Chapter 224
224 Chapter. The Best Time (1)
Under the night sky with a full moon rising, the tumult of the incident was gradually settling down.
The ominous-looking moonlight began to appear bright at last.
Though the village’s grand festival, which happened only once every few years, was ruined, people felt immensely relieved just to be alive.
The hostile forces that had surged in from outside either faced destruction or retreated as the situation turned against them, and the internal chaos within the village had long since quieted.
And as for the chief culprit of this incident, the emperor… no, it was the Demon King who had possessed the emperor, and he was completely restrained and fast asleep.
Although it was publicly known that all disputes had been settled by Enviel, he did not truly exist in this world.
It was time to decide upon another target to imitate him.
“Hahaha, the more I think about it, the more it makes me laugh. I can’t believe there’s a human who could exploit me like this,” said Spike, the Spirit of Life, while taking my hand and letting out a hollow laugh.
Through the contact, my memories and genes flowed into him from my hand.
It was all the information about Enviel that I had absorbed and utilized all along.
“Can you do well this time too? You did a splendid job imitating that infuriating Luthis commander before, after all.”
“Look who’s talking, you don’t even have a contract with me.”
Spike, who had transformed into the form of the Luthis commander, reverted back to his original form as a tree spirit.
Based on the information flowing from our contact point, he began to change his appearance.
In the end, he took on the form of Enviel, the greatest wizard on this continent, and the worst of the Evil God worshipers, Elder Enviel.
“Ahem… your voice sounds quite stable.”
“You wear it well.”
“Now, does the ability regarding Enviel inside you cease to exist?”
“No, not entirely.”
For now, all the memories and information about Enviel had been transferred to Spike.
As a mere student, I couldn’t continue living while cosplaying as Enviel for much longer.
Instead, I only passed on his memories and genetic information. I hadn’t transmitted any other characteristics.
“Enviel has quite the good eyes, but I can’t give you that too.”
“How stingy.”
<Maahn Lv15>
A skill that I had painstakingly raised to level 15. It’s too much of a loss to give away something so precious to others.
“By the way, what should we do from now on?”
“The Demon King possessing the emperor’s body has already been captured, so you just need to manipulate the people under Enviel well.”
When I mentioned that the details were in the memories I absorbed, Spike closed his eyes to delve into those memories.
Then, his eyes glimmered as he rapidly grasped my words.
“Hm… so that’s the situation. But do I need to live as Enviel for the rest of my life?”
“Of course not. Just create some vague excuse and go into hiding.”
“What excuse?”
The Enviel I had envisioned had already completed the task of subduing the Demon King within the emperor’s body.
All the evil deeds he had committed and the organization he formed were merely the groundwork to achieve that goal.
Now that it was finished, there was nothing left for him to do.
How such characters typically vanish was quickly sketched in my mind, shaped by my extensive reading of martial arts and fantasy.
“Just fake your own death.”
“Are you telling me to kill myself?”
“No, it means to play dead in front of Enviel’s followers. You know, something like this.”
`My work here is now finished. From now on, it’s your era.`
`I’ve been drenched in blood while achieving my goals. So, it’s time to pay the price.`
“Something along those lines.”
“…..”
No matter how good the reason might be, how many people have suffered because of it?
I’m sure there are countless who share such thoughts.
Hence, ending one’s own life seems to be a neat and wise way out.
“You’ve turned to more cringe-worthy acting.”
“It won’t take long though. Just write a few farewell letters and disband the faction.”
“Hm… by the way, it seems that faction had quite a long history. That Doomsday place.”
The Doomsday Sect of the Evil God worshipers.
Originally, they were the same religion as the Holy Cross Sect until 300 years ago.
However, because of an emperor who lost his daughter, discrimination against heterogeneous races began to thrive, and the sect fell into that trend, transforming into an extreme group.
Now they had faded away and been replaced by the Holy Cross Sect, but those who wished to continue their ideology still remained in this world.
They are the current Doomsday.
“It’s ridiculous to think those who once worshiped the deity have now fallen to worship the Evil God. The more I think about it, the more absurd it seems.”
Enviel is a descendant of the one who was essentially their pope.
He’s a man who has inherited the ideals of his family for generations while concealing his true identity and rising to the rank of Magic Elder.
The pope back then was close friends with the Demon King Makia, which is why Enviel had cooperated with him.
“So the emperor who just got captured today is also a reincarnator? Like the former Saint Maria.”
“Well, maybe.”
Though they sound similar, the two are quite different.
Makia merely possessed the living body of Emperor Kamain, while Saint Maria was reborn with a new body.
If we were to call it reincarnation, the latter fits better.
“Anyway, from now on, my disguise as Enviel will regularly check on the Demon King’s whereabouts. But why didn’t they kill him outright and instead captured him?”
“As I just said, he’s a reincarnator or a possessor. If he dies here, who knows how many years it might take for him to reincarnate again?”
That isn’t just a guess, it’s a fact.
In the main story, they struggle to prevent that reincarnation, which is the central theme of Chapter 6, the final scenario.
Originally, Chapter 5 ends on a much darker note than now.
According to Makia’s plan, it’s revealed that Mary is the Demon King, and the Aligieri side suffers immensely, facing a crisis of dissolution.
While the academy is in chaos, he prepares his new plan.
Seeking not just to reincarnate, but to become a completely new existence, he wields the same sorcery as 300 years ago.
In the end, a being that should not appear in this world descends.
It is none other than the final boss of the main story, the Destruction God Endless.
However, due to the sacrifice of the protagonist Lyman, Endless is defeated, and the other playable characters confront Makia, who has contracted with the Destruction God, to take him down in the final battle of the game.
“So that means… even if I devour him, he’ll just reincarnate in a new body, right?”
“Exactly. That’s why I intentionally didn’t eat him.”
Muto, who appeared from behind, seemed to quickly grasp the situation.
I wanted to devour his memories, but that would only send him running away into the future.
But due to the sacrifice of Lyman, Endless is defeated, and the other playable characters confront Makia, who has contracted with the Destruction God, to take him down in the final battle of the game.
“But he only reincarnated after 300 years. Doesn’t that take quite a while?”
“That can’t be concluded. What if he can choose the timing of his reincarnation?”
“Well, is that even possible? That’s more akin to a blessing than reincarnation.”
That’s right. What Makia acquired was a blessing and a boon.
300 years ago, he became a Demon King by making a pact with the Evil God and gained that boon.
As a price for that, all those who can be called his bloodline fall under a curse.
If we kill him now, we have no idea who he might reincarnate as. Thus, we must eliminate him in the proper manner as per the main story.
Using the Archive left by the Great Sage and the Eternal Flame in sorcery.
“In any case, I’ll be acting as Enviel while keeping his followers in check.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Spike, in the guise of Enviel, disappeared into the village.
Now that the long Chapter 5 had come to a safe end, I felt it was time to visit the village’s duty facilities to rest my mind.
By now, Lyman should be spending a good time with Princess Mirona, so there was no need to worry.
In fact, that would help alleviate the knot of anxiety in my heart.
Hehe, they should be quite the pair.
Outside the duty facility, numerous tents had been set up.
There seemed to be a lot of wounded people, exceeding the limit that could be accommodated inside the building, thus necessitating the increase of space for care.
Beastmen and other heterogeneous races were retreating with their tails between their legs, and the faction led by Enviel (Spike) had withdrawn from the village under his guidance.
With all battlefield situations having concluded, the expressions of the medical practitioners treating the injured became brighter.
Swoosh—
I stepped into one of the tents where the nurses were tending to the wounded.
Inside, three very familiar girls were soundly asleep on a cozy bed.
“You all did well.”
In the center lay a silver-haired girl with fox ears and nine tails, her expression relaxed.
Beside her was a black-haired girl, usually cold but looking uncharacteristically naïve as she hugged the center girl while lying down.
“Mmm… come here.”
“Hehe…”
Despite covered in numerous wounds, both girls murmured peacefully in their sleep.
Though their consciousness had drifted off to dreamland, the bond between the sisters remained as one.
And a blue-haired girl on the left shared the same expression.
“Mom… thank you…”
She had been the one who had suffered the most, but now she could smile comfortably.
The nightmare and curse that had tormented her for a lifetime.
It seemed the anxious factor had vanished into the sky above, thanks to her mother’s momentary reclaiming of memory.
Now the girl could spend each night peacefully without any nightmares lingering.
Jenny, Angela, Luska.
Now, there was nothing left to torment them mentally.
“You! Reveal your identity!”
At that moment, I raised my head at the sound of a young voice coming from above.
There was Mary, a small girl hanging from the ceiling like a spider. Though she wore a mask, her pink hair was unmistakable.
She safely landed on the ground and remarked, “You seem suspicious!”
“….”
Seeing her in another fox mask, it seemed she was at it with her ninja play again.
Among the friends who fought in this chapter, she was the least injured girl.
Perhaps that’s why an abundance of energy flowed out of her.
“You! You can’t lay a hand on our princesses!”
Princesses? At that moment, I quickly understood as I gazed at the three girls lying in bed.
Aha, so that was the concept.
“Mary. Cut it out.”
“Mary? Hmph! Who’s that kid?”
She just referred to herself as a kid. It seems she has an intense loathing for being treated like a little brat.
To sweeten her up, I took out some treats from my pocket.
In the shape of bugs, no less.
“Oh!”
“If you don’t behave, I’ll eat them all.”
“Ahahah! You’re definitely my friend!”
Instantly, Mary tossed aside her mask and swiped the treats from my hand. Her mood shifted remarkably quickly.
While I fed Mary the treats while sitting on a nearby chair,—
Swoosh—
“Oh, there you are.”
Another person stepped into the tent. It was Nebia Chromag, the green-haired saint.
She stared intently at me, as if she had come searching for me.
“Luckily, you three seem to be safe.”
“If you take a nap, you’ll feel better.”
“I also worked hard, after all, for your sake, but it feels somewhat regrettable.”
Honestly, without her, I wouldn’t have been able to unveil Makia’s identity.
When I first heard the information about the Dawn Clan, I was shocked too.
“The three of you are asleep, and the other one is too busy eating treats. What remains is…”
“No need to say more.”
She gave a smug look mentioning that the only remaining one was herself.
She too must have been severely beaten up during her struggle.
She had been choked by Makia and thrown to the ground; I could only wonder if her bones were intact.
“What is it you want?”
This time, as I decided to grant her wish, she gave me a sly smile.
Surviving as the Academy Scammer.