Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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270th Chapter: The End of Evil (1)

In a dark corner of the underground, a single light shone.

It was the only light in the darkness, but it did not signify anything positive.

The light came from a lamp illuminating a man lying below.

However, it flickered as if to treat him mercilessly, and in front of him were iron bars isolating the man.

Additionally, there were mana-sealing handcuffs placed around his neck and limbs.

On top of that, his appearance seemed a bizarre blend of human and demon.

Finding himself in such a situation was entirely the man’s own doing.

“Ugh!”

The man, Makia, who had been asleep in prison, suddenly jolted awake as if grabbed by an intense nightmare.

“W-where…”

He had just experienced an extremely long dream.

It had been unrealistic enough to feel shockingly real.

Or could it truly have been a dream?

While trapped here, he had suddenly possessed someone else’s body and met various people there.

The students of Aligieri, and….

“Mirona… no, Maya…!”

No matter where he met her, she was always the same woman.

From the beginning, she had betrayed him, clinging to Dantia, and now she was even attacking her father.

Moreover, the humiliation he faced in that dream was the worst.

Just when he was trying to kill that woman, a series of photographs from Aligieri popped out to hinder him.

Opening a strange box, he had been rendered powerless while he had gained a splendid body.

“Because of those guys, even sleeping comfortably is impossible.”

But was that really a dream?

It was the first time he had ever experienced such a realistic dream.

It was an incomprehensible phenomenon that he had never encountered even 300 years ago.

Back then, he didn’t need to worry about nightmares like this; the road had been smooth.

After rallying Dantia to become a witch, he thought he could rest a bit, but coming back to life 300 years later, Aligieri was still causing trouble.

Then and now…, Aligieri tormented him.

The absolute evil that tormented this pitiful self.

[Are you starting to blame your master again? Your past father did that every time. Like a child throwing a tantrum, clutching at the hem of his pants.]

[As it is said, parents… family… once lost, they never return. Have you ever truly loved your family?]

[Someone who has never given to others doesn’t know what happiness is.]

[People who don’t know happiness only desire it…, ultimately ending up alone.]

The preachings he heard in the dream suddenly echoed in his head.

Grabbing his head at the words spat by those women, Makia struggled with despair.

In the end, he forcibly came to a conclusion.

‘Yeah… that must absolutely be a dream.’

It must be a dream.

It would be impossible for him to have suffered such humiliation.

And reflecting on that dream, there remained one most shocking thing.

His brother Radon left behind his lineage.

At first, he seemed like he would support him…, but suddenly shot a destruction ray from the spirit, hitting him from behind.

‘A family I loved….’

Radon was the only family Makia had ever loved.

Unlike his sister Mela, who looked down on him, he was the only blood relative who respected him.

So, Makia cherished Radon greatly.

After all, he recognized Makia’s brilliance.

It was unacceptable for the descendant of that dearly loved brother to betray him.

“Yeah… it must be a dream. My one-of-a-kind brother….”

But if it was a dream, then the existence of Radon’s descendant was questionable.

As dreams are dreams, the likelihood of them being fake is very high.

However, the issue was that it felt too vivid to be just a dream.

It must be a dream.

Being the way Makia’s heart often fell into despair, he could only draw that conclusion.

Then and now…, it was nothing but a lie.

Clatter-clatter—

At that moment, someone approached the iron bars and spoke to Makia.

“Come out.”

With a blunt tone, he opened the bars.

He desperately wanted to escape through the now-open door, but his body wouldn’t obey.

Because of these damned handcuffs.

“Where are you dragging me?”

Makia only had his mouth to move.

It was just a light inquiry, yet the man who seemed to be a guard didn’t even respond.

“Speak!!”

“….”

It was so ominous he couldn’t remain silent.

As the silence continued, Makia couldn’t uphold his fiery temperament and raised his arms.

However….

“Ahhh!!”

Trying to forcibly use his magic brought immense pain flooding through his body.

Due to the special handcuffs, Makia couldn’t use even a sliver of strength.

“Follow quietly.”

“Ugh….”

Makia had to follow behind the man like a dragged dog.

Receiving this cold demeanor was expected.

The fact that he was the Demon King had already spread widely.

There wasn’t a place on this continent where Makia would be welcomed.

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.

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.

.

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Makia stepped onto the ground after leaving prison, finding himself in the imperial capital of Cross Divine.

Once, it was the capital of the empire where he reigned as Emperor Kamain.

Though the citizens had once embraced him as their sage monarch, now they looked at him with different gazes.

-Scammer.

-Trash.

-Demon.

-Demon King.

-Inciter.

As Makia was transported on a cart connected by iron bars, all sorts of negative emotions were directed towards him.

With the malicious glares thrown his way, Makia felt the weight of their stares pressing down on him inside the cell.

No one looked upon him with pity.

Only he believed himself to be the one deserving of sympathy.

-Serves you right.

-Karma.

The fact that the subject was himself was still incomprehensible.

Being carted away, Makia asked multiple times but received no answers about where he was heading.

All he heard were the shouts and the sound of garbage bouncing against the bars.

Even as they passed through the entrance of the capital, the insults didn’t cease.

The cart made several stops in small villages along the route, where the villagers all regarded him with the same cold gaze.

Moreover, more carts with the same iron bars began to appear.

Within those added iron bars was a familiar man.

“…!”

“…?”

Harkel Viole. For some reason, he too was being transported somewhere, just like him.

Had he also been caught swindling the citizens?

It seemed they were both headed toward the same destination.

Thanks to that, they were able to chat along the way, not feeling lonely.

“Harkel Viole… how did it come to this?”

Makia held good feelings for Harkel.

Thirty years ago, he was the one who released him from the black coffin that sealed him.

Although that opening led to the demon beast war, it had nothing to do with them.

“Hahaha… are you asking because you don’t know?”

Harkel suddenly wore an empty expression and laughed.

Now that he thought about it, Harkel had also appeared in his dream.

They had fought together after obtaining the body of an Evil God, but ultimately ended up in the worst possible scenario.

Somehow, he felt that this was eerily connected to that dream.

In the absence of Makia, he should have been aiming for the throne, yet unexpectedly, he became a prisoner.

“We’re going to die now.”

What could have happened while he was sleeping?

Suddenly, Harkel said something out of the blue.

“Everyone found out. The whole nation knows I opened the coffin thirty years ago….”

As a result, he was stripped of all qualifications as a noble and now found himself like this, among other monkeys.

He had provoked the demon beast war but pretended to be a hero all along.

Harkel then added another remark.

“This is all your fault.”

“What?”

“If you hadn’t foolishly revealed you were the Demon King, I wouldn’t be in this mess!!”

Harkel shouted, showing off his severed arm.

But Makia found it absurd.

Did he think he got caught because he wanted to? Moreover, what had he done to end up like this at all?

“What nonsense are you shouting? Why are you dumping your mistakes on me?”

“Hah! You got the body of an Evil God, yet couldn’t take care of those bastards!”

“What did you say?”

Did he just mention the body of an Evil God?

“Don’t you remember? You possessed the body of the Evil God and fought together. At Papias!”

“….”

Then what does that mean?

Does that mean none of it was a dream?

It was all reality?

“To have obtained such great power and yet to show such a disgraceful state, and you called yourself a Demon King?”

“Shut up! Is that what you say to someone who helped you?!”

“What kind of cooperation did you provide, you useless bum? If it weren’t for your incompetence, I wouldn’t have…!”

It was a result of meeting similar beings.

They had only blind hatred for one specific target, so they didn’t know how to view each other.

They couldn’t empathize with the grace or happiness others had, but they were deeply aware of their own.

“I can’t end like this! I must drive the Chain Silvers away!”

I’m allowed; you’re not.

It’s absolutely not my fault.

Such thinking is what led to the death of Makia’s sister Mela.

The tears others shed were fake, and only the tears they shed were real.

The confrontation between the two, both holding such thoughts, was as dreadful as staring at dung-filled earth.

Because they did not know the knots that tie the threads of their hearts.

In the brutal fight that followed, the cart finally reached its destination.

That place was…?

“This is…?”

“Aligieri?”

The cart entered the streets of Aligieri Town.

They still received cold stares as they passed through the streets, both unable to understand how they became such objects of malice.

“Why the hell are we in this disgusting place….”

Makia couldn’t feel any joy in being here.

And the carts with iron bars suddenly entered an underground passage.

The passage connected to the main building of the Aligieri Academy.

After running through the darkness for a while, a ceiling illuminated by lights came into view.

Below it was a large chamber filled with….

“Welcome, both of you.”

Everyone was present.

Starting with the Principal and most of the faculty affiliated with Aligieri.

And the master of the White Magic Tower, Taili Ryudshiel; the next emperor, Gerard Chain Silver.

The students Jenny Chain Silver, Luska Mad Eye, Mary Ryudshiel.

The two saints, Angela Whitegreen and Nebia Chromag.

Mirona Kirien Divine, who had discarded her status as a princess, standing next to Lyman Begilius.

And….

“Now, now, don’t be nervous. Come over here.”

A seemingly ordinary boy guided them toward him.

Particularly, Makia found that boy strangely familiar.

He looked exactly like the boy who had introduced himself as Radon’s descendant before backstabbing him in the dream.

“You know who I am, right?”

“You are….”

Not just similar; it was himself.

And he fully realized that it wasn’t a dream but reality.

Makia’s face fell into despair as he asked.

“Why….”

“Yes?”

“Why are you doing this to me? Radon and I… we were inseparable brothers….”

Radon Crawler, the descendant of Radon. And his family, linked by blood, stood with him.

Rotas Crawler.

Skilla Crawler.

Amy Crawler.

They too were glaring coldly at Makia.

“We were brothers?”

Radon laughed mockingly.

“You only recognized him as a brother because he fit your standards. What would you have done if he didn’t?”

Makia recalled Radon, who had exalted him as the vessel of the emperor.

He replied without changing expression.

“I would have killed him.”

That was a given.

Just like when he killed his sister Mela.

Ultimately, it was merely because Radon fit his standards that he was considered a brother.

If not, the Crawler family wouldn’t exist.

“Then let me ask one thing. Why did you pass the curse that should’ve fallen on you to your precious brother?”

“Well…, because he could do anything for me.”

“In that case, wouldn’t you be able to do anything for your brother as well?”

“What…?”

Do you mean I should do everything for my brother?

That I should give rather than receive from him?

Makia, unable to empathize with that statement, tilted his head.

And….

“Could you even take the curse for your precious brother?”

“What are you talking about….”

‘Of course, you should sacrifice yourself for me.’

After adding that last remark, the expressions of others darkened.

It was a gaze looking at a beast rather than a human.

“I’m the descendant of that brother of yours. Please take the curse in our place.”

What curse?

Is it possible to transfer a curse?

How?

In the midst of dizzying complex thoughts.

Suddenly, a massive door opened within the chamber.

Inside shone a brilliant space that was known to be the ‘Archive’ only by the faculty.

“This time, it’s your turn to receive the curse instead.”

Radon led them, still trapped in their iron bars, into the luminous space.

Following them were the Crawler family, Mirona, and Lyman.

All of them were cursed individuals, and everything was prepared to be released.

“We’re supposed to take on the curse!”

“Don’t joke with us!”

At that moment, something came through the gaps of the bars where Makia was locked up.

A flower resembling a carnation.

It was Mirona who handed it over with a deep gaze.

What her intentions were, he couldn’t comprehend.

“Maya…, you!”

“….”

Despite being his only blood relative, he received no response.

Though he wanted to escape immediately, he still couldn’t muster any strength.

The enormous door housing the Archive closed without a care.

For the two who had scammed the entire empire, even death wouldn’t be permitted.

Survive as an Academy Scammer.