The Return Of The Exiled Villain

”Arghhh!”

Gray groaned.

He jolted upright, his hands flying to his head as a deep, pounding pain drilled into his skull, causing him to grit his teeth.

”What the fuck just happened...?” he muttered hoarsely.

”Did I pass out?”

He forced himself to stand, even though his legs shook beneath him like they might give out at any second.

[You were attacked by one of the humanoid creatures. Your consciousness shut down completely. The creature stared at you for a while... then left.]

”...Seriously?” he groaned.

”Is my mental resistance really that weak?”

He rubbed his temples, then lifted his gaze to inspect his surroundings.

His expression stiffened slighly, as surprisingly, none of the trees had his carved marks on them.

So, he pulled his dagger out again and carved several new marks into the nearest trees, deeper this time, before moving forward without hesitation.

”Hah... this place is fucking annoying to navigate through.”

The path ahead twisted unnaturally.

Thick vines crawled across the ground like living things, while crooked trees leaned inward, blocking his way as if on purpose.

More than once, Gray had to slash them apart just to keep walking.

It almost seemed like an infinite maze, but considering the size of the forest from upward... he should have gone out already.

”...Is this another illusion?”

The thought finally settled in his mind, causing his eyes to narrow sharply.

”Jasmine...? Can you sense if this is an illusion?”

[I wouldn’t say that it’s an illusion, but I do know that there are faint traces of spatial magic around here. It’s like... you’re passing through spatial portals that send you to another side of the forest... that’s my theory for now.]

”Mhm...”

Thinking about Jasmine’s words, Gray took a step back and started analyzing his surroundings once more.

The trees around him were tall and twisted, their trunks bending at unnatural angles, bark cracked and dark as if burned long ago.

Some leaned toward each other, branches intertwining overhead like grasping fingers, blocking most of the sunlight filtering through the mist.

Thick vines crawled between them, coiling and overlapping, hanging loose in some places while pulled tight in others, as if stretched by invisible hands.

At first glance, it all looked... normal.

Normal for this cursed forest, at least.

Gray slowly turned in place, observing the spacing between the trees.

His gaze sharpened.

”...Huh.”

A few of them were too close together.

Not randomly close, but positioned in a rough curve.

The vines between them didn’t just hang or wrap naturally; they arched, looping from trunk to trunk, forming a bent frame.

The ground beneath that spot was oddly clear, with fewer roots breaking through the soil, almost like it had been smoothed out by repeated passage.

Gray narrowed his eyes.

If he hadn’t been paying attention... he would’ve dismissed it instantly.

The trees were crooked everywhere in this forest, and the vines were always tangled. Nothing here followed proper logic.

Which was exactly why it worked.

”...Sneaky fuckers.”

He took a few careful steps closer, stopping just before the curved formation. From this angle, it had become much clearer.

A hidden threshold.

’It seems that this is the spatial gate Jasmine mentioned,’ he thought inwardly.

He glanced back over his shoulder, then forward again.

”If someone walks through this without noticing, they’d think they’re still going straight... when in reality, they’re being tossed somewhere else entirely. And that’s the reason why I didn’t see any of my curved marks.”

”...So fucking annoying.”

Without hesitation, he raised his dagger, coating it with mana before stabbing forward, aiming not at the trees but at the space between them.

Crack.

The air itself split.

It wasn’t dramatic like a tearing sky or roaring vortex; it was very subtle as a thin, warped line appeared, like glass fracturing in slow motion.

The vines shuddered violently, the curved formation trembling as if in pain.

Gray twisted the dagger.

Shatter.

The space collapsed inward with a dull whump, the trees snapping back into normal positions as the invisible distortion vanished.

The vines dropped limply to the ground, lifeless.

Now, he had the confidence to advance forward, but this time he was being much more careful to find those ’spatial gates’.

Each time he found them, Gray repeated the same motion.

Stab the middle part, and then twist his dagger.

Shatter...

The forest groaned quietly with every portal he destroyed, the mist trembling, pulling back as if reluctant to let him go.

And then... after cutting through the fifth portal, something changed.

”...Huh.”

The mist ahead thinned.

The air felt clearer in his lungs, no longer pressing down on his chest.

Even the sounds changed.

The oppressive silence faded, replaced by faint wind brushing through leaves.

Gray’s lips curled slightly.

”...I’m close to the exit.”

He continued forward, destroying two more distortions along the way. With each one, the forest lost a bit of its grip.

The twisted trees straightened little by little, the ground becoming more solid beneath his feet.

Then, he felt a slight heat coming from the light ahead... the sunlight.

”...Found you.”

He took another step... and then he froze instantly.

”GRAY, HELPPPPP!”

The voice came from behind him.

It was none other than Lyra’s panicked voice.

Gray’s smile vanished.

His eyes darkened in a heartbeat as he spun around, killing intent leaking out unconsciously.

”...Lyra.”

The mist behind him thickened again, rolling in fast, swallowing the path he had just cleared as if the forest itself was trying to erase it.

But he didn’t seem to notice this as he enveloped his body with mana and dashed through the vines, breaking them with the pressure coming from his mana.

[Gray! This can be a tra—!]

”—Shut it!”

Gray completely ignored Jasmine and continued towards the place where more screams were coming from.

At this scene, Jasmine frowned slighly.

There was a saying that love made people blind... and from the looks of it, it really seemed true in Gray’s case.

”GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!”

Lyra’s voice seemed to have become even louder as he was gradually getting closer, but then, once he reached the place... nothing.

”Lyra?”

He called out.

”LYRAA!!!”

He shouted, and yet, nothing replied to him.

[Gray... this is probably a trap...]

Jasmine tried to speak once again, hoping that this time, he would listen to her.

”No... I can feel her mana around here,” he still refused.

And slowly, started approaching the place where the faint flow of Lyra’s mana came from. It didn’t take long before he reached a strange part of the forest.

”...Lyra?”

He finally found her.

She was lying on the ground, half-buried under torn leaves and broken vines.

Her cloak was ripped in several places, one sleeve shredded entirely, blood staining the fabric near her shoulder and thigh.

Shallow cuts lined her arms, her breathing uneven, her face pale and damp with cold sweat.

She wasn’t moving.

”...Shit!”

But standing around her were three figures.

They were humanoid in shape, but wrong in every other way.

Their bodies were completely white, smooth like unfinished statues, with no clear facial features except for wide, carved smiles that stretched too far.

Their arms hung low, unnaturally long, and from their fingers extended nails that had grown until they were longer than swords, scraping softly against the ground.

Scrrk... scrrk...

They noticed him at the same time.

Crack!

Their heads snapped toward Gray, and their lips curled into a deeply unsettling grin.

Fwoop!

Mana exploded from Gray’s body as he instantly dashed forward, the ground cracking under his feet. One of the creatures lunged instantly, nails slashing down in a brutal arc.

Clang!

Gray twisted his body at the last second, the nails grazing past his shoulder and slicing clean through a tree behind him.

The trunk split in two and collapsed with a heavy thud.

”Tsk.”

Gray spun, his dagger flashing as he slashed across the creature’s chest.

Screeeee—!

The blade carved a deep line, but instead of blood, white mist poured out. The creature staggered back, shrieking, but didn’t fall.

The other two attacked at once.

One came from the left, nails stabbing forward like spears. The other leapt high, arms raised, shadows falling over Gray’s head.

”...Fucking hell!”

Gray crossed his arms and forced mana outward.

Boom!

The pressure blasted the one above him away mid-air, sending it crashing into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

But the one on the left slipped through, nails piercing his side.

Splurt!

”Guh!”

Gray gritted his teeth and grabbed the creature’s arm with one hand, ignoring the blood spilling down his ribs.

He pulled it close and smashed his forehead straight into its faceless head.

Crack!

The impact echoed.

The creature staggered, stunned by his headbutt, and Gray took this opportunity and plunged his dagger upward, straight into where its throat should have been.

Swish!

The creature convulsed violently before collapsing into mist.

”Haah... One,” Gray muttered, breathing heavily.

The other two didn’t hesitate.

They screeched together, the sound sharp and piercing, and their nails grew even longer, stretching past a meter, scraping and clicking as they moved.

The one that had been blasted earlier rushed him head-on.

Gray ducked, rolled under its swing, and slashed at its legs, but the nails stabbed into the ground, anchoring it in place.

The second creature used that opening.

Pain exploded across Gray’s back as nails ripped through flesh.

”Argh!”

He stumbled forward, blood dripping down his spine.

The creatures slowly closed in, and now they seemed more confident, but Gray almost wanted to laugh at their attempts.

He firstly just wanted to test his current physical strength since his realm had increased a lot, and he was a little dependent on his threads.

But now, he had already confirmed, and well... the [Combat Intuition] skill was already activated.

”...You picked the wrong prey.”

His eyes sharpened.

”[✧Swap✧].”

In an instant, Gray vanished.

The creatures froze.

Gray reappeared behind the second one, right where its back had been exposed.

Swing!

His dagger carved a deep X across its torso. The creature screamed, thrashing wildly, nails tearing through the air without control.

Then, he stepped in close, grabbed its head, and slammed it into the ground again and again until the white body cracked and shattered into mist.

The last creature roared.

It charged blindly, nails stabbing in every direction.

Gray met it head-on.

He took one hit to the arm, another to the thigh, pain stacking, vision shaking, but he stayed standing.

He slipped inside its reach, pressed his palm against its chest, and released all the mana he had been holding back.

BOOOM!

The creature’s body burst apart from the inside, dissolving into nothing.

Clink!

”Haah... ugh...” Gray groaned slighly as he patched up his wounds with his own strings.

”...Lyra.”

He rushed to her side and dropped to his knees.

She was still breathing.

”Haah...” Relief hit him so hard his hands shook.

He gently lifted her head, pulling her into his arms, careful not to hurt her more.

”I’m here,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

”I’ve got you.”

Gray stood up, pulling her to a bridal carry, and started walking towards the exit of the forest, carefully holding Lyra in his arms.