The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 46



45 – Lightning Catcher

The tenth apostle.

Thunderbird.

Thunderbird has three unique characteristics.

[Miniaturization][Durability][High-speed Movement]

It moves at high speed with a small and sturdy body.

Its speed is so fast that it resembles a thunder strike.

This is the definition of Thunderbird.

As soon as Thunderbird appeared, Sharin sacrificed her staff and cast a spell.

Sharin had also seen Thunderbird when the Iris team fought.

Therefore, she cast a large-scale spell with the intention of ending it from the beginning.

Kwagagagagagagak!

The moment the white flame engulfed everything around and tried to burn Thunderbird.

Thunderbird’s figure disappeared.

Kugoong!

With the thunder echoing in her ears, Thunderbird appeared in front of Sharin.

It spun its body violently and tried to pierce through Sharin.

Kagagagagagang!

But before it could reach her, a rising shadow blocked Thunderbird’s attack.

Thunderbird extended its shadow and stopped just before reaching Sharin’s nose.

What blocked Thunderbird was Card’s shadow magic.

“Urat-cha!”

Card twirled the staffs in both hands as if dancing.

At that moment, Thunderbird bounced off the elasticity of the shadow.

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Sharin’s eyes twisted in frustration.

She realized that even if she aimed her magic, Thunderbird was unimaginably fast.

Thunderbird evaded as soon as it sensed Sharin’s intention to cast a spell.

No matter how powerful Sharin’s magic was, it couldn’t hit if Thunderbird dodged upon seeing the spell activation.

Moreover, Thunderbird’s durability granted it absurd defense.

The Thunderbird that endured Iris’s fierce attacks dozens of times.

Even Sharin’s magic couldn’t bring it down in one blow unless it was perfect.

Tick-tock-

Time flows in between.

The time that was barely over 3 minutes had now approached 2 minutes.

“It’s too fast!”

Seron, who was chasing the Thunderbird, groaned.

No matter how wildly she swung her axe, she couldn’t reach the Thunderbird at all.

“Ugh!”

Instead, Seron was beaten by the Thunderbird and rolled on the ground.

If Grantoni hadn’t made a bone armor for defense in time, she would have fainted from a single blow.

Everyone began to feel anxious.

The Thunderbird is an opponent that we can definitely catch if we take our time.

However, the time constraint made everyone nervous.

Card raises a shadow.

Grantoni activates soul magic.

Seron’s axe embraces an explosion.

Sharin draws magic once again.

But.

It’s not enough to catch the Thunderbird within 3 minutes.

Therefore.

I prepared for today.

My head reaches the sky.

“Sharin, use defensive magic with everyone.”

My warning quietly echoed.

Card noticed something and swung the shadow.

“Ah?!”

Seron was wrapped in the shadow and dragged to Card, Sharin, and Grantoni.

At the same time, Sharin’s defensive magic was activated.

The Thunderbird, sensing something strange, flew in a zigzag with a thunderous sound.

The Thunderbird was moving so fast that it was almost invisible.

In the midst of such a battlefield.

I was holding my hand above my head.

On that hand, there was a ring.

Tick-

In the stillness cast within the flowing time.

Suddenly, dark clouds began to gather in the sky.

One by one, people who sensed something looked up at the sky.

The sky began to turn pitch black as if it was about to rain.

The Thunderbird was undoubtedly faster than even I could chase.

But no matter how fast it was.

The Thunderbird is an illusion created through the magic of the arena.

Its wings are trapped within the cage called the arena.

That means it cannot go outside the arena.

Boom!

And this means.

Rumble!

It means that if it sweeps through this entire battlefield, there is no escape.

This is my final move prepared for this moment.

“Come.”

Divine Soldier

Thunder Summoner

Flash-

A blue flash engulfed everything above the arena.

Amidst the flash.

The defensive magic that blocked the outside also shattered, and people passed by in shock.

But even amidst such astonishment.

There were also those who kept their eyes wide open, watching this scene.

The storm of blue electricity swept through the arena.

―――――――――――!

The surroundings appear entirely blue.

The pressure of the current flowing through my steel skin weighed down on my body.

It felt like my mind would fly away from the pressure.

Tick-tock-

Even now, the time that continues to flow without stopping forcibly held my mind in place.

In a world dyed blue.

I see the thunderbird swept away by the charge of the lightning.

The thunderbird, caught in a state of electrocution, was fixed in the sky, unable to move.

Despite its name, the thunderbird has no abilities related to lightning.

Instead, to catch it, one must use the same speed as it moves like thunder.

Iris solved this with physical force.

I borrowed the power of the divine soldier.

Even so, the thunderbird’s inherent sturdiness allowed it to survive the lightning strike.

Boom!

In the storm of charge, my foot stepped forward.

On my steel skin.

Letters began to embroider and light started to manifest.

I reached out my hand above my head.

The current flowing on my steel skin was forcibly sucked into my grasp.

Accordingly, a spear of charge dyed blue was formed.

Magic Engraving · Lightning Catcher

The goddess’s blue lightning was held in my hand.

Two things are needed to pierce through sturdiness.

A powerful attack that can ignore sturdiness.

Or a penetrating force that pierces through the sturdiness itself.

That’s why I prepared.

The strongest spear that can pierce through anything.

The steel skin fiercely attracted the current.

Mystery and magic engraving simultaneously manifested, and the power of the magic engraving grew even stronger.

Boom-

With a foot stomping on the ground, strength surged into my waist.

Crunch!

The act of swinging the lightning twisted my shoulder.

In that case, I put more strength into it.

The magical engraving on my elbow activated once more.

Boom!

With the explosion from my elbow, my arm swung with all its might.

The blue flash that left my grip raced through the sky and struck the Thunderbird.

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!

The spear of lightning pierced the Thunderbird and sent it flying to the end of the arena.

But at this moment, my eyes widened.

The spear of lightning was definitely embedded in the Thunderbird.

The Thunderbird surely couldn’t withstand the spear of lightning and would eventually meet its end.

Tick!

However, the time reflected in my eyes was already over 5 seconds.

As the lightning spread, the Thunderbird was slowly shattering.

But there wasn’t enough time to completely finish it off.

My body had no strength left.

Naturally, neither did my mana.

I could only hope for the Thunderbird to die quickly.

Right in front of the Thunderbird.

There was someone holding an axe.

In the blue flash, red hair fluttered.

The forehead revealed beneath the hair shone brightly.

Seron Parmia.

She was there.

When did she get there?

Having burst out of Sharin’s defensive magic, she was covered in shadows and bones.

She had reached there with the support of Card and Grantoni.

At this moment, I realized.

It wasn’t just me who wanted to be number one, it was everyone.

An explosion wrapped around the axe she swung down.

“Smash it!”

Everyone, including myself, shouted in our hearts as we watched.

And as if in response, Seron’s axe finally reached the Thunderbird, which was shattering into pieces.

BoooM!

With the explosion, the flash of lightning began to fade, and smoke rose.

I collapsed in the same position I had swung my spear, gasping for breath.

Having been struck by lightning and even holding it in my hand, black smoke poured from my mouth and body.

Due to the magic dispelled by the lightning, I could see the external guests and students.

But none of them opened their lips.

Only silence lingered in the arena.

In my dazed mind.

I was staring at one place.

Slowly, the surrounding smoke began to clear.

Through the smoke, Seron came running, having thrown her axe.

“Hanun!”

For the first time, she called my name properly and ran to hug me.

She hugged me tightly and jumped up and down.

Realizing this, I lifted my head.

31 minutes and 20 seconds.

With barely a second left, the stopped time was visible to my eyes.

My eyes widened.

Seron’s final axe, supported by everyone, had finished off the dying Thunderbird.

“Ha, haha.”

Laughter flowed from my mouth, unable to stop.

We had defeated the Iris team.

“Krah, Wangnon!”

“Hahaha, it worked.”

“Phew, I hate being anxious.”

Card rushed over and ruffled my hair wildly, while Grantoni and Sharin trudged over.

It was a victory that we could grasp because everyone was there.

I felt something fill up inside my heart.

“Hehehe, it’s an increase in allowance.”

Seeing Seron grinning broadly made me calm down again.

In the distance, I saw familiar faces.

The lazy genius Ban nodded as if to say it was as expected.

Isabel clenched her fists tightly, perhaps spurred by a sense of competition.

Aisha and Poara, who were first-year students, were celebrating our achievement.

And then, I saw Iris.

Iris’s team members were looking at this place with eyes that couldn’t believe it.

But Iris was looking at me with eyes that couldn’t read any emotions.

Lastly.

I saw the living history of the empire, Baekmokgong, who had jumped up from his chair.

We had shown everything we could.

Now, it depended on how the other side would respond.

“Hanon team, 31 minutes and 20 seconds.”

At that moment, the voice of Beganon announcing the results echoed through the stadium.

“Currently, first place in the second year.”

It was the moment our victory was confirmed.

＊＊＊

Right after our team event ended.

I collapsed on the spot.

I didn’t lose consciousness.

I was forcibly taken to the infirmary because I had no strength left to move.

I had moved relentlessly until I reached the seventh apostle, and then I took the lightning strike with my body.

It was a miracle that I could even move.

After that, Isabel’s team fought quite hard.

But they ended up in third place, behind Iris’s team.

No one else overturned our results after that.

Our team safely secured the first place.

Lying on the hospital bed, I quietly looked up at the ceiling.

Just a moment ago, Professor Beganon scolded me a bit.

No matter how much of a test it was, he said I was overworking myself, just like last time.

For me, each and every time was my best effort, so there was no other way.

‘Even though I prepared, the time was still tight.’

I went with a thorough plan, using all the knowledge I had to win.

But even so, I only managed to spare about a second.

This was due to the differences between the game and reality.

And because of those differences, I had unexpected help from everyone.

‘I have no choice but to prepare more.’

The scenario has just entered the middle stage.

There is still a long way to go.

I have to do it, even more so in Lucas’s absence.

I raised my body, which had been leaning against the bed.

Because I thought it was about time.

Knock knock-

Sure enough, I heard a knock.

“Come in.”

With my answer, the door creaked open.

There stood a large man wearing an eye patch.

And in front of him, a woman with flowing white hair walked in.

With a voluptuous figure that drew the eye, she could be mistaken for someone in her early twenties based on appearance alone.

But in reality, she was an old monster who had spent her life with the empire.

Thud!

She stood tall in the hospital room, her cloak fluttering.

“Nice to meet you, boy.”

White Woodworker.

Raxid Anubesia.

“You should have informed me in advance.”

Eventually, Baekmokgong’s lips curled up eerily.

With that, the overwhelming pressure began to fill the space.

Just facing her makes my shoulders feel crushed.

It feels like my knees are being forced to the ground.

“Harboring mysteries is punishable by death under Article 253 of the Niflheim Empire’s Penal Code.”

What?