The Return Of The Exiled Villain-Chapter 24: The Three Virtues Of A Knight (VI)

"Agh..."

Gray stepped out of the door first, the light of the outside shining deeply into his black hollow eyes.

His clothes were torn, stained with blood and bits of black ichor.

Lira followed after, dragging Ronan like a sack of potatoes, the poor boy muttering to himself while trying to wipe lake slime off his cheek.

The second they stepped into the sunlit clearing outside...

"Well, would you look at that."

A familiar voice reached out to them.

The source of the voice stood at the center of the open plaza that marked the end of the trial grounds, hands gently clasped in front of her armor.

Her hazel eyes sparkled, hair fluttering softly with the breeze.

"Well, well," she said.

"You three... are the first ones out."

Ronan blinked.

"...Wait, what?"

"You beat the labyrinth," Arderia said, voice smooth and sharp like a blade dipped in honey.

"And in record time, no less. Barely two hours."

She snapped her fingers, and a faint bell chimed in the air behind her. A hovering crystal shimmered to life, projecting a spinning number:

[1:59:41].

Lira raised an eyebrow.

"Hm. That is impressive."

Gray didn’t even react.

He just dusted his coat off.

Arderia stepped down from the platform, her eyes moving between them with a glint of amusement.

"Of course," she added, "you did completely ignore the ’safe’ paths I laid out... You brute-forced your way through the labyrinth... and one of you was nearly drowned."

"Y-You saw that?!" Ronan shouted, horrified.

"Yes," she said flatly.

"Everyone did."

Ronan covered his face with both hands.

"I-I want to die..."

"But." Arderia turned back to Gray, her smile more genuine now.

"You passed. Quite well, in fact. You showed determination, composure, and cooperation... even if it was mostly through yelling and using others as bait."

Lira gave a little shrug, clearly proud.

"We made it work."

A vein popped on Gray’s forehead as he heard Lira’s words. He desperately wanted to punch her face.

Arderia clasped her hands behind her back and nodded once, approving.

"Good. Then rest. The labyrinth trial is over for you. You have the entire day to recover before tomorrow’s final trial begins."

"The next trial?" Lira asked curiously.

"You’ll find out then," Arderia said with a slight smirk. "For now, food, water, and beds are waiting in the rest pavilion."

She gestured to the right, where a large shaded building waited near a gentle waterfall, banners flapping lazily in the wind.

"Clean yourselves up. And no more near-death moments. That’s an order."

At her words, Gray just turned and walked straight toward the rest pavilion. Lira followed close behind, casually tossing Ronan off her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Thud.

"Oi—HEY!" Ronan groaned, smacking into the ground. "Don’t just leave me here!! I helped too, you know!!"

Neither of them turned around.

"Unbelievable..." he muttered, dragging himself up and limping after them.

Inside Gray’s mind, Jasmine’s voice echoed softly, calm but concerned.

[Gray...]

"...What?" he muttered under his breath.

[Try to calm down. I know she tricked you, but still, getting so angry won’t help anything, right?]

He stopped walking just for a second, his jaw tightening.

"...Calm down?" Gray scoffed quietly, throwing a sharp glance over his shoulder.

Lira was still walking behind him, her arms folded while staring directly at him.

"That damn girl played me... like a fool," he muttered. "She knew exactly what she was doing."

His hands clenched.

"I was this close to using my Unique Skill to kill that last drake. If I’d done it... they would’ve seen it. I can’t afford that right now."

[But why not?]

Jasmine asked gently.

[It’s not like anyone can copy or steal it, right?]

"THEY CAN!"

His voice snapped, louder than he meant it to be.

Ronan, who was limping a few steps behind, flinched in surprise.

"W-Whoa! What was that, bro? You alright?"

"...Are you okay?" Lira asked too, brows narrowing slightly.

Gray ignored both of them.

His voice lowered as he spoke to Jasmine again.

"...They can steal it. And that’s why I won’t show it."

[How?]

"There’s an item," Gray said through gritted teeth. "A cursed one... nearly banned across all kingdoms. It’s called a Skill Plunder Stone."

[Plunder...? Like, steal a skill?]

"Exactly."

He nodded slightly as they walked, his eyes locked on the path ahead.

"A single stone... and someone can rip any skill out of a person. Doesn’t matter if it’s active, passive, Unique, or even inherited."

[Wait, so that means...]

"They can even steal talent."

Jasmine fell silent for a beat.

[...You mean natural talent?]

"...Yeah. Physical gifts. Elemental affinity. Even something as rare as spatial awareness."

[...Did that happen to you for you to be so... cautious?]

"Yeah."

His voice dropped even lower, almost a growl.

"...Back then, someone used one of those stones on me. Ripped out the thing I valued most."

[What... did they steal?]

Gray’s expression darkened.

"...My talent for Space Magic."

Jasmine gasped in his mind.

[SPACE MAGIC?! You had an affinity for that?!]

He nodded slightly, a bitter smirk tugging at the edge of his lips.

"Had. Past tense."

Gray raised his eyes to the pale sky, his lips parting slightly.

"...But I already got my revenge."

Those same lips suddenly curved into a thin smile.

A cold, merciless one, the kind that sends shivers down your spine just by barely glancing at it.

"I ripped that bastard apart. Slowly. Delicately."

He licked his lips, eyes dull and glassy.

"I pulled his fingernails off... one by one. You know how long that takes?"

He tilted his head to the side, speaking as if he was answering someone. But no one had asked a thing.

"...I even dragged him into a nice little chamber... where the walls echoed so well. He screamed for days."

He paused slighly, taking a slow yet deep breath.

Then, his voice turned sharp.

"But before he broke, he told me the truth."

Gray’s fingers twitched at his sides, the veins in his arms beginning to bulge.

"Said someone paid him... not just gold. Not just treasure."

His neck twitched, and his teeth bared in a devilish smile.

"A whole castle, made of gold bricks, lined with silk... Just to steal my space talent."

His voice cracked.

"And the one who ordered it..."

He let out a quiet, yet strange, wheezing breath.

It almost sounded like a laugh... or a sob.

"Was none other than the First Prince of the Empire."

"Is he... talking to himself?" Ronan frowned slightly behind him, already annoyed with Gray’s murmurings.

Lira didn’t answer his words as her eyes were constantly on Gray’s back, but now, she was feeling quite uneasy.

"Phew~"

Gray’s eyes trembled, wide open, as he grinned.

"Two weeks later... what do you know? The Empire celebrates him awakening a Special Talent. Space Magic, of all things. Hah. Hahaha..."

His shoulders began to shake. A low, dry laugh built from his chest, but it didn’t sound right.

It sounded like someone laughing with broken lungs.

"Aha... ahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!"

He hunched over as he laughed harder, his voice cracking and breaking apart like glass.

"Isn’t that hilarious?! They stole it! They ripped my soul open, tore it out, and gifted it to him! And now he smiles on stages, waving to crowds with my damn power!!"

Gray grabbed his head with both hands, nails digging into his scalp.

"I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him I’ll kill him I’ll kill him I’ll—"

His eyes rolled upward.

And then, silence.

Until...

"...Jasmine," he whispered.

A one-sided conversation.

"...You probably saw it, didn’t you? You watched him pretend to be me. Wearing my magic. Hah... yes... yes, I know... you’ve always been watching..."

Jasmine said nothing, probably cause Gray was now even imagining some kind of illusion or something like that.

After all, Jasmine didn’t even know that one can steal others’ talents or skills.

But even so, Gray smiled like she was whispering the most beautiful lullaby in his ear.

"Tell me again. Tell me how I’ll break him. I want to hear you say it... You’re an expert at that, no?"

He laughed again, softer this time. A giddy, shaking laugh, like a child playing with a dead animal.

Behind him, Lira cautiously took a step back.

"...Gray?"

"Oi. The hell’s wrong with you?" Ronan narrowed his eyes.

But Gray didn’t hear them.

He was in his own world now.

A world where every smile was made of knives and swords.

"...I’ll start with his eyes. Yes. Then his tongue. His pretty little tongue... cut it out and feed it to his dog."

Dark red smoke began leaking from his mouth... from his eyes.

It bled slowly down his cheeks, thick and warm.

Like vaporized blood.

"...I’ll gouge his heart out. Still beating. I want him to beg."

His voice dropped into a whisper.

"No one takes from me and lives."

BOOM.

The ground suddenly trembled beneath his feet.

Only lightly.

A glow lit up his vision as three golden messages appeared before him.

[You’ve reached the Elementary Realm!]

[The Akashic Records have noticed your presence.]

[You may now select a Class.]

At the sight, Gray’s body trembled as he exhaled shakily.

The smile on his lips widened again.

Almost too wide.

"...Keke~"

But what Gray didn’t know was that the silent Jasmine was also smiling as she heard his words.

And she was smiling because that same scarlet smoke that suddenly leaked out of Gray’s body was none other...

The first form of [Destruction].

And the so-called...

Killing Intent.