Episode 157
"W-wait... Mr. Frey. Just a moment, please."
"Enough. Please stop."
As the goddess who had introduced herself as the Sun God tried to speak urgently, Frey cut off her words.
"It's all over now. The Demon God has vanished, and the world has found peace again."
"B-but..."
"Isn't this the happy ending that the world, and you, wanted?"
"But..."
Soon, as Frey gently closed his eyes, the goddess spoke carefully.
"For you, this ending is..."
"Goddess, if you are truly a divine being... surely you must have seen it."
However, Frey interrupted her words and began speaking again.
"The countless tragedies that occurred across countless timelines, the countless sorrows, and... the despair."
"......Mm."
Hearing those words, the goddess couldn't bring herself to continue and let out a sound of anguish.
"I was imprisoned by the Demon God and could only see fragments. But how great the pain you must have felt..."
"Anyway, you know, don't you."
"...Yes."
"Then, please erase me from existence."
As Frey pleaded once more, the goddess spoke with a sorrowful expression.
"I will remove your memories for you."
"My memories...?"
"Or I could manipulate them. After changing those memories and spending your remaining years in even a little peace... how about coming to the heaven I govern?"
Having said that, the goddess approached Frey.
"Every time I saw you suffering and grieving... my heart felt like it was being torn apart."
"........."
"Thanks to being imprisoned by the Demon God, I couldn't intervene, and I was so pathetic. But finally, the Demon God has been sealed and I've regained control... how can you say I can't even repay my debt to you?"
Soon, as the goddess took his arm, Frey's eyes trembled.
"If you truly dislike life on the surface... you can come directly to my heaven, filled with happiness and peace."
"Hea...ven."
"Yes, there, even without being erased from existence... you can live the leisurely and peaceful life you wanted."
The goddess, having said that, glanced slightly at Frey's reaction.
"And the person you missed the most is also waiting for you there."
"......!"
Frey's eyes at those words.
"Surely not."
"Yes, that's right. It is exactly who you're thinking of right now."
Widened round.
"Is my mother... really, really waiting for me there?"
Soon, as the goddess quietly nodded in response to Frey's question asked with a trembling voice.
"Mm, ugh..."
The fists Frey had been clenching tightly began to tremble.
"You've worked so hard all this time, Frey."
"Uuuugh..."
"You are someone who deserves happiness more than anyone."
The goddess, embracing Frey in her warm arms, patted his back and whispered.
"...So please, don't make such a sad choice."
Then, Frey, who had been trembling, stopped moving.
"Goddess."
"Yes, Frey."
Soon, the goddess looked down at Frey, who had slightly raised his head to look at her.
"...I'm sorry, but please erase me from existence after all."
"What?"
As Frey suddenly spoke with a dark expression, she opened her mouth in an extremely flustered tone.
"W-why? Now I can finally give you happiness. Even if not wealth and glory, I'm confident I can give you peace and comfort... why..."
"Erasing memories. I've already tried that."
".....!"
Frey's eyes as he spoke were dead.
"There was a time when I tried to give up while forgetting everything. I just wanted to give up everything, go to a quiet countryside... and try to live alone."
"A-and...?"
"At first, it was good. Since I became an ordinary person without memories, it had to be good. But..."
Frey, stepping back one step from the goddess's embrace.
"On an especially exhausting day, when I woke up from sleep... all my memories had returned."
He continued with a pained expression.
"Moreover, without my knowledge, I had caused destruction not only throughout the house but in various places around the village. Can you guess why?"
"S-surely not...!"
Hearing those words, the goddess's face turned pale as if she had guessed something, and Frey continued with an empty expression.
"Seeing how memories come back no matter how many times they're erased... my soul must really be damaged beyond repair, right?"
"W-wait a moment. I might be able to fix..."
The goddess, looking into Frey's soul as he spoke, had no choice but to gape.
"...Good heavens."
This was because Frey's soul was damaged beyond repair from countless regressions.
"How could this be..."
Perfectly, to the extent that even she, a goddess, couldn't fix it.
"Can you fix my soul?"
"I, I..."
"You can't, can you. Ever since I found out you were defeated by the Demon God and imprisoned, I already expected that while you're a divine being, you're not omnipotent."
The goddess, looking at Frey's soul which was still miserably damaged at this very moment.
"Then in the end... it's useless."
She blankly stared at Frey, who had dropped honorifics at some point.
"Even if you erase the memories in the brain... the memories engraved in the soul over eons might make me go crazy at any moment."
"Ah..."
"And, do you know this?"
"W-what?"
Frey, looking at her, suddenly began emitting terrible killing intent.
"I've been exercising my patience to the maximum since earlier."
"W-what do you..."
"I'm suppressing as much as possible the emotion of wanting to cut you down right now."
Soon, hearing those words, the goddess began to show a frightened expression.
"I know I shouldn't... I understand better than anyone that I shouldn't hate you, who did your best to protect the world..."
"F-Frey."
"I understand better than anyone that it's not all the heroines on the surface who are bad, but the Demon Lord and Demon God who are bad..."
Frey said, his hand trembling.
"But everyone seems so hateful that I want to cut them down without even realizing it..."
After looking at the goddess with anxious eyes for a while, Frey said.
"I'll ask you one last time. Before I hurt everyone, please erase me from existence."
"......."
"Please erase me, who has become stronger than you who has already weakened, so that if I lose my reason even once, I'll destroy everything. I won't resist and will accept being erased."
He delivered his final ultimatum.
"Now, I can't even retry anymore. Before it's too late... quickly."
"Mm..."
"If I hadn't defeated the Demon Lord, or if there was another goal remaining... I could have retried as many times as needed."
Seeing Frey approaching her with large strides, wearing an expression that said he could no longer endure.
"But the world after everything has ended... is just another hell for me."
"Mm..."
The goddess, who had been trembling.
"Ah, I understand."
Finally, she decided to respect Frey's wishes.
"I will... completely erase you from existence."
"Finally..."
Thanks to this, Frey wore a brighter smile than ever before.
"...Thank you."
He came right in front of the goddess and bowed his head deeply.
"Though my powers are unstable since the seal was only recently broken... erasing someone doesn't require that much power."
The goddess, quietly stroking Frey's head.
"I will remember you, who was the most noble existence in the world's history."
She radiated brilliant light from her hand.
"So... now rest in peace. Noble hero."
She whispered in a soft voice.
"I'm sorry... for being selfish."
Frey, looking at such a goddess.
"Still, I wanted to rest."
With a truly pure smile for the first time in a long while, he faded away.
"............"
And for a while, silence flowed.
"Haa..."
Soon, breaking the silence with a sigh, the Sun God, who had been wearing a sad expression for a long time.
"....Huh?"
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
- Gooooooo...!
"W-what is this?"
Suddenly, dark energy began to overflow right before her eyes.
- Shuuuu...
".....!!!"
The Sun God, watching such an incomprehensible situation.
"It's been a while..."
Soon, seeing the existence that appeared from that darkness, she began to show an expression of shock.
"...Sister?"
The dark existence, looking at the Sun God, smiled and whispered with a chilling voice.
"You, you were supposed to have perished along with the Demon Lord...!"
The Sun God began to ask questions with a trembling voice.
"Eclipse, how are you here...!"
- Shaaaaaaa...
But ignoring her questions and extending the dark energy, the woman called Eclipse.
"If I were to be erased from existence alone like this..."
She whispered with a maddened expression.
"...it would be too unfair, wouldn't it?"
And the next moment, brilliant light and deep darkness collided.
- Kugwagwagwagwang!!!
Causing a massive explosion.
.
- Kugung! Kugugung!!!
"...W-what is this?"
The sun that had been shining brilliantly in the sky began to shake again.
"The, the sun...?"
"What on earth is this? What kind of situation is this?"
The heroines, gathered together in the imperial palace garden, looking at the sun with confused expressions.
- Kugwang...!
"".....?""
Suddenly, as someone kicked down the collapsed imperial palace gate and came out, they turned their gazes in unison with startled expressions.
"W-wait. Everyone, listen to what I have to say."
Then Isollet, who had finally come to her senses and left the imperial palace, receiving everyone's attention.
"Something is strange. It's strangely, terribly strange."
She began to speak with a trembling voice.
"I watched the battle closely from the very top floor. However, the movements of all the battle executives were strangely off."
"What... does that mean?"
The youngest saint of the Order, who had personally led the battle in the garden, asked Isollet.
"There were so many flashy and diverse attacks, and each one was deadly, so while you were fighting for your lives you might not have noticed... but I, who was watching the battle from above, definitely felt something strange."
Isollet said with an expression of disbelief.
"Have any of you, who have been fighting until now, even a single wound on your bodies?"
Hearing this, the girls examined their bodies and soon began to tilt their heads in confusion.
"Huh? Why don't I have any wounds..."
"It's clean. Not even a speck of dust."
"...Does this make sense?"
Despite having fought a desperate battle while dodging life-and-death attacks for quite a long time.
For some reason, their bodies were completely unscathed.
"Do you know what I thought while watching your battles?"
Isollet, looking at the girls who had fallen into confusion.
"It felt like watching a well-orchestrated play or a pre-arranged sparring match."
"T-that means..."
"All the battle executives put on a perfectly coordinated performance, as if they were moving under someone's orders."
She conveyed the information she had discovered, further deepening the girls' confusion.
"I'm certain. I guarantee it."
Isollet, who by that point possessed experience and skill comparable to the 'Former Sword Saint.'
"Also, Frey's behavior was strange. That guy defeated the imperial palace defense force and me using only the 'reverse edge of his sword.' And... the words he left at the end were..."
She trailed off, then began walking toward the girls.
"Where are Frey and Ruby? First, we need to join the battle and defeat Frey, then interrogate him."
"Um... Professor..."
"Maybe there was some misunderstanding. Or it could be a scheme by that cunning guy. But it's definitely worth questioning..."
"The battle is over."
"...What?"
The saint who announced the end of the battle to Isollet.
"As you can see if you look over there... Frey killed Ruby."
"What?"
She pointed to Ruby, torn apart in the distance, and began to speak.
"And what happened next is a bit complicated, and we can't explain it right away because we don't understand it either... but huh?"
She stopped speaking and froze in place.
""........!!!""
And the same was true for all the other girls.
"Ruby... why is Ruby..."
This was because Ruby's body, which had been torn to shreds by Frey.
"...in that form?"
Had transformed into the unmistakable figure of a Demon Lord, with horns on her head and wings sprouting from her back.
"Frey."
Breaking the cold silence that had flowed between them for a while.
"So, where is Frey?"
Isollet, with a pale, blood-drained face, began to ask the girls urgently.
"What...?"
And Ferloche, who had been praying to the Sun God at the very back of the girls to grasp the truth of what had just happened.
"....What is all this supposed to mean?"
Having overheard the conversation between the goddess and Frey.
Muttered in a dazed voice without realizing it.