THE VILLAIN'S POV-Chapter 274: The Battle of Moon Castle (6)

Frey Starlight collapsed, broken and bloodied.

No one could say if he was alive or dead.

The entire battle lasted only fifteen minutes from start to the end..

But it captured the attention of the entire capital.

Especially the moment that massive hand fell from the sky .. And the terrifying lightning spear that destroyed it.

Moon Castle had been completely obliterated.

The entire region wiped off the map.

Many eyes had witnessed the clash from afar...

Among the scattered fragments of war—

The first to awaken was Oliver Khan.

Without his mask and with a bloodied face, the High Warden rose shakily, glancing down at his arms...

Only to find what was left—two ruined stumps where his hands used to be.

But his gaze turned, searching beyond the devastation.

And there ..

He saw her.

Sansa, lying peacefully among the rubble in her white nightgown.

Clean. Untouched. As if she had never taken part in the battle at all.

And then...

"Frey..."

Oliver whispered, horrified by the sight of the young man sprawled nearby—

So broken, there wasn’t a single part of his body unscathed.

The only thing intact—were the two black swords still clutched in his hands, as if they refused to let go of him.

"Damn it..."

Oliver stumbled forward, using every last ounce of strength to run—

But he barely made it a few steps before falling flat on his face.

Still, he pushed himself up again ..

Crawling, crawling toward Frey.

The closer he got, the more he saw ..

The damage to the boy was worse than anything he could’ve imagined.

He placed his ear against Frey’s chest...

There was no heartbeat.

No breath.

"Damn it..."

Oliver gasped, panting with difficulty—his body glowing faintly with a dim blue light.

"Don’t die on me, kid..."

That aura slowly transferred into Frey’s body.

It was faint—barely anything—due to Oliver’s depleted state.

But still... he gave everything he had for the boy in front of him.

"We did it..."

Oliver tried with everything he had left.

"No ... you did it. You pulled it off, Frey Starlight... so don’t you dare die on me now, damn it!"

As Oliver struggled alone beside him, another figure stepped into view.

He looked up and saw a familiar girl—her face pale, shaken, stricken with grief as she stared at Frey.

"Is he ..?"

Sansa’s voice trembled as she spoke, barely audible.

Oliver lowered his head in response.

And when he did... she noticed his arms—what was left of them.

Blown apart.

The sight only deepened her despair.

"He fought for you," Oliver said softly.

Sansa had seen it all .. from the distance, she had watched the entire destructive battle unfold.

Back then, she had been powerless.

Trapped deep within a muddy ocean of despair ..

Her mind bombarded by voices screaming for blood, for death.

The demon had taken it so far...

He even forced her to relive the moment she killed her own mother—hundreds of times.

But even through all that ..

She saw Frey.

Saw him fight with everything he had.

Saw him do the impossible.

Now, the voices were gone.

The madness in her head had finally fallen silent.

She was free.

But none of that would have been possible without Frey.

She didn’t want to survive at his expense.

Those feelings overwhelmed her ..

And unconsciously, her hand reached out.

In response to that emotion, the shadows returned.

Oliver leapt to his feet instinctively, startled...

But this time, they didn’t surge out in violence.

Instead, the shadows wrapped gently around Frey, encasing his broken body with care.

Sansa watched in awe .. she didn’t even understand what she was doing.

But seeing Frey’s wounds begin to close slowly, she continued ..

And Oliver realized what was happening.

"She’s controlling her power..."

No bloodlust.

No hunger for death.

Just Sansa .. wanting to save him.

Frey had used shadow and dark-based aura... Her powers were now attuned to his.

She couldn’t heal him completely ..

But she had pulled him back from the brink of death.

This was the end of torment.

The end of a long and cruel struggle.

The voices were gone.

That cold aura around her heart had finally vanished ..

Replaced by a deep, radiant warmth in her chest.

She had mastered her power at last.

And all of it came crashing down on her—

Sansa burst into tears, collapsing over Frey’s chest. .

Weeping uncontrollably as the one who had ended her suffering lay broken beneath her.

Oliver Khan watched his only niece sob like a child ...

And he, too, was overcome with emotion.

He wanted to embrace her .

But stopped when he remembered... his hands were no longer there.

Despite the pain, despite everything ..

This time, it had ended in salvation.

For the lone warrior.

And for the cursed princess.

Their redemption... had been witnessed by many.

High above .. Maekar Valerion, the Emperor, stood in the sky, watching from afar.

His eyes didn’t linger on Sansa.

Nor on Oliver Khan.

They locked onto the boy between them.

Frey Starlight.

He no longer saw the naive boy from before.

What stood there now... was a terrifying warrior.

Eighteen years old ...yet powerful enough to defeat an SS– class Awakened.

The Emperor muttered quietly ..

"Abraham?"

Perhaps... this was the only talent that could compare to the little monster down below.

Maekar stood in silence, torn between two paths:

To make use of the monstrous power his empire had nurtured ..

Or to eliminate a beast that might one day consume them all.

He made his decision.

And vanished ... disappearing in a streak of lightning across the sky.

That flash of lightning passed beneath the gaze of Aegon Valerion, who watched from afar, smiling.

"My lord... shall we kill her now?"

asked one of the Round Table Knights.

But the prince shook his head calmly.

"No."

Yes, he could’ve ended the princess right then and there ..

Crushed her once and for all.

But it would’ve changed nothing.

His victory had already been sealed.

The truth of Sansa’s condition was now known across the upper circles of the Empire.

"Let them have their moment... their deliverance."

Aegon turned, staring into the distance ..his smile deepening.

No one else could see it...

But he saw tears falling from unseen eyes.

"We’ll let them live .. while we keep moving the pieces from behind the curtain, as we’ve always done.

Sansa will survive."

With a chilling smile, the prince added ..

"Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted... Aegon?"

The knights around him paused, exchanging glances.

Their prince...

Was talking to himself.

Gazing into empty space, he looked exhilarated .. enthralled.

As if he had just watched a performance no one else could see.

He looked strange.

And terrifying.

And just like that ..

The curtain fell on the show.