Chapter 154: The Final Battle

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༺ The Final Battle ༻

"Hmm…"

In the center of the empire, the Imperial Palace reigned supreme.

And at the very top of the palace, the Imperial Throne stood with splendor.

Ruby leaned forward gradually from her cross-legged position, her expression marked with amusement.

"Are you tired?"

As she examined Frey, Ruby casually questioned him, which elicited a hollow laugh from his parched throat.

"Well, it's obviously exhausting. I had to fight my way through so many people I had once considered precious."

"...…"

"Seeing that there's not a trace of blood on your clothes… You just knocked them unconscious, didn't you?"

Ruby stared at Frey as she gloated in an amused voice.

"You really are interesting."

She smirked arrogantly before monologuing further.

"That's why… I want you to be mine."

"...."

Hearing that, Frey glared coldly at Ruby.

However, Ruby seemed to find this reaction from Frey adorable. As if treating it like a child's tantrum, she looked down on him instead.

"This is my final offer, Frey."

After a pause, the silence that lingered between them—one side emanating an icy gaze and the other, an affectionate one—was disrupted.

"Become mine."

Ruby said again with her eyes opened widely in desire.

"Why do you have that look on your face? Do you think it's foolish for me to make such an arrogant request even though you've awoken the Hero's Armament?"

Ruby nonchalantly posed another question, breaking the silence once more as Frey responded with no apparent reaction.

"Well, if you say so… I understand why you wouldn't want to take my proposal seriously."

Naturally, Frey didn't answer once again, but Ruby continued the conversation, gently swirling her wine glass, undeterred.

"By the way, aren't you curious? I didn't fight with those guys and instead, I waited for you here. Do you want to know why?"

"…Did you let them protect you so that you could wait while accumulating your False Good points?"

"Yes, precisely so."

When she heard Frey's response, she grinned and responded.

[System Notification for [Path of False Good]!]

[The awakening of the True Form of the Demon King has reached 100 percent!]

[The Final Scenario has been unlocked!]

She gazed at the system window that had appeared before her eyes just moments earlier.

[Main Quest: The Final Battle]

– Kill or corrupt the Hero

Reward: Advent of the Demon God.

"Then, I guess it's about time… to show you my true form."

The Demon King, who had been gazing at the translucent window hovering in mid-air with a satisfied expression, suddenly began to enshroud herself in ruby-colored magic.

Grrrrrrr…

As that fleeting moment passed,

The ruby-colored magic enveloping the Demon King dissipated. Her body had changed dramatically.

"How do I look?"

Discarding the guise of the youthful and innocent Ruby,

The Demon King revealed her true form, a sensual figure and mature appearance. She tilted her head slightly and said,

"Does it arouse your interest?"

However, Frey continued to remain unresponsive.

"…Don't tell me, you still think you can beat me?"

Because of his lack of a response, the Demon King asked with a puzzled expression.

"Even if you've awakened the Hero's Armament, you're still a human after all."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's right. And I am the strongest Demon King, incomparable to any of my predecessors and too powerful for even gods to challenge."

Despite Frey's blank expression, she continued,

"If the 'System' that prevents us from attacking each other had been activated until just a moment ago, you might have stood a chance."

The Demon King expounded with an arrogant voice,

"But now that the awakening is complete and the System is disabled, even if you've awakened the Hero's Armaments, your chances are virtually nonexistent."

"…Hmm."

"Between you, who has only recently obtained transcendent power, and me, who has wielded such power freely but was only restrained for a while… Who do you think has a higher chance of winning?"

Even after she gloated, Frey still had no reaction.

The Demon King glared with a frustrated expression, as she raised her voice slightly and said,

"In short, the difference in experience is just too overwhelming."

"Well, I don't know about that."

However, as Frey remained indifferent to the end, the Demon King frowned,

"To be honest, I liked you, Frey."

And soon, she made her final proposal to Frey,

"There hasn't been anyone as stimulating as you in my boring life."

"Stimulating?"

"Everything was just tedious. Everyone trembled in fear when they saw me, and those who opposed me were torn apart with just a flick of my finger. That kind of life was just too tiresome."

The Demon King watched Frey's expression distort more and more upon hearing her words.

"Watching you, who was once no more significant than an ant, squirming and climbing up here… it was truly exhilarating to witness."

"...."

"Therefore, I wanted to possess you."

She continued her words, savoring the sensation of her supposedly predetermined victory.

"So, become my puppet and writhe in agony for eternity. If you do, your life will be…"

"Yes, you just wanted something exciting, that's why you've been doing all this."

Frey, while cutting off the Demon King's words, began to speak with a cold voice.

"Because of your tedious and peaceful daily life. Because you felt bored by the things that you already possessed… You turned the world upside down and made it into a hell."

"So, will you accept my proposal? If you do…"

"After going through countless regressions. After desperately hoping for salvation… Only then did I finally get tired of a peaceful daily life."

Soon after, Frey's voice dropped to a murmur, exuding a chilling aura.

"I didn't want to hurt you, if I could avoid it."

The Demon King spoke with an even colder expression.

"Well, there's also the condition of corrupting you in order to finish the 'Final Battle'…"

She dipped her finger slightly into the wine-filled glass and spoke.

"…After breaking you, I'll rape you until your mind breaks and turn you into my puppet."

Splash!!

Following that statement, droplets of wine propelled by the Demon King's flick flew past Frey's face.

"It's really pitiful that you can't even dodge that yet you still want to fight me."

As blood trickled down Frey's cheek, the Demon King laughed as she made the wine glass levitate.

"I admire your courage, but unfortunately, I'm rather confident I can beat you with just this wine glass."

"How?"

"Like this."

At Frey's question, the Demon King, with a confident smile…

Whoosh!!!

Hurled the wine glass at Frey with unbelievable speed.

Clang!!

However,

"…Hmm?"

Frey merely cocked his head, avoiding the attack far too easily.

"You've always started your attacks by throwing a wine glass."

Ruby observed him dodging an attack that should have been impossible to react to with the reflexes of a human being.

"By the way, what did you say earlier?"

The Demon King started to look at him with an increasingly flustered expression.

"Did you say the difference in experience was overwhelming?"

Frey whispered with a playful expression on his face.

"Do you still believe that?"

.

.

.

Cooing!! Cooing!!

The Imperial Army and the sub-heroines ceased fighting and gazed up towards the sky.

"The sun… is shaking."

Just as the paladin who had been fighting in the front lines said, the sun suspended in the sky was shaking unsteadily.

"It's because the final battle has begun."

Ferloche, who had escaped the palace with the main heroines and was fighting the demon executives, began to convey information to the anxious allies around her.

"If the Hero wins the battle, the sun will regain its stability, and should the Demon King Frey win, the sun will lose its light."

At her words, the people's expressions darkened substantially.

"Fear not, as all of you should know how strong Ruby really is."

As Ferloche consoled them with a devout smile, people began to chime in.

"T-That's right. Ruby can't lose."

"Yes, since she has succeeded in 'awakening'… there's no way that she can be defeated."

"After all, a scum like Frey can't defeat our Hero, who carries our hopes and dreams along with her."

Though their words were hopeful,

""...…""

The expressions they bore after finishing their words were tinged with considerable anxiety.

Roar…

From the uppermost level of the already devastated palace, an overwhelming fusion of ruby and silver energy unfurled in all directions.

"Ugh, uh…"

"Just a little more… hold on a bit longer."

This powerful energy extended far beyond the heavens, making it impossible to determine where it began and ended. It was later recounted as visible not only in the Southern Continent where the Sunrise Empire was located, but also in the Western and Eastern Continents.

It reduced the Sunrise Imperial Palace to ruins, despite it being protected by numerous ancient magics.

Even with the combined efforts of the five main heroines and the sub-heroines in dispersing the energy, they could only temporarily block it.

"If we hold on a little longer… Ruby will surely…"

However, even in such a situation, the people, led by Ferloche, were stubbornly blocking the energy.

"…save the world."

Because they firmly believed that their hero, Ruby, would save the world.

"So, everyone, just a little more…!"

As Ferloche raised her voice and looked back at the people who had painful expressions…

Crash!!!

A loud noise was heard from the top floor of the palace.

Someone began to fall down.

"Ah, the Hero has finally done it…"

Witnessing this sight, people thought that Ruby had finally defeated Frey as they began to wear hopeful expressions.

"…..!!!"

However, once they discerned the identity of the figure now sprawled on the ground some distance away, they froze.

"Cough, cough… ugh…"

The person who fell was not Frey, but Ruby, who had now returned to her human form.

"How can this be happening, Ruby? You were the one who said I had no chance of winning."

"H-How…? How can you…?"

Gasping in pain from the numerous fatal wounds on her body, Ruby murmured in a strained voice.

"It's quite simple."

"…Kheh!"

Frey, whose state was relatively unscathed, looked down on her coldly and began to whisper as he stomped on her stomach with all his might.

"Over countless regressions, I had invested quite a lot of time trying to defeat you without using the Hero's Armament."

"W-What are you saying?"

"I can't remember much due to the frustration from countless failures or going utterly insane a few times. But what I do remember vividly is that even without the Hero's Armament, I challenged you countless times."

"What are you talking about… ugh!"

Frey stomped on Ruby's stomach even harder, successfully stopping Ruby's attempt to ask a question.

"Eventually, I gave up when I realized that without the 'Hero's Armament,' I couldn't fatally hurt or kill you… but it wasn't without gain."

With a terrifying expression that was overwhelming just to look at, he persisted in stomping on Ruby.

"Ugh… ugh…"

"By the time I finally stopped fighting you, I had spent three days relentlessly beating the shit out of you."

The Demon King was someone so immensely powerful that she had never been so much as touched by anyone. Because of this, she had never been hit nor hurt and, as a result, also had no immunity to pain. Frey continued to speak as he trampled on Ruby in the most painful way possible.

"In short, the difference in experience is just too much. For you."

While stomping on the Demon King, Frey lifted the Hero's Sword high and repeated the same words she had said earlier.

"H-Help me!"

At that point, the pale-faced Demon King…

No, the girl Ruby,

"I need your power!"

Started gathering mana in her hands cautiously while attempting to cast some sort of magic.

She began to request help from the heroines who were far away.

"Ah, Hero!"

"Get away from the Hero! You cursed child!"

"We're coming, just hold on for a bit…"

The heroines, who had somehow defeated the remaining demon executives, quickly rushed to Ruby's location or began to launch attacks at Frey from afar.

Shaaaaaa…!

At that moment,

A barrier made by Frey's stellar mana enveloped both him and Ruby.

"W-Wait, Frey, I have something to say…"

In such a situation, Ruby, who had broken out in a cold sweat, opened her mouth with a desperate expression.

Pwook…!

"…Gasp!"

At that moment, Frey's sword pierced through her heart.

"""..."""

An eerie stillness settled over the garden of the Imperial Palace

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