The Return Of The Exiled Villain

He turned to the entire Clementine’s Sword & Magic Academy group and spoke in a calm, clear voice.

”Listen up. We’re dividing the academy into groups of seven. Each group will act independently but stay coordinated. I will act alone.”

The girls from the Phoenix Class immediately pouted, their voices overlapping with reluctance.

”Leader, why alone? We want to stay with you!”

”We can protect you and fight together!”

The boys, however, looked a little relieved. Although Gray was the leader, he wasn’t forcing everyone to follow his every move.

He was giving them autonomy.

Gray continued, not replying to the girl’s pouty words.

”I’ve prepared communication stones for each group. If you need help, use them immediately, and I’ll appear as fast as I can. Each squad can choose their own temporary leader to make decisions on the spot. I won’t micromanage you. Just capture as many strongholds and tokens as possible. Prioritize survival and coordination.”

He took out a large number of communication stones from his dimensional storage and threw them to the groups.

The stones glowed faintly as they were caught, ready to be used for instant contact.

The boys nodded, feeling more at ease. One of the 4th year boys spoke up respectfully.

”We understand. We’ll do our best.”

The girls still looked pouty, but they accepted the plan.

Gray looked at them calmly.

”It’s necessary. I’m going to take over the main stronghold directly. It’s the most important one. I need to move fast and alone for that. Trust me.”

After a brief explanation of the island’s layout and the locations of the nearest strongholds based on the information they had gathered earlier, Gray gave the final order.

”Scatter and capture as many strongholds and tokens as possible. Move out.”

Everyone left directly, the girls too, albeit reluctantly. They glanced back at Gray multiple times, clearly not happy about leaving him alone, but they followed his orders.

Seeing them leave, Gray also left, shooting towards the main stronghold like a shadow, his body moving with incredible speed through the dense wilderness of the outer layer.

The trees blurred past him as he jumped from branch to branch, his black eyes focused on the distant glow of the main stronghold in the middle layer.

The island was massive, but Gray’s movement technique allowed him to cover the distance quickly.

But on the way, he suddenly decided to hide himself.

That was because he sensed a large group moving in the same direction. He landed silently on a thick branch and concealed his presence completely, watching from the shadows.

concealed his presence completely, watching from the shadows.

It was the Dragon Slaying Academy group, and leading them was that annoying girl — Mariinne. She was skipping happily in front, her brown hair bouncing as she talked excitedly to her teammates.

”Come on, everyone! The main stronghold is the best one! It gives the strongest buffs! If we get there first, we can dominate the whole trial!” she said, her voice full of energy and mischief.

One of her teammates, a tall boy with short black hair, laughed as he ran beside her.

”Mariinne, you’re always so excited. But you’re right. The main stronghold is the key. If we control it, the other academies will have a hard time catching up.”

Another girl in the group, with short red hair, nodded as she kept pace.

”We have to be careful though. Clementine and Gloria are strong. Especially that Gray guy. I heard he’s a monster.”

Mariinne giggled, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

”My prince is strong, but we can still win! I’ll use my shadows to scout ahead and steal tokens from the other teams. No one can catch me!”

”You still didn’t explain why he’s your prince, Mariinne!” one of the girls nudged her with a faint smile.

”Hehe~”

Mariinne just laughed, avoiding her question. But those actions made the boys of the group a little mad, as a few of them had been pursuing Mariinne.

And yet, in just a day, that ’Gray Vireux’ had made her fall over heels for him!

They just wanted to beat the shit out of him!

The group laughed as they continued moving toward the main stronghold, their voices carrying through the forest.

Gray watched them from the shadows, his lips curling into a faint, cold smile.

’Perfect. I’ll use them to clear the way. They’re heading to the main stronghold too. Let them do the hard work first.’

He followed them silently, staying hidden as he used the Dragon Slaying Academy group as unwitting bait to draw out beasts and other teams.

Mariinne suddenly stopped and pointed ahead.

”Look! There’s a token guarded by a big beast! Let’s take it!”

Swoop!

The group charged forward, their weapons drawn as they faced the powerful beast guarding the token.

The creature was a massive, bear-like monster with thick, rocky skin and glowing red eyes.

It roared loudly, shaking the trees around it as it stood protectively in front of the glowing Dominion Token.

Mariinne grinned mischievously as she dissolved into shadows, using her shadow affinity to sneak behind the beast.

She reappeared silently on its back and struck with her daggers, her blades glowing with dark energy as she stabbed into a weak spot in its rocky hide.

”Take this!” she shouted, her voice full of excitement.

The beast roared in pain and swung its massive paw backward, trying to crush her.

Mariinne laughed as she turned into shadows again, dodging the attack and reappearing on its side to strike again.

The other members of the group attacked from the front. The tall boy with short black hair raised his sword and slashed at the beast’s legs, trying to slow it down.

”I’ll hold its attention!” he shouted.

Another girl with short red hair summoned fireballs and threw them at the beast’s head, forcing it to turn away from Mariinne.

”Burn, you big ugly thing!” she yelled.

The group worked well together, coordinating their attacks as they tried to overwhelm the powerful beast.

The monster roared and swung its paws wildly, creating shockwaves that knocked some of the weaker students back. But the Dragon Slaying Academy group was determined.

Mariinne kept using her shadow affinity to attack from blind spots, her daggers cutting deep wounds into the beast’s sides.

”Come on! We almost have it!” she cheered.

The tall boy delivered a powerful slash to the beast’s front leg, making it stumble. The red-haired girl followed up with a large fire explosion that hit the beast’s chest, burning its rocky skin.

The beast roared one last time before it collapsed, its body glowing before disappearing.

”We got it!” one of the boys shouted as they secured the token.

Mariinne jumped happily, holding the glowing token in her hand.

”See? We’re the best! On to the main stronghold!”

’Not too shabby...’ Gray’s lips curled up slighly.

The Dragon Slaying Academy group continued their journey, their morale high after securing several tokens and defeating multiple beasts.

Mariinne led the way with her usual excitement, skipping ahead as she scouted with her shadow affinity.

”We’re almost there! The main stronghold is just ahead!” she called out happily.

The group pushed through the dense forest and rocky terrain, finally reaching the gates of the main stronghold in the middle layer.

The stronghold was a massive, ancient stone fortress with glowing runes on its walls.

It was the largest and most important one on the island, granting the best buffs to the controlling team.

But as they arrived at the gates, they stopped abruptly.

The main group of Gloria Academy was already there, standing in formation with Adrian at the front, Maelis beside him, and the other core students ready for battle.

The two groups glared at each other, the tension in the air thick as they prepared to fight for control of the main stronghold.

Adrian stepped forward, his sword drawn as he looked at the Dragon Slaying group with cold eyes.

”So you made it here too,” he spoke calmly, but his tone was clearly threatening. ”But this stronghold is ours. Turn back if you don’t want to be eliminated.”

Mariinne pouted as she stepped forward, her daggers in her hands.

”No way! We got here first! This is our stronghold now. You Gloria people always think you own everything. Back off!”

One of the Dragon Slaying boys, the tall one with short black hair, raised his sword and stood beside Mariinne.

”Adrian, you’re strong, but we’re not afraid of you. We have the numbers and the momentum. Leave this stronghold to us.”

Maelis crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the Dragon Slaying group.

”You’re too confident. We arrived here first and secured the perimeter. This is Gloria’s territory now. If you attack, we’ll eliminate you all.”

Selene stood beside Maelis, her cyan sword aura glowing faintly as she spoke.

”We don’t want unnecessary fighting, but if you force us, we won’t hold back.”

The two groups glared at each other, the tension rising as they prepared for battle.

The main stronghold’s gates were right behind Gloria’s group, making it a perfect defensive position for them.

Mariinne laughed mischievously as she pointed her daggers at Adrian.

”You talk big, but we’re not scared. Let’s see if you can stop us!”

The Dragon Slaying students raised their weapons, ready to charge.

Adrian’s eyes were cold as he raised his sword.

”Then come. We’ll show you why Gloria is the number one academy.”