༺ Exposed ༻
“Ugh?”
“….Huh?”
The gazes of Miho, the mid-boss, and Ruby, who Ferloche had brought along, intersected in the air.
“Frey, this is all your fault! I know it!”
In that tense situation, Ferloche began to yell at Frey with a confident expression.
“Get up right now and stop everything! I’ll spare your life! I’ve blocked the entrance so no one can intervene. Don’t even dream about getting backup!”
“…Krrr.”
However, the only response she got was the snarl of Miho, who had now transformed into the mid-boss.
“…Huh?”
It was only then that Ferloche noticed something amiss and turned to Ruby, who stood beside her, prodding her.
“Ruby, something’s not right!”
“…What is it?”
“Frey isn’t responding! He must have fainted!”
“Yeah, it seems so.”
Ruby, who was exhausted after being attacked by Ferloche’s magic on the way here, casually responded and shifted her gaze to Miho.
“…She might be useful.”
“Krr?”
After scrutinizing Miho for a while, Ruby muttered with a smirk.
“You! I don’t know who you are, but stay away from him! Are you Frey’s accomplice?”
“…Hungry.”
“Huh?”
At that moment, Miho’s patience reached its limit.
Although her intense anger had mostly subsided as Frey had planned, the intrusion of the two at that particular moment caused her emotions to falter.
“I’m… hungry.”
Her hunger had been sated due to the massive energy she had used during her rampage.
“It looks… delicious…”
“Wait, hold on!”
With trembling eyes, Miho began to unleash her hunger on the nearest person—Frey, who lay unconscious, having been strangled by her.
“Um, Ferloche? Why did you bring me here? It looks dangerous…”
“Well, somehow, I thought it would be safe here!”
“But… instead of being safe, it appears we’re being attacked by a mysterious monster?”
In that dire situation, Ruby spoke with a sad expression.
“I can’t die here… I still have a lot to do, and the children at the orphanage are waiting for me…”
“Uh, uhm.”
“What should we do, Ferloche? Is there any good solution?”
As Ruby innocently and pitifully spoke with an accusatory tone, Ferloche hesitated.
“Alright! I’ll… I’ll block her here!”
She clenched his fist and shouted.
“Ruby, escape from here and call for help! I’ll find a way to defeat that monster and secure Frey.”
“Will you be okay? She looks strong…”
“It’s fine! I’m strong too!”
As Ferloche widened her eyes and said that, Ruby slowly began to back away.
“Then… I’ll leave it to you, Lady Saintess.”
“Yes! Don’t worry about this place, just call for help!”
“Please, stay safe…!”
At Ferloche’s slightly tense words, Ruby turned around with a worried expression.
“Growl.”
“Wait, hold on!”
As Ferloche watched Ruby wistfully, she rushed towards Miho, who was trying to draw energy from Frey.
“…Huh.”
In that instant, Ruby’s expression underwent a 180-degree shift.
“…Curse of monsterization, take hold.”
“Kuoooooooo!!!”
Suppressing the laughter that threatened to erupt, Ruby, with purple magic materializing in her hand, whispered, and then a terrible scream erupted from behind.
The sound emanated from Miho, who had succumbed to Ruby’s ‘demonization curse,’ a spell that she had always used for fun when encountering creatures in her previous adventures. The curse corrupted pure beings and transformed them into demons.
“What, what is this! Suddenly, what is this…!”
“It’s a gift for annoying me.”
Observing Miho, who had gone berserk due to the demonization curse, charge at Ferloche with satisfaction, Ruby prepared to leave the room.
“…Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue and muttered as she saw the entrance blocked by a shield made of holy power.
“If it weren’t for this restraint on me, I would have killed you with my own hands.”
– Kwaddduduk!!
After uttering those words, Ruby tore the shield apart with her bare hands. She glanced at Miho, who was using illusion magic to surround Ferloche, and left the room with a satisfied smile.
“Ugh, ugh…”
“Hmm?”
As soon as Ruby left the room, she came face to face with Kania, who was trembling right in front of the door.
“I must… protect… my master…”
“…Poor black magician. Your parents were quite talented.”
Ruby looked at her with a pitiful gaze and mumbled as she examined the remaining shield of holy power in her hand.
“But did the Saintess really block the door with the shield so I couldn’t exit?”
“Ugh…”
“Puhaha, I always saw her as a troublemaker with her indecisive nature…. but she can be helpful at times like this.”
With a satisfied expression, Ruby began to gather purple magic in her hand, taking aim at the now-unconscious Kania.
“…Huh?”
As a red warning window appeared in the air, Ruby furrowed her brow.
“Why is this black magician’s goodness stat so high?”
After staring at Kania for a while, Ruby read the information window in front of her and spoke with an annoyed voice.
“…You better know how lucky you are.”
She stepped back with a disappointed expression.
“…Hmm?”
Noticing a device attached to her head, Ruby said,
“What a cute thing to do, using such a device just for communication.”
With a smirk, she picked up the device.
– We’re evacuating the slaves right now! The Cloud Kingdom royalty has already escaped with the princess! Everything is going according to plan! But why haven’t you responded? Frey?
– We successfully suppressed the Demon Army! We just need to finish off the remnants! By the way, Frey, why are you so quiet?
“…You’re quite popular.”
Upon hearing the voices coming from the device, Ruby casually commented before summoning a purple void in the air.
“Well… it’s about time for me to gain some ‘fame’.”
Saying so, Ruby took out the Hero’s Armament and quickly equipped them.
– Kwagwang!!
She leaped down to the first floor.
“Kkweeek!!”
“…Ugh.”
As she landed and effortlessly crushed two demons underfoot, Ruby gracefully maneuvered through the chaotic Demon Army and the startled Royal Knights, taken aback by her sudden appearance.
“Lord Dmir Khan, please listen to me. Something is strange.”
“We don’t have time for this. We must gather the young slaves as soon as possible and activate the sacrificial magic…”
“No, that’s precisely what I’m saying! Why are we in charge of that? Logically, it should be assigned to ordinary soldiers, while we focus on the battle, shouldn’t it?”
“It’s disappointing that a strategist of the Demon Army like you, Lady Lemerno, lacks such knowledge.”
As Ruby made her way through the crowd, she encountered Dmir Khan and Lemerno, who were commanding the busy combat staff and standing by on the first floor.
“What am I not aware of?”
“The possibility that the Hero might appear.”
“Lord Frey, who has always been cautious about the existence of the hero and demanded containment, must have predicted a high probability of the Hero appearing today. That’s why he assigned us here to prepare for the hero on such an important day.”
“But, as I said before… no matter how I think about it, the Hero is Frey…”
“You two! Don’t move!”
As Ruby bellowed fiercely, both Lemerno and the calm Dmir Khan turned their gaze to her.
“…Are you talking to us?”
“Yes!”
“What? My stealth technique was perfect…”
“…How about we remove our helmets and have a face-to-face conversation?”
As Ruby answered once again, Lemerno grumbled with a puzzled expression, while Dmir Khan made a polite suggestion.
“I will execute both the leaders of the Demon Army, right here and now!”
“Well, it seems we have someone who doesn’t listen.”
Ignoring his words, Ruby raised her sword, causing Dmir Khan’s expression to turn cold as he responded to the stunned Lemerno.
“What did I tell you? It was about time the Hero revealed themselves.”
“No way, really?”
“Let’s go.”
Soon after, Dmir Khan calmly spoke and murmured as he wrapped his body in magical power.
“To protect the next Demon King, Lord Frey.”
“Ugh.”
“Lord Dmir Khan!”
Dmir Khan’s right arm was severed and flew into the air.
“Haaap!”
“I didn’t expect not to be able to evade even a single blow… quite impressive.”
As Dmir Khan staggered, Ruby lunged at him with the momentum of the hero’s weapon.
“I’ve never had this much trouble… except when I faced Lord Frey…”
“Surrender! Executive! There’s no hope for you!”
Ruby ignored Dmir Khan’s words and continued to corner the two with her sword. It was then that she saw people around them starting to whisper.
“Is she… the Hero…? The famous one?”
“Hey, no way… there have been so many impostors…”
She smirked as she thought of the people who were buzzing about the legendary battle happening in front of them.
‘Regardless of what you losers think, my plan has already succeeded.’
The reason why she put Frey in the Demon King’s Army…
The fact that he became the second-in-command of the Demon King’s Army and was even mistaken for the Demon King…
It was all part of her carefully planned scenario.
“That armor… could it truly be?”
“You guys, head to the altar right now. We can’t let the royal family know about this first.”
‘…Wherever one goes, the thoughts of the higher-ups always take precedence, isn’t that right?’
And now, her plan would unfold as intended…
“Huh?”
For some reason, Miho did not follow her command.
“Cough, cough…”
“…Young Master, are you alright?”
“………!!!”
Slightly flustered because of that, Ruby couldn’t help but doubt her eyes when she spotted people appearing on the second floor.
“How did they get here…?”
Frey and Kania, who should have been unconscious, were looking down at her while supporting their heavily injured bodies, clutching a black stone that emitted a strangely familiar energy.
“What, what is it… a monster?”
“Hero… please help us!”
“Please defeat that monster too! We’re begging you!”
Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, Ruby reluctantly raised her sword, urged on by the people around her as they felt the growing sense of danger.
Snap!!
At that precise moment, a third astonishing event occurred.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, a crisp sound of snapping fingers echoed through the first floor.
“Ah!”
Ruby’s fake hero helmet, which had been meticulously protected by multiple layers of magic, shattered into pieces.
“Wait.”
Frey, who captured that fleeting moment, immediately wore a serious expression and muttered.
“Those ruby-colored eyes…”
“…Could it be?”
