I Enrolled as the Villain
Chapter 47: Smilling Through Fire

Chapter 47: Smilling Through Fire

The two of them skidded to a stop in front of the sealed stronghold doors.

Silas didn’t break stride.

His Terragan flared earthen energy twisting around his palm, shaping into a long, jagged spear that hovered mid-air, spinning slowly.

He raised his hand.

His eyes narrowed.

"This’ll do."

The floating spear launched forward whistling through the air like a missile.

It slammed into the gate with a thunderous crack

BOOM!!

Stone burst apart.

A violent tremor tore through the floor as the entrance exploded outward in a burst of rubble and dust.

Sunlight spilled in.

And just like that—

They saw the outside world again.

They’d made it out.

Almost.

High above the stronghold walls, a turret snapped into motion.

Whrrr—

It locked onto them with a mechanical whine, its barrel glowing faint red, a silent warning.

Silas froze, his arm instinctively raised. He knew it was hopeless.

"We surrender," he said quietly, head lowered to the red-stained floor, eyes closing in quiet defeat.

"You’re just going to give up like that? We... we can’t just—"

"It’s too dangerous. That turret... it’ll fire no matter how fast we run," Silas said, voice tight, barely holding steady.

Cendric looked at him, silent for a moment. Then slowly, he raised both hands... but not in surrender.

A beat passed

"If we’re going to get disqualified," Cendric muttered, his voice low, "I’d rather take them with us."

Silas blinked, turning toward him. "What?".

"You’ll see," Cendric replied, almost smiling.

His Korigan began to spiral the mark in his eye glowing with force.

Far off in the stronghold, one of the paper charms began to shimmer faintly. Then another. Thin veins of light crawled along the edges.

A heartbeat passed.

Then—a thud.

The Red Line students slammed into them.

Silas hit the ground hard. Cendric fell next to him, eyes wide then squeezed shut as a knee struck his side.

"Arg!"

The Korigan faded.

The paper charms... stopped flickering.

"Disqualify both of them. Immediately."

The red turret shifted a spear of light launched, shrieking toward the two boys. The academy staff moved, already preparing for impact, but—

Suddenly—

Both Silas and Cendric were swallowed in a burst of white light.

"What?!—" Marlen and Silas shouted at the same time, voices lost as the two vanished from sight.

And then—

They dropped.

Down through black ash.

Cendric hit the ground first, landing with a rough thud and scratching his head. Silas followed a moment later, groaning as he rubbed his bald scalp.

"Haah... I can’t believe it..." Silas muttered.

Marlen stepped toward them, arms crossed. The silver bracelet on her wrist pulsed faintly then it vanished in a blink.

"Did they torture you?" Jessa asked, already at Silas’s side, her eyes scanning his bruises like a hawk.

"They did," Cendric said, face serious, hand clenched like he was reliving it. "There was screaming. Mine. Definitely mine. They broke me."

"No, they didn’t!" Silas snapped beside him, frowning. "You got caught, panicked, and snitched on me before they even touched you."

Silas then looked upward to the sky as if praying.

"God. Please. One who walked away. Don’t let my father see this humiliation."

Cendric raised an eyebrow. "You know our classmates and family probably saw the entire thing already, right?"

"...I’m aware," Silas muttered.

Jessa, still holding Silas upright, added helpfully, "Actually, someone in Class 1 already posted a slowed-down replay of you stepping out of the bush. They even added sad violin music."

Silas closed his eyes.

"Shut up, both of you." Marlen cut in, arms folded, eyes sharp as she looked them over. Then she turned her gaze toward the distant crimson shape of the Red Stronghold, still visible in the valley below.

"I’ll ask one more time," she said. "How did you get caught?"

"I— uh, no, actually—" Cendric started.

"Cendric got caught," Silas said flatly. "Then he snitched."

Jessa blinked.

Marlen sighed through her nose and turned her face away, but not fast enough to hide the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Let’s carry them. We’re done here," Marlen said, already turning her back on the crimson stronghold. Her gaze swept toward the valley below once green, now reduced to a barren stretch of blackened ash, scorched clean by the fire cycle.

"Lucky timing," she muttered. "The fire cycle ended just as you idiots made it out."

"Here," Jessa said, handing each of them a towel. "We didn’t expect you to come running out half-naked, so... sorry." Her voice was light, but her eyes flicked over their burns with quiet concern.

She slipped her arm under Silas’s and gently hoisted him onto her shoulder. He didn’t resist.

Another student moved to support Cendric, helping him walk.

Together, the group began to move slowly, and steadily away from the stronghold.

But after only a few steps—

"Wait," Cendric muttered, pulling free from the support.

The group stopped.

Cendric turned, breath still heavy, and looked back toward the smoldering red horizon behind them.

He stepped away from the group, heading back toward the valley’s edge.

"Wait—what are you doing?!" Marlen snapped, moving after him. "You’ll get caught again!"

"Trust me," Cendric said without looking back, raising one arm to stop her. His voice was steady and calm. Too calm.

He kept walking until the full outline of the crimson stronghold came into view, its towers like fangs, the air around it still shimmering with leftover heat.

His Korigan eye flared open.

Stage Two.

The mark spiraled violently in his gaze, threads of light curling outward like cracks in space.

Silence.

A long, still silence.

The others stood frozen, watching him. Not sure whether to yell. Or run.

Then—

Cendric turned around.

Faced them.

And bowed.

Slow. Deep. As if paying final respects.

Behind him, a single spark bloomed across the distant stronghold.

Then—

BOOM!!!

The entire Red Stronghold erupted in a violent, searing blast.

Stone crumbled. Towers split. Fire thundered outward in a sweeping tide, devouring everything in its path.

A shockwave tore across the valley shaking the earth beneath their feet as if the world itself recoiled.

Dust and red ash filled the sky.

For a breathless moment, no one moved.

Then—

Flicker. Flicker. Flicker.

Pillars of white and blue light descended from the clouds. Academy staff appeared in seamless flashes, their eyes sharp, robes fluttering with power.

No words were spoken. Only motion.

One by one, the students were enveloped in veils of structured light, relocated, shielded, and extracted in silent synchronization, like pieces cleared from a battlefield.

The Red Stronghold crackled behind them, all of it still burning.

Then—

Ping.

A notification echoed through every active student syncwatch.

A system message, glowing in stark white letters across their vision:

[ Match Disqualification Report]

25 Red Line Students have been Disqualified

Responsible Parties:

1. Cendric Valeris

2. Silas Valeris (Contributor)

[Red Line Faction – Eliminated]

All members of the Red Line Faction have been disqualified.

Reason:

No eligible students remain under the faction.

Note:

This was not due to surrender or removal by Azaira.

The faction was eliminated because all its members were defeated.

Status: Faction Disqualified

A quiet gasp rippled through the teams.

"...How...?" Marlen muttered, her voice barely audible over the hiss of settling ash.

Cendric didn’t respond. He just stared at the ruins, the fading flames flickering in his Korigan eye

And Silas just rubbed his scorched head and grinned.

Silas let out a breath not relief. But something closer to disbelief.

"...What the hell did they teach you at home?"