The Return Of The Exiled Villain-Chapter 275: Class Duels (VI)

Screech...!

The skull mark above his head pulsed once, like something alive was actualy atop of his head.

Gray felt the curse take hold of his vision not all at once, but in layers, as if the world were being peeled away from him piece by piece until the arena, the light, the movement, everything that relied on sight, collapsed into nothing.

Darkness swallowed it whole.

Katia’s voice came through that emptiness, carrying a quiet satisfaction that made it clear she had been waiting for this exact moment to unfold.

"Now!"

They did not hesitate at all.

Fwooosh!

All four came at him together, and the arena answered with a sudden surge of sound that replaced the vision he no longer had.

Gray did not panic, and started focusing on his sense since that’s all he had now.

Crackle!

Sera reached him first, because she always did when speed was involved, and her lightning gave her away before her blades ever could.

The crackle of charged air traced the rhythm of her movement, each step landing with a pattern he had already memorized earlier in the fight.

Her lighting changed directions in a sequence that told him that she was commiting fully this time, not trying to read his move, but actually striking with all her might.

Zoooooooom!

Dain’s presence followed just behind that, his sword qi pressing against the air with that tight, compressed hum that felt like pressure more than sound.

Swish!

His three flying swords slicing forward ahead of him with their familiar staggered timing, meant to force a reaction before his own blade arrived to capitalize on it.

Asha moved differently from both of them, her wind affinity reducing friction so effectively that her steps barely touched the ground, yet the space around her betrayed her position anyway, the air folding and slipping in a way that created a moving pocket of distortion that Gray could track as clearly as a visible form.

And Katia, behind him and slightly to the left, approached with the lightest footwork of all, but her curse energy betrayed her more than anything else, resonating faintly against his senses like a thin, persistent note that cut through the rest of the noise.

Four directions.

Four speeds.

Four angles converging at once.

"Fuuu..." Gray breathed in once, and let the chaos settle into something structured inside his mind.

’...Now.’

Swip!

He stepped into Sera instead of away from her, shifting right at the exact moment her first blade cut through the space where he had been standing, her follow-up already on its way in the arc she always used to punish evasive movement.

He dropped under that second strike and drove his elbow upward into her shoulder as their paths crossed.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

The impact landed solidly, the force of it breaking her balance mid-motion and sending her into a rough roll across the arena floor, her lightning flaring wildly as it struck the stone.

He did not stop.

Fwoop!

Dain’s first flying sword reached him a fraction of a second later, and Gray turned his wrist just enough to meet it with the flat of his rapier, not blocking but redirecting, sending it upward and out of line while he stepped through the opening it created.

The second blade passed close behind him, near enough that he felt the pressure of it against his back, and the third came in at a lower angle that he knocked aside with a sharp downward motion that ruined its trajectory entirely.

"...Fucking monster!"

Dain himself arrived immediately after, his timing precise, his blade already descending in a high cut meant to finish what the flying swords had started.

Gray lowered his center of gravity and slipped beneath it, rising inside Dain’s guard before the motion had fully completed, and drove the pommel of his rapier up into the underside of his chin with controlled, exact force.

Clack!

The crack of contact was sharp.

"D-dammit!" Dain staggered back a step, his structure disrupted for just long enough to matter.

Asha entered the exchange at that exact moment, her approach silent except for the distortion of air that marked her path.

Gray turned toward that distortion instead of away from it, stepping directly into the pocket of pressure her movement created.

Her blade met his sooner than she expected.

The collision rang out, and the wind that wrapped around her frame reacted to the impact in a way she had not planned for, the rotation of her cyclone faltering as the force pushed inward instead of outward for a brief, critical instant.

Thwack!

Gray used that instant without hesitation, pressing forward into her guard and forcing her sword arm across her own body with a short strike that unbalanced her stance and sent her sliding sideways as she fought to recover.

Screeeech!

Behind him, Katia committed.

Her daggers came in low and fast, both aimed with precision at the backs of his knees, a clean attempt to cripple his movement while the others occupied his attention.

Gray heard the faint resonance of her curse energy before the blades reached him.

He stepped forward, letting the attacks pass through empty space, and turned sharply on his lead foot.

She was exactly where he expected her to be.

He could not see her, but he did not need to.

Swip!

His rapier moved in a wide, controlled arc at the level of her forward arm, not aiming to cut but to strike the weapon itself.

CLANG!

The impact rang out, and one of her daggers flew from her hand, spinning away across the stone.

"W-wha?!" Her breath caught in surprise.

Gray closed the remaining distance in the same motion, slipping past her before she could fully react, and came to a stop just behind her, the flat of his blade resting lightly against the back of her neck.

Drip...

A flat line of blood was carved onto her skin, sliding down the back of her neck.

"...Your curse energy gives you away." He spoke quietly.

"Oponents like me how had their senses trained can... let’s say, smell the odor of each kind of energy, from mana to even curse energy."

Katia froze, not out of fear, but because she understood the position she was in.

Around them, the fight had already broken.

Sera was pushing herself back to her feet, her movements slightly uneven from the impact. Dain had regained his balance but had not yet reformed his full control.

Asha was a step farther out than she wanted to be, her wind still trying to stabilize after being disrupted.

All four of them had committed at once, and yet, all of them couldn’t deal a singe strike on Gray.

Fwoom!

The skull mark above Gray’s head pulsed again, then faded as Katia’s concentration slipped, the curse dissolving with it.

Vision returned in a rush.

The arena came back into focus piece by piece, light and movement reassembling around him, and he took in the positions of all four opponents in a single glance.

Katia stood still beneath his blade.

Sera straightened slowly, one shoulder rolling as she tested it, lightning flickering unevenly along her swords.

Dain lifted a hand briefly to his chin, then lowered it, his gaze already returning to Gray with renewed focus.

"Ugh..." Asha exhaled softly, her stance adjusting as she rebalanced the flow of her affinity.

Gray lowered his rapier and stepped back, giving Katia space.

No one spoke for a moment.

It was Sera who broke the silence, her voice quieter than before, carrying something more thoughtful than aggressive.

"You lost your sight," she said, watching him closely. "And yet, you still kept track of all of us at the same time."

He did not shrug, did not dismiss it.

"My other senses were trainined meticulously in case some like that curse happened. Besides, you all announce yourselves in different ways."

Asha looked down at her own hands, then flexed her fingers slightly, feeling the wind settle again around her.

"You stepped into my movement," she said slowly.

"Most people try to escape it."

"Your control is built around pushing people away," Gray replied. "If someone closes instead, the structure changes."

She nodded once, thoughtful, not defensive.

Dain studied him in silence for a few seconds before speaking, his tone measured and sincere.

"Four of us attacking together. You had no vision, no warning beyond what you could perceive in the moment, and you still controlled the exchange." He paused, then added more quietly.

"How did you train to get so... monstrous?"

Gray met his gaze.

"...It’s just a matter of experience."

Katia bent to retrieve her fallen dagger, turning it once in her hand before glancing back at him.

"The curse was supposed to give us an advantage," she smiled wryly. This cause Gray to show a look of surprise, since this was the first time he had ever seen her smile.

"Instead, it made me easier to track."

"It’s a good technique," Gray replied with a smile, and there was no mockery in it. "But anything that leaves a consistent signature becomes predictable."

She let out a short breath that turned into a small, genuine laugh.

"So you’re correcting me now," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Right after using me as the easiest point in the formation."

"You were the quietest physically. But not the quietest overall."

She considered that, then nodded once.

"...I’ll fix that."

Sera stepped forward, looking at Gray with actual admiration on her eyes.

"...I don’t usually believe in rumours, but I must say... that you fulfill everything that had been said about you. No wonder you were called the ’Child of the Goddess’ when you were younger. Truly benifitting of that title."

Gray did not answer immediately, and even frowned slighly.

He didn’t like that title at all.

"You pushed well," he spoke after half a second. "All of you. The timing was good. If one of you had been half a step slower, it wouldn’t have worked."

Dain let out a quiet breath.

"That’s your version of praise?"

"It’s accurate," Gray smiled lightly.

Asha smiled faintly at that.

The others also relaxed before they exchanged clances, and did a light bow right in front of Gray, demonstrating their respect for him.

"I give up."

"I forfeit."

The four of them said at the same time.