"W-Wait, let's talk for a moment."
"…"
Aria, who had been lying on the ground lost in thought for a while, eventually staggered to her feet.
“I-I just heard something strange… It was really weird and didn’t make any sense…”
After a while, Aria started speaking with trembling lips, moistening them with her tongue.
“B-Brother… Y-You ar-”
"Who do you think you are to keep calling me 'brother'?"
"…Uh."
However, Frey's cold voice interrupted her words.
"It’s annoying."
"Brother…"
Frey's icy gaze pierced Aria's heart.
Has Frey ever looked at her with such eyes before?
The coldness he has shown to her now was so much colder than the looks she had received before… It was as if… his previous cold gaze was nothing but an act.
…What if that was really just an act?
Aria's eyes suddenly shook again when that thought flashed through her mind.
"Haa, haa…"
But now was the time to ask questions.
She felt like if she kept avoiding it, everything would be too late.
"Brother… were you the Hero?"
"…"
"Is it really true that you were the Hero? That you had to commit 'false evil' to save the world and have been hiding it all this time?"
Despite her trembling body, Aria mustered her courage to ask the question.
But Frey still didn’t respond.
He just looked down at Aria with vacant eyes.
"…That's right."
At that moment, Aria and the Hero Party's gaze shifted from Frey to someone who knelt behind him.
"Young Master… was the Hero."
It was Kania.
"It seems like everything has come to an end… There's no penalty even if I speak the truth. W-Well… it doesn't matter now, does it?"
She was speaking while tears streamed down her cheeks and her voice trembled.
"I don't blame any of you. After all, even I had to deceive everyone from the beginning. No one is to blame, and no one is at fault."
"K-Kania…?"
"…However."
Interrupting Aria, Kania muttered with an expression tinged with despair.
"Even though I know that… Why do I feel like I'm going crazy?"
"…"
"This was our last chance… Ms. Ferloche said we couldn't retry anymore…"
As the word ‘retry’ came out of Kania's mouth, the expressions of Aria and the Hero Party turned cold.
— Bzzzzzz…
"In the end, after a long, long time, what we faced is… a bad ending…"
Staring at them, Kania started to emit a dark energy from her whole body.
"…We were drunk with love, ignorant of the danger we would face. We should have spent that time getting stronger."
"Frey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"
And, like her, Irina and Clana fell into despair.
"…"
Serena was frozen in her spot, and even Ferloche was expressionless.
"What is all this… nonsense?"
"M-Master?"
Even though Isolet and Lulu at the back wore shocked expressions, just by looking at the expressions of those five, it was clear enough.
What Ruby said is the truth.
"T-Then… is it really true that brother…"
As Aria vaguely realized it, she slowly approached Frey and opened her mouth.
— Shaaaa…!
"H-huh?"
Frey suddenly began emitting killing intent and approached her.
"You… you are deemed suitable to wear the Hero's Armament."
"B-Brother. Why are you saying that…"
"The knowledge of the Demon King has begun to enter my brain. And only you can wear the Hero's Armament in the current situation."
Frey spoke with a twisted smile on his face. Then, without any hesitation, he pulled out a sword from his waist and whispered.
"In other words, if you die, it’s game over."
"K-Kyaaa…"
Aria screamed in horror as Frey was clearly intending to attack her.
Has… brother ever hit me?
He never did.
Until now, Frey had never hit her, not even once.
Why didn't she realize that?
The reason was simple.
There was a reason why Frey deliberately treated Aria cruelly to prevent her from realizing it.
And because Aria herself was so accustomed to it.
Frey never laid a hand on her.
For her, it was the last unconscious rule and safety line that she unconsciously developed since she was young.
"B-Brother… I-I'm sorry…"
Tears began to form in Aria's eyes.
She only vaguely realized the truth and still couldn't grasp it.
In fact, she was still unconsciously denying it desperately to prevent herself from losing her mind.
But since realizing the fact that her ‘bastard’ of a brother had never hit her, even that denial was slowly crumbling.
— Crackle…!
Before anyone could react, Frey’s sword, imbued by violet demonic energy, mercilessly struck Aria.
"…Ghck."
However, someone managed to intervene just in time to barely block the attack.
"Ugh… Frey."
That someone was none other than Ruby.
.
.
.
.
.
"Frey, please… stop this…"
"…"
Ruby, with her body pierced by Frey, started speaking with difficulty while spitting blood.
"You weren't this kind of person, were you…"
Even as she spat out blood, Ruby didn’t lose her smile.
With blood-soaked hands, she caressed Frey's cheek.
"I believe in you, Frey. It doesn’t make sense for you to get corrupted. There’s no one as kind as you. Yeah?"
"Hmm."
"So, let's stop this and talk. Let’s talk… guh!!"
However, Ruby began to scream and stumble before she could finish her words.
"You're quite strong. Hmmm… So you’re the previous Demon King? Then, I must eliminate you now."
As Frey gradually received information as the Demon King, he started to coldly glare at her and began to attack relentlessly.
— Crack, crack, crack!!
"F-Frey… look at me…"
— Crackkkk!!!
"Aaagh…!"
Ruby attempted to endure the murderous attack aimed solely at erasing her very existence. However, she couldn’t hold on for long and eventually collapsed to the ground with a scream.
It hurts…
It was different from the attacks she had endured until now.
It was on a completely different level from the assault, or rather the act of affection, that contained Frey's wish to purify herself.
"Huuu…"
Furthermore, there was not a shred of sincerity in this attack; he had truly loved her.
"W-Wait, Frey."
With such thoughts in her mind, Ruby, with her eyes tightly shut, continued to endure Frey's attacks, and when he tried to take a step forward, she desperately grabbed his leg.
"I… Am I not enough for you?"
"…?"
"I'll be your toy. I'll be your slave. So, destroy me, crush me, but just me, not the world."
Ruby desperately pleaded. She even rubbed her blood covered cheeks against Frey’s leg.
"Please… I'm begging you."
"…"
"You became a Demon King to stop me from doing such trashy things… But if you start doing such things…"
She hoped that if she rubbed her cheeks like he did to her, it would somehow make him regain his memory.
— Thud…!
“Ugekk.”
But Frey just ignored and kicked her in displeasure. He scratched his head and muttered in wonder.
"Weird… Even if I try to kill you, you won't die. Why is that?"
"P-Please… please come back…"
"…Is it because I don't have the Hero's Armament?"
With that realization, his eyes started shining.
"I need to get the Hero's Armament. Unless I get it, this bitch will always get in my way.”
When Frey tried to walk away, Ruby grabbed his feet with all her might.
"You… you've consumed both of our souls… You really don't remember anything…?"
"…"
Frey, hearing those words, stopped momentarily.
"F-Frey."
At that moment, seeing Frey's eyes flicker, Ruby reached out with a glimmer of hope on herface.
"I'm not Frey."
However, without even turning back to her, Frey ruthlessly trampled on her hand.
"I'm the Demon King."
Then, he turned towards the main heroines who were kneeling and quietly snapped his fingers.
"Step aside, interlopers. I must obtain the Hero's Armament."
At the same time, the sight of the Hero Party, including Ruby and Aria, was flipped upside down.
— Tsssh…!
Not even a few seconds later, they reappeared at the ruins of their temporary residence, where they had just been.
Excluding the memories he was receiving as the Demon King, Frey only had memories of fighting in this place, so he teleported the Hero Party here, which was the furthest away from him.
"…"
Thus, the Hero Party stood in silence in the desolate ruins.
"Hu-huk…"
The one who broke that silence was none other than Ruby, who began to sob sorrowfully.
"Huaaaah…"
Because she finally realized.
"I-I don’t want to… I-I can't do such a thing…"
That once Frey obtained the Hero's Armament, there would be no one to stop him anymore.
That was why, before Frey could destroy this world that he loved so much with his own hands.
As he had asked just before his corruption, she must kill him herself.
"I absolutely can't… do it…"
That was something Ruby realized too clearly.
"How can I kill you… I can't kill you, I can never kill you…"
So she began to scream to the sky, her voice full of sadness and regret.
"Please, please give me one more chance…"
Ironically, tears flowed from Ruby's eyes as she began to look at the bright sun today.
"Just one more time… Please give me a chance to undo everything…"
Unknowingly, her voice cracked, and blood began to flow from her hands, which were clutching the ground.
"I'll sacrifice my body, my mind, my soul…"
Oblivious to the children’s gaze, Ruby continued to scream. But eventually, she exhausted all her strength and collapsed to the ground.
"…Please."
With that final plea, Ruby closed her blurred eyes.
"…"
Just before losing consciousness, the image that came to her mind was her and Frey lovingly sharing a loaf of rye bread.
System Notification
[Unique Ability: Retry Candidate Search Complete]
[Patch Start…]
At the same time, opaque windows appeared in the air.
.
.
.
.
.
"…"
Several hours later, at dawn.
— Swoosh…
After panicking and wavering in their debates for a while, the Hero Party eventually settled on returning to the empire as their first step.
Aria, who was sitting blankly in the cabin of the ship where they had arrived and docked for a while, looked at Ruby, who was sound asleep, and slowly got up from her seat.
"….Huu."
With a troubled expression, Aria left Ruby's room, and began to walk.
"Brother…"
The atmosphere in the room was almost split in half.
There were those who completely believed Ruby's story and had completely lost their senses.And then there were those who completely denied Ruby's words.
"Is it true? Really…?"
Still, Aria remained neutral.
Because there was no physical evidence.
If she didn't believe even this much, she felt like she would lose her mind right away.
The actions she had taken towards her brother were still vivid in her mind and gnawing at her.
"A-According to Vener, this could also be a trap? So, if we jump to conclusions now… huh?"
Muttering to herself as she walked, Aria's pupils suddenly dilated.
"Is that…?"
The light at the far end of the cabin was on.
"…!?"
It was strange.
There should have been only one cabin left. Why was the light over there…?
"…Ah."
Then, Aria nodded to herself with a sigh.
"That's… Ms. Roswyn's cabin."
Due to her lack of presence, she often forgot that she was part of the Hero Party.
Even if it was just this time…
"…Huh?"
Aria, who closed her eyes and was lost in thought, suddenly wore a serious expression.
"It's strange?"
No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't remember a scene where Roswyn was present.
Yet, until recently, she had always been somewhere nearby, scribbling something.
But for the past few days, she hadn't even seen her.
“M-Ms. Roswyn…?"
Realizing this, Aria quietly knocked on the cabin door.
"…"
But there was no response.
— Click…
"A-Are you in there…?"
After a moment of hesitation, Aria placed her hand on the doorknob. When the doorknob turned, she was startled, but she carefully entered.
"…Huh."
Then, Aria froze in place.
"…???"
The lights were definitely on, but the room was empty.
"W-What's going on…?"
Scratching her head in confusion, Aria looked around and then widened her eyes.
"That's…"
There was a large notebook spread out like an encyclopedia.
"Hmm…"
It was the notebook that recently piqued everyone's curiosity because Roswyn would react violently at anyone who tried to see what she was writing, carrying it around as if it were her lifeline.
I leave a message here before getting banished from this place.
If someone finds this, please make it known to the world.
I didn't have time to write down recent events, but…
Here is the tale of the most pitiful boy in the world, and the fool who tormented him
With an anxious expression, Aria approached the notebook and noticed a note attached to it.
"What's this…?"
Reading through the note, Aria's trembling hand reached out to the notebook to confirm its contents.
— Rustle…!!!
"Ah!"
Suddenly, the pages of the giant notebook began flipping by themselves, emitting light.
Before it's too late, I have to go to him and receive the flower.
That way, I can activate this notebook as the ending credits.
It doesn't matter if I receive it from the corrupted him, right?
"W-What…! Eek?"
Trying to hastily step back from the abnormal phenomenon, Aria's foot got caught by something, causing her to awkwardly collapse to the floor.
— Bzzzz…
At the same time, Aria vanished from the room in an instant.
Afterward, I should probably commit suicide.
Maybe… This will atone for my sin?
In the now-empty room, only a messily scribbled note fluttered about. The messy and crooked writing gave the impression that whoever wrote it was terrified.
No, it’s not enough.
I, too, must go to hell.
As the tear-stained ink stains bloomed on the note pad scattered on the floor, complete silence fell upon the room.
.
.
.
.
.
"…Ugh?"
Aria, finally coming to her senses after being swept away by the strange light, looked around with a pale expression.
"T-This place…"
It was a place all too familiar to her.
Before her eyes lay the Starlight Mansion, where she had resided just a few months ago.
"What on earth is going on…"
Confusion clouded Aria's mind as she struggled to comprehend the situation.
"Brother!!! I hate you!!!"
"…"
Then, she inadvertently turns her head when she hears a sound coming from next to her.
"Huh."
At that moment, Aria froze in place.
"Why do you keep doing bad things!! Why!! Why on earth!!"
"…"
Before her eyes unfolded a scene as familiar as the mansion itself.
It was the moment she first rebelled against Frey.
"I barely punished one maid. Why are you so–"
"She was so kind!!! She had so much potential!!! Is it even reasonable to treat her like that just because she didn't help with night chores!?"
"She wasn't just any maid, she was mine. So it's my authority to handle her as I see fit–"
"M-Murderer!!!"
"What?"
And this was the scene where she said something malicious for the first time.
It was unfolding before her once again.
"M-Mom died because of you!! You scum!!!"
"…"
Upon hearing those words, young Frey began to look momentarily stunned.
"…Ah."
Simultaneously, confusion flashed in young Aria's eyes.
"Ah, this… this is…"
Those words came out of youthful folly and impulsiveness.
Even if her beloved brother was becoming someone unrecognizable, it was a statement she should have never uttered.
"I-I'm sorry…"
"Get out."
"Ugh."
Realizing her mistake, young Aria quickly left the room, her expression turning pale at Frey's cold words.
"…"
And then, silence began to fill the room.
"Sniff."
Continuing to sit at the desk for a while longer, the young Frey, his eyes welling up with tears, eventually reached into a drawer and pulled something out.
"…Ah."
Witnessing this, Aria stiffened.
"Mom… I'm sorry…"
Young Frey, who was holding a very small family photo in his hand, was crying with his head pressed against the desk, fearing that someone would find out.
Rachel — Eliminated
Reason: A minion planted by the Secret Lord. Intending to harm my younger sister.
Next to it, hidden away, was Frey's secret ledger.
"I don't think I can do this anymore…"
"Ah, ah…"
"It's too hard…"
Tears mixed with shock streamed down Aria's face as she slumped on the floor.
