The Main Heroines are Trying to Kill Me C.351: The Fall of the Demon King

"W-what is this?"

Ruby looked blankly at Frey in her arms, his body slowly growing colder.

"What the hell is this..."

It felt like her mind was turning completely blank.

Frey must have deceived her for sure.

That was why she wanted to punish him for it.

But, suddenly, this chaos happened.

What in the world was going on?

Even after quite some time had passed, she still couldn't understand the situation at all.

"..."

Her head refused to function.

Since the moment Ruby found out that Frey never purchased the 'Absolute Love' skill, her brain had already halfway given up understanding the situation.

As a result, even after Frey gently touched her cheek, smiled, and whispered his love with his dying breath, Ruby could only stare at him with a vacant expression.

"...No."

Thus, Ruby felt like her whole body was paralyzed. But, soon, her expression turned cold.

"This must be part of the p-plan. Right, Frey?"

A forced smile appeared on Ruby's lips.

Ruby controlled her quivering eyes and heart as she asked. Her face was paler than it had ever been.

"What crazy thing are you trying to do this time?"

"..."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes right now, stop whatever you are doing and wake up. If you do, I might just laugh it off."

Ruby spoke calmly with her natural expression, but all she got in return was silence.

- Shaaa…

In that silence, Frey's soul was shattering slowly, like a fragile sandcastle collapsing.

The soul that had begun to crack was clearly falling apart in front of Ruby.

Despite this, Ruby tried to maintain her composure.

"T-this joke is too much."

Ruby couldn’t accept that, and tried to interfere with his soul.

"If your soul continues to crumble, you might disappear forever, you know?"

"..."

"S-so, stop it now."

Ruby began to use all her strength to prevent his soul from shattering.

"Uh, ugh..."

However, despite having the power to manipulate souls, her power wasn't as powerful as Ferloche's. And soon, she began to show a strained expression, sweating profusely.

It felt like she was trying to stop a collapsing building with just a finger.

"...Ah."

Ruby, who forced herself to pour all her strength until her whole body was soaked in sweat, eventually frowned.

- Srrrk...

Frey's soul was starting to entwine around her.

As if his soul desired something from her, it bound and prodded at her.

"..."

Was it a remarkable coincidence? Or was it because Ruby did well in first aid treatment? Or perhaps someone arranged it?

Frey's soul was currently maintained in a state where she could read the memories engraved on it.

Of course, it was just a temporary measure, and over time, it would deteriorate to the point where even his memories couldn’t be read.

However, it seemed like it would be in this state for a while.

...Are you asking me to read it?

Although it was already quite damaged, she should still be able to distinguish and read the fragments of memories embedded in the soul, albeit with much difficulty.

Looking at the soul's behavior, it seemed like Frey's subconscious was involved after all.

Perhaps he was using his last strength to prevent his soul from crumbling?

If not...

C-Calm down.

Feeling her thoughts spiraling out of control, Ruby suddenly hit her face strongly and muttered to herself.

"Huff..."

After taking a slow, deep breath, Ruby soon began to resonate with Frey's soul.

In any case, this was the perfect time to unravel the 'truth'.

That was why Ruby decided to read Frey's soul. She closed her eyes as she felt herself being sucked into him.

"Come to think of it, this could also be a trap."

A slightly trembling smile appeared on her lips.

After taking a deep breath and a moment to think, Ruby calmed down, and her mind started to spin.

"How can someone like him perform a regression that even the Demon God cannot do?"

That thought suddenly brought her a great sense of relief.

Not even a divine being could reverse time, let alone her. How could Frey, a mere mortal, accomplish such a feat?

However, in any case, it was true that Frey did reset the 'points' a few days ago.

In the end, it was all deception and a lie.

Did she once again fall for Frey's deception?

Now, the anxiety subsided, and her anger began to double.

"I bet he didn't know I could manipulate souls."

Frey seemed clueless about her ability to manipulate souls.

Even though you could do mental manipulation, no one could manipulate the memories engraved in the soul itself.

Moreover, due to Frey's unique strong mental strength, reading his inner thoughts was an extremely difficult task.

Therefore, reading his soul directly would resolve everything.

By now, Frey, probably lying with closed eyes, was likely screaming out of joy inside. However, his lies would be completely exposed here today.

“I’ll come back and beat you to death, Frey.”

Ruby declared with her usual arrogant and cold smile.

When she opened her eyes again, a vast amount of memories floated around in front of her.

"Well, then, let’s take a look..."

As Ruby realized that she had completely synchronized her soul with Frey's, she took a step forward.

"..."

However, her face completely turned blank at the scene in front of her.

- Rumble...

Frey’s memory palace was rapidly crumbling.

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"Uh, umm. It's progressing at the expected speed. It should be done soon."

After briefly wearing a vacant expression, Ruby immediately started rummaging through Frey's soul memories with a relaxed smile.

- Rumble!! Rumblee!!

"I know everything about recent events... let's skip those. We've been together all this time anyway."

Although she muttered indifferently, her hands delving into the soul seemed somehow rushed.

...How could his memories already become so hazy?

Frey’s memories, excluding recent ones, were all becoming blurred.

Even some of them were completely broken.

"Uh, uhmm."

Thanks to that, Ruby, who had been traversing Frey's memories for the past year, gradually started to wear an anxious expression.

"...I, I should just look for memories related to me. Now that I am the medium, memories related to me should appear relatively clearly.”

As she used a trick to search for memories related to herself, her eyes suddenly widened.

"What's this?"

About a year ago from now.

To be precise, a day before the opening ceremony of the school a year ago.

There was something strange in the memories of that period.

"What is it?"

The memories engraved in the soul were not smoothly connected.

Frey, who was running at someone just a few seconds ago, was suddenly lying on the bed in his mansion.

"...What?"

On that subject, this memory was less blurred than other memories, perhaps because this was an important memory for him.

So much so that she could experience the memories directly.

"No way...?"

Until now, she had been unable to do anything but sift through her memories, so of course Ruby opened her mouth wide in shockas she approached the suspicious memory.

- Have you come, Frey?

In the blurry memory playing from Frey's perspective, the one sitting on the throne with a bored expression was none other than herself.

"I-I... I never experienced such a thing."

Of course, it wasn't something that Ruby remembered.

The first time she directly met Frey was when he came to the orphanage with that damn Saintess after the start of the school.

If it was a day before the opening ceremony, she should still be holed up in the Demon King’s castle.

"...!"

Ruby, who had been fixedly staring at the memory with a dumbfounded expression, widened her eyes.

The space where they were, the throne room.

The world that Frey briefly looked around in that mysterious space with an ancient magic that allowed her to look around all corners of the world was exactly what Ruby had dreamed of.

- Blaze...

The capital of the Empire was in flames.

The land was barren, and the sky turned crimson.

The sun had gone out, and the vitality of life was nowhere to be found.

A complete apocalypse without even the slightest possibility of revival.

In that post-apocalyptic world, only Ruby and Frey remained.

- ...So, why have you come?

"...?"

Ruby, who had been staring at that scene, suddenly tilted her head.

- Speak. What do you want?

"What?"

Her future self's reaction was too strange.

She should be happier than anyone else, having fulfilled her wish.

Yet… Her eyes were so blank as she sat quietly on the throne, and her expression was full of gloom. freeweɓnøvel.com

It was like… as if she had become weary of everything.

"What the hell is this memory?"

It wasn't because of the disguise spell that automatically conceals her real face. Even though it was an engraved memory, as the creator of that magic, Ruby could see her original expression whenever she wished.

Then what in the world was that appearance?

She should be more delighted than anyone else, but why was she acting like this?

- I have something to offer.

- What is it?

As Ruby watched that scene with a cold sweat, she soon tuned into their conversation.

- It’s the Hero’s Armament.

"What...?"

The conversation was taking an odd turn.

Why would that bastard offer the Hero’s Armament to her?

No, before that, what in the world was this memory…?

- Fufufu! Hahahaha!

As her maniacal laughter echoed throughout the room, Ruby slowly took a step backwards.

- Even the devil in hell would be less vile than you, foolish human.

Despite that, Ruby paid no attention and took away the Hero’s Armament while stepping on Frey, who had kneeled in front of her.

"..."

Her eyes were full of life.

The gaze of Ruby from the memories, which seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment, was passionately ignited by Frey's actions.

- I know that, too.

- Whoooosh...!!!

Now, in front of Ruby, who had stopped retreating and was silently watching the scene, an astonishing spectacle unfolded.

As Frey's entire body began to glow brightly, the Armament also emitted a white light, releasing tremendous energy.

- Rumble...

It was a terrifying power, capable of tearing through the crimson sky with just the released energy alone.

- This bastard, why the hell are you doing this?

Thanks to the shockwave, Ruby, who was about to stand up in confusion, murmured in a trembling voice as Frey pulled her into an embrace.

- To gain the system.

Immediately after the voice that seemed to come from a dream rang out, all around her turned white.

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Frey's mansion faintly emerged as the white color that painted the surroundings disappeared.

- Ha, I've really come ba—

- Ugh...

- What the hell...

Eventually, the calendar for the day before the school opening ceremony came into view.

And the subsequent memories gradually faded and scattered in all directions.

- Step, step...

Quietly observing that scene, Ruby silently shifted her steps to the side.

"..."

Her face, locked in that frightening silence, began to turn pale.

Despite this, she tried to put on a calm expression, but she could not hide the coldness of her skin and the trembling of her legs.

- Step, step...

However, Ruby forced herself to move forward.

Filled with intense emotions beyond imagination, to the point where the nauseating feeling overwhelmed her, she felt she had to do something, anything.

- Rumble...!

"Ugh."

Ruby staggered and looked around when the surroundings began to shake.

The crumbling speed of his memory palace accelerated even faster, matching the speed at which Frey's soul began to crumble.

As a result, Ruby urgently began to increase her pace.

With her eyes tightly closed, she sprinted for a while toward the memories she was in.

"...!!!"

Soon, she froze in place.

- Chwarrrrrrk…

In the crumbling corridors of the memory palace, memories unfolded like a panorama.

From the looks of it, these were precious memories for Frey.

"Ah..."

Ruby, who was looking at that scene, soon began to slowly move her steps.

Eventually, she began to see expressions on her face that she could not have imagined before.

- Rumble...

In the memories of his adorning the corridor, Ruby was always smiling.

And Frey was always present beside her.

Just by looking at that, one could infer that they had an extraordinary relationship.

- Booomm...!

A while later, Ruby began to mumble, her voice echoing through the collapsing corridor.

"...Is all of that really true?"

Before long, her legs gave out, and she found herself sitting on the ground, but she paid no mind to it.

"Is Frey truly a regressor?"

Because she had no time to dwell on such matters.

- Rumble!!!

In the crumbling corridor, a girl started trembling uncontrollably, her face pale with fear.