-Frey Starlight's POV-
"Damn you.
Damn you.
Damn you!!"
I cursed, again and again and again.
Balerion, you treacherous bastard!
The cursed serpent coiled tighter around me than the chains ever could,
suffocating me, choking out even the slightest trace of aura I might have released.
Muzzled, shackled in the darkness, I kept cursing endlessly.
"Let me go!"
Let me blow everything up!
Let me die ..
That's all I'm asking for.
I wasn't asking for much.
Just death.
Just let me die, for God's sake!
I had no reason left to live anymore.
Not now.
How could I continue breathing in a world that slaughtered my family, destroyed my life, and kept torturing me even after my reincarnation?
It was supposed to be just a story.
Just a damned novel I wrote during a wild bout of inspiration.
Just a damned novel!
So how...
How the hell did it come to this?!
An unbearable emptiness gnawed at me, choking me even worse than the chains.
My body was shattered from the last use of "Ignition."
If not for that bastard Balerion, I would have blown everything to pieces...
Even my own weapon had betrayed me.
What did I have left now?
I seriously wondered, my mind completely blank.
Maybe the Empire would decide to execute me.
I had killed thirty-eight worthless NPCs anyway.
I only wished I had taken myself along with them.
I had exposed everything.
Maybe ..
maybe they really would kill me.
And even before that, although Balerion saved me, my body had been damaged beyond repair.
It wasn't healing anymore.
Maybe...
maybe I would just die without doing anything else.
Yes!
Death death death death death death death death death death !!!
I want to die.
Just let it happen already.
Death death death death death death death death death death !!!!
I muttered like a madman,
waiting for salvation.
---
---
The Temple.
Specifically, deep underground, inside the temporary prison where the shattered Frey Starlight was kept.
The number of guards was immense.
They were on high alert,
all of them powerful warriors.
Hundreds of them,
stationed for one purpose only:
To guard one boy.
-Step-
His footsteps tapped softly against the stone as he descended,
step by slow, deliberate step.
He walked past the guards as if they weren't even there.
Descending the stairs, one step at a time.
Everyone around him ...every guard he passed ... froze in place, as if their very lives had been stolen from them temporarily, just to allow him to pass by in utter silence.
In mere seconds, he reached the heavily fortified prison cell.
As if he had stopped time itself,
he arrived there like it was nothing more than a casual stroll through a park,
not one of the most secure locations in the Empire.
His body slipped through the massive iron door,
as if phasing right through it,
and appeared inside the cell.
In that dark, desolate place, only two figures existed.
Frey Starlight, who spent his days in a haze..
sometimes cursing and spitting rage at the world, sometimes falling back into hollow silence.
He sat there quietly now,
staring at the ground.
The figure approached him.
Shrouded in black, with one arm missing.
At that moment, Frey Starlight raised his head.
And what entered his vision...
was the true form of that being.
A strange figure,
dressed entirely in black from head to toe.
Only the piercing blue eyes were visible ...
eyes that looked like glowing glass orbs.
Frey's own eyes widened slowly.
He didn't need evidence.
He didn't need explanations.
Those blue eyes said it all.
It was him.
The life that had been drained from Frey's body suddenly reignited.
"UMMMMMM!!"
The gag over his mouth prevented him from speaking,
so all he could do was hurl his broken body forward in rage.
The rattling of chains echoed violently
as they tightened,
refusing to let Frey take even a single step closer.
"..."
He struggled viciously,
blood running down his arms from the force of his thrashing,
desperate to break free and lunge at the man before him.
It was him.
The one responsible.
The one who had plunged him into this hell.
Standing right there in front of him ...
and yet, Frey couldn't do a thing.
No one could possibly understand the agony Frey Starlight felt in that moment.
The Engineer didn't seem moved at all by Frey's desperation.
With his one remaining hand,
the cloaked figure approached.
In a flash ..
that hand pierced right through Frey's chest.
A violent emptiness struck him as his chest was torn open.
Their black and blue eyes locked.
Frey felt a searing pain tear through him,
as blue lines of energy pulsed outward from the Engineer's hand,
spreading throughout his body.
He screamed and cursed through the gag,
but no sound could reach.
The Engineer carried out whatever task he had come for,
without hesitation.
But even as he worked,
his gaze never left Frey's broken face.
Frey could feel it.
The sheer helplessness.
Tears streamed down from his dead, hollow eyes.
He tried to mouth something,
his words too broken to be understood.
But the Engineer understood them anyway.
He heard it clearly.
The one thing Frey wanted to ask:
"Why me?"
Why had he been chosen?
Why did he have to suffer through this nightmare designed just for him?
The Engineer finished his work,
withdrawing his hand from Frey's chest.
The gaping wound healed instantly,
and Frey's body slowly regained some semblance of vitality.
But he had already lost consciousness.
The body was restored.
But the soul inside had suffered wounds that would never heal.
The Engineer thought about Frey's question for a moment.
"Why me?"
He opened his mouth and spoke,
his voice distant, cold.
"Why did I choose you?"
Such a foolish question.
"I didn't choose you.
From the very beginning... there was never anyone else."
You were the only one.
You don't even understand the simplest truths about yourself.
You have no idea...
how long I've waited...
and waited...
"Your suffering?"
I saw it all.
I was there.
When you ran alone through the Eastern Nightmare Lands,
fighting just to survive.
Who do you think stood in the shadows,
fending off the monsters that chased you?
Who do you think guided you to the Shadow Sect,
where you fulfilled your first destiny?
I was there.
When assassins came for your head ...
whether they served the Prince or others ...
who turned their blades aside, unseen?
I was there.
When the Invasion came to the temple,
who twisted the strings,
showing the enemies a false future,
just so you could survive?
I was there.
When the Moonlights sought your death,
who revealed the future to Ada Starlight?
Who gave her the weapon to save you?
I was there.
When you tried to take your own life,
who made Balerion stop you?
I am here.
I was there.
And I will always be here.
Until you reach it.
Until you reach the truth.
Frey Starlight ...
Until you learn who you truly are ...
I will remain.