The Return Of The Exiled Villain

"…It should be right around here," Gray muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing slighly as he scanned the wide street ahead.

[What should be here?]

Jasmine asked Gray curiously.

"The Gladiator Arena," Gray replied flatly. "It's probably the easiest way for someone unknown like me to earn a Knight Rank."

[Mmm… how barbaric. You want to get recognized… by spilling blood in front of a crowd?]

"Do I look like I have a choice?" His voice was cold enough to silence her for a moment.

And for once… she stayed quiet.

But just as she was about to speak again, the narrow buildings ended.

Gray stepped forward, and his eyes locked onto it right away.

The Gladiator Arena.

It was huge, obviously round, and tall, practically built like a fortress, with thick stone walls and large iron gates.

The dark red flags hanging around it whipped in the wind, and from inside, the sound hit him like a wave.

Shouts... screams of pain, the resounding clash of weapons... but there was something louder the anything else, and that was...

The roar of the crowd.

They were cheering for blood.

Gray didn't stop walking and stepped past the thick iron gate without hesitation.

The guard at the front barely glanced up, too busy chatting with someone else. Inside, the noise became even stronger, cheering, stomping, and even some booing.

Then, he walked along the inner hallway until he found a desk made of dark wood, cracked in a few spots.

A bored-looking man sat behind it, chewing on something, flipping through a thick book lazily.

"I want to register for combat," Gray said.

The man looked up slowly, his eyes scanning Gray's battered clothes and the faint red mark on his cheek.

"Name?" he asked without emotion.

"Gray. No surname," Gray lied straight through his teeth.

The man shrugged.

"You'll get a number. You'll be called when it's your turn. If you live through three wins, you get a token for the Knight Rank assessment. Lose once and you're out. No refunds."

Gray said nothing.

He reached into his pocket and tossed a single silver coin on the table.

The man smirked a little.

"Trying to bribe me?"

"Just making sure my name's written clearly," Gray replied coldly, turning away.

He didn't wait for a reply.

His boots echoed down the stone hall as he followed the noise toward the stands, and then moved through a tunnel until he reached a massive open space.

It was the arena.

Hundreds... maybe a thousand people sat above him in the stands, yelling and clapping.

Vendors passed snacks, children shouted for their favorite fighters, and bets were being made with every passing minute.

Yes, that's right.

Children.

Gray's eyes narrowed.

He walked over to the lower seats, where the fighters and other registrants waited, and leaned against the railing.

From there, he could clearly see the battlefield, and right now, the next match was announced with a thunderous shout from the old announcer above.

"Next up...! Berric the Skullcrusher! Versus Lira the Windfang!"

The only reason Gray was here was that he needed to measure their level to see if he could actually win in a fight.

The arena erupted in roars. Coins were tossed. Drums echoed. The crowd was hungry.

From opposite ends of the bloodstained sand pit, the two fighters entered.

On the left, a massive man stomped forward, bare-chested with only thick iron pauldrons on his shoulders.

Scars crossed his chest like a roadmap, and in his hands, he wielded a two-handed mace with spikes that looked more like butcher's hooks than a weapon.

His beard was thick, his nose crooked from too many breaks, and his left eye twitched like a bull waiting to charge.

On the right, a slender girl in tight leather armor stepped forward with ease, her long black hair tied in a high tail, twin curved daggers in her gloved hands.

Wind circled her feet, picking up little trails of dust with every step. Her face was calm, but her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Heh. You look more like a barmaid than a warrior," Berric barked, slamming his mace on the ground, cracking the stone beneath.

Lira only smiled.

"And you look like someone who hasn't won a fight sober."

The crowd laughed, and then the horn blew.

Berric immediately charged like a bull.

BOOM!

Dust flew, and surprisingly, the ground shook beneath his boots.

Gray narrowed his eyes.

"He's fast for his size, but quite predictable," he muttered, watching Berric's wild lunge.

[He's relying on fear. Not technique~]

Jasmine said with amusement.

[Look at the way he's swinging—oho~ see that? No footwork at all, just pure anger and madness.]

FWOOOOOM!

The mace cut through the air like a boulder, but Lira was already gone.

She spun low, wind bursting beneath her boots, flipping backward and cutting his thigh mid-air.

SHKK!

Blood splattered across the sand.

"FUCK!!" Berric roared, stumbling to the side as he tried to regain his footing.

"You're too slow, old man," Lira mocked, flicking the blood off her blade.

Berric didn't answer with words; he roared like a beast and swung again, this time straight down.

She dodged once, twice, but then—

CRACK!

A side swing caught the edge of her hip as she twisted too late. She grunted, her body flying and rolling across the sand.

The audience gasped, then cheered.

Gray tensed.

"She got cocky," he said quietly. "Tried to be flashy when she should've gone low."

[Mmhm~ but watch now… she's angry. That blood is going to make her fun to watch.]

'...What's with a sadistic attitude?' Gray growled inwardly.

Lira pushed herself up with a growl.

Wind wrapped around her again, but now it howled like a storm. Her daggers trembled slightly, but now, they were charged with aura.

"Oh, you're dead," she hissed.

Berric laughed and raised his mace again, charging toward her.

This time, Lira met him halfway.

THUMP!

THUMP—CRACK!

Her feet kicked up bursts of air as she slid low and sliced across his shin, then twisted mid-step and drove both daggers into the side of his ribs.

SHK!

Splat!

He bellowed and swung again, but she rolled over his arm and stabbed his back with both blades again.

SPURT!!

Blood flew, staining the sand.

But Berric didn't go down.

He grabbed her by the leg in one fluid, beastly motion and slammed her to the ground.

BAM!

Then again.

CRACK!

Then tried to lift her high to throw, but exactly at that moment, she twisted mid-air precisely, driving her heel into his nose.

CRUNCH!

His head snapped back.

She landed with a spin and slashed across his throat in one smooth motion.

Splurt!

He stumbled back, blood gushing from his neck.

A beat passed, and finally, he dropped like a tree, twitching as the crowd burst into screams.

"Winner: Lira the Windfang!!"

Blood soaked the ground beneath her boots.

She turned toward the crowd, breathing hard, blood smeared across her chin, and raised her dagger high.

The people loved it.

"That was… messy," he muttered. "She used her speed right at the end, but she should've ended it earlier."

[She was toying with him~ Makes it taste sweeter when they struggle, doesn't it?]

"…You're a fucking sadist."

[Sure.]

Gray looked away from the arena, crossing his arms as another fighter was dragged off in pieces.

He had all the information he needed now.

Every fighter in this place was out for blood, fame, or the thrill of the kill. But they lacked strategy and technique.

And those were exactly Gray's strong points.

A devilish grin formed on his lips as he looked back toward the pit.

[...What's up with that smile?]

"I simply can't wait to be the one fighting..."

[...And I'm the sadist?]

"I didn't exactly say that 'it tasted sweeter when they struggle'..." Gray retorted.

"But now that I noticed... the guy that I registered with, really mentioned that after three wins, one could get a token for the Knight Assessment..."

He frowned slighly at his thoughts.

"Either the gladiator needs a Knight Rank to participate in more battles... or... he could be one of the people my father sent to follow me, but that's really... unlikely, I made sure to erase all of my presence there."

"Only if they noticed the sword marks on the guard's body..." Gray's face darkened slighly.

Although that was a very low possibility, it could still happen.

"...Let's just hope that the man simply noticed that I didn't have a knight rank, and mentioned that to me."

[...That guy was a mere mortal, so you don't have to worry about him. Instead, there's only one person that you need to worry about in here...]

"Who?" Gray's eyes narrowed at her words.

And at that moment, Jasmine's voice purred in his ear softly.

[That little lady from before...]

Her ghostly hand pointed at a place in the crowd, where the girl who protected the others in the street could be seen looking straight at Gray.

Her gaze was fiery, but she was strangely blushing.

[She has found you~]

Jasmined teased him, but to her words, Gray simply smirked.

Because that lady could also be a way for him to get a Knight Rank much easier, after all...

She... was already charmed by him, despite her not noticing.

And Gray was the type of person to use all the things at his disposal to get whatever he wanted.