THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 784 The Heir of the End (2)

Frey displayed no emotion whatsoever.

He stood up from his chair and approached Gehrman with deliberate, weighty footsteps.

"Whether or not I despise you isn't important at this moment. And taking your life would bring me no advantage."

He halted right before Gehrman, gazing down intensely at him.

"Let me ask you, Gehrman. You're aware of the future—but only fragments of it. Isn't that the case?"

The grin gradually vanished from Gehrman's features.

Noticing this, Frey pressed on.

"I've pondered this for some time. You possess knowledge of the future, or at least certain aspects of it… yet numerous details escape you entirely."

"You were unaware of Vex among the Hell Dukes. You had no inkling of Amon from the High Demons. That fact alone confirms it."

"What you perceive resemble pivotal occurrences—crucial moments that outline a particular trajectory. Scattered points that form the direction you seek to follow. However, the spaces linking those points remain empty… shrouded in obscurity. You attempt to link them while preserving the overall course."

This implied navigating through boundless ambiguity.

Nevertheless, Gehrman had consistently navigated precisely that.

The man with blue eyes remained quiet for an extended period, locking eyes with Frey. Then he shut his eyes… and grinned once more.

"You're correct. It works exactly that way."

Upon his affirmation, Frey settled calmly onto the ground before him.

"Let me ask you this," Frey murmured softly.

"You withheld information about my link to Nameless. You kept silent on the destiny you're striving so hard to achieve. Not out of reluctance… but because it was impossible for you."

"Am I correct?"

Gehrman was briefly taken aback by the extent of Frey's insights.

He spoke no falsehoods.

He inclined his head in agreement.

"Revealing the full truth would unravel it all. Similar to a tiny element toppling a bigger one… which then topples yet another, and so on, until the whole structure crumbles and total ruin ensues."

Gehrman was scheming something monumental.

A plan encompassing both Frey and Nameless.

Frey Starlight had shouldered an overwhelming burden recently… his splintered sense of self, his tie to Nameless, the Aether World, the History Scribes, the Demon King Agaroth…

And above everything, Audrey—whose location remained unknown to him, though she obviously possessed the vital clues he urgently required.

His thoughts never ceased their turmoil.

That he could maintain any composure was truly astonishing.

Observing him, Gehrman came to a realization.

The youth before him was beyond shattering now.

Should everyone nearby perish, he would press onward regardless.

At some juncture, Frey had acquired something profound beyond simple fury.

A mission.

A direction he had forged solely for himself.

A direction understood only by him—and Nameless.

Frey remained mute for a prolonged stretch.

Then his gaze returned to Gehrman.

"I have just one inquiry," he stated.

"And I demand your honest response."

"That hinges on the nature of the inquiry," Gehrman answered steadily.

Frey dipped his head.

"Given all I've suffered thus far… the trials ahead are bound to be far graver. I'll probably plunge even further into the abyss than before."

"I grasp that these ordeals are essential to attain the future you pursue."

"But reveal this to me alone."

"Once this journey concludes—once your desired future materializes—will I seize it?"

"The strength. The might to shatter the world's boundaries."

"Strength matching… or surpassing what Nameless once wielded."

"Following all these losses… all this torment…"

"Will I claim authentic power?"

"The sort of power capable of obliterating this whole realm if required?"

As Frey uttered these words, his face contorted into a fearsome mask.

His shadowed eyes stretched wide… craving the response…

That craving…

it was the first thing since their exchange started that stirred unease in Gehrman.

Shock etched plainly on his countenance. He hadn't anticipated such a query.

And from Frey's voice… his stare, his manner of speaking… Gehrman understood that evasion wasn't possible.

Thus, gradually… after inhaling deeply, Gehrman nodded.

Frey witnessed it.

He exhaled a soft sigh of alleviation.

"I understand… that suffices for now."

Frey rose to his feet, presenting his back to Gehrman.

"I remain unable to mend your vessel, despite attaining the sixth level of Shadow Adaptation. Yet that doesn't render you useless in combat. Safeguard yourself to the utmost—you'll join the fray as well."

With those words, Frey started to depart.

"Where do you head?" Gehrman inquired.

Frey gestured dismissively without looking back.

"To the location of my father… and my sister."

At that declaration, Gehrman held his tongue.

Frey slipped from his view.

---

With each step he took away, the same icy gleam persisted in Frey's shadowed eyes.

"That's acceptable… Even should disaster befall me at the conclusion of the future Gehrman orchestrates… even if Nameless claims my form… he'd continue along the identical route, even without me."

Frey shut his eyes.

Buried deep within him… in that internal sanctuary stained scarlet by myriad spirits and rivers of gore—the blade he had once plunged into the earth remained planted, sunk in a vast crimson expanse.

Next to it appeared Frey… and Nameless.

The pair of them, advancing along the shared route.

"Even if one of us perishes,"

they declared together,

"the other shall persist."

Regardless of events…

regardless of what lay in store…

nothing would alter from this juncture onward.

Frey fortified his determination…

and shortly reached the spot where his father and sister awaited.

In a remote corner of the Shadow Sect, nestled inside a gloomy woodland,

there rose a modest hut… freshly constructed by Gehrman for Frey and his kin.

It was secluded, concealed from watchful gazes… far more appropriate for Frey's present condition.

Upon reaching it, he discovered his father upright, after enduring the Thanatos curse for an extended duration.

"Father…" Frey uttered, hurrying to his side.

"Welcome home, my boy," Abraham responded with affection.

"Are you truly fit to be up and about?" Frey questioned. "That curse had bound you so tightly…"

Abraham grinned and swept his hand swiftly through the air, cleaving it like a beam at light's velocity.

"No issue at all. I've eradicated every trace of that vile creature's influence."

Upon hearing this, Frey invoked his Void Eyes and inspected his father's form.