CHAPTER 506: IF STORY - THE INITIAL DRAFT (14)

0% “Is... is it really Frey?”

Serena’s dazed voice echoed through the silent meeting hall.

“There... there must be some mistake...”

“The information has been verified multiple times.”

“That... that’s impossible.”

Upon hearing the courier’s confirmation, she shot up from her seat in alarm.

“He... he must have an ulterior motive.”

“...”

“F-Frey... Frey wouldn’t... he wouldn’t come to help us!”

Gritting her teeth, she turned on her heel and stormed toward the exit.

“Y-Yeah, that’s it. He’s not coming to aid us—he’s coming to join the Demon King’s Army.”

“Serena.”

“We have to stop him before he arrives! W-We need to split our forces—“

“Serena!”

Clana’s sharp cry cut through her frantic rambling.

“Look at this.”

“...!!”

Serena turned around, her eyes widening as she immediately tensed.

“Frey... what the hell are you plotting?”

“Hmm.”

Within the crystal Clana held, an armored Frey stood.

“What are you trying to pull—!”

“You seem to be struggling quite a bit.”

As Serena’s voice rose, he responded nonchalantly.

“I hear not only foreign nations but even the nobles have abandoned you.”

“S-Shut up! Do you think I don’t see through your schem—“

“So, I figured I’d lend a hand.”

The look of seething hatred Serena directed at Frey shifted to sheer bewilderment.

- *Drip...*“After all, the Empire needs to at least survive for me to do bad things in it, don’t you think?”

Grinning, Frey raised his hand—clutched in his grasp was the severed head of a Demon King’s officer.

- *Crack...! Crunch...!*

Shhhhhh...“Advance!! We need to reach the palace as fast as possible!!”

Behind him, the forces of House Starlight clashed fiercely against the Demon King’s Army.

“Young Master, your wounds are reopening...”

“Arrows! Bring more arrows!!”

“Huh? W-Wait...”

Only then did Serena notice the injuries covering Frey’s entire body and recognize the armor he wore—the Hero’s Armament.

“...Why?”

Time passed in a daze.

“Why... are you doing this?”

Standing frozen in place, Serena barely managed to whisper the words.

- Bwoooooo...!

A deafening horn blared across the palace.

“It’s the Demon King’s Army!!”

Pale-faced soldiers burst into the meeting hall, their expressions frantic.

Everyone except Clana reacted in shock.

“The Demon King’s forces have reached our doorstep!!”

“H-How already...?”

“B-But they were still at the border just earlier!?”

As the panicked officials and soldiers tried to make sense of the situation, Clana sighed, about to say something—

“Bring out the Princess.”

A new voice, gentle yet chilling, echoed through the palace.

“Surrender her, and I shall spare your lives.”

A girl with ruby-red eyes stood before the castle gates, leading the Demon King’s Army as she whispered her demand.

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“...Today’s news.”

“...”

A week had passed since the Demon King’s army surrounded the imperial palace.

“Their attacks are growing fiercer.”

“...I see.”

“The barrier’s durability is reaching its limit. It likely won’t last beyond today.”

Frey, watching the image of the palace engulfed in Demonic Energy through the crystal Kania had handed him, let out a deep sigh and rose from his seat.

“Just one last line of defense left to break through.”

“Indeed.”

Before them lay the final obstacle barring the path to the imperial palace—a massive force of the Demon King’s Army.

With the Demon King herself leading the main force into the capital at an alarming speed, her elite soldiers had spent the past week persistently holding off Frey, building up an impenetrable defense.

“It seems... it’s finally time to release my full power.”

“...What?”

“We can’t afford to delay any longer. The barrier is already at its breaking point.”

Just as Frey, gazing at the enemy lines, reached for his sword—

“Young Master.”

Kania, her head bowed, spoke in a voice laced with strain.

“Are you truly certain of this decision?”

“Hm?”

“If you awaken now... you will lose even the faintest glimmer of hope.”

Frey tilted his head in confusion, but Kania only frowned deeper.

“Don’t act like you don’t know! I’m talking about your last hope for survival!”

As Kania clenched her trembling fists and shouted, Frey let out a soft chuckle and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I have no interest in surviving alone.”

“But...!”

“I’ve already experienced that kind of future once.”

A shadow darkened Frey’s expression, and Kania instinctively clutched onto him.

“...I don’t care what happens.”

“What?”

“As long as you survive, I don’t care about anything else. The world can burn for all I care.”

Tears streamed down her face as she lifted her gaze once more.

“The people will remember you as a devil. The whole world will condemn you. History will portray you as something worse than the Demon King.”

“Mm.”

“And... the commoner who once loved you will spend her life drowning in grief.”

At those words, Frey closed his eyes for a brief moment.

“But... even knowing that, if you still intend to move forward...”

Swallowing back her tears, Kania bowed deeply.

“Then please... give the order.”

Behind her, all the retainers and soldiers solemnly lowered their heads.

“Every single one of us who has followed you to this moment... we have waited for this day.”

A brief silence settled over them.

“Everyone.”

Frey’s steady voice finally broke the quiet.

“You have all endured great hardship, following me to this point.”

Slowly, the soldiers raised their heads, their expressions filled with determination.

“The war we fight today will not be recorded in history.”

“No one will gain honor or riches. Instead, most of us will face certain death.”

“And to make matters worse, we will be remembered as rebels who sided with the Demon King. My name, as well as yours, will be forever tainted.”

Frey clenched his teeth and gestured to the side.

“If you cannot accept that, step aside now. You will be honored as heroes who stood against the traitors.”

“...”

“You all have the right to choose. It would be more disgraceful to me if no one left.”

Yet, not a single person moved.

“Are you all truly determined to let my name fall to the depths of disgrace?”

Despite the mixture of frustration and desperation in Frey’s voice, the soldiers merely smiled and looked back at him.

“We can’t let you take all the glory alone, Young Master.”

“Come now, what are you waiting for? Give us the order already.”

“If you keep stalling, I really will step aside, you know?”

Each soldier had once been saved by Frey—each one had already resolved to lay down their life for him before even setting foot here.

Hearing their lighthearted words, Frey let out a complicated smile and turned his gaze away.

“...Well, it’s not like I had any honor left to lose.”

“Young Master... are you crying?”

“Shut it, Kania.”

Just as those words left him, a blinding light erupted from Frey’s body.

“...Alright, then. It’s time to go.”

Raising his sword high into the sky, Frey let out a battle cry that shook the ground.

“TO OUR FINAL BATTLEFIELD!!”

“URAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

At his cry, not a single soldier hesitated—they all charged forward at his side.

— CRACKLE...!!

— CLANG! CRASH!

With the sound of metal tearing through the sky, the final battle of the great war had begun.

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“B-Breaking news!”

Several hours later.

“The barrier has been breached!”

The exhausted inhabitants of the imperial palace stood in stunned silence as the breathless messenger stumbled into the room, delivering his grim report.

“It... it won’t last even an hour! Y-you must evacuate at once...!”

Among them, the one who seemed in the worst state was, without a doubt, Serena.

“Everyone... everyone abandoned us...”

Strangely, it wasn’t the dire news that occupied her mind at that moment.

“...But the one who extended his hand to us in the end.”

Her gaze remained fixed on the path of Frey’s army—the only remaining hope for the isolated palace.

“...Was really you?”

The route they had taken was nothing short of impossible.

A reckless, inefficient straight-line assault.

Frey’s forces had broken through nine defensive lines.

They had slain tens of thousands of the Demon King’s soldiers.

“...”

And yet, despite the constant battles and staggering losses, they had somehow reached the final line of defense.

The strongest forces of the Demon King’s Army stood gathered there—its elite warriors and commanding officers, forming a blockade designed solely to stop Frey’s advance.

To break through that, with their remaining forces battered and reduced to half their original number...

It was, by all definitions, ‘impossible.’

“L-Look over there!!”

Perhaps that was why.

“Oh my god...”

“No way...”

“Dear heavens...”

When a miracle emerged from the dust clouds in the distance, disbelief spread across the faces of all who witnessed it.

“WAAAAHHH!!!”

“PROTECT THE IMPERIAL PALACE!!!”

Frey’s army—now nothing more than a small, battered strike force—charged toward the Demon King with all they had, led by Frey himself, his entire body burning with radiant white light.

“...Then.”

And Serena, watching the scene unfold with a face drained of color.

“If... if this is really all true...”

“Pardon?”

“No... No, this can’t be!!”

“Eek!?”

As if something had finally clicked in her mind, her expression contorted in terror, and she bolted out of the war room.

“S-Serena?! Where are you going all of a sudden!?”

“Excuse me.”

“...H-Her Highness as well?”

“S-She’s even... fully armed.”

And following close behind her, keeping an eerily calm expression, was Clana.

“Wait!! Wait for me, Frey!!!”

“...You’re too late.”

For at that moment, Frey and Kania had already exchanged their first blow with a composed-looking Ruby.