The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 23

Seron’s dumbfounded face, which had appeared when I brought along a Saint, didn’t return.

I left her alone and decided to introduce the others.

“Aisha, Poara, this is the Saint, who has agreed to join our team.”

“The, the Saint?”

Like Seron, Poara also looked at the Saint in shock.

“Senior, how did you manage to bring the Saint onto the team?”

The one who showed the least change in expression, Aisha, asked the question.

I shrugged.

“Well, no one else had asked the Saint.”

So I invited him.

I gave him a reasonable explanation as well.

“…This idiot, of course no one asked!”

At that moment, Seron, who had been behind me, yelled.

She grabbed my collar tightly and glared at me with wide eyes.

When I shot her a look asking why, Seron’s forehead turned bright red and seemed to steam.

Her face looked as if she was about to die of frustration.

“Are you out of your mind?! What if something happens to the Saint after you brought him along?!”

The Saint, Sirmiel Saint Eden.

His status in the Empire’s primary religion, the Holy Church, was just below that of royalty.

If something were to happen to him…

None of the students felt confident enough to handle the consequences.

That’s why, even though Sirmiel was already in his second year, no one had ever brought him onto their team.

It was an unspoken rule.

But I didn’t care.

There’s no reason to leave unused such a powerful card.

“Even the princess is going.”

I pointed to the Third Princess, Iris Hyserion, who was already preparing to enter.

Even someone of higher status than the Saint was entering the Demonic Palace.

“The princess is a completely different situation!”

Iris was the top student in the martial arts department.

Not only in swordsmanship, but also in academics, she excelled—a model of both brain and brawn.

She was considered the most talented member of royalty in history, to the point where it would be a national loss if she didn’t enter the Demonic Palace.

But the Saint’s situation was different.

Although he was also the top student in the divine studies department, what he mastered was healing magic.

It wasn’t power to protect himself.

So, from the perspective of the students who had to protect him, they worried about what could happen.

“If we protect the Saint well, everything will be fine.”

“As if that’s so easy!”

I raised my hand and flicked Seron on the forehead.

“Kyaa!?”

She screamed and covered her forehead with her hands.

Seron glared at me, asking what I was doing.

“Then do it. Did you think the Demonic Palace was a playground? Do you think there’s a more reliable priest than the Saint?”

And more importantly…

“You’re saying this right next to the Saint?”

Seron’s shoulders flinched.

This blockhead finally realized the situation and started glancing at Sirmiel.

Then Sirmiel smiled kindly and shook his head.

“I’m fine. I’ve long been aware of these concerns.

That’s why I haven’t joined a team until now, knowing that I could be a burden.”

Sirmiel voluntarily explained the situation to the professor himself.

He decided that unless an invitation came, he wouldn’t enter the Demonic Palace.

“But despite knowing this, you, my brother, called upon me.”

Sirmiel rolled up his white sleeves, showing his determination.

“Since you’ve called me, under the name of the Lord, I, Sirmiel, will devote all my efforts to this task.”

Seron’s lips trembled.

It seemed she was feeling guilty for what she said earlier, and now she couldn’t say a word.

Leaving Seron behind, I looked at the other two.

“Aisha, Poara, you two don’t have any issues, right?”

“Yes, I had a vague feeling something like this might happen when I joined your team, senior.”

“I, I’m okay too!”

What did Aisha anticipate, I wonder.

“Senior, you always seem to get involved in peculiar things, so I expected this.”

Aisha knows far too much about me.

It seems she has quite a keen ear as well.

“Team Hanon Airei.”

Just then, a voice called out the name of our team.

At my signal, everyone followed behind me.

Only Seron was sighing deeply, her face full of worry.

When we arrived at the entrance of the Demonic Palace, Professor Beganon was standing there.

Today, she was in uniform.

When she saw me, she raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Hanon, you’ve gathered quite the ridiculous team again, I see.”

I thought she might scold me, but Beganon didn’t say anything else beyond that.

Instead, she reiterated the dangers of the Demonic Palace.

“Remember this. The most important thing in the Demonic Palace is your lives. If you think it’s too dangerous, run away. There’s no need to sacrifice your lives unnecessarily.”

As she spoke, she pointed to the final frontline knights of the Demonic Palace.

“Even if an Apostle appears, the adults will handle it. You just do what you can.”

It was a situation where young students had to be sent into the Demonic Palace to minimize casualties on the surface.

It seemed that Beganon wasn’t entirely pleased with the harsh reality of this world.

Her one wish was simple:

For us to return alive.

“We will keep that in mind.”

This is a promise that must be upheld.

Perhaps sensing my resolve, Beganon didn’t say anything more.

“Be safe.”

We stepped into the Demonic Palace.

The entrance yawned wide, as if hell itself were ready to swallow us whole.

As we walked inside, a chilling wind brushed past our faces.

After a moment, I looked up to see the sun shining down on a field, with greenery stretching out before us.

“This is…”

Aisha, who had entered the Demonic Palace for the first time, stopped in her tracks.

It was no wonder, since the scenery before us was completely different from what we had seen just moments ago.

This place, with its sprawling greenery, seemed like an undeniably peaceful spot.

“This, this is strange. It’s clearly a forest, but I can’t feel any spirits.”

Poara, standing next to Aisha, looked around the forest with a bewildered expression.

Just as he said, although it looked like a forest in front of us, there was a distinctly unnatural feeling about it.

“Tsk, so this entrance leads to the Gray Forest”

Seron, the only one among us with experience in the Demonic Palace, clicked her tongue.

The first floor of the Demonic Palace is divided into four zones.

One of them is the Gray Forest

That’s where we are now.

“If it’s the Gray Forest, then surely…”

“Yeah, as time passes, gray zones start to appear all over the Forest”

I answered Saint Sirmiel as I stepped forward.

The grass I had been standing on just a moment ago turned gray.

In the Gray Forest, every path you walk on turns gray.

And the moment you step on one of these gray zones…

“Your stamina gets drained instantly.”

It’s a place where you absolutely must not step on the same spot twice.

That’s the nature of the Gray Forest

“What a fascinating Forest”

Aisha marveled, watching the ground beneath her feet turn gray.

“There’s nothing fascinating about it. It’s the most annoying Forest”

Seron, who had experienced this before, made a face of disguSaint

Just as she said, the Gray Forest wasn’t a pleasant place for me either.

More than anything, the trigger mechanism in the Gray Forest was the worst of all the locations on the first floor of the Demonic Palace.

“What’s the plan? If we waste time here, we won’t be able to move at all.”

Seron urged.

As she said, if we lingered here, the Gray Forest would soon become a place where there was no ground left to step on, thanks to those ahead of us.

“No, we’re not moving.”

“What?”

Seron looked back at me, her face full of confusion.

She didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about.

I couldn’t blame her for reacting that way.

But this was necessary.

“We’re not advancing to the second or third floors.”

The event from Act 3, Scene 3 in the Demonic Palace—the Keeper of the Gray Forest

Originally, Lucas was supposed to handle this event.

But now, Lucas was gone.

So I have to take care of this event in his place.

I lifted my head.

“From now on, we’re going to…”

And the next thing I said shocked everyone.

“Rest up.”

We need to conserve our strength before the event.

* * *

In the Demonic Palace, the Gray Forest

Though we were inside the palace, the gentle sunlight filtering in and the cool breeze made it the perfect place for a nap.

There were plenty of trees providing shade, and unlike a normal forest, there wasn’t a single insect around.

There’s hardly a better spot to take a break.

“Does this even make sense? We’re in the Demonic Palace and we’re resting?! Are you out of your mind?!”

But instead of insects, there was something noisy—Seron.

While I was leaning against a tree, relaxing comfortably, Seron was chattering non-stop beside me, until she eventually started shouting.

I opened one eye and glanced at her.

“What, is there some rule saying you can’t rest in the Demonic Palace?”

“Ugh, you idiot! Do you even know what kind of mission we’re on here?!”

“Of course I know.”

We’re young soldiers sent to stop the Apostles, who aim to destroy the world by sending them to the surface.

That’s the very purpose and reason the Academy exists.

All the students at the Academy take pride in this, even if it means risking their lives.

“And you still act like this? What are you thinking? With a team like this, we should be heading down to fight the Apostles!”

“You blockhead, Apostles aren’t only on the lower floors.”

There are definitely Apostles on the first floor too.

In fact, you could say the largest number of them are on the first floor.

The place where Apostles are first born is the Hatchery located in the center of the first floor.

“Who doesn’t know that? But in the end, all the Apostles go down to the lower floors!”

However, after being born, most Apostles descend to the lower floors of the Demonic Palace in search of power.

As a result, the number of Apostles on the first floor decreases rapidly.

“It’s common sense that you have to go to the lower floors to defeat more Apostles!”

As Seron insisted, I opened my eyes lazily.

“Yeah, that’s why we’ll go down later.”

“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Seron looked at me, utterly unable to understand.

But I had my own reasons.

I grabbed Seron by the shoulder and sat her down.

“Calm down and rest It’s not like I said we wouldn’t go down at all.”

Despite my attempts to persuade her, Seron eventually gave up and sat down, muttering curses at me under her breath.

I’ll have to knock some sense into her later.

“Hanon, another party just passed by us.”

During this time, Poara, who I had tasked with reconnaissance, reported back.

Poara’s spirits were spread throughout the Gray Forest, allowing him to act as a scout and give us constant updates.

“It looks like it’s the last party now.”

Another group of students had advanced toward the center.

Since everyone had to go through the center to descend to the second floor, they were all heading in the same direction.

‘It’s almost time.’

By now, we were the only ones left who hadn’t gone down to the second floor.

“Seron, how many times has the Gray Forest been triggered so far?”

I asked as I stood up, and Seron glanced at me with a disgruntled expression.

“This is the second time since I enrolled.”

“Right, for you, it’s the second time. But for the palace itself, this is the ninety-ninth time.”

Seron’s eyes widened slightly.

She was surprised that I had been keeping track.

But this point was crucial.

“The environment of the Demonic Palace has been steadily changing for a long time.”

The reason the palace is always dangerous is because of its shifting environment.

No matter how thoroughly it’s investigated, the environment changes at some point.

Sometimes, it’s necessary to send in an expedition, even knowing the risk.

And now, this very period, when Lucas entered the Academy, is the time of transformation for the palace.

When the palace strategy stabilizes, the transformation begins, resulting in numerous casualties, and during this chaos, fully powered Apostles are born.

It’s truly an era of upheaval.

“When the number of Apostle births in the palace reaches a hundred, unusual phenomena tend to occur.”

Seron’s pupils gradually began to dilate.

She stood up with a bewildered look on her face.

“You… you can’t be serious.”

“The Gray Forest has reached its hundredth today.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Today might just be the most dangerous day in the history of palace raids.”

Once you descend to the lower floors of the palace, there’s no way to return to the surface.

Well, to be precise, there is, but I’m the only one who knows how.

For the students, the return trip is grueling.

In fact, more injuries occur during the journey back after successfully clearing the palace.

The sense of accomplishment weakens their guard.

Thus, Act 3, Scene 3—the Demonic Palace Battle—is an event known for causing the highest number of casualties.

It marks the beginning of the palace’s transformation.

How you navigate this turning point drastically affects the difficulty of clearing the game.

Rumble!

Suddenly, the entire Gray Forest began to shake.

Seron’s face turned pale as she felt the tremors.

In contrast, I slowly raised my head toward the sky.

The bright sky was gradually darkening.

And from the darkening sky, long, tree-like roots began descending.

“It’s here.”

Sirmiel, already prepared, stood up.

I was able to bring Sirmiel along for this palace team because I had discussed this event with him in advance.

There was a possibility of heavy casualties.

With this in mind, Sirmiel had willingly agreed to join me.

“Hanon Team.”

I called out as I drew the heavy shield from my back.

“From now on, we’ll be clearing a path for the students to safely return.”

The true Apostle of the Gray Forest—the Forest Keeper.

We’ll take it down.