In the spacious classroom of the Demon Academy, amidst the interwoven dim light, the grain of the oak floorboards and the carpet carried an inexplicable bleakness and gloom. Only the distinct footsteps of the proctors paced the exam hall, like roaming intent to kill.
In the back row of the exam hall.
Hyperion hung her head, her gaze trembling slightly, her mind completely blank.
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined ending up in a Shadow World where she was required to role-play as a demon.
To her, this was an extreme form of torture.
Unlike other challengers who were granted temporary disguises as demons by the Shadow World's background setting, her everyday illusion magic had been stripped away entirely, exposing her true demon race form.
This was an appearance she would not wish to be seen in broad daylight by anyone from the royal capital even if it cost her life. Hyperion did not even know how to face Lanqi in this state.
Yet the only clear thought in her head right now was this—
Her and Lanqi's Shadow World was being broadcast on rotation across the large screens back at the academy.
This was a public spectacle, and also an execution.
She could only try her best to calm her mind and attempt to make sense of the exam questions before her.
Though Hyperion was half-demon and possessed an exceptionally high affinity for Demon Magic Script—even naturally knowing a bit of demon magic—she had grown up as a duke's daughter in the human realm. She had no idea how to write this chaotic mess of demon spells.
If even she couldn't answer them, it meant these questions were definitely not intended to be solved by the challengers on their own.
If they wanted to pass the exam and leave this hall, the answer was obvious.
The challengers placed in the exam hall needed to identify which other examinees knew how to solve the problems, copy the answers from them, and avoid the two proctors' sightlines while doing so.
Moreover, Hyperion and Lanqi needed to coordinate; otherwise, two hours might not be nearly enough to gather passing scores.
The demon students were also wary of one another. For instance, the students in the front rows took extra care to keep others from seeing their test papers, and there was even the possibility of malicious individuals deliberately planting wrong answers to mislead and sabotage their peers.
"Phew..."
Hyperion worked to steady her ragged breathing.
The only thing offering her a shred of comfort was the calm aura she could sense from Lanqi, who was sitting not far away.
He surely understood the clear conditions of this exam hall by now.
Of course.
Hyperion wasn't certain whether her envisioned strategy matched Lanqi's, so she made no move.
Her agreement with Lanqi was simple—
Lanqi would watch the enemies, and she only needed to watch Lanqi.
...
Not far to Hyperion's right.
Lanqi was leaning back in his chair with his head raised, watching the two proctors with a thoughtful expression.
Both were dressed impeccably, outwardly courteous, yet exuding an undeniable aura of terror.
One was an owl-headed demon with a human body, sporting smooth, glossy black plumage and a pair of scarlet eyes that were chilling and cunning. He wore a sharp, classic suit adorned with intricate gold details, giving off the ancient, mysterious air of a cultist.
The other was a demon with dragon horns and scales. His posture radiated majesty and power, and his pupils seemed to burn with blazing fire. He likewise had a human-like body and wore an opulent vintage suit embroidered with complex patterns that looked like some emblem of authority.
Clearly, both were faculty members of no small standing in this academy.
Although the two proctors noticed Lanqi's gaze, they said nothing.
Lanqi's eyes were upright and clear, as though his conscience were as pure as a mirror. He didn't look like someone trying to cheat at all; rather, he seemed like an exhausted student resting his weary eyes.
More importantly, merely looking attentively at the proctors was by no definition whispering or muttering.
Granted, doing so certainly earned him a fair bit of the proctors' attention, which correspondingly made cheating far more difficult.
Yet this wasn't meaningless.
Over several minutes of observation, Lanqi had already noticed quite a few things.
For example, the patrol routes and speeds of both proctors were highly regular.
Furthermore.
There was definitely cheating going on in the classroom—
Many of the demon students in the front rows would seize the brief moments when both proctors' lines of sight formed a shared blind spot to initiate small maneuvers.
Some cheating methods were unpretentious yet precise and efficient, while others relied directly on technical magic. It was truly a display of everyone bringing out their own special prowess.
Just moments ago, some demon in the front had apparently cast a mental spell at close range to forcibly hijack Lanqi's vision for a split second, plunging his sight into darkness.
Afterward, Lanqi felt as though he had been branded as an academic deadbeat. There seemed to be an organized cheating ring; once they realized Lanqi couldn't answer the questions, the neighboring demon students gave him zero opportunity to peek, deliberately freezing him out and refusing to let him participate in their academic fraud.
*Good thing my mental and spell resistance is high enough. Getting hit with a vision-impairing spell like that is genuinely disgusting,*
Lanqi thought to himself.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt as though he had gradually grasped the entire picture.
Well then, it was time for him to showcase his skills as well.
...
From where Lanqi sat, a shared blind spot between both proctors occurred roughly once every minute.
There was a fleeting one-second window where one could attempt to cheat—the prime opportunity to act.
This precious moment was about to arrive once more.
Right then, the two demon students sitting in front of Lanqi couldn't resist shifting slightly. Clutching their test papers, their postures were wound extraordinarily tight.
Their plan was for each to solve the questions they knew, and then use this opening to swap papers.
Lanqi took in the entire scene.
Crude though it was, it was indeed effective, especially since both demon students had cleverly left their names off the papers.
To the side, Hyperion watched Lanqi quietly.
Tracing the predatory focus of his gaze, she also noticed the movements of the two demon students ahead.
Hyperion had to admit that Lanqi's bold choice to openly survey the room had raised the proctors' suspicion, but it had also yielded a tremendous amount of information with remarkable efficiency.
Take the approaching moment, for instance.
Those two examinees in front were very likely going to exchange papers.
Provided one's reaction was swift enough...
Lanqi could use the supplementary function of the utility magic card, the Shadow World Recording Program, to capture the information on both test papers the instant they swapped.
He could then review it within his own field of vision.
This was a convenience and informational advantage exclusive to challengers!
The blind spot emerged, and the two demon students in front sprang into action.
Hyperion watched eagerly, hoping Lanqi would successfully grab the answers.
If they could use those two students as a springboard to copy answers from even more examinees, perhaps they wouldn't have to sit through the full two hours and could turn in their papers early to leave the hall.
Right as Hyperion was thinking this.
Lanqi raised his right hand on the spot.
"Teacher, they're cheating!"
A voice ringing with righteous indignation echoed through the entire classroom.
Instantly, both proctors whipped their heads around, their gazes locking onto the two demon students caught mid-exchange with their papers!
The two demon students reported by Lanqi also turned around instinctively. Their eyes widened in sheer disbelief as they stared at Lanqi in the back row like they were looking at a dog!
"You two—I saw that."
The horned demon, who was closer to the cheaters, strode briskly toward the row in front of Lanqi, while the distant owl demon clicked his tongue, turned around, and continued walking forward.
A brutal slaughter began right then and there.
Shrill screams seemed compressed straight out of the air, suffocating the other demon students in sheer horror.
The very next second, the only sounds left in the classroom were the crunch of shattering bones and the wet splattering of blood and viscera.
In mere moments, the cheating demon examinees had been reduced to a pair of mangled corpses!
Chapter 47