The World After the Bad Ending

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Disaster Dragon Maiden Nikita Cynthia.

She was currently in a state of utter confusion.

The boy before her,

Hanon Irey.

He had appeared, dressed up as Hania Rapidia.

Why on earth?

Nikita revealed her puzzlement amidst the confusion.

Hanon was a good junior.

He always quietly helped her out when she took on too much work alone.

He was witty, and talking with him was enjoyable.

Honestly, among the people she had spoken to lately, conversing with Hanon was the most delightful.

Talking with Hanon brought her comfort, and sometimes unexpected comments made her burst into laughter.

Sometimes he could be a bit too mischievous, but that too felt like Hanon’s affection.

He often knew Nikita surprisingly well.

At times, she wondered if he was actually someone who knew her well and was just disguised.

Though that fact felt suspicious at times, she didn’t dislike Hanon.

Nikita had low self-esteem.

There was always negativity in her life.

Even her parents didn’t expect much from her.

Despite that situation, she steadfastly worked hard and climbed up step by step.

Hanon recognized that and constantly praised Nikita.

Perhaps thanks to that, her self-esteem had significantly increased recently.

At times, she even thought, “Maybe I did okay.”

Because of that, she began to dislike comments that said she was not worth looking at aside from her face.

The days of avoiding mirrors had gradually reduced.

These days, when she looked in the mirror, she sometimes smiled.

Hanon was someone who boosted Nikita’s self-esteem.

That’s why she didn’t want to show him her ugly side even more.

Nikita was engulfed in vengeance and was about to throw everything away to kill someone.

If Hanon saw this, he would certainly be disappointed.

She felt shame.

She wanted to hide somewhere right away.

She didn’t want him to see her like this.

So she told Hanon not to come deep into the Magung.

Yet, Hanon stubbornly followed her and stood right before her.

Kaaang!

Hanon’s hand strike flew toward Nikita.

What the heck had he done?

Even Nikita, shrouded in dragon magic, was startled by the intense heat emitted from Hanon.

The warmth felt scorching from his hand strike.

And Hanon’s eyes, looking at her, were also burning.

Nikita instinctively felt it.

Hanon was currently burning himself.

There wouldn’t be much time he could maintain this.

“Nikita-senpai.”

Hanon’s hand strike kept moving.

His movements, which used to look clumsy, now exhibited precision after all the effort he had put in.

“Are you still not going to make eye contact with me?”

Nikita’s body flinched.

Nikita couldn’t make eye contact with Hanon.

This had been going on for a long time.

Ever since Nia Cynthia died.

Nikita hadn’t met anyone’s gaze.

And since she resolved to take revenge for Nia.

Nikita’s eyes had been solely focused on vengeance.

However, Hanon continuously tried to make eye contact with her.

When their eyes met, he smiled, spoke to her, and treated her kindly.

Nikita turned away from it and closed her eyes.

“How selfish can I be?”

Nikita felt self-contempt.

Ignoring someone caring for her and solely focusing on her feelings.

And it was the same now.

The desire not to show Hanon this side of herself clashed head-on with his presence, and she turned away.

Yet, deep down inside her heart,

The burning vengeance was something she couldn’t suppress.

It felt like someone was whispering to her.

“Are you not even able to carry out your revenge?”

It seemed to repeatedly whisper in her ear.

This was a curse.

A curse from the moment she touched the dragon magic, from which she couldn’t escape.

Her vengeance had surpassed the realm she could control.

Nikita’s sword swung once more.

A storm of frost emanating from the blade swept through the surroundings.

Hanon charged at Nikita once again, breaking through it.

Swords and hand strikes crossed.

In the midst of it all, Hanon’s eyes met hers once more.

His crimson eyes glowed fiercely along with the flames.

Hanon was a boy who often acted unexpectedly.

This time too, he had clearly sensed something and had pursued her this far.

That was why she wanted to ask.

Kaaang!

Nikita, having deflected Hanon’s strike, left footprints on the floor.

“…Did the 3rd Princess send you or something?”

Hanon was Iris’s cousin.

So was he doing this to protect her? Nikita wondered.

But even as she asked this question, she knew.

Hanon’s eyes weren’t looking at Iris.

“No.”

As expected, Hanon denied it.

His denial dug deep into Nikita’s heart.

“I’m doing this because I want to stop you, Nikita-senpai.”

Nikita’s eyes trembled.

“Why….”

Hanon was burning himself.

Nikita couldn’t grasp why he would block her way to the point of doing this.

No matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be no reason for Hanon to step in.

Then Hanon inhaled while thrusting forward with his hand strike.

“I told you on the day we first met.”

The day they first met.

Nikita recalled the day they met on the bridge connected to the main school building.

“I respected the actions of Nikita Cynthia-senpai since before entering school.”

Those words of respect.

She hadn’t taken them completely to heart.

Nonetheless, she remembered the gaze in Hanon’s eyes, which had looked at her sincerely.

“Just because of that?”

To go this far for just that?

“Isn’t the mere fact that I respect you enough?”

The flames burning on Hanon’s body intensified.

“Isn’t that a good enough reason?”

Hanon struggled to smile through gritted teeth.

The heat seemed overwhelming.

“…I’m someone who’s not worthy of respect.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’m not the kind of person you think I am.”

“It’s okay. I’ll notice what you haven’t, Nikita-senpai.”

“I…”

Nikita clenched her fist as if swallowing her indignation.

“I…”

She could no longer continue her words.

Tears trickled down and froze into ice crystals due to the cold.

Scales began to sprout further on her skin.

Dragon magic had penetrated deep into her body and was now beyond her control.

The dragon opened its mouth.

To completely swallow Nikita, it froze her mind.

Nikita felt her consciousness fading away.

Even as she tried to hold onto the thread of her consciousness, she kept losing grip.

No.

If this goes on, Hanon would be in danger.

Nikita desperately grasped her consciousness, but it refused to stabilize.

Nikita bit down on her newly sprouted fangs until they broke.

Her body trembled uncontrollably.

But separated from that, the storm of cold only grew stronger.

“Senpai, run away….”

Nikita wanted to tell Hanon to escape.

This was her fault.

There was no reason for him to be in danger.

Yet even her lips had slipped from her control.

“After this is over, I’ll tell you something. And I must apologize.”

In the fading consciousness, Hanon spoke with a smile.

“So, see you later.”

While she looked at that smile, a certain person crossed Nikita’s mind.

A man who had feelings for her.

Due to his misguided judgment, it had led to an unpleasant outcome.

Yet, she remembered the smile he had given her.

She thought that smile resembled Hanon’s in some way.

In the end, Nikita was swallowed by the dragon’s magic.

* * *

Because of the heat from the flames, it was hard to breathe.

But more than that, the cold penetrating through the heat was chilling.

Before my eyes,

Nikita had completely fallen to the dragon’s magic and transformed into a dragonkin.

The dragon magic recognized instinctively.

That the heat I held could burn herself.

As a result, the dragon magic twisted its course, accelerating the dragonkin transformation.

If this were a game, Nikita’s death would be inevitable and an unstoppable part of the story.

No matter what Lucas did, there was no way he could save Nikita.

But right now, this world was reality.

Lucas lacked the knowledge to prevent the dragon’s magic.

I possessed the knowledge needed to block the dragon’s magic.

“I already decided on the day I would save Nia.”

I was the one to guide this world toward the pure path.

However, no matter what I did, I couldn’t take the same path as Lucas.

So I had to proceed along that pure path.

I would draw the most ideal pure path I wanted.

“I will save Nikita.”

Taking that resolve, I took a deep breath.

At the moment Nikita transformed completely into a dragonkin,

The Demonic Lord would reach out to seize her dragonkin body.

Even now, I could feel the Magung writhing.

It was evidence that the Demonic Lord was coveting Nikita.

“Who would dare give her up?”

Don’t covet her.

I have no intention of giving her up.

Huuuuuuh!

At that moment, a chilling cold washed over me.

Simultaneously, Nikita’s eyes burst open with a glimmer.

It’s coming.

The moment I sensed it, Nikita’s form vanished.

My hand strike, imbued with heat, extended forward, and a sound rang out.

Jjeojjeojjeok!

The air froze due to the cold, forming frost.

Through my strike lingered the ominous presence of Nikita.

Her rationality no longer existed.

Only a dragonkin for slaughter remained.

In that moment, Nikita’s mouth opened wide.

Upon seeing this, my head jerked aside.

Flash!

A flash illuminated my vision.

An ice beam grazed past, freezing some of my hair in the process.

In between, Nikita’s right knee shot up toward my side.

I brought my left elbow down to block the knee and pulled back.

I grasped heat in my right hand.

Then immediately, I thrust my fist towards Nikita’s chest.

Tukwang!

Nikita’s sword was somehow able to block my fist.

With that, a sound of impact echoed as heat clashed against cold, causing an explosion.

Due to the strong explosion, a ringing filled my ears momentarily.

Yet even amidst the explosion, Nikita’s sword aimed straight for me.

Nikita’s swordsmanship flowed instinctively from her body.

Left diagonal, right above the head.

The sounds of blade and hilt colliding, movement of gaze and footwork.

Not a single detail escaped my sight as I diligently followed Nikita.

My reflexes were heightened to their limits.

Just one missed opportunity could lead to a fatal wound.

Knowing that, I desperately collided with her.

Then, at a certain moment.

Nikita’s body swinging the sword began to slow down compared to before.

And likewise, I was beginning to feel sluggish as well.

It wasn’t because our stamina had dropped.

‘Finally, the signs are starting to show.’

The magic surrounding Nikita was showing signs of confusion.

‘No, it’s not just the dragon magic.’

Deep within Nikita.

An entity that had coiled for much longer was starting to reveal its bewilderment.

It probably realized as well.

That it had put itself in danger.

A weary smile appeared on my lips.

Inside the dragon magic.

A curse that had long been passed down through the Shinshia Marquess family.

The very reason Nikita had to live her life without any talent.

The remnants of the dragon.

The real reason Lucas couldn’t save Nikita.

And the identity of the terrible curse that could only be lifted by her touching the dragon’s magic.

This was the inevitability entwined with Nikita.

So I prepared the only means to disrupt that inevitability.

“You seem to be a little bewildered now.”

I let out a strained breath, expressing a sneer.

Within the cold,

Flames that had been kindled by the remnants of the dragon were beginning to take shape after merging with the cold.