The Main Heroines are Trying to Kill Me
chapter-318

- Whoosh…!

"Keugh."

Ruby twisted her body to dodge Frey’s powerful punch. She gnashed her teeth as he looked at him

"You dodge it, huh?"

Then, Frey approached her while tilting his head.

"If you dodge carelessly, the students around you could be in danger, you know?"

"..."

"Well, There’s nothing you can do, right? It's better for a few kids to get hurt or die than for the Hero, who was the only one capable of defeating the Demon King, to be in danger!"

As Frey spoke, he began to gather stellar mana in his right hand, causing Ruby's expression to visibly frown.

The gazes of the students around her were wavering.

Even though the students knew that Frey’s was spouting nonsense, they couldn't shake the doubts and anxieties that began to grow in their minds.

"Damn, this drives me crazy."

As a result, Ruby muttered while gritting her teeth before slowly opening her mouth to speak.

“That’s not what I wan- ugh.”

However, Ruby quickly blocked her mouth, preventing herself from speaking further.

Due to the curse of ‘Honesty’ that Frey placed on her, her words came out unfiltered.

The situation was so dire that she couldn’t talk her way out of this, let alone instigate the surrounding students, which was one of her main strong points.

Should I use the kids.

Therefore, Ruby quietly shifted her gaze to the students around her.

Most of her faction, consisting of first-year students, was not present, probably due to the late hour. However, quite a few students still lingered in the corridor.

Just in a short time, Ruby had managed to gather fanatical followers in the academy. They were righteous but foolish kids who would jump into a fire pit if she told them to.

However, there was no way to ask for help. Asking for help now would damage her reputation significantly, and there was a high chance she would shout, "Someone sacrifices yourself for me!" without meaning to.

"Tsk..."

In the end, she was like a rat in a trap.

Initially, she thought Frey was going crazy indiscriminately, but that wasn't the case.

It was a well-thought-out plan where his every move was perfectly calculated. There was precision embedded in his every move, something that a truly insane person wouldn’t be able to do.

Wait, then...

However, a way to turn the situation around seemed to appear.

Since it’s calculated madness, he won’t harm the students, right?

Slowly adjusting the angle of her body towards the students, Ruby silently took a step.

Also, come to think of it, it’s not that different.

Simultaneously, there was a surge of fighting spirit within her.

How dare you belittle me, the Demon King?

The system couldn’t even measure her strength. She couldn't help but recall how she laughed when her stats were initially displayed as <Cannot be measured>.

However, trapping someone like her in a mere curse already made him feel triumphant, huh?

For this offense, she would make Frey suffer.

What she wanted was to see something so beautiful and pure, like him, being broken and wither. She didn’t want to see him going crazy.

Perhaps she needed to correct him once again.

"Heab!"

With that thought in mind, Ruby stomped the floor with her foot, drew her sword from her waist, and swung it forcefully toward Frey.

It was a thoroughly calculated move.

Even if Frey dodged, it wouldn't harm the students too much, but the attack itself was quite powerful.

So, surely, this attack would land…

- Crash...!

"...?"

Ruby's triumphant expression didn't last long.

-Boom…!

"U-Uwahhh!!"

The shockwave and the sword aura generated by her strike were heading towards the students behind Frey.

If it continued like this, they would undoubtedly suffer severe injuries.

"D-darn it."

The Demon King had never tried controlling her strength in her entire life because there was no reason to, as there have never been a moment that required it.

She was the Demon King, she would destroy all obstacles in her path with her overwhelming power.

Even the slightest attack triggered by a slight twitch of her finger was a disaster for ordinary people.

Moreover, her strength had diminished exponentially thanks to the curse. So, she swung her sword carefully, thinking that it would be okay. However, even with all of that, it still turned out to be way stronger than what she expected.

- Clang...!

Seeing the result of her attack, the Demon King began to sweat profusely. She sighed in relief as Frey swiftly moved to block the attack with his right hand.

"As expected, I knew you would..."

"I see, Hero! I understand now!"

However, even that relief was short-lived as Frey's voice echoed through the corridor, causing Ruby to quietly tilt her head.

- Crackle...!

"...!"

And in the next moment, Frey's fist, surrounded by stellar mana, charged into her abdomen.

"...Ugh."

Urgently trying to deflect Frey's fist with her sword, Ruby swallowed her breath as she observed the mana waves surrounding his fist.

Frey's fist was wrapped in explosive mana.

The students behind her would be caught in the explosion if she deflected that with her sword.

Of course, whether the students got hurt or not didn’t matter to her. However, if the students were harmed due to her poor judgment, Frey would undoubtedly use that against her.

That was definitely what he was after.

"Tsk."

Ruby, who momentarily halted her sword at that thought, looked at Frey with a chilling gaze and swung her sword once again.

- Crackle! Crackle...!

The mana surrounding Frey's hand began to flicker upon contact with Ruby's sword.

"Did you think I would hesitate, fearing that the students might get hurt like you, Frey?"

As Frey's gaze turned to his hand, Ruby started whispering to him in a low voice that only he could hear.

"Instead, I'll deflect it with my whole strength."

The ruby-colored sword aura emanating from Ruby's sword started intertwining with Frey's flickering energy.

"...Those kids, you’re the one who hurt them."

She swallowed her saliva when she saw her sword aura intertwined with Frey’s energy. It was like her aura corrupting Frey’s pure and divine energy. With a renewed vigor, she tightened her grip on her sword.

-Booom!!

Then, Ruby swung her sword with all her might, unleashing her sword aura, intending to send Frey flying backwards.

Ruby unleashed an attack far beyond Frey's expectations, and her intention was either to hurt him if he tried to block it or to make him feel guilty if the students behind him got caught in the explosion.

"How dare you challenge me with such feeble psychological warfare, you will pay the pri... Huh?"

"..."

However, something was odd.

Frey stood still and glared at her.

- Kugwagwang, kugwang...!

The Demon King, who had been staring at Frey in a daze, shivered as her attack landed, and a massive explosion and heat emanated from behind him.

"H-Have you...been corrupted? Frey?"

And then, with a face full of joy, she asked a question.

"Have you finally been corrupted!?"

If he took that attack head-on, casualties were inevitable. It was a judgment only Frey, who had been corrupted, could make. He wouldn't tolerate such things under normal circumstances.

"Ruby."

Looking at Ruby, Frey called out her name with a soft gaze she had never seen before.

"Frey."

Ruby caught a glimpse of the chaos in his eyes, a mix between light and darkness. Convinced with her thoughts, Ruby approached him.

"If that's really the case, then I'll personally-"

Soon, standing in front of him with a blush on her cheek, Ruby gently reached out to Frey's cheek.

"...Keheuk!?"

Suddenly, Ruby's waist was bent inward at a 90-degree angle.

"Gotcha..."

Frey said as he looked down at Ruby, who was hit squarely in the stomach by his fist and was trembling and lying limp with her head buried in his shoulder.

"...You fucking bitch."

-Boooomm!!!

Simultaneously, stellar mana burst forth from Frey's hand, which has sunk into Ruby's abdomen.

"Ugh, uhgeuk... Uegh..."

With blood, and bodily fluid pouring out of her mouth, Ruby lost the strength in her legs and collapsed to the ground.

“Me? Corrupted? Don’t kid yourself.”

Frey looked down at her and whispered in a chilling voice.

"Unlike you, I have comrades to protect."

- Shaaa...

At the same time, a bright light poured from behind Ruby.

- Zzing...

"Stop the fight!! The students are getting hurt!!"

Ferloche, who had just summoned a shield filled with divine power to block the attack that had pierced through Ruby, was wildly waving her arms and shouting.

"Why are you fighting so recklessly!! Please think about the safety of the students!!"

"That damn bitch... Urgh!"

Ruby, who was gritting her teeth as she watched that scene, was kicked squarely in the face by Frey's foot and fell to the ground.

"Now I understand, Hero!!"

As she wiped the blood off her face, Frey started shouting.

"You're not as strong as me yet!! That’s why you've been avoiding sparring with me until now!!"

"Krk..."

After saying that, this time, his foot struck Ruby's lower abdomen.

"Indeed, a country girl who only does good deeds by performing a miracle couldn't possibly be stronger than me! Yes, of course!!"

"Heuk, heck... Heuk..."

After kicking away Ruby's hand, which was holding her stomach, Frey sat down on her and started relentlessly punching her stomach.

Once, twice, thrice.

The relentless barrage of punches continued, causing Ruby's abdomen to convulse even when she wasn’t hit.

"Well, there's no other choice! You can only learn by getting beaten up by me!!"

Having said that, Frey picked up a shard of glass around and spoke.

"Isn't that right!! Hero!!!"

"...Augh."

Eventually, along with those words, the glass shard surrounded by stellar mana penetrated Ruby’s heart.

- Scratch, scratch...

However, for some reason, the sound of scraping stones started to come out.

- Zzing…

A minimal safety measure applied between them was blocking her heart from the glass shard.

[Automatic recovery skill will be activated due to the accumulation of damage exceeding a certain threshold.]

And then, the next moment, a message appeared in front of Frey and Ruby.

- Shaaaa...

As the message disappeared, Ruby's wounds slowly began to heal.

"Huh?"

Having seen the system message and Ruby’s slowly healing wound, only one thought came to Frey’s mind.

"So, I can still hit you more?"

"Cough."

Having said that, Frey violently kicked Ruby's leg as she staggered to get up, shattering her leg bones.

“Why are you like this!! Heroo!! Didn’t you deflect my attack quite well earlier!!”

"..."

“Try to deflect it like you did earlier!! What does it matter if the kids get a little hurt!! Aren’t you the most important person here!!”

- Crack!!

"...Heuk."

Ruby, with a cold look in her eyes, tried to reach for her sword. However, Frey didn’t just let it happen; he stomped on her shoulder, causing her shoulder blade to shatter.

"If you keep acting like this, Hero, you’ll die. If the hero dies, the world will be doomed, right? Stop caring about the kids; go ahead and let’s fight in this corridor to our heart's content!!"

"Fuck..."

“Oh my, did I hear that right? Is the pure and innocent Hero just swear? What did you just say again? “Fuck”? That must have been difficult for you, Hero! Or… could it be that your persona was all made up? Hmmm… that can’t be possible, right!?”

Ruby, who was watching Frey babbling with a tired expression, murmured in a low voice.

“This is… not the Frey I wanted.”

"Hero!!! Let's have a go again!!!"

"What I wanted was... a broken Frey isolated from everyone... Kheuk."

However, before she could finish her sentence, Frey kicked her once again, sending her flying into the corridor wall.

"Some crazy person is rampaging..."

"Hero!!!"

"...Keuh."

Ruby coughed up blood as her back violently collided with a wall. Before she could catch her breath, Frey kicked her once again with a roundhouse kick.

-Boom…!

Simultaneously, along with the wall, Ruby was thrown out of the corridor.

"Heuk..."

She rolled and bounced all the way to the sports field.

Trembling, she looked up.

- Pour...!

Dark clouds covered the sky, obstructing the stars and the moon, and rain was pouring down like a torrent.

"What’s wrong...?"

Before she knew it, Frey had descended to the sports field through the gaping hole in the corridor. He approached her with his silver eyes shining brightly.

“Isn’t this what you want? It was you who had been driving me to the edge, wasn't it?"

"..."

"But why are you so surprised and flustered?"

He must have liked the piece of glass from earlier, so he brought it along and asked while tilting his head.

"...Ha, haha."

Looking at him acting like that, Ruby's eyes started to glow ruby red.

"It seems you're getting a little carried away, Frey."

At the same time, a ruby-colored energy started to blaze from her body.

"You shouldn't have brought me here."

The sports field was a wide open space, different from the narrow corridor.

With no students or structures around, she could exert her full power without worry.

"Frey, whatever it is... let me correct you."

The moment when Ruby was about to charge at Frey with sword energy and mana blooming all over her.

"Hero!!!"

"Ms. Ruby!!!"

"...!"

She heard familiar voices from behind her.

"W-we came!"

"Now you can relax..."

The first-year students who heard the news late were rushing to the sports field.

"Oh."

Frey wore a smirk upon seeing other first-year students start to fill the sports field.

"From now on, this will be a joint class, okay, Hero?"

"...Damn."

"But what’s with the long face??"

Holding her lower abdomen, Ruby's expression gradually soured.

"Hey, everyone, come over here!!"

"Calculated madness, my foot."

She muttered as she saw Frey shooting his stellar mana into the pouring rain, signaling the first-year student to come over.

“I guess he must have really lost it.”

"Now, group up!!!"

In front of her eyes, Frey's information window was floating.

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, at the Sunrise Empire Imperial Palace.

"That's the end of the report."

Sitting on the top floor with an indifferent expression, the Emperor received the report from his attendant.

"You need to prepare quickly, Your Majesty. The situation is different from before. So, please..."

The attendant broke into a cold sweat as he observed the Emperor’s indifferent expression.

"Pfft, hehehe..."

"...Your Majesty?"

The Emperor began to laugh.

"Pfft… Hahaha..."

The Emperor rarely laughs; the number of times he laughed this year could probably be counted on one hand.

"Interesting."

After laughing for a while, the Emperor stood up and mumbled in a chilling voice.

"Interesting… Very interesti–"

- Crash...!

"...!"

However, at that moment, the windows of the Imperial Palace shattered, and something fell in front of the Emperor's feet.

"Hoot~!"

"Gu-guards! Guards!!"

The bewildered attendant urgently stepped back, calling for guards. Meanwhile, the Emperor calmly lowered his gaze, unaffected by the quickly fading hoots of the owl. He fearlessly picked up the delivered item.

Perhaps, are you now muttering, 'Interesting, Very interesting’?

The delivered item was a photo and a letter in handwriting very familiar to the Emperor.

Then, I present this to you.

As the Emperor read the letter and shifted his gaze to the photo, he burst into laughter.

I made a stir-fried Pork.

".....Hmm."

Soon after, his eyebrows started to twitch uncontrollably.

Is this also interesting to you?

Frey’s letter gently fluttered in the cold breeze coming through the broken window.