The World After the Bad Ending-Chapter 250

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Chapter 250

While Isabel and Sharin were still in the midst of their fierce battle with Adora...

Up high in the sky.

A massive axe, brimming with overwhelming power, swept down before my eyes.

KA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GAK!

The axe, colliding with the edge of my hand, bent off at an angle and narrowly missed me.

The impact alone was enough to almost break my arm, but I somehow endured it.

Beyond the axe, I saw a bald man with magical engravings all over his body.

The one who split the mountain.

A man wielding an enormous axe befitting that title with ease—Dragos.

Just locking eyes with his icy blue gaze sent a tingling numbness across my skin.

The veins bulging on his massive, swollen muscles sent a chill down my spine just from the sight.

Once again, the axe came flying toward me.

I threw everything I had into dodging it.

The magic engraved on the end of my elbow flared up and exploded with force.

KAAAAANG!

Once more, the edge of my hand clashed with the axe, and trembled violently.

The consecutive shockwaves from the axe battered my body harshly.

“Hahaha!”

Dragos opened his mouth and let out a booming laugh.

“So, you’ve also engraved your body with magic like me!”

The axe came again.

I deflected it.

My face was drenched in sweat, and my whole body screamed in pain.

Even so, I didn’t stop unleashing the ash-flame wrapped around my fists.

If I let up even once, that axe would tear my body to shreds.

“To think there’s another lunatic like me—what a delightful surprise!”

The magic engravings on Dragos's body flared up again.

With that, his muscles swelled even larger than before.

“Don’t lump me in with you.”

I deflected Dragos’s axe once more, forcing myself to take a breath.

I had engraved magic onto my skin.

But Dragos hadn’t stopped at just skin.

The magic Dragos engraved on his body was entirely of the physical enhancement type.

For most people, even if you cast physical enhancement magic on them, they’d only reach the level of an average athlete.

But Dragos had been born with a different kind of muscle.

‘Hercules Syndrome.’

A condition caused by a myostatin deficiency, which inhibits the regulation of muscle growth and development.

Dragos was born with this syndrome—every nutrient his body absorbed went straight to muscle.

He was the type of person who built muscle just by breathing.

However, there was a drawback: his joints and ligaments were naturally weak.

So Dragos made a paradigm shift in his thinking.

If his bones were naturally weak, he would just make them strong.

To do this, he decided to engrave magic directly onto his bones.

The method for doing so was simple.

Cut through the skin and muscle, then engrave the bone.

Yes, it sounds simple.

But it was something that could only be said in words—impossible for most.

However, Dragos spent a long time perfecting it.

His ligaments and bones became as hard as iron through these magic engravings.

As a result, his bones weighed several dozen times more than before.

And so, the Hercules Syndrome compensated again with even more muscle.

Thus began a never-ending cycle.

Dragos continually trained his body and ultimately became what he is now.

A monster capable of splitting a mountain with a single swing of his axe.

That is Dragos—the one who splits mountains.

KWA-A-A-A-AANG!

My hand blade finally pierced through Dragos's axe and reached his chest muscle—

But it stopped right there.

A strike that should have pierced through his chest and taken his heart—

Only left a burn from the ash-flame on his skin.

My hand blade couldn’t go any further.

His pectoral muscle swelled up.

With that, my blade was pushed back.

I’m not someone who loses in terms of raw power.

But these muscles were beyond human.

Even an elephant would have less muscle than this.

“Your muscles are decent, but clearly under-trained,”

Dragos sneered down at me with a smug grin.

His muscles had a hardness beyond steel.

Even when I saw him fight Lukas through the screen, I thought he was a monster—

But now, facing him myself, I was speechless.

“This concludes the sightseeing.”

Dragos raised his axe over his head.

‘He’s coming.’

I hurriedly pulled my body back and brought both arms together.

That was the end of it.

Dragos brought his axe down.

I narrowly dodged it.

But the windstorm from the axe engulfed me and ravaged the sky.

Blown away by the blast, I spun wildly through the air, disoriented.

My lungs locked up.

The wind was so intense, I couldn’t draw in air properly for a moment.

My body, buffeted by the wind, screamed with pain from deep inside.

It felt like taking a bomb made of air right to the face.

If not for my steel-enhanced body, I’d have exploded on the spot.

But this wasn’t the end.

The wind explosion happens in two phases.

First, the shockwave from the blast center blows everything outward.

Second, the updraft created at the center then sucks in all surrounding air.

My body, which had been blown away, was now being pulled back at terrifying speed.

And right where I was being drawn to—

Waited Dragos, already charging his axe once again.

Like a batter swinging at an incoming pitch.

He gripped his axe with terrifying force.

If that thing hit me, even my steel body would be split in half.

His power could easily slice through solid metal.

So am I going to die like this?

Of course not.

That thought never even crossed my mind.

‘No—I've been waiting for this.’

Dragos’s unique pattern: Airflow Explosion.

Fwoosh—

Ash-flames gathered madly into my right hand.

My fist trembled violently, unable to bear the power, and screamed in agony.

FWHOOOOOOOM!

The heat gathered so intensely that my hand charred black.

Even as my skin burned away, my steel-enhanced fist conducted the heat.

The ash-flame burned like a second sun, unleashing blinding white heat.

Tempered in a molten forge, my fist transcended its limits.

The ash-flame grew so hot that it turned a pure, bright white, melting even steel in its path.

With that, my body, caught in the updraft, corrected its stance—

And struck forward.

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With my own strength, I can’t defeat Dragos.

However, his explosion of air currents gave me momentum.

I twisted my waist to its limit.

I pulled my arm back until my shoulder felt like it’s about to shatter.

Even the remnants of the ancient dragon, startled by the heat, unleashed their mana wildly.

At the same time, the magical seals engraved on my elbows and legs emitted a radiant light.

They were improved once again through Sharin.

Combined with Mysteria’s synergy, a resonant cry erupted.

Amid the aftermath of the air current explosion—

BOOOOOM!

I launched myself forward once more through the massive explosion.

Dragos' face came into view, the distance between us closed in an instant.

In his eyes—surprise, intrigue, and a hint of respect.

A curiosity, asking if my fist could truly reach him.

That fleeting exchange of emotions made Dragos hesitate for just a moment.

And that brief moment granted me an opening.

The ring engraved on my burning hand began to glow.

Come, Lightning Caller.

A bolt of lightning pierced the sky and descended upon both Dragos and me.

A blinding flash engulfed our vision.

Dragos took the lightning strike head-on.

Though his skin burned from the bolt, he didn’t flinch.

He—Dragos, who withstood even the divine lightning of the goddess—swung his axe.

No technique, just raw, pure strength.

And yet, the weight of that axe felt like a mountain crashing down.

Dragos desired only one thing—

To swing that axe at me.

And I was no different.

Magic Engraving · Lightning Catcher

The descending lightning was drawn into my right hand like a lightning rod.

It fused with the flames of ash, blending together.

The fire, condensed to its limit, met another force and began to transform.

I clenched my nearly destroyed fist.

It didn’t matter that it had lost its shape.

Because one strike would be enough—the strongest blow.

The axe was right before me, about to strike my body.

On the other side of that axe, I saw Dragos’ excited face, thrilled to clash strength.

Looking at that face, I chuckled inwardly.

‘Sorry, but…’

My original boxing style has always been counterattacks.

My body, pulled back to its absolute limit, barely dodged the approaching axe.

My ear and flesh were sliced by the axe’s edge, blood sprayed—but I didn’t care.

As long as my head remained, that was enough.

Just past the axe, I locked eyes with Dragos.

For the first time today, Dragos’ eyes widened as he stared at me.

He had believed—without doubt—that I would engage him in a straightforward match.

And that kind of face... is a counterboxer’s favorite.

I twisted my waist with all my might.

Stomping the air itself, I launched my condensed fist forward.

Then I noticed—Dragos’ eyes weren’t on me, but beyond me.

In that split second, I felt a massive surge of mana riding the air currents.

Instinct told me.

Sharin and Isabel had finished their battle with Adora and arrived.

They were here.

The conditions for victory were finally in place.

With them, I didn’t even need to explain.

They’d know what to do.

And sure enough, Sharin’s lightning magic swept over both me and Dragos.

Immediately after, Isabel’s divine proclamation of victory enveloped us.

In that brief moment, fate flipped between Dragos and me.

Dragos, struck by the electricity and divine light, was completely frozen.

But my body absorbed Sharin’s magic and Isabel’s light instead.

My fist transformed into a shape unlike before.

The gauntlet enveloping the fist, imbued with the goddess and lightning, ignited into flames.

The fist, cutting through the air, passed the blade of the axe and finally struck its target.

The place I had failed to pierce countless times—

Dragos’ abdomen.

My punch drove into his stomach, reaching deep inside.

And the immense force condensed in his abdomen finally responded.

True · Sky Dragon Strike

An explosion swept the entire area, sending everything flying.

The storm that followed was even greater than any airburst Dragos had unleashed.

The forest below was obliterated without a trace.

Caught in that storm, I was hurled to the ground in tatters.

There was no way I could support my own weight anymore.

I didn’t know what happened to Dragos.

But one thing was certain—my blow reached him.

Even a human's punch had struck the mountain.

But there was no time to enjoy the victory.

If I crashed like this, I’d die too.

Trying to hold on to consciousness, I attempted to adjust my falling posture.

WHOOSH!

Something swooped in and caught me midair.

Barely opening my eyes and lifting my head, I saw—Isabel.

Just as battered as me.

But Isabel’s eyes were full of concern for me.

“I... sabel.”

“You... really...”

Isabel’s lips quivered, wanting to say so much, but she didn’t speak further.

So I spoke instead.

“Dragos... we need... to make sure... he’s dead.”

Dragos was the most durable of the Celestial Echo Squad.

Though he was blown away by my punch, I couldn’t be sure he had died.

If he hadn't—we had to make sure he was finished.

Isabel looked at me, dumbfounded.

But from all the time we’d spent together, it wasn’t an expression of disbelief.

“You can’t fight anymore.”

And I couldn’t deny that.

The bracelet Seron gave me was barely keeping my body functional, but it wasn’t enough.

“So leave the rest to us. Rin and I will take care of it.”

I saw Sharin flying toward us from the distance.

As I watched her, I let out a quiet breath.

Even breathing pressed painfully against my lungs.

I guess… this is it for me.

Though I hadn’t taken a direct hit from Dragos’ attack, this much was too much.

“I... sabel... I’m counting... on you.”

And with that, my consciousness faded once more. freewёbnoνel.com

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