“What... what are you talking about, Ruby?”
Frey, staring at Ruby with a hollow expression, forced a smile and spoke.
“You’re joking, right? This is a joke, right?”
“Frey.”
“Why would I suddenly kill you? Don’t even joke about that.”
As he spoke, he urgently hugged Ruby and began to speak.
“I just regained my memories. After countless cycles, I finally remembered you... and now you want me to kill you?”
“...”
“Now all that’s left is to make you happy, Ruby.”
Frey’s cheek rubbed against Ruby’s.
It was an affectionate gesture they had often shared since childhood in the zeroth cycle.
Normally, it was a soft and gentle act, but now it was filled with a desperate urgency.
“Ruby, stop joking... let’s think about what to do once the Ordeal is over.”
“Ugh.”
Receiving Frey’s affectionate gestures, Ruby bit her lip and swallowed her tears as memories of their past flooded back.
“We can go back to that ice cream shop we visited as kids, stay at an inn, and watch a play.”
“Frey...”
“We can live together at the academy. Don’t worry about what others think. Let’s be happy, even if it’s just for a year. Okay?”
“Please, listen to me... please.”
Ruby cupped Frey’s cheeks with her hands.
- Srrk, srrk...
Frey instinctively closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against her hands.
“You really are like a cat.”
Seeing him act just like he did in their childhood, Ruby laughed through her tears and continued.
“Frey, you have to kill me to end the Fourth Ordeal.”
- Srrk, srrk, srrk...
“Just like the heroines killing you was the right answer in the previous Ordeals, you killing me is the right answer now.”
- Srrk...
“You have to kill me, Frey. It’s the only way to move forward.”
“Mmph.”
Frey, still rubbing his cheek against Ruby’s hand, met her eyes as she firmly held his face.
“You know well that the Ordeal doesn’t end even if someone else kills you, right?”
“Mmph...”
“That’s right. So you have to kill me. By killing me, who still carries the fate of the Demon King, you end not just the Ordeal but this entire tragedy.”
Hearing this, tears flowed from Frey’s eyes, quietly soaking Ruby’s hands.
“You fool. You intended to do this too. You know it’s inevitable, so why are you crying?”
“Ruby, I can’t. I can’t kill you. Never.”
“Don’t be weak. You’re the Hero, and I’m the Demon King.”
“I don’t care. I won’t! I won’t! I won’t!!!”
Frey’s scream echoed all around.
Final Quest
Sacrifice (0/1)
At the same time, the quest window began to shake as if urging them.
“...”
Seeing the quest window, a deep sorrow filled Ruby’s eyes.
“Frey, don’t have bad thoughts after the Ordeal ends, okay?”
“I’m not killing you. I won’t. I won’t kill you.”
“You wouldn’t cowardly abandon the other heroines, your sister, and your father, would you? You have people you’re responsible for.”
“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I’m not killing you. Never.”
Frey, plugging his ears, shook his head vigorously.
- Slap...!
“Ugh.”
Seeing Frey in such turmoil, Ruby closed her eyes tightly and slapped his cheek.
“Snap out of it, Frey.”
Ruby, holding both his arms, declared firmly.
“If I sacrifice myself here, everyone can be happy.”
“...”
“I’ll live well in the underworld, so don’t worry about me. You know how strong I am, right? Conquering the underworld will be a piece of cake.”
She smiled as she said this.
But her eyes still trembled.
“Don’t lie...”
“...”
If a demon like her died, she would go to purgatory. But being killed by Frey meant her soul would be eternally annihilated.
“Even now... you’re barely holding on...”
Frey, vaguely sensing this, clung to Ruby and refused to let go.
“...”
Time began to pass in silence.
“Frey, shall we go on a date?”
As Frey gradually realized the reality they were in, Ruby whispered softly.
“...?”
“Shall we open the pendant once more?”
Ruby, looking around the dimly lit room, spoke.
“Before we end everything, let’s go on one last trip.”
“...”
“To the past.”
Frey’s lifeless expression began to waver quietly.
.
.
.
.
.
Ruby and Frey opened the pendant again, entering the illusion of the past.
This time, instead of following their younger selves, they wandered around the world within the illusion.
The eye, watching them, narrowed its gaze and asked.
- If you want, I can let you do it a few more times. It’s quite entertaining to watch.
“Shut up.”
Ruby, staring at the eye with a cold voice, then looked at Frey standing before her.
“...”
He seemed even more drained than before as if a gentle blow of the wind could crumble him.
“You’ve made up your mind, Frey.”
But Ruby looked at Frey with a relieved expression.
“Thank goodness...”
He was neither shedding tears like before nor displaying a lifeless gaze.
Instead, he looked at Ruby with a resolute expression and eyes full of determination.
“Frey, actually, I have one more wish.”
“...What is it?”
Seeing him like that, Ruby, now feeling reassured, voiced the second wish she hadn’t dared to mention before, fearing it would backfire on her.
“Give me your name.”
“My name? What do you mean?”
“Give me your surname.”
Ruby shook her head wryly, then spoke with a bright smile.
“My parents, as you know, were trash... They didn’t even give us sisters their surname.”
“So that’s why you were just Ruby.”
“Yes... So, when it’s all over, could you... maybe add me to your family register?”
Ruby spoke with a sad smile, shuffling her feet.
“I want to be Ruby Raon Starlight.”
“...”
“Always. Since I was young. Being a duchess sounds cool, doesn’t it? Hehe.”
Ruby laughed awkwardly.
But tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“No, now that I think about it, it’s a silly idea! If you put a Demon King on the register, people would look at you strangely...”
- Step, step...
“And... the descendants... uh, well.”
Ruby, babbling nervously, fell silent as Frey approached her with a determined expression.
“...”
Ruby looked at him with a face full of mixed emotions.
“...Goodbye, my shining star.”
But the expression she wore in the end was a soft smile.
- Swish...
As Frey raised his sword high in front of her, the tears that fell from Ruby’s eyes sparkled like stars.
“Goodbye, my precious gem.”
She tried to keep her eyes on Frey till the end, but as the sword swung down, she closed them tightly.
If there is a next life... let’s meet again.
- Thud...!
With that last thought, the sound of the sword piercing deeply into a body echoed.
And then, silence lingered for a while.
.
.
.
.
.
...?
Ruby, who had been waiting for the end with her eyes tightly shut, noticed something strange just a few seconds later.
Why don’t I feel any pain?
She had distinctly heard the sound of the sword piercing her body. So why wasn’t she feeling any pain?
Was she already dead?
But if that were the case, the sensations from her surroundings were too vivid to be real.
“What...”
As Ruby pondered the bizarre situation, she felt a sudden unease and slowly opened her eyes.
“...What?”
Before her eyes, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
“Ha ha.”
Frey was smiling at her.
Glare: Hero, no.
Glare: Everyone is trying to stop you.
Glare: The pretty sisters said if you do this, even soul recovery won’t be possible.
Glare: I’m sorry, I’ll do better, I’m sorry, please think about it one more time.
Glare: Hero, plea..se
A chat window floated in the air.
Fourth Ordeal subjects: Ruby, and you.
Ignoring the blinking help window beside him, Frey was looking only at Ruby.
“Frey...?”
“Cough, cough... damn it...”
His own sword had pierced his heart.
“You...?”
“My hand... slipped...”
He smiled gently at the bewildered Ruby as he spoke, blood beginning to spill from his mouth.
The stellar mana wrapped around the sword spread throughout his body, destroying his organs.
Final Quest
Sacrifice (1/1)
“...No... no, no, NO, NO!!!”
Finally comprehending the gravity of the situation, Ruby screamed and rushed towards him.
- Crackle...
Simultaneously, a massive system window appeared in the sky.
[The Fourth Ordeal Has Concluded.]
In a way no one could have predicted, the Fourth Ordeal quietly came to an end.