The Villains I Taught Became Heroes

I headed to the training grounds with the kids.

There was nobody around; it was dawn, after all.

I loosened up my body in the empty training ground and looked at the three of them.

“Are you gonna jump in one by one? Or are you all gonna team up against me? Either way, bring it on!”

“Well then, we’ll team up without reservation!”

Huh? That’s not what I expected?

“Do you really think you can beat me if you don’t team up? You weaklings.”

“Y-Yes, Master. As you said, we are weak, so… teaming up seems better!”

No, let’s just go for a one-on-one match!

But it wouldn’t be great to show such weakness as a master…

“It’s fine to gang up on me, but… if you win, who’s going to take me in?”

“Hahahaha~! Don’t worry about that, Teacher! We’ll decide that later!”

Punching her fist and smiling brightly, Arisha was plotting something.

So, you plan to take me down first, huh?

“What a sneaky bunch.”

“You taught us well, Master!”

Slowly drawing my Moonlight Sword, Sowol aimed it at me.

Lena pointed her magical staff at me, and Arisha also thrust her fist toward me.

Looks like they’re serious.

“If I win, no complaints, and you will attend the opening ceremony. And…”

“…..”

“Forget about me.”

“That seems a bit hard.”

“I-I’ll attend the opening ceremony!”

“If we win, you better not think about going anywhere and go quietly into the cage!”

“W-Why does it have to be a cage?”

“If you want, I can make you a mansion. You can do whatever you want there.”

“O-Or I could build a tower for you.”

Are you trying to turn me into Rapunzel or something?

“Fine. Alright. Come at me.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than Sowol plunged her sword down.

At that moment, light burst forth from the darkness to attack me.

Zing! “You’re still far from it, Sowol!”

What I had taught Sowol was the Moonlight Sword, one of the three great sword techniques.

With just that, she could defeat countless heretics, being called the Sword Saint.

But it didn’t mean she had no way to handle my Moonlight Sword.

“Wait?!”

The blade she created started to be obliterated before it even reached me.

I burst out laughing seeing the astonished look in Sowol’s eyes.

“This is one of the three great sword techniques. The Taiyi!”

It’s the most powerful defensive sword technique available.

The blade of light created by the halo behind me naturally obliterated Sowol’s attack.

“…Haaap!!”

Suddenly, Lena’s magic unfolded.

Dozens of magic arrows, the size of pillars, flew toward me, and I swung my sword at them.

“Wha?!”

That mindless magic couldn’t be canceled out by the same type of magic.

Created with overwhelming mana and incredible sense, that magic was beyond me to counter.

But that didn’t mean I was out of options.

“Oblivion magic…”

An ancient technique from the Magic Empire, Oblivion Magic.

Seeing the Magic Empire’s hidden technique activate, Lena was in shock.

“There are many techniques from the Magic Empire. Don’t be so surprised.”

“Haaap!”

Just then, Arisha, who had approached me, threw a punch.

Had she worked hard to train over the last year?

Arisha’s Arang Technique was sharper and deadlier than before.

I barely dodged and quickly grabbed her fist, pulling her towards me.

“Eek?!”

And then I threw her away.

It was the Finite Technique that utilized the opponent’s strength against them.

Arisha, who had used her own strength against me, tumbled on the ground and got to her feet as I smiled and extended my hand at them.

“Is that all you got? You kids? Thinking you can imprison someone with this?”

Snort! I flicked my sword.

Their expressions changed as they stared at me.

So now they’re serious?

“Just as I expected, Master. I knew you wouldn’t be so easily defeated.”

She said lightly while gripping her Moonlight Sword tightly. And at that moment…

“…Divine Power?”

“I’m also a Sword Saint, so I can handle at least Divine Power.”

Sowol began to unleash the holy power contained in her sacred artifact.

As she infused her sword with it, her posture shifted, and she was suddenly propelled toward me.

SWISH!! “Ugh!”

Had she enhanced her body with Divine Power?

She was already strong, but she became even stronger.

“Why don’t you try using the Taiyi?!”

I’m already using it, you clever girl.

I defended with the Taiyi and landed a few counters, but Sowol blocked even my counters with her holy power and continued the attack.

Ugh. At this rate, I’m gonna lose.

I swung my sword wide to push her away and take a breather.

But Lena wouldn’t let me off that easy.

“What the heck?!”

An enormous force erupted from the magic circle Lena created.

This isn’t the power from this world!

Did she awaken Dimension Magic?

The downpour of rain from the dozens of magic circles created by Lena couldn’t be stopped by Oblivion Magic.

Just as I managed to dodge them and attempted to counter, Arisha, who had been standing there, quickly attacked the air.

WHOOSH!! “Kugh!!”

That felt like it hurt to the bone!

What am I even hit by?

I couldn’t hide my dazed feelings as I looked at Arisha, who grinned and once again attacked the air.

“Ugh!!”

The formless energy was trying to strike my body.

I managed to block some but got hit by a few.

As I staggered from the blows, Sowol smiled.

“How does it feel? While you were hiding your strength, so did we.”

You clever little brats.

Though I felt proud as a master, there was no time for mere joy right now.

“You little punks! How could you hit your master like this?”

I looked down, pretending to be hurt.

Then slowly lifted my head. A single tear rolled down from my heated eyes.

“Did I raise you all this way? Huh? Sowol, tell me. Did you hone your sword to strike down your master?”

“…Not really…”

“Lena. I did so much for you. Did you want to beat me this badly?”

“N-No! That’s not it!”

“Arisha. All this time, I’ve embraced your cuteness. I didn’t know you’d be the one to indiscriminately break me apart.”

“N-No! Teacher! It’s not like that…”

“I’m sad.”

I covered my face with both hands and sank to the ground.

The panicked kids came to me in a vulnerable state, and I took that chance to swing my sword.

“Eek!”

“Ugh!”

“Ouchie!!”

This attack hit them pretty hard too.

As the kids who tumbled on the ground let out moans, I swung my sword, and the darkness I created began to fill the training ground.

“Hahaha!! You little punks!! You’re still unprepared!”

“That’s sneaky!! So sneaky!”

“Adults are usually sneaky!”

The atmosphere shifted.

I started attacking first to prevent the kids from using their powers, with Sowol as my primary target.

As she staggered and blocked my sword energy, I extended my fist toward her side.

WHAM!! “Ugh…!!”

Sowol, who took my punch head-on, collapsed to the ground.

With her down, I approached Lena preparing her Dimension Magic.

“Eek!!”

I pulled her from behind for a backdrop.

Having used Shadow Dodge, she collapsed, unable to do anything, and I dashed toward Arisha.

“Haaap!!”

Meanwhile, Arisha finished her preparations and struck the air with her technique.

Countless formless strikes hit my body, but I endured it with a spirit of giving meat while taking bones.

“Whoaahhh!!”

Grabbing Arisha, I tossed her into the air.

Losing her posture, I caught Arisha floating in the air and slammed her into the ground, then pointed my sword at her neck.

“Isn’t it time to admit defeat?”

“Ugh! Teacher! That’s cowardly! That’s cowardly!!”

“There’s no such thing as cowardice in battle!”

Sowol and Lena, now unable to fight, glared at me.

But listen up, kids. The world of victory is always cruel.

“Stop babbling and attend the opening ceremony quietly, you little brats. Hahaha!!”

“Wow… Are you really that happy after winning?”

“Yep. I can’t hear the words of the defeated.”

“I-It’s really so cowardly.”

“Go on and shout about how you were treated unjustly by the enemy.”

“…Cowardly! Cowardly! There’s no one as cowardly and despicable as you in this world!”

“Oh ho ho. What is a loser saying?”

I ruffled the hair of the grumbling kids.

The reason they lost to me is that they like me that much.

“I will never forget you three.”

The three of them stared at me and then threw themselves into my arms.

Seeing their shuddering, it seemed like they were sobbing in my embrace, but all I could do was pat their backs.

“…Teacher, you’re not really going to disappear, are you?”

“…..”

“Answer me!!”

“Do you want the truth? Or a lie?”

“T-The truth…”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right by your side.”

As my words ended, the kids pulled away from me.

Sowol, with a wet face, wiped her tears and smiled brightly.

“You lie the moment you open your mouth.”

“That’s why it’s more charming, right?”

---