The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 56



55 – The Dragon Maiden of Disaster

Team Iris is the strongest.

As if to prove those words, Team Iris swept through the floors like a storm.

The place where Team Iris had arrived was the third floor of the Demon Palace, the Weeping Sky.

Above the dark clouds, two giant eyes gently closed, shedding tears.

These tears became rain, soaking the ground.

‘That, they say, is an apostle.’

The true apostle of the Weeping Sky.

Later, when the crying sky transforms, an apostle will be born.

‘I need to deal with that later too.’

Not yet.

Just let it go.

“Even the third years are almost catching up.”

In the rain falling from the sky.

Dorara, the second in magic studies, who had been trailing behind, let out a giggling laugh.

Perhaps because of the self-esteem shattered by Sharin.

He enjoyed showing off like that.

But his skills were undeniable.

We didn’t get along well, and I knew all of Dorara’s bad habits and weaknesses.

His wind was as fierce as befits the second in magic studies.

“Ugh, I’ve been here for days and I’m going crazy.”

Then, the curse sorcerer, Valencia, who was clinging to Joachim’s back, groaned.

The demon palace distorts time and space.

The deeper you go, the worse it gets.

The time on the first floor is not much different from the outside.

But from the second floor, time changes completely.

Based on a day outside.

The second floor is three days.

The third floor is a week.

The fourth floor is a fortnight.

So, staying in the lower floors of the demon palace doesn’t make much difference in time compared to the outside.

As such, we have already spent several days by the demon palace’s standards.

On the third floor, we spent three days.

“It’s more surprising that a curse sorcerer dislikes gloomy things.”

“Ugh, please don’t hold prejudices against curse sorcerers.”

When Dorara scolded, Valencia groaned.

Watching the two, I looked down at my hand.

We had come down to the third floor of the demon palace, but I wasn’t physically burdened.

This is the body of Vickerman, the stamina fool.

It was only natural, given Aisha’s hellish training.

‘The real problem.’

It was somewhere entirely different.

‘Pretending to be Hania is tougher than I thought.’

The story can be spun with just enough knowledge.

Conversations between students are limited, as they all belong to the same academy anyway.

Moreover, Hania is a supporting character in her own right.

I knew quite a bit about her.

So, acting as Hania wasn’t the issue.

What I found tough was something else.

I clicked my tongue quietly as I looked at the sword in my hand.

Hania has the skills of a second-in-command in martial arts.

Naturally, her skills are far superior to those of ordinary martial arts students.

She wields a long sword.

Her swordsmanship is so precise that even the lazy genius acknowledges it.

It was the result of Hania’s talent and relentless effort.

The problem here is that I’ve never used a sword before.

How could a guy who’s lived his whole life using his fists swing a sword properly?

‘I’ve been training, so the sword doesn’t wobble, but…’

Maybe it’s because I’ve always fought with my hands.

I can’t gauge the reach.

The cutting power of a sword varies with the angle of the swing.

I made mistakes repeatedly because I couldn’t grasp this accurately.

So, halfway through, I gave up and started swinging the sword like a blunt weapon.

‘Oh, I should never pick up a sword again.’

Hands are better than tools, after all.

“Hania, are you not feeling well these days?”

At that moment, Valencia asked me a question.

Thanks to the bandages, I looked exactly like Hania on the outside.

They were comrades who had been through battles together.

To their eyes, I must have looked awkward.

“Hmm, your movements are more aggressive than usual, and there’s an unrestrained feeling about you.”

How could they see anything when my eyes were hidden by my bangs?

“Hmm, indeed, I have felt something different these past few days.”

Joachim agreed.

The team’s gazes naturally turned towards me.

Iris glanced at me too.

From here on, even Iris couldn’t help.

I didn’t want to arouse suspicion until Nikita attacked.

If Nikita decided to abandon the attack because Iris’s team didn’t feel the same as usual, it would be troublesome later.

“Well.”

So, how do I get through this?

Fortunately, before coming to the palace, I had experienced something that could make my condition extremely bad.

“…Before entering the palace, Professor Barkov confessed to me.”

“Oh.”

“Oh, my God.”

Valencia and Joachim let out deep sighs.

Everyone knew the horror of Professor Barkov.

“Well, just take it easy and rest a bit.”

Even Dorara, who had a terrible personality, looked at me with pity.

Looking at them, I forced a smile.

Sympathy flickered in everyone’s eyes.

Even a scumbag like Barkov could be helpful someday.

Not that I’m particularly grateful.

“Let’s keep going.”

Seeing that I had escaped the crisis, Iris started walking again.

I could see the smile rising on her lips, but I didn’t point it out.

“The third floor is almost over.”

We had defeated a total of three apostles on the third floor.

The number of monsters is already beyond count.

This makes me realize anew just how strong the Iris team is.

Joachim, the battle priest, held a book in his left hand and turned enemies into pulp with just his right hand.

Even in the midst of this, he immediately healed the team if they got hurt.

Valencia, the curse sorceress specializing in debuffs, cast curses the moment enemies appeared.

She could use roughly ten thousand curses.

In an instant, the enemies became endlessly powerless under the storm of curses swirling around them.

There was no need to even mention Iris or Dorara.

‘Anyway, they’re a monstrous group.’

If Hania were added here, it couldn’t be more perfect.

Nevertheless, the Iris team couldn’t overcome Nikita, who had become the dragon of disaster.

To defeat her, Lucas, with his flame of determination, was essential.

‘Especially the fourth floor.’

It could be said that it was an environment solely for the dragon of disaster.

“Let’s go down.”

With Iris at the forefront, the team began to descend.

It seemed like a good idea to have the third princess lead, but…

If Iris were in danger, none of them could handle it.

In the pitch-black space,

Only the white stairs continued endlessly downward.

The stairs were just footholds.

At a glance, they seemed dizzying.

“Hehe, I think we’ll set a new record this time.”

“We have to go down quickly. We were so embarrassed in the team match.”

From behind, the voices of Joachim and Dorara could be heard chatting.

At this speed, it’s certainly very fast.

‘If it weren’t for Nikita, we could reach the sixth floor.’

In the next labyrinth, it seems we’ll be the first second-year students to reach the seventh floor.

Of course, there’s a fundamental reason why Iris can’t go down the labyrinth much.

“Hania.”

Just then, Iris called out to me.

There were deep shadows under her eyes.

Since entering the labyrinth, she had barely slept.

She already had insomnia, but it was the influence of the evil presence pervading the labyrinth.

The power of the evil presence was etched into her body.

This reacted with the power of the evil presence in the labyrinth, making her nightmares worse.

Thus, Iris was particularly weak in the labyrinth.

Unless the clearing speed was maximized.

As time went on, Iris’s strength was greatly diminished.

‘But if Lucas, who has the flame of determination, is there.’

The nightmares in the labyrinth could be driven away.

That’s why, in her first year.

Iris hired Lucas as a team member for the labyrinth battle.

Of course, at that time, the flame of determination had not yet burned brightly.

So they did not achieve great results and did not take Lucas to the next labyrinth battle.

‘And Lucas died there.’

It was a story with many regrets for Iris.

‘The current me cannot solve Iris’s nightmares.’

Thus, Iris became more and more exhausted as the days went by.

“Yes, Lady Iris.”

As I approached Iris, she gestured to me.

“It’s soon.”

Nikita’s team was the first to enter the labyrinth this time.

So she is waiting on the fourth floor, fully prepared.

‘Because the moment Iris’s team enters, they won’t be able to send support to the fourth floor.’

It was a preparation made anticipating that Iris’s team would even surpass the third-year students.

“We should get ready.”

Iris nodded.

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Iris’s figure was the first to scatter.

I followed right behind after seeing that.

Boom!

Soon, the surrounding view began to change.

A nauseating feeling of unknown origin brushed past my body.

It was proof that we had entered the fourth floor of the Demon Palace.

A cold chill was felt throughout my body.

Crunch-

With the sound of snow crunching underfoot, my head slowly lifted.

Above the pure white snow.

Ice-covered duckweed and water hyacinths were covering the snow.

In this place, which was somehow very dark, ice sculptures could be seen here and there.

Breath, caused by the temperature difference, flowed out of my mouth.

Demon Palace, fourth floor.

Ice Garden.

The body became extremely cold due to the endlessly lowered temperature.

But the problem starts now.

“Everyone, get out of the way!”

As I shouted, I wrapped Iris and jumped forward.

Shrrrrrrrrrrk!

Soon, with a sound from behind, something fell from the ceiling.

Boom!

Soon, a huge ice wall fell behind us.

“Wow!”

“Ahhh!”

Joachim, holding Valencia and Dorara, made a big leap.

Thanks to that, all three of them were able to avoid being crushed by the ice wall.

“W-what is this. What is happening.”

Dorara turned around with a bewildered face.

There, along with the thick snow smoke, was an absurdly thick ice wall.

The passage connecting the third and fourth floors of the Demon Palace.

The place was completely blocked by a wall of ice.

A look of bewilderment passed over everyone’s faces.

This was an entirely unexpected problem.

Except for Iris and me.

My head slowly lifted.

Beyond the passage of the ice garden.

I felt a chilling aura extending to this place from somewhere unknown.

‘It has begun.’

To avenge the death of my brother.

The dragon maiden of disaster.

Nikita Cynthia began to move.