The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 164

Vulcan Zebra.

His first-phase patterns are divided into five types.

The first is Petrifying Warrior.
Upon entering the arena, he unleashes a wide-area petrification effect—a vicious tactic.
This can be countered with Steel Body or the second awakening of Goddess’s Wings, or by using a high-output attack like Lightning Summoning.

The second is Aria of Roar.
A pattern where he unleashes a roar in all directions, staggering his opponents.
Immediately after, he follows up with Corrupted Blaze, so preventing the roar’s activation minimizes damage.
Thus, at the first sign of the pattern, I had Jenia unleash a high-powered bombardment, forcing Vulcan into a defensive stance.

The third is Flame Whirlwind.
A pattern triggered against the first target in his line of sight.
It traps the opponent in a vortex of black flames, incapacitating them for an extended period.
When the signs appear, I rush straight at Vulcan.
Thanks to my partial flame immunity and resistance to wind attacks, I can endure it.
Even if caught in the Flame Whirlwind, breaking through it head-on is enough.

The fourth pattern is Radiant Horn.
A barrage of thin, needle-like beams of light.
These beams have piercing power, turning anyone hit into a pincushion in an instant.
In my case, Steel Body allows me to ignore them entirely.
For Jenia, Isabel’s Goddess’s Wings provide protection.
While casting Radiant Horn, Vulcan briefly stops moving.
That’s the perfect opportunity to charge through and land hits.

The fifth is Corrupted Flame.
A mass of black flames splits apart, spreading in all directions.
Simultaneously, pillars erupt from the ground, blocking escape routes.
The black flames, upon contact, seep into the body and melt the victim from within.
As the most dangerous pattern, Jenia and Isabel fall back.
Instead, I charge headlong into the Corrupted Flame.

Sssss—!

The black flames surge into my body, clashing with the frost energy of the Ice Dragon dwelling within me.
With the Ice Dragon’s magic, I can neutralize the Corrupted Flame.
The remnants of the ancient dragon within me also refuse to tolerate the invading flames, devouring and extinguishing them.
However, the Fire Dragon’s magic seal engraved on my skin grows increasingly intense.
As the Ice Dragon’s magic weakens, the Fire Dragon’s output rises further.

Golden flames erupt across my body.
Even with my flame immunity, the heat is searing—but not unbearable.
The Fire Dragon’s magic seal draws out even more power.
Dragon scales emerge on my face, and my pupils shift into reptilian slits.
I condense extreme heat into the edge of my hand.
A blinding golden blade of heat flashes threateningly through the air.

Fire Dragon Form.

The magic of an ancient dragon, distinct from the Sky Dragon, rages wildly.

"What—?"

Vulcan’s bewildered voice reaches me.

"What the hell are you?"

His tone shifts from confusion to outright terror.
I get it.
A stranger who knows his abilities, activation conditions, and even his habits?
Unsettling doesn’t even begin to cover it.

But I’ve also lost to Vulcan countless times.
Many of the Lucas I’ve raised have fallen to him.
Vulcan is strong.
In fact, Lucas only faces him in Act 5.
Lucas grows exponentially stronger with each loop of Act 1, so Vulcan is balanced as an Act 5 boss.
At this point in Act 4, even Lucas couldn’t defeat him.
On top of that, Vulcan has allied with the Abyssal Ones.
This is the hardest fight in the Flame Butterfly Arc so far.

But it’s fine.

"Hanon Irey."

The one standing here isn’t Lucas—it’s me.
Lucas may lose, but I won’t.

I smirk through the sweat evaporating from the Fire Dragon’s heat.

"If I had to put it nicely, you could call me an ‘Agent.’"

Might as well make this fight look cool.
Even if I’m just an extra in reality, it doesn’t matter.
Because the one here isn’t Lucas—it’s me.
So I can win.

I kick off the ground.
Isabel spreads her wings and follows, while Jenia’s magic circles around us.
Both are giving their all to bring Vulcan down.

The battle reaches its climax.
Isabel and I have honed our synergy to perfection through the Demon Palace.
A single glance is enough to predict each other’s moves.
Our combined strikes, backed by Jenia’s magic, force Vulcan to accumulate damage.

BOOM—!

Vulcan staggers back, barely staying on his feet.
His body is now riddled with wounds.
In contrast, we remain unharmed—thanks to the self-healing from Isabel’s Goddess’s Wings.
Truly the most broken ability in the Flame Butterfly Arc.

Black flames surge from Vulcan’s wounds, writhing violently.
His teeth grind together.

"An ‘Agent,’ you say."

He draws forth the Corrupted Flame.
His entire body is now engulfed in black fire, unleashing an output unlike anything before.

"Then act like one—and fall from the peak."

Vulcan is the antithesis of Lucas.
While Lucas kindles the flames of determination through adversity, Vulcan’s flames succumbed to corruption.
In truth, Vulcan could have been like Lucas—a wielder of pure flame.
But his past life denied him that.

His predecessor, the hero Rozlly, hated the world.
He saved the world but failed to protect his family.
Thus, he wished for his reincarnated self to resent the world enough to burn it all down.
A legacy of hatred.
That’s how Vulcan awakened the Corrupted Flame.

A clash of flames—this was originally the final battle of Act 5, Chapter 5.
I don’t have the flames of determination.
Instead, I temper my Steel Body with the Fire Dragon’s blaze, intensifying the heat within.
The heat in my hand spins violently.

I charge through the downpour of Corrupted Flame.
Vulcan gnashes his teeth, eyes burning with fury.
Suddenly, a massive spear materializes in his grip.

Vulcan underestimated us.
Only now does he realize—half-hearted measures won’t win this.
He swings the spear, and black flames coil around it, lashing outward.
The hero Ordo, whom he devoured, was one of the world’s greatest spearmen.
Vulcan absorbed his techniques, making his spearplay elite.

Vulcan’s Second Phase.
Now, the skills of heroes augment his own.
But this also signals that he’s pushed into a corner.
The second phase activates when his health drops below half.

Vulcan, empowered by Ordo’s spear arts, is far stronger now.
But the world has something called matchups.

Instead of dodging the incoming spear, I swing my heated hand-blade straight at it.
In that instant, my hand pierces through the spearhead—and keeps going.

"Wha—?!"

The Fire Dragon’s magic floods into the spear’s core.

CRACK—!

The spearhead shatters, fissures spreading down the shaft.
The moment the Fire Dragon’s magic erupts from the cracks—

KABOOOOOM—!

Vulcan’s spear explodes.

Sword Breaker, upgraded.
Weapon Breaker.

Ordo’s spear arts may be world-class, but they’re meaningless without a spear.
Fragments of the shattered weapon scatter like fiery rain.
In that opening, I close the distance, appearing right before Vulcan.

He stomps the ground.
A wall of black flames erupts, blocking my path.
But I anticipated this.

THUD—

My foot slams down, braking hard as I lower my stance into a leap.

WHOOSH—!

Vulcan slashes through the flame wall, but I’m no longer there.
Through the parted flames, his eyes widen in shock.
I’ve bulldozed through every flame so far—he never expected me to dodge now.

A variable using obstructed vision.
But Vulcan fell for his own trick.

My fist, condensed with extreme heat, coils with power.
At the same time, the ring on my right hand flashes.

Lightning Summoning is a falling thunderbolt.
More precisely, a thunderbolt that strikes without spatial constraints under the Goddess’s Call.
What does this mean?

"Even if it’s not the sky—"

The lightning follows Lightning Summoning’s trajectory.
A dark cloud forms behind me—Jenia’s magic.
The cloud opens its maw, and a blue light pierces through it.

Come, Lightning Summoning.

A blue flash fills my vision as the bolt descends.
The magic seal on my skin activates, engulfing me in lightning.

Magic Seal: Lightning Grasp.

My body morphs into a dragon’s form as lightning coils around me.
The Fire Dragon’s magic transforms into the Sky Dragon’s.

Sky Dragon Form.

But I’m not stopping there.
Behind me, Isabel spreads her Goddess’s Wings to full output, unleashing condensed power.
A divine light pierces the dark cloud, wrapping around me.

Isabel’s ultimate technique—annihilating evil, amplifying righteousness.

Goddess’s Declaration of Victory.
"VICTORY."

The Corrupted Flame is extinguished.
The Sky Dragon devours the light.
The once-blue dragon now erupts with the radiance of the sun.

The Sky Dragon, having swallowed the sun, roars.
I see Vulcan scream—but the dragon consumes even his voice.

This fist carries the full strength of everyone.
Let’s see you withstand this.

Vulcan’s hatred, carried from his past life to now.
My stubborn will to save this world.
Which runs deeper—his resentment or my resolve?

To prove it, I throw everything into this punch.

The moment the Sun-Swallowing Sky Dragon pierces through Vulcan’s Corrupted Flame and finally connects with his abdomen—

KAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOM—!!!

The most colossal explosion yet obliterates everything in its wake.