The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 42

Watching Seron’s outburst, I gave her a pitying look.

“What kind of manners are those in front of Grantoni? Oh, Seron, Seron.”

“Argh! I’m more curious about your brain for thinking this skull would actually be helpful!”

“I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably bigger than yours, Seron.”

“Pahahahaha!”

As I argued with Seron, Card burst into laughter, wiping away tears.

“Alright, alright. Seron, calm down. Hanon must have a reason for bringing along a mini reliquary, right?”

When Card tried to calm her down, she pointed at Grantoni with a furious expression.

“And why is he the one in charge of healing, anyway?”

Healing has always been the responsibility of sacred studies students.

Seron just couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Grantoni was in charge of it.

“If anything, I’m confused why you can’t understand why he’s fit for the job.”

“He’s more about killing than healing!”

That’s just a prejudice against necromancers.

I pointed at Grantoni’s head.

“Then let me ask you this. Is there any sacred studies student who could stay alive as just a skull like Grantoni?”

Seron’s lips moved soundlessly.

“…We don’t usually call that ‘alive.’”

“Fair enough.”

Even Card seemed to accept this explanation.

What a bunch of clueless people.

“Grantoni is a necromancer. He knows how to manipulate corpses. He understands how bodies are structured and can repair broken bones, even restore flesh to them.”

Of course, unlike sacred studies, it might involve some pain.

Still, it’s true that a necromancer can substitute for a sacred studies student when something goes wrong.

Holy magic and dark magic are opposites, but they share a similarity in dealing with living bodies.

“And besides, we asked Professor Beganon for approval, and it was granted.”

If the professors hadn’t allowed it, Grantoni wouldn’t even be here.

At the mention of the professor’s approval, Seron hesitated.

Even so, she seemed to have more to say.

“But the real problem is whether this skull can cooperate properly.”

Team events include points for teamwork, after all.

Grantoni has a history of causing various incidents.               

There’s a reason students call him a ‘mini reliquary’ and avoid him.

“Well, we’re treated almost the same, aren’t we?”

To the students, there’s little difference between Grantoni and us.

Card, the Creep.

Seron, the Bulldog.

Hanon, the Mutt.

At some point, all of us ended up with nicknames.

‘Now that I think about it, isn’t mine way too harsh?’

Maybe it’s because I’m seen as the nemesis of Isabel, who’s admired by everyone at Zeryon Academy.

My nickname stands out particularly sharply.

Still, fewer students openly insult me these days.

They’re not stupid.

Looking at my track record, they know better than to mess with me recklessly.

“Anyway, there were no sacred studies students willing to join our team. We should be grateful Grantoni agreed to join.”

“Heh, well, I was slated for disqualification anyway. So I’m fine with this.”

If you fail to join a team during a team event, you’re automatically disqualified and receive the lowest score.

So it wasn’t bad for Grantoni to join our team either.

“If our grades improve, we’ll get more support, right? That’ll let me stay in the shadow world longer.”

Grantoni clacked his teeth together and chuckled darkly.

Seron looked like she wanted to argue further but eventually let out a sigh and closed her mouth.

She had realized that saying more wouldn’t do her any good.

“Just watch, if our grades drop, I won’t let Princess Sweet Potato off the hook.”

Who was she to talk about anyone else like that?

“Isn’t that… bad?”

“What should we do?”

At that moment, sighs of dismay could be heard from various places.

I looked up belatedly and spotted someone being carried away on a stretcher.

The sight pulled me forward instinctively.

It was Nikita.

It seemed she had been injured during the team event.

Tug—

Someone grabbed my sleeve.

It was Sharin, who had been leaning against my back and dozing off.

She looked at me with her half-open eyes.

“We’re in the middle of our own test. You can go after it’s over.”

She was right.

Even if I followed Nikita now, it wouldn’t change anything.

“Isn’t she the vice president?”

“Hm. Being from the Cynthia family, I had some expectations.”

“They call this the weakest generation, don’t they? Losing Nia Cynthia must’ve been a painful blow for the Cynthia family.”

“I heard Nia Cynthia’s body still hasn’t been found.”

Murmurs spread from the spectator seats.

Even after Nikita was taken away, the team event continued.

The third years fought desperately to complete their matches.

But the guests seemed unimpressed, showing little interest.

As a result, the morale of the third years steadily declined.

By the end, not even a single round of applause could be heard.

The third years finished the event, drained and dejected.

“Now, we’ll begin the second-year team event!”

“Oh, finally.”

“The Generation of the Golden Flame, huh? This should be exciting!”

“Now we’ll see something worth watching.”

When the magic studies professor announced the second-year event, the guests’ attitudes changed instantly.

For the third years, this was an incredibly bitter pill to swallow.

But they knew.

They couldn’t compare their talents to those of the second years.

“First group, Team Iris.”

The professor began calling out the teams.

The testing order was based on the average grades of each group.

The group with the highest scores was assigned the first team event.

In a competitive system, it encourages the following groups to work harder to surpass the benchmark set by the first group.

It was a psychological strategy.

Being the first group also came with its own pressure.

No one else had set scores yet, so the weight of expectations could be overwhelming.

However, would such pressure even apply to Team Iris?

“Let’s go.”

Iris Hyserion strode forward confidently, her black hair flowing like a banner.

Underneath her hair, her ruby-like eyes shone brightly.

Following behind her were some of the strongest second-years, each one a force to be reckoned with.

None of them showed even a hint of fear.

It was as if they carried only one belief: that they were destined to win the team event.

“Ah, Princess Iris herself.”

“This is going to be exciting.”

“Isn’t she said to be the strongest royal in history?”

The spectators were abuzz with anticipation.

The top student in martial studies.

The strongest royal in history.

She may carry the infamous title of the ‘Final Villainess,’

But no one could deny her strength.

Iris’s team stepped onto the field where the team event would take place.

As they stood there, smoke rose, and the arena began to change shape.

A hemispherical dome enclosed the arena, sealing it off.

From inside, it was impossible to see the outside.

The design was meant to help the participants focus without being distracted by external gazes.

Soon, thick white mist filled the space, and—

Thud!

A loud noise signaled the appearance of a demon through illusion magic.

It was a massive demon, shaped like a bull, with a towering frame.

“GROAAAHHH!”

The creature let out a deafening roar, pounding its chest.

Shkk!

And just like that, its head was severed.

Instant kill.

Everyone watching held their breath.

Iris was suddenly standing behind the demon’s corpse.

Most of the onlookers hadn’t even seen her move.

Her crimson eyes glimmered faintly through the smoke.

Those eyes resembled red roses blooming in the dark.

“She really is the strongest,”

Card murmured, and no one could disagree.

Iris’s team continued their streak of swift, decisive victories.

Their overwhelming display left the audience in awe, draining any will to compete from the other second-years.

It was as if Iris’s team was declaring, ‘We are the champions of this event, so stop dreaming’.

However, as the event went into the later stages, even Iris’s team began to slow down.

The demons appearing in the latter half weren’t easy opponents, even for them.

But since almost no third-years had reached the later stages,

The fact that Iris’s team had was already a guarantee of a top-tier ranking.

Boom!

Finally, Iris’s team defeated the last demon registered in the illusion magic.

“31 minutes, 21 seconds.”

That was the time it took for Iris’s team to take down all ten demons.

Since the last demon alone took a little over ten minutes,

This meant they had defeated the first nine demons in less than twenty minutes.

“Well done. Congratulations on the first clear.”

Professor Beganon, dressed unusually sharp in a suit, praised Iris’s team.

Iris thanked her gracefully and turned to leave, her composure unbroken.

Unlike her teammates, there wasn’t a hint of exhaustion on her face.

As she walked, her gaze briefly flicked toward me.

Iris glanced at me with a sharp look before passing by.

‘Still a monster.’

At least within Zeryon Academy, there was no one who could defeat her right now.

“Next team, step forward.”

The professor’s voice called out the next group.

And it was us.

“W-what? Us? Why?”

Seron’s face was filled with confusion and panic.

Of course, there was a clear reason why we were the second team to go.

All our gazes turned toward Sharin.

The top student in magic studies, Sharin Sazaris.

Despite the attention on her, she shrugged with a languid expression.

“I’m just that capable.”

The other second-years’ eyes also shifted to us.

Those who didn’t know Sharin was part of our team looked puzzled.

Their faces clearly said, Why is she with them?

“Aaaah! Following Princess Iris’s team is way too much! It’s so unfair! Our team looks like this without Sharin!”

Despair washed over Seron’s face.

It was hard to blame her—this order made it impossible not to compare us.

I raised my hand and firmly pushed down on Seron’s head.

Stop sulking and listen up.

“Listen, everyone. The strongest team has already set their score.”

A wicked smile crept across my lips.

“That means if we clear it in under 31 minutes and 21 seconds, we’ll take first place.”

It was an obvious statement, but one no one dared to say aloud.

Card burst out laughing.

“True! Hanon’s got a point.”

“Interesting,”

Grantoni added with a sinister chuckle.

As expected from this group of misfits, none of us knew how to back down.

“Yup. If they called me in, they better expect at least that much,”

Sharin said, nodding with satisfaction.

“Let’s go get first place.”

As we began walking toward the test arena, I caught sight of Isabel.

She hadn’t taken her eyes off me for a single moment.

There was a fierce determination in her gaze—a clear sense of rivalry.

‘No matter what score you get, I’ll surpass you.’

That was the message in her eyes.

Isabel didn’t care about Iris’s team from the beginning.

Her sole goal was to defeat me.

Well then.

‘There’s no way I’ll let that happen.’

Not for her, not for anyone, and definitely not for the sake of the narrative.

In this team event, we’ll take first place—no matter what.