The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 25



24 – Chapter 24: Overwhelming Force

Boom! Boom!

The first floor of the Demon Palace, the gray forest.

The giant roots descending from the dark clouds began to dig into the ground of the gray forest here and there.

“What, what is that!”

I heard Seron’s voice shouting in fright.

Others were also bewildered by the larger-than-expected scale.

But the real thing is yet to come.

I ran out and quietly stared at the center of the root.

Crack!

Soon, the bud that sprouted at the center of the root began to open.

Pop- Pop-

Thick liquid flowed out from between the opened buds.

There was a monster, a hybrid between a human and an insect, made of gray tree bark.

The monster began to spread and dry its insect wings from its back shell.

The moment it starts flying in earnest, the situation will become very troublesome.

So, what we had to do was clear.

“Everyone, spread out to the roots and cut them as much as possible!”

“Are you crazy, you want us to cut that?”

Seron was horrified as he looked at the roots embedded in the gray forest.

At a glance, the roots were absurdly thick.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to cut them.

But we couldn’t leave it as it was.

The true apostle of the gray forest.

The forest keeper absorbs all the energy of the gray forest.

The gray forest, whose energy is absorbed, turns entirely gray as its name suggests.

In other words, it becomes a debuff zone where stamina is drained with every step.

“Why, are you scared?”

It was Seron who had been talking about going down to the demon palace earlier.

When I provocatively asked her, Seron bit her lips tightly as if she was angry.

“Who said I can’t do it!”

Seron shouted loudly and ran madly towards a root.

Sizzle!

As she drew her axe, the sound of ignition was followed by a burst of flames.

If Seron, who had an advantage over the roots, was involved, she would be able to cut the roots without any problem.

“Aisha, you can do it too, right?”

“Of course.”

Aisha had already drawn her greatsword and started swinging it around.

Aisha, known as the Iron Maiden of the Great Sword.

With her strength, she can easily sever roots.

As if she had been waiting for a day like today, Aisha’s eyes shone fiercely.

“Poara, the fire spirit you can summon.”

“I can summon up to a mid-level spirit!”

“That’s enough. Don’t summon the lord yet. The time will come when we need it.”

“Yes!”

With a vigorous response, Poara materialized the fire spirit.

A giant fire lizard appeared behind Poara, opening its mouth and spewing flames towards the roots.

“Saint.”

“I’m ready.”

Meanwhile, Sirmiel finished his prayer and reached his hand towards the sky.

At that moment, a white light enveloped not only my body but everyone’s bodies.

Vitality overflowed from our bodies.

Our movements became much lighter than before.

It was the effect of the blessing granted by the saint.

As expected, the stats were greatly boosted, as if it were the saint himself.

‘With this.’

As I kicked off the ground and ran, I soon reached the roots.

Up close, the roots were as massive as a baobab tree.

No wonder Seron had a terrified expression.

‘Originally.’

This part would be a relatively easy event to pass if Lucas and the protagonist’s companions were here.

They could easily remove the roots.

Especially, Lucas’s flame of determination was the greatest weakness of the forest keeper.

But we can’t expect what we don’t have.

Sometimes, you have to fight with what you have.

As my hand lifted, my fingers sharpened like blades.

Thanks to my steel skin, my body became a natural weapon.

And with the saint’s blessing added to it.

My body could now outperform most weapons.

‘Although, it may not be as good as an aura.’

It could have the cutting power of a decent sword.

Crack!

My swinging hand tore through the roots and dug deep.

The strength of the roots themselves was not much different from ordinary wood.

So, with my hand buried in, I raised my other hand.

My hands began to wildly dig through the roots.

Like a mole digging through the ground.

At this moment, I became an excavator, digging up all the roots.

As I dug up all the roots, the outside became visible after a while.

Rotating in that position, I continued to dig up the roots.

Snap, crackle!

After a while, the middle part of the roots connected to the ground was hollowed out.

Around the roots, the remnants of torn roots were scattered everywhere.

There was no time to catch my breath.

As soon as I confirmed that the roots were completely torn out, I kicked off the ground and ran again.

Then, I reached out for the next root.

I began to sever all the roots with all my might.

Rip! Boom!

From afar, the sound of roots being severed echoed.

It was the sound of others giving their all as well.

We are certainly not the protagonist party.

But even if we are not the protagonist party, we can still do what needs to be done.

‘If we can stop the forest keeper, we can bring the most people to the next act in this scenario.’

Even without the most valuable asset, the protagonist, Lucas.

We can bring more students to fill that gap.

‘To turn a bad ending into a happy ending.’

We will use any means necessary.

“Senior!”

The moment I severed the root once more, Aisha’s voice echoed.

In front of the path where Aisha was running, a root appeared.

No other roots were visible around.

It was the result of everyone’s desperate efforts to break the roots.

I, who had kicked the root, started running again.

My arms were strained from fervently digging out the roots, but I was still fine.

Aisha began to spin her body and rotate her greatsword.

My hands were once again endowed with the cutting power of steel skin.

Crack!

Aisha’s greatsword and my hand blade simultaneously struck the root.

The two of us began to tear the root apart recklessly.

The remnants of the root, torn without hesitation, scattered around.

The greatsword and hand blade embroidered the space between the roots.

After digging for a while, the moment Aisha and I simultaneously burst through the roots.

Crack!

The remaining roots couldn’t withstand the force and were torn apart, collapsing.

Aisha and I rolled out through the fragments of the roots.

We ran, avoiding the area that had turned into a gray zone as much as possible.

“Ugh, my arms are going to fall off!”

From afar, I saw Seron running with an axe on her shoulder.

Her red hair was covered in the remnants of the roots.

It was proof that she had also desperately cut the roots.

“All the roots have been burned!”

Poara, who had come riding a fire lizard, shouted.

My eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

Fortunately, the gray forest had not entirely turned into a gray zone.

It meant that we had successfully blocked the forest keeper’s appearance phase.

But the battle with the forest keeper had just begun.

Crack!

The forest keeper, who was at the center of the roots, began to rise, severing the roots connected to it.

Originally, it should have grown much larger by absorbing the essence of the gray forest.

Thanks to us clearing the roots faster than expected, it didn’t grow that big.

In other words, it means it has weakened.

“Saint, can you bestow some blessings on Poara?”

“That’s not difficult.”

The saint immediately complied with my request.

He began to pray.

“Poara.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Prepare the Spirit Lord and fire at maximum output as soon as the saint’s blessing is bestowed.”

“Uh, can we really do that?”

Poara asked with a bewildered face.

It meant that the Spirit Lord was a trump card, and he wondered if it was okay to use it like that.

Of course, it was okay.

“Yes, hit it with everything you’ve got.”

Hearing my words, Poara nodded with a determined expression.

“What are you planning?”

“Just watch.”

I answered Seron and tilted my head back to look up at the forest keeper.

“Oh God, please accept the prayer of your young lamb.”

Meanwhile, Sirmiel finished his prayer.

This place was a demon palace, but his prayer reached the heavens.

Soon, a fierce light of radiance descended from the sky and poured onto Poara.

All of Poara’s abilities surged explosively.

The Spirit Lord is an entity positioned just below the gods.

In other words, it means it can receive divine favor better than anyone else.

As a result, the divine blessing led Poara to a realm that was otherwise unreachable.

Due to the excessive concentration of power, Poara broke into a cold sweat and clasped his hands together.

At that moment, the spirit’s energy burst out wildly from Poara’s body.

A halo began to rise above Poara’s body.

“Wow!”

“This is incredible.”

Seron and Aisha, feeling the flow of power, couldn’t help but be amazed.

The wind blows.

Because of the fierce wind, all we could do was lower our bodies.

In the midst of the fierce gusts, the master of the Great Forest of Spirits slowly began to lift its head.

Sparks spread around.

A giant bird made of wind and sparks spread its wings towards the sky.

Wings so huge they cast a shadow over the sky unfolded.

The Spirit Lord.

A being that has reached the highest realm a spirit can achieve roared towards the sky.

The sight is truly overwhelming.

The Spirit Lord, in terms of firepower, is on par with a grand wizard.

Everything is powerless before the massive force.

I slowly lifted the corners of my mouth.

The first phase of the Forest Keeper has many troublesome points.

It’s optimized to consume the player’s power and items.

Because it’s full of annoying patterns.

That’s why I used Poara.

‘Overcome the first phase with extreme damage.’

It’s a burst damage strategy.

“Spirit Lord.”

Poara swallowed the saliva that flowed out in cold sweat.

Then aimed his hand at the Forest Keeper.

“Please!”

With Poara’s cry, the Spirit Lord swung its wings.

At that moment, the wind and lightning that bloomed swirled towards the Forest Keeper.

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!

The Forest Keeper, seeing the whirlwind of wind and lightning as soon as it opened its eyes, screamed.

It struggled desperately to survive, but it was meaningless.

The whirlwind of wind and lightning tore the forest keeper apart, shredding it into pieces.

The torn fragments of the forest keeper scattered around.

The giant roots that entered the gray forest were completely torn, making it hard to recognize their shape.

“Ugh, huh.”

Poara, who had exhausted all her strength to summon the Spirit Lord, knelt on the ground.

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“Well done.”

Seron, who was staring blankly at this, asked.

“Don’t we need this?”

“Don’t worry.”

I answered Seron while adjusting my shield.

Pheeeew!

At that moment, small fruit-like things poured out from the broken roots.

Thud! Thud!

The fruits that fell to the ground opened like eggs hatching.

Then, forest keepers smaller than the ones seen earlier appeared without wings.

Seron looked at them with a pale face and lowered her axe.

She also realized that the fight was not over yet.

“We still have a lot to do.”

We passed the first phase with a burst of damage.

Now it’s time to clear the second phase.