Chapter 313: The Hymn of Humanity

- Crackle...!

"Kheuk!!"

"Eugh..."

As Frey's sword aura swept through the auditorium, the knights rushing at him collapsed.

"W-What on earth is this..."

The Marquis cried out in disbelief and took a step back as the knights they brought, capable of toppling a kingdom, fell like leaves in the wind.

"Why don't you just put down your weapons and surrender? I have no intention of harming those who surrender."

Frey, surrounded by the knights, approached them with a blank expression.

"Did you make a deal with the Demon King? You demon..."

"I happen to know the Demon King's Army well, and even they click their tongues at the sight of the imperial nobles. And believe me, to be something that even the Demon King's Army finds disgusting was not an easy feat. Haha."

Then, Frey added with a broad smile.

"So, who's next?"

He was standing there, twirling his sword leisurely. At first glance, his stance was full of opening, yet no one came forward.

"Keuhh..."

"Ah, it hurts... Eugh..."

The groans of the knights writhing in pain behind him filled the auditorium.

Already, half of the knights brought by the lords of the houses had fallen.

"Count Saint! Please do something!"

Feeling the danger of the situation, the Marquis desperately shouted and pushed Count Saint forward, causing him to stagger in front of Frey.

"You... were hiding your skills..."

Count Saint glared at the Marquis, but soon realized that there was nothing he could do and drew out the sword from his waist.

- Crackle...!

"...Keuk."

At that moment, Frey's sword, emitting a flash of starlight, rushed forward.

- Crackle, crackle...

"Grrr..."

Count Saint was among the strongest in the empire, so he wasn't subdued in a single attack, but his hand was already violently trembling from blocking Frey's sword with his own.

- Crack... Crack!

"W-What...?"

Even then, as he desperately tried to push Frey's sword away, Count Saint soon wore a terrified expression as his sword began to break.

"This can't be..."

It was incomprehensible. No matter how strong Frey was, his sword aura was clearly blocking Frey’s sword.

Then, why was his own sword breaking?

"M-Mana...?"

Even in his utter panic, the Count's face was soon filled with shock as he detected a trace of magic entwining his cracked sword.

"Infusing mana into sword aura? That's impossible–"

- Clang!!

"M-My God."

An impossible occurrence was unfolding before his eyes.

Mana and sword aura couldn’t coexist.

That was an absolute rule that had not changed for a thousand years.

"Sorry, but I need to finish this quickly."

Yet, here in front of him, Frey broke that rule with ease.

Frey murmured as he drove his sword into the Count's shoulder.

"Please excuse me."

- Crunch!!

"Kheuk..."

After saying that, Frey coldly gazed at the Count kneeling before him and shattered his leg with a kick.

"I-I surrender. I surrender."

"I-I came here unknowingly. I'm innocent."

"M-me too! I was just used..."

As even the mighty Count Saint crumbled, the knights guarding the Marquis began to abandon their weapons and surrender one by one.

- Crack...!

"Aargh!!"

"Why, why! How... Eugh..."

However, as Frey passed by the surrendered knights, he suddenly broke the arms of two knights.

"Innocent? Used? Who were those people earlier who were soliciting the lords of the houses to sponsor the female students?"

"Y-You said you won't harm those who surrender..."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I apologize for that."

Frey, wearing a slightly apologetic expression, passed by the trembling knights and stood before the Marquis.

"P-please... T-Think carefully. No, I hope you do think carefully. Frey."

The Marquis, who had shown an arrogant attitude just a moment ago, clasped his hands and spoke politely.

"If you attack me, there's no turning back. People will see you as a demon, a villain. So please calm down..."

"They already do, don't they?"

"What?"

Frey interjected him with a puzzled expression.

"All the people in the world already see me as the empire's greatest villain, don't they?"

"Ah."

"There's nowhere further for me to fall, is there? Wouldn't they rejoice when rumors spread about me overthrowing the corrupt nobles?"

"..."

Frey's eyes were filled with chaos.

"Eugh..."

It was a look that the Marquis could neither understand nor tolerate, since he was always in the position of power since birth.

"P-please spare me..."

"By the way, what did you say you were going to do to Clana earlier?"

"Hiiii...!"

The gaze from Frey, which had been looking down on him, suddenly turned into a kinder gaze.

"I, I must have lost my mind. Th-then..."

"What right does a wretch like you have to my woman?"

With eyes full of killing intent, Frey spoke.

"I-I'm sorry!! I was foolish!! I'll never do it again... Ahh!!"

Only then did the Marquis begin to beg earnestly, clasping his hands, but Frey kicked his hands, shattering them.

"'I won't do it again.' Hah! You shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Isn't it like killing someone and then saying you won't kill again?"

"P-please spare me..."

Even so, the Marquis grabbed Frey's leg with his trembling, shattered hands.

"The sex slaves dying in your dungeon have probably repeated those words countless times. Aren’t they?"

"H-how do you..."

Frey looked down at him with disgust and whispered. The Marquis' eyes trembled as he heard the word coming out of Frey’s mouth.

"Nothing's changed from last time, Marquis."

"W-what?"

"Unfortunately, your mistake will be discovered, and you pinned the blame on me for the dungeon."

"Ah, ahh..."

Immediately after those words, Frey's foot struck the Marquis's crotch.

"Ugh..."

"Why are you fainting? You've magically forced unconscious slaves awake, haven't you? Are you trying to avoid the situation?"

"Uwaaa!!"

“You were the one who spread the human pet culture to the nobles, didn’t you? Why do you make innocent girls your pets? Are you crazy?”

Frey looked down at the Marquis, who had fainted, foaming at the mouth. He muttered and twisted the Marquis’ shattered arm. The Marquis regained consciousness with a blood-curdling scream.

- Crackk...

"Why are all the imperial nobles like this? I really feel like killing them all. Should I just pretend to be insane and kill them all?"

"You, you're... already insane..."

- Crack!

"Guhhhh..."

Frey broke the Marquis’ another arm, then whispered to the trembling Marquis.

"I'll throw you into the basement of your mansion like this."

"W-what..."

"Of course, I'll also release all the slaves in the basement."

Terror filled the Marquis' eyes upon hearing this.

"What punishment could I give you? The punishment should be carried out by those innocents who have lost their freedom. Isn't that right?"

"I-I... Geuh"

Frey stomped on the repulsive, squirming Marquis and walked away, then quietly looked back.

"...I guess that's enough."

The nobles of the Killian faction, the shields that had protected the corrupt Imperial Family, who had been running rampant without facing any repercussions, were finally decimated.

Suddenly, Frey interrupted with a serious expression.

"Today, the nobles of the Killian faction became like that because Frey went insane. It was solely due to one person, Frey, without anyone else's interference."

"Frey!"

"Don't downplay it or cover it up. Let it be known throughout the Empire that Frey, who had been hiding his power, finally went insane."

Ignoring Clana's outburst, he continued.

"It was you who stopped the insane Frey. Spread that fact around as well."

"You–"

"I'll say it again, don't try to remedy it. It's all because of the madness I brought upon myself. Understand?"

"But–"

As Clana continued to intervene, Frey grabbed her shoulder and whispered in a low voice.

"You becoming the Empress is one of my top priorities, Clana."

Leaving those words behind, Frey quietly moved on.

"Well then, shall we go finish the rest of the tasks?"

Watching his retreating figure quietly, Clana, clutching the letter in her hand, muttered.

"... Foolish Frey."

[I'll go right now.]

- Serena.

The cold breeze coming in through the open window enveloped her and the letter.

P.S. Frey will never fall into corruption.

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- Scribble, Scribble...

Several hours after the incident that would later be known as the Killian Faction Purge Incident, Frey continued his paperwork with a bright smile on his face.

"... My arm hurts."

He murmured as he stretched his trembling right arm, which had been shaking ever since.

"Weird."

For some reason, his right hand still had a white glove on, and strong alcohol littered the desk.

- Ding!

As Frey worked on his paperwork for quite some time, he tilted his head and turned his head at the cheerful sound in front of him.

"..."

And at that moment, Frey froze for a while.

"Ha."

Then, after some time had passed, joy lit up Frey's face.

"Haha... Hahaha!! Hahahaha!!"

Soon, Frey put his head on the desk and burst into laughter.

"Puhahaha...!! Hahaha... Haha!!"

He erupted with laughter that seemed like it would never stop.

"Puh, puhaha... hahaha....."

His eyes were full of tears because he was laughing so hard, and they were filled with the chaos from earlier.

His appearance was reminiscent of a madman.

"Heh... Heh..."

However,

[Name: Frey]

[Abilities: Strength 10 / Mana 10 / Intelligence ??? / Mental Strength 10]

Floating next to him, his mental strength was fixed at the maximum.

[Passive Status : Terminal Illness / Lost Left Arm / Mental Strength Degradation LV MAX (Paused) / Mental Deficiency]

And there, except for a mental deficiency, no other mental issues were listed.

[Disposition: Hero]

His disposition remained that of a hero.

[Goodness Stat: 100]

His goodness stat remained at 100.

"Heh..."

I've done enough... Even the Demon God must have been fooled.

Frey, who was shaking his head, quietly muttered to himself.

I won.

He silently declared to himself.

"Professor."

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, someone came to him.

"Please stand up."

Quietly poking Frey's side was none other than Eurelia.

"Aren't you scared of me?"

Looking at Eurelia, Frey asked with a smirk.

"Well..."

Then, with her characteristic calm expression, Eurelia replied.

"Professor, by destroying the power structure of the Killian faction, you allowed my father, Count Justiano, to seize control of the Empire. So, I should be grateful, shouldn't I?"

"Hmm."

"And honestly, it was kind of cool."

Listening to her calmly composed words, Frey smiled brightly.

"So, what brings you here?"

"... That's the thing."

Then, a dignified voice came from behind her.

"Today is the parent-teacher conference, Mr. Frey."

Eurelia's father. The ruler of the empire’s back alley.

And standing behind her was none other than Count Justiano, who had just become the most influential figure in the Empire.

"Ah, it was about the parent-teacher conference, then?"

Frey replied with a cheerful smile.

"I've heard from Eurelia. I wondered when you'd come, and it turns out it's today."

"..."

When Count Justiano, who had been silently watching him, adjusted his tie and was about to speak...

"Oh, right, there's something I wanted to say first."

Frey adjusted his posture and spoke.

"...Go ahead."

Count Justiano nodded calmly, resembling his daughter in demeanor.

"Let's start a rebellion."

But the words that came out of Frey's mouth were enough to break the poker faces of the father-daughter duo.

"I’m bored, so why not overthrow the emperor?"

Looking at the two with a joyful expression, Frey added with a bright smile.

"I made you the most powerful figure in the empire, so you owe me, right?"

Count Justiano, looking at him, muttered with a hollow smile.

"You're insane."

Frey replied with a smirk.

"Because I already won."

System Notification

[Notification - The Conditions For the Hidden Route Have Been Met.]

In front of him, the system message that had made him burst into laughter a moment ago was floating around.

System Notification

[Main Quest - Rebellion Against the Imperial Family Scenario Unlocked]

[Overthrow the Current Emperor and Make Clana the Empress.]

The absolute good that would not be corrupted even if he went crazy.

The absolute line that symbolized Frey, the decisive reason he became the Hero, remained unchanged.

And Frey's maximized mental strength and disposition prevented him from going mad.

Thanks to that, Frey, who had never relaxed his mind, suffered greatly while committing acts against his beliefs, all while maintaining his goodness and disposition intact.

"Why? You don’t believe me?"

Nevertheless, he did not abandon his duty as the Hero until the end.

"Try changing your perspective and think about it."

Of course, now, he had a very slight change in perspective.

"Once again, you’re insane."

Again, it was just a very slight change in /genesisforsaken