Chapter 403: The Final Mission (1)

– Frey Starlight’s Pov –

"Ghost..."

My assassin friend appeared before me.. battered, bruised, and in a terrible state himself.

But seeing him brought a fleeting sense of relief to my heart, a fragile joy laced with worry, as I was still clueless about what had happened to the others...

"I knew you wouldn’t die, Frey."

Relief washed over Ghost’s face as well, revealing an expression he rarely showed anyone.

"I won’t die, my friend. Be certain of that."

In this vast universe, I’m the last person they should be worried about when it comes to survival.

Ghost was glad to see me, but his eyes lingered on the field of corpses behind me. That’s when he finally asked, puzzled—

"Was this your doing?"

With the Nameless mask now hidden, I didn’t even glance at the carnage behind me. I simply looked forward.

"I repelled one of their armies here. It bought us some time... but we need to move. More will be coming soon."

With Ghost here, I’d finally found a lead to the others .. thanks to the witch’s mark still with him.

"Let’s move. We have to find them before it’s too late!"

After drifting in a mental void, I’d finally regained my grasp on reality ... remembering what happened, and why I fought so fiercely.

My comrades... especially Danzo.

They all faced terrifying enemies, and were closer to death than ever before.

Ghost shared my thoughts, so we didn’t waste a single moment. We took off immediately, guided by the witch’s mark still faintly glowing on him.

At the same time, I opened the system interface .. finally deciding to use the Third-Person pov, a feature I’d hesitated to activate until now, afraid of the harsh truths it might reveal.

With my heart pounding, I stared anxiously at the system window as it lit up in front of me with a cold blue glow.

---

Host Name: Frey Starlight (Dual Soul)

Class: Swordsman

Talent: SS

Current Rank: A

Strength: A−

Speed: A+

Agility: A

Endurance: S

Aura: SSS

Magic: –

[Swordsmanship – Level 6] (Limit broken. User can now reach Level 7)

Inherent Talents: {Swordsmanship}, {Aura Manipulation}, {Poison Resistance}

Combat Style: Ten Thousand Steps of Shadow

Skills:

– Hawk Eyes (Grade A)

– Ghost Steps (Grade A)

– seduction (Grade D)

– Ascension (Grade S)

– Ignition (Grade SS)

Abilities:

– Shadow Adaptation: 3/7

Stage 1: Adaptation to all combat styles, allowing user to counterattack any opponent.

Stage 2: Adaptation to all types of physical damage, granting the ability to regenerate from any wound.

Stage 3: ???

---

Anti-magic – Level 2

Current Achievement Points: 0

Main Mission: Survive the Pursuit (10,000 Achievement Points)

Final Mission: ???

---

As always, the system displayed my stats... my power had increased drastically since the last time I saw it.

But I didn’t care about any of that. My focus was solely on the "Affinity" tab.

There, three names blinked in red:

– Danzo Smasher

– Sansa Valerion

– Snow Lionheart

I used the Third-Person Perspective on all three, over and over again—but no matter how hard I tried, all I found was darkness.

Each time I activated the skill on one of them, the screen would immediately go black. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t reach them.

That cursed darkness only deepened my anxiety, and slowly, the dreadful thoughts began to eat away at me...

It had already been so long since I fought that army... and since I faced Mergo...

Enough time had passed for every battle to be over.

Which meant... everything had likely already ended.

Then what was the meaning of that darkness?

Were they simply unconscious? Or...?

The more the worst-case scenario began to take shape in my mind, the more painful the pressure in my head became.

Clenching my fists tightly, I charged forward, pushing Ghost to pick up the pace.

"We need to find them... as fast as possible!"

Ignoring the fatigue that dragged at my bloodied body, I forced myself to keep going—demanding more, giving more.

All along the way, I kept trying to use the Third-Person Perspective on them.

But no matter how many times I tried...

That cursed darkness never went away.

And that only made my anxiety worse.

I feared what I would find at the end of this road .. scattered corpses, limbs, blood... nothing more.

Just the thought of it nearly shattered me. So what would actually happen if those fears turned into reality?

"Don’t die..."

The words slipped from my mouth without conscious thought.

Ghost heard them. He knew exactly what I was thinking.

He rushed ahead of me with renewed speed, following the faint trace of the witch’s mark.

"We’ll find them, Frey. They’re strong. They won’t die so easily."

That’s what he said.

But I knew... he didn’t truly believe it either.

Maybe it was just his way of comforting me.

But it didn’t change anything.

With all my senses honed on what lay ahead, I realized we’d entered a tunnel carved deep into one of the larger mountains.

As I examined the surroundings more closely, I recognized them—they looked eerily similar to the battlefield where I’d last seen Danzo fighting.

A spark of hope ignited within the pit of black despair consuming me.

"Ghost! Are you sure the mark is leading us here?!"

In response to my urgency, Ghost raised his hand and showed the faintly glowing witch’s mark.

"Yes. One of them is definitely here."

His confirmation stoked the hope within me even more.

If the mark was still active... that meant Danzo was still alive.

Somewhere, deep within these dark caves, he was still breathing.

Knowing that, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

"Which way is it pointing?!"

I shouted, and Ghost hesitated for a moment before pointing toward a solid wall of stone.

This entire mountain was a maze of intersecting tunnels .. if we kept taking turns and searching blindly, we’d never make it in time.

Understanding that, I drew both swords and unleashed my aura once more.

With a single wave of dark aura, I blasted through the stone wall ... carving our path by force.

"Let’s go!"

I kept tearing through the rock without pause, forging a new path straight through the mountain, with Ghost close behind, guiding me toward the correct direction.

"At this rate, the whole place might collapse on us, Frey!"

Ghost warned, worried we’d be buried alive.

But I didn’t care.

"We’ll make our own way out if we have to. We just need to reach him... now!"

I had already given everything I had. I had fought until my body could barely move, until my breath ran dry.

So please... Danzo...

Please...

Hold on. Don’t die.

That was my only wish.

...

...

...

– Danzo Smasher’s Pov –

My name is Danzo.

I’m not a complicated guy. Not special, either.

If you asked me, I’d say I’m just... average.

My mother loved strong men. That’s why she married my father, who to me always represented what strength truly meant.

As for me .. I was just a kid who loved his mother.

She admired my father’s strength, so from a young age...

I trained hard. I wanted to be strong too—strong enough to impress her.

Maybe in this world, she was the only person I ever truly wanted recognition from.

But she died too early...

She didn’t give me enough time to earn that recognition.

My father was strong .. but even his strength couldn’t stop her from dying.

That’s when I started asking myself:

What kind of strength would I need to survive in a world like this?

And the answer was clear.

A lot.

More than I ever imagined. Enough to overcome everything.

So I trained. I trained again and again.

After my mother’s death, my father raised me on his own. He gave me everything he could. I was grateful.

He taught me values.

He taught me what it meant to be a man—one who doesn’t betray his friends, one who keeps his word no matter what...

One who never gives up, no matter how many obstacles life throws in his way.

All those values... they shaped the man I am today.

Even when I hit the wall of talent, I never stopped. I kept moving forward.

I built my strength from nothing—every ounce of it was mine alone.

It was something I forged with my own hands, something I’ve always taken pride in.

But that very strength... the strength I built my entire life... ended up betraying me.

That’s when I realized ... I was still inside the battlefield.

When I barely opened my blood-soaked eyes, I found that same colossal dark fist descending upon me again, crushing my body bit by bit.

"...Ah. That’s right."

I remembered now.

I was still in the middle of a fight.

Still battling that monster known as Gvardiol.

Against a monster like that—I lost completely.

The Silver Dragon Shield was shattered.

As for my body... I didn’t want to look at it. No .. I couldn’t look at it anymore.

At the end of the battle, I saw Gvardiol tear open my chest by force.

The pain was... unbearable. So much so that I passed out more than once.

And still—I didn’t die.

Did my resilience buy me a few extra minutes?

But the pain... it was too much.

Bones shattered. Chest torn open. The world turned black.

I lost.

Completely.

Those memories of my mother... and my father... that flooded my mind earlier ..

Was this what they call a person’s final moments?

The moment your life flashes before your eyes?

Did that mean... I was dying?

Was this the end?

I genuinely wondered—especially once the pain vanished all of a sudden.

That’s when I realized...

I had lost all sensation.

This world had always been cruel.

And now, it had forced me to face a wall so high—the wall of talent—that I became completely powerless before a monster like Gvardiol.

With bleeding eyes, I stared into the void.

Accepting it.

I was really going to die.

I waited for the end in silence. I had nothing left to give.

I had used everything—and I couldn’t even scratch him.

And so, I sat there in quiet resignation, awaiting the end... with a bitter smile on my face.

I kept staring into the distance.

To be honest... I truly wished someone—anyone—would appear out of nowhere and save me from this misery.

I never thought I’d become so weak... that I’d start wishing for help.

But here I was.

I had slammed into the wall of reality.

Still, that selfish hope would never come true. No matter how long I waited, the truth remained ...

I was completely alone here.

I had no choice but to close my eyes... as everything faded into black.

"...Ah. Father’s going to be so disappointed."

Father... my friends...

I’m sorry.