The Return Of The Exiled Villain-Chapter 279: Lyra’s Jealousy (I)

After returning to his old dorm because Lyra was planning to visit him, and he couldn't tell her that he's actually living with an Elf Princess right now...

Gray sat down on the edge of his bed and waved his hand.

"Status Panel..."

[———✵ Status Panel ✵———]

Name: Gray Vireux D'Aurélion

Titles: Vessel of Beauty & Destruction, Exiled Noble, Incubus In Human Form

Race: Human

Class: 𖤐 Villain 𖤐

Rank: Early Master Realm [Can break through at will.]

Unique Skill: [✧Swap✧]

Unique Talent: Nullification [810/1110 (1290)]

Innate Blessing: [♛ — ✧Crown of the Abyss✧ — ♛]

Active Skills: Soul Chasing Extremities [100% (Severing Pursuit)], Nine Illusionary Dream Steps [4% (9th Step)], Spirit Eyes [Great GrandMaster (38%)], Nine Heavens Thunder Claw [Great GrandMaster (Perfected)]

Passive Skills: High Mana Recovery, Parallel Mana Processing, Heightened Senses, Sinful Mind [Class], Villain's Presence [Class], Cruel Instinct [Class], Shadow of Sin [Class]

Equipment: Demon Converging Gourd (Godly), Phantom Loop Earrings (Godly), Sealed Unnamed Rapier (High Emperor), Ring of Gluttony (Early Saint), Trascendent Robe (Intermediate King)

Dimensional Storage: 1x Intermediate-grade Mutated Saint Qi Orb, 1x Low-grade Saint Qi Orb, 60x Great Grandmaster Qi Orbs, 7x Bottles of Bloodvein Poison, 6x Spirit-grade Daggers, 23x Poisoned Needleboxes, 81x Package of Essence Blood (1x Saint-level Mutant Worm Essence Blood, 3x King-level Essences, 77x Great Grandmaster Essences), 43x High-grade Spiritual Crystals, 192x Intermediate-grade Spiritual Crystals, 422x Low-grade Spiritual Crystals, 192.029x Gold Coins, 12.990x Silver Coins, and 120x Copper Coins.

Sword Spirit: Atrinae (Nine-Colored Attributeless Snake)

——+——+——+——

"Crown of the Abyss?" Gray tilted his head slighly, feeling a little strange at the name of the blessing itself.

"...Is this really the name of a blessing? Don't tell me that if I activate this blessing, an actual crown will appear hovering above my head," he joked.

Then, he quickly tapped on the blessing itself, revealing yet another panel.

[♛ — ✧Crown of the Abyss✧ — ♛]

When activated, this blessing will grant the user the following perks:

✧ Magic Attack Power will increase tenfold.

✧ Magic Resistance will increase fivefold.

✧ Immunity to all kinds of dark magic (this includes poison, witchcraft, curses...).

✧ The user's affinity with otherworldly beings, animals, etc... will increase over one hundred times.

✧ The user will be allowed to speak with Abyss.

A blessing granted by the Higher Beings of the Abyss. These beings have been looking over you since the moment you took your first step.

——+——+——+——

[...Gray. I didn't expect to say this, but this blessing is probably... more a disadvantage than an advantage.]

Gray remained silent at her words, his eyes particularly focusing on the last three phrases of the information panel.

"...It's because of the Abyss, isn't it?" he frowned slighly.

Even in the novel, Dante didn't bother to talk much about the Abyss, but when it was mentioned, it was a name that instilled fear in everything and everyone.

There was even a small comparison of the Abyss and the Nine Heavens... if the two were to fight, the Abyss only needed to send a single weak warrior, and that warrior would be enough to fight against an army of their strongest beings.

Not to mention that... It's the Higher Beings that are looking over Gray. It's not just a simple creature from there, but one of the strongest of all of them.

And also... it doesn't seem to be just one of them, but multiple.

[Yes... the Abyss is an extremely mysterious place. Even during my peak, I wouldn't dare step onto their territory.]

Jasmine sighed.

[Although I've met one of those 'Higher Beings', I must say that it wasn't exactly a pleasant exchange.]

"Tsk... I'll only use it if I truly need it," Gray clicked his tongue, laying down on his head and staring at the ceiling.

[...Well, if they are watching over you, it probably means that they don't plan on hurting you. So, it could also be an opportunity.]

"I know..."

[You could try to speak with them, since the blessing allows you to.]

Gray was also thinking about that, but the lack of information about the Abyss deeply bothered him.

"...I'll try, but not today as Lyra is probably coming over any second now," he sighed deeply.

Knock, knock!

"Speaking of the devil..." Gray closed the status panel and stood up.

He opened the door.

Lyra didn't wait for the door to open.

She stepped inside immediately, her eyes already fixed on him with a sharp intensity that made it clear she hadn't come here to linger in small talk or circle around the issue.

"You said you would explain," she said, closing the door behind her with a quiet click that seemed louder than it should have been in the stillness of the room.

Gray leaned slightly against the edge of the bed, watching her approach without any visible urgency, his expression calm in a way that almost felt deliberate.

"I did."

"Then explain."

She stopped a few steps away from him, arms folding for a moment before dropping again, like she couldn't decide whether she wanted to stay guarded or not.

'...Is she on her period?' Gray couldn't help but wonder.

In the arena, she was smiling even, but now, she had gotten mad again.

"If I had told you earlier, you would have focused on that instead of everything else," Gray started explaining.

'...You would get very jealous, and would bother me the whole day.'

Lyra's eyebrows furrowed slighly.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means you would have been thinking about who I was fighting with, who I was standing next to, who was close enough to me during the exam," he replied calmly.

"And I didn't want that in your head while you had your own fights to deal with."

She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped.

Because part of her knew he wasn't wrong.

'...That should be enough,' Gray smiled inwardly, after looking at her expression.

She averted her gaze for a second, then returned to him, still stubborn and still unwilling to let it go that easily.

"…You still should have told me."

"I know."

The answer came without resistance, without excuses, and that alone took a bit of the force out of her frustration.

Lyra exhaled quietly, her shoulders easing just a little.

"I don't like finding things out after the fact," she spoke in a softer tone, though the tension hadn't fully disappeared.

"Especially things like that."

Gray stepped closer, slowly closing the distance between them until he was standing right in front of her.

"I'll tell you next time," he stated with a faint smile.

Her eyes flickered up to meet his.

"…You better."

He reached up, his fingers brushing lightly against her cheek.

"And you came all the way here just for that?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Lyra hesitated for half a second.

"…No."

Her hand lifted, gripping the front of his shirt again, though this time there was less tension and more something else beneath it.

"I came because I was still thinking about it," she admitted, her voice dropping slightly. "And I didn't like how it felt."

Gray's thumb traced lightly along her jaw.

"Jealous?"

She held his gaze for a second.

"…Yes."

His lips curved faintly at her words.

Swoop!

Then, suddenly, she pushed him back without warning, her grip tightening as his shoulders met the wall with a dull thud, and before he could say anything else, she pulled him down and pressed her lips against his.

The kiss came fast, direct, carrying everything she hadn't put into words properly.

"Mm!"

She kissed him again, and again, more urgently this time, her breathing already uneven as her composure slipped further with each passing second.

"I don't like it…" she murmured between kisses, her forehead brushing his for a brief moment before her lips found his again.

"I don't like thinking about other girls around you… I don't like it at all…"

Gray let out a quiet breath, his hands settling at her waist as he steadied her, though he didn't interrupt her pace.

"You're overthinking it," he said softly.

"I know," she whispered, even as she kissed him again, more insistently this time.

"I still don't like it…"

Her fingers tightened in his shirt, pulling him closer like she was trying to erase the distance entirely.

"Mm… Gray…"

He shifted slightly, beginning to move, intending to turn things around and take control of the moment...

....and she reacted instantly.

Nib—!

Her teeth caught his lower lip in a sharp, sudden bite, not enough to hurt badly, but enough to stop him completely.

Gray paused.

Lyra pulled back just enough to look at him, her breathing uneven, her eyes carrying both heat and a stubborn determination.

"Don't," she warned him.

He raised an eyebrow at her words.

"I want to lead!"

There was a brief pause.

Then Gray's expression changed, his lips curling into a small smile as he relaxed back against the wall again.

"…Alright."

That was all the permission she needed.

Lyra didn't hesitate.

"Chuup!♡"

She kissed him again, more deeply this time, more confidently now that he wasn't trying to take control away from her, her hands moving from his chest to his shoulders, then back down again as if she didn't know where to settle because she wanted all of it at once.

"Mm… I missed you…" she murmured between kisses, her voice softer now, almost vulnerable beneath the intensity.

"And then I see you… and all I can think about is someone else standing next to you…"

Her lips trailed from his mouth to his jaw, then lower.

"I hate how easily I get jealous…" she admitted quietly, her breath warm against his skin. "But I don't want to stop feeling like this either…"

"Fuu..." Gray let out a low breath, his hand briefly lifting as if to move again, and she snapped her gaze up immediately.

"Don't move."

There was a pause.

Gray wanted to laugh, but held back, letting his hand fall back to his side.

Lyra didn't waste another second as her fingers tightened in his shirt

RIP!

The fabric tore open in a single rough motion, buttons snapping loose and scattering as the material split apart to reveal his chest beneath.

She froze for the briefest moment, her eyes dropping.

Then something in her expression changed as her face flushed even more.

"…You're unfair," she muttered under her breath.

And then she leaned in again, her lips pressing against his neck, slower now as her earlier frustration started melting into something far more possessive.

"Mm…"

Her kisses moved downward, her hands sliding over his torso like she was memorizing it through touch alone.

Her earlier restraint was completely gone now that she had decided what she wanted.

Gray tilted his head slightly, watching her for a moment with that same lazy look. And just to tease her, he moved again, just slightly, and her grip tightened almost instantly.

"Don't."

There was a single second of silence.

"Pffft..."

Then a quiet, low chuckle slipped from him as he let his head fall back against the wall.

"Alright."