Chapter 156: Something is Wrong.

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༺ Something is Wrong. ༻

"U-uh, Mr. Frey. Wait, just a moment."

"No, please. Please, just end my existence. I want to stop now. I am begging you. Please."

Frey interrupted the goddess, who had introduced herself as the Sun God, as she hurriedly tried to speak in denial.

"It's all over now. The Demon God has disappeared, and the world has regained its peace."

"Well, that's true, but…"

"This is the ideal world you imagined and the happy ending you wanted, isn't it?"

"But still…"

When Frey ended up closing his eyes wearily, the goddess cautiously spoke.

"For you, this ending is…"

"Goddess, if you truly are a divine and omniscient being… you must have seen everything, haven't you?"

Frey interrupted her and resumed speaking.

"All the innumerable tragedies, sorrows, and… the despair that occurred across countless timelines."

"…Erghh."

After hearing Frey's words, the Goddess could no longer continue her words and instead let out a groan.

"Because I was sealed by the Demon God, I could only see what was in front of me. But I can imagine how much pain you felt…"

"So, you understand, right?"

"…Yes."

"Then, please erase me from existence."

Once again, the goddess spoke with a regretful expression when Frey pleaded like that.

"How about I erase your memories instead?"

"My memories…?"

"Or I can manipulate them. And then, after I have changed your memories and let you spend the rest of your life at least a little more comfortably… how about you come to the Heaven under my supervision?"

As she said that, the Goddess approached Frey to embrace him.

"Every time I saw you in pain and sadness… It felt like my heart was being torn apart."

"...…"

"I felt so pathetic, unable to intervene in anything due to the Demon God's influence. But now, with the Demon God sealed and my dominion restored… I can finally repay you for your kindness and service. Even if it is not possibly enough… I can do everything in power for you to want for nothing."

As the goddess grabbed his arm, Frey's eyes trembled.

"If you don't like living in this world… you can come directly to my heavenly realm. It is filled with happiness and peace over there."

"Hea… ven."

"Yes, in that place, even if I don't annihilate your existence… you can still have the free and peaceful life you longed for."

After saying that, the goddess carefully observed Frey's reaction before speaking again.

"Also, the person you miss the most is waiting for you there."

"...!"

Frey's eyes widened.

"No way."

"Yes, that's right. It is truly the person you're thinking of right now."

His eyes shook in disbelief.

"Really? Is my mother… really waiting for me?"

Then, with a quivering voice, Frey asked his question, to which the goddess silently nodded.

"…Ergh, ugh…"

The fist that Frey tightly clenched started trembling.

"You've worked so hard all this time, Frey."

"Ugh, ugh…"

"You are more than deserving of happiness."

The goddess took Frey back into her warm embrace and gently spoke while patting his head.

"…So please, don't make such a tragic choice."

Upon hearing this, Frey, who had been trembling until then, stopped moving.

"Your Holiness."

"Yes, Frey."

Frey lifted his head slightly to meet her gaze, and the goddess also fixed her eyes on him.

"…I'm sorry, but please annihilate me as I said."

"What?"

Frey suddenly wore a dark expression as the Sun God spoke in a highly perplexed tone.

"Wh-why would you say that? Now I can finally bring happiness to you. While it may not be wealth and glory, I'm confident I can provide you peace and comfort… So, why?"

"I've already attempted erasing my memories, but it doesn't work."

"…..!"

As he said that, Frey's eyes were void of life.

"There was a period when I tried to give up and forget everything at once. I wanted to let go of everyone and live alone in a quiet countryside."

"R-really, and then…?"

"At first, it was good. Becoming an ordinary person without memories, of course, would have been a fulfilling way to live as of itself. But then…"

Frey took a step away from the goddess's embrace.

"One day, after an unusually exhausting day, I fell asleep and woke up… and all of my memories came flooding back."

With a pained expression, he continued.

"Not only that, but without my knowledge, both my household and various places in the village were in flames. Can you guess why?"

"N-No way, can it be….?!"

The goddess's complexion paled as she grasped the implications of his words. Frey bore a desolate expression as he continued speaking.

"Despite repeatedly erasing memories, they kept resurfacing… so, the only way for this to be is if my soul is completely shattered, isn't it?"

"W-Wait, give me a chance. Perhaps I can fix…"

As she spoke, the goddess gazed into Frey's soul. Then, stunned, she could only gape in disbelief.

"…Unbelievable."

Frey's soul had been utterly shattered due to the countless repetitions of regression.

"This can't be…"

Even as a goddess, she still couldn't fix it, not even close to perfection.

"So, can you fix my soul?"

"W-Well, I…"

"You can't, right? Since you were defeated and sealed by the Demon God, I had already predicted this. Despite being a divine being, you're not truly omnipotent."

The goddess looked at Frey's soul, which was crumbling into miserable ashes even at this moment.

"So, ultimately… it's all pointless."

She stared blankly at Frey, who had abandoned formal speech.

"Even if you were to erase the memories in my physical… who knows when the memories engraved in my soul over countless eons will drive me insane."

"Ah…"

"Also, do you know?"

"W-What?"

As Frey gazed at her, suddenly, a terrifying aura emanated from him.

"Since earlier, I've been slowly summoning all my strength."

"W-What do you…"

"Right now, I'm trying to suppress the desire to overpower you as much as possible."

As the goddess heard Frey's following words, a frightened expression began to appear on her face.

"But I know very well that I shouldn't hate you, who gave your all to protect the world. I understand that better than anyone else…."

"F-Frey."

"I certainly understand that it could not possibly be the fault of all the heroines who live in this world. It was and will only ever be the sins and faults of the Demon King and the Demon God…"

Frey kept speaking as his hands trembled.

"However, as everyone had grown to detest me, even without any intentions to, I also desired to harm them all…"

In that state, Frey stared at the goddess with an anxious and frenzied gaze.

"I'll ask you one last time. Before I hurt everyone, please, annihilate me."

"...."

"Since I have become stronger than you, who's already weakened, I will destroy everything once I lose my sanity. So, please, ruin me until not even a sliver of my existence remains. I won't resist. I'll accept my own destruction."

He made his final plea.

"I can't retry anymore. So, before it's too late… please, do it quickly."

"Ugh…"

"If I couldn't defeat the Demon King or if there were unfinished objectives… I could have repeated the process countless times. But, now that everything is over… the world that awaits me will be another hell."

As she watched Frey slowly approach her with an expression that firmly expressed he could no longer bear it, the trembling goddess finally spoke.

"Ugh… I-I understand."

Ultimately, she chose to honor Frey's wishes.

"I will… completely erase you from every plane of existence."

"Finally…"

Hearing her decision, a radiant smile lit up Frey's face more brightly than ever before.

"…Thank you."

He stood right in front of the goddess and lowered his head into a bow.

"Even though my power is unstable since the seal was recently released… annihilating you shouldn't require much effort."

While silently caressing Frey's head, the goddess spoke.

"I will remember you, the noblest existence in the history of the world."

A luminous radiance began to emanate from the goddess's hand.

"So… now rest in peace. Honorable Hero," she whispered solemnly.

"I'm sorry… for forcing you."

Frey looked at the goddess serenely before he continued.

"But still, I wanted to rest now."

For the first time in a while, his face bore an innocent smile as he gradually faded away.

"..."

And then, silence filled the air for a moment.

"Phew…"

Breaking the silence with a sigh, the Sun God, previously wearing a sorrowful expression, noticed something.

"….Huh?"

Suddenly, her eyes widened.

– Gooooh…!

"Wh-what's happening?"

It was because a dark aura suddenly began to surge before her eyes.

– Shooo…

"…..!!!"

The Sun God observed this inexplicable situation until she suddenly made an astonished expression as a presence emerged from the darkness.

"It's been a while…Sister?"

The dark entity smiled and whispered in a chilling voice while her gaze remained locked on the Sun God.

"Y-you clearly should have been annihilated along with the Demon King…!"

Trembling, the Sun Goddess questioned in a quavering tone.

"Eclipse, how can you be here…!"

– Shaaa…

Disregarding the Sun God's question, the woman called Eclipse extended her ominous aura, her voice dripping with coldness.

"If I'm the only one to be faded into dust and ashes…"

Wearing a deranged expression, the woman continued to whisper.

"It's too unfair, isn't it?"

And, in the next moment, a clash of brilliant light and deep darkness ensued.

– Kukwaaaaaaang!!!

A massive explosion occurred.

– Kugoong! Kugugwoong!!!

.

.

.

"…Wh-what's going on?"

The sun, which was shining brightly in the sky, began to quiver once again.

"T-The sun…?"

"What is actually happening here? Can anyone explain what's going on?"

The heroines were in the Imperial Garden as they looked at the sun bewilderedly.

– Kuogwang…!

"…..?"

Suddenly, a loud voice was heard as the palace door collapsed from a powerful kick. Subsequently, a figure emerged from the wreckage. All eyes turned toward the source of the commotion.

"W-Wait a minute, everyone, listen to me."

Isolet, who instantly attracted their attention, regained her composure and stepped out of the palace.

"Something is strange. It's not just strange. Nothing makes sense right now."

She started speaking with a trembling voice.

"I was carefully observing the battle from the top floor. But the movements of the combat executives during the battle weren't just unusual, they were exceedingly so."

"What… do you mean?"

One of the church's youngest paladins, Isolet's new disciple who had actively participated in the battle in the garden, asked with a puzzled tone.

"Your fights were so flashy and filled with diverse and deadly attacks that you probably didn't notice, but… as I witnessed the battle from above, I definitely sensed something odd."

Isolet spoke with a confused expression.

"All of you who fought until now… do any of you have even a single injury on your bodies?"

Upon hearing her words, the girls examined their own bodies and, to their surprise, each of them began to tilt their heads in confusion.

"Huh? Why are there no injuries on my body…"

"It's clean. Not even a speck of dust on us."

"…Does that make any sense?"

Despite engaging in life-and-death battles for quite some time, their bodies had no wounds.

"Do you know what I thought while watching your battle?"

Looking at all the confused girls, Isolet continued.

"It felt like I was watching a well-rehearsed play or a pre-arranged duel."

"Wh-what does that mean…"

"I mean, all the combat executives in the battles seemed to be performing well-coordinated acts as if following someone's orders."

Isolet further deepened the girls' confusion by conveying the information she had discovered.

"I'm certainly sure of that. I can vouch for it."

Isolet was someone who possessed experience and skills equivalent to the 'Predecessor Sword Saint'.

"Also, Frey's behavior was strange. He defeated the entire palace defense force and me with just the flat side of his blade. And… the last thing he said was…"

As she spoke, her voice suddenly faded near the end of her sentence. She then immediately advanced toward the other girls.

"Where are Frey and Ruby? We should first help her in her battle, defeat Frey, and then interrogate him."

"Um… Professor…"

"There may have been some misunderstanding. No, it could be a malicious trap. But there's definitely something worth investigating…"

"The battle is already over."

A paladin informed Isolet of the end of the battle.

"…What?"

"If you look over there, you'll understand… Frey has killed Ruby."

The paladin spoke as she pointed toward the distance where Ruby was lying on the ground in a horrifically mangled state.

"What?"

"And then, what happened next is quite complicated. Even we don't fully understand it enough to explain it to you right away, but… huh?"

The paladin suddenly stopped speaking and froze in place.

".....!!!"

And the same went for all the other girls.

"Why… Why does Ruby… have that appearance?"

They were stunned by Ruby's transformation even as her shredded body, torn apart by Frey, remained.

With horns sprouting from her head and wings emerging from her back, Ruby had undeniably transformed into an appearance of the Demon King.

"Frey."

To break the eerie silence that had lasted among them for some time, Isolet urgently asked the girls with a pale and alarmed face.

"Where is Frey?"

"What…?"

Some were praying to the Sun God behind the heroines, trying to grasp an understanding on what just happened with their desperate worship.

"…What does all this mean?"

Ferloche murmured, bewildered, after unintentionally overhearing the conversation between the Sun God and Frey.

You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02