Academy’s Villain Professor

Chapter 43: Villain Attack (2)

“Family? Hah. That’s rich.”

At my question, Glasses sneered, twisting the corner of his mouth.

The oppressive aura I exuded was intense, but these were seasoned villains who’d lived rough lives.

They had no reason to cower before intangible pressure.

He clenched his fist.

“We’re people with nothing to lose. Family? Let me ask you instead. Do you have a family?

Or anyone you care about? Because I’ll make the rest of their lives hell.”

I scratched my cheek, my tone flat.

Is that supposed to be a threat?

Honestly, it’s so pathetic I can’t even laugh.

With a faint sigh, I replied.

“You’ve got a bad habit of answering questions with questions. Whatever, fine. I’ll crush your limbs like I did that big guy, and then maybe you’ll listen.”

Glasses scoffed again, looking at me.

“All talk.”

Despite their leader being down, his confidence had a reason.

The leader was just that—a leader, the core of the operation, but not the main firepower.

More importantly.

“You’re weak.”

Glasses said with certainty, not arrogance.

His confidence stemmed from his trait.

[Trait Visualization]

His ability allowed him to see the scale and power of an opponent’s trait, manifesting as a translucent sphere around them.

He called it the “sphere of strength.”

The criterion was simple: stronger or weaker than him.

His baseline was roughly mid-tier A-rank.

For those stronger, a faint sphere enveloped their body, growing larger with their strength.

On this beach, only his fellow operatives and Se-ah had such spheres.

The students, being weaker, had none.

And neither did I.

Amusingly, no sphere surrounded me either.

He didn’t suspect I was hiding my power—his greatest strength was that disguises never worked.

Like judging a sea or lake by its visible water, no matter how someone concealed their ability, he could clearly see its total capacity.

Though a support-oriented trait, it let him accurately assess the gap between himself and his opponent, calculating his chances of victory.

Fighting only winnable battles made him practically invincible.

“Now, Sweeper. If you please.”

At Glasses’ words, the middle-aged man who’d been standing silently with closed eyes opened them.

“Subdue, repel, or eliminate. What’s it gonna be?”

“Well… given the situation, repelling’s pointless.”

Glasses glanced back.

Seeing Da-yeon, bound with her mouth and arms restrained, he shrugged.

“We made a promise, so let’s go with the subdue. But we’ll take an arm and a leg for his arrogance.”

“You won’t forget the deal, right?”

“Of course not.”

Sweeper pulled his hands from his pockets.

He crouched low, his fingernails lengthening into blade-like tips that gleamed coldly.

“Time to clean up.”

With that, he charged at me.

I maintained my defenseless stance until his claws were inches away.

And just as they were about to tear into my skin.

Thud—

I reached out first, grabbing Sweeper’s face.

His eyes widened in shock.

Through my fingers, my expression looked utterly indifferent, almost bored—like I was swatting an annoying fly, not facing an enemy.

I tightened my grip on his face.

Boom—!

I slammed his head into the ground.

A deafening explosion shook the earth, forming a massive crater around him.

Sweeper, his head buried deep in the ground, twitched sporadically but didn’t get up.

The sequence was so swift that the remaining two villains only snapped out of it after a long pause.

“What the hell!”

Despite being contract-based rather than hierarchical, Sweeper’s combat prowess was among the organization’s best.

More weapon than villain, that was Sweeper.

And I took him down in one blow?

I released his face and stood.

“He’s got the skills to act cocky. He even tried to react and counter just now.”

Faster and stronger than the big guy, but not as durable.

That was his only flaw.

I turned to Se-ah, shaking my head.

I’d taken him down in one hit, but only because my counter was perfect.

He wasn’t someone to dismiss lightly.

“Would’ve been tough to handle while protecting the students.”

Se-ah had no words to argue; the situation had been bad for her.

I lightly shook my hands.

“W-what… how…”

At Glasses’ dazed muttering, I tilted my head slightly.

I pointed to the watch on my left wrist.

“This isn’t just a watch. It’s got a trait suppressant and output sensor. Gives me a lot of grief. But I can’t teach without it, so I wear it obediently.”

I gently rubbed the cracked glass of the watch.

“But government stuff is always shoddy in critical areas, right? Or maybe it’s just the limits of modern tech?”

The flaw I’d found wasn’t in the suppressant but the output sensor.

I’d realized it over a month ago, during extra lessons with Da-yeon, when I’d used excessive force under a villain’s gaze.

Even though I’d pushed my output beyond the limit, the warning signal only sounded afterward.

The sensor had blind spots where it failed to detect traits periodically.

But those blind spots were so brief I couldn’t be sure without testing multiple times to confirm.

Just 0.03 seconds.

A fleeting moment even the strongest awakened would struggle to notice—I’d figured it out.

“This watch measures and records my output. Its cycle is 30 seconds of detection, 0.03 seconds of rest.”

A 0.03-second gap every 30 seconds—essentially constant monitoring.

For a typical awakened person, that was true.

But I wasn’t typical.

I gave a light smile.

“If I push my trait beyond the limit and drop it back within 0.03 seconds?”

I spread my hands wide.

“Perfect crime. Never pulled one off in my villain days, but here I am now.”

Of course, I respected my contract with the association and tried to honor its restrictions and promises.

But when it came to the students’ lives versus my pride, there was no question which mattered more.

“The big guy was tough enough to withstand a 0.03-second burst, but you two? You’re two steps below in durability, even if you’re comparably strong.”

I stepped toward the stunned pair.

“Know why I’m explaining this?”

Explaining my weaknesses and limits was something I found pathetic.

But this time, it had a clear purpose.

If they rushed me recklessly, it’d be troublesome.

I needed to see how closely they listened.

I tapped the watch again.

“Thirty seconds. Time’s up.”

In an instant, my figure vanished.

“To answer your earlier question: I don’t have family or anyone dear to me either.”

A chill ran down Glasses’ spine.

My voice came from right behind him.

“But I have people to protect. And you messed with them.”

Crunch—!

He couldn’t turn around.

My fist struck his back first.

Falling forward, he swallowed a pained groan. He couldn’t feel anything below his waist.

As he collapsed, his eyes widened in shock.

“…Haha. Damn it…”

He laughed, dumbfounded.

Only now did he see my sphere.

I wasn't absent because I was weak.

It was the opposite.

A sphere larger than the island, stretching beyond it to the sea.

No wonder he couldn’t see it.

This wasn’t human.

In his fading consciousness, I approached and stood by his head.

The backlight hid my expression.

Looking at me, he muttered,

“A monster?”

“No. A teacher.”

I raised my foot and stomped on his face.

Boom—!

Two down.

Muttering briefly, I turned.

The last villain, the woman, wiped blood splatter from her cheek and took a step back.

Looking at her, I said curtly,

“You’re the only one left.”

She gave an awkward smile, waving the pipe in her hand.

“…My mission comes before my pride.”

With that, pink smoke erupted from the ground, enveloping the area.

Caught off guard, I looked around.

She could plant and detonate smoke later?

The smoke itself wasn’t a threat to me.

But that wasn’t the issue. I wasn’t her target.

The unconscious students were exposed to it defenselessly.

Who knew how it’d affect them?

Even an attack strong enough to clear the smoke would harm the students, so I’d have to move them out one by one.

For stalling, it was a perfect move.

As I prepared to evacuate the students.

The smoke split with a crack.

A desperate, strained voice came from behind.

“Idiot…! Hurry up!”

Se-ah, somehow conscious again, stood, gritting her teeth.

Her legs trembling, she raised both hands, clenching her fists.

Blood gushed from her wounds with each effort, but she didn’t care, focusing her power.

Spreading her hands, the smoke was pushed further, away from the students.

The villain and Da-yeon were already gone.

No more words were needed.

I immediately chased their trail.

* * *

On the mountainside, atop a steep cliff, the woman shouted irritably.

“Damn it! Why isn’t it working!”

Though everyone else was down, she’d succeeded in kidnapping the primary target.

If she could escape, the mission would be complete.

But despite reaching the transport point, the portal for retreat wasn’t there.

As she stomped in frustration, a low voice came from behind.

“No big deal.”

She whipped around.

I was approaching slowly from a distance.

“I changed the settings. An erosion-type gate isn’t a place you can just pop in and out of with a transport trait.”

I hadn’t gone straight to the beach after subduing Crusher.

Instead, I’d visited the gate’s core, the wolf, and completely altered the gate’s settings.

Given their sudden appearance without a plane or ship, they likely used a transport-related trait.

They’d probably try to escape the same way.

For me, unable to block traits directly, that was the worst-case scenario.

So, I used the closed gate’s properties to block trait-based transport.

And that decision was a masterstroke.

This place was now a completely isolated space, impervious to trait-based escape.

As we closed the distance, I stopped.

Dark red smoke leaked from her mouth, far more menacing than the pink smoke before.

It flew not toward me but behind her.

The smoke stopped in front of Da-yeon, compressing into a small bead.

Pointing her pipe at the bead, the woman said,

“This is really dangerous stuff. Even a strong awakened person would die on contact with their skin. With those suppressor cuffs on her, you know what happens next, right?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Choose between kidnapping or death?”

“Quick on the uptake. So, what’s it gonna be? Want to save your student? Step back slowly. If you’re willing to sacrifice her to catch me, I can’t stop you.”

The absurd physical prowess I’d shown left no chance of victory.

But her voice was brimming with confidence.

“This smoke is my creation. If you subdue, knock out, or kill me, what happens?”

After a moment of calculation, I scratched the back of my head.

“Subduing, knocking out, or killing you is impossible. Checkmate.”

The distance between us, the smoke, and my traits—given the situation and my abilities, I couldn’t save Da-yeon.

“Exactly. The smarter the person, the better they know their limits. So, raise your hands and step back.”

But that was only based on the current situation.

Didn’t I have one more ally here?

I looked at Da-yeon.

“Do you trust me?”

Gagged, she nodded in place of words.

Even in a life-or-death moment, her eyes showed no trace of fear.

She knew I’d save her. That belief alone kept her calm.

I said briefly,

“Then jump.”

Da-yeon closed her eyes lightly.

No resolute will or trust was needed. With simple faith, she leaned back and fell off the cliff.