The Return Of The Exiled Villain

”Hagh...”

Katia staggered backward, her balance breaking for a brief second as her hand shot up to her face, fingers pressing instinctively against her nose while blood slipped through the gaps and ran down over her lips.

She blinked once, steadying herself, her voice coming out flat but edged with disbelief.

”...You drove your knee straight into my face.”

”You came in low without guarding your center,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

”What did you expect to happen?”

She glanced down at the blood coating her hand, turning it slightly as if confirming it was real, then lifted her gaze back to him without any sign of irritation beyond the obvious.

”...Alright. That one’s on me.”

Fwoosh!

And then she moved again.

The pause vanished completely as she closed the distance, both daggers rising this time, her approach sharper and more deliberate, the blades angling toward his shoulders from opposite sides while her footwork shifted to block the lateral escape she had already seen him use once.

Clang!

The metallic clash rang out the moment they met.

Gray did not retreat.

Instead, he stepped forward into the space between her strikes, letting both blades pass just outside his frame as he drove his elbow straight into her sternum with controlled force.

The impact landed solidly.

”Kugh!”

Her body folded around it, the air forced out of her lungs in a sharp, involuntary exhale as her stance collapsed inward.

”Not yet.”

Before she could fall fully, he caught her arm, turning her momentum sideways and guiding it rather than resisting it, sending her body across the arena floor where she hit hard and slid several meters before managing to stop herself.

”...A-agh... dammit.”

She pushed herself up immediately.

There was no hesitation, no lingering from the impact.

She was already moving again, her breathing uneven for a moment, blood still marking her face, yet her stance had reset, her attention locked back onto him.

Gray watched her without shifting his position.

She watched him the same way.

Fwoooo~

But suddenly, something pressed down on him from the side.

It was not a strike, not something that traveled through the air in a way his instincts could track, but a sudden compression of force that settled onto his left shoulder with enough weight to force his knee down before his mind fully registered what had happened.

He turned his head.

Mira Dusk stood at a distance, her arm extended, her posture steady as two affinities layered over each other in a way that masked their presence.

Shadow beneath.

Gravity above.

The structure was clean, precise, and difficult to detect until it was already in effect.

”Oh? She also has a Gravity Affinity?” He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Just having a Shadow Affinity was extremely rare, much less Gravity, just like Maelis. But he clearly felt something...

”Oh... It’s not an affinity, but an artifact? That makes me a little disappointed,” he clicked his tongue.

Gray pushed back against it, his mana pressing outward until the tension broke, the invisible pressure fracturing enough for him to stand again.

By the time he rose, she was no longer where she had been.

He turned sharply.

She was already behind him.

Fwip!

Her blade slipped free in a smooth, efficient motion, cutting across his forearm in a shallow, controlled line that stopped just short of causing real damage, placed exactly where a deeper cut would have interfered with his grip.

She understood where to strike.

He took note of that without reacting outwardly.

When she moved to withdraw, he caught her wrist before she could reset the distance.

”Got you.”

His grip held firm.

She tried to pull back, testing it.

He did not move.

For a brief moment, she looked down at where his hand held her, then lifted her eyes to meet his, her expression shifting slightly as she recalculated the situation.

”Let go,” she said, her voice even, though her stance remained ready.

”Take a step back first.”

She held his gaze for a second longer, then stepped back as instructed.

The moment she created the space, he released her.

She did not waste it.

Fwish!

In a single movement, she widened the distance between them again, her shadow affinity already spreading beneath the surface, repositioning in preparation for another layered attack.

Gray let his attention move.

He looked at her.

Then, at Katia, who had used the brief exchange to circle back in, approaching again from his right side, her daggers raised, her breathing steadier now despite the earlier hit.

And then he turned toward the third presence that had been closing in behind him for longer than either of them had been engaging.

Cael Vorne stopped a short distance away.

He was exactly as large as expected, his build heavy without appearing slow, his posture relaxed in a way that suggested he had not yet committed to treating the situation as serious.

His gaze settled on Gray.

”...Your movements are quite interesting.”

”Interesting?” Gray tilted his head.

Cael glanced briefly in Katia’s direction, as if confirming for himself, then returned his attention.

Then, his eyes moved over Gray again.

”...I’ve looked at you fighting for these past two minutes, and yet, you always go for the place that hurts the most.”

”Do?”

”You do.”

”....”

Cael considered that in silence, then gave a small nod, as though arriving at a conclusion he found acceptable.

”...I think I like you,” he stated plainly.

Gray’s eyes widened in complete disgust.

”Gross.”

Fwoop!

Just as he said those words, Cael stepped forward.

The first strike came without warning.

But instead of using his sword, he actually threw a punch, moving forward with a speed that did not match his size, carrying a level of raw force that felt out of place in its simplicity.

Gray raised his arms to meet it, crossing them in front of his body.

Thump!

The impact drove him backward.

He absorbed it, his feet sliding across the ground as he was forced three steps back before regaining full balance.

He lowered his arms slightly and glanced at them, then back at Cael.

The assessment surfaced in his mind with quiet clarity.

At this level, Cael’s baseline physical output exceeded what most could produce even with full amplification.

’...No technique whatsoever.’

The next strikes followed immediately.

There was no rhythm to them, no pattern to anticipate, only one heavy blow after another, each carrying the same overwhelming force, as if technique itself had been discarded because it was unnecessary.

Gray shifted to the side after the second, letting the third pass just outside his guard, then stepped in and drove the pommel of his rapier into the joint of Cael’s extended arm.

The impact landed cleanly.

CRAAACK!

”ARGHHH!”

The joint gave with a sharp crack, the force folding his arm at an unnatural angle.

Cael looked down at it and groaned slighly.

”...As expected,” Cael suddenly grinned widely.

There was no visible discomfort in his expression.

Only a faint sense of amusement that made Gray think that he was crazy. But what he didn’t expect was, in that brief opening, Katia actually closed in from behind.

Clang!

Just kidding, he was already expecting that. He swiftly twisted his feet and stabbed his sword downwards from his shoulder, intercepting her daggers.

Clink...

He slid the two daggers down, turning around before throwing a kick that Katia actually managed to avoid.

”...Aren’t you going to use your curse magic?” Gray cracked his neck slighly, eyeing over Katia, who had her guard high.

At his words, Katia hesitated slighly before shaking her head.

”I’ll need quite a lot of time to even conjure a basic curse, and I doubt anyone can hold you long enough for that,” her eyes narrowed slighly.

Swissh!

As if waiting for Katia’s words, suddenly, three more people surrounded Gray in a half-baked circle.

Asha Veil, whom Ellen said used a sword and had wind affinity, meaning that her speed was extremely high.

Dain Harrow, the guy who supposedly also acquired sword qi recently.

And Sera Vane, a lightning affinity user with dual swords... all of those three were the top students of their respective class.

”Do you think the three of us can hold him for enough time then?” Asha stated coldly as she turned to look at Katia.

Katia still looked a little in doubt, after all, her instincts were pretty sharp... and they still were telling her that they weren’t enough to stop Gray.

”...I-I...”

”Don’t worry,” Gray suddenly intervened, giving his rapier a spin before pointing at Katia, who was behind them.

”I’ll give you enough time, and during that time, I’ll play with the for a little while.”

At those words, their eyes instantly turned cold.

”How arrogant...” Sera mumbled as lightning cracked at her dual swords, and she took a stance to attack Gray.

The other two did the same as a small cyclone of wind formed around Asha, and Dain waved his hand, causing multiple flying swords to appear around him.

The basic move of Sword Qi.

’...Mhm. They should be enough for me to use at least... 10% of my true speed, right?’ His lips curled up slighly.

”[Spirit Eyes]”

He cracked his neck once again.

”I’m waiting.”

Gray propped a hand forward and mocked them directly.

FWOOOOSSSSSSH!