How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 140

In front of the town hall in the port city of ‘Califa,’ a large magic circle appeared, gathering white lights. Then, several disheveled people emerged from it.

“Whe… where is this?”

“What’s going on?”

“I was definitely asleep at home, so why am I here?”

Looking around in confusion, they muttered to themselves as they took in their sudden surroundings.

“They’re the missing people.”

“I saw that person on a flyer.”

“What’s happening? Why are all the missing people appearing at once?”

Naturally, the ordinary citizens reacted with surprise and confusion, shouting and discussing among themselves.

Soon after,

Clink, clink!

The guards and knights protecting the port city ‘Califa,’ along with a stout middle-aged man, appeared.

“It’s Mayor Everdon.”

Mayor Everdon, usually cheerful, approached the magic circle in the center of the town hall with a serious expression, pushing through the crowd.

Then,

“Princess Francia!”

He called out to the familiar platinum-haired girl among the people. Princess Francia, looking very exhausted, responded quickly.

“Mayor, did you receive my letter?”

“Yes, I did. I’ve sent the city knights to the location, but…”

“These people were held captive in that mansion. There is a corrupted spirit in the mansion that was hypnotizing and kidnapping them.”

“Kidnapping? Hypnotizing?”

“A corrupted spirit?”

People reacted intensely to the princess’s words, their expressions showing disbelief.

However, Mayor Everdon, appearing to already understand the situation, calmly ordered the guards.

“Take these people to a safe place and prevent others from interfering.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

At Mayor Everdon’s command, the people who had gathered in the commotion dispersed, and those who had been summoned by the princess’s magic scroll were moved to safety.

Princess Francia, observing this, hurriedly spoke up.

“Mayor, now is not the time to….”

Just then, familiar voices were heard.

“Princess!”

“Princess Francia.”

Kyle, Fabian, and even Chelsea appeared, looking slightly weary and a bit injured. Seeing them, Mayor Everdon gave a soft, relieved smile.

“These are your companions.”

“Mayor, that’s not what’s important right now. One of our companions is still in the mansion, fighting the spirit alone.”

Princess Francia, thinking of Kamon Vade left behind, spoke urgently, causing Mayor Everdon to try to reassure her with a gentle tone.

“Do not worry too much. As I mentioned, the city knights have already been dispatched…”

Tap, tap.

Suddenly, the mayor’s secretary came running over with a distressed look.

He whispered something into Mayor Everdon’s ear, causing his expression to harden.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Sensing something was amiss, Princess Francia asked urgently, prompting Mayor Everdon to give an awkward smile.

“There’s an unknown barrier formed around the mansion, preventing anyone from entering.”

“What?”

“But don’t worry. The knights will break through the barrier…”

“No, that could get Kamon killed!”

At Princess Francia’s outcry, Kyle and Chelsea quickly approached and asked,

“Princess, what’s going on?”

“… Kamon? Why would he die?”

In response to their questions, Princess Francia bit her lower lip hard.

“Kamon and the corrupted spirit are trapped in the mansion alone. He was fighting it alone until I used the magic scroll.”

“…!”

Tap, tap, tap!

“Chelsea? Where are you going?!”

Upon hearing this, Chelsea immediately dashed off without hesitation. Seeing her, Princess Francia seemed to resolve something and shouted determinedly.

“Kyle, Fabian.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“We must follow Chelsea to the mansion right now. We need to rescue Kamon.”

With her orders, she too began running after Chelsea.

“Princess! Fabian, let’s go.”

“Do we really need to go? Chelsea and the princess can handle it…”

“Fabian, how can you say that? Even if you don’t get along with Kamon, we’re all from the same academy. If he’s in danger, we need to help.”

“Fine, I got it.”

With a reluctant nod, Fabian followed Kyle, who was running after Princess Francia.

Watching this unfold, Mayor Everdon firmly instructed his secretary.

“Deploy all available forces to support the princess and her group. An academy student dying in our city must not happen.”

“Yes, sir.”

As his secretary rushed off, Mayor Everdon quietly muttered to himself.

“A corrupted spirit? So the legends of the past were true? What a world we live in.”

* * *

[K-Kuh… Who are you?]

The corrupted spirit of Jealousy, Airsya, wasn’t immediately destroyed by the massive light sword. Though its form was faint, it still barely maintained the shape of a dragon, emitting navy blue light.

‘Persistent.’

Since the humiliating defeat in the honor duel with Kyle, I had worked hard to master the spell ‘Sky-Splitting Sword’ taught by Jamie.

As a result, although the power had reduced to about a third, I could now use it comfortably.

“Me? Isn’t it obvious? I’m a mage.”

[What kind of mage uses such brute force… Kuh!]

“Brutal? You speak as if you would grind someone’s soul without hesitation.”

I ignored Airsya’s rage and continued speaking firmly.

“So, what’s it going to be? Will you peacefully vanish, or will you give me something or reveal a secret before you do?”

[You crazy bastard! Why are those the only choices?]

“Because your only fate is to disappear.”

[I will kill you!]

Gathering whatever strength it had left, Airsya emitted a navy blue light and launched another attack at me with its spirit energy.

But,

“Barrier.”

Thunk!

With a simple defensive spell, I easily blocked its attack. The outcome of a battle between spirit magic and regular magic is determined by the difference in power. Having expended a significant amount of its energy after taking the full brunt of the ‘Sky-Splitting Sword,’ Airsya could no longer surpass me in sheer strength.

“See? You can’t beat me.”

[Aaaargh!]

Swoosh, swoosh!

Unwilling to accept reality, Airsya continued its onslaught.

Thunk, thud, thump!

But of course, its attacks never reached me.

“Yawn.”

I yawned exaggeratedly, mocking it, and Airsya, still in dragon form, trembled in anger and shouted,

[If my only path is to disappear, then I’ll take you down with me.]

At that moment, it began to swell rapidly. I shook my head resolutely.

“No, that’s not going to happen.”

Reaching out with the hand wearing the ‘Orb,’ I invoked the spell once more.

“Gladys Sector Caelum.”

The gathered light transformed into a gigantic sword, and the blade of light descended directly onto the swelling Airsya.

[No, it can’t be!]

Airsya screamed desperately, but it couldn’t escape the approaching sword of light. The spell Jamie, the Yellow Mage, had taught me demonstrated its overwhelming power, slicing the swelling spirit of Jealousy, Airsya, in half.

Whoosh! Boom!

The navy blue spirit split in two, its light gradually fading as it began to disappear.

Whoosh!

“What the…?”

The dispersing navy blue smoke suddenly began to swirl around me. At the same time,

Whirr!

“The Orb?”

In response, the ‘Orb’ on my finger began to glow brightly. The remnants of Airsya’s spirit energy, which had been dissipating, were swiftly absorbed by the ‘Orb.’

“It’s absorbing it?”

I was greatly astonished as the ‘Orb’ began to absorb all the energy left by the spirit of Jealousy.

“I thought it could only drain mana…”

Even in the original story, the ‘Orb’ had remained a mysterious artifact with many undisclosed abilities, including who made it and its full range of powers. This seemed to be one of its many secrets.

Soon, the ‘Orb’ had absorbed almost all the remnants of Airsya.

Pop!

It released a small burst of navy blue energy, like a satisfied burp.

“……”

I stood there speechless, staring at the ‘Orb,’ which had returned to its usual milky white hue.

After a while,

Tap, tap!

“This is… unbelievable.”

Muttering to myself in disbelief, I looked at the ‘Orb,’ which had absorbed all of Airsya’s remaining energy.

“I never imagined it could absorb not just mana but even spirit energy…”

Anyway, since the ‘Orb’ had absorbed the spirit energy of Jealousy, it was now filled with that power. But what good would that do?

Unless someone had an innate high affinity for spirits, it would be impossible to manipulate spirit energy…

“Wait?”

I suddenly felt a new energy moving inside the ‘Orb.’

What’s this? Hold on.

Why do I feel like I can use this?

Feeling a strange intuition, I began to draw out the new energy from the ‘Orb.’

Soon,

Tingle.

The peculiar sensation I had been experiencing all along began to make sense as the energy within the ‘Orb’ moved in response to my will.

“……”

“Could it be that the sensation I had been feeling was spirit energy all along?”

Realizing this unexpected truth, I stared at the ‘Orb’ on my finger in amazement.

“Ha, hahaha.”

For someone like me who had faced nothing but unfair challenges, discovering that I could control spirit energy felt like a miraculous gift.

“Kamon Vade has high spirit affinity?”

This was a setting not mentioned in the original story. As I continued to manipulate the spirit energy, I started to understand how it felt.

“It’s not like mana, it’s different.”

Tingle.

“This is spirit energy.”

Unlike mana, which flowed steadily, spirit energy moved as if it had a will of its own. Spirit affinity must be the ability to guide this unruly energy in the desired direction.

Then,

“Oh, right. The spirit magic book.”

The book given to me as a reward by Dean Elmon when I rescued Princess Francia.

“So, this is how it works?”

What I had thought to be useless had turned out to be an invaluable treasure.

“Ha, hahaha.”

This is how it should be in a fantasy novel.

Just as I was reveling in my newfound joy,

Boom!

With a loud explosion, a wall crumbled, revealing familiar faces.

“Kamon!”

“Kamon, are you alright?!”

“Kyle? Chelsea? Princess Francia?”