"What... the hell is happening to me?!"
Unable to withstand the surge, Frey was violently dragged into the inner realm of his consciousness ...
pulled by Nameless, who intervened at the last second.
He crashed into the void of his mind, where the masked king awaited him.
"You .. what is happening to me?" Frey demanded, voice trembling.
Nameless answered with a calm that felt ancient.
"No need for that face. You will survive."
He lifted his gaze upward .. Frey followed.
Above them, a colossal abyss of darkness was forming, growing wider with every passing second.
"...What is that?" Frey asked, shaken.
"Your body received too much power at once. It is struggling to contain it, nothing more."
"Two stages of Shadow Adaptation...
and advanced ones, at that. Among my greatest abilities."
Nameless turned back to Frey.
"On top of that, the Shadowbolt Spear... naturally, your body will not withstand such rapid evolution smoothly."
"Spear? So that thing... belongs to me now?"
"Of course. It was originally one of my weapons.
And since you are my vessel, you can wield it as naturally as your own limbs."
Nameless’ voice deepened .. heavy, foreboding.
"Soon, Frey Starlight, you will stand at a crossroads.
This overwhelming power will rebound upon you, sooner or later...
And I look forward to seeing which path you choose."
With a single motion, Nameless pushed Frey out of the inner void ..creturning him to reality.
Frey’s eyes snapped open.
He was still in his father’s arms ..
but the pain had subsided, the raging aura within him mysteriously calmed.
Nameless must have stabilized it ..
helped him endure it.
"...Father."
Only now, with his mind clear, did Frey fully grasp who stood beside him ..
Abraham Starlight.
The father he believed gone forever.
Relief washed over Abraham as he helped Frey stand.
"You fought well... Frey." he said with a gentle exhale.
Frey chuckled weakly.
"’Frey’? Is that what you’re calling me now?"
"It is the name we chose for you in this world, my son.
Do not reject it." Abraham smiled softly, keeping an arm beneath his son’s weight as the two walked toward Ada.
Even though Frey’s unstable aura had settled, the accumulated toll of the battle crashed onto him at once.
Standing was difficult .. walking even more so.
He had no choice but to lean on his father.
"Did you kill Geppetto?" Abraham asked as they moved.
Abraham knew that name only because it was Geppetto who resurrected him.
Frey nodded.
"I did."
"Good."
"You’re incredibly strong, Father... You still have so much power left even after all this.
Look at me compared to you ... haha." Frey laughed weakly.
Abraham laughed as well.
"You are far stronger than you think, my son.
I am certain you will surpass me soon. I merely exist to clear your path."
"You’re overestimating me... Look at me, Father.
I’m nothing but a naive fool, a puppet tossed around by forces standing at the top of the world."
He lifted his eyes to the sky.
Above them ..
another battle raged.
Wesker vs. German.
A clash far greater than the one they just survived.
"I’m no god... nothing close.
Just a human. Just your son."
Frey smiled .. bitterly.
"I couldn’t change anything. I let them take your corpse .. desecrate it.
If not for the Engineer, we would have killed each other.
I’m helpless. Pathetic."
They walked slowly across the ruined ground as thunder from the battle above shook the heavens.
Abraham listened silently.
Then he smiled .. peacefully.
"You know... hearing that from you brought me peace."
Frey turned to him, confused.
Abraham continued ..
"To be honest... there was a time when I doubted what you truly were, my son," Abraham said, and his mind drifted back .. far, far back.
"I still remember holding you in my arms as a newborn... in this life, and in the one before it. You were flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood .. twice, not once."
"But one day... I was given the chance to witness your true self .. your soul ...what you really are, stripped of every shell and disguise. What I saw was something far beyond human understanding... something someone like me could never hope to grasp. At that moment, I started to believe you might not be what I always thought .. a mere mortal child. Perhaps something higher... a divine being, even."
Abraham spoke without hesitation, revealing the truth he had buried for years, while Frey listened silently .. unable to form a single word in response.
"But you know..." Abraham continued, his voice warm, as though sunlight itself flowed through it. "Hearing you call yourself just a human, watching you lean on me .. struggling to even walk .. I felt relief."
He smiled, tightening his hold on Frey’s shoulders.
"In the end, you are still my son. Flesh of my flesh. Let the world call you a monster, a god, or something beyond comprehension... but to me, you will always be my child. The one I am proud of."
His tone left no room for doubt .. love was etched clearly in every syllable.
Those words struck Frey deeper than any blade, any curse, any battle he had ever endured.
Frey blinked. Once. Twice.
Then a shaky smile broke across his face.
Slowly, his expression collapsed .. foundation crumbling under the weight of emotions he had buried for years. His lips trembled. His breath hitched. His head lowered as he hid his face behind his arm.
And Abraham saw.
He saw the trembling, the silent plea, the collapse of a warrior who carried too much for too long.
So he wrapped his arms around him .. firm, unshakable, warm.
"It’s alright to cry, my son," he whispered into Frey’s hair. "It’s alright to tremble. We are not perfect beings... we were never meant to be."
"We lose sometimes. We win sometimes. But we never fall forever .. and when we do, we rise again."
Frey trembled quietly in his embrace...
These words .. these simple, human words .. were what he had needed more than power, more than victory, more than any throne or destiny.
After years of carrying the world alone, of bleeding, breaking, surviving .. he finally found air.
And that air was Abraham.
The father who died for him once, continued saving him even in death.
A bond forged by blood, tested by hell, tempered by war.
A bond stronger than fate .. stronger even than the demons themselves.
And together ..father and son ..Frey Starlight and Abraham Starlight,
brought down Zibar .. Demon Rank Ten.
One of the greatest evils to ever walk existence...
Slain by the strength of their bond.
The Starlight Duo that shattered a legend.