The Return Of The Exiled Villain

The quiet command carried more weight than any shout. Darius’s arms trembled, then gave out.

He collapsed back onto the cracked earth, staring up at the sky with pure humiliation in his eyes.

Gray collected the tokens with a sweep of mana and stored them away, then looked down at the defeated 4th-year once more.

He really didn’t like Darius’s face.

That arrogant, self-important expression.

The way he had screamed at his own teammates. The way he had assumed Gray’s strength came only from temporary buffs.

Everything about the man was unpleasant.

So Gray decided there was no reason to leave him in the tournament.

He raised his rapier and pointed the tip at Darius’s chest.

Darius’s eyes widened in sudden panic as he realized what was about to happen.

”W-wait! You already took the tokens! There’s no need to eliminate me!” He tried to push himself backward across the dirt, his voice rising in complete desperation.

”I-I can still be useful! I know the locations of other high-token groups! I can tell you everything! Just don’t eliminate me, pleaseee!”

His earlier arrogance had completely vanished.

The ruthless commander who had been barking orders minutes ago was now scrambling on the ground, dirt and blood smeared across his face as he begged.

”I’ll hand over every piece of information I have! Alliance routes, remaining stronghold defenses, even the hidden token caches some of the 4th-years are keeping for themselves! Just leave me in the trial! I still have value!”

Gray stared down at him without a trace of emotion.

”I don’t need your information.”

”Then... then at least let me stay until the end! I’ll stay out of your way! I swear I won’t interfere with anything else you do! Please!” Darius’s voice cracked.

”I can’t be eliminated here... not like this... not after everything...!”

Gray had already heard enough.

He flicked his wrist.

Fwip!

A strong and precise pulse of Soul Chasing Qi shot from the tip of the rapier and struck Darius squarely in the chest.

The 4th-year’s body glowed with the familiar light of tournament elimination. A second later, he vanished completely, teleported out of the floating island and out of the trial.

The surrounding students stared in silence as none of them dared to speak or even dared to move.

Gray turned away without another glance.

He had already wasted more time on Darius than the man was worth.

”[Swap]”

Using another short-range [Swap], Gray relocated to a new vantage point several kilometers away.

Then, he walked around for more than minutes, and finally found the spot he was looking for.

He found himself high in the canopy of a dense cluster of trees overlooking a fortified rocky outcrop near one of the remaining secondary strongholds.

Below him was Vaelor’s group.

Unlike Darius’s loud and oppressive command style, the atmosphere here was disciplined and quiet.

Roughly fifteen students, mostly high-level 4th-years from Gloria Academy with a few remaining Dragon Slaying elites mixed in, were positioned in a clear defensive formation.

Sentinels stood at elevated points.

Mana sensors were actively sweeping the surrounding forest in overlapping layers.

A small barrier array had even been erected around their temporary camp to detect spatial fluctuations.

Vaelor himself stood at the center, greatsword resting on his shoulder as he listened to a series of rapid reports.

”Captain Vaelor,” one of the perimeter scouts said, kneeling slightly.

”Lyria’s group has gone completely silent. Their last known position matches the direction of a high-energy fluctuation from earlier. We believe they encountered Gray.”

Another student added quickly,

”Darius’s mixed unit also stopped transmitting twelve minutes ago. Their token signature vanished from the shared ranking board right after a brief combat spike. It’s confirmed... it was Gray who eliminated him.”

Vaelor’s expression remained calm, but his eyes sharpened.

”So he’s moving faster than expected.” He turned to a girl with long sensing-type mana threads extending from her fingertips.

”Recalibrate the outer detection net. Expand it by another eight hundred meters and prioritize spatial distortion signatures... Considering our information from Gloria Academy, Gray had some kind of swapping ability..., I want the moment he arrives flagged instantly.”

”Yes, Captain.”

Vaelor then addressed the entire group, his voice steady and authoritative without needing to shout.

”Listen carefully. Gray is no longer defending the main stronghold. He is actively hunting high-token holders. Darius’s arrogance probably got him eliminated in under a minute. We will not make the same mistake. From this moment on, no one leaves the formation without my direct order. Pair sensors with combatants at all times. If contact is made, do not engage alone; collapse inward and force him into a multi-angle confrontation. We still hold the third-highest token count. That makes us a priority target. Stay sharp.”

”Yes, Captain!”

The students responded in unison.

From his hidden position in the trees, Gray watched the entire exchange with mild interest.

Unlike the previous two groups, Vaelor actually knew how to lead.

He processed information quickly, adjusted defenses based on real-time data, and maintained discipline without relying solely on fear.

The defensive formation was tight, the mana detection overlapping, and the students looked prepared rather than complacent.

Gray’s eyes narrowed slightly.

This one would not fall for simple provocation.

He remained motionless in the canopy for several more seconds, carefully measuring the collective power of Vaelor’s group.

Most of the students were solid high-level 4th-years.

Their coordination was better than Darius’s, and the overlapping detection net was professionally layered.

A direct brute-force approach would still work, but it would be inefficient and noisy.

Gray’s fingers brushed the hilt of his rapier.

’Soul Chasing Extremities...’

The third move, Soul Reaving Pursuit, would be more than enough to dismantle a formation of this level.

He briefly considered activating the Crown of the Abyss again for absolute dominance, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

He still didn’t know whether there was a drawback to using a high-level blessing twice in the same day.

There was no reason to take unnecessary risks when his base strength, enhanced by the remaining stronghold buffs and his own techniques, was already sufficient.

After thinking for a while, Gray closed his eyes lightly.

When he opened them again, a faint, intricate pattern of light flickered across his pupils.

”[Spirit Eyes]”

The flow of mana around every student below became visible as thin red lines of intent, denser concentrations of energy where techniques were being prepared, and the subtle weaknesses in their defensive formation.

He had seen enough.

Gray stepped off the branch.

He dropped silently through the leaves and landed in the open ground roughly forty meters from the edge of Vaelor’s camp.

The moment his feet touched the earth, every mana sensor in the group flared violently.

”Spatial fluctuation detected...no! Physical presence!”

”Contact! Northwest treeline!”

”Form up! Collapse the perimeter inward, now!”

Students shouted orders as they scrambled into position. Barriers instantly rose, the students drew their weapons, and auras flared across the rocky outcrop.

Vaelor was already moving to the front, greatsword resting on his shoulder as his sharp eyes locked onto the black-robed figure walking calmly toward them.

The two locked gazes across the short distance.

Vaelor, unsurprisingly, was the first one to speak.

”Gray Vireux. I expected you to come eventually... but I didn’t think you’d be this direct.” He tilted his head slightly.

”Darius is gone. Lyria’s group is gone. You’re cleaning up the high-token holders one by one. Quite efficient, huh?”

Gray continued walking at the same unhurried pace, rapier still sheathed at his waist.

Vaelor’s grip on his greatsword tightened just a fraction.

”I’m not going to waste time underestimating you the way the others did. We both know the stronghold buffs aren’t the only reason you’re standing there. So I’ll make this simple.” His eyes narrowed.

”If you’ve come for the tokens, you’ll have to go through all of us. We won’t scatter, and we won’t fight you one-on-one.”

The students behind him shifted into a tighter combat formation, clearly ready to support their captain at a moment’s notice.

Gray finally stopped a short distance away.

His black eyes, still faintly glowing with the residual light of Spirit Eyes, swept across the group once before returning to Vaelor.

”I wasn’t planning on asking,” he said quietly.

Vaelor’s expression hardened.

He had already accepted that talking would lead nowhere. Without wasting another second, he raised his free hand and gave a sharp, clear order.

”All units! Deploy the restriction net! Prioritize weakening and suppression! Do not let him build momentum!”

The response was immediate and well-drilled.

Several students at the rear slammed their palms onto the rocky ground.

Complex arrays lit up beneath their feet as layered weakening barriers expanded outward in overlapping waves.

The first barrier carried a heavy gravitational pull designed to slow movement and increase the weight of every action.

The second radiated a mana-damping field that tried to thin the density of any energy Gray circulated.

A third barrier released fine, nearly invisible threads of sealing force meant to cling to the target’s limbs and disrupt precise control.

At the same time, two support casters raised their staffs and began chanting in unison.

”Attribute Suppression Field, activate!”

A pale gray mist spread across the outcrop, carrying a specialized debuff that temporarily lowered physical strength and reaction speed.

Another student threw several talismans into the air; the papers ignited and transformed into floating runic seals that locked onto Gray’s position, attempting to create a localized zone where recovery and mana regeneration would be heavily reduced.

A pair of barrier specialists erected two more constructs in rapid succession.

One was a reflective mirror barrier meant to bounce kinetic force back at the attacker, while the other was a sticky mana net designed to tangle around the legs and restrict footwork.

Vaelor himself contributed by slamming the tip of his greatsword into the stone.

A deep crimson shockwave of pure pressure rolled outward, reinforcing the existing fields and adding a raw physical suppression that made the air feel heavier with every passing second.

Within moments, the entire area around Gray had become a dense web of overlapping weakening barriers, suppression fields, sealing threads, and recovery-limiting seals.

The combined effect was designed to strip away speed, power, precision, and endurance all at once, exactly the kind of preparation a competent leader would use against a single overwhelming opponent.