Chapter 447: Whispers in the Darkness
— Frey Starlight’s POV —
The room was dark.
Here in my lonely chamber, the place where I first opened my eyes in this world.
How many days had passed? I found myself wondering.
Sitting on my bed, I stared at the system interface with a face that no longer reflected any sort of expression... or emotion.
Every time, I thought I had reached my limit.
I told myself .. this is it, Frey. You’ve reached your peak.
You’ve endured the greatest suffering and torment, and each time, somehow, I found a way to get through it and keep moving forward, convincing myself that everything was fine.
That I had already seen it all. After everything I’d been through, I believed I had experienced every possible form of suffering, and that nothing could surprise me anymore.
But every single time ..
Life proved just how foolish I was, dragging me into a brand-new hell.
And most likely, all of this was part of that Engineer’s plan... along with whoever else stood behind him.
This was the kind of fate prepared for me. A destiny I seemed unable to escape.
And perhaps this system interface stretched before my eyes was the very reflection of that cursed fate awaiting me.
---
Final Mission: Save or Kill Danzo (Completed)
Reward: 15,000 Achievement Points
Skill: Screenshot (SS Rank)
The Screenshot skill allows the user to release a powerful type of aura that manipulates the reality around them. When the skill is used, it captures everything within the user’s surroundings .. freezing time for everything inside the screenshot’s range for one second.
*Ding!*
Missions Updated
Main Missions:
Kill 10,000 Ultras soldiers: 5,000 Achievement Points.
Defeat one of the Ultras’ major powers: 5,000 Achievement Points.
Final Mission: Eliminate Wesker’s Shadows.
Mission Description: ??? (Will be revealed when the time comes).
...
...
...
Without realizing it, a bitter smile appeared on my face as I read the mission list.
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The system had already begun weaving my new path, guiding me toward the fate it had prepared for me.
This time, the final mission was issued right from the start.
And reading it only made my smile deepen.
"Wesker?"
Was the system talking about that demon? The fourth-ranked one, often called the filthiest demon to ever exist?
For his name to appear on the system interface... meant, one way or another, that monster was nearby.
But I had to say... the system had completely lost its mind this time.
I mean, I’m supposed to face the Fourth Seat?
"Do you even realize the scale of his power?"
Even if he were to face both the Empire and the Ultras alone, he’d slaughter them all in a single day.
I found myself unable to believe that such a monster could be my enemy.
"Wesker’s Shadows..."
What I needed to focus on wasn’t Wesker himself .. but the term "shadows."
The secret behind the final mission lay there.
Once I understood what those shadows meant, I’d know what to do.
But...
"What’s the point?"
Despite the weight of these missions, and all the chaos that had swept through the Empire ..
From what happened to Maekar and the others after falling into Beatrice’s trap,
To the sudden appearance of the Chaos Eaters...
Those colossal birds soaring through the sky, shrieking as if the end of the world had arrived...
After shaking the world with their first appearance, they had now fallen silent, flying aimlessly through the sky.
Many tried to reach them, to attack them.
But no one could even touch them.
Not even Sir Alon himself.
Fortunately, the Chaos Eaters paid no attention to humans. All they did was fly without purpose.
Even so, humanity was forced to live in fear, watching those creatures above.
And they had every reason to be afraid.
Many believed the Chaos Eaters were some new kind of nightmare creature.
But they weren’t.
Despite their overwhelming numbers, the Chaos Eaters were merely fragments of a single entity.
A higher being belonging to one of the most mysterious races in existence ..
The Great Ones.
Of course, I knew them. I remembered they were supposed to appear at the end of the story I once wrote, back when I was a novelist.
As their name implied, the Chaos Eaters fed on chaos.
Throughout history, they had appeared many times in various corners of this vast world.
Every time it appeared, without exception, a catastrophe would follow .. one that shook the entire world to its core.
That cry it let out each time... was the warning bell.
A clear sign that disaster was inevitable.
And that chaos... was the very sustenance of that mysterious entity.
And now, it had appeared once again, right here on this earth.
In other words, disaster was coming .. without a doubt.
Thinking about it, I began to realize just how hopeless this situation truly was.
The Chaos Eaters... who had witnessed every massacre in the history of this world.
Wesker...
The Ultras...
The Engineer...
The Shadow Sect...
Something was about to happen.
Something far too great to comprehend.
And this Empire... was simply the stage upon which it would unfold.
Humans were nothing more than pawns and players in this grand event.
And here I was, sitting in the middle of all that chaos ..
Staring at a system that expected me to deal with it somehow.
That’s why I couldn’t help but laugh... It gave me this ability, "Screenshot," or whatever it was called.
So what?
"What do you expect from someone who couldn’t even save a single friend?"
When I looked at these hands of mine, I could see it clearly ..
Danzo’s blood still clinging to them.
No matter how much I washed them, no matter how much I scrubbed them...
The blood never faded.
I knew exactly how great the coming disaster was. I knew how dark the future looked.
But honestly?
I found myself not caring much anymore.
Because from the very beginning... I had never moved on from the past.
Curled up in my own despair...
I couldn’t even close these eyes.
Because every time I did... I saw him.
Danzo, smiling at me as that demonic hand burst from within him.
Even in his final moments, he did everything he could to save my life.
And in return, what did I do?
I drove my sword through his chest and stole from his eyes the light of life that kept him in this world.
His ghost had haunted me every day since.
And so, once again, I found myself laughing bitterly at my own foolishness.
I, who thought I had lost all emotions, found guilt gnawing at my heart without end.
Placing my hand over my chest, I listened to the steady beating of my heart...
I felt my veins burning, drowning in those hateful emotions.
I saw myself as a sinner deserving punishment.
For what I had done, I was ready to accept whatever fate awaited me.
And at the same time, I was angry—furious—and filled with hatred.
Hatred for those who tampered with my fate and Danzo’s, manipulating us from the shadows until it all ended like this.
Hatred for the Ultras, the enemy from whom this curse had come, the ones who caused so many deaths.
Hatred for Gvardiol, the man who planted that demonic seed inside Danzo...
"Sons of bitches..."
All of them. Without exception.
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I had no idea what I was supposed to do, no plan to face all these horrors.
All I had was an endless guilt that ate away at my soul without pause.
And a raging anger that made me want to draw my sword and kill as many of those bastards as I could.
Ten thousand Ultras soldiers...
Is that what the system wanted from me?
Fine. Let it have what it wants.
But I wouldn’t stop at ten thousand. I would go beyond that.
I would kill them. Tear them apart. Bury them all if I had to.
The war was coming, and I would be at the very front of it.
There—only on the battlefield—could I unleash these feelings.
Only in the heat of battle might I find my release.
And if, when the time came, I met my punishment on that battlefield... I was fine with that too.
Drowning in darkness, with bloodstained hands,
I continued to wrestle with myself, waiting for the time to come ..
The time for the War of Darkness to begin.
I wanted to wield my sword as soon as possible.
"Please... let it begin."
Let the war break out.
Let the slaughter begin. Let the killing festival start.
Let me kill them.
Let me tear them apart.
My body trembled without stopping, while the blood on my hands thickened.
"Kill... kill... their blood..."
The blood of the Ultras.
Only when I soaked my hands in their blood would Danzo’s blood finally wash away.
Only then... might I find peace from this torment.
So please... let it begin.
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Trembling endlessly, I hallucinated about blood that wasn’t even there.
I was slowly losing myself...
The edge of madness was drawing near.
And then, in that moment ..
From within the darkness...
A pair of slender, pale hands wrapped gently around my chest from behind.
I felt a warm body press softly against my back.
"The darkness doesn’t suit you, Frey."
She whispered those words calmly beside my ear, as the ivory horns extended from her crown.
"...Sansa."