The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 98



The Specialty is Self-Destruction

Swimming through the shadows.

I did something that made no sense.

Perhaps that’s why I could see the confusion on Solvas’s face beyond the shadows.

It was only natural.

Shadows are not like water.

If I had to add, they feel more like paint.

But how was I swimming through the shadows?

The answer was simple.

Magic Engraving · Wind

The wind attached to my arms and legs gave me buoyancy.

It wasn’t enough to fly in the sky, but it was enough to float in the shadows.

Thanks to that, I could swim through the shadows.

Splash splash splash!

The distance between Solvas and me began to close rapidly.

Swimming is my specialty, after all.

It was a suitable exercise to build stamina without injury, so I used to swim every day.

“Crazy.”

Even Solvas didn’t expect this, showing his bewilderment.

He hurriedly ran over the waves.

At the same time, he formed a shadow bow in his grip.

Piiing!

As he released the drawn bowstring, a shadow arrow flew.

The shadow arrows split into multiple paths, soon becoming hundreds.

A rain of arrows poured down from the sky.

I quickly dived into the shadows.

The shadow arrows pierced through the shadow waves and brushed past.

However, even within the shadows, I swam and dodged all the arrows.

The strength of the waves was so strong that the arrows couldn’t exert their full power.

Beyond the shadows, Solvas’s face twisted.

It seemed he realized that creating the shadow waves was a bad move.

Shadows have a nature of being devoured by other shadows.

Within the shadow waves, even Solvas’s shadow couldn’t hold its ground.

Meanwhile, I closed the distance with Solvas once again.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

As I chased with incredible speed, Solvas was terrified.

Reacting like that, as if seeing a bug, hurts my feelings.

I had no choice but to swim even harder.

Thanks to that, I was faster than Solvas, who was running on the shadow waves.

“How… How is your speed not decreasing? Aren’t you getting tired?”

Of course not.

This is nothing to get tired over.

The hellish training with Aisha continues even now.

Moreover, we increased the intensity of the training for today.

Stamina is national power.

Right now, I am a destructive tank forged by stamina.

Solvas frantically unleashed shadow weapons.

I have evasion and a body of steel.

Trusting in this, I closed the distance without hesitation.

Even running away has its limits.

In the end, the distance between Solvas and me narrowed.

My eyes gleamed.

This is my chance.

The light of the magic engravings on the soles of my feet all lit up at once.

Boom!

Soon after, my body soared up in the butterfly stroke position along with the explosion of the magic engravings.

Solvas, stunned by the absurd turn of events, looked up at me with a dumbfounded face.

It’s your fault for not anticipating this.

My hand wrapped around Solvas’s shoulder and pressed down.

Solvas quickly braced himself with both legs.

“Ugh!”

But while Solvas is a genius in the shadows, I have the upper hand in strength.

Splash!

Solvas, pushed by my brute force, fell straight into the shadowy waves.

In an instant, both Solvas and I were submerged beneath the shadowy waves.

Solvas squinted his eyes and glared.

“This is a mistake.”

That’s what Solvas’s mouth said.

Rumble!

At that moment, the shadowy waves began to swirl violently.

Soon, what I saw was a vortex raging within the shadowy waves.

A massive vortex began to sweep away all the surrounding shadows.

As expected, the six stars.

Even seeing it again, it’s a crazy scale.

But Solvas didn’t know one thing.

My legs wrapped around Solvas’s waist.

At the same time, my arms tightly choked Solvas’s neck.

In the form of Hanon, I am much smaller than Solvas.

Burying my face in a man’s chest feels disgustingly filthy.

But it was optimized for clinging tightly.

“What, let go!”

Solvas struggled to shake me off.

He must have intended to escape after causing the vortex.

Solvas kept pounding my body with his fists.

But that was a mistake.

Solvas’s face twisted in pain.

The hand that struck me was now swollen and red.

He had struck a chunk of steel with his bare hands; his fist couldn’t possibly be fine.

He could never win a physical fight against me.

I tightened my grip on him even more.

Right now, I am not a person but a steel hammer.

An unbreakable steel hammer.

I pressed down with even more force.

Crack!

At that moment, a sound of breaking came from Solvas’s body.

“Ugh!”

Solvas groaned in pain and struggled even more, but he had no intention of letting go.

I am like a leech; once I latch on, I never let go.

That’s my only strength.

The vortex began to grow even more violent.

At this rate, Solvas would be caught in the vortex too.

In the end, he had to make an extreme choice.

And that was what I was aiming for.

Solvas clenched his fists.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the shadow wave that had formed us collapsed and disappeared.

At the same time, I felt a sense of buoyancy in my body.

The shadow wave that had held us was gone.

So we began to fall to the ground.

My hair fluttered as a strong wind blew.

The sensation of falling was felt throughout my body.

But Solvas wasn’t wearing six stars for nothing.

As soon as he dispelled the shadow wave, he created shadow daggers in both hands.

The shadow dagger, gripped in reverse, came down upon me.

Just before the shadow dagger struck my back.

Crack!

The shadow dagger shattered.

A bone armor had formed on my back before I knew it.

‘Grantoni.’

Grantoni, who had been watching from somewhere, had created the bone armor for me.

Solvas’s eyes widened.

At the same time, as Solvas tried to respond.

He realized that my body was heating up.

My entire body began to slowly be tinged with light.

Accordingly, Solvas’s eyes also gradually grew larger.

“Why, why is it glowing?”

“Well.”

I looked up at Solvas and grinned.

From noble mtl dot com

“It looks like it’s going to explode.”

When mystery and magic engravings meet.

Their power tends to double.

So I prepared.

A massive explosion of magic engravings.

Solvas’s face turned pale.

But apart from that, his skin was turning pitch black.

He was cloaking himself in night shadows like armor.

That should protect him from the explosion’s impact.

However, the fact that Grantoni had provided support meant that another one of them was already watching this situation.

Thud!

The night shadow that was about to cover Solvas’s head abruptly stopped at his neck.

Solvas’s night shadow is a higher form of shadow magic.

Umbra is one of the few peculiar families recognized for their mystery in the world.

They are a special family recognized for the uniqueness of their night shadows, having crossed over with the White Woodworkers.

However, just for a moment.

If it’s really just a moment, even shadow magic can make the night shadow hesitate.

Card’s shadow magic.

His magic made Solvas’s night shadow hesitate for just a moment.

And that moment of hesitation changed everything.

Solvas’s eyes, the only part of his face not covered by the night shadow, spread with light.

“…Damn.”

It was Solvas’s last curse, muttered quietly.

BoooM!

Soon, the sky above the forest was swept by a massive explosion.

* * *

After the explosion of the magic seal.

Solvas and I each fell to the ground below.

Even for me, the explosion of the magic seal was a burden.

So, until I hit the ground, I couldn’t do anything.

Just before I hit the ground.

Whoosh!

I barely avoided kissing the ground, feeling something sticky and soft.

When I came to my senses and looked around, I saw the shadow that had wrapped around me.

“Wangnon!”

From afar, Card came running, waving his hand.

Thanks to Card’s shadow magic, I avoided the fall.

I slid down from the shadow.

“Hahaha, it’s art!”

At that moment, Grantoni also walked out from between the trees.

Grantoni clapped his hands, praising the explosion as art.

“Still reckless as ever.”

Card laughed dryly as he saw me coming down from the shadow.

As soon as Solvas used the wave of the outlaw, Card must have been watching this way.

So he must have seen everything about how I fought.

“It was an opponent we couldn’t win against without being reckless.”

If Solvas had just maintained the distance, it would have been a tough fight for me too.

I have a secret weapon as well, but I can’t use it here.

“So, what about Solvas?”

“He fell over there. I thought about finishing him off for good, but his real comrades, the ones he planted, are probably gathered there.”

It’s uncertain whether he’s eliminated or not. Is this the sound?

I hoped to eliminate him in the preliminaries, but it’s too much now.

My body was sore, probably because I fought a bit too hard.

‘Besides.’

I felt several eerie presences between the trees.

We made this much noise.

The preliminaries are a jungle.

It’s a place full of beasts obsessed with passing the preliminaries.

Before going to Solvas, I have to get through these guys first.

“So, how was it?”

I asked Card as I stretched my body.

Then Card stood still for a moment and patted my shoulder.

“It was the most refreshing day of my life.”

Card, who had given a hard time to his vicious boss, looked more relieved than anyone else.

“Alright, then let’s work as refreshing as we feel.”

Rustle-

Hyenas appeared between the trees.

They were the ones who teamed up just like we did.

Among them were some from our academy’s magic department.

“Card, I’ll make you regret kicking me.”

That’s a different reason.

When I glared at Card, who had accumulated karma, he shrugged his shoulders.

Anyway.

“Let’s pass the preliminaries.”

From now on, we become a destructive tank.

* * *

The Sanctuary of Wolfram.

Inside the arena building constructed there.

There were people watching the situation room.

They were professors from each academy.

“This generation really has a lot of talented kids.”

One professor, who was watching the preliminary rounds, admired as he watched.

As he said, this generation indeed produced many talented individuals.

The steadfast heroes of humanity who would protect the Demon Palace.

The professor, who was watching them with satisfaction, realized that it was unusually quiet around him.

Soon, he realized that all the professors were looking at the same screen.

Wondering what it was, he looked over and saw a boy swimming through the black waves.

What is he doing?

Is he swimming in a river?

As he watched the scene blankly, he gradually realized one thing.

“…Isn’t that Solvas’s shadow?”

One of the Six Stars, Solvas Umbra.

It was definitely his shadow.

“That’s insane.”

Another professor expressed his astonishment.

The reaction was that it was absurd to swim through the shadow like that.

But the boy on the screen eventually reached Solvas by swimming and pulled him out.

Then, after a fierce battle, he self-destructed along with Solvas.

The professors had bewildered faces.

“He doesn’t spare his own body.”

“It seems like he’s wearing something special.”

“It’s hard to judge just by watching from here. What was that kid’s name again?”

The professors began to murmur.

The boy’s battle was that shocking.

A completely unpredictable fighting style.

There was no madman like this madman.

“Hanun Airei.”

At that moment, someone’s mouth uttered the boy’s name.

The one who called the boy’s name was a female professor who looked extremely uncomfortable in her suit.

In fact, a faint scent of alcohol, characteristic of a drinker, was emanating from her.

And everyone knew that professor well.

In the past, a leading figure of the generation of Changcheon.

Veganon Mercia.

Veganon was smiling broadly.

“He’s our kid.”

She was a foolish professor boasting about her student.