Chapter 526

〈 Chapter 526 〉IF Route, Bad Ending #062

Above the sea, Phoenix properly clashed with Unjang and Xiao Lin.

The power of Phoenix that she wanted to test was overwhelmingly mighty, and Xiao Lin, who hadn’t yet reached SS, still had many weaknesses.

“Kruuuek!”

Xiao Lin spat blood and collapsed onto the red earth. Phoenix knew every little habit of Xiao Lin, and Xiao Lin, who entrusted mobility to the red earth, was undoubtedly weaker than Phoenix.

“Heroes of the Round Table! Let’s start by winning one, shall we?!”

“Never…I won’t lose!”

Xiao Lin gripped the spear and pulled on the reins of the red earth. Phoenix mocked him while drawing flames in the sky. There was no way she could lose. Unless some external factor intervened.

And that premonition wasn’t wrong.

“……?”

From afar, in the direction of China, five magical reactions were felt. Phoenix retracted her magic and extinguished the flames, enhancing her vision to confirm the blurry five objects flying towards her.

“Woah.”

Five missiles are flying over. If they were ordinary missiles, she would’ve just blown them up mid-air, but clearly visible on each missile was a radioactive mark.

On all five of them.

“Damn it, Mo Taegyeong.”

Spontaneous curses flew from Phoenix’s mouth. It was insane enough to fire nuclear missiles at villains, but he wouldn’t possibly let his daughter, Xiao Lin, get caught in a nuclear explosion without escaping, right?

“……Father, why?”

With a clatter, Xiao Lin dropped the spear. Xiao Lin also confirmed the five core-energy-propelled nuclear missiles heading towards her, and she hadn’t received any prior warning.

He used Xiao Lin as bait to fire a nuke. Her own father. The explosion would sweep across the Korean Peninsula, filling the atmosphere with radiation.

“Haaaaaak!”

Phoenix unleashed all her magic within her body, weaving it like a net to envelop the nuclear missiles. Deciding to deal with the aftermath later, she resolved to eliminate this root cause that could spark World War III.

“Huuu, uuuuaaaaah!!”

The nuclear missiles wrapped in magic trembled unstably. But the core energy ejected from the missile’s rear burned away in the flames, and Phoenix successfully stopped the nuclear missiles mid-air.

“……Phew.”

She almost started World War III upon waking up. Phoenix sighed in relief as she wiped her chest—

Kwa——ang!!

The nuclear missile exploded. It was a time bomb.

“Mo Taegyeong, you son of a bitch.”

‘Even so, I don’t die.’

Though the atmosphere might be contaminated by the nuclear fallout, as a spirit, Phoenix doesn’t die. Even if radioactive materials stick to her skin, burning them off with magic over time would suffice—

“……Xiao Lin!!”

Phoenix spread her wings at full strength. Unlike Phoenix who could create a protective barrier with magic, Xiao Lin was merely a somewhat exceptional S-rank special ability user.

“Please, please!!”

Let the red earth move its legs to escape the explosion. Phoenix desperately wished, but the red earth froze in fear at the approaching flames heading toward itself.

“No wayyyyyy!!”

The explosion covered Unjang and the red earth.

***

“Ahh, what a pity.”

Mo Taegyeong lamented the nuclear missile stopping mid-air.

“Just a bit further east and it would’ve been war.”

“Ah, Father?!”

Mo Taegyeong’s son, Hero Name <Bonghyo>, rushed into the president’s office. Drenched in cold sweat, unlike his usual self, he approached Mo Taegyeong and slammed both hands on the desk.

“What are you doing?! Right now?!”

“You’re out of character, Bonghyo.”

Lifting his teacup as usual, Mo Taegyeong offered him a seat. But Bonghyo found Mo Taegyeong’s calmness utterly repulsive.

“Forget everything else! There was your daughter there! Yunjang Xiao Lin!!”

“So what? That kind of thing.”

Mo Taegyeong raised an eyebrow.

“Daughters can always be made again, and S-rank special ability users will inevitably appear. Would you really believe S-ranks wouldn’t emerge in this vast land of over ten billion people? Even on that tiny peninsula, eight S-ranks have already appeared.”

Mo Taegyeong clicked his tongue against the rough tea leaves in his mouth.

“Such a pity. This was a rare chance to advance eastward.”

“President…!”

Bonghyo suppressed the rising nausea. He didn’t want to call this madman ‘father’ and wished to extract every drop of his blood.

“Bonghyo. Mobilize all the alumni to search for special ability users. This time, find a fairly decent next hero.”

Mo Taegyeong pulled out a book heavily worn with use from the bookshelf. On the cover of the book, which looked decades old, was written “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”

“Right. Since Yunjang is gone, the next hero should be… Kongming? Baekyak? What name sounds good?”

Mo Taegyeong was already drinking bowls of kimchi soup before the S-rank hero had even appeared. Bonghyo, bowing his head, ground his teeth while checking the information coming through his terminal.

Yunjang, Red Earth. Signal lost. Likely deceased.

“……Father.”

“Hmm, did she die?”

Mo Taegyeong clicked his tongue and expressed regret.

“I can’t let the world know my daughter lost to some unheard-of flame wizard.”

That’s why Mo Taegyeong fired—not missiles—but nukes.

“Well then, Bonghyo. I’ll visit Central. We must prepare for war soon. Don’t we need to cook these heroes and use them as hunting dogs to expand our territory?”

War. War. Viewing special ability users as new strategic weapons, Mo Taegyeong’s words left Bonghyo with nothing to do but bow his head.

He lacked the strength to stop this madman right before his eyes.

***

“Phooohaa!”

Phoenix surfaced from the sea and laid Xiao Lin down on the beach. Her armor was torn in several places from the explosion, and her skin was reddened with burn marks all over.

“Ugh…!”

And under her magical sight, Xiao Lin’s body was filled with radiation. Even if she purified the radiation scattered across the Yellow Sea while traveling through it later, her immediate priority was treating Xiao Lin’s body.

“Snap out of it! Xiao Lin!”

“……Who are you?”

Xiao Lin opened her eyes. Though they spoke different languages, through magic, they understood each other’s intentions perfectly.

“Don’t die! I’ll save you! Don’t lose consciousness…!”

“……It was an honor to fight someone as strong as you.”

As they say, ‘the light of a dying candle.’ With clear eyes, Xiao Lin expressed gratitude to Phoenix. However, Phoenix became desperate upon seeing the fading traces of magic in those eyes.

“No! More, more—I’ll spar with you as much as you wish! Whatever you want…!”

“If I had been just a little stronger… perhaps my father wouldn’t have resorted to such extremes… cough!”

Xiao Lin spat blood. Due to the fragment of the red earth’s magical armor embedded in her heart, her already scarce magic power rapidly leaked out.

“Please! Please!”

I can’t lose a heroine right after meeting her. Even though it was due to the unreasonable attack of a temporary enemy, Phoenix felt guilty that Xiao Lin was dying because of her.

“……Don’t cry. A strong person shouldn’t show tears…”

Xiao Lin reached out and wiped away Phoenix’s tears.

“Let me ask one favor… when I die, cremate me and scatter my ashes around the world…”

“Don’t talk about dying! You’re speaking fine right now!!”

“Hmph… Yunjang endured shoulder surgery without anesthesia…”

Thud. Xiao Lin closed her eyes without finishing her sentence. Phoenix shook Xiao Lin’s lifeless body on the white sandy beach and screamed.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

Splash.

Far away, the crimson horse’s corpse, swept away by the waves, came into view. Phoenix flew through the waves toward the dead body of the red earth.

***

“Do you remember? That’s how you died.”

“……I’m embarrassed to admit it.”

Xiao Lin turned her head, her face as red as a pepper. Not only was she blushing from embarrassment, but her current skin was unusually red. Phoenix exaggeratedly gestured from atop the cruise ship.

“A strong person shouldn’t shed tears. Puhuhu!”

“……Phoenix.”

Xiao Lin embraced Phoenix from behind and whispered into her ear.

“Do you want to cry in bed?”

“…….”

Gulp. Phoenix swallowed hard at the hot column touching her back. Reborn using the core of Red Earth, Xiao Lin, due to the influence of Red Earth, resurrected with a horse-like penis that was hardly human.

“…People are watching.”

Other passengers walking across the cruise ship deck murmured about the two of them. Xiao Lin rubbed his member against Phoenix’s buttocks and whispered.

“It’s because we can speak Chinese and Korean fluently without issue. There’s absolutely no need to worry.”

“No, people think we’re a lesbian couple.”

“So what? No one will know anyway.”

“…You’ve really gone wild since becoming a monster. Hmph.”

“Consider it liberation from constraints.”

Xiao Lin straightened up and fastened his clothes. His fully erect member could barely be concealed by crossing his hands in front.

“I’ve always dreamed of traveling around the world.”

“Yes. Now we’re going around once. Since I’ve granted your wish, that’s enough, right?”

“…Personally, I’d like to travel around the world again with Phoenix.”

Xiao Lin clicked her tongue in disappointment. Of the six years Phoenix mentioned, she had already used eighty days, leaving not much time remaining.

“It’s okay. There’s still someone in Korea hiding their strength who matches your current power.”

“Gwanggeon?”

“……How did you know that?”

“I sensed it.”

“……Tch. Heroes with hidden powers, huh.”

As the harbor slowly came into view beyond the horizon, Phoenix took Xiao Lin’s hand and headed toward the cabin.

“Then let’s go inside and rest. There’s still a bit of time before we dock.”

“…Phoenix.”

Xiao Lin whispered shyly.

“H, can we do it one more time before we go?”

“……Pervert.”

Xiao Lin’s member had grown long enough to reach her collarbone. Phoenix sighed and pulled Xiao Lin close.

“……I’ll take care of it orally, so bear with it for now.”

“Thank you, Gagga.”

“……”

Phoenix’s face was also red.

***

The sudden launch of five nuclear missiles.

The international community naturally issued condemnation statements regarding the nuclear launch, but Mo Taegyeong personally stepped up to the podium to resolve the situation.

If five nuclear bombs could finish off a monster powerful enough to knock down Yunjang, wasn’t that better?

Indeed, the mysterious unknown monster’s reaction disappeared along with the nuclear explosion. Coincidentally, the video capturing the monster evaporated, and those who saw it gradually disappeared, plunging the monster’s identity into mystery. However, it was certain that a monster’s reaction far surpassing S-rank had appeared.

Behold! The world was saved by a nuclear weapon! Yet the international community continues to pressure us! All because our party lacks special ability users!

Using Yunjang’s death as leverage, Mo Taegyeong stimulated the sense of justice among heroes. One by one, they left the association and joined the central government and the party, rendering the association virtually meaningless.

Although the sought-after S-rank didn’t appear despite all the efforts, with a large population, the number of C and D-rank special ability users reached millions.

Ten million heroes.

No matter how skilled the Round Table was, being limited to just twelve members, no one could withstand the strategy of overwhelming numbers.

Until a single bird landed in Mo Taegyeong’s secret mansion.

Boom!

The ceiling collapsed.

Mo Taegyeong was surprised that his secret mansion, unknown to anyone, was attacked, and doubly shocked when he recognized one of the two attackers who broke through the ceiling.

“Xiao Lin?”

“It’s been a while. President.”

Xiao Lin, with flushed skin, thrust the crescent blade at Mo Taegyeong. The edge of the crescent blade bore patterns of blue flames, ready to burst into flames at any moment.

“So, you’ve come to kill me?”

“Yes.”

“Knowing it’s patricide?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, hahaha!!”

Mo Taegyeong, clutching his stomach and laughing, slammed the table.

“Both you and your mother have the same temperament. Ignorant of heaven’s fear, arrogantly rushing forward like trash.”

“Alright, noted.”

Beside Xiao Lin, the villain from the video fighting Yunjang slashed Mo Taegyeong’s heart with her palm. Mo Taegyeong, bewildered that the villain from the video had come to kill him, cursed them until his last breath.

“You…ignorant…women…”.

Thud.

Mo Taegyeong’s head tilted backward. Even as his heart was pierced, he continued cursing until his death.

“Phoenix.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s begin.”

“……You really have a twisted taste.”

Phoenix pulled a D-rank core from her pocket. Xiao Lin took out her smartphone, licking her lips in anticipation.

“Twisted taste? I’m merely pursuing more freedom.”

“Yes. Yes.”

The core began entering Mo Taegyeong’s heart.

***

Alumni Association.

The elite force created by Mo Taegyeong fell into great confusion upon the disappearance of their master. Fortunately, Admiral Bonghyo stepped forward to calm them down, but they couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment at the delivery box brought to their headquarters.

“What is this…?”

A delivery box large enough to fit a person arrived. The tape tightly wrapped with magic bore the warning message: <Open only by Bonghyo!>

“Admiral?”

“It could be a trap.”

“I’ll open it.”

Bonghyo placed his finger on the box. The seal, having read Bonghyo’s magic pattern, quickly unlocked, and he opened the box doors to the left and right.

“Holy cow?!”

“Crazy…! What kind of trap is this?!”

The officers of the Alumni Association screamed upon seeing the naked girl trapped inside the box. Not only was she naked, but the girl had cat ears and a tail, resembling a feline seal.

“Hm.”

Bonghyo pulled out the letter tied to the restrained girl’s mouth. The content written in a handwriting he knew too well shocked the members of the Alumni Organization.

“By engaging in yin-yang union with this girl, you can lift the boy’s art restriction without losing special abilities…?”

“Ah, it’s definitely a trap!”

“Admiral!”

“You guys…,”

Bonghyo tried to calm down the excited officers, but their excitement showed no signs of calming down. Having no choice, Bonghyo decided to find a brave hero to judge whether the food was poisoned or not.

“Who wants to try-”

“”””I’ll do it!!!!””””

All the officers volunteered, and suddenly, the Admiral’s Special Ability Contest was held, with the girl’s virginity as the prize.

Bonghyo noticed that the girl’s face resembled Xiao Lin, whom he had intended to protect.

***

“So, Xiao Lin, are you satisfied with this?”

“Yes. I never expected it to actually work.”

“That’s why I’m amazing. Puhuhu.”

“Yes, yes. From now on, all my time belongs to you, my lord.”

Xiao Lin pledged her loyalty to Phoenix, and Phoenix accepted her loyalty.

“Then, Xiao Lin! Quickly transform into a horse! Let’s gallop across the sky like Red Earth!”

“…Are you challenging me to a speed race now? Fine. The loser gets bottom today.”

“That’s where you heard it, aaah?! Foul!”

Phoenix and Xiao Lin happily flew across the Earth together.

***

Seongju woke up after a long treatment.

The half-man-half-beast monster that inflicted wounds on him—something so inhuman he feared calling it human—for revenge, Seongju personally led the boatman down to the surface.

[……?]

Haaaang, the red earth’s cock is impressive!

The blue bird was lying beneath the red horse, receiving a long and massive member with her entire body. Realizing that this blue bird was his strongest servant, Seongju was startled.

[Even I couldn’t defeat her, and she’s conquered Phoenix? The Earth is doomed.]

Seongju felt fear. A careless mistake could cost him his life.

Crack!

An interdimensional deity pinned Seongju down and spread out a picnic blanket. Watching the scene Seongju had been observing, the deity chuckled and enjoyed it.

Bird and horse mating? What chaos is this?

The interdimensional deity patiently waited until their coupling ended before moving his steps toward Earth.