The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 104

The main heroine, Isabel Luna.
I never imagined that I would face her in the first match of the International Individual Tournament.
Apparently, Isabel felt the same way, as a look of bewilderment was evident on her face.

But situations like this had to be anticipated.
After all, opponents in the finals are ultimately decided at random.
It wasn’t strange to face anyone, even in the round of 64.

In the distance, I saw Isabel steadying her breath.
She was coming to terms with the situation and regaining her composure.

I wondered just how strong Isabel had become.
Since the boycott incident, I hadn’t properly witnessed her abilities.
Moreover, even during the boycott incident, I fled before a proper match could be decided.
She must have been grinding her teeth in frustration whenever she recalled that day.

Since it was the first match, curious eyes full of interest gathered here.
Among them was one familiar face.
A person smiling as if they’d come to enjoy another amusing spectacle.

Baek Mokgong.
Laxid Anervesia.
Even the hero of the empire had come to watch this International Individual Tournament in person.
Judging by the look in his eyes, he was brimming with anticipation to see what would unfold this time.

‘I’ll show you.’

My gaze met Isabel’s.
At that moment, she was looking straight at me as well.
Earlier, she had avoided my eyes, which I found odd.
But now, she was looking directly and firmly at me.

“You.”
Was she about to declare victory for this match?
I needed to choose my words carefully in response.

“Are you dating Seron?”
“What?”

But after hearing her next words, I completely forgot what I was planning to say.
Was that really something to bring up here?

“What are you talking about?”
Utterly baffled, I asked again, and Isabel hesitated for a moment.

“…This morning, I saw you with Seron.”
I thought no one was around, but she saw us.
For a moment, I felt uneasy but maintained my composure.

“Well, even if you did, we’re not dating.”
“Then why is Seron treating you differently than before?”

Isabel pressed on more persistently than I expected.
Indeed, even from an outsider’s perspective, Seron’s recent behavior was noticeably different.
To anyone watching, she seemed like a girl in love, treating the man she adored.

“And you, too.”
Isabel even pointed out my own actions.
Had my behavior changed somehow?
I couldn’t quite tell.

But aside from that, I sensed that this conversation was heading in a bad direction.
The look in Isabel’s eyes was far from the pure, sunflower-like gaze she once had.
Instead, there was a desperate longing, clinging with urgency.

Isabel was seeing me overlapped with Lucas.
To some extent, I had intended that.
I had declared that even if I couldn’t be the sun like Lucas, I would at least be the moon.

“You said it yourself that day. That you had no intention of dating anyone.”
But even so, I didn’t want Isabel to become unable to stand on her own.
At the very least, I believed that someday she would rise on her own and live free from insecurity.

‘This might be my arrogance talking, but…’
Having seen a dream shatter, I know all too well how important it is to stand up on your own.
Relying on others to ease your anxieties is extremely unstable and dangerous.

She is also the main heroine of my favorite game.
I didn’t want Isabel to live that kind of life.
I hadn’t saved her from the brink of suicide, even cursing Lucas in front of her, for no reason.

“Isabel.”
I tapped my toes on the floor, loosening up my body.
“Even if I were dating Seron, what does that have to do with you?”

Isabel’s shoulders flinched.
Our relationship was incredibly ambiguous.
From the first day of the entrance ceremony until now, Isabel and I had been tangled up in various ways.

If I had to define it, we were rivals.
A relationship where we tried to prove whose beliefs were right.
That was the nature of my relationship with Isabel.

But recently, that dynamic was starting to waver.
Isabel was repeatedly crossing the line that had been drawn between us.
And the one crossing that line was Isabel herself.

Not because of me, but because she was seeing Lucas in me and was being drawn to that illusion.

“I remember us being in a relationship where we debated what was right and wrong.”
My gaze met Isabel’s, who stood frozen in place.

“…I don’t know.”
Apparently, Isabel was just as confused.
She mumbled blankly, her face void of expression.

“I don’t… I don’t even know why I’m acting like this.”

Her eyes locked onto mine.
I finally asked the question I’d been holding back.

“Isabel, are you seeing Lucas in me?”

Her face instantly froze.
She clearly hadn’t been aware of it herself.

“That’s impossible!”
Isabel shouted.

Thankfully, we were far enough from the audience that they couldn’t hear, but they would’ve definitely seen her outburst.
The spectators probably just assumed it was some pre-match trash talk.

“There’s… no way…”
The strength in her voice was fading.
Her pupils trembled violently.
My question made her start realizing her own state of mind.

“And now, the Round of 64 match in the International Individual Tournament will begin!”

At that moment, the announcer declared the start of the match.
There was no more time to continue this conversation.
Cheering erupted from the excited audience.

But Isabel didn’t seem to hear any of it, staring at me with eyes wide open.

“Isabel.”
I raised my hand, preparing my stance.
Isabel was overlapping me with Lucas.
If that was the case, then today, I would shatter that illusion.

Even if I could be the moon, I could never be the sun she wanted.
Because I’m not Lucas.

“I am not Lucas.”

At that moment, a cold aura erupted from my body, completely different from Lucas’s.

Crackle!
In an instant, the arena began to freeze over from the intense cold.

At the same time, my right eye, which had been closed, opened, revealing a gleaming yellow lizard’s eye.
The remnants of the elder dragon that had been dormant until now had awakened.

“!”

In the distance, Eve, who had been watching from among the tournament participants, stood up in shock.
It was only natural.
She never expected me to use elder dragon magic in a tournament match.

Those who wield elder dragon magic are considered Dragonkin.
Therefore, those who wield elder dragon magic are sentenced to death.
This is a law explicitly stated in the Empire and other kingdoms as well.

From afar, Sharin sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“Hmm?”
“That’s…”

The clueless spectators cheered, but those familiar with magic seemed to recognize what I had just activated.
Although they weren’t certain yet, a wave of confusion spread among them.
The murmurs among the mages grew louder.

And among them, only one person was banging on his chair, letting out an incredulous laugh.
That would be Baek Mokgong, the one who granted me the Hero’s Special Law.

Elder dragons, if categorized, are mystical beings.
Therefore,
‘Since it’s come to this, please spare me just one more time.’

I do have another card up my sleeve, but to resolve things smoothly, Baek Mokgong is the best bet.

‘I never planned to hide it forever anyway.’

So, I decided to make it clear to Isabel this time.
That, unlike Lucas, who wielded the flames of determination, I wield the ruthless cold of the elder dragon.

“Y-You…”
Amidst the spreading cold, Isabel’s face showed clear bewilderment.

“What?”

A sly grin appeared on my lips for the first time in a while.

“Do I look a little different from the Lucas you imagine?”

I was the one who used to provoke Isabel often.
Hearing my teasing words after so long, Isabel bit her lip tightly.

The chilling cold crept up to her feet.
It was unmistakably different from Lucas’s heat.

“…You really…”

But because of that, the shaken look in her eyes changed.
Setting aside the fact that she had been seeing Lucas in me, Isabel always harbored the desire to defeat me.
That resolve was firmly engraved in this match.

“…After this match is over, there’s something I want to ask you.”

Isabel gripped her sword tightly.
At the same time, a pure white light began to radiate from her, something I had never seen before.

“That’s why, no matter what, I’m giving it my all.”

Seeing that, a smile spread across my lips.

She’s finally reached it.

Flutter—

Behind Isabel, wings of pure white, unlike anything seen before, unfolded.

Those who were buzzing about my elder dragon magic widened their eyes in unison.
Shock appeared on every single one of their faces.

This was because the wings Isabel manifested were an utterly unexpected result.

Wings of the Goddess

In the distant past…

The female warrior who imprisoned Archdemon in the underground of the Demonic Palace.
It is said that she had wings on her back that radiated a holy aura.

After sealing Archdemon, the female warrior left behind these words:
「Someday, when Archdemon bares his fangs at the world once more, one who bears the same wings of the goddess as I shall appear.」

The day Archdemon threatens the world.
The day wings bloom on someone’s back.
Those were the legendary Wings of the Goddess.

And now, behind Isabel’s back, those very Wings of the Goddess had blossomed.

This was the reason I absolutely had to save Isabel and the reason she was the main heroine of the Blazing Butterfly arc.

The Goddess’s Warrior destined to destroy Archdemon.
Isabel Luna
This was the moment of her true awakening.

* * *

Elder dragon magic.
Wings of the Goddess.
Because of the appearance of these two, the stadium was in utter chaos.

The ones in the most turmoil were the nobles.
The nobles who guided the world were, of course, very knowledgeable about history.
They were well aware of the significance behind the Wings of the Goddess.

Separately, the mages were in an uproar over the elder dragon magic.
Knowing well the dangers of elder dragon magic, they shouted that the match should be stopped immediately.

“Silence.”
“Be quiet.”

At that moment, two figures silenced the frenzied nobles and mages.

A woman who brushed back her white hair, revealing charismatic eyes.
The greatest living hero and, next to the emperor, the highest authority in the Empire’s history.
Baek Mokgong, Laxi Anervesia

At her words, not only the nobles of the Empire but also those from other kingdoms all fell silent.

The other was a middle-aged man draped in a blue cape.
Under his sky-blue hair, his eyes held an extraordinary sharpness, and his warning silenced all the mages.

The greatest mage tower in the Empire and the best in the world.
The Blue Tower Master, Emperadion Sazaris

The two at the pinnacle of nobility and magic had spoken.
No one dared to open their mouths before them.

Baek Mokgong and the Blue Tower Master’s eyes met briefly.
They were each supporting different individuals.
Baek Mokgong supported Isabel Luna.
The Blue Tower Master supported Hanon Airei.

They were ensuring that the two who had become the center of heated debate in this match wouldn’t be swept away by the chaos.

Baek Mokgong lightly leaped over to the Blue Tower Master.
Though her action was rather carefree, no one dared to criticize her.
Only her attendant quietly sighed and tidied her skirt.

“Blue Tower Master, boy.”
“How long do you plan to keep calling me ‘boy’?”
“Hahaha! No matter how old you get, you’ll always be a boy in my eyes.”

The mages were utterly shocked at her daring to call him a boy.
But it seemed that the Blue Tower Master was already quite used to it.

“What do you think of the magic that impudent boy is wielding?”

At Baek Mokgong’s curious question, the Blue Tower Master looked at the match with cold eyes.

“That boy is controlling his magic to determine the outcome of the duel.”

The mages widened their eyes in unison.
The power of elder dragon magic was unmatched by any other form of magic.
To be able to wield such magic meant that an extraordinary force had emerged.

“And I can also see who was involved in this.”
The Blue Tower Master shifted his gaze toward the participants.
Among them was his adopted daughter.
A daughter who possessed ‘Mirinae,’ something even the Blue Tower Master did not have.
It was clear that she had been involved.

Since his daughter was involved, the Blue Tower Master could not allow Hanon to be executed, whether he liked it or not.
If he did, Sharin would also be implicated by association and dragged down with him.

“Well, this works out nicely. If the Blue Tower Master boy stands with me, I can be a bit more shameless with the Emperor regarding the law.”

“Was this your plan from the beginning?”
The Blue Tower Master showed his displeasure.

“Hmm, he’s a young hero covered by the Special Hero Law. If I don’t protect him, who will?”

Even so, she looked at him with slightly disapproving eyes.

“Of course, that cheeky boy likely calculated all of this before pulling such a stunt.”

Baek Mokgong’s lips curled into a wide grin.

“As adults, instead of undervaluing a child’s boldness, we ought to praise it.”
Indeed, it was a boldness of great magnitude.

“More than anything, it reminds me of the old days.”
Baek Mokgong smiled nostalgically.

“There was another madman who dared to touch elder dragon magic long ago.”

The Blue Tower Master’s eyebrows knitted slightly at those words.
Because he knew exactly who she was referring to.

The Sage of Transcendence, Zeryon.
A figure known in history to have mastered all magic, including not only holy magic but even elder dragon magic.

However, that was merely what the historical records stated.
No documents remained to confirm whether he truly wielded elder dragon magic.

“You’ve gone too far.”
“Heh heh, perhaps. Compared to the Sage of Transcendence, that boy is just a fledgling. But…”

Baek Mokgong’s eyes sparkled brightly.

“Even the great Sage of Transcendence Zeryon was once a fledgling.”

Indeed, she wondered what kind of path that boy would walk.
Baek Mokgong laughed as if she was already looking forward to it.