It was almost ironic ..how the tide turned so violently.
Without warning, the empire’s side suffered a catastrophe. One so unique and devastating, it could only be compared to a disaster of "Frey Starlight’s" caliber.
The empire’s main camp ..meant to be the safest place in the entire army had become an inferno.
A hell of black flames devoured everything in its path. The fire spared no one.
Humans burned one after the other, and escape was futile. The flames chased them down to the very end.
At the heart of that hell, there were only two sounds: the roar of fire... and the endless screams.
From the depths of the black inferno, the monster responsible for this disaster emerged.
V’s eyes looked strange. Holding two legendary swords, he felt his consciousness slipping.
"...Huh? Why am I attacking the empire?"
He stared at the people in front of him. Then at the swords in his hands.
"What are these blades? Where’s Balerion? Where’s the Dark Sister?"
His blackened eyes flaring, V stumbled, throwing his swords aside and clutching his head.
His posture, his facial expressions, his movements—everything about him was no longer him.
This wasn’t mere mimicry.
V hadn’t just copied someone’s abilities.
He had copied their being.
That was why he was panicking now.
He had become Frey Starlight.
And Frey Starlight would never attack the Empire.
"What the hell did I do?! I wasn’t supposed to kill imperial soldiers ..I’m supposed to kill the Ultras!!!"
V screamed, trying to catch his breath within the blazing hellscape of dark flames surrounding him.
Imperial soldiers continued dying—one after another .. their dying cries grating on his ears.
"SHUT UP ALREADY, DAMN YOU!!!"
With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a torrent of surging energy, obliterating all the burned corpses around him.
His head felt like it was going to explode .. like someone was smashing his skull with a hammer.
V was experiencing an existential breakdown.
Two selves were clashing inside him.
And when the agony reached its peak—
With a scream that shook the heavens, V collapsed to the ground, blood bursting from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
His muscles seized violently, his veins threatening to burst.
As he screamed in pain, he felt the gates of hell opening inside him.
Until now, V had only mimicked simple moves .. actions he’d seen others perform.
But this time... the mimicry extended far beyond that.
He had embodied another person entirely.
Frey Starlight .. a monster in a godlike body, overflowing with immeasurable power and unthinkable abilities.
Sure, V had succeeded in copying him.
But his body wasn’t built to handle that level of power for long.
And now... he had hit his limit.
His body began to reject the transformation, forcibly ejecting him from the form of Frey Starlight.
Writhing in agony, V finally started to return to himself.
At that very moment, an old man suddenly appeared, striking the back of his head with a swift blow.
"So that’s what Lindman meant... Truly, a terrifying power."
It was Mergo, the Lord of the Dark Hive .. who had teleported straight to the battlefield to observe the result.
Staring at V’s spasming, unconscious body, Mergo narrowed his eyes.
"Seven minutes and forty-two seconds. That’s how long he maintained Frey Starlight’s form... and yet, just that short time left him in this state."
Hoisting V’s broken body over his shoulder, Mergo prepared to retreat—though not before casting one final glance at the inferno around him.
"What a terrifying ability... I wonder what its true limits are."
What if V could copy without limit?
Mimicking the powerful, wielding their strength as his own...
What are the conditions? What are the boundaries?
All it took for him to copy Frey Starlight... was to see him once with his own eyes.
Then didn’t V just demonstrate a potential that defies all reason?
Mergo chuckled in awe, contemplating the monster now resting in his arms.
"The peak of the Ultras... It really is a title that suits you."
And with that, Mergo vanished with V, leaving the battlefield behind.
What remained... was a graveyard.
A true catastrophe for the empire’s side.
In a single day, they lost twenty thousand soldiers.
Many of their elite fighters were gone.
It seemed the Ultras had finally started to rise again, after suffering a humiliating defeat in the first round of the war.
Under the wing of night, within the blackened blaze, the massacre ended in a crushing defeat for Frey’s side.
Far from the carnage, one man crawled away by some miracle—leaving a long trail of blood behind him.
An old warrior... his flame flickering... left in a truly pitiful state.
Panting hard, Iris Sunlight collapsed to the ground, slamming his fist against the dirt.
Iris looked like a completely different person.
Half of his body was charred, and a deep gash split his chest open, stretching across his face, where his right eye had been lost.
To take Nameless Judgment at point-blank range... was a one-way ticket to hell.
He survived only by channeling all his power into defense at the very last moment.
Even then, despite giving it everything he had...
The difference in power... was staggering.
"...So this is what it means... to fight against Frey Starlight?"
If V could replicate Frey’s power without limit...
Then what awaited them...
Was the arrival of a true catastrophe.
It would take the intervention of the highest commanders to deal with this...
Or send Frey Starlight himself to stop it.
This was a real catastrophe.
Trying to soothe his wounds and ignore the overwhelming pain tearing through him...
Iris crawled away, slumping in defeat against a relatively large rock.
It could be said that the Lord of House Sunlight had reached a pitiful state unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life.
"Perhaps I should’ve just died back there... and used myself as a shield to protect the Claymore bearer."
At the time, it seemed like the better choice.
Melina was still young .. with far greater potential ..unlike him, an old man at his peak.
But in the final moment... he hesitated.
Instead of protecting her, he shielded himself... and let her die.
In the end, he couldn’t make that sacrifice.
And that’s what made him curse himself, over and over again.