Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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53. The Fox Sisters

A Nine-Tailed Fox facing a rice ball with the strength of a steel hammer. It wasn’t that she couldn’t endure multiple hits; it was just that she was pushing through the pain.

Sure, there would be bruises from being hit continuously, but with the regenerative power gained from evolving into a Divine Beast, she could easily heal her wounds.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

In a critical moment when Divine Power was injected, she instinctively grasped the utilization of magic. Now that she understood the true use of power, there was no need to prolong the fight.

If she simply absorbed all the souls, everything would be over.

“I can’t stand this anymore…”

A thought flickered through the Fox’s mind.

The issue was simple but impossible to ignore.

She couldn’t concentrate on the battle because of mere food.

Just by smelling, her mind went blank, making her feel like a mute who had forgotten what she was about to do.

When she absorbed souls, it was as if she also inhaled the aroma, making her salivate. It had nothing to do with willpower.

“Just because of some rice balls…”

She couldn’t even say “just” about it. Throughout her life, she had never eaten anything properly.

Trapped in a dark isolation room, her meals were only bug-infested fruits, weeds, and rainwater dripping through the ceiling.

She lived off things so shameful they’d barely qualify as snacks. No wonder she had no common sense after living a life full of experiments.

Even after losing her memory, that pain was alive in her heart. The agony of losing her family and the hunger of never eating anything decent.

Even after regressing to a pre-school child, she had instinctively chewed on different things. Her insatiable appetite was part of her Divine Beast traits.

Even after being hung on the eastern mountain of the Academy, anything she could get her hands on went straight into her mouth. Grass, bugs, mud, stones—everything visible was practically swallowed whole.

Then she saw a boy fishing by the lakeside.

She fixed her eyes on the white lump he dropped. This was what she had only heard of as rice.

There was no common sense that one shouldn’t eat food that had fallen on the ground.

She swallowed the dirt-covered rice lump in one bite—

“I want to eat more!!”

The Fox could never forget the taste from that time.

Having considered all the garbage she had pitifully thought was delicious until now, it was nothing short of shocking.

That was the first time she had ever tasted rice!

The white rice on the outside had a chewy texture, and the roasted ham inside melted in her mouth.

And the nutty aroma mixed with the rice made her feel intoxicated just by smelling it again.

She couldn’t help but acknowledge it, even if it was embarrassing.

“I can’t help it…. I can’t resist that!!”

But she couldn’t afford to be on the receiving end. She had already resolved to destroy humanity, and her lifespan was running out.

In reality, her body was a vessel struggling to contain the magic of a volcano. Yet the magic continued to seep into her body regardless.

Would she die due to side effects, or explode from excessive magic absorption?

At this point, either choice was equally bad.

Since it had come to this, revenge was the only option.

She would blow herself up alongside the Papias Kingdom. But to do that, she had to wait until she was fully charged.

Already facing death, she couldn’t just cling to the smell.

Crack!

The expedition team opened their eyes wide in disbelief.

The Fox had smashed her own nose. She struck her face with her own hands to crush her nose.

I could roughly guess her intention.

“I won’t be enticed by that feast anymore!”

The Fox declared triumphantly. My expectations hadn’t missed the mark.

With her nose shattered, her sense of smell was practically disabled. Now she wouldn’t be able to smell the savory rice ball.

For a beast, I’d say she used her brain quite well.

“This is pretty impressive.”

“Is now really the time to be impressed? You just drew attention to yourself.”

I said this jokingly, but Jenny shot me a concerned look and retorted.

We had already completed our strategy meeting before fighting the Fox.

Starting with Baimon’s massive Golem strategy… excluding the rice ball tactic, it was safe to say that everything was pretty much in line with the main plan.

It was an important strategic element, and if something went wrong, it would indeed be disadvantageous.

Just like a machine that collapses from a misplaced screw.

But there was no need to worry.

“It’s over now!”

The Fox opened her mouth to absorb souls again. Another vacuum was created, and everything was pulled in.

I thought it would end without any issues.

Sniff! Sniff! Huh?

Out of nowhere, her sense of smell revived again. Once more, she became intoxicated by the scent of the rice ball, and her skill was cancelled.

She broke out in a cold sweat, wearing a confused expression. And when she touched her nose again… it had returned to normal!

“No way, kid. You have the healing factor.”

That ability could heal any injury and push her beyond the limits of being a living creature.

The ability that once protected the Fox was now holding her back.

“Damn it…!”

At this point, she had to fight while blocking her nose. It was practically like sealing one of her arms.

But would the expedition team just stand by and let it happen?

“Angela. I’m really sorry.”

Jenny dashed forward with superhuman speed. The blue trajectory swept across the shabby ground like a shooting star.

The Fox flicked her tail to block it.

“I have to stop her.”

Even if she couldn’t use one arm, she could still use her tail.

The nine tails moved like snakes. With every swing, they could sweep away the forest, and even if she hit someone once, they’d be on the brink of death.

Knowing this, Jenny pushed her speed to the extreme.

Dodging the tails as they shot out in various lines like thorns piercing the ground, nothing could outrun Jenny, who poured every ounce of her strength into it.

Having exhausted all her tails and reaching a certain range, Jenny jumped. But the Fox had more weapons than just her arms or tails.

“Disappear.”

Every time that line was uttered, something spewed from the Fox’s mouth.

It was flame breath.

Her hidden pattern shot at Jenny, who was airborne. Even though Jenny formed an ice wall in response, it was impossible to stop that tremendous heat.

For Jenny, who had no magic to use as a foothold in the air, it was the worst situation.

[Chain Silver Style – Winter Tornado]

The heat began to cool down. A cold tornado generated around her started to push back the flame breath.

Mary, who was about to join in, momentarily halted at the sight.

Originally, she could control 25% of the output of the Silver Age. But now… driven by the sole intent to save a child, she awakened her power to 30%.

Woosh!

The energies of matching properties clashed. Steam rose to the point of blurring vision.

Just moments ago, the fire was above. But now that they had reached equality, the cycle of heating and freezing seemed unending.

Boom!

A massive explosion occurred in the air. Tiny particles that made up the steam obscured the Fox’s view.

However, the output of the flame breath was somewhat dominant. The cold tornado was pushed back, showing that Jenny was taking significant damage.

So what happened to Jenny? Although she couldn’t be seen due to the mist, it was presumed she had been injured and forced to retire.

“Angela!!”

At that moment, a blue pillar soared through the mist. It split the fog as if a gigantic sword had been swung. Within the cleared sight, the Fox saw it.

Jenny leaped again, silhouetted against the sunlight. Despite suffering burns on her hands from the explosion, she didn’t drop her sword.

Her blade, charged with ‘Winter Tornado,’ slashed diagonally. The Fox’s arm, which had been covering her nose, was severed.

At the end of the swing, Jenny’s eyes were teary. And due to tremendous effort, the girl was unable to land on the ground.

“I’m leaving the rest to you….”

Jenny, losing her balance and rolling on the ground, managed to utter those words before collapsing.

The damage from the flame breath was severe, and pouring all her mana into that last strike had contributed to her downfall.

Not only was her arm severed and painful, but the severed end was also frozen. That area seemed to be weakening in its regeneration.

Even if it was painful, she had to strip away that ice. She couldn’t let more Divine Power be injected.

“Who does as they please.”

The steel Golem, thought to be ruined, moved again and embraced the Fox to prevent her from stripping off the ice.

But the moved tails pierced through the Golem’s metal skin. The Golem was in danger of being torn apart by the simultaneous attack from all nine tails.

Just when one of the tails was about to cover the frozen end.

“That smell again…!”

Another rice ball feast? Isn’t this getting old?

But this time, something was different. The bag filled with rice balls floated in the air, flying on its own.

“…?”

The key to the Fox’s only weakness was suddenly tossed away. Such an action caused the Fox some confusion.

-Am I going crazy?

-With that gone, it should be impossible to intoxicate me.

-Could this be a ploy to draw my attention?

-Even so, isn’t everything over when I absorb souls?

The Fox considered various hypotheses while opening her mouth. Either way, it was beneficial to eliminate troublesome elements in advance.

Of course, I knew.

Without that, I couldn’t interrupt the Fox’s pattern. That way, we’d all have our souls sucked out and die instantly.

Yet, I tossed it without hesitation. Every rice ball I had made with care was directed straight into her mouth.

“Hmm! How foolish….”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

As she laughed, I laughed too.

Eventually, the Fox realized belatedly why I had haphazardly tossed the key to exploiting her weakness.

“Huh?”

The flying objects weren’t just rice balls.

Hundreds of magical missiles and elemental shots were flying behind the rice balls.

Baimon had apparently anticipated this and escaped from the Golem he was controlling.

Just as she was about to take a hit, the Fox’s eyes shook. Just a moment ago, such large-scale attacks hadn’t been visible.

True, all of this had been a fake.

-Illusion Summon Lv2

Throwing the rice ball was real. It had to be to attract her attention with the smell.

Then Mary unleashed barrage magic, and I had timed the illusion perfectly.

Boom!

Before her eyes could even widen, the barrage struck the Fox directly. There was no time to evade or retaliate with her tails.

Explosions erupted continuously. It was like a scene out of a movie or special effects.

The shock broke the ice covering the severed arm. As long as the volcano provided power, the Fox would continuously regenerate.

She would likely recover from the damage taken from the bombing quickly. Was it intentional to unleash such indiscriminate fire despite knowing that? Even going so far as to throw away her weakness, the rice balls?

“This time, it’s really over.”

Since she’d recover anyway, the Fox graciously opened her mouth.

“Yeah, it’s going to end. You.”

“…?”

I said this while stepping sideways to clear a path.

What appeared behind me was… Luska, who was pulling back her bowstring, and Riplain lying on the ground.

What could she possibly do now with just a bow? And was that bald guy lying down doing nothing?

“What’s that…!”

Luska’s shining arrow caused the Fox’s eyes to tremble.

It clearly showcased that it contained more than just her own magical power.

The reason the bald priest had passed out was to pour all his strength into the arrow.

Realizing this too late, the Fox was taken aback.

Then, with a loud noise, a streak of light was drawn on the earth, taking the form of a wolf as it soared.

The wolf charged with Divine Power glowed with golden light. The flash-like arrow outpaced the speed of regeneration and struck the wounds caused by the explosions.

“Arrgggh!”

The Fox screamed incessantly. The pain of the arrow deeply embedded in her wounds was less painful than the battle between magic and Divine Power within her.

The Fox’s size began to shrink. It was as if a god was reclaiming strength from her, causing her to regress in every aspect.

With all her power drained, the Fox reverted to her human form.

But it wasn’t the ‘Angela’ that Jenny and Mary knew. It was the appearance of a young girl who had grown rapidly.

“You… you little pests…!”

The fox ears twitched, and the nine tails waved around. Then her eyes widened menacingly, revealing her killing intent.

It wouldn’t be wrong to call this the birthplace of the legendary guardian. The expedition team felt the tension rise once more.

Even though the last three phases remained, I felt reassured. We wouldn’t need to step in this time.

“Don’t you all interfere.”

While everyone was tensed up, I stepped forward in front of Luska. Raising my hand as if to say, ‘This is now solely my issue,’ I blocked their way.

The third phase could only be played by Luska. All the responsibility was for her to bear.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer!