The World After the Bad Ending

---

In front of the entrance to Magung Academy at Jerion Academy, a young noble with long silver hair tied up stood there.

His name was Nia Cynthia. A current magic knight nominated as the heir of the yellow Magic Tower Lord, he was one of the empire’s promising future talents.

As Nia approached the entrance to Magung, the guards, having received prior notice, saluted him.

“You’ve had a tough time.”

Nia accepted their salute and walked towards the entrance. He then raised his hand to reach into the entrance.

Crackle-

At that moment, sparks erupted from the tips of Nia’s fingers, and he was pushed back.

As expected.

While he often entered the Magung during his days at Jerion Academy, now even Nia was not allowed entry.

If he tried to force his way in, his body would surely be charred to a crisp and he’d die instantly.

Nia clicked his tongue and inspected his slightly burned fingertips.

He had significantly improved in magic since his time at Jerion Academy. Still, he could not penetrate even a bit of the barrier set by the Evil Lord.

‘What a vile fellow.’

Nia showed his disgust. Setting up a barrier like this and only calling upon helpless children unable to reach him to fight against the Evil Lord was truly petty.

And it was precisely for this reason that he had come here to test his magic.

No longer wanting to leave everything to the children. He had come to the Magung.

The primary reason Nia sided with the 1st Prince was because of this.

The 1st Prince was a reformist character. He actively invested in correcting flawed systems and testing new ideas.

This was vastly different from the 3rd Princess faction. The 3rd Princess faction always said in relation to the 1st Prince faction,

“Reforms are more difficult than revolutions.”

Ironically, this point also reflected why the 1st Prince focused on gathering existing vested interests rather than future powers.

“There’s no point in gathering only new talents to advocate for reforms. Vested interests always fear their rights being infringed. So when new talents advocate for reform, they first try to block it.”

The 1st Prince seemed reckless at first glance, but he was always a deep thinker.

“Therefore, the first ones to persuade should not be the new talents but the vested interests. Reforming without respecting vested interests only creates more severe problems rather than solving them. We prioritize the present as the foundation for creating a brilliant future.”

He was a figure who took the present into his own hands to realize his envisioned ideal empire and move toward the future.

Nia felt admiration for such a 1st Prince. He truly seemed fit to be the emperor who could make the empire ideal.

“Nia Cynthia, I hope you can be my future.”

He would seize the present. So he asked Nia to become his future. Such words were deeply moving for a servant.

Nia willingly accepted the 1st Prince’s proposal. And he resolved to make him the emperor.

‘What I need to accomplish today is.’

One of the steps toward the 1st Prince’s future.

Nia began sprinkling reagents on the ground. Then, with the staff drawn from his waist, he started drawing a magic circle with the reagents.

After a while of drawing, once the magic circle was completed, Nia struck the staff firmly on the magic circle.

Nia’s body started to resonate with magic power.

Magic is an act that contrasts with the rules of the world. And how well one can obscure the world’s gaze and deviate from the rules defines a wizard’s skill.

Nia had a natural talent for evading the world’s eyes.

The magic pattern engraved beneath his feet began to emit light. Incantations aimed at deceiving the world flowed from his mouth.

The moment the magic circle let out a brilliant light, Nia’s figure vanished into the brilliance.

Thud-

Moments later, stepping out of the light was a young boy. The boy, now in his mid-teens, wore the magic knight’s armor that Nia had once donned.

It looked just like the younger version of Nia.

Nia opened and closed his hands. He felt the slightly smaller body compared to before. His face and skin also felt much younger.

‘Controlling age accurately is still difficult.’

He had initially assumed to be in his late teens, but he had come out in his mid-teens.

This was still evidence that his magic was incomplete. Moreover, the amount of magic he possessed was significantly lower than when he was in his original form.

As mentioned earlier, magic is an act of deceiving the world. So, to succeed in magic, Nia had to forcibly diminish the magic he originally possessed.

If he could return to his original form, he could recover, but in this state, there was a limit to the magic he could produce.

‘That’s why magic to become younger has yet to be widely recognized.’

If he could become younger while retaining his original power, that would be different, but as it stood, it was difficult to thrive within the Magung.

Moreover, it was rare for someone to be able to wield age-reducing magic to this extent.

Only someone with Nia’s talent and skill as a magic knight could do so. Average wizards couldn’t even dare to attempt the magic.

One wrong move could result in their own body becoming something entirely different during the act of deceiving the world.

‘Furthermore, for now, it’s just magic that I can’t cast on anyone but myself.’

This magic had many aspects that needed improvement. Nonetheless, Nia was determined to complete this magic.

If he could accomplish it, he could face the Evil Lord head-on.

‘Now, let’s see.’

It was time to test whether he truly met the conditions to pass through the entrance of the Magung.

Nia reached out his hand towards the entrance once again. This time, unlike before, his hand moved forward without any sparks.

Seeing this, Nia’s eyes widened in surprise.

It works. He could truly enter the Magung now.

“Nia Cynthia, you’ve succeeded.”

The guards at the Magung looked on with astonished faces, unable to hide their admiration. This success indicated he had taken a step closer to conquering the Magung.

“Alright, just a moment, I’ll be going in.”
“Isn’t it too dangerous?”
“I’ve come here far too many times over the past three years. If it’s going to be dangerous on the first floor, then I’ll never be able to enter the Magung again.”

Nia reassured the guards not to worry and stepped inside.

And soon, the interior of the Magung began to unfold before his eyes.

Above him, the sun created by the Magung shone down.

It was just after the time when the Apostles had been cleared out. Because of that, the gray forest remained unchanged and quietly silent.

No sign of the Apostles could be felt anywhere. It wasn’t the time for them to be born yet.

Nia let out a quiet breath. Within the Magung, he felt a strange sense of pressure that he hadn’t felt before.

Though the magic he possessed might have diminished, his skills honed as a wizard remained.

Perhaps because of that, in the deepest recesses of the Magung, the presence of the Evil Lord settled could be faintly felt.

Breath caught in his throat. How could such a monstrous presence instill fear even from this distance?

‘At this level, I’m still far from being ready.’

Nia clicked his tongue. He felt he still had a long way to go in his research on the age-reducing magic.

‘Let’s go back.’

He realized it was possible to enter. He thought it was a great achievement just knowing this, and as Nia was about to turn around,

A shiver-

A sudden eerie sensation washed over his body.

The moment Nia slowly turned his head,

Squelch-

Something dark resembling a human form crawled out of the wall of the Magung.

A black liquid dripped onto the floor from where it emerged from the wall. At the same time, a long tether connecting to the creature’s stomach was severed.

Seeing this made Nia’s eyes widen in realization.

An Apostle. An Apostle had suddenly been born.

‘At this time?’

No reason is known. The Magung was a place where one could never be certain no matter how much they investigated.

Anything could happen. Only, he faintly sensed that something had caught onto the alien presence that was Nia in the Magung.

A being that had deceived the rules of the world. The Magung had sent something forth against him.

Nia pulled out his staff. Upon realizing that the opponent was an Apostle, he hesitated no longer.

Though his magic was insufficient, the opponent was a newly born Apostle. Just when Nia tried to gather magic power to kill the Apostle before it took form,

Pffft!

At that moment, the magic accumulating at the tip of the staff abruptly extinguished.

“What?”

That wasn’t all. The magic within his body started to get sucked into the staff. Unfamiliar crimson light spread from the staff.

“Cough?!”

With a startled exclamation, Nia tried to let go of the staff. However, the magic extending from the staff greedily constricted his hand.

Nia realized this instantly.

‘This power, could it be the horn of a unicorn?’

The mystical unicorn. A strange being that gobbles up the magic of undeveloped young beings.

This staff had been forged from the melted horn of such a unicorn.

Unicorns are incredibly elusive beings. Even highly skilled wizards often do not notice their presence.

Thus, there is a saying in society.

Unicorns are a mystery that adults cannot see.

And because of that, even Nia who had been designated as the heir of the Magic Tower Lord failed to sense the unicorn’s horn within the staff.

However, now Nia had reverted to a younger state. So, the horn of the unicorn, which had not reacted despite him using magic until now, was just beginning to exhibit its power.

Confusion painted Nia’s face. This staff had been personally crafted for him by an artisan introduced by a close friend.

The fact that a unicorn’s horn was hidden within such a staff meant—

‘A trap.’

Nia realized that his friend had betrayed him. The deeper background of that was clear without needing much thought.

The 3rd Princess faction. It was certain they had set this trap.

“Damn it!”

Nia gritted his teeth and struggled to let go of the staff. But the unicorn’s horn only greedily consumed Nia’s magic and had no intentions of releasing him.

Drip, creak!

In that meantime, the Apostle was completely formed. With armor on its back and gigantic swords in its hands, the Apostle rolled its four eyes and soon locked onto Nia.

Its four pupils rolled grotesquely around.

“―――――!”

In no time, the Apostle roared. The Apostle lunged at Nia, charging at him.

Thud thud thud thud!

Wizards are infinitely weak without magic. Let alone, Nia was in a younger state, still adjusting to his body.

Nia threw himself in a hurry to evade. But the Apostle had already reached right in front of him.

Am I going to die?

Like this?

I couldn’t even fulfill the will of the 1st Prince. I wouldn’t be able to seize the family’s power so my younger sister Nikita could live without worrying about the family. I couldn’t keep the promise made with my deceased mother.

In the fleeting moments,

‘No!’

At that moment when Nia gathered magic power in a final desperate act,

Kaaahh!

A boy had stepped forward to block the way.

A boy with black hair, shorter than the now younger Nia. The moment Nia saw him, his eyes widened in surprise.

“You’re.”

Hanon Irey. A boy who was a member of the student council along with Nia’s younger sister, Nikita.

He looked at Nia and let out a relieved breath.

“Just in time.”

And then, his crimson eyes turned toward the Apostle. With his palm blade extended, Hanon wore a grim smile.

“You’ve prepared a feast for our guest.”

Then I must bite into it.