Maybe I really am a Villian

The elf student then lost consciousness and was eventually eliminated.

Asher looked toward the center of the forest and muttered, "So, a total of eighteen students, if I don’t count those three. They still seem to be hiding."

He sighed and added, "It doesn’t matter. I’ll still defeat them, though this time it won’t be super easy."

Asher then moved toward the center of the forest and arrived at a somewhat open field. He waited there for a moment.

Soon, the other eighteen students appeared and surrounded him from every direction.

Each of them held a weapon in hand, poised to attack at any moment.

Asher looked at them with an indifferent expression. Most of them were elves and demi-humans from noble families, along with a few human nobles.

Looking at them, he said, "Do you guys have some kind of fetish for being someone else’s slaves?"

He paused before continuing, "You know, I really hate slaves."

One of the boys became angry at Asher’s comment and replied in an irritated tone, "We are not slaves. We are following her of our own free will."

The others nodded in agreement.

A girl among them also spoke proudly. "Yeah, we’re following him because we want to, not because we’re being forced to."

Asher made a confused expression and said, "So, you chose to be slaves? Oh, sorry then. If you want to be treated like slaves, that’s your choice. Your life."

He paused for a moment before adding, "But doesn’t that mean you have a fetish for being treated like slaves?"

The same boy grew even angrier and said furiously, "You really are good at rage-baiting, as expected. But I’m not stupid enough to fall for that."

Asher looked at him with a puzzled expression and replied calmly, "I’m just saying what I truly think, nothing more. It’s not my fault you’re immature enough to get angry over something someone said."

He paused for a moment and continued, "But you are stupid, and that’s a fact. The only reason I’m talking right now is to recover more of my mana for the upcoming fight—or, to put it simply, to make beating all of you easier."

The moment Asher finished speaking, the expressions of the surrounding students darkened.

"You arrogant bastard!"

One of the boys charged forward with a battle cry, his sword aimed directly at Asher’s chest.

At the same time, several others moved as well. Spells began to form around the mages standing in the rear, while the archers drew their bows, ready to release their arrows as soon as they found an opening.

Asher simply stood calmly at the center and looked at the approaching student.

As soon as the boy reached him, he swung his sword straight at Asher, but Asher effortlessly dodged by stepping to the side.

The boy’s sword sliced through nothing but air, and before it could hit the ground, Asher grabbed the blade and pulled it toward himself. Caught off guard by the sudden force, the boy stumbled forward with his sword, and Asher immediately drove his other fist straight into the boy’s face.

The punch landed directly on the boy’s face.

The boy’s eyes widened and his body was sent flying backward before crashing onto the ground.

Before anyone could react, several spells were already coming toward Asher.

Fireballs, wind blades, and earth spikes rushed at him from different directions.

Asher looked at them calmly and moved. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

His figure disappeared from where he was standing.

The spells and arrow just hit the ground.

Then Asher suddenly reappeared behind a girl who was an Earth mage. However, a boy was already standing beside her as a guard, tasked with protecting the long-range fighters from Asher in case he appeared next to any of them.

The boy immediately attacked, thrusting his spear toward Asher’s head. Asher glanced at him and effortlessly deflected the spear with his mana blades. Then, the mana blade changed shape into a giant hand.

Before the boy could even process what had happened, Asher grabbed him with the giant hand and hurled him straight at the Earth mage girl.

He collided with her, sending both of them flying before they crashed to the ground some distance away.

But somehow, the boy looked happy instead of angry. Meanwhile, the girl had fainted from the impact, as she had ended up beneath him when they landed.

Asher looked at the pair and then noticed the boy smiling and muttered in confusion "What a wierd guy".

But Asher did not think much about that and teleported again, as numerous spells and arrows were already heading toward his position.

Asher disappeared and reappeared in front of another guy, then slammed him into the ground with the giant mana hand.

However, as he was driving the guy into the ground, a fire spell struck him in the back, causing an explosion.

It was a male elf who had fired the fire spell at Asher’s back. The moment the spell connected, the elf’s expression turned to surprise before he muttered joyfully,

"It landed...? It landed! That bastard got hit!"

The smoke cleared from the site of the explosion, revealing Asher standing there with a calm expression and not a single scratch on his body. However, the mana layer protecting his back was covered in cracks, though it quickly mended itself.

The elf guy stared at him with a shocked expression and muttered,

"Just how strong is his defense?"

Asher then looked at him and said,

"I have a name, you know. Why does everyone keep calling me a bastard, an idiot, or crazy? Even though I am utterly sane."

For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.

The elf stared at Asher, his mouth slightly open as if he did not know how to respond to that.

Then someone from the back shouted,

"Because sane does not cut other people arms"

Asher simply looked at the guy and said,

"Really? They don’t?"

The guy nodded.

"Yeah."

Then a girl suddenly shouted,

"Idiots! Stop listening to him! He’s trying to recover his mana!"