Splash.
Warm blood splattered. It was a familiar sensation. Ruth had seen the blood of countless people.
When she pierced Circe's heart, when she beheaded Milia, when she severed Lisha's arm that was rampaging with the magic spear, when she finally killed Chloe Piste.
And countless others she had injured or killed, their warm blood soaking Ruth each time.
So she shouldn't have been fazed by this terrible blood and the unpleasant heat. She shouldn't have, but…
"A-Adam."
No.
This wasn't right.
It felt like the world was slowing down. She wanted to close her eyes, but her senses, heightened to near Rank 7 by holding Dark Sword, wouldn't allow it.
In that brief moment, which would only last a second,
Ruth watched Adam being pierced through the heart, scattering blood and collapsing.
"Adam!!!!"
There was no one to answer her scream. His life had been extinguished.
Being pierced through the heart transcended rank. Even Ruth, even the Headmistress, would die if their heart was destroyed. It was a natural law of living beings.
The moment it pierced Adam's heart, the salt spear turned back into salt and scattered. Thanks to that, Ruth was safe, but…
What good was that?
Crack! Crack!
Even now, Dark Sword was out of Ruth's control, tearing at her other arm and craving blood. Adam lay on the salt wave, the salt clinging to his wound.
He could even be buried in the salt due to his own weight.
Ruth simply grabbed the annoying blade of Dark Sword.
Blood gushed like a fountain as she was cut by the sharp blade, but she didn't care.
"Stay still!!"
Dark Sword was an object connected to Ruth on a soul level as they regressed together. It was strange that it was out of control in the first place.
As Ruth quietly spoke in this urgent situation, Dark Sword finally stopped drinking her blood and obediently followed her hand. As if saying it was alright now.
The arm where Dark Sword was embedded was a mess, but Ruth hurriedly went to the collapsed Adam.
"Adam, Adam!!"
She pulled Adam out of the salt, where he was about to be buried. His still-warm blood soaked Ruth and the salt.
The wound in his chest was a fatal one, the other side visible through the hole. Adam's heart was literally pierced through because of the size of the salt spear.
"…Ah."
Adam was dead. Adam was dead, and Adam was dead.
Then, if that's the case…
What should I do?
──Originally, Ruth had intended to kill Adam.
After witnessing all the deaths, destruction, and the crumbling continent that Adam caused,
She tried to stop him, even if it meant killing him. Every time, the memories with Adam, the only warm moments in Ruth's cold life, would surface and make her hesitate.
The contradiction of her mentor, who called her the protagonist and always helped her, becoming the destroyer of the world.
Unable to accept it and denying reality, she followed him and Chloe and witnessed everything Adam did.
In the continent filled with chaos and death, Ruth realized.
That she had to stop Adam. That she had to stop him, even if it meant killing him.
'Adam.'
That's why she killed Circe, who was causing a massacre in the Holy Kingdom to find the sacred relic.
She killed Milia, who killed the Rank 8 of the Empire and reigned as the Pope of the Wish Cult.
She cut off Lisha's arm, along with the magic spear, when she was possessed by it and rampaged as a murderer.
She couldn't give Beatrice, who was floating in the sky above the ruins of Delphia, a fate worse than death, but she buried her blood relative in a sunny place.
And after a long chase, she killed Chloe Piste in front of a cave.
And at the end of that cave…
'…Adam.'
She killed Adam Keynes. She beheaded him. With that, Ruth's purpose was fulfilled, and her life was also over.
The Empire praised Ruth as a hero, but it was meaningless. The remaining Rank 8s expressed their respect, saying she accomplished all that as a mere Rank 6, but she didn't care.
In her dull and monotonous life, Adam was the first light that the eternal last-place student at the academy encountered.
By personally extinguishing the corrupted light, Ruth fell back into darkness.
Then what about now?
She thought she had to stop Adam, even if it meant killing him, and now that Adam was dead,
What about Ruth Spero herself?
'I, I…'
She saw Adam at the entrance exam site. She was wary of him, remembering everything he had done.
She saw Adam at the entrance ceremony. She warned him, but her heart wavered, thinking that he seemed like the warm Adam from those days.
She saw Adam during the deserted island midterm exam. She could solidify her resolve because his current appearance overlapped with his past self.
She didn't see Adam during the summoning ritual. But she was flustered by the changed future and questioned her own usefulness.
She visited Adam's dormitory. Seeing Adam's changed living situation and circumstances… she couldn't leave him alone, even if it was to prevent him from falling from grace.
She saw Adam during the academy terrorist attack. Adam was the mastermind who orchestrated the attack, and she was disappointed, thinking that his warm demeanor was all an act, but it wasn't.
She saw Adam again during the audit. Thanks to their small connection at the mine, she could hear Adam's sincere gratitude. She was happy.
And now,
Here, Ruth…
'I wish… Adam wouldn't die.'
Just, just…
Like in those days, the only warm moments in her life, living together, comforting each other, facing each other and eating, laughing and chatting at night.
She wished Adam could be her sanctuary. Ruth, who carried the heavy burden of regression and the continent's future, shed tears in the arms of the dead Adam, momentarily freed from that weight.
You idiot. Why couldn't she be honest with herself?
Because he was the criminal and murderer who set the continent ablaze? Because she was disappointed, thinking his warm demeanor was all an act? Because she had to save countless people?
Yes, all of that was true, but…
Ruth wanted to be a little selfish.
"Don't die… Adam."
Ruth, finally being honest with herself in many ways, cried out with tears in her voice. But Adam didn't wake up and ask why she was crying.
Because Adam was dead.
Dead—
Thump.
"…Huh?"
Thump. Thump.
He was clearly, definitely pierced through the heart. He should be dead.
But a faint heartbeat could be heard. It was slightly different from the pulsating sound of the sacred relic fragment.
And at the same time,
"He's breathing…!!"
Adam was breathing. Faintly, but he was definitely still breathing.
It was absurd. His heartbeat could be heard even though his heart was gone. He was alive and breathing even though he should be dead.
If it were the usual Ruth, she would have considered necromancy or illusions that could bring the dead back to life, but…
The current Ruth, whose mind was extremely exhausted, wasn't like that.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness…"
The Regressor, with a broken smile, shed tears and gently laid Adam down. It was after she used her aura to protect Adam's body from being buried in the salt.
Adam was alive. That fact alone allowed Ruth to move, even in her battered and broken state.
Her icy eyes then turned towards another heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The fragment of the sacred relic.
The heart fragment that controlled the salt and shot the salt spears was, for some reason, just pulsating quietly. As if satisfied with piercing Adam's heart.
But it started to move again as Adam began to breathe and Ruth stood up, holding the fully awakened Dark Sword.
The fragment of the sacred relic rotated fiercely once more and created dozens of salt spears this time.
"You want to kill Adam and me."
Ruth had a truly strange expression.
She was smiling while shedding tears. Her lips were curled upwards even as she cried.
In her hand was Dark Sword, which had sucked enough of Ruth's blood and was emitting an even more ominous aura.
Despite her battered state, Ruth pointed Dark Sword.
'Please.'
There was a wish that Ruth had always made since she first obtained Dark Sword.
A wish she made again and again, but one that had never been granted, despite the wish-granting power of the sword.
That was…
'To be able to return to those happy days.'
Woong!
Dark Sword reacted. The demonic sword, which had just been in contact with Adam, was now obediently following Ruth's command, unlike its previous appearance.
Ruth Spero's body was enveloped in darkness. An ominous and dark power, the complete opposite of the sacredness emitted by the fragment of the sacred relic.
Ruth leaped within that darkness.
──To still be Rank 6 after going through all that… how laughable.
──You talk too much after losing to that Rank 6. Piste.
──I'm no longer a Piste, you eternal last-place bitch. You're still an idiot, even if you're called a hero.
──What do you mean, idiot?
──You should have reached Rank 7 by now, but you're still Rank 6. In my eyes as a Rank 7, you're still just a half-assed bitch.
──…Adam must be inside this cave, right? Do you have any last words?
──You'll know when you become Rank 7. And… Adam…
The criteria for becoming Rank 6 was simple. Reaching a level beyond common sense, like Sword Qi or Aura. The power to split a mountain with a single sword or create a basin with a single punch.
And the criteria for Rank 7 was also clear. It wasn't just about creating Sword Qi, but maintaining it, enveloping your weapon with it.
It sounded simple, but there was a reason why it was a separate rank.
──It's like being able to use your ultimate move as a basic attack.
──…Ultimate move? Basic attack? What are you talking about?
──Just something I heard. Of course, you can't use it like that during exams.
──It's okay. I'm learning from the famous Finance Director.
Recalling Adam's cryptic words from a while ago,
Ruth unleashed her Sword Qi.
Crack!!
But with a momentary burst of Sword Qi, she could only destroy the salt spears, not cut the sacred relic. She could only leave a small scratch at most.
As a Rank 6, Ruth often experienced this whenever she faced a strong opponent. Sword Qi was her greatest weapon, but it wasn't enough at times.
But it had been fine. When facing Circe, Milia, Lisha, and Chloe, there were always allies or special circumstances.
But now, she had to rely solely on her own strength.
…Only then did Ruth realize what Chloe's last words meant.
'I see.'
The way to maintain Sword Qi was absurdly simple. You just had to be prepared to die.
But simply being prepared to die wasn't enough. You had to overcome your physical limitations, where releasing more Sword Qi meant death, with mental willpower. You had to have a reason to absolutely survive and return.
For Ruth, that was Adam.
The reason Ruth remained Rank 6 despite going through countless battles and crises was…
…because she had already lost her reason to return in her previous life.
The desire to return fueled by revenge and betrayal, the half-hearted determination, wasn't enough to reach Rank 7.
Crack!!
Sword Qi flashed. Another burst of Sword Qi struck the sacred relic, but it still only left a scratch.
But the Sword Qi didn't stop. Ruth's Sword Qi shone brightly within the darkness emitted by Dark Sword.
Ruth Spero.
She didn't know it herself, but her name, the protagonist of
Ruth, finally reaching a complete Rank 7, focused her Sword Qi through Dark Sword.
The sword named darkness illuminated the dark tunnel as if it were a holy relic, and…
Slash!
Ruth's sword, piercing through the waves and spears of salt,
Split the heart of god.
However, she didn't just cut the sacred relic, but also the countless knots that had unknowingly bound Ruth.
Ruth, catching her breath for a moment,
"…?"
…saw the pure light emanating from the bisected remains of the sacred relic…
…being absorbed into Adam.