The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 33



32 – Stop the Assassination of the Older Brother

After finishing the student council work.

I started walking back to the dormitory.

As I was heading to the dormitory, I saw a familiar back in the distance.

Hair like a messy broom.

First-year, the contractor of the Spirit Lord, Poara.

It seemed like he was on his way home from school.

“Poara.”

When I called him, Poara turned his head this way.

Then Poara bowed to me with a bright face.

A polite junior is nice.

“Hello, Senior Hanon!”

“Yes, are you on your way to the dormitory?”

“Oh, I’m on my way to the Great Forest of Spirits.”

Even after school, he’s going to the Great Forest of Spirits.

He’s very sincere about spirits.

“You’re diligent.”

“Haha, actually, I’m not going to study. I heard something strange from the Spirit Lord.”

The Spirit Lord said something strange.

I started to get interested.

“Is it a story you can tell me too?”

“Ah, yes, actually I wanted to consult with you.”

“What is it about?”

“It’s a story about the mystery that once covered the Great Forest of Spirits.”

The Empress of Steel.

The mystery that provided me with my most important ability, the steel skin.

“Why?”

“The Spirit Lord said he felt the presence of the mystery again.”

My eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Mysteries are beings that contain many dangers.

They are those who, for some reason, could not become gods.

The fact that the mystery is felt again meant that something dangerous could happen.

“But this is a bit strange.”

“Tell me more.”

“Ah, yes, I can definitely feel the aura of the mystery. But it’s faint, as if something is covering it.”

“Faint?”

Mysteries are beings that are close to rampaging because they couldn’t become gods.

They are beings that pour out their power uncontrollably.

That’s what mysteries are.

The fact that such a mystery is felt again didn’t make sense in the first place.

“Yes, I don’t know the exact details either, but that’s what the Spirit Lord said.”

Poara also knows about the mystery.

It wasn’t strange to feel something was wrong.

“You consulted me because I once defeated a mystery.”

“Yes, you handle the power of the mystery, right?”

Poara, who made a contract with the Spirit Lord.

He must have heard everything I did in the Great Forest of Spirits through the Spirit Lord.

I didn’t deny it and nodded.

“Fighting with bare hands in the previous battle was all thanks to that.”

“I wanted to ask for your opinion because I thought you might know something more. The Spirit Lord is anxious.”

The spirit lord who once had his forest taken over by the Iron Empress.

Sensing the presence of the mysterious being, it was natural to feel uneasy.

“Alright. I’ll look into it personally.”

“Wow, thank you. As expected of you, senior.”

Poara’s eyes sparkled with genuine gratitude.

Maybe it was because I always showed Poara my best side.

It seemed I had become a very trusted senior to him.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, take care.”

After seeing Poara off, I fell into deep thought.

The mysterious being that suddenly appeared.

Was there any event related to the mysterious being happening around this time?

‘At least, not in my memory.’

Then what coincides with the appearance of the mysterious being now?

Just one thing.

There is an unprecedented change at Jerion Academy.

‘Nia Cynthia.’

My eyes glinted coldly.

At the same time, I recalled Iris telling me about Nia’s assassination.

Why did Iris tell me about Nia’s assassination?

‘Iris knew that I had dealt with the Iron Empress.’

One of the student council members is Iris’s confidant.

So, he must have tipped off Iris about the Iron Empress case that the student council had hidden, out of consideration for me.

In other words, Iris knew that I was related to the mysterious being.

The conclusion came to my mind.

‘Somehow, the mysterious being is involved in Nia’s assassination.’

The mysterious beings are unpredictable entities.

If it’s the mysterious being, Nia’s assassination is possible.

And that too, as an accident, cleanly without any aftermath.

My face hardened.

‘Damn it.’

I immediately chased after Poara.

Before long, I found Poara heading towards the Great Forest.

“Poara, I have learned something about the mystery. Can I meet the Spirit Lord?”

I didn’t know what mystery led to Nia’s assassination.

Therefore, I needed to fill in the missing information.

Fortunately, Poara readily agreed to my request.

The Great Forest of Spirits.

As we entered, Poara began to prepare.

Soon, in response to his spirit sensitivity, a faint form began to appear above the forest.

And what appeared was a giant jade-colored bird.

With the bird’s appearance, the wind swirled as if dancing.

It felt as if the blessing of the wind was enveloping this place.

But within the wind.

Just seeing it made my body instinctively shrink.

My hands and feet trembled.

Goosebumps rose on the steel skin engraved on my body.

I struggled to suppress it.

I could once again realize how high the Spirit Lord’s majesty was.

【 It’s been a while, child. Thank you for helping our forest back then. 】

A belated thank you.

【 Without spirit sensitivity, I couldn’t show my face to you. You couldn’t see me at that time. 】

I wondered why I didn’t see a single spirit that day.

It seemed that my hopeless spirit sensitivity had prevented me from seeing the spirits at all.

‘Did I stay by its side for a while after defeating it?’

My memory of that time is faint, so I’m not sure.

Anyway, thanks to that, the Spirit Lord was fortunately very kind to me.

Although, without spirit sensitivity, I couldn’t even talk without Poara’s help.

The Spirit Lord was well aware that I had saved the Great Forest of Spirits.

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Thanks to that, I was able to ask the Spirit Lord a few questions without any trouble.

【 The mystery is felt within the Jerion Academy. 】

The Spirit Lord said that the mystery was already inside the Jerion Academy.

But as mentioned earlier, the mystery is an uncontrollable surge of power.

If it had entered the Jerion Academy, someone would have noticed it first.

“Does that mean it might be in the same form as me?”

I hold the mystery in the form of steel skin.

The consciousness of the Steel Empress has disappeared.

But the mysterious power she possessed was clearly embedded in me.

【 I see. Now that I look, there are similarities. 】

The Spirit Lord agreed with my question.

Indeed, rather than the mystery itself entering, something holds the mysterious power.

‘Is the assassin who will kill Nia holding the mystery?’

But according to the student council’s information, no new person had entered.

Given that Nia is at risk of being assassinated.

I meticulously examined the student council’s records.

But the only new person who entered the academy this year was Nia.

‘If we consider someone among the existing people who could assassinate Nia.’

Honestly, there is no one.

I have played the Flame Butterfly countless times.

I know all the main characters’ personalities, traits, and pasts.

‘Of course, it could be an extra I don’t know at all.’

Nia is an active magic knight.

Even if she possesses the mystery, it was hard to accept that she would be assassinated by an extra.

‘Then.’

I raised my head.

“Spirit Lord, I’m sorry, but may I ask one last question? When did you start feeling the mystery?”

【 It was a week ago. 】

A week ago.

It coincides with the time Nia came to Jerion Academy.

“Thank you.”

As soon as I realized this, I turned my body and started running out of the Great Forest of Spirits.

As if engraving steel skin onto my body.

There are also objects in this world that contain mysterious powers.

It’s just a guess, but.

There was a high probability that Nia herself had an item related to this.

And there was one thing that came to mind the most in relation to such an item.

‘That staff.’

The staff that Nia said she had newly acquired through an acquaintance she knew.

It was a staff that even Nikita reacted to, a staff that had been meticulously crafted.

Is it a coincidence that she obtained a new staff at this point?

Nia’s original staff was broken.

Coincidentally, the staff craftsman had an accident and was injured.

An acquaintance recommended a new craftsman.

A disturbing feeling was sensed.

Nia’s assassination is inevitable.

Then there must be something that acted to create that inevitability.

The result of overlapping coincidences so that even Nia did not notice.

At the moment I realized this, my legs started to move faster and faster.

Before I knew it, the building of the Jerion Academy of Magic began to come into view.

I don’t know when Nia will be assassinated.

Moreover, even if I prevent the assassination this time, there is no guarantee that he will not die.

And considering the story of the main plot, it is right to leave his assassination alone.

Nevertheless, my legs did not stop.

A person is going to die.

Knowing this, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.

‘Even though I said I would do anything for the main plot.’

When the situation actually came, my body moved on its own.

I am a fool.

I should be ruthless for the sake of the ending, but I couldn’t.

If I can’t proceed with the main plot, the world will most likely perish.

“`

And I will die too.

If I don’t want to die, I must somehow align the scenario with the flow of the main story.

However.

There is someone who will be more saddened by Nia’s death than anyone else.

During the playthrough of the Flame Butterfly arc.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t prevent Nia’s assassination.

And then, Nikita’s darkening route that follows.

For the next act, and the act after that, the preceding event is absolutely necessary.

Nikita, as the boss of Act 3, is killed.

From the moment Nia’s assassination was confirmed, her darkening was an unavoidable route.

My fist clenched tightly.

I have spoken about the Flame Butterfly arc countless times.

I am undoubtedly a veteran among veterans.

‘At the point where even Lucas has died.’

The direction of the main story diverged at dusk, and I am merely soldering it back to the main story.

Even so, I am struggling like this to avoid the bad ending where the world perishes.

I am doing this to see the happy ending of the Flame Butterfly arc even without the protagonist.

‘If Nia is not assassinated, can’t I lead this world to the main story?’

No.

I can do it.

I can definitely do it.

Because I have seen countless endings of the Flame Butterfly arc.

I have already patched and patched countless times.

If something is lacking, I can patch it again.

‘Since the goal is a happy ending.’

My eyes filled with determination and flashed fiercely.

‘Even in the Flame Butterfly arc, at least one.’

There can be a happy ending where all the characters end with happy faces.

Today, I revised my goal.

If I must, I will see the ending without the protagonist.

“`

If I’m going to do it, I’ll create the most ideal happy ending.

Strength returned to my legs.

As I made up my mind, my legs moved even faster.

I climbed the stairs of the magic building and soon arrived at the magic faculty office.

At the moment I hurried to find Nia.

Creak-

A familiar face walked out with the opening door.

With hair that seemed to contain the Milky Way, she tilted her head when she saw me.

“Hanon, why are you running?”

The one who asked with a languid face was Sharin Sazarith.

She was the top student in the second year of magic studies.

“Huff, huff, Sharin.”

Breathing heavily with my hands on my knees from running so hard, I looked up at her.

I was so out of breath that I couldn’t speak properly.

“It’s troubling when you look at me with such intense eyes.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Is Assistant Professor Nia inside?”

Sharin shook her head.

“No, she went out.”

Damn, did I miss her?

After catching my breath, I straightened my back.

“Do you know where she went?”

“She probably went to the magic palace? She said she finished preparing for the magic test.”

As soon as I heard that, I immediately turned around.

Nia’s assassination was already underway.

Of all times, the timing couldn’t be worse.

At that moment, I started to feel a sense of floating.

As I flailed my legs in the air, Sharin flew after me.

“Whatever it is, it’s urgent, right?”

It’s more than urgent.

A person’s life is at stake.

“I’ll help you.”

With those words, Sharin immediately changed direction.

The direction she turned to was the window.

Whoosh!

The window opened due to Sharin’s wind magic.

Then, holding me, Sharin flew straight out the window.

In an instant, the scenery below began to pass by.

The speed was incomparable to running.

I realized anew how useful magic could be.

“Should we head to the Demon Palace?”

“Yes, thank you for helping.”

“Next time, please get me curry bread.”

Is she helping me just to make me her bread shuttle?

“I’ll buy you cream bread and red bean bread too when this is over.”

“Wow, I need to work harder then.”

With an excited face, Sharin increased her speed.

Then, the Demon Palace, which had been at the end of the horizon, began to approach rapidly.

The huge gate of the Demon Palace, which seemed to swallow the sky, opened its mouth.

Looking at it, I hoped we weren’t too late.