The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 166
Amid the pitch-black flames, two men burned.
One had already crumbled into ashes.
Crash—
Isabel instinctively felt her heart shatter.
Her face turned deathly pale as her vision blurred in disorientation.
“You—!”
She desperately reached out toward Hannon, who had not yet collapsed, and screamed.
But someone blocked her path.
“Stop. You must not touch him.”
“What—?”
The figure barring her way was none other than the former paladin, Centriol.
Centriol himself was in terrible shape after facing off against the manifested Abomination.
“Let go! He’s—!”
Just as Isabel tried to push past him, Acrede appeared as well.
“Lady Isabel.”
Battered and exhausted from fighting the Abomination, she gasped for breath.
“You mustn’t interfere now. If you act recklessly, you’ll be dragged into it too.”
Even Acrede, the Saintess, was stopping her. Isabel’s eyes trembled violently.
“Dragged into it…?”
“Their souls are merging.”
Then Musik, borrowing Vanessa’s body, also arrived.
She, too, was covered in wounds, having struggled in the hidden world.
“Vulcan must have tried to flee when Vicarman pursued him. He got caught in the process.”
But Musik’s expression darkened.
“I knew the Veil’s Bandages eroded emotions, but I never imagined he’d throw himself into danger like this. That’s why I warned him.”
“What?”
Isabel’s voice cut through sharply at that moment.
She knew the Veil’s Bandages stripped away three emotions.
But she hadn’t realized just how deeply their absence affected someone—love, rage, sorrow.
“The Veil’s Bandages are crueler than you think. Those three emotions form a chain reaction.
They affect not only others but the wearer themselves.”
Isabel’s face stiffened.
One who does not love oneself.
One who does not rage for oneself.
One who does not mourn for oneself.
What lay at the end of that path?
“The Veil’s Bandages gradually strip away self-worth. And in the end—”
Musik didn’t finish.
Isabel already knew where that road led.
Her vision swayed.
“No.”
She turned back toward Vicarman, engulfed in flames.
Her own chest burned as if she, too, were aflame.
Without realizing it, Vicarman had carved a place in her heart too vast to be replaced.
He had grown larger than Lucas, larger than her own brother.
“No. No. No. No! Absolutely not!”
She smiled whenever she saw him.
Playing pranks with him was strangely exhilarating.
She replayed every word he spoke late at night.
From the moment they first met until now, everything about him had filled her to the brim.
Ah… I see.
Without Vicarman, I wouldn’t be able to stand back up.
Unlike with Lucas, this was different.
Vicarman had unknowingly become far more than a childhood friend.
In her mind, his image surfaced—his eyes, so tender when looking at her.
Tears welled in Isabel’s eyes.
Only now did she realize what this feeling meant.
‘I… I’m in love with him.’
She didn’t know when it started.
Somewhere along the way, she had fallen for him—every single part of him.
And now she understood just how much agony Vicarman must have endured after losing this love.
She loved him.
She wanted to tell him to his face.
Even if it meant giving up everything else, she needed to say those words.
“How can we bring him back?”
Musik had said Vicarman was trapped in a fused state of souls.
Yet Isabel’s gaze held unwavering faith in him.
There was no way he had recklessly charged at Vulcan without certainty.
He must have moved with absolute confidence.
It angered her that he would throw himself away like this, but more than anger, she wanted him back.
“Vulcan’s body has already melted. The outcome hinges on who prevails in the soul realm.”
Musik’s tone was graver than ever before.
Who would prevail?
Only the two inside could answer.
So Isabel clenched her fists.
She couldn’t help directly.
But at the very least, she wanted him to know—
That here, fervently, she would wait for his return.
Whoosh—
At that moment, divine wings unfurled from Isabel’s back.
More immense than ever before, their appearance stole the breath from everyone present.
Feathers scattered like snowflakes around her.
“Then the answer is already clear.”
Beneath the radiant light, Isabel gazed at Vicarman with unshakable conviction.
“That man… He’ll return safely.”
He had never failed her before.
And this time too, she refused to doubt him.
---
Inside the Soul Realm of Vulcan and Me
I sprinted like mad through the soul realm.
The reason was simple:
Falling flames rained from the sky like a meteor shower.
Vulcan, you goddamn psychopath.
Even in the soul realm, he rampaged unchecked.
Dodging the descending fire, I looked up.
Vulcan floated leisurely in the distance.
‘I have to admit something.’
The gap between our souls was vast.
Vulcan was the Mercenary King, a hero who once saved the world.
His lifespan dwarfed mine.
His inner discipline befitted his legend.
If this were the physical world, things might be different—but here, Vulcan wielded unrestrained power.
I was just a student of Jerion Academy.
There was simply no comparison.
Vulcan knew this too.
That’s why he had planned from the start to steal my body.
“Isn’t it time you gave up?”
His voice echoed from afar.
Could I beat him in the soul realm?
Sadly, the answer was already clear: impossible.
No method existed to overcome Vulcan, reigning like a god of flames.
I had reached the same conclusion.
‘What do I do?’
Then, mid-thought, something flickered in my mind.
‘Wait.’
This was the soul realm between Vulcan and me.
I recalled Musik’s words from the past:
“But your soul’s connection to your body is too faint. Almost as if… you were possessing it.”
Connection faint.
Possession.
The two fragments collided violently in my mind.
‘If this really is my and Vulcan’s soul realm—’
My vision sharpened.
The body I possessed was Vicarman’s.
Yet here I stood in my original form, not Vicarman’s.
Vicarman was nowhere here.
What did that mean?
“Ha.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped me.
Vulcan had declared himself the ruler of this soul realm, intent on stealing my body.
But that fool had no idea how ridiculous his boast was.
All the pieces fell into place.
I spun around.
Then, charging straight through the meteor shower, I dashed—
Straight toward Vulcan.
All I had to do was make him think he had destroyed my soul.
He clicked his tongue, seeing through my desperation.
He clenched his fist, and the corrupted flames condensed into his grasp.
The soul realm warped around him, distorting under his overwhelming power.
Yet I didn’t stop.
I ran—only forward, only at him.
His suspicion wouldn’t matter now.
I sprinted with every ounce of strength left.
“Reckless fool.”
The distance between us vanished—
But Vulcan’s flames finished forming first.
“Don’t worry.”
Black fire erupted from his grasp.
“I’ll take good care of your body.”
With a swing of his arm, darkness surged toward me—
And in the moment it engulfed me…
I vanished.
---
Vicarman Niflheim
An hour had passed since the one disguised as Hannon with the Veil’s Bandages burned.
Moving him carelessly might collapse his soul.
While aware that Baekmokgong was engaging the Earth Dragon outside, they could only wait in silence.
Just as all held their breath—
Crackle.
The corrupted flames consuming Vicarman flickered out.
“Lady Acrede!”
Isabel, who had watched him unblinkingly, cried out.
Acrede rushed to Vicarman’s side.
His body was covered in burns.
As she healed him, Centriol rested a hand on his sword, ready to strike if the one awakening wasn’t Vicarman.
Even Jenia waited nervously—
“Ugh…”
A weak groan escaped Vicarman’s lips.
Isabel’s gaze remained fixed on him.
Slowly, his eyes fluttered open.
Bewildered, he blinked—as if unsure when he had lost consciousness.
Then his eyes met Isabel’s.
“…Isabel?”
At the sound of her name, she bit her lip hard.
“You—”
She exhaled sharply, bowing her head.
“You’re not him.”
The moment she spoke, Centriol moved.
His blade flashed—
Cleaving clean through Vicarman’s forehead, exposing the third eye beneath.
“Wishful thinking is pointless.”
KAAANG—!
But Centriol’s sword rebounded—
Deflected by Vicarman’s palm wreathed in black fire.
“I felt it earlier too. This body is absurdly durable.”
Vulcan smirked unnervingly.
Centriol frowned.
Vicarman’s flesh surpassed Vulcan’s in resilience and training.
Now enhanced by corrupted flames, he was even deadlier.
‘This won’t be easy.’
Even Centriol, a Cardinal, couldn’t guarantee victory.
That was the monster now wearing Vicarman’s skin.
“…Give him back.”
A frigid voice cut through the air.
Isabel staggered to her feet—
Divine wings radiating an ominous aura.
The sheer divine force made even Centriol stiffen.
“Give him back to me.”
Blazing fury burned in her eyes.
Vulcan studied her before grinning.
“His soul is already shattered. How could I return him?”
The wings spread wider.
Their light nearly blinded the onlookers.
Isabel lunged skyward—
Her blade clashing violently against Vulcan’s.
Wrath had honed her strength.
Even Vulcan was forced back under her assault.
And she wasn’t alone.
Others surged forward to join her.
“Seems this brat meant a lot to you.”
Vulcan’s lips curled amidst the corrupted flames.
“But you forgot one thing.”
His pupils suddenly shifted.
“Ancient Dragon Magic!”
Jenia shouted in warning.
Vulcan was invoking the ancient magic engraved in Vicarman’s body.
Corrupted flames and dragon magic? That would be uncontrollable.
They scrambled to stop him—
But it was too late.
Vulcan had already activated it.
“Jerion, your mistake— GAAH!”
He screamed abruptly.
His body convulsed in agony.
“W-What—?”
Too late, he realized something was tearing him apart from within.
When he checked, he found remnants—
The curse of the Ancient Dragon.
Something Vicarman had forcibly suppressed all this time.
Without him in control, the curse now rampaged freely.
And that wasn’t all.
BOOM—!
The entire space quaked.
This tremor resembled an earthquake.
Vulcan knew what it meant.
The Earth Dragon.
The ancient dragon was descending upon the Mystic Order’s stronghold.
His eyes trembled.
The dragon’s curse originated from the beasts themselves.
Of course, the Earth Dragon sensed it.
Dragons were fiercely territorial.
Another draconic presence meant it would never stand idle.
The dimensional barriers remained inactive.
Jenia’s interference spells still blocked teleportation.
If he wasn’t careful, the dragon he’d awakened might turn on him.
“Shouldn’t have acted recklessly.”
Suddenly, Vulcan’s lips moved on their own.
His eyes widened.
“You—!”
Isabel cried out in overwhelming emotion.
“…How?”
Confusion laced Vulcan’s voice.
“‘How’ what?”
Vicarman—no, I—smirked casually.
“The soul realm you stole had little to do with this body.”
Hope you enjoyed that borrowed power.
I raised my hand—
The ring on my finger ignited with light.
“Well, Vulcan.”
A vicious grin split my face.
“Let’s see who lasts longer.”
Who would endure until the Earth Dragon arrived?
Come, lightning caller.
At that moment, a blue flash pierced through me.