The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 20



19 – Ten Seconds

The fragments of the sword, illuminated by the auditorium lights, shine in various colors.

I have played the “Flame Butterfly” countless times.

In that game, Ban was always an important figure as Lucas’s friend, and I was always by his side.

Did I really not know of Ban’s existence?

Impossible.

Until the mock battle, I studied and studied relentlessly.

There was certainly studying to keep up with the academy classes, but the main focus was on learning how to counter my opponents.

I am not a genius.

However, I have grasped the habits, behaviors, unique characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of the supporting characters.

I remember everything clearly, even if they are just supporting characters.

That’s why I want even more to see a happy ending, not a bad ending.

I always want this game I love the most to have a happy ending.

My hand rises from the fragments of the broken sword.

Thanks to my steel skin, my hand, shaped like a blade, becomes a sword at this moment.

A living biological weapon.

I, the sword, lunged at Ban.

Swish!

The rising blade passed by Ban’s head.

What kind of reflexes does he have?

Even in the moment of surprise when the sword broke, Ban reacted.

‘Tch.’

Even though it may not seem like it, I used to be an athlete before I got injured.

But to those who have already far surpassed human limits, my past athleticism didn’t mean much.

But it’s okay.

‘If I failed once.’

The second continues.

‘It’s coming.’

My eyes met Ban’s.

Ban was staring at me with a blank face.

However, separate from this, a flame quietly rose in his pupils.

An unprecedented situation where the sword was shattered.

For Ban, it was the first time his sword had broken.

“You, you’re out of your mind.”

And that ignited the flame of his desire for victory.

Ban originally had a flame of desire for victory.

But for some reason, that flame had once been extinguished.

However, there was a time when that flame of his had flared up again.

It was when he faced the flame of determination called Lucas.

A flame that should have originally burned fiercely with Lucas.

But as Lucas died, his flame also eventually died down.

But now.

The flame of his desire for victory.

To that flame.

My weak flame was rekindled.

Ban clenched his hand.

Only an empty hilt was gripped in his hand.

But he is a genius.

Crackle!

Blue sparks flew.

Ban’s gray hair fluttered along with the sparks.

The surrounding atmosphere vibrated, and a silent scream lingered in my ears.

The steel skin tingled.

My whole body was telling me.

That it would be dangerous.

On the empty blade.

Even without a blade, the blue sword bared its teeth and roared fiercely.

Grr, grrrrr-

People say that when they meet a swordsman who wields sword energy, they hear the voice of a beast.

This phenomenon, which occurs when sword energy meets the atmosphere, is still unexplained.

But it imprints one fact clearly.

The swordsman in front of you is more dangerous than a beast.

The shape of the sword energy, created without a blade, appeared from Ban’s sword.

The children watching this gasped and exclaimed in awe.

Even those who envelop their swords with sword energy are rare in the world.

The state of materializing a sword with pure sword energy.

With this skill, he could be employed as an imperial knight in the renowned High Sirion Empire without any problem.

Genius.

Ban has clearly shown what that means here and now.

The rising shape of the blue sword energy shines eerily.

But I know.

The current Ban cannot maintain the shape of the sword energy for long without the blade that should be its core.

This lasts only ten seconds at most.

Ban’s eyes changed as if they were ignited for the first time today.

If he doesn’t settle it within ten seconds, it will be his defeat without a sword.

And Ban is aware of this too.

But if it’s Ban.

‘He will surely win within ten seconds.’

The lazy genius Ban can do it.

Soon, Ban disappeared right in front of me.

My body tensed.

Now, tricks using my steel skin won’t work.

If I get cut even once, it’s over.

For the next ten seconds.

I must dodge everything.

“Ban!”

The assistant instructor, realizing belatedly that Ban had drawn a dangerously risky card, shouted at him.

However, Ban, who had already manifested his sword energy, could not be stopped even by the assistant instructor.

Nothing could be heard by Ban, who had already entered a state of hyper-focus.

In his eyes, I was the only one filling his vision.

‘Yes, that’s the kind of person you are.’

I looked at Ban and laughed grimly.

Ban, despite being a genius, was lazy.

But it wasn’t that he lacked the desire to win.

No, in fact, he had too much of it.

With an excessive desire to win, Ban had messed up countless things until now.

This was the same even with his own brothers.

Ban’s talent was immense, and his desire to win cried out only for victory.

As a result, his eldest brother, who loved the sword more than anyone, was miserably defeated before Ban’s sword.

After that, his eldest brother shut himself in his room.

He abandoned the sword he loved and avoided Ban.

Ban was sad.

And he grew tired of his own desire to win.

He came to hate this terrible desire to win.

If it was going to be like this, he decided it would have been better not to have had the desire to win from the start.

He chose to let go of his desire to win and opted to become lazy.

It was the bitter choice of a boy who was still young.

But now.

Ban’s desire to win, which had been suppressed for so long since Lucas, had ignited once again.

The desire that had been firmly pressed down in his heart.

That desire swallowed Ban in an instant.

‘The first attack is the head.’

I knew Ban’s habit.

And this habit had not changed even now.

The sword energy that was aiming to cut my waist in half suddenly soared and aimed for my head.

I quickly tilted my head back enough to break my stance.

The sword’s edge, which had come right up to my nose, grazed past, slicing my nose bridge.

Blood splattered.

But it wasn’t a fatal wound.

1 second.

The sword’s edge, now lighter without the blade, twisted freely and embedded itself in my shoulder.

A chunk of flesh from my armpit was torn off, but this too wasn’t a fatal wound.

2 seconds.

The twisted sword’s edge aimed for my lower body.

At the same time, I secretly threw a piece of the broken sword I had been holding.

Ban dodged the piece of the sword that flew right in front of him.

Thanks to that, I rolled my body away before the sword’s edge could strike my lower body.

3 seconds.

I kicked away the half-broken shield as I rolled on the ground.

Ban’s sword’s edge struck the ground, splitting the shield into two again.

4 seconds.

From noble mtl dot com

As I tried to get up, Ban’s relentless sword slashed towards me, cutting through the arena floor.

I flipped a tile that I had wedged my hand into on the arena floor.

Ban’s sword’s edge split the tile.

5 seconds.

Through the split floor tile, the sword surged towards me.

My posture was unstable, and my body staggered due to the continuous injuries.

I realized.

In my current state, I could no longer dodge Ban’s sword.

Victory or defeat.

At the moment when these two were about to intersect.

Ban and I locked eyes.

Ban noticed the faint smile on my face.

The fact that I was smiling in this situation made him open his eyes wide.

The ten seconds Ban had given his all.

This was Ban’s mistaken assumption.

This match does not allow for a long time of ten seconds.

5 seconds.

This is the time I assumed for victory.

Boom!

Someone who stormed into the arena grabbed Ban and slammed him to the ground.

The shock released the sword energy, and Ban’s sword handle rolled on the floor.

Ban’s hand, which had materialized the sword energy, was burning white.

Ban blankly raised his head.

There stood the second-year martial arts professor, Beganon.

She looked down at Ban with slightly annoyed eyes.

“Are you planning to kill your classmate with your own hands, Ban?”

Hearing that question, Ban hesitated.

Then Ban’s gaze slowly turned to me.

Ban looked at my battered state.

The last strike of Ban’s sword.

That sword was clearly aimed at my life.

Ban realized once again that the desire for victory had consumed him.

“Ah.”

A sigh escaped Ban’s lips.

He fell into self-loathing.

Since Lucas, it had been a long time since his desire for victory had ignited.

Lucas was strong enough to readily tell Ban to fight again next time.

Because of Lucas, Ban could clash his desire for victory against him several times.

But I can never be like Lucas.

Lucas is the protagonist.

I am a third-rate villain who has exited the narrative.

I cannot engage in a battle with Ban on equal footing like Lucas.

“…I’m sorry.”

When Ban apologized, Beganon did not scold him any further.

Then she looked at me, who was sitting on the floor.

“Hanun, you are also warned.”

As expected, it was the professor.

She noticed that I had anticipated her intervention from the beginning.

“And Ban.”

Veganon called Ban, who was rising with a gloomy face.

“Look at that guy properly. Even if the mock battle had continued, it wouldn’t have been your victory.”

Ban slowly raised his head, belatedly.

“This is your defeat for not realizing that your opponent had hidden their move until the end.”

Ban’s eyes slowly widened.

He could see the faint light on my arm, flickering and dying out.

Veganon’s intervention.

And assuming Veganon hadn’t intervened.

The next move to be taken out.

Magic engraving.

Ban now realized that I had considered these two things simultaneously from the beginning.

I had one more hidden move left until the end.

If the battle had continued.

At the point where he didn’t notice this, he couldn’t know what result would have come to him.

“Don’t be arrogant. I acknowledge your sword, but that doesn’t mean the people around you have no strengths.”

Ban had a blank face at Veganon’s advice, which pierced deep into his bones.

“Ha, haha.”

And soon, a hollow laugh came from Ban.

He looked at me blankly and then slowly lowered his head.

“Sorry. It seems I didn’t see anything properly.”

Ban raised his head with a somewhat relieved expression.

“I lost.”

Hearing Ban’s next words, I snorted.

“You’re stating the obvious.”

Then, who do you think won?

Ban laughed absurdly.

Looking at such a sight, I slowly began to tilt.

And soon enough, I realized the reason.

I moved, spilling so much blood.

The relief and fatigue after the battle.

Even the endorphins that surged during the battle had faded.

The result was predetermined from the beginning.

Bed, I’m coming to see you now.

In my fading consciousness, I saw Isabel glaring at me from afar.

Isabel, who had always longed for a battle with me.

I’m sorry to her.

Until next time.

Today, too, I made Isabel resent me.

Thud-