The Return Of The Exiled Villain

[Now, what?]

Jasmine’s voice cut through his thoughts.

[You gonna wait for her to come to you or something?]

”...Mhmm... aagh...”

Gray yawned at her words, stretching his arms lazily.

[HEY! Answer me, brat!]

”...God, you’re annoying.” He rolled his eyes and tilted a small shard of glass, using it like a mirror to sneak a look at Selene.

She was glancing his way, more than once.

And that made Gray smile lightly.

”...Perfect.”

He flicked the shard closed between his fingers and slipped it into his pocket. A useless piece of glass to most people, but he always kept it.

[You still didn’t answer me.]

”Tsk, just shut up, will you? You’ll know it when it happens.” Gray replied, annoyingly, as he leaned back into his chair with a lazy demeanor.

But just as he leaned back...

Phew~

A faint gust slid under the door, curling around his legs.

The hinges creaked, and then, a woman stepped inside as if she owned the place, her long grey hair spilling down her back in soft waves.

Her eyes, also grey, caught the light with a dull, eerie glimmer. Even standing still, there was an elegance to her that made the room feel smaller.

Gray’s eyes narrowed slighly, as his gaze dropped to the numbers etched on her student ID.

It was Cassandra, the number one student, who had killed over three thousand people in the entrance exam.

[...That woman is a Vessel.]

Hearing Jasmine’s words, Gray frowned instantly.

’Aren’t Vessels supposed to be rare?’

[They are... but this woman is even more special than a normal Vessel. And that is because she seemed to have fully inherited the power, meaning that the God or Goddess passed away to transfer their power into her.]

[She’s way too dangerous.]

’...I’ll keep that in mind,’ Gray nodded.

And just right after her, another group followed... causing Gray’s eyes to twitch almost immediately.

It was Maelis’s group.

And that’s when he remembered that Maelis’s rank was 12th, just right next to him.

That meant he’d be stuck near her for every class.

’...Fuck...’ Gray cursed inwardly.

He was already thinking about bribing someone to swap rankings with him.

But well...

Glare...

Maelis seemed as unpleased as he was.

She shot him a cold glare on her way over, but then schooled her face into a calm, unreadable mask before taking the seat next to him.

And, of course, Leon took his shot too, throwing him a glare sharp enough to cut through glass.

Gray just grinned back and casually raised his middle finger.

”...This bastard...!” Leon clenched his fists from across the room, clearly fuming at the fact that he wasn’t the one sitting beside Maelis.

”Yo, relax,” Dexter said, patting Leon’s shoulder, though his own stare was just as hostile, like he was already imagining stabbing Gray with his eyes.

He’d been itching for a rematch with the so-called ”old genius” since he had escaped from them.

They slowly sat down at their places, 19th and 17th... as most of the kills went to Maelis, as the simps they are.

And soon enough, the entire classroom was filled.

Only one seat was empty, and that was the professor’s.

But then, without warning, a man appeared on the small podium as if he’d always been there.

”Hello everyone!” His voice resonated throughout the whole classroom, drawing everyone’s attention towards him.

”My name is Otto, and from today onwards, I’ll be the one teaching this class.”

He gave a short bow.

”First of all, I welcome all of you who had enough potential to reach the most prestigious class of the year... and from what you’ve seen, we decided to change a few things by merging two classes, hence the name being Class AB-1.”

His voice trailed off slighly, and suddenly, his expression turned cold.

”But make no mistake, inside this academy, you’re nothing but useless pieces of crap. And I’ll treat you with enough rigidity to either make you grow... or break you.”

Otto’s gaze swept the room slowly, making sure no one looked away.

A few students even shivered slighly at his cold gaze as if he was looking down on them, like they were mere ants trying to survive.

”Our curriculum will not be the same fluff you might’ve had before. There will be no safe walls, no gentle guidance, and absolutely no second chances.” He continued with the same frigid tone.

”You’ll train in combat, tactics, survival, and—” he tapped the side of his head ”—adaptability. After all, in this academy, you have the freedom to kill any student except in places like the dormitories or the cafeteria. Other than that, in places like the training grounds, or even the plaza... You can kill anyone you want.”

A few students shifted uncomfortably, but Otto didn’t pause.

”There will be theory classes too, runes, mana control, artifact handling, but understand this: theory only matters if you live long enough to use it. And I don’t care if you’re first in the rankings or dead last. If you fail, you will be replaced effective immediately.”

He let that hang in the air for a moment, his weary eyes scanning the room like he was already measuring who would survive the year.

”Welcome to Class AB-1. Now...” Otto’s voice dropped, ”...let’s begin our first class.”

He gave a lazy wave of his hand. The empty board behind him flashed, and one single word appeared in bold letters:

Survive.

[GRAY, WATCH OUT!]

Jasmine’s voice snapped in his head.

Gray didn’t even stop to think. He pushed off the ground hard, his boots scraping the floor as he leapt high.

ZOOOOM!

A blinding beam of light ripped straight through the center of the classroom, slicing desks and chairs in half.

The floor hissed where it burned, smoke curling upward.

Somehow, every student had dodged barely.

”...Good reactions,” Otto said, giving a small nod.

But before anyone could relax, he waved his hand again. This time, Gray felt the attack was coming.

Fwip!

Thin, black strings burst from his fingertips, whipping across the room like spider silk, clearing more than half of his mana reserves.

The next beam fired.

Gray yanked on the strings, pulling himself upward, flipping, and planting his boots against the ceiling.

He hung there upside down, the laser scorching past beneath him.

”...The fuck?”

Dexter blurted out in surprise, seeing Gray basically glued to the ceiling.

The other students were also surprised.

Professor Otto narrowed his eyes slighly at Gray, and for the first time, a thin smile appeared on his lips.

”Number eleven, huh? You’ve got an interesting weapon... extra points.”

”WHAT?!”

The students were surprised by the professor’s eyes, but just as quickly, their eyes narrowed as they had heard the word ’weapon’.

They looked at Gray, but couldn’t see anything around him...

But then, Cassandra’s voice reached their ears.

”Strings, huh? That indeed is an interesting weapon.”

Gray raised an eyebrow, his gaze turning to Cassandra, who was looking at him with a calm expression.

”...I must say the same for you. It’s quite unusual for people to use a double-edge scythe these days.” He smiled faintly.

Cassandra’s eyes widened significantly at his words, and then they narrowed immediately.

She couldn’t understand why he knew about her weapon, after all, her weapon was very special... it was a Soul Weapon.

And a Soul Weapon is invisible unless its wielder chooses to reveal it.

Maybe he saw it during the entrance exam?

No... it was very unlikely. After all, she killed everyone close to her, and didn’t seem to notice a presence watching her as she did so.

”...Showoff,” Maelis muttered from nearby.

At the same time, Leon didn’t miss the chance. His hand flicked, and the air in front of him cracked open.

A small portal shimmered, its other end aiming right at Gray’s chest.

ZOOOM!

Another beam shot from the ceiling, straight into the portal, blasting toward Gray’s position.

Gray let go of the ceiling, twisting mid-air.

The beam passed so close he could feel the heat kiss his cheek before it scorched the wall behind him.

”Tsk...” Leon clicked his tongue in frustration.

He was about to open another portal when suddenly...

Fwoop!

The laser beams cut off instantly, and everyone’s heads turned toward Otto.

”I’ve already gotten a basic look at how each of you thinks,” He announced, waving his hand, and suddenly...

The whole classroom was back to normal, and every student was back in their original seat as if nothing had happened.

[...Time magic, huh?]

Jasmine said in an intrigued tone.

[Your professor’s got the power of a low-god. That’s interesting.]

’...Really?’ Gray raised an eyebrow.

[Manipulating the laws of time... first your headmistress, now a professor. Maybe the scale of power has shifted. A low-god’s strength probably isn’t what it used to be.]

’Well... you’re the ancient being here.’

[Mhmph.]

”Now...” Otto’s voice pulled everyone back.

”You already have your first-year rankings. But I’ll be giving you my own evaluation based on three things.”

He tapped the board.

The air shimmered, and a list of all forty names appeared. Next to each were three headings:

Instincts.

Adaptability

Power.

”For now, I’ve only measured the first—your instincts.”

The list rearranged itself, the names of the students sliding up and down until the final order was locked in.

First place: Selene.

Second place: Cassandra.

Third Place: Maelis.

Murmurs rippled through the class.

Everyone had assumed Cassandra, the strongest fighter, would top the list. But raw strength wasn’t the same as sharp instincts.

Then came the real shock....

Fortieth place: Gray.

His score for instincts?

Unknown.

A small note sat beside it: Evaluation pending.

Gray stared at it for a moment, then glanced around to see other students doing the same.

Otto didn’t explain, didn’t even acknowledge it; he simply waved his hand, clearing the board.

”For now... class is dismissed. Enjoy your evening.”

Pop!

He vanished like a candle snuffed out.

The room went quiet for half a second before the tension eased.

”Man, let’s hit the cafeteria... I’m starving.”

”Yeah. That first attack nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Gray leaned back in his seat, the rest of the class already shuffling out around him.

[Well, that was... something.]

Jasmine muttered in his head.

”Mm.” Gray stretched his arms over his head.

”Could’ve been worse.”

[You’re not even curious why your ’instincts’ are listed as unknown?]

”I’ll figure it out when I feel like it.” He smirked faintly. ”Besides, keeping people guessing is free.”

[You just don’t want to admit you have no idea.]

”You’re not wrong.” Gray chuckled under his breath.

Although he said those words, he was probably thinking that it was maybe because of the first attack that he wouldn’t have noticed with Jasmine’s help.

After all, it wasn’t exactly his instincts that made him avoid the attack.

He pushed himself up, slung his hands into his pockets, and started walking toward the door.

FWIP!

The air right beside his head split open with a sharp crackle, a thin line of distorted space shooting toward him like a blade.

His eyes narrowed.

One tug.

Whip!

A silk-thin string, already anchored somewhere across the room, yanked him sideways. He slid out of the attack’s path without even breaking his stride.

”That was way too predictable,” Gray said casually, his gaze flicking to Leon.

Leon slowly lowered his hand, his expression unreadable except for the cold edge in his eyes.

”Unfortunately... I don’t have the time to play with you.” Gray gave him a bored look.

Without waiting for a reply, he stepped through the door and disappeared into the hallway.

Maelis’s gaze followed him.

She stood near Leon, arms crossed, her frown barely noticeable.

There was something about the way he moved... the way his back looked as he walked away.

Why does that feel so familiar?