It started out as a faint light, but it was getting brighter and brighter. I saw minute gradations as time went on, and an orange light eventually appeared, illuminating everything, driving away even the mist.

It was really beautiful.

Perhaps I found it even more beautiful, as I was in a place surrounded by nothing but rocks. I couldn't even see the sky, but I unconsciously looked up, hoping that I could see a glimpse of the sky. I could feel the breeze even though I knew that it was impossible.

The sight was so absurd that I thought I was teleported away somewhere.

The light from afar reached me in an instant. It was like special effects one would see at the appearance of an important character. I wondered how Bahamut would react to this sight. I turned my head slightly and felt something wrap their arms around me.

‘When did you get here?’

I knew I wasn't keeping an eye out for him, but I couldn't even feel his presence until he was right behind me. It was like he was there right from the very beginning. He picked up as if he had done it many times before. Now that I thought about it; this was the first time we had met since I went back in time.

Back then, he was a crybaby and begged me not to go sacrifice myself.

However, he no longer looked like a crybaby.

‘So you’re back now, huh? And you have no reason to go back to the past, right?’

Kim Hyun-Sung was angry.

No, it was more like he was trying to suppress his anger. He looked like he wanted to say something right now, but he couldn’t say it. Obviously, the naive Kim Hyun-Sung wouldn’t be able to say anything to his friend, who looked like a mess.

“Mr. Hyun-Sung…”

I mumbled his name, and he instantly looked calmer. Orange horns had already appeared on his head, and orange wings had already sprouted from his back.

He had an idea as to what happened here, so he decided to enter combat mode before making his entrance, but he looked like he wasn’t going to fight right now. He obviously thought about taking care of me first.

“Why? Why… did you do something so reckless?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

There was a lot to unpack from that question.

It sounded like he was blaming me, but he didn’t sound angry.

'It was to protect you, man.'

“I… I wanted to carry your burden…” I answered.

It was a famous line, but it was true. I did all this to lighten his burden, and I only made this decision, as I knew how pressured he was feeling.

I did it so that Kim Hyun-Sung wouldn't cry again.

I did it so that he wouldn't feel the need to take responsibility ever again.

Kim Hyun-Sung bit his lips. It was time for him to get angry.

At this point, Kim Hyun-Sung would usually get angry, but he wasn’t

that

heartless to yell at the wounded saint.

Lee Ki-Young of the past was covered in blood, and the present Lee Ki-Young was also in bad shape. However, his trembling hands and heavy breathing told me that he was truly furious. ʀ

‘I’m kind of scared.’

I was scared because he was really mad. It was scary seeing him get up slowly without saying anything. His killing intent seemed to manifest, distorting the space around him.

Right now, I was sure he looked like that orange demon in Bahamut's eyes.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!'

"

Roooooooooooooooooooooar!

"

‘Damn it, damn it.

’

The nauseating monster roared after making eye contact with Kim Hyun-Sung. I wasn’t sure whether he was scared or expressing his anger. He looked too alien to apply the idiom—"all bark and no bite."

"

Roooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooar!

"

‘Stop it. Stop roaring.’

'Can you stop him from barking? Please?'

Bahamut's eyes seemed to become even redder than red, and his fleshly body had grown a bit larger as well. It hadn't been that long since he entered his second phase, but it seemed like he was entering his third phase earlier than expected.

‘This is why I didn’t want to call Kim Hyun-Sung over here.’

There were hideous veins all over him, and his muscles, which looked like they were going to explode, grew even bigger. His body seemed to represent overwhelming violence, and his arms were as big as pillars.

His horn was still growing, and to make things worse, a colossal pair of wings burst out of his back. Actually, I wasn’t sure if those were wings, as they looked like they were made out of flesh and blood.

‘He's staring at the individual who traumatized him, so of course, he's going to go crazy.’

Anyone could tell that he had fallen into madness.

‘I know this is going to happen as soon as he sees Kim Hyun-Sung…’

Bahamut opened his mouth and unleashed a beam of pitch-black mana.

BOOM!

The beam of pitch-black mana split the ground and pierced the wall and ceiling before devouring everything. The wall of the dungeon melted away, leaving nothing behind. I was sure it even affected the outside world.

Kim Hyun-Sung managed to dodge it, but the others couldn't dodge it.

After all, it happened without any warning.

Cha Hee-Ra's Red Goddess of War transformation was blown away, and she was left with only half of her figure. She tried her best to restore her transformation, but it was not that easy.

I was sure she'd struggle to fight Bahamut from now on.

Templar Gen was hit as well, as I could not see him anymore.

Meanwhile, Jung Ha-Yan had prioritized protecting herself.

The monster stomped and swung his arms wildly to defend himself against Kim Hyun-Sung's sword.

‘How is he so fast?’

I was sure that ordinary people couldn’t see him anymore, as even I could only see his afterimages.

‘Hyun-Sung’s reaction speed is quick as well…’

My eyes lit up just then.

I'd be able to look at the battle from Kim Hyun-Sung's point of view using the Mythic-rank Regressor Instruction Manual activates, but…

"Mr. Hyun-Sung?"

— …

"Mr. Hyun-Sung! Right now, we should…"

— …

He wasn’t answering.

‘What the hell?’

Did he block me? Why?

“Mr. Hyun-Sung!” I shouted.

Why was he ignoring me?

'You think you can beat him by yourself? Are you upset because of what I said about how I wanted to carry your burdens? Are you trying to show me that you can overcome this by yourself?'

That was the only explanation I could think of at the moment.

However, it was understandable, as this issue was important to Kim Hyun-Sung.

Nauseating Bahamut swung his large arms, and the Sunset Swordsman swung his sword. The world amidst the orange and black hues was devastated. As always, the orange hue disappeared first.

The Red Goddess of War emerged from the dust and drove her large axe into the monster’s shoulder, but Bahamut shrugged it off and rammed the Red Goddess of War.

The Red Goddess of War flew into a wall, and the Sunset Swordsman appeared to replace her as if she had just switched characters.

However, even the Sunset Swordsman found the monster's outer shell to be quite tough. The monster's pitch-black blood was pushing out the orange light—no, the pitch-black blood seemed to be devouring the orange light.

I was sure that it was all because of the orange demon hiding within the demon's seed inside Bahamut. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had prepared a few things to deal with Kim Hyun-Sung.

Bahamut's body itself was devouring the orange light.

‘There's also the difference in weight class.’

Bahamut's Strength was overwhelmingly high, and Kim Hyun-Sung found his size to be quite problematic.

"

Roaaaaaaaaaaaaar!

"

BOOM!!

“Damn it.”

'Why does he get upset at the critical juncture? Why is he being so stubborn when he’s getting beaten up?'

I was sure that my words were shocking, and as I said earlier, Kim Hyun-Sung's reaction was understandable, especially when his incompetence had forced me to make quite a few strange decisions.

He probably felt like he had caused trouble again, and he wanted to prove to me that he was not incompetent. I was sure he wanted to show me that he had changed to ensure that this incident would not happen again.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“

Ahhhhhhh!!!

”

"

Rooooooar!!!

"

‘How exhausting.’

Bahamut was stronger than Kim Hyun-Sung… at the moment.

‘I can’t let it continue like this.’

Cha Hee-Ra lay in a pool of her own blood, but she was smiling for some reason.

Jung Ha-Yan randomly cast spells while vomiting.

The Sunset Swordsman was swinging his sword while gritting his teeth, but the undutiful Child of Sunset couldn’t land his attacks and was actually getting pushed back.

‘Not like this.’

I had done many things to prevent this ending.

We had an advantage, as I managed to bring Draktaris to our side.

However, we were on track to a bad ending.

I was caught off guard by Bahamut's decision to make the demon’s seed bloom, but if one looked at it from a different point of view, the demon seed was considered a nerf on Bahamut.

The social gathering ended up in a failure, but I managed to avoid the ending where I would lose my head.

‘But I also don’t want a bloody ending, damn it!’

"Bahamut… Bahamut… Heuk… Bahamut!"

‘Now, I can't even attack him mentally. He must have truly gone crazy.’

I felt ashamed for even attempting to rely on the nauseating beast.

'At this rate, our Hyun-Sung will die.’

“Stop it! Bahamut!” I shouted.

'My baby is dying, damn it.'

My delicate figure rushed forward amidst the explosions.

Bahamut lifted his claw and was about to tear Kim Hyun-Sung to shreds when the saint addicted to sacrifices made his appearance. Bahamut’s eyes widened. It was only for a moment, but his red eyes seemed to have returned to their original color.

“Mr… Ki-Young…” Kim Hyun-Sung mumbled.

“Mr. Ki-Young!!!” Kim Hyun-Sung screamed urgently.

However, I did not answer him, as I needed to focus on Templar Gen, the Knight of Friendship.

Templar Gen was standing before me, and he had blocked the monster’s claw for me.

“Templar Gen…” I said.

I was covered in Templar Gen's black blood.

‘I knew he was going to take the hit for me.’

“I’m… sorry… for not protecting you… until the end…” Genny muttered quietly.

Bahamut's claw was sticking out of the wolf. Genny was panting, and he was dying because more than half of his figure was now riddled with holes. He fought for me until the very end. He was worthy of the title "Knight of Friendship." He was indeed an honorable knight and friend.

“Templar Genny…

Ahhhh!

” I screamed.

“Priest of Prophecy… no… Angel of Sacrifice… no… Father Lee Ki-Young…” Genny mumbled.

“

AAAAAAAHH!

” I yelled.

“There were… many things… I wanted… to tell you…” Genny said.

“

Heuk… heuuuung…

” I cried.

“Thank you… for everything…” Genny added.

“

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Heuk…

Genny… Genny!” I called out.

“It was… an honor… to serve you… in the past… and in the present…” Genny added.

I felt kind of bad, but there were many things out there that were more important to me than him.

I wasn't sure if this was enough as a consolation, but I decided to never forget him.

“

AAAAAAAHHHH!

” I roared.