How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 208

My vision blurred.

A terrible, all-consuming pain gripped me, like my entire body was being torn apart.

The Curse of Annihilation mixed with the healing energy, creating an explosion powerful enough to wipe out a portion of the continent.

And I’d been right at the center of it.

“Urgh…”

“Kang Hyunsoo, are you alright?!”

Somehow, Kyle Perion, the protagonist, was holding me up, looking perfectly fine. His face was calm, as though nothing had happened.

“Kyle… How are you…?”

“I just cut through everything. Somehow, I just knew it would work.”

“What?”

As expected of the cheat character handpicked by the gods, he made it sound so easy. Shaking my head in disbelief, I took a quick assessment of my own condition.

My body was caught in a bizarre cycle—deteriorating rapidly under the curse while simultaneously healing itself with the remnants of Katryzin’s life energy.

“What a crazy situation…”

I quickly scanned the surroundings.

In the distance, I spotted Jamie and Beatrice, both looking like they’d been through hell. They had managed to conjure a thin protective shield that was barely holding up.

“Master, sis?”

“Would you block properly, you old geezer!”

“Mind your own business, you little thief cat!”

Despite their exhausted expressions, the two were still bickering. Somehow, they’d managed to survive by working together at the last minute.

On the other side, I saw Anne Carson, surrounded by a dense barrier, managing to fend off the curse and healing energy swirling around her.

“You… damn bastard…”

Anne’s face was twisted in frustration, her hair disheveled and black blood dripping from her mouth and nose. She looked nothing like the unshakable, all-powerful figure she’d been moments before.

Looks like my gamble paid off.

Gripping Kyle’s arm to steady myself, I gave him a firm directive.

“Kyle, now’s your chance. You have to finish her off.”

“But what about you…?”

“I’ll be fine! Just go!”

Seeing my determined expression, Kyle’s face grew serious as he nodded.

“Alright, got it.”

With that, he charged toward Anne Carson, who was still reeling from the effects of the curse.

Even though a bit of the cursed mist still lingered between them, which would be dangerous on contact—

Vooooom!

Kyle cut through the mist with his holy sword, Python, slicing away everything in his path. Nothing seemed capable of stopping him.

“Yeah… the protagonist should be the one to deliver the final blow.”

As I nodded in satisfaction, still lying on the ground, I struggled to endure the agony of my body decaying and regenerating in a vicious cycle.

As Kyle neared Anne’s barrier, I whispered softly to myself.

“Go, Kyle Perion.”

The protagonist of this story, the one chosen by the world and the gods.

Deliver the final blow.

Even though the ending had diverged drastically from the original story, as long as Anne Carson was defeated and the fallen spirits were destroyed, the Demon King would never be resurrected. Peace would be restored.

So, please—

“Let this be the end.”

It wasn’t the ending I’d read in the novel, but it wasn’t a bad one either.

And if we managed to kill Anne Carson…

Then I can return to my original world.

I could finally leave this cursed story world and reclaim the life of Kang Hyunsoo.

After a brief moment, Kyle’s sword, Python, reached Anne Carson’s barrier.

Swoooosh.

True to its name as the holy sword that could cut through anything, Kyle’s sword sliced straight through Anne’s defensive magic.

“You brat… how dare you!!”

Anne’s eyes widened with rage as she tried to cast another spell, but—

“Haaaa!”

Kyle didn’t miss his chance. He twisted his sword, swinging it down at her again.

Swish, splat!

“Aaaaargh!”

With a sickening sound, Anne’s left arm was severed, flung through the air. She’d pulled back just in time to avoid a fatal strike, sacrificing her arm in the process.

“Spatium Motus!”

Despite her injury, Anne managed to chant an incantation and used teleportation magic to put distance between herself and Kyle.

“Stop right there!”

Kyle immediately pursued her, lunging forward once more.

“Hmph. Be satisfied with taking one arm, brat! Aetherium Servitum!”

Anne cast another spell, conjuring a massive gray net that spread out to trap Kyle, obstructing his movement.

“Hyaaa!”

Slash!

Kyle swung Python, slicing through the nets that tried to ensnare him.

But—

“Spatium Motus!”

Anne teleported again, putting even more distance between herself and Kyle.

“Hahaha! So what if you can cut through anything? If you can’t reach me, it’s pointless!”

“You witch!” Kyle shouted, his voice full of frustration as he tried to close the gap.

Even with one arm missing, Anne Carson continued to resist, blood dripping from her wound, her face twisted with fury. I gritted my teeth at the sight.

With the cursed mist and healing energy still swirling around, none of us could move freely. And even Kyle, the only one who could pursue her, was struggling to get close.

Then, just as despair began to creep in—

Bzzzzt.

The Orb, which had returned to my hand after breaking free from Anne’s control, began to vibrate.

A faint golden light emerged from within the Orb.

The light slowly transformed, taking on the shape of a dragon.

“…What?”

As I stared in confusion, recognizing the familiar form, the golden dragon let out an angry roar.

[You vile creature, Kamon Vade!]

The dragon’s voice boomed, filled with wrath.

[How dare you deceive me and use me in your pathetic human battles? Do you know who I am?!]

“You… You’re the golden spirit… Greed, aren’t you?”

[What?! How do you know my true identity? How does a mere human know my name?!]

Indeed, the golden light that had emerged from the Orb was none other than the spirit of Greed, thought to have perished ages ago in the Golden King Dranthe’s vault.

One of the Seven Deadly Sins—Greed.

“This is strange. Anne Carson said all she needed was Arrogance.”

Nothing was adding up. I couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“Hey, Greed. What’s your name?”

[My name is Hazteon, the Radiant Spirit of Greed.]

“Then why are you coming out of the Orb?”

[It’s because of my contract with ‘Wrath’… Wait, what? Why is the contract broken?]

“A contract?”

Could it be… that the Orb’s power worked by harnessing Greed’s abilities?

The power to absorb everything—that was almost the essence of Greed itself.

Long ago, as Anne Carson traveled across the continent, absorbing the powers of the Seven Deadly Sins, she must have found the spirit of Greed hidden within Dranthe’s vault. Extracting its power, she crafted the Orb.

With that hypothesis, everything started to make sense.

And now, the reason the contract between Wrath and Greed was broken was likely because Kamon Vade, who had held the title of Arrogance, had transferred the Orb’s control to me.

In that case…

“Hazteon, how about making a deal with me?”

[A deal? I don’t make deals with those who’ve betrayed me—]

“But it’ll be a very favorable offer for you.”

[…Favorable? For me?]

Hazteon, the spirit of Greed, looked at me with a curious glint in his golden eyes. I smirked, nodding.

“Of course. From now on, you’ll get to devour everything.”

[What…?]

***

“That’s enough! Haaaa!”

Thud! Whoosh!

Kyle moved with a speed that seemed faster than the wind, but—

“Hmph. Spatium Motus!”

Anne Carson scoffed, putting more distance between herself and Kyle with another teleport spell.

Simultaneously, she continued casting various attack spells, trying to keep him at bay.

However, her expression was far from composed.

“Damn it… This is taking a heavier toll than I thought.”

If Anne Carson had been at full strength, she would’ve easily defeated or even killed Kyle in an instant.

But in that brief moment, when she’d been exposed to the chaotic mix of the Curse of Annihilation and the life force healing energy, her body had taken severe damage. She was barely holding herself together.

So she was using every ounce of her power just to prevent her body from breaking apart while simultaneously fighting Kyle.

“…Just a bit longer. I’ll recover soon enough.”

The one thing working in her favor was her quick reflexes and her powerful calculations, allowing her to identify the disruptive force within her and neutralize it with counter-magic.

“Haaaa!”

Boom!

“Kuh, damn persistent bastard. Umbrain Marzwi!”

Unable to summon her full power, Anne Carson summoned hundreds of shadow soldiers to hold Kyle off.

But—

“You’re in my way!”

Slash!

With a single swing of his sword, Kyle wiped out dozens of shadow soldiers at once.

“This… This is impossible!”

As always, in the face of Kyle Perion’s overwhelming power, even a formidable enemy like Anne Carson could only stare in disbelief.

“Are you truly the chosen one?”

“I don’t know about that. But I do know I have to kill you. It’s a promise I made to Kamon… no, to Kang Hyunsoo.”

“How amusing. The one who will die here is you! Eschling Hapatheon!”

Swoosh!

Multiple spears of darkness materialized and launched toward Kyle.

But—

Slash!

Once again, Kyle sliced through them without hesitation.

“All done?”

“You… you little…!”

Furious, Anne Carson decided to draw from the energy she’d been using to stabilize herself, pouring it into a final, desperate attack.

“This is the end! Integrum Mortuum!”

A small wave of gray light spread from her, rapidly dyeing everything around her in her own color.

“……”

Kyle watched the spreading gray energy with a calm expression, then nodded and muttered to himself.

“It’s my turn now.”

Swish!

In an instant, he swung his sword, and the very air in front of him split open.

The space right in front of Anne Carson, who had teleported away, was suddenly torn apart.

“This ends now.”

Thwack!

The holy sword Python extended through the rift, piercing her body.

“Gah…!”

No one had anticipated Kyle’s ability to tear through space itself, and even Anne Carson looked up in shock, her face twisted in despair.

“You… you bastard…”

“Sorry. I made a promise to Kang Hyunsoo.”

At his words, Anne Carson’s face twitched with fury.

Then—

“Kuh… Don’t make me laugh!”

Suddenly, she grabbed onto Kyle’s arm, a twisted smile forming on her lips.

“If I’m going to die… then I’ll take this entire continent with me!”

“What?!”

Alarmed by her words, Kyle tried to pull away, but—

“Kuh, no way!”

With Python embedded in her body, the sword wasn’t coming loose easily. And Anne Carson’s grip on his arm was unbreakable.

“Let go! I said, let go!”

“This is the end!”

A manic gleam in her eyes, Anne Carson began to chant another spell.

“Dimos Caber Dominik Integrum…”

A spell powerful enough to wipe out the entire continent.

The incantation was longer than any she had used before.

“Kuh, no…!”

Kyle struggled desperately to stop her, but there was nothing he could do at that moment.

“Rium Crepitus Sapi…”

Anne Carson continued her chant with a sinister grin, while the sky grew dark, ominous energy gathering around her.

Just as Kyle’s face tightened in horror at the impending doom—

“Hold on tight, Kyle.”

“…Kang Hyunsoo?”

A familiar voice reached his ears, and suddenly, I—Kang Hyunsoo—appeared between Kyle and Anne Carson.

With a sly smile, I reached out and grabbed Anne Carson’s shoulder.

“Hazteon, absorb her.”

With those words—

Vroooooom!

The dark energy that had been gathering around Anne Carson began to be rapidly sucked away.

“What… what’s happening? No, this can’t be!”

“Oh, it definitely can be. And it is!”

Anne Carson began to disintegrate from the tips of her feet, her form being drawn into the milky-white Orb on my left hand.

Her scream echoed as her body started to break down, piece by piece, drawn uncontrollably into the Orb.

“NO! This can’t be happening!” she shrieked, her voice laced with desperation.

But there was no escape.

Bit by bit, her form crumbled, absorbed entirely by the Orb.

In the end, the once-mighty Anne Carson, the fallen spirit of Wrath, was reduced to nothing more than a faint, dying echo. Her final scream lingered for a moment, and then…

Silence.

The ominous energy that had darkened the sky dissipated, leaving only calm and quiet.

Kyle, still in shock, looked over at me, bewildered.

“Kang Hyunsoo… did you…?”

I simply exhaled, finally free from the heavy tension, and nodded.

“It’s over.”

At long last, it was really, truly over.