Episode 255
- *Thwack!!*
"Ow, ow ow...!"
Frey's merciless flick landed squarely on the forehead of the goddess who had descended into the youngest saint knight.
"O-ow..."
Thanks to that, she, who had been prostrate on the floor as if bowing in apology before Frey, clutched her forehead with tears welling up.
"What did you say?"
"N-nothing at all..."
But when Frey asked in a chilling voice, she quickly removed her hand from her forehead and pressed her head to the floor again, prostrating herself.
"Enough of that, sit in the chair."
"Y-yes..."
Only after quite some time had passed was she finally able to sit before Frey, and after stealing glances at him cautiously, she spoke tentatively.
"U-um..."
"What is it?"
"W-well... I-I'm s-sorry..."
"Does speaking always take this long for you?"
At Frey's cold voice—he had regained his reason but simultaneously returned to his "villainized" state—the Sun Goddess, who had been stammering, quickly shook her head and finished her words.
"I-I'm sorry... Truly."
"Sorry for what?"
"F-for being incompetent... Ack! Ugh!"
The moment the Sun Goddess said that and stole a glance at Frey, two consecutive flicks struck her forehead directly.
"How did the possession happen?"
"I-I don't know. I was wandering in darkness, not even remembering when I was imprisoned, when suddenly I saw light and opened my eyes... and I was here."
"The reason you were imprisoned?"
"I-It was after I was defeated by my younger sister. That time was..."
As she spoke, the color of her eyes began to turn red.
"W-what...?"
And then, she looked around with a flustered voice.
"Frey?"
She looked at the people lying asleep on the table and floor with bewildered eyes, then discovered Frey before her and began to smile a spine-chilling smile.
"I told you, didn't I? This isn't the en—"
At that moment, her reddened eyes began to change back to golden.
"I-I hate the darkness now...!"
With her eyes burning golden again, she clutched her head with a pale expression.
"Was that the Demon God just now?"
Frey, who had been watching her closely as the possession broke and returned during an important conversation, quietly opened his mouth.
"How much do you know, and how much can you tell me?"
"Ah, well... I don't know much after being imprisoned in the darkness..."
"........"
"W-well, there are things I do know... but... Ah, I can't tell you..."
When Frey quietly raised his fist at those words, the goddess hurriedly covered her forehead and spoke.
"I-I'm sorry! B-but...! If I do that, my remaining divinity will shatter!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I already lost power from having my 'Chief God' qualifications stolen by the Demon God and being sealed, and I used up nearly all my divinity to find the 'singularity' and change the world..."
She continued, glancing fearfully at Frey's fist still raised high.
"So if I give you even a little information... I'll lose even the power to maintain the Demon King's system window. I-I'm truly sorry..."
"Hmm."
Frey, who had been quietly watching her after hearing those words, asked in a low voice.
"For someone in that state, the Demon God interferes quite often."
"Pardon?"
"Just now, too, she descended into that body and tried to corrupt me directly."
The Sun Goddess answered with a bewildered expression.
"That can't be right...?"
"Hmm?"
"If she did something like that from that position... her divinity wouldn't survive, would it?"
Tilting her head as she said that, the Sun Goddess pointed at herself.
"I myself used up nearly all the divinity I gathered over countless ages just to change the DLC... no, the world..."
"........"
"No matter how much she enjoys others' suffering, she wouldn't do something that harms herself."
Frey, who had been thinking with his eyes half-closed until then, suddenly opened his eyes wide and murmured.
"Then there must have been a reason she had no choice but to do this even though it would harm her."
"...Pardon?"
"Come to think of it, when she tried to corrupt me earlier, she had an anxious look in her eyes..."
Murmuring that, Frey picked up the liquor placed on the table and finished his words.
"Could it be that the Demon God isn't the end?"
And then, silence flowed through the inn for a moment.
"W-wow..."
She, who was rubbing her forehead while watching Frey deep in thought again, looked out the window and opened her eyes wide.
"It's beautiful..."
Outside the window, the year's first snow was falling.
- *Thwack!*
"Ack!"
She, who had been watching the scene with sparkling eyes full of wonder, quickly covered her forehead after receiving yet another flick.
"W-why are you hitting me...!"
And then, she timidly raised her voice to ask.
"Do I need to give a reason?"
"N-no... that's not it..."
But when Frey asked with a cold smile, she could only trail off.
She knew well that this man before her could do anything to her and be innocent.
"Uuuugh..."
Thanks to that, she slowly removed her hand from her burning forehead and spoke tearfully.
"P-please treat me as you please..."
"......."
"U-until your anger is relieved... as much as you want... eek."
When Frey stood up from his seat and approached her at those words, the Sun Goddess squeezed her eyes shut and began to tremble.
'W-what do I do... what do... uuu...'
During the boring times when she was still the Supreme God, she had discovered and become obsessed with games, manga, and novels from another dimension called Blue Star by other gods.
Her delusional circuits, steeped in such subculture for hundreds of years, began to spin rapidly.
'B-but Frey is kind... wait, he should be under villainization right now? Then... after all.......'
Turning pale while simultaneously blushing, thinking about the two possibilities, she—
"Ack, ugh. Aaaack!"
Receiving three consecutive flicks on the same spot, she twisted her body with tears leaking out.
"*Phew.*"
"......?"
She, who had been frantically rubbing her burning forehead for a while, looked at Frey with dazed eyes as he sat down with a relieved expression.
"I-is it over?"
When she asked in a quiet voice, he answered while quietly clenching and unclenching his fist.
"If you want, shall I do more?"
"N-no... that's not..."
"I'm busy right now. For now, this is enough."
Saying that, Frey tilted the liquor bottle on the table to pour into a glass, and asked while looking at the Sun Goddess with a strange expression.
"Can you sever the possession at will?"
"Ah, yes. That's possible but... it would be better to stay like this for a while?"
"Why is that?"
She, still blushing and stealing glances at Frey, looked at the snow falling outside the window with a wondrous gaze and said.
"M-my younger sister keeps trying to interfere with this body. If I let my guard down even a little, I'll lose control immediately."
"So the Demon God still has the ability to interfere even after using that much power?"
"...I-I suppose so?"
When she said that with a blank expression, Frey shook his head and began drinking the liquor in his glass.
"U-umm..."
The Sun Goddess, who had been watching him while squirming as if sitting on pins and needles, murmured and quietly stood up.
"M-maybe... if it's this..."
And she approached Frey on her knees, crawling slowly.
"...What are you doing right now?"
She, bent over, began to tie Frey's shoelaces.
"D-done!"
A moment later, the Sun Goddess, who had tied Frey's shoelaces into a cute ribbon shape, shouted with a fighting pose.
"This much help doesn't consume divinity!"
"...Is pettiness a trait shared between sisters?"
"I can help you with this!"
Whether she didn't hear Frey's words or ignored them, the Sun Goddess said that, still on her knees, looking up at Frey.
"A-from now on, I'll do your chores! I haven't perfectly grasped the concept yet, but I'll work hard..."
"I have plenty of people to do chores."
"Ah... then, a p-part-time job? How about that? I'll earn money for your activities..."
"I have plenty of money."
"Oh, then... umm..."
She, who had been quietly avoiding Frey's gaze as he looked at her coldly as if she were a thorn in his eye, began to murmur with a dejected voice.
"F-finally I could directly help with something..."
"........."
"I wanted to look around the human world after such a long time... uuuugh..."
Frey, who was about to flick her again, suddenly tilted his head and murmured.
"In the prophecy book, the Ancestor definitely said... the Sun Goddess's personality was petty and foul..."
"T-that's slander! There were circumstances...!"
The Sun Goddess, who barely caught those words, straightened her hunched body and tried to protest with a wronged expression.
"U-umm..."
".......!"
At that moment, Serena, who had been lying next to them, began to stir.
"Wow... she looks really similar to the tactician of the hero party from a thousand years ago... that person was really smart..."
"It's Serena."
"...Ah."
Frey, watching the Sun Goddess scratching her head with a dumbfounded expression at those words, sighed and murmured.
"So this is why Ferloche became an idiot... because the person she dealt with for eons was like this."
"Pardon?"
"...For now, go into that room over there. It's a room I originally reserved for myself."
"Uuuugh..."
Frey, pushing the Sun Goddess toward the stairs, said with a cold expression.
"Let's talk about the rest tomorrow morning, just the two of us in detail."
"Heek? A-ah, yes..."
Hearing those words, she, already frightened, blushed and climbed the stairs.
"...*Sigh.*"
Frey, rubbing his throbbing head while glancing at her, quietly turned his gaze to Serena.
"Uuu..."
She was in a state of just barely opening her eyes.
- *Swish...*
Frey, who had been quietly watching her, stroked Serena's lips with his finger with a gentle smile, in contrast to how he always looked at her coldly.
"Hah..."
At that, Serena unconsciously put his finger in her mouth.
"*Pffft.*"
Thanks to that, Frey, who let out a small laugh, gently stroked her hair and then stood up.
"H-huh?"
And at the same time, Serena opened her eyes and began to look around with wide eyes.
"Frey?"
Then she asked, seeing Frey standing up.
"Why is everyone collapsed...?"
Then Frey, who was standing, answered quietly.
"I killed them all."
"Ah."
Serena's eyes, which had been sharp, began to sharpen at those words.
"Wait a moment. I'll immediately call my subordinates and destroy the evidence..."
"*Pffft...*"
"...?"
Frey, watching Serena say that without a moment's hesitation, laughed again and headed outside the inn.
"Come outside for a moment. I have something to say."
"Yes...?"
And silence flowed through the inn for a moment.
"...Wow."
Serena, looking around with a bewildered expression at the sudden situation, saw the snow falling outside and smiled slightly, looking up at the sky.
"........"
In the sky, which had darkened unnoticed, the moon that symbolized her was rising.
"Hmm."
Serena's expression, as she blankly watched the moon, suddenly changed.
"...Just as planned."
Her face, flushed with a strange excitement, held a smile of triumph.
"...Everything went according to plan."
Murmuring that, she quietly stood up.
'Today's the day, Frey.'
Serena, approaching the entrance door toward Frey who was standing quietly in the street where the first snow fell, began to mutter inwardly.
'Today, I will... take...'
The stars and moon in the sky were illuminating her.
'...your purity.'
The finale of the 'Frey Conquest Operation' she had been planning for a long time had begun.