How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 147

The scene before me was chaotic: two dryads commanding a horde of monsters, and Kyle and Fabian, who were supposed to protect the village children, were now locked in a deadly standoff, their weapons clashing.

“That idiot…”

Fabian’s eyes were glowing red, a clear sign that he had fallen under the mind control of the dryads.

Just then—

“Please… help us…”

A tearful voice reached my ears.

I turned to see the goblins advancing toward the children.

“Fireball.”

Without hesitation, I summoned a massive fireball.

Whoosh, boom! Ka-boom!

Kieeeek!

In an instant, the fireball incinerated half a dozen goblins, reducing them to ash. I quickly moved toward the children and shouted at them.

“Get out of here and take cover over there! Now! Stay here, and you’ll be caught in the crossfire.”

As I barked my orders, I reached out a hand to a little girl who was sobbing on the ground.

“You too, get up!”

Dazed, she took my hand and stood up. As the five children hurried away from the approaching monsters, I began casting spells.

“Fireball, Ice Spear, Chain Lightning, Magic Missile!”

It was a barrage of basic attack spells, something I had become known for.

Whoosh, shing, crackle, whoosh!

The spells flew forward, each making its distinct noise, awaiting my command.

Whizz!

The spells surged forward, obliterating everything in their path.

Boom, crack, kaboom!

Kieeeek!

Grrraaah!

Like a torrential downpour, the rain of magic engulfed the monsters, reducing them to nothing but ash.

“Kamon!”

Kyle called out, recognizing my arrival. I responded casually.

“Keep that idiot pinned down; don’t let him get away.”

“Got it.”

Kyle’s previously despairing expression lit up with newfound hope, and he nodded resolutely.

Then—

“Kamon, whatever you do, don’t look into their eyes!”

“…What?”

“Don’t look into their eyes!”

Kyle, still managing to issue warnings, focused on keeping Fabian’s attention.

“Fabian, if you can’t regain your senses, just keep your eyes on me. Don’t look anywhere else!”

Hearing Kyle’s desperate instructions, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“They’re not even dating, so why the insistence on only looking at him?”

[Well, love knows no boundaries…]

‘Haven’t you learned your lesson yet, Airsya?’

[Ugh.]

Perhaps the recent discipline had left its mark, as Airsya cut off her comments midway, retreating. I shook my head and continued.

‘Mess with me again, and you’ll be begging me to send you to hell.’

[You really are a demon.]

‘I don’t show mercy to my enemies.’

[I’m not your enemy.]

‘Oh, really?’

I couldn’t help but laugh at her absurd claim. I turned my attention to where the dryads had been.

They had vanished without a trace.

‘They must have burrowed underground…’

Even though tracking them down wouldn’t be too difficult, they were more dangerous when hidden.

‘Dryads hidden underground or inside trees become exponentially more resistant to magic, don’t they?’

I recalled a line from a strategy guide, realizing that once these monsters took up defensive positions, defeating them would be far more challenging.

Having lost their mobility, their defense had increased significantly. The first dryad I encountered had been caught off guard and destroyed before it could react.

But the other two, seeing me incinerate their minions in an instant, had wisely retreated.

Moreover, these creatures possessed a certain level of intelligence.

‘They won’t come out easily…’

Just then—

“Fabian, snap out of it!”

“Graaah, die!”

Thud!

Fabian continued to swing his spear wildly, with Kyle struggling to contain him.

‘What’s going on? Kyle should be able to subdue him easily.’

With his skills, Kyle should have been able to handle Fabian without much trouble.

“Urgh!”

Kyle was straining to block Fabian’s attacks, sweat pouring down his face, indicating he was struggling more than usual.

‘Hey, Airsya.’

[… ]

She remained silent, likely sulking after my earlier threats. I continued in a softer tone.

‘You said you weren’t my enemy, right?’

[That’s right. I’m not your enemy.]

‘Then, is Kyle resisting the dryads’ mind control?’

When I pointed to Kyle, Airsya answered with a sleepy tone.

[What are you talking about…? Huh?]

She sounded surprised, as if she had noticed something unexpected.

[He’s resisting a tree spirit’s mind magic? Ha, I’ve seen it all now.]

‘So that’s it.’

As I suspected, Kyle was resisting the dryad’s mind control while also trying to subdue Fabian.

It would be impressive for anyone to resist even one instance of mind control, but Kyle was handling two simultaneously.

‘Of course, this is the protagonist we’re talking about.’

Admiring Kyle’s overpowered, cheat-like abilities, I addressed Airsya again.

‘Airsya, I need you to do me a favor.’

[A favor?]

She sounded puzzled by my sudden request.

With a sly grin, I explained the plan that had just come to mind.

* * *

Thud!

“Damn it, Fabian!”

Swish, boom!

Kyle dodged Fabian’s spear strike, cursing under his breath.

“Snap out of it!”

“Die!”

But with his pupils and the surrounding area completely dyed red, Fabian continued to shriek and attack wildly.

[Kyle, kill him! Tear him apart!]

‘Shut up already!’

Kyle resisted the sickening voice echoing in his mind as he assessed the situation.

‘How did it come to this?’

Kyle recalled the moment when Fabian fell under the dryad’s control.

Fabian had been confidently swinging his spear earlier.

“Want to make a bet on who can kill more monsters, Kyle?”

“This isn’t a game. The kids are scared, so let’s finish this quickly.”

“Heh, typical Kyle.”

They had been bantering while taking down monsters, but then the translucent, blue-skinned creatures with bark-like skin and glowing red eyes appeared.

Roooaaar!

As the eerie monsters emerged, Fabian halted mid-swing and muttered in confusion.

“What are these…?”

Seeing Fabian freeze, Kyle felt something was wrong and tried to stay alert. But before he could react—

Zap.

Their red eyes locked onto his, and Kyle’s mind was hit with a powerful jolt.

[Kill them all.]

‘What?’

[Kill them all!]

‘No! Who the hell are you?’

[Your resistance is strong. I’ll have to try harder.]

“Aaaargh!”

Fabian’s scream snapped Kyle out of his thoughts, and he quickly realized they were both in trouble.

“Fabian?”

But—

“Stay back, Kyle! Ugh, damn it!”

Fabian clutched his head in pain, clearly struggling with the same mental assault.

“Fabian, don’t listen! Ignore that voice!”

“Those bastards are in my head… Aaaagh!”

Thud!

Fabian suddenly dropped to one knee, his head hanging low.

“Fabian?!”

Shocked by the unexpected turn of events, Kyle rushed to his side.

Swish!

“Urgh.”

But Fabian swung his spear upward, attacking Kyle.

“I’ll kill you.”

“Damn it, Fabian!”

[Kyle, kill him. Rip him to shreds!]

The voice echoed again in Kyle’s mind as Fabian’s spear strikes intensified, leaving him dizzy.

“Kill! Kill them all!”

With his eyes fully blood-red, Fabian charged at Kyle with terrifying intensity.

“Fabian, please, snap out of it!”

[Kill him!]

‘Shut up!’

Thwack, boom!

Kyle shouted back, determined to block out the voice. He turned his attention to the source of the problem.

The translucent blue creatures with bark-like skin and glowing red eyes exuded a foul, sticky aura.

‘It’s the eyes. Those eyes are the source of all this.’

Without needing to consult a strategy guide, Kyle instinctively knew what needed to be done.

‘I need to destroy them to fix everything.’

But—

Swish, boom!

“Die!”

With Fabian’s relentless attacks, it was hard for Kyle to break away.

‘Damn it, if only Fabian wasn’t here, I could take them all down.’

Kyle didn’t want to hurt his close friend, so he tried to protect him while dealing with the situation.

Then, he noticed the monsters moving closer to the village children.

“Damn it, no!”

Panicked, Kyle prepared to intervene when—

Boom!

“Kamon!”

Out of nowhere, Kamon Vade arrived, swiftly neutralizing the threat.

‘Kamon can take care of those monsters.’

Kyle, who trusted Kamon completely, called out.

“Whatever you do, don’t look into their eyes, Kamon!”

Then—

“Alright, Fabian. Let’s just keep sparring like we used to.”

Kyle resolved to keep Fabian occupied.

But then—

Boom!

“Whoa.”

A sudden impact shook the ground, causing Kyle to struggle to maintain his balance.

Fabian also seemed caught off guard, stumbling and falling to the ground.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Kyle glanced around and saw Kamon upending the earth with his magic.

‘Are the monsters hiding underground?’

Kyle’s guess was confirmed when the blue-skinned monsters with bark-like skin resurfaced, unearthed by Kamon.

Their glowing red eyes reappeared.

“Don’t look into their eyes!”

Kyle tried to warn Kamon again, but—

“…”

Kamon was already staring intently at the blue-skinned creature in front of him, locking eyes with its fiery red gaze.

“Ah.”

Kyle felt a chill as his mind went blank.

Roaaaar!

The creatures seemed to realize the same thing, letting out a guttural, triumphant roar as if they were laughing.

Kyle’s mind raced faster than ever.

‘If Kamon falls under mind control too…’

The situation would turn disastrous. Kyle knew better than anyone how formidable Kamon truly was, to the point where even he couldn’t handle him at full strength.

“Damn it, I have no choice.”

At this point, there was no way to resolve the situation peacefully. He might have to risk his life or even strike down both Fabian and Kamon.

‘I have to prevent the worst-case scenario.’

With that grim resolve, Kyle set down the sword he had been using and pulled a different one from his back.

Ziiing.

It was the sword of a former hero, the *Python*, passed down to him by Dean Elmon. This was Kyle’s way of signaling that he was about to fight with everything he had.

And at that exact moment—

“Fireball.”

Whoosh!

Dozens of fireballs shot into the sky.

The atmosphere grew tense as if the fiery orbs might come crashing down at any moment. Kyle gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath.

“…Bring it on.”

As he tightened his grip on the sword, Kyle briefly recalled a past honor duel.

“I told you before, didn’t I? That kind of magic won’t work on me.”

No matter how many basic spells Kamon threw at him, they were nothing more than a warm-up for Kyle.

So—

“This might actually be a good thing.”

With a faint smile, Kyle shouted with all his might, ready to confront Kamon once and for all.

“This time, I’ll finally… Huh?”

Before Kyle could finish his sentence, the fireballs began to move.

But their direction was completely unexpected.

Whoosh, boom!

The fireballs flew straight at the two dryads and exploded on impact.

“…?”

Kyle was left dumbfounded by the sudden, completely unforeseen outcome.

And then, a familiar voice reached his ears.

“What have you been doing this whole time, Kyle?”

It was Kamon Vade.

“Huh?”

“What are you doing over there?”

“Oh, uh… nothing?”

Kyle could only manage a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

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