The World After the Bad Ending

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The group battle had also ripened by now.

Koo-ooong!

We took down the seventh Apostle.

As Seron and I took the lead, Card and Grantoni supported us from the rear.

We managed to bring down the seventh Apostle after a tough fight.

“Huff, huff.”

Seron, beside me, exhaled heavily.

Thanks to the battle with the Apostle, Seron was already in tatters.

If it wasn’t for Grantoni using necromancy to patch her wounds, she would have retired long ago.

But considering Seron’s original level, she had performed far beyond expectations.

Seron’s skill is in the upper mid-tier.

For her to have fought against the seventh Apostle was entirely due to her own will.

Even I, with my good stamina, was almost out of breath.

And Seron was no exception.

Click—

At that moment, I heard the sound of time passing.

The clock on the ceiling read 25 minutes.

It had taken us 25 minutes to capture the seventh Apostle.

The Iris team took just 31 minutes and 21 seconds to catch their Apostle.

In essence, if we couldn’t capture the three remaining Apostles in 6 minutes, we would not rank first.

“Seron, can you hold on?”

“Huh, huh, who do you think I am? A weakling?”

Seron gripped her dual axes tightly as she panted heavily.

It was her declaration that she could still do more.

“We’ve got 6 minutes left to hit first place.”

Seron bit her lips firmly.

Despite desperately struggling to secure first place, the gap with the Iris team was far too large.

It took us 25 minutes to take down the seventh Apostle.

The next Apostle would be stronger, and the following one would be stronger still.

By the end, even the Iris team had taken 10 minutes to defeat their Apostle.

But even so, Seron did not loosen her grip on the axe.

“Hmph, that’s enough!”

In fact, she snorted defiantly, showing her enthusiasm.

Seeing this made me smile.

“Yeah, well said.”

We had aimed to eliminate the Apostles as early as possible.

Now it was time to reap the rewards of that effort.

“It’s enough.”

Koo-gung!

As soon as my words ended, a massive coffin dropped from the sky.

Creeeak—

Soon, the coffin’s door opened, revealing an Apostle in a suit, hands clasped over its chest.

The Apostle’s face was obscured.

Instead, sharply pointed fangs protruded from the only visible mouth.

The eighth Apostle.

A vampire.

The intense aura emanating from the Apostle harshly brushed over Seron and me.

Goosebumps prickled on my skin from the dark presence.

And to me, there was no more welcome aura than this.

The battles preceding this had been fought for this moment.

The vampire opened its mouth wide and tried to spread its wings.

If it took to the sky, there would be no worse situation.

“Sharine.”

So.

“Mmm, finally.”

I prepared my ultimate move.

The staff in Sharine’s fingertips began to spin round and round.

Having never fired even once until now, the magical energy she had accumulated started to visibly thrumm with power.

“Wow.”

Card, being a fellow magician, gasped in awe at the sight.

The amount of magical energy emanating from Sharine was utterly outrageous.

“Neat.”

The surroundings began to tint with white.

The earrings on Sharine’s ears shook wildly in response to the magical energy.

At last.

“I’ll erase you.”

Sharine’s staff made its sweeping motion.

―――――――！

All sound in the area was swallowed up.

Bright rays of light pierced right through the vampire trying to soar into the sky.

We, and even those outside, had to shut our eyes against the blinding brilliance.

Kwaaang!

The delayed shockwave swept through the space, causing it to shake violently.

I barely managed to hold onto Seron, who was about to tumble down from the impact.

Where we stood, the ground was now pure white.

Naturally, there was nothing left of the vampire, not even the coffin.

It was a stark reminder of just how terrifyingly powerful the magic of Sharine Sazarith, the genius of the Magic Arts, truly was.

That would have certainly sent anyone to the otherworld if they faced it head-on.

“Hoo.”

Sharine lightly blew at the end of her staff.

The eighth Apostle, the vampire.

Sadly, it met its demise the moment it appeared.

The vampire only took 50 seconds to be captured, including its appearance time.

“I-I wish we could have done it like this from the start!”

Seron, who had been stunned, shouted in frustration.

“No, we wouldn’t have been able to secure first place like that.”

I propped Seron back up and turned to Sharine.

That last spell had significantly depleted Sharine’s magical energy.

Even Sharine had to exert considerable force to sweep away an Apostle in one blow.

‘Moreover.’

Chiiiii—

Sharine’s staff snapped in half, crumbling to dust.

Looking disappointed, Sharine brushed the dust from her hands and pulled a new staff from her waist.

The modern staffs couldn’t withstand the full output of Sharine’s magic.

As a result, due to being limited by the staff’s capabilities, Sharine had to work with less power than she was truly capable of.

‘For a magician, a staff is like a launcher.’

No matter how many bullets you have, you can’t fire without a gun.

Likewise, without a staff, a magician faces numerous restrictions in casting spells.

Sharine may be carrying the world’s greatest bullet.

The modern staffs, however, were unable to properly fire the bullet that is Sharine.

‘Yet those staffs are all high-grade to begin with.’

Even so, they couldn’t handle Sharine’s magic output and broke.

Thus, there is a limit on how much of her maximum output magic can be used given the number of staffs she consumes.

She could still cast spells without consuming staffs, but that would mean she couldn’t take down all the remaining Apostles in time.

“Grantoni.”

That’s why I assembled this party.

As I called his name, Grantoni’s eye sockets gleamed with light.

“It’s your turn.”

Soon, the sky opened up.

From that opening emerged an Apostle draped in translucent cloth.

Among the cloth, dozens of long arms wielded ruthless weapons.

It didn’t take long for multiple eyes to emerge from within the fabric.

The ninth Apostle.

Underworld Constable.

An Apostle that appeared to claim the lives of the living.

The Underworld Constable exists on the border between the real world and the otherworld.

Because of this, it is virtually immune to physical attacks and resistant to magic attacks.

Thus, the key to defeating the Underworld Constable is someone who has studied Holy Studies.

Only the blessing of the divine can harm the Underworld Constable.

The Iris team managed to thwart the Underworld Constable through the Holy Studies Deputy.

Of course, it still took them quite a while to defeat the Underworld Constable.

So, what about us?

“Ah.”

Seron finally realized why I’d brought in Grantoni.

Like she guessed, it was for this moment.

The small mausoleum.

Soul mage, Grantoni.

To him, the Apostle straddling the line between the real world and the otherworld was the easiest foe in existence.

Clack!

Grantoni’s teeth clashed as he expressed his excitement.

At the same time, a gray world expanded from beneath Grantoni’s feet.

Everything around us lost its vitality and light.

The gray world swept up even the now-visible Underworld Constable.

The otherworld.

Having lured the Underworld Constable into his own backyard, Grantoni brought his hands together.

Kaga-gaga-gagagagagagak!

At that moment, dozens of chains appeared from thin air, wrapping around the Underworld Constable.

Though the Underworld Constable was indeed immune to physical attacks, it failed to escape the chains and ended up restrained.

Koo-ooong! Bang!

Caught completely off guard, the Underworld Constable felt bewildered, unable to believe it had been wrapped in chains.

But it was far too early to panic.

Woooooong!

At that moment, the chains began to emit a blue light.

The semi-transparent Underworld Constable began to materialize.

“Hehehehe.”

Grantoni began to cackle as he clashed his hands together.

“This is my world.”

In the otherworld, Grantoni’s authority was far superior to that of the Underworld Constable.

The Underworld Constable started to struggle, albeit late to the realization.

But the chains only tightened around him.

The Underworld Constable could not escape the chains.

The chains had already locked onto the very soul of the Underworld Constable.

Grantoni flicked one of his fingers that protruded from his sleeves.

“Get out.”

Clang!

Pieces of gray shattered from the Underworld Constable’s form.

Having been ejected from the otherworld, the Underworld Constable was entirely materialized into the real world.

And what awaited the now-physical Underworld Constable was none other than Sharine’s magic.

Once again, white light erupted in the sky.

The Underworld Constable, who had been resistant to magic thanks to being ghostly, would find that the departure of its ghostly form meant that its magical resistance had returned to normal levels.

Kwa-gagagagagagagagagagak!

Sharine’s spell, sacrificing her high-grade staff, swept through space yet again.

The Underworld Constable, swept away by the magic, disintegrated into countless pieces.

But this time, it wasn’t just once.

Sharine’s magic didn’t stop there and immediately reloaded a new staff, unleashing another volley of spells at the Underworld Constable.

Ka-chick, clang!

Among the pieces of the scattered cloth, a small figure resembling a child was swept away by the brilliance.

The Underworld Constable’s second life was firmly snuffed out.

“Huff.”

Sharine exhaled lightly, scattering the remnants of her shattered staff from her hands.

Beads of sweat formed on her face.

Having unleashed the maximum firepower possible from a high-grade staff three times in a row, even Sharine would tire from such magical expenditure.

“W-what! The tenth already!”

Seron, who had been dazed, hurriedly checked the time.

It had taken 2 minutes to defeat the Underworld Constable.

The time was now at 28 minutes and 10 seconds.

Only 3 minutes and 2 seconds remained.

If we couldn’t defeat the tenth Apostle in this time, we would not secure first place.

“We’ve got this! We have Sharine’s magic!”

“No, just Sharine’s magic alone won’t be enough now.”

Although Seron wore a triumphant expression, I couldn’t agree with that statement.

Thud!

At that moment, the ground shook and split open.

Card cast shadow magic, lifting us away from the opening floor.

At that moment, a figure emerged between the cracks in the floor.

A slender body adorned not with a head but with several feathers instead.

A small being glowing with fluorescent light, no larger than a palm.

The tenth Apostle.

Urese.

The creature had appeared.