How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 160

A single clash was all it took to establish who held the upper hand between the two.

Rowan Vade casually brushed off his fist as if nothing had happened, while Kyle Perrion, on the other hand, winced slightly as he retreated a few steps back.

‘No matter how much of a protagonist he is, is it still too early?’

Watching this unfold, I furrowed my brows in thought.

I had hoped Kyle would at least land one blow, but…

‘It’s no wonder he’s outmatched.’

Rowan Vade, the commander of the Griffin Knights, was a formidable figure. Although he didn’t fully measure up to the Northern Grand Duke that Kyle faced in the original work, he was certainly on par with such a powerhouse.

No matter how exceptional Kyle’s talents and his near-cheat-like abilities were, they weren’t absolute.

What Kyle lacked right now was only one thing: time to grow and become stronger.

At that moment, Rowan Vade began massaging his right wrist with his other hand, a look of intrigue on his face as he muttered to himself.

“Hoho, you’re quite strong, aren’t you?”

“…You’re strong as well.”

Kyle responded with a faint smile.

“Really? Thanks, even if it’s just talk.”

Rowan chuckled at Kyle’s words, seemingly amused, and continued speaking.

“You look around my nephew’s age. What’s your name?”

“Kyle Perrion.”

“Kyle, huh…”

After a brief moment of contemplation, Rowan looked directly at Kyle and spoke.

“I like strong kids like you. So I’ll give you a chance. You’re free to leave this place.”

“…?”

“And the same goes for the rest of you. After all, the ‘Novice Challenge’ is more of a tradition where failure is more common than success, isn’t it?”

Turning to Chelsea and Fabian as he said this, Rowan Vade’s gaze then fell upon me, his eyes darkening.

“However, leave my beloved nephew behind. That’s my condition.”

[You sure are popular.]

‘Shut up.’

I couldn’t quite figure out why Rowan Vade wanted to keep me here, but his gaze didn’t feel particularly friendly.

‘It’s more like hostility, or even hatred?’

[Oh, have you grown enough to sense others’ emotions like I do?]

‘Just a hunch.’

I responded lightly to Airsya’s comment as I glanced at the others.

In truth, Rowan Vade’s offer wasn’t all that bad from the perspective of Fabian, Chelsea, or even Kyle.

The fact that we were facing him at all meant our ‘Novice Challenge’ was pretty much a failure.

But then.

Smack!

Suddenly, a man blocked my path.

Fabian, wielding a spear larger than his own body, shouted in a voice that was unusually playful.

“Don’t make me laugh, old man.”

“Hm?”

“I decided I’d be the one to take this guy down first. So, follow the order.”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback by Fabian’s completely unexpected statement.

‘What’s with him?’

[Did he eat something bad?]

Airsya, just as puzzled, began spinning around as she stared at Fabian.

And then.

Seeing Fabian, who had been the first to step forward and reject Rowan Vade’s offer, the others began to move as well.

“I’ll decline that offer too.”

Smack!

Standing right next to Fabian, Chelsea also exuded a sharp presence as she spoke.

Then.

Tap!

“Haha, yeah. I knew I could count on you guys.”

Kyle, wearing a bright smile, quickly joined us.

Even though we were technically on the same team, we had never really worked well together.

And suddenly, this…?

At that very moment.

“Kuh, kuhuh. This is amusing.”

Rowan Vade burst into laughter, watching us as he spoke.

“Yeah. Is this the recklessness of youth? Well, I suppose that’s understandable at your age.”

He nodded in understanding, but then suddenly, his expression hardened as he shouted in a stern tone.

“However, as an adult, it’s my duty to teach you a lesson. It’s a good experience to see firsthand what kind of impact the wrong friends can have on you.”

With that, Rowan Vade began casting a multitude of spells on himself.

From Mass Strength, a far superior version of the usual Strength spell, to Heart of Wind, which was much more powerful than Haste.

He effortlessly cast enhancement spells that only the highest-level mages could use.

“Hoo.”

When he finally took a deep breath, having completed all the enhancements, Rowan Vade’s presence…

[What kind of man is this, exuding an aura akin to a dragon?]

‘I’d like to ask that myself.’

Have I ever faced an enemy with such overwhelming force and presence?

Of course, I had once encountered Jamie and Beatrice, the mages considered to be among the strongest on the continent.

But most of them had been friendly toward me and had never fully unleashed their power.

However…

“Damn. What the hell is this aura?”

“It’s suffocating.”

Fabian and Chelsea, feeling the same pressure as I did, muttered with furrowed brows.

“Such strength. True strength.”

Only Kyle, his eyes shining brighter than ever, kept repeating the same words.

‘No wonder he challenged the Northern Grand Duke.’

Even though Rowan Vade was exuding such an overwhelming aura, it was still accurate to say that he didn’t quite measure up to the Northern Grand Duke.

And yet, he exuded a force so strong it was difficult to even meet his gaze. How powerful must the Northern Grand Duke be?

And the lunatic who charged at that person in the original story…

“Guys, I’m going first.”

Tatak!

“What?”

“Hey, Kyle!”

“That bastard… really…?”

Kyle’s sudden declaration caught us off guard, and before we could even react, he was already charging straight at Rowan Vade. I found myself shaking my head instinctively.

‘What the hell is this lunatic doing? There’s a limit to how crazy you can be.’

[I agree. He’s innovatively insane.]

In a situation where we should be fighting together, Kyle’s reckless move made my head throb. But by the time I realized it, Kyle had already closed in on Rowan Vade.

“Waaaah!”

With another fierce shout, Kyle swung his sword, Python, at Rowan Vade.

“Come at me, kid.”

With all his preparations complete, Rowan Vade exhaled a puff of white smoke from his mouth.

At that exact moment, when Kyle’s Python and Rowan Vade’s fist collided again—

Crack! Boom!

“…!”

“Kyle!”

There was no explosion or shockwave this time. Instead, Kyle was sent flying with a single, overwhelming blow. His eyes went blank as he…

Thud!

…crashed into the ground with a thunderous sound.

“Phew. One down. Who’s next…?”

As Rowan Vade spoke, exhaling more white smoke, none of us could even think of making a move.

“Damn, should we try running now?”

“…It’s too late. We’re already surrounded.”

Chelsea firmly shook her head in response to Fabian’s suggestion. Just as she said, while Rowan Vade had been entertaining himself with us, his knights had blocked all possible escape routes.

“So what do we do now?”

“…”

Fabian’s follow-up question left Chelsea silent, unable to come up with any solution.

In the midst of this despair, where everyone was teetering on the edge of panic—

[Ahem, can everyone hear me?]

A familiar voice suddenly echoed in our ears.

“P-Princess?”

Fabian instinctively responded, prompting the voice to quickly chide him.

[Shh! Keep it down. We don’t want to get caught.]

It was Princess Francia, sending us a message from wherever she was hidden, having observed the entire situation.

[So, Kyle’s down, your escape routes are blocked, and that uncle of Kamon’s is… ]

She began to calmly brief us on the current situation, as if she had been watching everything unfold.

[Sigh. Given how things have turned out, we have no choice. We’ll have to use the last resort.]

‘Last resort?’

[You all still have the statues I gave you, right? When I give the signal, break them immediately.]

“…?”

We all exchanged puzzled glances at Princess Francia’s sudden instruction to break the statues she had given us. But knowing she wouldn’t say something so absurd without a good reason, we waited for her explanation.

Finally.

[Those statues are the latest creation from the High Soren Magic Tower, and they have ‘Mighty Blink’ memorized within them. If you use it, it’ll transport you to the safest place possible.]

Mighty Blink?

It was a far superior spell compared to regular teleportation magic.

For someone like Rowan Vade or his Griffin Knights, with their level of magical expertise, it was possible they could disrupt or even nullify a simple Blink spell, but—

‘They won’t be able to stop this one.’

As Princess Francia explained, the small spark of hope that had almost died out flickered back to life.

[However, since you won’t know exactly where you’ll end up, we should decide on a place to meet later.]

“How about the cabin where we started?”

“No, that’s too dangerous. The Vade family will definitely keep an eye on it.”

Fabian whispered his suggestion, but Chelsea quickly shook her head, rejecting the idea.

I shrugged lightly and offered my own suggestion.

“Let’s meet in two days, at that village.”

“That village?”

“Yes, the one where the village chief disappeared.”

It was quite far from here, and it would be a good place to hide from the Vade family’s eyes.

[What about the Novice Challenge’s goal?]

“We’ll each figure it out on our own until then. It’d be stupid for us to regroup and move together in this situation.”

[…Alright.]

After a brief pause following my sharp words, Princess Francia eventually murmured her agreement.

[Fine, then. Let’s meet in two days at that village. And Fabian.]

“Yes, Your Highness.”

[Take care of Kyle before you break the statue. You’re the closest to him.]

“Ah…”

Just as we were finalizing our escape plan—

“Hmph, continuing your little strategy meeting is all well and good, but time is finite. If you don’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”

Rowan Vade finally began moving again.

Tatak!

As he charged toward us at an incredible speed, I quickly shouted.

“See you all later!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I pulled out the statue from my pocket and threw it to the ground.

Bang! Crack!

The statue shattered into pieces with a sharp sound, like breaking glass.

And then—

Whoooosh!

A blue light began to emanate from the shattered pieces.

Simultaneously, Chelsea, who was beside me—

Bang! Crack!

—and Fabian, who quickly ran to Kyle and slung him over his shoulder—

Bang! Crack!

—also broke their statues.

“Magic? Griffin Knights, cast Dispel Magic!”

Rowan Vade, who was charging toward us, shouted.

The knights quickly raised their hands in unison and shouted in response.

“Dispel!”

But—

Whoooosh!

The blue light had already surrounded my body, unstoppable.

“What? Dispel isn’t working?”

With a slightly flustered expression, Uncle Rowan stared at me, and I couldn’t resist giving him a light-hearted shout.

“I’m leaving now, so don’t bother looking for me anymore, Uncle.”

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