The Return Of The Exiled Villain

Shing!

Gray finally drew his rapier.

The blade came out with a clear, ringing sound as he held it in his right hand.

Since they were truly using their max power against him, and since most of his power was sealed, he couldn’t simply one-shot them.

Adrian surprisingly charged first, his multi-element aura flaring as he swung his sword in a wide arc.

”Four Elements: Cataclysm Strike!”

A massive slash mixed with fire, lightning, wind, and water headed straight toward Gray.

Gray moved with calm precision. He raised his rapier and used the first move of his sword art.

”Soul Chasing Extremities...”

”[Severing Pursuit]”

The rapier became a blur as he cut through the multi-element attack, severing the connections between the elements and causing the slash to dissipate into harmless sparks.

SHING!

Adrian’s eyes widened, but he didn’t stop. He followed up with a quick thrust, trying to catch Gray off guard.

Selene joined the attack from the left, her cyan sword aura blazing as she used her flowing sword techniques.

”Cyan Sword Art: River of No Return!”

Her blade moved like water, creating countless afterimages as she attacked from multiple angles.

Lira came from the right with her Sun Sword, the fire symbols glowing brightly as she swung it with powerful, burning strikes.

”Sun Sword Art: Blazing Sun Slash!”

A massive fiery slash headed toward Gray, the heat intense enough to melt the ground around it.

Ronan charged from the front in his dragon form, his scaled fists glowing with draconic energy as he threw heavy punches.

”Dragon Fist!”

Maelis used her gravity magic to try to slow Gray down.

”Absolute Suppression!”

Claire sent a barrage of fire spears while Selina created binding water chains.

Looking at the barrage of attacks, he first sidestepped Maelis’s gravity field.

The heavy pressure pressed down on the ground where he had been standing, cracking the stone, but Gray had already moved out of the affected area with a simple, smooth step.

He didn’t even need to use a technique, as his footwork alone was enough to evade the suppression.

Next, Claire’s barrage of fire spears came flying toward him. Gray raised his rapier and used quick, precise thrusts to deflect each one.

CLANG!

The tip of his rapier met each fire spear, redirecting them harmlessly into the ground or into the air.

The spears exploded on impact with the stone, but none of them touched Gray.

Selina’s binding water chains shot out from the ground, trying to wrap around his legs.

Gray jumped lightly, his body twisting in mid-air as he cut through the chains with a single, clean slash of his rapier.

SHING!

The water chains dissipated into harmless droplets as he landed gracefully on the other side.

Adrian tried to take advantage of the moment and charged in with a multi-element thrust.

”Four Elements: Eternal Cycle!”

Adrian’s sword glowed with a rotating cycle of fire, water, wind, and lightning.

The thrust was not a simple attack, but was a continuous, self-sustaining storm that kept changing elements mid-motion, making it almost impossible to predict or block perfectly.

Gray parried the first part of the cycle with his rapier, but the changing elements forced him to step back as the attack shifted from fire to lightning.

CLANG!

CRACKLE!

The lightning phase grazed his shoulder, leaving a small burn mark on his clothes.

Gray’s eyes narrowed slightly as he felt the power behind the technique. Adrian was not holding back.

Selene joined the attack from the left, using a new sword art that she had been hiding.

”Cyan Sword Art: Mirage Torrent!”

Her blade created dozens of illusory water-like mirages that attacked from every direction at once.

The mirages were not just visual, as they carried real cutting force if Gray ignored them.

Gray dodged most of them, but one of the mirages cut across his side, drawing a shallow line of blood.

SHING!

Lira attacked from the right with her Sun Sword, using a technique that combined fire with holy light.

”Sun Sword Art: Radiant Judgment!”

A massive slash of burning golden light headed toward Gray, the heat and holy energy making the air itself shimmer.

Gray raised his rapier and met the slash head-on.

The collision sent sparks and light exploding outward, pushing him back several steps as the holy fire burned his sleeve.

BOOM!

Ronan charged in with a new dragon technique, his scaled body glowing with crimson energy.

”Dragon King’s Blood Art: Tyrant’s Roar!”

He roared loudly, sending a shockwave of draconic pressure that made the ground tremble. The roar was not just sound; it carried physical force that tried to crush Gray’s body.

Gray crossed his arms in front of his chest to block the roar, but the pressure still forced him to slide back several meters, his shoes leaving grooves in the stone.

ROOOAAAR!

Maelis used a new gravity technique that she had been saving.

”Gravity Magic: Void Collapse!”

She created a small, localized black hole-like field that tried to pull Gray into it, crushing him with extreme gravitational force.

Gray used his footwork to move out of the field at the last second, but the pull still slowed him down for a moment, allowing Claire to attack.

Claire raised her staff and used a new fire technique.

”Fire Magic: Phoenix Rebirth Flames!”

She summoned a phoenix made of fire that flew toward Gray, exploding into a massive wave of rebirth flames that tried to burn him from all directions.

FWOOSH!

BOOM!

Selina followed up with her water spirit.

”High Water Spirit: Tidal Waves!”

The water fairy danced around her as she created a massive tidal wave that crashed toward Gray, trying to drown and crush him at the same time.

CRASH!

Gray was now clearly being pushed back.

In the VIP section, Gloria couldn’t help but comment with a cold, satisfied smile.

”It seems Aurora had overestimated her precious student. Look at him... he’s being pushed back by my students’ full power. All that talk about him being god-like, and now he’s struggling. Maybe Clementine’s isn’t as strong as you claimed.”

Aurora simply smiled, her red eyes calm and confident as she looked at the projection screen.

In the heat of the battle, no one else noticed what Gray was doing.

While he was dodging and parrying the attacks, his feet were subtly creating rune symbols on the ground with every step.

The runes were faint, almost invisible, but they were forming a complex trap array beneath the battlefield.

Gloria, however, after looking at Aurora’s faint smile... she narrowed her eyes, looking at Gray’s action, and finally noticed it.

Her golden eyes widened in pure shock as she saw the faint glow of the runes spreading across the ground.

’What... is he doing?’ she thought in pure shock.

’He’s creating a trap right under their feet while fighting? That level of multitasking...’

Adrian’s multi-element aura was blazing as he pressed forward with powerful strikes.

”You’re finally showing your limits, Gray!” he shouted arrogantly, his sword glowing with all four elements.

”Even you can’t handle all of us at once!”

The Gloria Academy students were clearly gaining the upper hand.

Gray was being pushed back, his rapier flashing as he parried and dodged their attacks, but the sheer number of powerful techniques was forcing him into a defensive position.

Adrian’s arrogance grew as he saw Gray struggling.

”This is the end for you!” he shouted. ”Gloria Academy will prove its superiority!”

He charged forward with a final, powerful multi-element strike, his sword raised high as he prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

But then... he stepped on one of the faint runes Gray had been creating with his feet the entire time.

The trap activated instantly.

The runes glowed brightly as a massive array spread across the ground beneath the Gloria Academy students.

The array was complex and powerful, designed to disrupt their mana flow, weaken their bodies, and create binding chains of Soul Chasing Qi.

BOOOOM!

The trap exploded with energy, catching Adrian mid-charge.

The multi-element strike dissipated as his mana was disrupted, and he was forced to his knees as the binding chains wrapped around him.

The other Gloria students were also caught in the trap.

Selene’s sword aura flickered and weakened, Lira’s Sun Sword dimmed, Ronan’s dragon form started to fade, and Maelis’s gravity magic collapsed.

Adrian’s eyes widened in shock as he struggled against the chains.

”What... is this?!”

Gray stood calmly in the middle of the activated trap, his rapier lowered as he looked at the trapped group with a devilish smirk.

”I told you,” he said quietly.

”You haven’t learned anything... to the point of even being countered by a plan that you previously created, although your trap was already created, while I just improvised this on my own.”

”Y-you... what?!” Adrian asked in shock.

His eyes narrowed slighly as he looked down at the symbols on the ground that had created this perfect trap.

”Don’t tell me you drew these symbols while fighting against us?!” he suddenly exclaimed in shock, causing the others to also freeze.

At those words, Gray raised an eyebrow in surprise.

”That is correct. You’re indeed a little bit smarter than I thought.”