The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 58



57 – Burning

The Dragon Lady of Disaster.

Nikita Cynthia.

Facing her, I felt a chill that froze me to the bone.

Nikita’s eyes, looking at me, were unbearably cold.

Her face appeared noble, but she always harbored kindness in her heart.

But today, there wasn’t a trace of kindness left in Nikita.

Instead, only the burning desire for revenge occupied her heart.

“…You’ve come?”

Nikita’s voice flowed out, low and subdued.

She repeated my words.

“Does that mean you knew I would come?”

Our Nikita-senpai was quick-witted.

“Yes.”

I answered, throwing the sword I held to the ground.

Clang-

The sword rolled away, colliding with the frozen snow.

Nikita’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at the sight.

Because I never thought I would give up my sword right in front of my eyes.

“I’ve been waiting.”

Nikita’s eyes still held questions.

But soon, those questions disappeared.

Instead, a wind filled with bitter coldness swirled around her.

“Hand over Iris Hyserion here.”

Hearing the next words, my eyes widened.

“Are you saying you’ll spare our lives if we hand over the princess?”

“Yes, it’s none of your business.”

Even while using the magic of the ancient dragon, she must have swallowed some of her reason.

Nikita, even in such a situation, only wanted the neck of her enemy, Iris.

She didn’t try to harm others.

That’s why she waited until everyone could no longer resist.

It was a kindness typical of Nikita.

But now, I cannot rely on her kindness.

“No.”

“…Hania junior, I know you care for the princess, but you should care for your own life too.”

“Of course, my life is precious to me too.”

Instead of a sword, my hand blade is raised.

Putting down the sword actually made me feel more at ease.

“But there is something more precious than life.”

Not leading this damned world to a bad ending.

Only then can I protect my own life.

“So, Iris is that precious to you.”

Nikita said so, lowering her head.

On her pupils, teardrops turned into ice crystals and fell.

From her, I felt a sorrow so intense it made my heart ache.

“I also lost what I cherished the most.”

Nia Cynthia.

Her only brother who supported and trusted Nikita in her family.

He was unjustly murdered.

“So, I will take it too.”

The moment Nikita finished speaking, her figure vanished.

Instead, only a single footprint remained where she had stood.

It’s coming.

The moment I sensed it, I immediately swung my hand.

Kaaang!

Soon, a fierce clash of swords resounded in front of me, with Iris behind me.

The white sword that Nikita had thrust was blocked by my hand.

Crunch!

Then, the coldness contained in Nikita’s sword began to freeze my hand instantly.

As expected of the dragon’s magic.

Just touching the sword felt like my hand would shatter.

Giiiiing-

But knowing this, I had prepared.

The magical engravings on my steel skin began to emit light all at once.

As a result, the temperature of my entire body rapidly increased, and flames erupted.

Steel skin, true to its name, has high thermal conductivity.

The magical engravings I had inscribed on my steel skin in preparation for today were fire magic.

It was a magic I had asked Sharin to inscribe directly.

The intense heat spread throughout my body.

Although I do not possess the fighting spirit of Lucas,

I can imitate it a little.

Nikita’s eyes narrowed as she felt the heat emanating from my entire body.

“With just that?”

Then, the coldness emanating from Nikita grew even stronger.

The magic of the dragon that Nikita had mastered was extreme cold magic.

The reason the dragon’s mountain range is always covered in eternal snow is due to the coldness possessed by the dragon.

It could be considered the strongest among cold magic.

‘Nikita has no talent for any magic.’

Ironically, the only thing Nikita had an exceptional talent for was the magic of the ancient dragon.

However, even Nikita couldn’t escape the unique side effects of the dragon’s magic.

The more she used the magic, the more she transformed into a dragon.

In the end, she would be consumed by the dragon’s magic, the worst side effect of all.

The cold emanating from Nikita collided with my heat.

Perhaps because the temperatures were so different.

Boom!

Soon, with a loud explosion, white smoke rose and enveloped the surroundings.

I could feel Nikita taking a step back in the smoke.

As she moved her eyes busily to find me.

Thud!

I grabbed Iris and ran.

The explosion magic engraved on my feet activated.

I left the spot at a desperate speed.

Nikita, realizing this belatedly, chased after me fiercely.

Her face was twisted like a demon.

‘First, I need to get out of here.’

A direct confrontation with Nikita would lead nowhere.

So I had to lead her to the place I had prepared.

“Ugh.”

Perhaps because of the explosion and my heat.

I could feel Iris, in my hand, letting out a slight groan.

But I didn’t care at all.

I just swung my legs more fiercely and ran to get out of there.

Boom! Bang!

In the meantime, Nikita quickly closed the distance between us.

Before mastering the dragon’s magic, Nikita had enough skill to serve as the vice president.

Nikita, who even trained during the time others slept.

Naturally, Nikita’s martial arts skills were also top-notch.

With the addition of the dragon’s magic, Nikita’s overall physical abilities increased significantly.

It’s not easy to shake them off like this.

That’s why I’ve been preparing for days.

BOOM!

At that moment, the ground beneath Nikita’s feet exploded, shaking the space around.

Under the frozen snow.

I saw torn pieces of paper caught in the explosion.

What Nikita had just stepped on was a scroll engraved with explosive magic.

A magic scroll.

An artifact from the old era.

It has been improved in the present age.

Although its performance is inferior to that of a real magician.

The scroll I used now is not lacking in performance.

‘Made by the Mad Sorcerer.’

Since these were stolen from the mid-boss, Vinesha.

The performance was guaranteed.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Nikita emerged from the smoke of the explosion and chased after me again.

She had clearly taken the explosion magic head-on.

Yet, Nikita was only slightly scorched.

She chased after me without any significant damage.

Of course.

The body of an ancient dragon cannot be harmed by mere explosive magic contained in a scroll.

Only the restriction of vision and the instability of the foothold.

These two factors gave me a chance to distance myself from Nikita.

Boom! Boom!

But as if luck had run out.

Nikita ran madly, stepping on the explosive scrolls recklessly.

Perhaps it had only fueled her anger.

Nikita’s eyes were extremely fierce.

But not yet.

Before I knew it, I had climbed the sloped floor.

Between the frozen ground, I saw a magic scroll.

I stomped on the ground without hesitation.

Puff!

Black smoke rose from the ground.

In an instant, the black smoke filled the surroundings, obscuring my vision.

In the meantime, I stomped on another magic scroll right in front of me.

Crash!

A belated sound of someone falling grandly came from behind.

The source of the sound was Nikita.

The activated magic made the floor surface slippery.

With the vision obscured by black smoke and the floor becoming slippery,

Nikita had no choice but to slip as well.

This increased the distance between us.

I used every means I had prepared to desperately widen the gap with Nikita.

‘Just a little further.’

There wasn’t much distance left to the final point I had dug.

At that thought, I moved my legs desperately.

Chill!

An instinctive sensation ran down my back, causing my body to lean forward.

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Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!

An ice beam shot out from behind, grazing past me.

The ice beam passed me and collided with the wall of the art gallery.

Boom!

The wall of the art gallery was destroyed by the ice beam, and the impact sent me rolling on the floor.

A stinging sensation came from my back.

It seemed the spot where the ice beam had grazed had frozen solid.

Sizzle-

Despite the heat of the magic engraving, my frozen back showed no signs of thawing.

“Ugh…”

I swallowed my saliva and forced myself to stand up.

There was no time for this.

Just as I was about to steady myself and run out.

I saw the sword filling my vision and quickly tilted my head back.

Whoosh!

The wind following the sword that grazed over my head made my body stagger.

Nikita, with her silver hair fluttering, had scales sprouting on her face.

Did she close the distance right after shooting the ice beam?

What an absurd leg strength.

Even as my body staggered, I found an opening and drove my fist into Nikita’s empty side.

Crunch-

But Nikita was unfazed by my punch.

Instead, I felt a pain as if my hand bones were shattering from the punch I threw.

Nikita’s body was currently immune to most physical attacks.

Thanks to the dragon’s magic, she was encased in a tough ice bio-armor.

Knowing this, I chose to flee rather than counterattack.

But Nikita was faster than I expected.

I desperately dodged the sword she swung again.

Each strike was a ticket to the afterlife.

My desperation was painfully evident.

Boom!

Somehow, I found an opening and used the explosive power of the magic sigil to create distance, gasping for breath.

Thanks to the heat of the magic sigil, the cold was bearable.

But the heat was too intense, and my stamina was depleting faster than I thought.

Nikita slowly lowered her sword and looked back at me.

“Hania, I understand how sincere you are about protecting the princess.”

Unlike me, Nikita wasn’t out of breath at all.

Even the wealthy nobles had exhausted a large number of magic scrolls.

But they couldn’t leave a single scratch on her.

“But this is the end.”

Nikita offered me one last chance.

“Even now, put down the princess and go to the exit.”

If you do so, I will spare your life.

I remained silent upon hearing Nikita’s words.

Then, I soon burst into a bitter laugh.

Nikita’s eyes became subtle upon seeing my laughter.

She had a look as if I had gone mad.

Seeing her like that, I took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Nikita, senpai.”

I decided to tell her one thing.

“Aren’t you mistaken about something?”

Mistaken?

Nikita’s eyes filled with doubt upon hearing those words.

To reveal the truth to her, I slowly put Iris down.

Instead, I slowly untied one of the bandages that connected her and me.

As the bandage unraveled from Iris’s body, her appearance began to change.

The bandage was actually a veil.

As Iris began to transform, Nikita’s eyes gradually widened.

It wasn’t Iris who was there.

The second in command of the magic department.

The fool who was the first to fall from Iris’s team.

Dorara Korazin.

I had used the veil bandage to disguise him as Iris and brought him here.

I threw him away as if discarding trash.

“Ugh.”

The unconscious guy rolled over the snowfield.

Seeing this, Nikita’s head slowly turned back.

“The real Iris is.”

“She was there earlier.”

Nikita bit her lip and asked.

Her head slowly turned back to me.

There was irritation in her eyes.

“Even if you buy time like this, it won’t mean anything. I’ll just defeat you and return to the princess.”

“Nikita-senpai, nothing in this world is meaningless.”

Everything has meaning.

The reason why Nikita had to become like this, and the reason why I had to do this.

Everything had meaning.

Nikita targeted Iris.

And she put her in danger.

This fact has now become an established truth in this world.

Act 3, Scene 6.

The Dragon of Disaster proceeded unmistakably.

Now, only one thing is needed for the scenario.

The protagonist defeats the Dragon of Disaster.

The Dragon of Disaster meets its death.

Lucas persuades Nikita over and over again.

But Nikita, whose world collapsed due to Nia’s death,

Despite Lucas’s desperate persuasion, ultimately seeks to kill Iris.

Here, Lucas has no choice but to decide.

Will he kill Nikita?

Or will he let Iris die?

This is the choice and trial given to the protagonist.

Nikita’s death is inevitable.

Because of the impact of her death, the scenario moves towards its conclusion.

What this world needs is the death of the Dragon of Disaster.

However.

My thoughts are different.

I am.

‘Not Lucas.’

Lucas is forced by the world to make only two choices.

“`

But I am not Lucas, I am the extra Bicammon.

Therefore.

Not the two choices the world urges.

I will make my own choice to move forward with the scenario.

For this, I prepared and prepared again.

The only way to pull Nikita out of the abyss of despair and let her live freely.

Whoosh-

The sound of flames igniting came from somewhere.

“And Nikita, your premise is wrong.”

I decided to correct Nikita’s words.

“First, you have to defeat me.”

Whoosh-

Soon, Nikita also noticed the strangeness of the situation.

In the ice museum, the sound of flames rising could be heard here and there.

Bright red flames rose everywhere.

These are not ordinary flames.

The stone used to capture the mysterious, steel empress.

The essence of fire.

The corpse left after the fire spirit’s life span ended and it died.

In the meantime, I unbuttoned my chest.

Accordingly, my appearance also began to change gradually.

Not the appearance of Hania.

It is the appearance of Hanon Airei.

Nikita’s eyes began to widen gradually.

“Hu, Bae?”

It was a face that never thought I would be here.

“Why are you here?”

Her bewilderment was my opportunity.

Inside the bandage of the veil.

A bright red stone wrapped in bandages was revealed.

“`

The magic of the ancient dragon is undoubtedly powerful magic.

Therefore, the flame of determination is the standard way to counter the magic of the ancient dragon.

However, just like that flame of determination,

There is another means to counter the magic of the ancient dragon.

The Spirit Lord.

The being at the pinnacle of spirits.

With their power, even the magic of the ancient dragon can be countered.

But I cannot make a pact with the spirits.

Therefore, I prepared a workaround.

The essence of fire embedded here and there in the gallery flared up fiercely.

The flames rose all at once and began to converge on a single point.

The direction the flames converged was me.

To be precise, the stone embedded in my chest.

“That is…”

Nikita belatedly realized what the stone engraved in my chest was.

It was not an ordinary essence of fire.

The Flame of Fire

The Spirit Lord of Fire.

It was the corpse left after his death.

「Boy, speak your desire.」

The reward bestowed upon me by the White Woodworker according to the Hero’s Special Law.

What I requested there was exactly this.

The most difficult item to obtain in the world.

An item that can temporarily replace the flame of determination.

Whoosh!

The Flame of Fire, which had devoured all the residual spirit flames in the surrounding essence of fire, blazed madly.

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The heat emanating from the Flame of Fire pounded my body fiercely.

Enveloped in the flames of the Spirit Lord of Fire, I quietly exhaled.

My eyes met Nikita’s, who had a bewildered expression.

Seeing her, I raised my hand and took a stance.

The burning heat scorched my body.

The heat was so intense it was suffocating.

But the steel skin, imbued with the will of the Steel Empress who longed for warmth, firmly held onto the heat.

The Steel Empress became a mystery, chasing the heat.

Thus, the steel skin was also optimized to retain the heat.

The time I can endure the flames of fire is not very long.

“I told you it would sting.”

So within that time.

I will settle things with Nikita.