The final battle between the Hero Frey and the Demon King Ruby has already been going on for a day.

    - Crackle...!!!

    - Shhh...!

    Ruby’s demonic energy and Frey’s stellar mana clashed fiercely, creating a terrifyingly intense collision.

    “Huff, huff...”

    “...”

    Both the boy and the girl were severely injured, with no unscathed spots left on their bodies.

    - Swooshh...

    The surroundings of the Demon King’s castle had already collapsed beyond recognition. The might of Ruby, the strongest Demon King in history, and the valor of Frey, equipped with the Hero’s Armament, were that powerful.

    “What the...”

    “I can’t believe it even when I see it with my own eyes...”

    The Hero Party, who had been blocking the Demon King’s Army from entering the battlefield to help Ruby, was left speechless.

    Even from a distance, merely witnessing the fragments of the battle, the Demon King’s Army and the Hero Party were overwhelmed by the mythical clash.

    However, everything has an end. No matter how evenly matched their battle was, it couldn’t go on forever.

    “Haaa!”

    “Ugh...!”

    The decisive blow was Frey’s desperate sword strike that exploited a momentary gap in defense. It was a fight to see who would land the final blow first, and Frey emerged victorious.

    “Ugh...”

    - Crash...!

    Ruby staggered, spitting blood. Frey then grabbed her and slammed her into the ground.

    “...”

    Thus, after a long time, they finally faced each other.

    “Ruby–”

    “...It’s a pity, I could have destroyed the world.”

    Frey tried to say something, but Ruby turned her gaze away and spoke.

    “What are you waiting for, finish me quickly.”

    “Can I ask you one question?”

    “You insolent fool. Do you think you have the luxury–”

    “Why did you let me win?”

    Ruby fell silent at his words.

    “You could have easily avoided that last attack, couldn’t you? No, the fact that you showed a gap in the first place is strange.”

    “...”

    “I kept wondering throughout our fight, why does this feel so off, Ruby?”

    As Ruby remained silent, Frey quietly reached out and touched her cheek.

    “As I thought, you let yourself be corrupted on purpose.”

    “What...”

    “Because one of us has to die, you decided to bear it all and die yourself, didn’t you?”

    “...”

    Ruby’s prolonged silence seemed to confirm Frey’s words. Waiting patiently, Frey gently caressed her cheek.

    “Hey, Ruby. I still like you.”

    “You...”

    “Who saved my mother? Who replenished my and Serena’s life force? Who rescued all those children?”

    Saying this, Frey pressed his cheek against hers with a sad smile.

    “I love you, Ruby.”

    “I don’t know...”

    But Ruby pushed him away, turning her gaze cold.

    “Kill me.”

    “Ruby...”

    “Kill me quickly, Frey.”

    Eventually, her cold expression wavered.

    “Before I forget you.”

    Hearing this, Frey clenched his eyes shut and raised the sword hanging at his waist.

    - Tremble...

    His hand holding the sword began to shake.

    “Do it.”

    Ruby urged him firmly but gently.

    “You are the brightest existence in my long life.”

    As Frey’s trembling hand steadied, Ruby, sensing her impending end, closed her eyes and whispered softly.

    - Crash...!

    In the next moment, Frey swung his sword with all of his strength.

    “...?”

    Thinking that everything was over, Ruby speculated about how terrifying purgatory might be.

    But the pain she anticipated never came.

    Then, with a puzzled expression, she opened her eyes.

    “What...?”

    Instead of piercing her heart, Frey’s sword was embedded in the ground.

    “Oops, my hand slipped.”

    “You... what are you doing...”

    “Ruby, I can’t kill you.”

    Seeing that scene, Ruby looked bewildered, and Frey, holding her hand, began to speak.

    “I’d rather quit being the Hero than kill you.”

    “Don’t be childish! This isn’t a joke...!”

    - Sizzle...

    “...Huh?”

    As she raised her voice at him, Ruby widened her eyes in shock.

    “Frey?”

    “Hehe.”

    His body had turned pitch black.

    “Finally, the effect is showing.”

    “You... what did you...”

    “I turned myself into a demonic monster, Ruby.”

    “What!?”

    Ruby touched Frey’s decaying body and then shouted in shock.

    “Through ‘Mind Control,’ I prevent myself from hating you and becoming corrupted.”

    “Are you crazy? Why would you do that–”

    “To escape the fate of being a hero.”

    “...?”

    “In order to escape the fate of having to kill you, I studied and studied the magic to turn someone into a demonic monster together with everyone. Of course, everyone tried to stop me at first, but... I succeeded in the end.”

    As he spoke, blood began to trickle from Frey’s mouth.

    “W-Wait, wait a moment...”

    “One day, a mysterious demonic monster suddenly appeared in this world. With my body turned into that of a demonic monster and my stained heart, the world will never recognize me as the Hero.

    Frey’s words were true.

    - Shhhh...

    The ‘Blessing of the Stars,’ his power, and the ‘Hero’s Power’ began to fade away.

    “It seems this was the right answer.”

    “Y-You crazy bastard!!”

    Watching his deteriorating state, Ruby spoke in a panicked voice.

    “You’ll have to live your whole life under constant supervision to not fully turn into a demonic monster! You’ll spend your entire life filled with pain and dread!!”

    “Killing you and living my whole life with guilt... that seems a much worse fate to me...”

    “You idiot! You fool!!”

    “I... will love you forever... Ruby...”

    “No...!!”

    Watching Frey, who was turning even darker, Ruby gritted her teeth and thought hard.

    ...I need to escape the fate of being the Demon King first before him.

    “Ugh...”

    If I escape the fate of the Demon King faster, Frey’s fate as a hero might remain. Then he might be able to resist the demonification to some extent.

    It was simple, yet there was a flaw to that plan.

    She had to quickly escape the fate of the Demon King right now.

    But how?

    By what means?

    Like Frey, should she implant the stellar mana into her body?

    Or should she use mind control like him?

    “...”

    While she was lost in thought, Frey, who was groaning above her, suddenly fell silent.

    - Thud...!

    He collapsed onto her, wearing a happier smile than ever.

    “Ruby...”

    “Frey...”

    “...This might be the last time, can you do me a favor.”

    Hearing those words, tears began to flow from Ruby’s eyes. Frey’s condition was dire, just as he had said. The side effects of the demonification were more severe than expected. His body couldn’t fully handle the transformation.

    “Please... Read aloud what you wrote in your letter to me.”

    “...”

    “Please, sis...”

    As if he were a child again, Frey pleaded with tears welling in his eyes.

    “You’ve never said it even once until now...”

    “Ugh, uh...”

    “I always wanted to hear it just once, from your own lips...”

    As he struggled to keep his eyes open, Ruby buried her head in his chest and spoke in a trembling voice.

    “I love you...”

    “...”

    “I will love you forever, Frey.”

    For the first time, Ruby acknowledged her feelings to him, and after saying those words, she began to cry.

    “So... please don’t leave me...”

    “Hehe...”

    “I finally realized... that I love you too...”

    That day marked the first time in history that a demon, a race that had never loved or understood love, comprehended it.

    - Shrrrr...

    And at that historical moment, a miracle began to unfold before their eyes.

    - Crackle...

    “Wh-what?”

    The darkness in her mind, which had been focused on hatred and destruction, started to clear.

    - Sizzle, sizzle...

    The demonic energy within her began to vanish.

    “Ruby...?”

    “How is this happening...?”

    Ruby and Frey both wore expressions of shock at this unprecedented situation.

    - Sizzle...

    “Ruby...”

    “Serena and Irina’s research has made progress recently. Ferloche is furiously honing her healing abilities. Kania is working on black magic, and Clana is digging through newly discovered ruins. Everyone is trying so hard...”

    As Frey looked at her with eyes full of expression, Ruby desperately recounted everything they had done.

    “Just hold on just a little longer, okay?”

    “...”

    “We’ve defied fate before, haven’t we? So, this ordeal–”

    “I have a request...”

    “What is it? Tell me! Do you want some puppy love fruit? Or maybe ice cream? You haven’t eaten that in a while... Or–”

    “Before the day ends... please end me.”

    Ruby, who was speaking with a smile while holding Frey’s hand, froze upon hearing his words.

    “What are you talking about?”

    “I... know. Today is my limit.”

    “No, no. Don’t say that. Why are you talking like this?”

    “You don’t have to lie to me, Ruby.”

    As he said this, Frey held Ruby’s hand and began to rub it against his cheek.

    “If I go past tonight... I won’t be able to maintain myself anymore.”

    “No. No...”

    “I’m sorry, Ruby. I acted all high and mighty, but in the end, I’ve only caused trouble...”

    “No!!”

    Unable to bear Frey’s final words, Ruby screamed.

    “Since that day, people have been anxious... Before that anxiety becomes a reality, before I become a threat to everyone, please end me...”

    “I can’t. You couldn’t kill me, so why should I...”

    “You don’t have to do it. If you want, you can call someone else. Just, end me before the day is over...”

    “I can’t!!!”

    Ruby screamed again, then buried her head in Frey’s chest and cried like a child.

    “Huwaaaaaaaa...”

    “My precious gem... Ruby...”

    Frey, who kept rubbing her hand against his cheek, whispered with a difficult smile.

    “It looks like the end has come. Let’s just consider this an early farewell.”

    “Frey...”

    “Be happy without me, okay? Look after Aria. Talk to my mom and dad sometimes. Oh, and make sure Serena and Roswyn stay on the right path...”

    “I can’t live without you...”

    “Hehe.”

    Frey, now too weak to rub his cheek, struggled to finish his words.

    “These past years... I’ve been so, so happy...”

    “Hic, sob... sob...”

    “If there’s a next life... I want to marry you, sis...”

    Unable to finish his sentence, Frey closed his eyes.

    “...”

    For a long time, silence filled the room.

    “If it weren’t for me... if I hadn’t chosen to be the Demon King... this wouldn’t have happened to you...”

    Tears streamed endlessly from her tightly shut eyes as Ruby rubbed her cheek against Frey’s cold, lifeless cheek.

    “If I hadn’t hidden my feelings for years like an idiot... if I’d just told you I loved you once...”

    With a face full of regret, Ruby muttered, her chest filled with frustration towards herself.

    “If I had confessed to you, even as a joke, on that day...”

    Moments she wished to return to, moments that had long passed, filled Ruby’s mind.

    Those memories, where she blushed and muttered to herself that she wasn’t really involved with Frey, drove her further into madness.

    “Hic... sob...”

    As her tears of regret soaked Frey’s chest, something happened.

    - Shhhh...!

    - So, have you thought it over?

    “...!”

    In front of her, a black eye appeared, speaking in a low tone.

    “You, you are...”

    - The conditions I proposed that night. Surely you haven’t forgotten.

    At the sound of that whisper, Ruby’s mind flashed back to the night when Frey had been taken hostage, and the proposal made by the instigator of all these events who had visited her room at that night.

    - I’ll give you another chance.

    “...What?”

    - A chance to turn everything back and make Frey happy.

    As Ruby’s expression gradually hardened, she reflected on the proposal she had forgotten.

    “You expect me to believe that–”

    - We’ll conduct a fair wager under the observation of the Star God. After all, without my main body, I’m essentially without divinity.

    Ruby, who was visibly shaken by the words, listened as the eye chuckled and whispered cruel terms.

    - But, you must fall into corruption in place of Frey. This cycle will be erased, and no one will remember it. You will literally become the absolute evil.

    “Absolute evil...”

    - And in the endlessly repeating cycles, he and his girls will try to kill you.

    The eye, looking at her with a mocking gaze, continued.

    - The moment corruption transfers to you, the wager begins.

    “...”

    - Can you face endless death, opposing the entire world for the sake of one man?

    And now, it was time for her to answer.

    “What do I need to do?”

    Holding Frey’s hand, Ruby asked in a trembling voice, and the eye curved into a crescent shape.

    “Tell me immediately, before it’s too late.”

    - This will be the greatest feast.

    Ruby’s tear-filled eyes quietly met the eye’s gaze.

    “Goodbye, my shining star.”

    A few minutes later.

    “I will love you forever.”

    Ruby, having quietly kissed Frey’s lips, slowly headed toward the door.

    “Ruby... I’m sorry. I failed again...”

    “What about brother? Is he okay?”

    “Ruby, if you continue like this, you’ll break too.”

    As she opened the door and prepared to leave the room with tears in her eyes, she was stopped by the people approaching her, causing her to burst into tears.

    “Ruby?”

    “What’s wrong?”

    “Ruby, please rest a bit. I’ll take care of Frey.”

    Her best friend, Serena, who had become someone she could trust no matter what.

    Frey’s sister, Aria, who was also a close friend to her.

    And even Roswyn, who always followed her around.

    “Is the Young Master... showing some improvement?”

    Even Vener, whom she hadn’t seen for a while, appeared.

    These were the people she shared precious memories with, the bonds she could never sever.

    “Goodbye, everyone...”

    “”...?””

    “Please, never remember someone like me.”

    As she looked at them, tears streaming from her eyes, Ruby tightly shut her eyes and stepped over the threshold.

    “Ruby...”

    “She’s acting strange today...”

    With Serena and Roswyn’s voices echoing behind her, the world began to slowly turn upside down.

    - Crackle, crackle...!

    “Ahhhh!!”

    As Ruby stared blankly at the world, the moment suddenly arrived.

    “I-It hurts...!”

    The chilling energy that had surrounded Frey for years surged into her all at once.

    My memories... my memories are disappearing.

    Simultaneously, her memories began to dissolve and crumble.

    Serena’s confident face, Roswyn’s puppy-like demeanor, Aria’s cuteness, and Vener’s loyalty all began to fade from her memory.

    So, the wager is real...

    The image of the Hero Party, the first-year students laughing and chatting, the information about Lulu who had grown more affectionate, and the memories of everyone she had become close to started to vanish.

    Thank goodness... I wasn’t deceived...

    The student Frey, who would come running whenever she reached out and rub his cheeks against her, the young master Frey who clung to her at the mansion, the Frey who first awakened his hero’s power and fought in the forest, all began to disappear.

    The Frey who was delighted to receive the pendant, the Frey who saved Lulu, faded away in her memories.

    Their trips to the theater, eating ice cream together, and holding hands while looking up at the starry night sky—all those moments vanished.

    And finally,

    Even the memory of their first meeting, where he chewed food to feed her as she was about to die, also faded away.

    I am...

    And, alongside all those memories, the Ruby who was always smiling beside him also burned away.

    Ruby...

    As she watched the fragments of her memories disappear, the reason for her tears began to fade. Summoning the last of her strength, Ruby had one final thought.

    Your precious gem...

    Then, she was enveloped by light.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    “Hmm?”

    Ruby woke up in her Demon King’s Castle, where a tranquil atmosphere lingered, and tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

    “...?”

    She furrowed her brow for a while, feeling an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

    “Yawn...”

    Then, yawning, she picked up a wine glass beside her and murmured.

    “I’m bored. Maybe I should burn the world down.”

    And so began the first cycle.

    It was the initial cycle designated as the retry point for Frey and Perloche, replacing the now nonexistent zeroth cycle.

    “Hicc, sob... sob...”

    Meanwhile, in the real world, Frey, unable to bear watching, sat on the cold ground, crying.

    Ruby, silently patting his back, also began to tear up.

    The pendant that had never opened before was now quietly open.

    - Srrk, srrk...

    Inside the pendant was a single photograph.

    It was a group photo taken by Roswyn, featuring Frey, Ruby, and everyone else, all smiling brightly. The photo, now faded with time, greeted them warmly.

    “I’m so sorry, Ruby...”

    “...I told you not to cry. Stop being a wuss.”

    The light that had escaped from the pendant began to envelop them once more.