The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 19



18 – The Madman Who Defeats a Genius

“Kyah!”

Thud!

The last girl among the four who cursed me rolled on the floor.

She couldn’t break through my steel skin and shield offensive, and collapsed.

She rolled on the floor and fainted.

It was truly a series of overwhelming victories.

The four who were helplessly defeated by me bit their handkerchiefs in frustration.

But when our eyes met, they flinched and avoided my gaze.

Cold sweat formed on their foreheads.

All thanks to the severe lesson I taught them.

From now on, they won’t dare to openly badmouth me.

‘It doesn’t feel too bad.’

I feel refreshed.

Is this what they call cider?

Before I knew it, my rank was 15th.

Most were waiting for the mock battle results, but my mock battle wasn’t over yet.

‘Four more.’

If I defeat four more, I’ll definitely be in the top ranks.

‘Sss, even I’m getting a bit tired.’

I’ve certainly grown through physical training so far.

However, trying to jump from 46th to 15th place in one go.

I started to feel the strain on my stamina.

Moreover, as I climbed into the middle ranks, the difference in skill levels became more apparent.

It was clear that only excellent students could attend the Jerion Academy.

There was a limit to how far I could push through with just my steel skin.

It was fortunate that this was just a mock battle.

If it had been a life-and-death battle, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat the middle-ranked students so easily.

In real combat, they would use any means necessary to kill their opponent.

It was clear that the fight would be much tougher than it is now.

‘Even so, my steel skin alone wouldn’t be enough to reach the top ranks.’

I had prepared a few tricks for that.

But even I didn’t know how far they would take me.

“How many places have you climbed?”

“Now I’m 15th.”

“Are you going to make it to the top ranks at this rate?”

Just then, I heard murmurs among the children.

In the history of mock battles, there were hardly any students who caused such a significant change in rankings.

Most students only managed to change their rank by about three places at most.

“Come to think of it, doesn’t this situation remind you of the past?”

“Yeah, with Lucas…”

At that moment, the children fell silent.

They realized they had misspoken and glanced at someone.

The person they looked at was Isabel.

She had been quietly watching my battle the whole time.

Isabel’s current rank in the mock battle was 5th.

Considering she originally ranked 10th, she had climbed five places.

Isabel’s skills had improved significantly.

But Isabel had a different target in mind.

The one who had climbed from the lower ranks to the middle ranks.

Me.

There was only one person who had such a drastic change in the mock battle rankings.

It was none other than Lucas, who had awakened the unique trait, the Flame of Determination, while originally staying in the lower ranks.

Lucas, who had awakened the Flame of Determination, made great strides by synergizing with the training he had always been doing.

As a result, he quickly climbed from the lower ranks to the upper ranks in the mock battles.

He truly showed the qualities of a protagonist.

And now.

I, who had insulted the dead Lucas, have climbed up from the lower ranks to here, just like Lucas.

In the minds of the children, the dead Lucas came to mind once again, and naturally, their gazes turned to Isabel.

Isabel remained silent with her lips tightly closed.

At this moment, she is the one who is thinking of Lucas more than anyone else.

But she said nothing.

She just quietly looked at me, pondering how to deal with me.

‘Yes, think a lot about it.’

Anyway, that thought won’t mean much.

“14th place, Ban. 15th place, Hanon Airey.”

At that moment, I was called again.

‘It’s here.’

And for the first time, the composure disappeared from my face.

In the distance.

A thin boy was walking slowly.

His face was full of boredom and annoyance.

Following his heart, following the flow of the world.

He was a boy who lived as he pleased.

And I instinctively knew that I had met the strongest opponent today.

The lazy genius.

Ban.

A lazy genius who was always indifferent to everything.

Despite being undoubtedly in the top five in terms of skill.

He always declared a forfeit due to annoyance.

Neither the instructors nor the professors particularly reprimanded Ban for this.

A person without motivation will never find it, no matter what they do.

His ranking also reflects his mindset.

If he has no will to rise, being stuck in the middle ranks is considered the right place for him.

Ban scratched his back and looked at me with a bored expression.

Meeting his gaze, I stepped onto the arena.

“Ban, if you’re going to forfeit again, say it early.”

The instructor, familiar with Ban, said to him.

Ban glanced at the instructor and then slowly turned to look at me.

Then he stopped scratching his back.

“No.”

The boredom in his eyes was still there, but…

For the first time in a long while, a faint interest had emerged.

“Because I want to cut.”

What a lunatic.

I don’t understand why all the geniuses, like Sharin, the top student in magic studies, are like this.

“Ban wants to cut.”

“Is it finally over?”

“If Ban is interested, the transfer student must be strong.”

The students whispered again.

All the second-year students know Ban’s skill.

Moreover, they know that Ban has never shown his true ability.

But the reason Ban decided to fight me…

It’s not because he highly evaluates my skills.

Ban has only shown his true ability once in a mock battle.

“He once crossed swords with Lucas.”

It was when he fought Lucas.

After a bloody battle, Lucas defeated Ban with desperate effort.

This was Ban’s turning point, and it was also when he regained interest in the sword and started wielding it again.

But after Lucas died…

Ban lost interest in the sword again and became a lazy genius.

“He’s quite a decent person.”

Ban let the scabbard drop to the floor.

At the same time, a murderous intent began to rise from his body.

“You, you speak carelessly.”

Ban quite liked Lucas.

And I insulted Lucas, who had been the source of Ban’s motivation.

Isabel wasn’t the only one upset by Lucas’s insult.

At least the top ranks of the martial arts class who had been with Lucas for a year.

They all got along well with Lucas, and they were very displeased with me for insulting him.

That’s why the composure disappeared from my face.

Rank 14, the lazy genius Ban.

He would never let me off easily.

And I’m sorry, but.

“I just said what needed to be said.”

I’m not one to be easily let off either.

“Oh, really.”

Ban responded calmly.

Instead, his eyes stared straight at me.

“I’ll cut you.”

The blade of Ban’s sword shimmered with a clear blue aura.

A talent so rare that only a few at the Jereon Academy, where geniuses gather, could master it.

Sword Ki.

The ultimate state of imbuing one’s own image into the sword.

Sword Ki can cut through rocks and even steel, even with a blunt sword.

Ban was one of the few sword masters who could wield such Sword Ki.

No matter how strong my steel skin is.

At my current level, I cannot block Sword Ki head-on.

This was also why I said that steel skin alone wouldn’t suffice in the upper ranks.

Ban’s sword moved again.

Now, relying on steel skin and the long-term strategies I used in the middle ranks is meaningless.

The shield on my arm moved swiftly.

Ban looked at the shield indifferently.

“Does that have any meaning?”

With his question, Ban’s sword and the shield collided.

Screech!

The shield was soon split in two and shattered.

The shield was also useless in front of Ban’s Sword Ki.

The only way to block Sword Ki is to wield Sword Ki of the same level.

I realized anew how powerful Sword Ki is.

The instructor didn’t particularly intervene.

He knew Ban’s skill.

It looked dangerous, but he was sure Ban wouldn’t kill his opponent.

Ban’s swordsmanship had matured to that extent.

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The sword glided forward, trampling the ground.

My body narrowly avoided Ban’s sword.

Thanks to today’s mock battle, I learned one advantage of Vickerman.

Vickerman’s dynamic vision is better than I thought.

If it were the original me, I wouldn’t have been able to react to the attack.

Vickerman’s body was evading with imprinted steps.

Repeated evasions in the previous battle helped.

Experience steadily accumulated in my body.

But not everything can be solved by evasion alone.

The opponent is a master of the sword.

Because of Ban’s swordsmanship, I was gradually being cornered.

Ban’s sword began to position itself faster in the direction I was evading.

Before I knew it, the space I had to evade was rapidly shrinking.

Ban simultaneously handles numerous types of swordsmanship.

This swordsmanship, which seizes and narrows the opponent’s territory, is undoubtedly a type of blunt sword.

To this, the principle of a swift sword that drives the opponent at high speed is added.

Swoosh!

The space being cut increased more and more.

The flesh cut by the sword energy splattered blood on my clothes.

My territory was instantly taken away by Ban.

Ban’s eyes gleamed.

I could feel how long he had been enlightened by the sword.

Before I knew it, I was driven to a point where I couldn’t move an inch.

My body was covered in blood from evading his sword.

My breath was ragged.

Repeating evasions on thin ice, even my stamina struggled to keep up.

“Ban, take him down!”

“Show that guy what you’re made of!”

Perhaps because I had mercilessly taken down the children earlier.

Before I knew it, I had become a traitor to the other martial arts students.

Well, even I had to admit, I had a bad hobby of tormenting the kids.

After enduring with infinite evasion and steel skin, I crushed them when my stamina was exhausted.

From the children’s perspective, it wouldn’t have felt like a fair fight.

Some even complained that if it weren’t for the mock battle, it wouldn’t have dragged on like this.

But this is a mock battle.

I must thoroughly exploit the characteristics of a mock battle.

Even the role of a traitor is rather welcome to me.

The more I become a traitor, the more it can motivate Isabel to bring me down.

Even amidst the children’s cries, Ban’s eyes were calm.

His concentration was terrifying, as if to show what a genius is.

My space was already dominated by Ban.

Knowing this, Ban’s sword reached out to end me.

Like a snake biting the nape of its prey.

Ban’s sword surged towards me.

An unavoidable, ultra-close attack.

My eyes clearly recognized the sword, but there was no way to evade it.

Therefore.

‘I have waited until now.’

Ban’s sword rushes towards me.

The moment the sword, imbued with sword energy, cut through my skin and dug into my chest.

Crunch!

Ban’s eyes opened for the first time.

Steel skin.

There is one secret here that others do not know.

Steel skin is not only overlaid on the skin.

Even the weapon or clothing I hold can be overlaid with steel skin.

And why am I saying this now?

The reason unfolded right before my eyes.

Ban’s sword, which was supposed to cut me.

That sword stood fixed in my chest.

Ban’s sword was stuck and did not move an inch.

Of course, the pain of my chest being cut and split overwhelmed me.

But that was something I had prepared for long ago.

Ban’s eyes widened.

His eyes conveyed the meaning of whether I was sane.

“You.”

He belatedly noticed the characteristics bestowed upon my body.

I am not just a tough guy.

I am a body shrouded in the mystery that the Iron Empress originally possessed.

But it is still too early to be flustered.

At the moment Ban’s sword was swung, my hands were already moving.

My hands, with fingers pointed, headed towards Ban’s sword blade embedded in my chest.

Ban noticed my movement, but it was too late.

Creak!

My fingers pierced through the surface of Ban’s sword.

Using the mystery of my steel skin, I interfered with the sword itself and pushed away the contact surface.

“Heh, let me tell you one thing.”

Thanks to that, I felt the sensation of my fingers being torn apart.

But I didn’t care and revealed a malicious smile.

Amidst the sweat flowing down my face, my red eyes glistened in the light.

Ban’s eyes widened greatly as he faced me.

It was as if he was facing a madman.

Ban, who had lived his entire life as a genius, was always surrounded by ordinary people.

So I decided to imprint one thing clearly on him.

Ban, the lazy genius who should have become Lucas’s most reliable companion and friend someday.

In front of him, I am.

A madman he has never seen before.

“Don’t use a sword in front of me again.”

And then I clenched both hands simultaneously and pulled.

Crunch! Clang!

The misaligned sword shattered and scattered in all directions.

Ban stared blankly at the scattered pieces of the sword.

Sword Breaker.

Even Aisha was taken aback by my move.

A trump card to destroy the genius of the sword.