The Beginning of Hell 2
Shaaaah...
"Ugh...!"
My entire body ached with pain.
"Ahhh..."
Was it because I had just been erased by the goddess? Or was it the emotional scars from merging with another version of myself?
Swoosh...
I sorted through the chaotic thoughts flooding my mind and slowly rose to my feet, cautiously examining my body.
"Hm."
A transparent version of myself greeted me. It seemed that at the moment of erasure, I'd been flung out from the other me I had merged with.
Then where was that 'other me'? Could it have been completely erased by the goddess back there?
And where was this place? Everything around me was pitch black—it didn't feel like the mystical space I'd just been in.
"...!"
As I scanned my surroundings with those thoughts in mind, I spotted the 'other me' standing motionless in the distance.
"Over there..."
I set aside my questions about why the 'other me'—who should have been erased by the goddess—was standing there and carefully approached him.
00:01
But the screen floating in front of him—[Deletion in 00:01]—froze me in place.
"...You've come."
"W-What?"
I stared blankly at the ominous red window hovering before my eyes when suddenly the 'other me' turned his head and spoke to me.
Wait—he could see me? How was that possible?
"Who the hell are you?"
Too flustered to think straight, I blurted it out, and the 'other me' smirked in response.
"The you from another cycle, who went through countless regressions and sought rest."
"Th-That means..."
"Calm down first and hear me out."
With that, he slowly stood and continued.
"This is a space where characters linger just before deletion. Must be the Sun God's doing... When that countdown hits zero, everything inside gets erased."
"W-What?!"
"Don't worry. I've paused it for now."
The 'other me' who had reassured my panicked self then added,
"Anyway, I have a favor to ask."
"A f-favor?"
He leaned in close and made his proposal in a low voice.
"Finish experiencing all the remaining trials, come back here... and merge with me for a bit?"
"What?!"
As I stared at him in shock, the other me sighed and elaborated.
"...Looks like I need to pass judgment and vanish."
With that final word, the 'other me' shoved me hard out of the dark space.
Bzzt-crackle!!
"Gah!"
Thanks to that, I was hurled from the black void and found myself back on the surface before I knew it.
"F-Frey?"
Still dazed from everything I'd witnessed, I stood before the four transparent main heroines, who were equally lost in a stupor.
"Where did you go? We suddenly couldn't sense you anymore."
The transparent Perloché, wearing a rare flustered expression for the first time, asked me that question. I opened my mouth with a similarly bewildered look.
"Yeah, I don't really know either. Some weird experience..."
"Perloché, is that true?"
"...Ah."
But my words were cut short by Isolet, who had quietly come to stand beside me.
"For now... I need to finish the trials."
I didn't know what was going on, but first things first—I had to focus on what these trials were showing me.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
"Perloché, is that true?"
"Ugh..."
Perloché, who had been fervently praying to the Sun God within the trial, began to frown.
"That you... killed Frey?"
As Isolet approached her and posed the question, Perloché's expression darkened further.
"Answer me, Perloché. To figure out what's really going on... we need to confirm everything."
"Everyone, please wait just a moment."
Even as Isolet pressed on relentlessly, Perloché suddenly shot to her feet and addressed the group.
"The special prayer I offer every night takes me to a spiritual realm where the Sun God resides. So... I'll perform that prayer now to verify the truth."
"......Hm."
Isolet clenched her fist tightly upon hearing that and replied,
"Do it as quickly as possible."
"Yes, I'll start right now... so everyone, please stay quiet so I don't lose focus."
Glancing at Isolet's expression, Perloché said that and began concentrating her divine power throughout her body.
Ruuuumble...
"It can't be true. It just can't."
Perloché, now radiating white light in all directions, murmured in a trembling voice.
"It has to be Frey's illusion magic or some trick. If I go there myself and check, I'll surely uncover the real truth."
With that, she closed her eyes.
Shaaaahhh...!
"...H-Hello? Sun God?"
Soon, Perloché appeared in the mystical space in spirit form and cautiously spoke up.
"Welcome, Perloché."
The mystical space darkened, and from within the shadows, a woman slowly emerged, heading toward Perloché.
"S-Sun God...!"
Perloché's eyes widened at the sight of the woman.
"Why are you shrouded in darkness? Is something wrong...?"
"Hmm..."
"Oh, that's not important. Please, explain what's going on. Who were that strange woman and Frey I just saw? And what happened to Ruby? I only did what you told me to..."
As the woman veered slightly toward her, Perloché desperately unleashed her questions, but
"Perloché, I'm not the Sun God."
"......Pardon?"
"I'm the Demon God."
Perloché stared blankly at the woman's words.
"What... what do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. I'm the Demon God Eclipse. Not that annoying Sun God."
"What are you talking about? Every night when I prayed, you appeared in this mystical space."
Perloché's face grew pale as she spoke.
"You encouraged me every night, cheered me on, told me what to do... it was you..."
"Because I was imitating that pathetic Sun God lying over there."
The Demon God sneered, pointing to a spot where
"N-No...!"
the real Sun God lay collapsed, gritting her teeth and struggling to rise.
"Too bad, sis... If even one more day had passed, you'd have recovered enough strength to take me down easily."
"Ugh..."
"Of all the timing, you tried to erase the hero mere minutes after breaking your seal. Pfft, hahahahaha..."
The Demon God burst into laughter as she spoke.
"Erase the hero...?"
"Yes, that pitiful villainous hero, Frey."
Perloché's eyes began to tremble as she listened intently to the Demon God's words.
"Right, Perloché. I had a message for you and your friends... perfect timing."
The Demon God shot a dark burst of energy at the Sun God, knocking her back down, then slowly approached Perloché and continued.
"When you finish praying and return to the surface... be sure to tell your friends."
"Th-That is...?"
"Thank you for betraying Frey, killing him, and wounding him across countless cycles... for wearing him down."
"What do you...?"
"Thanks to that, he chose 'erasure' himself, giving me a chance for one final outburst."
Upon hearing that, Perloché began to realize something was terribly, terribly wrong.
"N-No."
"That can't be... It's impossible..."
But denial was all that escaped her lips. The idea that Frey—the man who'd acted so wickedly until now—could be the hero was too hard to accept.
"Impossible..."
Besides, even as a 'saintess,' she was still human, so her instincts triggered a defense mechanism.
"Once I overpower the Sun God, I'll self-destruct and plunge the world into darkness."
"What...?"
"I'm destined for erasure anyway. Right now, I'm only manifesting briefly because of Frey's erasure."
"What did you say...?"
But the Demon God shattered even Perloché's faint remaining defenses.
"I have to make him pay for screwing me over. By stealing the 'happy ending' he chased through endless regressions."
"Ah, ahh..."
"Sure, if Frey were around, he'd just 'retry' and stop it easily..."
The Demon God grimaced in disgust, then flashed a wicked smile.
"But what now? With Frey completely 'erased,' there's no one left to retry."
"So, I can take my time."
"What do you...?"
"Out of mercy, I'll delay plunging the world into darkness just a little."
As her voice grew arrogant, Perloché shuddered.
"In other words, I'm granting a grace period."
With a blissful expression, she delivered her final declaration.
"I love seeing people despair, suffer, and grieve."
"........."
"So before I self-destruct, I plan to enjoy watching you all as my final entertainment... Will you cooperate?"
"If... if what you're saying is true... that's outrageous...!"
But as Perloché rose and raised her voice, the Demon God grew icy.
"Then... let's all perish right now. Freeze to death together in a world without the sun."
Ruuuumble...!
She gathered her power, summoning a massive black aura around them.
"I'm already humiliated at the thought of being erased by a mere mortal. If you resist too... it just makes me want to end it faster."
"...Grit."
"Will you cooperate? Or not? Cooperate and give me my final fun, and I'll let you live a bit longer."
Perloché ground her teeth, glaring at the Demon God who threatened the world's end with her amassed dark energy.
"For now... listen to the Demon God."
".......!"
She flinched upon seeing the distant Sun God mouthing those words laboriously.
"We'll find a way."
The Sun God sent that follow-up message to Perloché in secret, gritting her teeth as faint light emanated from her body.
"......All right."
In the end, Perloché had no choice.
"I'll... follow your words."
She trembled violently as she replied.
"Good."
The Demon God approached right up to Perloché's face.
"Looking forward to working with you, Perloché?"
With a chilling smile, she snapped her fingers.
.
.
.
.
.
"...Gasp!"
Perloché, who had been praying, abruptly exhaled and opened her eyes.
"Haaah... haaah..."
She collapsed to her knees on the cold garden floor, panting heavily.
"So, did you learn anything?"
"Perloché! What the hell is going on?"
"Why is Ruby in that state, why did Frey vanish like that, and why is the sun shaking again?"
As the girls surrounding her bombarded her with questions,
"Ugh... uuuugh..."
Perloché's face twisted in despair, her body trembling.
"The... h-hero..."
After shuddering for a long while, Perloché finally spoke.
"He was the hero..."
Though she still couldn't fully believe it, she had to accept the truth now.
With an expression filled with guilt, she slowly voiced it.
"Frey... was the hero..."
A heavy silence fell.
"Perloché must be really sick."
"Yeah, she's probably in shock."
"...She needs rest first."
When the heroines finally spoke, most of them refused to believe Perloché.
"Um, listen... I mean..."
"Come on, Saintess. Calm down first..."
It was only natural. No one would readily accept such an absurd claim that Frey was the hero, even from their leader Perloché.
Even if it brimmed with truth, that was the normal reaction.
".....Ah."
Except for Isolet, who let out a dazed sound upon hearing it,
".....!"
and Serena, whose eyes widened in shock.
"Ugh... uuu..."
Thus, pulled to her feet by sympathetic hands and distrustful gazes, Perloché was forced upright.
"Frey was the hero... and Ruby the Demon King... ah."
Clinging to the desperate need to buy time from the Demon God, she struggled to continue, until she reached one inescapable conclusion.
"Ahh."
It was she who had pierced Frey's heart without giving him a chance to leave last words or even time to convince her—shattering it to pieces.
"....Aaaah."
"What do we do? Should we use a mental recovery potion?"
"Rest first."
As Perloché spiraled into panic, the girls gazed at her pityingly, assuming something was wrong with her mind.
Neigh!!
Screeech...!
".........?"
But when a loud carriage rattled up right beside them, they all tilted their heads in confusion.
"Frey! Frey!!"
"B-Brother...!"
"Ah."
Perloché, who had turned toward the carriage as well, realized
"No...!"
that everything she had experienced was undeniably real.
"Well done, my son! Seeing my memories restored means you must have succeeded in defeating the Demon King!!"
"Brother... s-sorry. It's all my fault...!"
And at the same time, an overwhelming guilt and terror crashed over her.
The people leaping from the carriage were
"Let me hug you once. It must have been tough... Is there anything you want to eat...? Hm?"
Abraham, Frey's father, who had beamed with joy while running toward him but paused, catching his breath when he realized Frey wasn't there;
and
"I didn't know... I... I...!"
Aria, Frey's little sister, her nose red and face streaked with tears.
"Excuse me... do any of you"
know where our Frey might be?"
Abraham—who, despite his coma leaving him physically frail, had rushed to the final battlefield solely on the drive to see Frey—stroked the still-sniffling Aria's head and asked cautiously.
"........"
The hell that would engulf the girls—no, the entire empire—was only just beginning.