I Am a Villain, So What?

[Faculty VIP Lounge]

"Hey, Samantha!"

The door to the lounge swung open with a heavy creak.

"Been a while, Number One."

Samantha stood by the window, watching the sun set over the ruined arena. She didn't turn around, but her reflection in the glass showed a sour expression.

Two figures entered the room. They weren't ordinary teachers. They radiated an aura of blood and steel that made the air heavy.

One was a towering man with a scar running down his cheek—Commander Darius, the Iron Wall of the Northern Front. The other was a woman with sharp eyes and a staff that hummed with mana—Lady Veria, Vice-Commander of the Imperial Magic Knights.

They were Platinum Knights. The elite of the elite.

"What are you two doing here?" Samantha asked coldly, turning to face them. "The Northern Front isn't exactly close."

"We heard the rumors," Darius grinned, showing shark-like teeth. "We came to scout. But what we saw today... that wasn't cadet-level fighting."

Veria stepped forward, her eyes gleaming with greed.

"What's with Kael and Lucien? They aren't your personal disciples, are they?"

"I don't know about the gunner," Darius interrupted, "but that boy Kael... his Aura. It was solid gold. He's a natural-born warrior. Is he yours?"

Samantha crossed her arms.

"…No."

Her denial made Darius slap his thigh with joy.

"Perfect! Then I have first dibs. The Northern Front needs fresh blood like him. I'll make him a Squad Captain in a year!"

"Dream on, muscle-brain," Veria scoffed. "Lucien Ashborne is clearly a tactical genius. Did you see that mana discharge? And that speed? The Magic Knights will sponsor him. We can provide him with the best artifacts in the Empire."

They were vultures.

The Imperial Academy's Mid-Term Assessment was always a hunting ground for recruiters. Knight Orders, Guilds, and noble families would watch to sponsor promising cadets. Usually, they fought over talented third-years.

But today, the first years had stolen the show. Kael and Lucien had displayed power that rivaled—no, surpassed—Gold Rank Knights.

"The Cadet Duel Assessment is over," Samantha said, her voice dropping an octave. "So why haven't you left?"

"Hahaha..." Darius rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see... we want to meet them. Make an offer while the iron is hot."

"Denied," Samantha said instantly.

"What? Come on, Samantha."

"Both cadets are currently in the infirmary suffering from extreme mana exhaustion and physical trauma," Samantha stated firmly. "As the Head of Discipline, I am barring all visitors for forty-eight hours. They are students, not commodities."

"Ugh, stingy," Veria pouted.

"Seriously. You always were a hardass," Darius grumbled.

They were members of the Platinum Numbering—a ranking of the fifty strongest knights in the Empire. They were peers. But they also knew the pecking order.

Samantha Hall was Number One.

If she said no, the answer was no.

"Fine," Darius sighed, standing up. "We'll stay at the guest lodge tonight. We'll try contacting them tomorrow when they wake up."

"I was supposed to return home today," Veria muttered, adjusting her glasses. "But for talents like that... I can spare a day."

Samantha watched them leave. Once the door clicked shut, her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Vultures," she whispered.

She checked the clock.

It was time.

****

[The Underground]

Samantha left the faculty building, but she didn't head to the dorms.

She slipped into the shadows of an alleyway. Her mana signature vanished completely. She melded with the darkness, passing through restricted barriers and hidden passages until she reached a location deep beneath the Academy's foundations.

A heavy stone door slid open.

"You kept us waiting."

The room was lit by dim magical torches. Standing in formation were five figures cloaked in black—the Shadow Knights, the Emperor's personal wet-work squad.

At their forefront stood a woman with hair like spun gold and eyes like ice.

Princess Rumina Aurelian. The Eldest Princess. The heir apparent.

Beside her stood her personal guards: Annette, the Red Sword, and Elara, the Blue Shield.

"You're late, Samantha," Rumina said, her voice smooth but commanding.

"My apologies, Your Highness," Samantha bowed deeply. "I had to shake off some curious eyes."

"The Platinum Knights?" Rumina smirked. "I heard the duel was... explosive."

"It was," Samantha admitted. "But that is not why I am here."

The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The playfulness vanished.

"Demon Worshippers," Samantha said, her face hardening. "The Order of Infernus. You extracted information from the prisoners we captured during the CrystalVale attack?"

"Yes," Annette stepped forward, her hand resting on the hilt of her red sword. "The interrogation was handled by me and the Torture Division. Luckily, even fanatics have a breaking point."

"I see."

"Samantha," Elara, the other guard, spoke up, opening a dossier. "According to them, the attack on CrystalVale... it was just a precursor."

Samantha frowned. "A precursor? To what? Another invasion?"

"To the real attack," Elara said grimly. "According to their confession, the CrystalVale incident was a stress test. They were testing the stability of the dimensional barriers."

She looked up, her eyes filled with dread.

"The real goal isn't just to open a rift. It is to summon a Demon Lord."

Samantha's mind went blank.

The room spun.

"A Demon Lord?!!" she shouted, her composure cracking. "Are they nuts? Do they even know what a Demon Lord is? It's a Calamity! It will wipe out half the continent!"

"Those lunatics..." Samantha cursed, her mana flaring uncontrollably. "I will hunt them down. I will turn every stone—"

"Calm down, Samantha," Rumina's voice cut through the rage like a blade.

Samantha froze. She took a deep breath, reining in her aura.

"Sorry, Your Highness. I showed you an unsightly side of me."

"It's okay. Fear is a rational response to a Calamity," Rumina said calmly. "But panic is not."

She walked over to a large map spread out on the stone table. Several locations were marked in red ink.

"Since we know the threat, we simply need to eliminate it in advance," Rumina said, tracing a line between the points. "We were able to extract the locations of three major hideouts before the prisoners' heads exploded from a curse-seal. We need to wipe them out before they can complete the summoning ritual."

She looked at Samantha.

"And for that, I need your sword. Not as an Instructor. But as the Empire's strongest."

Samantha looked at the map. She looked at the Princess.

She closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, the teacher was gone.

BOOM.

Flame-like red mana erupted from her body. Her academy suit disintegrated in the light, replaced by a set of crimson-scale armor and a flowing cape emblazoned with the crest of the Number One.

She reached into the void and pulled out a massive red greatsword.

"Platinum Knight Samantha Everhart," she declared, her voice echoing with power. "I obey your command."

Rumina smiled, a cold, ruthless smile.

"I knew you would help."

She pointed to the first location on the map.

"Tonight, we hunt. If we destroy these hideouts, the rats will go underground. We will buy the Empire time."

"Let's go," Samantha said, hefting her blade. "I have some frustration to work out."

***

While Samantha and the Shadow Knights were painting the underground sewers of the capital red with the blood of cultists, a very different kind of heat was building inside the private ward of the Academy Infirmary.

The room was dim, lit only by the soft, magical glow of a bedside crystal lamp. The curtains were drawn, shutting out the world.

I was sitting up in bed, feeling surprisingly human again thanks to the excessive amount of high-grade elixirs I had been force-fed.

Ariana was sitting on the edge of the mattress, her hand resting on my chest, feeling the steady beat of my heart.

"You're fussing too much," I murmured, capturing her hand in mine. "I'm fine. Really."

"I'm just making sure you're still breathing," she retorted softly, though her thumb caressed my knuckles. "You stopped breathing in the arena, Lucien. Do you have any idea what that felt like to watch?"

"After the amount of healing potions you made me consume? It would be a disaster if I wasn't breathing," I chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I have more mana-liquid in my veins than blood right now."

Ariana didn't laugh. She looked at me with those intense violet eyes, a mixture of relief and lingering fear.

"You can joke," she sighed, brushing a strand of hair from my forehead. "But once you get discharged tomorrow, the peace and quiet ends. You're going to get bothered quite a bit."

"Bothered? Why?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

Ariana rolled her eyes.

"Why, you ask? Don't you realize what you did out there?"

She gestured vaguely toward the window, toward the silent arena.

"Your duel was nowhere near the level of first-years. You summoned a silver moon. Kael summoned the sun. You destroyed the shielding barrier," she recounted, her voice rising slightly. "I saw the faces of the spectators, Lucien. The recruiters were looking at you like you were a piece of prime steak. I bet you and that Kael guy will be drowning in invitations from Knight Orders before breakfast."