THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 782 Death Could Not Hide

Frey raised his head in his direction.

Fulghor positioned himself before Frey, assessing him carefully, before giving a nod of approval.

"Indeed.

Your strength has surged impressively... as expected from a genuine ruler."

Frey cast his eyes down to his hand...

then balled it into a tight fist.

"I sense my form brimming with energy...

yet my thoughts are a whirlwind at the moment."

His gaze sharpened while recollections from the Aether World raced across his mind.

The deeper he delved into his own nature...

the clearer it became how vast his ignorance truly was.

Yet with his fist clenched harder, Frey steadied himself... his determination turning intensely keen.

"No matter the reality...

it alters nothing."

He directed his sight upward to the heavens.

"I understand my duty.

And the route I need to follow."

While he inspected his physique, the group clustered nearby.

"Having achieved your breakthrough successfully, we can now strategize our following steps with precision,"

Nova Starlight declared.

Frey inclined his head.

"Correct... though initially—"

He swiveled his head rightward... fixating on a shadowy nook concealed by foliage and underbrush.

"—we should handle this intrusive visitor."

His icy declaration left all present dumbfounded... including Gehrman and Fulghor.

Frey ignored their reactions.

In the blink of an eye...

He disappeared, employing swift teleportation.

Frey materialized precisely in the dim spot he had eyed just before.

Then... utterly without prelude...

He thrust out his arm, manifesting his blade while a tremendous burst of aura exploded forth, slicing directly at the hidden threat ahead.

BOOOOOOOM!!

One powerful sweep of his sword from Frey razed the whole right flank of the woodland, releasing a cataclysmic flood of ruinous might.

All onlookers gaped at him in astonishment... both from the sheer scale of his might and the suddenness of his assault.

However, mere moments passed...

Before comprehension dawned.

Fulghor spotted it first.

Soon, the others discerned it as well.

From the area Frey had targeted, an eerie entity surfaced.

A shadowy fiend—its form composed purely of gloom and obscurity, bearing a featureless pale visage, merely vacant, soulless voids.

It ascended from the fractured ground and confronted Frey.

"You..."

The fiend wailed, its tone piercing and abrasive like grinding steel.

"How could you sense my presence?!"

Frey gripped Dark Sister more firmly.

"No need to explain. Your end is imminent regardless."

Slash!

Frey released a tremendous surge of black hole Aura, bisecting the shadow cleanly.

An assault like that would prove lethal to any typical foe...

However, this shadow defied the norm.

Its top portion fused back with the bottom in an instant, reconstituting as it sprang away.

Still, evasion proved futile.

A explosive arrow akin to a nuclear blast struck it as Fulghor joined the fray.

Fulghor's aura pressed down oppressively, its area of devastation vast.

"Stay vigilant, Frey. That thing poses a grave threat."

Gehrman cautioned from Fulghor's shoulder, worry etching his features.

"It's an agent from the Hell Duchy... the killer known as Vex."

Fulghor moved to shield Frey protectively.

"That wretch can utterly vanish his aura, rendering him almost undetectable.

Moreover, he wields various methods to slay his marks with one blow."

Gehrman ground his teeth.

"I never anticipated they'd dispatch such a figure so swiftly..."

Vex had probably lurked among them since the start... biding his time to strike at either Frey or Gehrman.

The sole factor delaying his action had been the multitude of combatants there—

and Fulghor in particular, whose dominance was unparalleled.

"All of you, retreat! A single touch from him could end you!"

Gehrman bellowed to the Shadow Sect members.

At once, a malevolent pulse of aura rippled through the atmosphere, dulling their perceptions.

"Quite so, Saint Gehrman... under usual circumstances, detection eludes all."

From the latest blast site, an enormous shadow burst forth.

Vex swelled his shape to a terrifying scale, looming much higher than even Fulghor.

"The sole being who ever felt my presence prior was the Demon King Agaroth... during my botched attempt on his life.

Besides him, none have ever glimpsed my stealth."

His empty stare turned toward Frey.

"That is, until this peculiar youth emerged."

He indicated Frey outright, who advanced undeterred, brushing off Gehrman's alert.

"What trick did you employ?"

Frey offered no reply.

The V-shaped markings aglow in his Void Eyes served as the response.

The Void had unveiled Vex's form, impervious to any flawless hiding.

"I don't entirely grasp the situation here... but you're among the mightiest demons, right?"

Frey stated evenly as his frame blazed with Soul-Flames and black hole Aura.

"Ideal. I needed a worthy opponent to gauge this newfound strength on. You've spared me the search."

At light's velocity, Frey lunged toward the gigantic Vex.

Dark Sister bore a colossal, unchecked momentum as Frey struck with full commitment.

Vex held still.

He appeared wholly vulnerable.

Nevertheless, as Frey drew near, his Void Eyes caught an anomaly...

An unseen force barreling right at him.

Frey evaded just in time.

"Intriguing?"

Vex rasped.

"Not only did you uncover me... but you perceive my unseen strikes too."

Void Eyes transcended mere sight.

They revealed the imperceptible.

And with his SSS-rank physique, Frey could now handle the torrent of information those eyes conveyed.

Like a tempest of darkness, Frey ripped through Vex's massive frame, tearing it apart as though it were mere flesh awaiting the cleaver.

In spite of Vex's immensity, Frey dismantled him in under a second.

However...

The impact lacked the sensation of hitting solid matter.

"Such folly... vessel of Nameless."

Vex's snake-like timbre resounded as his countenance reformed from an unexpected section of the shredded form.

"If my concealed blows miss... I'll envelop you from all sides."

The shadow portion of Vex that Frey had cut abruptly ballooned, erecting a massive cage of obscurity encircling Frey.

Within, myriad shadowy appendages assaulted him from every side.

But Frey stood resolute.

He channeled his entire might into Dark Sister, his gaze aflame.

"Frey Starlight's Style: Nameless Judgment."

His tone stayed serene...

Though the aftermath did not.

Post his SSS-rank ascension, Nameless Judgment now infused both

Black hole Aura and Soul Power.

The outcome...

Proved apocalyptic.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!

Via his blade, Frey detonated a monumental aura explosion that engulfed Vex, the earth, and the firmament...

a ruinous onslaught that awed every observer.

The intensity was so profound that even Dark Sister and Balerion's Arm quivered for the first time beneath the immense strain.

The blow utterly vanquished Vex, alongside a broad swath of the nearby landscape.

Yet even after eradicating his foe, a subtle scowl crossed Frey's expression.

"Again... it felt like I missed a tangible form."

Frey pivoted, pushing his Void Eyes to full extent...

yet sensed no sign.

Not a hint of Vex lingered.

By every rational measure, his adversary was slain.

But Frey harbored no illusions.

"Your senses serve you well. That vile killer fled upon seeing defeat inevitable."

Fulghor stated from Frey's rear, his eyes locked on the devastation's core.

"Vex the assassin wields tremendous power, yet he conceals his utmost capability unless victory is assured.

He's a vexing adversary... one infamously difficult to eradicate."

"Such killers prove the deadliest in swift conflicts."

Frey agreed with a nod.

"Though he escaped now, he'll resurface eventually amid the impending conflict.

We'll confront him when that happens."

It seemed improbable for Vex to infiltrate again...

With Frey's Void Eyes in play, the Hell Duke had forfeited his prime asset: flawless invisibility.

Following the short skirmish, the group made their way back to the Shadow Sect, readying for the ensuing stage.