CHAPTER 511: IF STORY - A WORLD WHERE ONLY THE HERO AND THE DEMON KING REMAIN (3)

0% - Srrk...

With empty, lifeless eyes, Frey reached out toward Ruby, his frozen body leaning into her embrace.

His arm wrapped around her waist, his head resting against her neck.

“...”

Closing his eyes, he let himself go, surrendering completely to her arms.

It was everything Ruby had ever dreamed of.

The fallen star, having abandoned all hope, was finally, willingly embracing her.

A moment that should have been nothing short of divine.

“A... Ah...”

And yet, in that moment—

“Aaahhh...”

—her face twisted into a wretched expression, steeped in sorrow and despair.

“No... Nooooo!!!”

Time passed, though she could not tell how long.

“...Ruby?”

“Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!”

Suddenly, as if losing all reason, she sprang to her feet and bolted.

“Where are you going...?”

“This isn’t real. It’s all a dream. It has to be...”

“Ruby...”

Frey reached out with a dazed expression, but Ruby only ran forward, faster and faster.

“It’s just a fleeting nightmare...”

Muttering to herself, she burst out of the throne room, gasping for breath as she pressed a hand against the wall.

“So why... why haven’t I woken up yet...?”

And in that instant—

- Rumble...!

The damaged walls of the corridor, weakened and neglected, collapsed under her touch.

“...Why... Why won’t I wake—“

Thrown off balance, she stumbled to the floor.

And in her vision—

- Fwoooosh...

“...”

—was the Empire, now a blazing inferno, a burning hellscape stretching endlessly before her.

“...No.”

Her last desperate hope—that this was all just a dream—was shattered.

“Why... Why did I have to win...? Why...?”

She had already spent her last wish.

And there was no undoing it.

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Several months had passed since Ruby’s memories had returned.

“...”

She no longer sat upon the bloodstained throne she had once adored. Instead, she was slumped on the dark and desolate throne of the Demon King’s castle.

“...”

The arrogant, confident smirk that had always adorned her face was gone.

In its place was a girl on the brink of madness—yet, bound by her own maximum mental strength caused her to be unable to completely succumb to insanity.

All she was left with was only exhaustion.

- Zzzzt...!

Her vacant eyes flickered with life as a sudden noise crackled from the crystal orb placed beside the throne.

“Is... is someone there?”

- Zzzzt...

“Please, answer me. I beg you.”

It was a crystal she had enchanted months ago to detect signs of life—should it ever detect anything, it would activate instantly.

Though all she could hear now was static—

If that static meant something—

Perhaps, hope still remained.

Perhaps, there were still survivors.

Perhaps, an entire group had managed to endure.

- Tsssszzzt...

“...Ah.”

But that fleeting hope was short-lived.

The crystal lost its glow, falling silent once more.

“...”

Ruby simply let her arm fall limply to her side.

The crystal, slipping from her grasp, rolled across the cold stone floor.

“...What was I hoping for?”

She had already known the truth.

“If I did find survivors, what was I even planning to do?”

She had known for a long time—

That there were no survivors.

“Everything ended a long time ago.”

And even if there were, it wouldn’t change anything.

No matter how hard she tried over these past few months, she could not undo the flames that had consumed the Empire.

She could not thaw the frozen wastelands of the Western Continent.

She could not raise the Eastern Continent from the depths of the sea.

This world had ended.

She had ended it.

“...It’s time to finish this.”

After sitting in a daze for what felt like an eternity, Ruby suddenly summoned a sword into her hand, her lips curling into a broken smile.

“Hell, purgatory—it doesn’t matter. Let’s just be done with it.”

- Thump, thump...!

She slowly pressed the blade to her own chest. Its silver sheen glimmered faintly as it settled against her heart.

The weapon was none other than Frey’s beloved sword—the final piece of the Hero’s Armament.

The only weapon that could kill the Demon King.

And now, it was piercing her very heart.

“...Wait.”

Before she could drive it any deeper, she paused.

“This isn’t how it should be.”

She couldn’t fully wield the sword’s power, and besides—

There was only one person who should be the one to end her.

“Him...”

But the moment she thought of him, her face twisted with fear.

“...”

No—perhaps it wasn’t fear.

It was something deeper.

Sorrow, despair, grief, hesitation, guilt, regret—

A maelstrom of emotions, swallowing her whole.

“...I’m coming, Frey.”

Even so, she had no choice but to move forward.

“Only you...”

Only he could end this.

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“...”

As Ruby made her way toward the room where Frey had been staying for the past few months, memories flooded her mind.

“Young Master, please fulfill the great mission...”

“Don’t worry, dumbass. I’m not gonna die.”

“You were... my greatest vassal.”

“See you in heaven, Frey.”

“I love you, my dear.”

The final moments of the women who had stayed by Frey’s side replayed vividly in Ruby’s head.

“Lady Ruby, forgive my rudeness, but in this house, you will obey my orders. You are a maid, and I am the butler...”

“Y-You... How did you know I was a dragon? No, wait, that’s not important... Pfft, don’t tell Frey, okay? It’s a secret.”

“Thank you... truly, for saving my mother. If I become the Empress, I will make you my knight...”

“You’re such a hypocrite... Huh? What do I mean? I mean, it’s obvious you only act meek in front of Frey...”

“Ruby, I went on a date with Frey yesterday. Jealous? Hehe...”

Memories of them—of their laughter, their tears, their warmth—resurfaced, haunting her.

“If you take both the big sister role and the knight role, what am I supposed to do... I-I like Frey too, damn it...”

“Sister! It’s really you!? Truly??”

The knight who had once drunkenly grabbed her by the collar, sobbing as she ranted in the dead of night.

The little sister who had embraced her with tear-filled eyes the moment her memories returned.

“Ugh.”

The overwhelming flood of memories made Ruby break out in cold sweat.

She instinctively reached for her left eye.

“Lulu...”

The eye that now belonged to her—the one that once belonged to her younger sister.

- Crunch...!

Gritting her teeth, Ruby clawed at her own left eye, as if trying to tear it out.

She staggered forward, blood staining her fingertips, yet she did not stop.

She had to reach him—the only one who could end this hell.

“Frey.”

Standing before the door that separated her from him, Ruby reached out with blood-soaked hands and spoke.

“I’m here.”

No response.

“I’m coming in, okay...?”

Of course, there wouldn’t be one.

Frey had fundamentally changed because of her months ago.

She had tried—she had desperately tried—to bring him back, but all her efforts had been in vain.

A fallen star could never rise again.

- Creak...

And now, she was about to meet that fallen star.

The one she had loved beyond words.

The one she had sworn to be with forever.

- Creak... creak...

But as the door groaned open, an ominous sound filled the air—

And what greeted her on the other side was—

“...”

Frey.

Cold.

Lifeless.

Hanging from a noose.

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“...Frey.”

“...”

A hollow voice echoed through the room.

“Why are you like this?”

Ruby, grasping Frey’s dangling legs, let out a hollow laugh as she shook him gently.

“Come on, get down from there.”

“...”

“Let’s go for a walk, hmm? It’s been a while.”

A man who had once given his life for the one he loved.

And a woman who, in return, chose eternal death to save him.

“...Hey, why aren’t you answering?”

Their story, their tragic cycle—was repeating once again.

“You... you didn’t leave me, did you?”

The only difference this time was that this was the first iteration where Ruby had truly won.

“J-Just yesterday, you were still strangling me, weren’t you? With that bright, innocent smile?”

Loosening the collar of her dress, Ruby revealed the deep, violet bruises around her throat, remnants of Frey’s grip.

“Okay, fine. I admit it. I... I neglected you too much these past few months. I was off wasting time on meaningless things instead of staying by your side...”

“...”

“I-I’m sorry. I mean it. I truly, truly mean it. Let’s start over, okay? I’ll do whatever you want...”

Kneeling on the floor, she wrapped her arms around his unresponsive body.

“I promise, I won’t even think about suicide anymore... so please, open your eyes.”

“...”

“Don’t leave me alone...”

The warmth of her own body seeped away into his lifeless, cold skin.

“Please... please...”

As her trembling form clung to him, tears finally began to spill from her crimson eyes.

- Crackle

Frey’s sword, now devoid of its once-brilliant light, slipped from her grasp and rolled across the cold floor.

“...”

And at that moment—

The moment she realized she was truly, utterly alone in this world—

Ruby lost all expression.

Just like the man she had broken.

The once-lustrous ruby shattered into fragments, never to shine again.

“...No way.”

And yet—

There was someone watching this tragic scene unfold.

“To think you would be the final key.”

A voice, laced with astonishment, whispered in the darkness.

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“...”

“So this is why failure was inevitable every time.”

Stepping out from the shadows, a young girl approached Frey and Ruby, her face a mixture of countless overlapping thoughts.

“I finally understand it all now... The reason why you were so unnaturally obsessed with Frey. The reason why Roswyn always acted the way she did.”

Upon reaching them, the girl silently extended her hand—causing Ruby’s eyes to flutter shut.

“Just how many times has this happened?”

She gently laid Ruby’s body beside Frey’s.

“I don’t know for sure, but every time you lost your life... you must have remembered everything again.”

Now fully stepping into the dim light, revealing herself completely, Ferloche gazed down at Ruby and muttered.

“...But I have no choice but to forget you.”

It was a sorrowful truth, but an unavoidable one.

“To have to set up a plan, only to forget why I even needed to execute it...”

The countless retries had inflicted irreversible damage to her memory.

Thus, in order to enact the final strategy she had devised from all the past cycles, Ferloche had no choice but to abandon her memories of the truth about Ruby.

“...Rest now.”

Whispering softly, Ferloche took Ruby’s hand in hers, gently closing her eyes.

“I’ll do my best this time.”

And at the very moment Ruby’s hand, entwined with Frey’s, twitched ever so slightly—

“Retry.”

The world trembled and began to turn inside out.

- Drip...

Hand in hand, the two lovers shed silent tears, as time itself was rewritten once more.

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- Crunch!

“...Kh—!?”

Ruby regained consciousness the moment a cold blade pierced her heart.

“...To gain the system.”

Before she could even process the situation, her thoughts were slowing down.

“Wait...”

At that very instant, as Frey pushed the blade in all the way in an attempt to take her down with him—

- Srrrk...

Despite the pain making her cough up blood, Ruby kept her gaze fixed on Frey.

“...”

In the fraction of a second that felt like an eternity, she noticed something.

Even while wielding the Hero’s Armament, Frey’s body remained completely unharmed.

You finally did it.

Her mind lit up with a silent, dazzling smile.

I knew you would defeat me perfectly.

Even as the pain in her heart spread through her body, even as her expression twisted in agony—

Now, it’s a happy ending.

The smile in her heart remained, unwavering, until the very moment her consciousness faded.

Then... goodbye.

Never realizing, until the very end,

That this was simply another loop, just the final moment of a first run before moving to the next round.

My love.