The Return Of The Exiled Villain

”...So~, where are you from, Gray?” Lyra asked, her voice soft but curious as they walked side by side through the cracked wasteland.

Gray glanced at her from the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow.

”Why do you wanna know?”

She let out a short laugh and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

”I dunno. You said people call you trash, but... you don’t seem like that at all. Just made me wonder where you’re actually from.”

Gray didn’t reply right away.

He walked in silence for a few steps, his eyes on the ground.

Then, finally, he spoke.

”...Gray Vireux D’Aurélion.”

He said it plainly, like it didn’t mean anything, but the moment the words left his mouth, Lyra froze.

She stopped walking completely, her eyes widening instantly.

”A-ah...” she mumbled, stiffening like she’d just seen a ghost.

Gray noticed and turned to face her.

”What?”

Then, suddenly, Lyra slapped her hands over her chest as if protecting her body from his eyes.

”Y-you’re not... planning to eat me, are you!?”

Gray’s eyebrow twitched.

’Was my reputation really that bad...?’

He let out a slow breath and replied with a deadpan expression.

”...Not yet.”

”W-WHAT?!” Her face turned bright red.

”W-what do you mean by that?!”

But Gray was already turning away, walking ahead with his usual blank look.

”H-Hey! Where are you going?! You can’t just say that and leave!”

She hesitated, biting her lip as she stared at his back, then hurried after him, nearly tripping on a crack in the dry earth.

”Wait for meee!”

Lyra quickly caught up, but not completely.

She kept a small distance between them now, trailing behind by a few steps.

Her hands clasped behind her back as she walked, her eyes flicking from the ground to Gray’s back, then away again.

The silence stretched between them, awkward but not uncomfortable.

”...Sooo,” she started, lightly kicking a small rock. ”You are always this quiet, or is it just when you meet new people?”

Gray didn’t look back.

”I talk when there’s something worth saying.”

”Hmph. Mysterious and broody. That’s not fair.” Lyra puffed out her cheeks slightly.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. ”You talk a lot for someone who was scared I’d ’eat’ them a minute ago.”

Her face flushed again. ”T-that was different! I just... the name D’Aurélion is kinda terrifying. You hear all kinds of rumors, okay?”

”Mm.” He gave a quiet hum, like he wasn’t denying it.

”Most of them are probably true.”

She blinked.

”Wait, seriously?”

Gray didn’t answer directly.

Instead, he kicked aside a loose rock and stepped over a small crack in the ground, moving with casual grace despite how rough the terrain was.

His calmness, his voice, his presence, they all made him feel... untouchable.

Lyra found herself slowly inching closer to him again, almost without realizing it.

”...So what’s your goal, Gray? Why are you taking the entrance exam?”

He paused, then glanced over his shoulder.

”To get enough power to tear my family down,” he said simply, as if it were just another fact.

Lyra stared at him, wide-eyed, before she swallowed hard.

”Y-you’re not serious, right?”

He didn’t answer.

But then, his nostrils twitched as a familiar scent reached his nose.

”HAAARGH...!”

A scream ripped through the silence, raw and high-pitched, echoing across the cracked wasteland like something was being torn apart.

Lyra jumped at the sound.

Gray, however, stopped.

His head tilted slightly in the direction of the scream. And for the first time since she met him, his expression shifted.

His lips curled, not into a full smile, but something close.

And his eyes...

His eyes showed the faintest glint of pleasure.

Like the scream had satisfied something in him.

Lyra felt her breath hitch. She wasn’t sure why, but something about his look made her skin crawl... not out of fear, but unease.

”...What was that?” she asked softly, barely above a whisper.

Gray didn’t answer right away.

He just turned and started walking, slowly, calmly, toward the source of the sound, still wearing that same faint smile.

Lyra hesitated, then hurried after him.

They followed the broken path until they reached a clearing surrounded by jagged stone and half-dead trees.

And there...

”Aghh... keugh—!”

Lyra’s hands flew to her mouth as she nearly vomited.

Gray, on the other hand, only raised a brow.

”...Hahhahaha~ this is so fun!!!”

A dark-skinned man stood in the center of a pile of corpses, at least five or six bodies, all torn open in the most grotesque way imaginable.

Their chests had been split from the inside out, like something had burst free. Organs dripped from ribs as blood soaked the dirt.

Some of the heads were still intact, mouths frozen in silent screams.

The man danced among them barefoot, cackling, his arms raised like he was performing for an audience.

[...That... is he a rogue?]

Jasmine commented, a bit speechless.

Gray simply nodded.

From the way he fought with his own hands, purely relying on his physical strength without using any kind of weapon, and having a dark-skinned body, Gray naturally thought that he must be some kind of rogue from the forest.

But well...

He didn’t seem that powerful.

”Lyra,” Gray said quietly.

She flinched, snapping her eyes away from the bodies.

”Y-yeah...?”

Lyra slapped her cheek lightly, trying to pull herself back from the edge of nausea.

The smell of blood still clung to the air, thick and metallic, making her stomach twist in complete disgust.

Gray didn’t even look at her.

”Let’s kill him.”

Her eyes widened in shock.

”W-what?! Kill him? Just like that?”

Lyra’s eyes widened.

”Yeah?”

Gray turned toward her, his voice so casual, it didn’t even match the weight of his words. Like he was talking about the weather.

Then he started walking toward her.

Lyra froze instantly.

Her heart skipped.

”W-w-why are you getting close?!” she asked, her voice rising as she instinctively backed away a step.

He didn’t say anything.

Her mind spun.

’Was he angry? Was he going to hurt her? Had she said something wrong?’

Her eyes darted down to his hand.

’Is he gonna draw his weapon?’

Fwoop!

His hand moved fast, but it wasn’t threatening. Instead, it came up and gently cupped her chin.

Lyra’s breath hitched in her throat.

Her body tensed, her hands half-raised to defend herself, but... she didn’t move away.

His fingers were cold but steady. Firm, but not rough. He tilted her face upward, just enough so that she was forced to meet his gaze.

And then she saw them.

His eyes, deep, black, and still as a pool of ink, but something burned behind them... and it was something heavier.

Something that had seen too much.

Something... broken.

’Why does he look so calm talking about killing someone?’ she thought, her pulse racing.

”Lyra...”

Gray spoke, and his voice dropped lower.

”You need to understand that this is a world where the strong prey on the weak. All kinds of people exist here... including someone as unstable as him.”

Gray glanced at the dark-skinned man, making Lyra naturally follow his gaze.

”He enjoys killing. If we leave him alone, he’ll kill more. Maybe even us.”

Lyra opened her mouth to argue, but the words never came out.

Her eyes drifted again to the bodies, or what was left of them.

One man’s chest was caved in, ribs cracked open like a broken cage.

Another’s face was split down the middle, blood pooling beneath his jaw like spilled ink.

Fingers, toes, organs....

Everything was scattered in a mess that looked more like a slaughter than a battle.

And still, the man danced through it.

He spun, arms out like he was welcoming an audience. His bare feet kicked through puddles of red, and he smiled like a child playing in the rain.

A sick, twisted joy.

Her knees trembled, but suddenly... her body instantly calmed down, and that was because... Gray’s voice unexpectedly turned softer.

”You shouldn’t be the type to run from things, Lyra.” He gently rubbed her chin, causing her to look into his hypnotic eyes.

[The authority 『Beauty』is currently in effect...]

”You feel this pit in your chest right now, right? That tightness in your throat? That’s not fear.”

”Gulp...!”

She swallowed hard, her face flushing slighly, although she didn’t seem to realize.

”That’s your survival instincts,” Gray continued, his lips curling up slighly.

”You see something wrong. Something twisted. And deep down, something inside you wants to fix it. To burn it away.”

She tried to look away, but his fingers held her there.

”That man?” he said quietly. ”He’ll do this again. And again. Unless someone stops him...”

He paused slighly, making it so they stared at each other for a few more seconds, and then... his lips parted again.

”And that someone... is you.”

At his words, Lyra’s jaw trembled, as her eyes quivered slighly.

”B-but I’ve never...”

”It doesn’t have to be perfect,” Gray whispered softly.

His whisper sounded like a devil’s lullaby, but to someone like Lyra, who seemed to be beyond harmless... it worked like a damn charm.

”You just have to decide.”

Then he finally let her go, taking a step back without saying a single word, and just remained in the same spot, staring at Lyra.

”Ahh...”

Lyra stood there, her hands shaking slightly, and her heart hammering in her chest.

She didn’t know if she could do this...

But then...

Vrrmm...

A soft vibration stirred the air.

Two spears began to take shape beside her. They had a purple color and glowed, humming with a strange rhythm.

They floated in the air like they were alive, symbols of light spinning around the shafts.

The pressure was intense, warping the air just slightly around them.

Lyra’s eyes widened.

She didn’t remember trying to summon them.

They just came.

Like something inside her finally responded.

The tips of the spears glowed faintly, hot and bright, the runes twisting with energy that didn’t feel human.

Her hair fluttered slightly from the force they gave off.

She stared at them... and then bit her bottom lip.

”...Go.”

The word slipped from her lips before she even realized.

FWSHH—!!

The spears tore through the air in perfect unison.

The rogue’s head turned just as the first pierced through his side, bursting through his ribs.

The second followed a second later, driving straight through his abdomen and lifting him off the ground before slamming him down like a rag doll.

His body twitched once, then went still before falling limp into the pile of corpses he’d been dancing around.

Blood seeped from the wounds, mixing with the carnage he had created.

Gray’s head tilted, watching the body crumple in the dirt.

Blood pooled quickly beneath it, red steam curling in the cold air.

He didn’t move, but his fingers twitched at his sides.

’She really did it.’

And not just that.

’She’s much stronger than I thought.’

But that was expected because she was the Vessel of Five Gods, and although passing through the ranks would be twenty-five times more difficult...

That also meant that she was twenty-five times stronger than an average person.

Gray’s lips barely curled, just slightly.

He liked power.

And watching her use it, hesitantly, but effectively, was enough to make something in him stir.

Lyra stared at her own hands, stunned.

”I... I did that...”

Her voice trembled, but she wasn’t crying.

She didn’t look away from the body.

She didn’t vomit.

She just stared at what she had done and breathed.

”...Good,” Gray said.

And for the first time, he didn’t have to fake the warmth in his voice.