Episode 74
"Ugh... damn it."
As the mansion began to collapse the moment he stepped inside, Frey cursed shortly and threw his body forward.
"No... at this rate, I won't last even a minute."
The entrance he had come through had already collapsed, and even the places that were still intact were crumbling miserably.
In that terrible situation, Frey closed his eyes halfway and began spreading star mana in all directions.
"Kuh...!"
However, having exhausted nearly all his mana from indiscriminately cutting down assassins and saving the children, he couldn't last long before vomiting blood and collapsing to the ground.
"It's ahead... right ahead."
But whether it was misfortune or fortune, the person he was looking for was right in front of him, so even with insufficient mana, Frey was able to find where he needed to go.
"W-who are you..."
Thus, enduring the terrible pain with sheer willpower alone, Frey headed toward where Ferloche lay face down on the floor.
"Ferloche! Wake up! We have to get out, now!"
Frey tried to lift the collapsed Ferloche, but realizing her body had no strength, he began shouting in a desperate voice.
"I don't know who you are... but even you should escape. There's no hope for me."
But Ferloche, who had exhausted all her strength going around finding injured students or those who had inhaled toxic gas and breathing holy power into them to save their lives, only spoke in a fading voice.
"No, I can't give up. Never."
Of course, Frey wouldn't give up on Ferloche. Her death was one of the system's game over conditions, and simultaneously one of the things Frey absolutely did not want.
"Please don't do this... leave me behind and quickly get out of..."
"Stay still."
So Frey lifted the collapsed Ferloche.
In truth, he didn't have enough strength left to lift Ferloche, let alone walk out of here, but the obsession that he had to save her somehow was enough to grant Frey extra strength.
-Rumble!
"...Damn it."
But God did not seem to favor the hero and the saintess. Because the moment Frey lifted Ferloche and turned around, the mansion began to collapse completely.
"The basement... I have to go to the basement..."
In such a desperate situation, Frey held Ferloche in his arms and began staggering toward somewhere.
Sometimes inhaling smoke and vomiting blood, sometimes receiving deep wounds from falling debris, or bearing burns from fire across his entire body.
He kept walking forward, and forward again.
"Okay, I made it... now..."
After walking and walking continuously, Frey was able to reach the entrance to the basement.
-Creeeak...
Frey, who opened the entrance to the basement protected by protective magic, carefully pushed Ferloche inside and began to sigh.
-Zap!
"...Hah."
But soon he realized that the protective magic on the basement door was broken.
"Crazy bastard."
Upon discovering the charred black corpse of the assassination squad leader right beside him, Frey was able to determine that he had destroyed the protective magic and simultaneously died from magical overload.
Of course, in this desperate situation, it was information that didn't help at all.
"Hey... why aren't you coming in? Hey...!"
"Right..."
Frey, who had been contemplating for a moment in that situation, heard Ferloche's faint voice from inside the basement and murmured with a resolved expression.
"If I'm going to face a bad ending anyway... rather than becoming completely useless because of the game over penalty, it makes sense for Ferloche to survive."
And the next moment, Frey forcefully closed the basement door and began pouring his remaining star mana into the destroyed protective magic circle.
Of course, it was far from enough to restore the magic circle.
The star mana passed down through the Starlight family demonstrates explosive power when sacrificing oneself to protect others.
-Shimmer...
"I'm sorry..."
Frey, who had restored the magic circle with miraculous power, quietly closed his eyes and murmured.
"...for not being able to survive."
The last thing he thought of in his life was none other than his mother.
.
"Hey! Why aren't you coming in! Hey!!"
In the dark basement, Ferloche was pressed against the entrance, shouting with a desperate voice.
Because the man who had saved her still hadn't entered the basement.
"Hrng...!"
Ferloche, who had been crying out for a while, eventually began crawling slowly toward the entrance using every bit of her strength.
"Mmm... mmmmm!"
Upon reaching the entrance protected by protective magic, she began using all her strength to open the door.
-Thud
"...Hah?"
She struggled with the door for a long time and finally succeeded in opening it, but the moment the door opened, someone tackled her and she fell to the floor with them.
"Cough! Cough!! Ugh..."
Thanks to that, Ferloche, who had been momentarily flustered, coughed as smoke seeped in through the open door gap, pushed aside the person who had tackled her, and started heading toward the entrance again.
"H-hey! Are you okay!?"
Ferloche, who used her strength again to close the entrance, grabbed the person who had fallen beside her and began shaking them.
"P-please don't die! Hey!"
But when the man beside her didn't even twitch, Ferloche began sobbing and gathering holy power in her hands.
She had already used most of her holy power saving other children, but she still drew out her remaining holy power to the limit.
"Still, there's still a little life force left... so... if she receives even a little holy power..."
Because a faint life force could be felt from his limp body, meaning... there was a possibility of saving him.
Though his life was like a candle flame about to go out, if even a little of her holy power could be infused, he might be able to hold on until rescue came.
With such hope, Ferloche began diligently pouring holy power into him.
"...Huh?"
But something was strange.
She was clearly pouring holy power with all her might, but the holy power wasn't being transmitted to him.
"W-what's strange? I'm clearly using holy power?"
Ferloche, who thought her holy power had been completely depleted, checked her hands, but holy power was indeed emanating from them, albeit faintly.
"W-why isn't the holy power being transmitted? Why?"
Confirming that, Ferloche began pouring holy power into the man again, but his life force did not reignite.
"Wait, this happened once before."
Ferloche, who was sobbing and anxious about this strange phenomenon, soon began muttering with sharp eyes.
"It definitely happened in the orphanage basement too. The target of that phenomenon back then was... definitely...!"
Muttering in an uncharacteristically clear and bright voice, Ferloche reached her trembling hand toward the mask the man was wearing.
-Slide
".....!!!"
Ferloche, who removed the man's mask with an expression of disbelief, froze with a look of astonishment.
"F-F-Frey?"
Because Frey's face, wearing a somehow relieved smile, was greeting Ferloche.
"You, why are you here? Why did you save me? Why?"
Thanks to that, Ferloche, who had been in a panic for a moment, began muttering while urgently pouring holy power into him.
"Frey is a villain, right? A bad person, right? Someone who hurts everyone...? Why... just why..."
Continuing to mutter like that, Ferloche eventually exhausted all her remaining holy power and collapsed beside Frey.
"...The Demon God, the Demon God will awaken."
With those words, Ferloche lost consciousness, and she woke again 5 minutes before Klana found them.
.
"Frey... wake up... please..."
"...Ferloche, what happened here?"
Klana, who had been blankly staring at Ferloche holding the cold Frey in the rubble and shedding tears, asked with a bewildered expression.
"K-Klana... Frey... Frey... is dead."
Ferloche, her face covered in tears, answered while sobbing.
"...I see."
Klana, who gave a short answer to that, began glancing at Isollet standing beside her.
"........."
Isollet was feeling an emotion difficult to define, just staring blankly.
'...This is the end.'
Klana, who turned her gaze away from her with effort, began muttering quietly to herself.
'Frey is dead, and though it was faster than expected, the Moonlight family is also destroyed. So now... everything will go back to the way it was.'
Recently, Klana had received news that the Moonlight family's council of elders had collapsed.
It was quite welcome news for Klana, who had intended to deal with them somehow, even if it meant stepping in herself, for going against their deal and promise with her and trying to harm innocent commoners.
'...Why on earth did they break the deal?'
But questions remained.
Klana had proposed Frey's assassination in exchange for promising full support when she gained power to the Moonlight family.
Of course, knowing the Moonlight family would be annihilated before long, it was a deal made to use them as much as possible until then.
So she planned to group Frey with the nobles, and the moment their location was revealed by the marks placed on them, she would pass that information to the Moonlight family.
If everything had gone according to plan, assassins would have infiltrated his home within days of the location being revealed and assassinated Frey and the nobles who would become the empire's rotting sore in the future.
And the culprit would have been identified as 'Aris,' a commoner who had desperately begged her to make her the mastermind behind this incident so she would please kill Frey.
With the information, alibi, and evidence fabricated by the Moonlight family's pawn, she was currently a capable assassin in a secret organization.
Therefore, after everything ended, Aris, who would be caught by the investigation team, would have been punished for the crime of assassinating Frey and the nobles.
Of course, the Moonlight family thought of her as a disposable piece, but Klana had strongly argued that she must be protected.
So Klana, who had even planned an operation to rescue the captured Aris, was finally relieved and just waiting for the plan to be executed.
But because of Isollet's arbitrary decision, everything went wrong.
Even though she had manipulated the voting results with cleverly fabricated magic, she suddenly changed the commanders of both teams.
But Klana didn't give up and was planning the assassination again while contacting Aris through Serena, the current head of the Moonlight family.
'Secret family head... what was she thinking?'
Then last night, an urgent letter flew from Serena saying the secret family head had suddenly gone berserk.
-The secret family head has gone berserk. The Moonlight family's 1st assassination squad has been deployed to the Starlight family mansion. If you are near the mansion right now, immediately...
Klana, who read that letter, turned pale and headed to the Starlight family, but by the time she received the letter, the mansion was already starting to burn.
'Thank goodness. Frey is the only death.'
Thanks to that, Klana, who had been in a panic for a moment, could finally breathe a sigh of relief now that Ferloche's survival was also confirmed.
Of course, Klana knew well that even if the secret family head went berserk, this incident ultimately started from her own plan.
And she also knew very well that because of that, commoners on the ground were injured or wounded.
So she would use all her assets to compensate the commoners, and furthermore...
"Frey... open your eyes... please..."
"...Hmm?"
Klana, who had been lost in thought for a while, came to her senses hearing Ferloche crying out in grief.
'...Why is she so sad?'
Of course, given Ferloche's kind nature, such behavior was understandable, but... until recently, she was someone who argued Frey should be killed.
Yet why was that person looking down at Frey with such an anguished expression?
"Ferloche, please get up."
"Sniff... sob..."
Klana, who had been bewildered for a moment, thought treatment was priority and helped Ferloche to her feet.
"Ah... b-but..."
"There's no need to feel so guilty. It's Frey. Ugly and disgusting Frey."
When Ferloche still reached out toward Frey while sobbing, Klana spoke firmly to her.
"He paid for his crimes. He seems to have died quite painfully. Still, compared to the wrongs he committed in the previous cycle, it's nothing. So please don't feel unnecessary guilt..."
"But... but, Klana..."
But Ferloche, who cut off Klana's words, spoke while shedding tears.
"The one who saved me... was Frey."
"...What?"
Klana, who had been staring blankly after hearing those words, spoke with a worried expression.
"How hard must it have been... to be talking nonsense..."
"No, that's not it... it's true, really true!"
"This won't do. You need to go out and receive treatment immediately..."
But when Ferloche kept sobbing and shouting, Klana shook her head and tried to take her hand and go outside, but...
"...What, what does that mean?"
Isollet, who had been looking at Frey with a blank expression, asked Ferloche.
"Frey... saved you?"
"Yes... Frey appeared in the flames... held me and..."
The story Ferloche told was quite hard for Klana to believe.
"You're saying Frey, wearing a black mask, held you who had collapsed and came all the way here?"
"Yes... and after pushing me in here, he did something outside!"
When Ferloche pointed at the door with her trembling hand, Klana said with a bitter smile.
"Ferloche. Frey wouldn't do that. You must have seen a hallucination after all."
"N-no...! Definitely... definitely...!"
"Everyone, please take Ferloche outside."
When Ferloche kept speaking in a trembling voice, Klana gave orders to the investigation team that had just entered.
"N-no! No!"
Ferloche, who was being dragged out by the investigation team, suddenly began shouting urgently.
"Don't take me out of here! Let go! Let go!!"
"Saintess, you need to receive treatment quickly. Please move quickly."
"Klana! Now I understand the meaning of that oracle! What we were doing was completely wrong from the beginning!"
"...Please take her out quickly."
But Klana, who thought Ferloche's behavior was a fit, urged the investigation team in a low voice.
"No... don't open the door... open the door..."
Ferloche, who had been struggling for a while, lost consciousness and collapsed limply the moment she went outside.
"Please take Professor Isollet out too."
"...Yes."
Klana, who had been watching that sight regretfully for a moment, gave orders to the investigation team to send out Isollet who was still wearing a blank expression, then quietly began looking down at Frey.
"Not yet, I can't let my guard down."
Suddenly muttering with a cold expression, she began gathering golden mana in her hand and approaching Frey.
"You're going to resurrect soon anyway, right? You're the Demon Lord's subordinate."
In the previous cycle, the Demon Lord had resurrected his dead subordinates several times and used them.
Of course, resurrecting the dead was quite difficult even for the Demon Lord, so it wasn't magic he used on just anyone... but recently, Frey had been doing things worthy of being the Demon Lord's closest confidant.
So, adding the memories from the previous cycle... the possibility of the Demon Lord resurrecting Frey was quite high.
'And originally, he might be feigning death with magic right now.'
If he was feigning death, all of this only helped Frey.
It was a perfect opportunity to disappear by faking death in this world and joining the Demon Lord's army.
-Zap zap zap...
Having finished her thoughts, Klana aimed her finger, flickering with brilliant golden mana, at Frey and spoke.
"This is for Serena."
Soon the golden beam fired pierced through Frey's head, but Klana wasn't satisfied there and continued creating arrows.
"This is for Irina and Ferloche."
-Boom boom boom!!
Countless golden arrows pierced through Frey's body. Frey's body became tattered like a rag, just like Irina and Ferloche in the previous cycle.
"This is for Kania."
Still, Klana created a golden dagger and this time pierced Frey's neck.
"And finally... my share."
Saying that, Klana pulled out the dagger that had pierced Frey's neck and pierced the heart of Frey, who had made her his sacrifice by stabbing her heart in the previous cycle.
"...Hah."
Having finished completely confirming Frey's death, Klana exhaled roughly and murmured.
"Indeed... I'm not qualified to be a princess."
She had joined hands with someone she couldn't control, and as a result, innocent people were hurt.
That fact kept piercing Klana's guilt.
It was fortunate that everyone except Frey survived, but if even one casualty had occurred, she couldn't imagine how terrible it would have been.
"...When everything ends, I'll have to turn myself in."
Moreover, even if there were no casualties, it was a situation where everyone could have died if things went wrong.
So she would have to bear all this responsibility herself.
-Zap zap zap zap...
Thinking that, Klana began gathering a large amount of sun mana.
With Frey, who had helped the Demon Lord awaken his power in the previous cycle, dead, there was still time.
So she would hold on only until she found the hero mentioned in the prophecy, and until she purged imperial corruption and punished the corrupt nobles, and when everything was resolved, she would reveal the truth to the world.
The one judging her at that time would be the whole world.
"No matter what... I can't bear to see your corpse being desecrated."
Creating a round sphere in the room, Klana quietly murmured and came out of the basement.
"...Huh?"
But the moment she closed the basement door, a protective magic circle came into her eyes.
"What is this..."
The magic circle showed traces of being destroyed and then reactivated.
"...Could it be."
Watching that, Klana suddenly recalled what Ferloche had said earlier, but soon shook her head and began walking forward.
"Princess! Was there a masked man there too?"
"Yes?"
But she was blocked by a girl.
"He saved all of us."
"That's right, and at the end, he ran into the collapsing mansion to save Ferloche..."
"Is he alive by any chance? If he's alive, we must repay..."
Upon hearing the girl's words and the students beside her, Klana froze with a blank expression, and from afar, Irina, who had just woken up, began crying out desperately.
"Frey!! Where are you!! Frey!!!"
"...Irina?"
"Frey... no!!!"
Klana's hell was just beginning.