The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 24

Boom! Thud!

The first floor of the magic palace, the Gray Forest.

A massive root descending from the dark clouds began to burrow into the ground of the Gray Forest in various places.

“What… what is that!”

I heard Seron shouting in panic.

Others, too, were stunned by the scale that was far greater than expected.

But the real challenge hadn’t begun yet.

I sprinted forward, quietly focusing on the center of the root.

Crack!

Soon, a bud sprouted from the root’s center and began to open.

Snap! Crack!

Thick liquid oozed out from between the opening buds.

Inside was a monster, a hybrid between a human and an insect, made from gray tree bark.

The creature spread insect wings from its shell and started drying them.

Once that thing takes off for real, the situation will become a huge headache.

So, we knew what we had to do.

“Everyone, spread out and cut down as much of the root as you can!”

“Are you crazy? You want us to cut that?”

Seron gasped as she looked at the root embedded in the Gray Forest.

Even at a glance, it was ridiculously thick.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy to cut.

But we couldn’t just leave it like this.

The true apostle of the Gray Forest.

The Forest Keeper absorbs all the life force of the Gray Forest.

Once the life force is absorbed, the forest turns entirely gray, just as its name suggests.

In other words, it becomes a debuff zone that drains your stamina with every step you take.

“What? Not confident?”

Seron had been talking about going down into the magic palace earlier.

When I provocatively asked her, she bit her lip in frustration.

“Who said I can’t do it!”

Seron shouted loudly and charged toward a root like a madwoman.

Sss!

As she drew her axe, flames ignited with a burst of sparks.

Given her advantage over the root, Seron would be able to cut it down without issue.

“Aisha, you can handle it too, right?”

“Of course.”

Aisha had already drawn her greatsword and started swinging it with ease.

She was called the Iron Maiden of the Greatsword for a reason.

With her strength, cutting the root was no problem.

In fact, Aisha’s eyes gleamed fiercely as if she had been waiting for a day like this.

“Poara, what fire spirits can you summon?”

“I can summon up to mid-level spirits!”

“That’s enough. Don’t call the Lord yet. The time will come when we need it.”

“Got it!”

Poara, with a confident reply, materialized a fire spirit.

A giant fire lizard appeared behind Poara, opening its mouth and spewing flames at the root.

“Saint.”

“I’m ready.”

Meanwhile, Sirmiel finished his prayer and stretched his hand toward the sky.

At that moment, a white light enveloped not just me, but everyone.

I felt vitality surging through my body.

I moved much more nimbly than before.

It was the effect of the Saint’s blessing.

As expected, the stat boost from the Saint was substantial.

‘This should work.’

I kicked off the ground and sprinted forward, quickly reaching the root.

Up close, the root was massive, reminiscent of a baobab tree.

No wonder Seron had such a terrified expression.

‘Normally…’

This part is a relatively easy event if Lucas and the protagonist’s companions are here.

They could easily take care of the roots.

Especially Lucas—his flame of determination was the Forest Keeper’s greatest weakness.

But I can’t count on what isn’t here.

Sometimes, you have to fight with what you have.

I raised my hand, my fingers sharpened like blades.

Thanks to my Skin of Steel, my body became a natural weapon.

With the Saint’s blessing on top of that,

My body now performed better than most weapons.

‘It might not be aura, but…’

I could still have the cutting power of a finely crafted sword.

Crunch!

My hand slashed through the root, tearing deep into it.

The root’s toughness wasn’t much different from that of a regular tree.

So, in the same position, I raised my other hand.

I began to dig into the root recklessly with both hands.

Like a mole burrowing into the earth.

At this moment, I became a drill, tearing through the entire root.

As I relentlessly tore apart the root, soon enough, the outside came into view.

In that same stance, I spun around and continued to rip through more roots.

Crack! Crack, crack!

Before long, the middle section of the root connected to the ground was hollowed out.

The area around was scattered with the remnants of torn-up roots.

There was no time to catch my breath.

As soon as I confirmed the root was fully ripped apart, I kicked off the ground again and sprinted.

I reached out my hand towards the next root.

With every ounce of strength, I began cutting through all of the roots.

Rip! Boom!

In the distance, I could hear the sound of roots being severed.

It was the sound of the others giving it their all, too.

We might not be the protagonist’s party,

But just because we aren’t, doesn’t mean we can’t get the job done.

‘If we stop the Forest Keeper, we can move into the next phase of the scenario with the most people intact.’

Even though we don’t have Lucas, the protagonist and our most valuable asset,

We can still make up for that by bringing more students along.

‘To turn this bad ending into a happy one,’

I won’t hesitate to use any means necessary.

“Senpai!”

As I cut through another root, Aisha’s voice rang out.

In the path where Aisha was running, another root appeared.

No other roots could be seen nearby.

The result of everyone’s desperate efforts to destroy the roots.

I kicked off the ground again and started running.

My arms were straining from the relentless digging, but I was still fine.

Aisha spun her body and began rotating her greatsword.

Once again, my Skin of Steel gained cutting power.

Crack!

Aisha’s greatsword and my hand blade pierced the root simultaneously.

Together, we started tearing through the root with wild abandon.

The remnants of the torn roots were scattered all around.

The greatsword and my hand blades slashed through the roots like a blur.

After digging for a while, just as Aisha and I burst through the remaining roots together—

Crack! Crack, crack!

The rest of the roots couldn’t withstand the pressure and tore apart, collapsing.

Aisha and I rolled out from between the shattered root fragments.

We ran, carefully avoiding the areas that had turned into gray zones.

“Ugh, damn it, my arms are about to fall off!”

In the distance, Seron appeared, running with her axe slung over her shoulder.

Her red hair was completely covered in root debris.

It was proof she, too, had been desperately cutting through the roots.

“All the roots are burned!”

Poara shouted, riding on his flaming lizard.

I quickly scanned the surroundings with my eyes.

Thankfully, not the entire Gray Forest had turned into a gray zone.

It meant we had successfully prevented the Forest Keeper’s emergence phase.

But the battle with the Forest Keeper had only just begun.

Rumble!

The Forest Keeper, which had been at the center of the roots, began to rise, severing the roots connected to it.

Normally, it would have absorbed enough life force from the Gray Forest to become much larger.

But thanks to our quick work in clearing the roots, it hadn’t grown much.

Which meant it was weakened.

“Saint, can you pour some blessings into Poara?”

“It’s not difficult.”

The Saint immediately followed my request and began praying.

“Poara.”

“Y-yes!”

“Get the spirit lord ready, and as soon as the Saint’s blessing is granted, unleash it at full power.”

“W-wait, is that okay?”

Poara spoke with a worried expression, wondering if it was alright to use the spirit lord, our trump card, so soon.

Of course, it was.

“Yeah, hit it with everything you’ve got.”

Hearing my words, Poara nodded with a determined expression.

“What are you planning?”

“Just watch.”

I replied to Seron, tilting my head back to look up at the Forest Keeper.

“O Lord, please hear the prayer of Your humble lamb.”

In the meantime, Sirmiel had finished his prayer.

Though this was the demoinc palace, his prayer reached the heavens.

Soon, a brilliant light descended from the sky and enveloped Poara.

All of Poara’s stats surged explosively.

The spirit lord is a being ranked just below the gods,

Which means it can receive divine blessings better than anyone else.

As a result, the blessing elevated Poara to a level that was unreachable for his current self.

Due to the overwhelming concentration of power, Poara broke into a cold sweat as he clasped his hands together.

At that moment, a wild surge of spirit energy erupted from Poara’s body.

A halo began to form around Poara.

“Wow!”

“This is incredible.”

Feeling the surge of power, Seron and Aisha couldn’t hide their astonishment.

The wind started blowing.

The gust was so strong that all we could do was lower ourselves to the ground.

In the fierce gusts of the storm,

the master of the Great Spirit Forest slowly began to lift his head.

Sparks spread around.

A massive bird, made of wind and sparks, spread its wings toward the sky.

The wings were so large that they cast a shadow over the sky.

Spirit Lord.

An entity that had reached the highest realm attainable by a spirit howled toward the sky.

The sight was truly overwhelming.

A Spirit Lord, a being that could rival an archmage in terms of power.

Before the rampage of such immense strength, everything was powerless.

I slowly lifted the corners of my mouth.

The first phase of the Forest Keeper has many troublesome aspects.

It’s optimized to drain the player’s strength and items.

Full of annoying patterns.

That’s why I used Poara.

“Clear the first phase with a burst of damage.”

It was a burst-damage strategy.

“Spirit Lord.”

Poara swallowed nervously, his throat dry with sweat.

Then he aimed his hand toward the Forest Keeper.

“Please!”

With Poara’s cry, the Spirit Lord swung his wings.

In that moment, wind and lightning blossomed, swirling toward the Forest Keeper.

BOOM! CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

The Forest Keeper, opening its eyes to the vortex of wind and lightning, screamed.

It struggled in vain, trying to survive in its own way, but it was meaningless.

The vortex of wind and lightning tore the Forest Keeper to shreds, ripping it apart.

The shredded pieces of the Forest Keeper scattered around.

The massive roots in the gray forest were completely torn, making it hard to even recognize their shape.

“Ugh, huff.”

Poara, having exhausted all his strength to summon the Spirit Lord, fell to his knees on the ground.

He did well.

Seron, watching in a daze, asked,

“Do we even need this?”

“Don’t worry.”

I answered Seron, gripping my shield tighter.

SWOOSH!

At that moment, small fruit-like objects poured out from the shattered roots in all directions.

THUD! THUD!

The fallen fruits cracked open like eggs hatching.

From them emerged smaller versions of the Forest Keeper we had just seen, but without wings.

Seron stared at them with a horrified expression, lowering her axe.

She also realized that the fight wasn’t over yet.

“We still have a lot to do.”

We had cleared the first phase with burst damage.

Now, it was time to clear the second phase.