The World After the Bad Ending-Chapter 262

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Chapter 262

Iris Hysirion.

Her life had always been a series of loneliness.

From birth, she was the 3rd princess—far removed from the emperor.

Her only source of love, her mother, fell into a nightmare-induced illness and never returned.

Her father, being the emperor, had no time to care for her.

As royalty, no one could treat her lightly.

A girl raised without emotional stability,

At some point, her life became void of meaning.

Then one day, her maternal grandfather began to visit her.

Iris possessed dazzling talent, and with the backing of the Celestial Duke, she was considered a prime candidate for the throne.

Her talents and the support behind her were more than enough to raise her to the position of emperor.

But Iris—never once in her life—had wished to become emperor herself.

She simply walked the predetermined path in silence.

For the final villainess, life came with no choices.

Her life was long.

Because of her insomnia, the time she spent awake made her days feel several times longer than those of others.

And today, for the first time,

She was given a choice.

She smiled—

A smile filled with relief, as if she had finally brought everything to an end.

That smile became etched into my mind and refused to leave.

I had said I would save her.

I had declared that I would save her no matter what.

But the choice I gave her...

Led her to make the one decision I desperately didn’t want her to.

The consequences of the rewritten scenario crashed down.

The countless altered events I had caused piled up and converged—crushing me.

I felt something sinking deep inside my heart.

“Iris… Iris, no! No, no—please, no…”

Before I realized it, Hania had run to my side and collapsed in shock.

Tears streamed down her face as she screamed in grief, her voice like blood being spat.

My eyes returned to Iris.

Her eyes were gently closed.

She no longer spoke a word to me.

Iris.

Is this enough for you?

As for me...

“I can’t be satisfied with this.”

My body trembled as I held her head in my arms.

It tore me apart knowing my warmth could no longer reach her.

“Iris is…”

“Then, the emperor now…”

“What… what should we do now…”

The situation became chaos due to Iris’s choice.

The nobles didn’t know how to respond and shouted in confusion.

Even the royal knights showed visible panic.

Even in this situation, all they cared about was the imperial throne.

No one mourned Iris.

No one grieved her death.

Their filthy greed was so vile, I felt sick to my stomach.

The first prince stood frozen in place.

Even though he could finally claim the throne he’d always desired, he couldn’t say a word.

He, too, knew what had driven Iris to this decision.

Finally, my gaze landed on the Celestial Duke.

He stood there wide-eyed, frozen in place.

He had lost the only viable path to the throne.

And now, through Iris, his ties to the Demon Sovereign would be revealed.

Because Iris’s body contained the nightmare itself.

She knew everything.

So she must’ve planned this from the beginning.

To break free of the predetermined path and spread her wings on her own—

She had waited.

And me?

What I did became the trigger that set it all off.

A raging fire surged inside me.

Anger boiled toward the Celestial Duke.

The fury of watching him push his only granddaughter to this end grew uncontrollably.

But more than anything,

I hated myself—

For failing to save her.

“You!”

In the rain, Isabel grabbed my arm and screamed.

Soaked in rain, she looked at me with desperation.

“Get a hold of yourself! You have to pull it together right now!”

Her desperate plea snapped me partially back to my senses.

My eyes shifted to the Saintess.

She might be able to uncover the nightmares contained within Iris.

I couldn’t just let Iris’s final wish fade like this.

Iris.

I want you to regret the choice you made—over and over again.

But that regret…

Should never be painful for me.

Never.

Just as I stepped toward the Saintess—

My eyes caught sight of the Celestial Duke again.

“Hoo…”

A short sigh escaped his lips.

“...We’ve been played.”

Those few words snapped the last thread of reason in my mind.

A sigh not of grief,

But of disappointment that his plan had failed.

That disgusted me more than anything.

“Celestial Duke!!”

I screamed his name—

And in that very moment, something stirred in my arms.

A chilling sensation ran down my spine.

The horrifying feeling spread from my stomach, inexplicable and nauseating.

My gaze slowly dropped down.

And there—within my arms—

Iris’s eyes met mine.

The eyes that had lost their light just moments ago had turned crimson—

Glowing like a blood-red moon.

And at that moment,

From below her severed neck, something black shot upward.

Chill—

My body instinctively sensed the threat.

That pitch-black mass—

It was something that could very well end my life.

The remnants of the ancient dragon within me howled in terror.

My body, guided by instinct, tried to let go of her.

But—

I gripped her neck even tighter.

Though instinct screamed at me, my reason took control.

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I must not lose Iris’s body.

And then—

A black storm exploded around me.

KWA-GAGAGAGAGAGAK!

The nobles screamed.

Even the royal knights had to crouch low from the sheer pressure.

Xenia and Nikita rushed to protect the Saintess and her entourage,

While the tower masters quickly raised protective barriers.

“Kyaaa!!”

Isabel and Hania—being close to me—nearly got blown away,

But just barely managed to stay grounded.

The moment Isabel turned her head toward me—

Her eyes widened in shock.

“You!”

Isabel shouted at me.

I was a complete mess.

The pitch-black blade-like wind had torn me apart like a mad beast.

Despite my steel-forged body, which made me immune to blades, even I was shredded.

The wind had originated from Iris’s neck.

The malice mixed in with the black wind erupting from her was unmistakable.

A deep grudge against the world and desperate rage.

There is only one being capable of producing such a force.

The Demon Sovereign.

This was his doing.

Iris had been destined to become the Demon Sovereign’s vessel.

Naturally, her body was filled with the nightmares of the Demon Sovereign.

“Husband!”

At that moment, the Blue Tower Master and Sharin unleashed their magic, trying desperately to suppress the black wind.

But the wind would not stop.

It went even further—black flames began to form within the wind and started burning my body.

Isabel, spreading her divine wings, rushed in at full speed.

She drew her sword and swung at the wind, but her strikes kept getting repelled.

“You… Let go of Lady Iris’s neck!”

She had realized where the wind was emanating from and cried out.

But I clung even tighter to Iris’s neck.

Even so, I shifted my gaze beyond the wind.

Beyond it, the Celestial Duke was calmly watching me.

And then, a bizarre sight unfolded.

Iris’s body, its neck hollow, jerked and began to rise.

Dark currents of wind swirled around her neck, searching for the missing head.

And then I realized—

That bastard, the Celestial Duke.

He had already completely offered Iris to the Demon Sovereign.

He was mocking death itself.

But ironically, at that moment, something in my eyes changed.

A path revealed itself—a way to bring Iris back.

A path to the tracks she had once chosen to end.

And strangely, I felt a certainty.

A certainty that the Demon Sovereign could be defeated.

“L-Lord Celestial Duke…?”

Amid the raging black wind, people began to turn toward him one by one as they noticed what was happening.

They stared at him in disbelief.

The power emanating from Iris’s body was unmistakably that of the Demon Sovereign.

Which meant—the Saintess’s words were true.

As their faces turned pale—

The Celestial Duke slowly pulled something out of his coat.

It was a black watch.

“What are you all doing, Imperial Knights! Arrest that traitor at once!”

The First Prince, finally snapping out of his daze, shouted.

Caught off guard by the situation, the Imperial Knights turned toward the Celestial Duke.

The Demon Sovereign was humanity’s enemy.

Now that it was confirmed he had allied with the Demon Sovereign, there was no turning back for the Celestial Duke.

Commander Hanadin, realizing this, also drew his sword.

“…The time has come.”

Tick.

The sound of the clock’s gears echoed in my ears.

“Acrede!”

My shout barely reached Saint Acrede of Saint Narea.

At the moment divine power surged from Narea’s body—

Despite the others’ delayed realization, the Imperial Palace froze.

Plop—

Thud—

The Imperial Knights charging at the Celestial Duke collapsed one after another.

The nobles, along with the Yellow and Green Tower Masters, all fell to the ground.

Countless people dropped to the floor, heads bowed, falling into a deep sleep.

Then, a pale yellow moon rose in the sky.

Replacing the storm clouds, the moon slowly opened crimson eyes and gazed down at us.

A nightmare.

The nightmare had taken them beyond the realm of dreams.

In an instant, everything was silent.

“Hah… haah…”

Acrede’s ragged breath echoed quietly.

While Narea held more raw divine power, Acrede could release it more effectively. freёweɓnovel_com

Which is why, just before, the soul had switched from Narea to Acrede.

Acrede stood with arms wide open, her face dripping with sweat.

What she had unfolded with her hands was a holy sanctuary.

The Saint arrived late, reinforcing the sanctuary’s power.

My party and I barely managed to remain within its bounds.

Even the black wind that had been ripping me apart vanished.

I sat still, holding Iris’s head in my arms, quietly watching ahead.

There stood the Celestial Duke, still holding the clock.

Around him, all had fallen into a nightmare’s sleep.

Why had I been so cautious with him?

Why had I never dared to act hastily?

Because of this.

Long ago, he had devoured an Apostle who had descended to the surface.

Through this, he inherited one of the Demon Sovereign’s powers.

Nightmare.

A terrible authority that traps those who dream in eternal suffering.

The Bad Ending.

The Nightmare Emperor.

The true master of it all—had finally revealed himself.

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