The Return Of The Exiled Villain

Fwoop!

At that moment, a figure shot from the audience, getting just in front of Maelis when Seraph’s strike was about land.

BAM!

The figure took the blow with his forearms, not even backing away for a single centimeter, and simply taking it like it was almost nothing.

”Princess... there’s no need to kill someone. Did you forget about the importance we give to duels?”

Seraph’s eyes turned cold at the voice, taking a step back, and coldly replying,

”A death duel doesn’t need to be respected... especially for someone like her.” Her eyes flashed with disgust as she glanced at Maelis.

”Besides... how dare you intervene in a death duel, Ovrin?”

Ovrin laughed lightly.

”If such a beautiful woman was about to die, as a gentleman, how could I not intervene?” he spoke with a charming smile, before offering his hand towards Maelis.

”Get out of here, no one asked for your help,” Maelis pulled herself up from the ground, completely ignoring Ovrin’s presence.

Ovrin’s smile twitched, but it deepened shortly after.

’I like this woman...’

”Shall we continue, princess?” Maelis said mockingly, spinning her staff behind her back, before planting it on the ground.

Seraph’s eyes turned colder than before.

”It seems that you really want to die, huh?”

BOOM!

Her Sword Qi flared up as multiple swords condensed around her, all pointing at Maelis, while her own sword also glowed brightly.

But before any of them could act, Ovrin stepped in the middle of them.

”There’s no need to continue this fight! We can just say that the princess won... there’s no need for any of you to get more hurt, no?” he flashed a faint smile.

Both of them got annoyed at his words.

And ignoring him...

Fwoop!

Two woman shot towards each other.

Seraph moved first, sword qi screaming as the floating blades followed her like hunting hounds, slicing the air apart.

Her sword came down in a brutal diagonal arc, the pressure alone carving a scar through the arena floor.

BAM!

Maelis slammed her staff down.

The ground groaned.

Gravity inverted in a violent pulse, crushing downward and outward, forcing Seraph’s charge to stutter for half a breath.

Blood spilled from Maelis’s mouth as she forced the spell through her battered body, long black hair whipping wildly around her face.

Unfortunately, her spell casting was too slow.

Seraph broke through the pressure with raw force, sword qi tearing the gravity field apart. One blade pierced through Maelis’s shoulder.

Splat!

Another ripped across her thigh, spinning her sideways.

”Ghh!”

Maelis skidded across the stone, rolling hard before slamming into the arena wall. Blood smeared behind her in an ugly streak as she pushed herself up on shaking arms.

Her robes hung in tatters, soaked dark red, skin bruised and cut, breath ragged and uneven.

She was already deeply injured, and yet, her stubbornness made her want to keep fighting.

From the stands, Gray didn’t move a muscle, even when Ronan was still bickering in his ear, and Lyra was gently tugging his sleeves.

’...Is there anything strange about Maelis, Jasmine?’

[...No? The only thing slighly weird about her is that her Soul Energy is five times greater than the average Master Realm.]

’Soul Energy... mhm.’

Fwip!

Seraph rushed forward, planting more Sword Qi into her sword and bringing it down at Maelis’s head before she could react.

Clink!

”Princess... are you ignoring my warnings?” Ovrin intercepted her strike once again, making her click her tongue in annoyance.

”You’re the extra here... you’re interrupting our death duel, and just because you’re the headmistress’s adopted son, doesn’t mean that you can intervene all you want,” Seraph coldly stated.

As soon as those words reached Gray’s ears, his eyes flashed lightly as he recalled Dante’s memories.

’Ovrin... the Successor of the Sword That Swallows The Moon. A divine-level sword art, and also... one of the main villains of the novel.’

’...I want that Sword Art.’

Gray licked his lips.

’Jasmine... can I borrow your Yin-Yang Divine Eyes?’ he asked for a moment.

[Sure.]

Hearing her words, Gray’s eyes glowed lightly as a faint black and white energy seeped onto him as he locked onto Ovrin’s figure.

『𖤐 Yin-Yang Divine Eyes 𖤐』

In an instant, a blue panel materialized right in front of his eyes.

[———✵ Status Panel ✵———]

Name: Ovrin E’l Catheth

Titles: Successor Of A Divine Being

Race: Human

Class: Sword Master

Rank: Peak of the King Realm [Can break through]

Active Skills: Sword That Swallows The Moon [Advanced (1%)], Drifting Through Clouds [King (12%], Sword Mastery [Class], Superior Sword Qi [Class]

Passive Skills: Low Mana Recovery, Internal Sword Qi Regeneration [Class], Basic Recovery, Sword Meridians [Class]

Equipment: King-level Sword, Great Grandmaster Black Knight Armor Set.

——+——+——+——

’...Oh? His comprehension of the Sword That Swallows The Moon has actually reached the Advanced Stage?’

His eyes widened a little in surprise.

After all, raising a Divine-Grade technique to even the Elementary Realm is very difficult, and may even take literal decades!

Of course, there are Instant Mastery Books for that kind of thing... but some techniques can block the use of them, especially Divine-Grade ones.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen with the Nine Illusionary Dream Steps that Gray had, because if it had, it would be a waste of favor from Gloria.

’And he’s Aurora’s adopted son...’

His eyes landed on the arena with a cold glint. He was a little curious... would Aurora actually intervene if the two of them fought?

”I’m merely doing this to keep the things between the two academies peaceful... after all, we wouldn’t want one of the strongest students from Gloria Academy to die, would we?” Ovrin stated lightly.

Those words actually made Seraph a bit hesitant since she was the Student Council President and needed to consider her own position.

But when she thought about what Gray probably suffered...

”...Tsk,” she bit her lower lip in agony, torn between the two decisions.

That instability caused her aura to flare up slighly, causing Ovrin’s eyes to turn colder as he took a step forward.

”If the Princess doesn’t seem to care about our Academy’s Reputation, I shall put some sense into you!” he warned coldly.

Fwoop!

”Y-you!”

The left barely left Seraph’s mouth as she saw the incoming punch from Ovrin. She closed her eyes almost instantly.

And that’s when she heard a small voice coming from the audience...

”[✧Swap✧]”

”.....”

A few seconds passed... and nothing.

”Huh?”

Seraph opened her eyes just to notice that she was now among the audience, and as her eyes landed on the arena, she saw Gray taking Ovrin’s punch with a single hand.

”Oh? Did you switch positions with the Princess? That’s an interesting ability...” Ovrin took a step back, looking at Gray with a hint of interest.

But deep down, he was a little nervous. He could sense that Gray’s realm was merely the Early Master Realm, but he was able to take a punch from him.

’...Could he be hiding his power?’ he pondered inwardly, his hand shifting to his waistband, to sheathe his sword if needed.

”Gray!”

Seraph jumped from the audience immediately, approaching Gray with a hurried face.

”Are you alright?” She instantly began checking his body and didn’t notice anything unusual, so she sighed in relief.

From the stands, Lyra’s eyes burned with jealousy, but Gray had practically ordered her to stay in the audience, so she didn’t jump out.

”Gray...?” Ovrin muttered his name, his eyes widening in realization.

”Y-you... are Gray Vireux? That fucking monstrous genius?”

Gray raised an eyebrow at this.

’It seems that people from this city really respect old achievements...’

Hearing Gray’s identity caused Ovrin to become even more hesitant. He was a coward by nature... and since he was actually GRAY VIREUX, and had blocked his blow easily...

’...Don’t tell me he’s actually hiding his strength? If yes... is he going to kill me later for provoking him? I heard that he had recovered his talent and became stronger in the Gloria Academy, but what if he had recovered his talent long ago... or better, he didn’t lose his talent, and it was a simple scheme for him to hide away from the Royal Family?!’

He started overthinking so much that he didn’t notice the mocking look in Gray’s eyes.

’...He’s already overthinking? As expected of a major coward that only got the role as a major villain because he was manipulated by his adopted mother.’

’Thinking about Aurora... in the novel, there wasn’t anything about my relationship with her. But from Dante’s memories... he clearly made it so Aurora was supposed to be my second wife.’

’...The first being Jasmine, and only those two were supposedly my lovers.’

’In a way... he’s my son?’ Gray frowned slighly upon realizing this.

However, he quickly shook his head because just because Dante had written like that, it didn’t mean that it would unfold this way.

Besides, he isn’t sure if he actually wants to deal with someone as manipulative as Aurora. From their first meeting... she only wanted him as her possession.

Probably some kind of treasure, but well... that won’t happen.

After all...

The current Gray isn’t the same emotionless Gray from the novel.