some enormous amplifier.

She was deliberately reinforcing her voice with Aether.

"You’ve only proven what I told you before."

"You pretend to be cold only when everything is easy and moving in your favor."

"But in truth, you’re weak."

"You become attached too easily."

"And you allow your emotions to lead you."

"If you had listened to reason, you would have realized from the beginning that fighting me was meaningless."

Her words rang throughout my skull.

But I didn’t care about a single one of them.

I needed a solution.

And I needed one quickly.

Turning my head toward Father, I found him standing nearby, ready to fight again.

But he could do nothing against Mother.

Audrey and Seth were here as well.

The former stood against me.

The latter was completely exhausted and incapable of changing anything.

Then there was Agaroth...

The person for whom all of this had begun.

I looked at him.

And he looked back at me.

I felt his anger immediately.

He resembled a wounded predator licking its wounds.

A dormant volcano threatening to erupt at any moment.

A single look was enough for me to understand.

He truly would become the catastrophe the Oracle had spoken of.

The same catastrophe I had seen within the five visions of my future.

Just as I thought...

Every attempt to tamper with fate only created an even darker future.

And if Agaroth died here...

Then all of us would die later.

I had become certain of that after seeing with my own eyes how the future changed every time someone tried to interfere with it.

So...

No matter the cost...

I would not allow Mother to kill Agaroth.

And I knew exactly how to accomplish that.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes tightly one final time.

Then I forced myself back onto my feet and faced the First Writer once more.

"Let’s make a deal, Mother."

I spoke with the steadiest voice I could manage before she buried us beneath those spears.

"A deal?"

She tilted her head dismissively.

"What kind of deal?"

I answered honestly.

"One that spares Agaroth’s life."

The First Writer sighed in disappointment.

"No."

"He dies."

"And nothing will change that."

She had made her decision long ago.

Nothing I said would change her mind.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Father staring at me in confusion.

He must have been wondering what I intended to do.

No...

Knowing him...

He had probably already understood.

That was why he looked at me that way.

Almost as though he were begging me not to do it.

’Sorry, Father...’

’There is no other choice.’

Turning toward Mother once again, I revealed my side of the bargain.

The one thing I knew she would never refuse.

"You still won’t accept?"

"Even if I’m the price?"

I pointed toward myself with complete confidence.

Mother hesitated.

She tried to hide it.

But I saw through her immediately.

"Explain."

She demanded.

I gladly obliged.

"I’ll walk the path you chose for me."

"I’ll inherit your title."

"In exchange... you let Agaroth live."

This was the last card I had left.

There was nothing else I could offer.

I had just surrendered my own freedom.

If Mother accepted this deal, I would submit to her completely.

She had always wanted me to follow in her footsteps.

To inherit the title of First Writer just as she had.

But I had always rejected that path.

I had always chosen to walk my own.

To be honest...

I wasn’t even certain she would accept, even if I offered her something like this.

But the smile that spread across her face the moment she heard my proposal...

And the terrifying look she gave me...

Told me everything I needed to know.

"Accepted!!"

Mother shouted loudly, unable to conceal her excitement.

And I found myself smiling bitterly at my own expense.

So in Mother’s eyes...

My decision to inherit her legacy mattered more than a catastrophe like Agaroth.

"How ironic."

That night...

Inside the world I had created with my own hands...

I surrendered my freedom.

And sold myself to the First Writer.