THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 743: Beyond Redemption (2)

His determination was clear—he was set to withstand every bit of it.

The entire scene played out right in front of Nameless, who observed quietly, completely comprehending the intensity of Frey's will.

For some time, he stayed silent... watching closely, evaluating the way Frey held up under the strain.

Then, after a span that wasn't overly brief or drawn out, the figure in the mask at last opened his mouth.

"Are you certain?" Nameless questioned, yanking Frey back into the realm drenched in blood yet again, gesturing below.

"Can you really handle this?"

"Examine them closely.

Gaze upon them... and repeat those words right to their faces."

With that, Frey's hand balled into a tight fist.

He refrained from disputing it... knowing full well the gravity of his impending choice.

Gradually, he dropped his gaze... and scanned them for the final time.

A good number of those bodies were Ultras troops or demons... beasts guilty of endless horrors, creatures worthy of demise.

Yet a great many more...

They were simply regular fighters... slain by Frey in moments amid the battlefield.

Their sole offense was hailing from the opposing side of the globe.

Just everyday people... who had navigated life much like anybody.

"You're prepared to bear this since they hold no value to you... correct?"

Nameless murmured near Frey's ear.

"That's the essence of humanity.

You shape your existences around prejudice."

"Provided they're not near to me...

Provided they lack significance to me...

Even if they're blameless, it's acceptable to exploit them for my gains."

"That idea," Nameless stated softly,

"flashed through your thoughts."

Frey kept quiet.

For Nameless spoke the truth.

"You've stacked all these spirits on one end of the balance...

And positioned the existences of those dear to you on the opposite."

"Abraham Starlight.

Ada Starlight."

"Versus tens of thousands of the deceased—a ridiculous matchup.

Still, the balance leaned toward those who counted for you."

"Do Abraham and Ada Starlight merit existence more than these spirits merit redemption?"

"Naturally not."

"Yet you selected your father and sister regardless...

Driven by bias, not fairness or equity."

To the last, Frey Starlight found no reply.

Since all of Nameless's words rang true.

He had flawlessly unraveled the core of human essence.

Frey was prepared to bear it...

To torment tens of thousands of spirits...

To incinerate them...

All to rescue those who held meaning for him.

"Yet..."

For an instant, it seemed the world halted.

As though the atmosphere had turned icy.

In those brief moments, Nameless's gaze flickered with shadowy gleam as he posed his query:

"Using these very hands of yours...

Precisely whom did you slay?"

"Were they solely foes?"

"Confess to me...

What deeds have your hands actually wrought?"

Nameless drew nearer while he and Frey fixed their eyes on the contorted remains down below.

"What are you implying...?" Frey murmured softly—unable to muster volume.

His pulse quickened.

A chilling dread began to envelop him.

A wicked, horrifying chill.

His torso constricted.

Drawing breath turned agonizing.

Frey sensed it...

He had missed something vital.

Something essential.

Something dreadfully significant... that had slipped his mind.

"Examine them intently, Frey," Nameless urged, his tone bearing down more firmly.

"Describe what you observe."

"Recall... the acts your hands have performed."

"Recall... whom did you slay?"

With each ticking instant...

Each second... each minute...

That foreboding unease intensified.

For a split second, it appeared everything had stilled—progressing in sluggish motion.

The remains kept stacking atop each other, reaching out frantically toward Frey.

High above, he and Nameless lingered—beholding the sight.

Then, gradually...

After gazing sufficiently... after plunging into that infernal void...

Frey at last recalled.

He recalled the single detail he had overlooked.

Bit by bit, his eyes grew wide.

His mouth quivered.

His entire form fractured.

Within the heap of remains... far below...

One form stood out.

Only one.

And it sent shudders through every part of Frey's being.

It appeared much like the rest.

A ravaged form.

Its torso gaped open... run through by an object that had driven clean through.

Blood flowed ceaselessly from the gash, trickling nonstop with every dragging motion.

Its features were contorted... partially human, partially beastly and deformed.

Drenched in gore, grimy to the extreme.

And still...

Frey knew him.

And right then...

It seemed something within Frey broke apart.

His heart thrashed wildly.

His thoughts emptied.

All his steadfastness...

All his drive to resist...

Vanished in a flash.

Nameless's inquiry had been rightful.

Frey Starlight had taken numerous lives over his years.

His targets had invariably been adversaries.

But those gore-covered hands weren't drenched solely in foe's blood...

They bore the stains of kin's blood too.

The blood of one he had dispatched with his own grip...

And entombed far in his recollections.

And presently...

That individual dragged himself toward him, limb extended...

After enduring perpetual agony, denied any respite.

Frey Starlight hadn't forgotten.

As fresh as if it were the prior day.

He hadn't forgotten that evening—the evening he ended his companion.

The one akin to a sibling.

That evening, his companion had grinned at him...

Urging him to conclude it.

But now...

That grin had vanished.

Substituted by a distorted visage scarred by agony...

A visage pleading its companion for deliverance.

For a heartbeat, it seemed the surroundings faded.

As if solely they two persisted.

"...Danzo," Frey breathed... his tone weak, shaky.

The awareness arrived too tardily.

And Frey grasped the complete terror of his actions at last.

That gore-drenched form was his companion's...

The one felled by his strike.

By slaying him, Frey had convinced himself... buried in his core... that he had halted the pain.

He had compelled that belief upon himself, merely to avoid descending into insanity beneath the burden.

But his companion had never attained tranquility.

He had lingered here all along... in torment.

The instant that reality hit...

The full weight slammed into Frey's psyche simultaneously.

He was harshly pulled back to reality... And crumpled to the earth as a burning blaze erupted within his torso.

"Blaaaargh—ugh—!"

Frey retched... the contents of his gut poured forth, until he nearly heaved blood.

His frame shook without control.

His torso seemed ready to explode.

Tears he believed long gone surged in his eyes.

A rasping cry escaped his throat as he fought for air.

"All this... time... he was..."

That mangled visage seared into his thoughts.

"What did I do...?

What have I done... I..."

Frey ground his teeth... then pounded his fist against the surface under him.

"What did I do?!!"

He bellowed at full force... weeping as he sprawled there.

How could he not...

Upon realizing he hadn't just brought about his companion's end...

But had doomed him to perpetual torment beyond it.

It was the ultimate strike...

The one that demolished his will entirely.

Nameless had witnessed it unfold.

He had foreseen it from the start that this would occur.

The instant Danzo joined the opposing side of the balance,

The notion of prejudice... the bedrock of human verdict... crumbled utterly.

No purpose lingered in it.

This was the bane of feelings.

A bane Nameless had never known.

But now...

Nameless gradually lifted his palm.

His form stayed composed—serene as ever.

But one palm...

That palm quivered.

Nameless regarded it.

Then the shattered Frey.

Then the ocean of remains... where Danzo rested.

And gradually...

Nameless tightened his grip.

Allowing the shadows to engulf it all.

"..."