The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 18



17 – Counterattack

The mock battle continues.

Some want to raise their rank.

Some want to keep their rank.

A bloody fight continued among the students.

Jerion Academy is a meritocracy.

Students with higher grades receive more support and benefits.

Moreover, this place is like a microcosm of the vast world society.

A place where many high-ranking nobles’ children and future heroes spend their childhood.

Making a name for oneself at Jerion Academy means making a name for oneself in the world.

So the children are even more desperate to raise their ranks.

Even the professors watch the mock battles carefully.

It’s a time when the children’s passion burns excessively.

At such a time.

There was someone running across the arena.

Smack!

My fist hit the opponent’s jaw accurately.

“Ugh, crazy, b*stard.”

The opponent, who lost consciousness in one blow, collapsed helplessly.

He had been dragged into a stamina fight all day.

In the end, I dug in, taking advantage of the moment he wavered, exhausted.

The children’s eyes briefly turned this way.

“What rank are you now?”

“30th.”

“……”

The voices of slander had all disappeared.

Instead, a look of vigilance began to appear on their faces.

A series of consecutive victories.

Already, 17 children had fallen to my fists.

All of them were defeated in the same way as Mirizen, who first faced me.

“Is he using martial arts?”

“But he hardly used martial arts in reality.”

“Most of them lost in physical fights.”

“This means he’s deliberately hiding his skills.”

“His endurance is also quite impressive. He took several proper hits and still endured them.”

Gradually, the children began to grasp my abilities.

That meant I was becoming a threat to them.

‘I managed to get this far with stamina and long-term battles.’

But there are limits.

As my rank rises, so does the skill of my opponents, and it’s becoming harder to avoid them.

Just a moment ago, I allowed several effective hits.

‘It’s a good thing I have steel skin.’

Otherwise, there were some hits that would have been dizzying.

‘From now on, it’s the mid-rankers.’

Only those who won’t fall for these tricks are left.

Even with steel skin.

There are those it won’t work on.

Boom!

At that moment, a piercing noise followed.

When I turned my head in that direction, a man with green hair tied in a ponytail was rolling in front of Isabel.

9th rank, Zhelond Basis.

“Grrr.”

In front of him stood a girl with honey blonde hair fluttering.

Holding a crystal-shaped dagger and a long sword.

Isabel Luna.

She looked down at Zelond with cold eyes, unlike her usual self.

Isabel is known to be fierce in battle.

Usually, she is a very bright and lovely girl.

But once she enters battle, she shows a state of concentration as if she has become a different person.

However, today, she felt even sharper than usual.

“Isabel, haven’t you gotten better?”

“I’ve been going to the training hall alone lately.”

“I will go higher.”

The children also showed surprised reactions to Isabel’s skills.

Isabel, who was originally at the top.

After Lucas’s death, she lost all motivation and her rank kept falling.

But today.

She was showing a distinctly different side from before.

Beyond her prime.

A momentum beyond that could be felt from her.

Isabel’s head turned.

Her eyes, reminiscent of the sun, met mine.

In her eyes, a deep flame of anger flickered.

The reason she regained her skills and became stronger.

It was clear what it was.

To definitely defeat me and receive an apology for slandering Lucas.

It was no different from saying this.

‘Burning well.’

I am grateful that she is so motivated.

It means I am steadily becoming the goal of Isabel’s life.

‘Keep growing like that. Isabel.’

Since you’re growing anyway, grow your grudge even bigger.

As I was catching my breath, I saw the first-year students having a mock battle.

In the distance, there was a monstrous figure wielding a greatsword.

The iron giant of the greatsword, Aisha Bizbel.

A student who rushed at her was struck by the greatsword and flew into the air.

He barely managed to dodge and landed on the ground, looking at Aisha with a terrified face.

But Aisha, with her long, dark blue hair fluttering, had an even more intense expression.

Usually, she is diligent and hardworking, but when she holds the greatsword, she loses her mind.

‘I experienced that too.’

I recalled the day I sparred with Aisha before the mock battle and smiled bitterly.

Watching that, my side still aches.

“29th place, Seron Parmia. 30th place, Hanon Airei.”

While watching Aisha finish off her opponent with the greatsword, I heard the assistant calling my name.

When I turned my gaze, one of the girls who always insulted me stepped forward.

With burgundy ponytail hair and a headband to reveal her forehead.

Wearing clothes slightly larger than her frame, seemingly to emphasize her cuteness.

One of the four who constantly insult me.

Seron Parmia.

As soon as she met my eyes, she snorted.

“What are you looking at? You look like a burnt sweet potato.”

Oh?

What kind of insult is ‘burnt sweet potato’?

She climbed onto the arena first.

“Seron, teach him a lesson!”

“Give that nasty guy a good beating!”

“You’re dead against Seron.”

The voices of the kids in the audience were loud.

Seron, basking in their support, had an arrogant face.

“Don’t think that nonsense will work on me. You’ll die, sweet potato.”

She warned me.

It was a warning that trying to win by exhausting my stamina like in the previous battle wouldn’t work.

Moreover, I am well aware of the nickname attached to her.

‘Unlucky Seron.’

She has no luck.

Every time during mock battles, bad luck would strike, pushing her rank down despite her skills.

For some unknown reason, misfortune would hit her every day, often landing her in the hospital.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Seron drew two axes from her waist simultaneously.

Her combat skills are real.

She definitely did not have the skills to stay in the lower-middle ranks.

‘In fact, her stats were the strongest among the four.’

But as I said before.

She is unlucky.

“Yeah, I know.”

I took out a piece of equipment from the weapon rack below the arena.

Seron’s eyes slowly widened as she saw what I had taken out.

It was one thing.

A shield.

I had not used any weapons until now.

When I took out the shield at this timing, her eyes narrowed sharply.

All the data she had accumulated on me would now be meaningless.

A natural reaction.

“Do you think anything will change if you use a shield?”

As she reacted incredulously, I stepped onto the arena.

“I can’t help it.”

Then I casually lifted the shield.

“Your forehead is too shiny, I needed something to block the glare.”

Crack!

A vein bulged on Seron’s forehead.

“What about my forehead?”

He fell for the cheap provocation just like someone who makes cheap provocations.

Simple.

“Begin.”

It’s coming.

As soon as I sensed it, my shield moved reflexively.

Kaaang!

With a loud noise, Seron’s axe collided with my shield.

Contrary to its appearance, Seron’s axe, which had great strength, left a heavy impact.

“To Bel!”

Shouting Isabel’s nickname, Seron’s eyes sparked with fire.

“I didn’t like it from the moment you spoke recklessly!”

Kaaang!

I blocked her axe with my shield once again.

She twisted her body, continuing her attack without stopping, right after swinging the axe.

“Now I see it clearly!”

Chiiiik!

Along with that, the sound of ignition came from the tip of the axe.

At the same time, flames flickered beyond the shield.

Seron’s unique trait.

‘Ignition Axe.’

Kwooong!

With the sound of an explosion, I took a step back.

Her ignition axe causes an explosion upon contact.

A faint smell of gunpowder tickled my nose.

My arm tingled from the shock of the explosion that traveled through the shield.

“You’re just a burnt sweet potato now!”

Using her flexible body, Seron launched a continuous series of attacks.

Each time, I blocked her axe with my shield.

My body kept getting pushed back.

I sensed Seron’s intention.

She planned to push me completely out of the arena.

‘In mock battles, there are out-of-bounds rulings.’

It was a pretty good judgment.

But as I mentioned earlier, Seron was unlucky.

Just before I was about to step out of the arena.

My foot moved forward for the first time.

Seron’s eyes also immediately noticed the movement of my foot.

As expected of a master of dual-wielding, her eyes were sharp.

But it didn’t matter.

My shield, pushed in at the wrong timing, collided with Seron’s axe.

Kaang!

The force applied to the axe and the force applied to the shield clashed simultaneously.

As a result, the axe and the shield bounced off in different directions.

The forces canceled each other out.

But Seron’s axe was not alone.

The dual-wielding technique she mastered involved axes in both hands.

The axe in her other hand rushed towards my empty body.

Seron’s eyes already held the certainty of victory.

Just before her axe reached me.

I extended my left arm towards the axe.

Seron’s eyes widened.

Although the axe was magically treated at the academy, so there was no risk of injury from the blade.

Her axe had the unique characteristic of being an ignition axe.

In a worst-case scenario, my left arm could be blown off.

No matter how many top-tier healers were on standby, it was a reckless move.

From noble mtl dot com

Grit!

But a match is a match.

Seron didn’t care and put all her strength into the axe.

She intended to make me feel some real pain this time.

And then her axe touched my arm.

BoooM!

The explosion sound swept through the surroundings.

It was a direct hit.

The moment when certainty of victory filled Seron’s eyes.

Whoosh!

A hand emerged through the smoke and grabbed Seron by the collar.

Seron’s eyes widened.

“What?!”

An incredulous reaction burst from her lips.

And for good reason, as this hand was undoubtedly attached to the arm that her igniting axe had struck.

Even if it hadn’t flown off, it should have at least been twisted and broken.

Yet here it was, perfectly fine, grabbing her collar.

Seron’s mind momentarily went blank.

But her body moved instinctively.

The axe she had swung quickly returned to its place and reached out towards the arm that held her collar.

BoooM!

Another explosion echoed as the igniting axe activated.

At the moment she thought it must have really broken this time.

Whoosh!

Her body was suddenly lifted into the air.

Shock filled Seron’s eyes.

My arm was still intact.

Again, Seron was unlucky.

After all, she encountered me in the early stages of the mock battle.

The trait I gained from the Empress of Steel.

Steel Skin.

Steel Skin has two effects.

Weakening physical and slashing attacks.

And immunity to flames.

To pierce my steel skin, you need more firepower than the dozens of essences of fire I used.

Seron’s ignition axe is no match.

The shield was a fake to make Seron think her attack would work.

I slammed Seron down from the air, falling for it beautifully.

BoooM!

Seron’s legs and arms stood upright in the air as she was slammed into the ground.

At the same time, her arms and legs slowly drooped down.

Her body trembled slightly.

“Hic, hic.”

A feeble sound escaped her lips.

Her body trembled like a hunted small animal.

Seeing this, I lightly shook off my left arm.

Even with steel skin, it’s not like there’s no impact at all.

I used a trick to meet a skilled opponent sooner than expected, but it’s not something to do often.

Step-

I took a step towards Seron.

“Ugh, hic, ugh!”

Seron struggled to get up.

But slammed into the ground with full force, she couldn’t get up on her own.

Maybe it was the lighting, but shadows fell on my face.

Seeing me slowly closing in, Seron trembled as if terrified.

“No, no, don’t come!”

She lost all her momentum from earlier and screamed in fear.

I looked at her for a moment and then smirked.

“I’ll be right there.”

Taste the burnt sweet potato.

And I mercilessly raised my fist.

“No, no, no!”

My descending fist hit Seron’s face directly.

Crunch!

She shuddered once and then went limp.

Her slender legs, gathered adorably, no longer had any strength left.

“30th place, Hanon Airei wins.”

With the instructor’s brief words, I lifted my head.

The children, who hadn’t expected Seron to be defeated so miserably, were dumbfounded.

Especially, the faces of three out of the four were worth seeing.

I made eye contact with them.

This is a warning that you are no different and might even fare worse.

Take a good look at how terrifying a fully burnt sweet potato can be.