The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 202

The leaping apostle charges.

Every time its arm lashes out, I block it.

With me as the tank in my True Dragon Form, Isabel and Ban unleash a flurry of strikes.

At first, Ban and the others were taken aback upon seeing my True Dragon Form, but that didn’t last long.

Right now, the apostle takes priority—questions could wait.

An enemy growing stronger is one thing, but our team growing stronger is nothing but good news.

The moment Ban and Isabel slashed through the apostle’s body, flames surged from behind me, carried by the wind.

The spirits’ fire and wind scorched and tore through the apostle’s flesh.

The apostle staggered, trying to break free.

It was determined to escape and buy time for its hyper-regeneration.

THUD!

But I rushed in, preventing its escape.

As I charged head-on, the apostle roared.

Its body was already layered with curses.

Meanwhile, I was armed with every buff imaginable.

Since it couldn’t shake me off, there was no opening for it to escape.

"Damn it."

Even the sweat on my body evaporated into ember flames.

"Stamina happens to be my specialty."

Like a leech, I clung tightly, leaving it no room to break free.

While it was restrained, the kids’ attacks rained down relentlessly.

The more I held it down, the fiercer their assault became.

Gashes formed on the apostle’s hide, wounds piling up.

No matter how minor each injury was, at this rate, even hyper-regeneration couldn’t keep up.

Hyper-regeneration isn’t invincibility.

Eventually, when pushed to its physical limits, even hyper-regeneration would fail.

I knew that—and so did the apostle.

Before I knew it, all of the apostle’s eyes locked onto me.

It had realized that unless it took me down, escape was impossible.

The apostle’s attacks focused entirely on me.

Even then, the others kept striking, but it seemed to rely on its regeneration to endure.

Its arm shot forward with terrifying speed.

Dodging and blocking, a frenzied battle of reflexes erupted between us.

The apostle cleverly mixed physical mutations into its attacks.

An arm I had deflected bent the opposite way and swung back, or its maw stretched forward, trying to bite my head off.

This was nothing like the fights in the ring from the distant past.

Endless irregularities and foul play.

A relentless onslaught with no regard for rules.

A slaughter driven purely by instinct.

But precisely because of that, I could react to every single move without fail.

Had it used feints, thinking with its head rather than instinct, it might have been harder to counter.

But this thing was an apostle.

A beast that knew nothing but killing and devouring.

The apostle’s arm swung down.

I pushed my foot forward, coiling my body into a roll.

CRACK!

Its hand grazed past my ear.

The sheer force behind the air-rending sound alone was monstrous.

The apostle’s maw gaped open.

It intended to crush my skull.

But I ducked even lower.

My head nearly scraped the ground.

CRUNCH!

A few strands of hair were severed by its razor-sharp teeth.

I’ll feed you as many of those as you want.

Now, try eating this.

From the lowest possible stance, I drove an uppercut straight upward.

Flames erupted from my elbow.

The synergy between magic engravings and arcane amplification activated.

With explosive force that nearly dislocated my shoulder, my palm shot upward.

SCREEEECH!

The ember-dragon flames coating my hand overheated and surged.

CRACK!

My hand finally pierced through the apostle’s thick hide.

The moment my strike tore through its solar plexus, I unleashed the full might of the ember-dragon’s flames.

BOOOOOOM!

A pillar of ember fire erupted from the apostle’s body, blazing toward the sky.

"GRRRRAAAAAAH!"

The apostle screamed, its maw stretched wide.

Simultaneously, its body began to turn crimson.

"When it turns red, it fires heat rays! Evade!"

Solbas’ shout echoed from afar.

The moment I heard it, I was already twisting my body.

The black blood oozing from the apostle’s maw evaporated instantly, and heat rays shot out.

At the same time, a white beam of light streaked toward me from behind.

The Goddess’s Declaration of Victory.

The heat rays and divine light collided, igniting the world in a blinding flash.

KABOOM!

The explosion sent me tumbling across the ground.

Before I knew it, Ban caught me and steadied me.

Gasping for breath, I barely managed to stand.

Where I had been standing, another Spirit Fusion Strike rained down.

Amid the torrent of wind and fire, the burning apostle writhed.

"Damn bastard, you should’ve died by now."

"Yeah, you’d think so."

Even Ban agreed as he stood back up.

"Hanun."

He tossed it to me casually.

Seemed like he’d already figured it out after clashing with me so many times.

"Right."

"We’ll talk more later."

"You—Ban!"

With Isabel joining us, we kicked off the ground again.

The strategy remained the same—overwhelm the apostle until its regeneration couldn’t keep up.

The moment the Spirit Fusion Strike ended, we charged in.

What we saw was an apostle charred pitch-black.

So, was it dead?

No.

My eyes caught something beneath the apostle.

Under its scorched shell—a hollowed-out hole.

A chill ran down my spine.

At the same time, I saw the ground beneath Sharin split open.

"Come forth, Lightning Summoning!"

Without hesitation, a bolt of lightning crashed from the sky.

Isabel yanked Ban back, shielding him with her wings.

The lightning coursed through my body, transforming me.

Heavenly Dragon Form.

Now clad in crackling lightning, I sprinted toward Sharin without a second thought.

Heavenly Thunder.

The fastest speed I could muster.

Had Sharin’s spatial magic truly only covered the ground?

Someone as sharp as her wouldn’t make that mistake.

She must have layered her magic underground as well.

Yet, it had been breached.

What did that mean?

An irregular apostle flashed through my mind.

One that, after dying repeatedly to Sharin’s magic, had finally developed immunity.

Just because this one could leap didn’t mean it lacked such traits.

The most devastating damage it had taken so far was Sharin’s initial magic barrage.

No wonder it had fixated on her—her magic was the greatest threat.

The rear guard hadn’t grasped the situation yet.

Too late.

Even Heavenly Thunder wouldn’t make it in time!

Finally, the apostle burst from the ground, lunging at Sharin.

Her ever-present defensive magic reacted, but the apostle’s claws tore through it.

Time seemed to slow.

Then, at the edge of my vision—

A blazing crimson figure stepped between Sharin and the apostle.

At first, it was an axe.

But the axe shattered against the apostle’s claws.

Next, an arm.

The apostle’s hand pierced through, reducing it to splinters.

Finally, a body.

Crimson hair fluttered.

Crimson blood followed.

My eyes widened as I realized who had shielded Sharin.

Seron Parmia.

While everyone else focused on the apostle, she alone had remembered her duty—to protect Sharin.

The weakest among them, yet the one who prioritized her comrades over the enemy.

Only Seron had predicted the apostle’s move.

And so, only she could protect Sharin.

She looked past the apostle at me—and smiled.

A smile unlike any she had ever given me before.

The apostle’s hand plunged into Seron’s chest.

Then, the moment its arm burst out through her back—

KABOOOOOM!

I crashed into the apostle with the full force of Heavenly Thunder, sending it flying.

THUD!

The apostle tumbled across the ground.

Dora’s wind magic followed, driving it back.

The spirits raged.

Even under their assault, the apostle kicked off the ground, evading.

I couldn’t bring myself to look back.

I couldn’t.

Because deep in my chest—

A long-lost, primal emotion was screaming madly.

My Heavenly Dragon Form began to crumble.

My will wasn’t strong enough to fully control the ancient dragon’s magic.

I was that shaken.

"Seron!"

The kids’ delayed screams echoed.

The apostle possessed a flesh-disintegration trait.

Its hand had pierced Seron’s chest.

What did that mean for her?

I didn’t want to imagine.

I couldn’t turn around.

If I did, something inside me would collapse.

Something I had buried deep within my chest was now thrashing violently.

My mouth went dry. My vision spun.

An emotion strong enough to breach the Curse of the Bandages was howling inside me.

"King! Sweet potato!"

A voice, sharp as a blade, cut through.

My head snapped toward it.

There was Seron—being treated by the Saint and Joachim.

My eyes widened.

Alive.

Seron was alive.

Spitting blood, she gritted her teeth and shouted:

"Why the hell are you spacing out?! Get your ass back in the fight!"

She shoved me forward.

How she survived flesh-disintegration, I didn’t know.

My eyelids trembled.

At the same time, strength flooded back into my body.

"Husband!"

That was when Sharin shouted louder than ever before.

Her blazing eyes locked onto me as she hurled her broken staff to the ground.

In its place, she drew a new one and roared:

"From now on, I’m casting every spell exclusively on you—so you better take it all!"

The magic engravings on my body—

Every single one of them originated from Sharin.

She was declaring that she would now push those engravings to their absolute limit.

"In exchange, you kill that bastard."

Her magic had been breached. Seron had nearly died.

For a mage, nothing was more humiliating.

The world’s greatest mage was furious.

And so was I.

This emotion bursting through the Bandages’ curse—

It was undeniably rage.

Seron had kept her promise—to restore my emotions.

I’d praise her later, then scold her half to death.

THUD.

The apostle reappeared, its fur now bleached white, maw gaping.

Its beastly eyes narrowed.

Seemed it was frustrated it hadn’t killed Sharin.

Yeah, you should be.

That was your last chance.

"Phora! Beakring!"

I roared the names of the spirit duo and stomped the ground with all my might.

"Pour everything you’ve got into this!"

The Spirit Lord and the Supreme Spirit manifested.

Together, they unleashed their full power—a storm of fire swallowing the earth.

The apostle, which had planned to escape and regenerate, was now trapped in the inferno.

Magic immunity didn’t mean spirit immunity.

Even it couldn’t break free.

At that moment, every magic engraving on my body blazed to life.

Sharin overcharged her staff, layering spell after spell.

The engravings synergized with the arcane.

And the ancient dragon’s magic, by classification, was arcane.

The Heavenly Dragon howled at the sky.

The sheer power radiating from me shook the atmosphere itself.

Perhaps this was the true Heavenly Dragon Form that Jerion had wielded.

Divine feathers scattered around us.

Isabel, too, spread her Goddess Wings at full power.

Wings cradling the sun unfurled behind me.

Goddess Wings – Stage 2.

Of course—as the main heroine, she awakened yet again in a moment of crisis.

Right now, I was more grateful for her talent than ever.

I kicked off the ground, tearing through the firestorm.

There, I saw the apostle thrashing, trying to escape.

My hand swung down with more force than ever before.

KABOOOM!

Not the sound of metal, but an explosion.

The apostle’s arms splayed wide, all its eyes bulging.

Finally, it felt fear.

Stare all you want.

Today’s your funeral.