Chapter 175: A Little Annoyance

“Ugh… what the hell happened…?”

Gray groaned as he sat up, one hand pressed against his aching head. His vision swam for a brief moment before focusing on the familiar ceiling above him.

“…My dormitory?”

He looked around slowly, confirming it.

“Jasmine, do you know what happened?” he muttered, rubbing his temples.

[…No.]

Her voice sounded hesitant.

[But the other Gray may have taken control of your body.]

Gray’s expression darkened instantly.

“That bastard!!!”

His fist clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.

“He always interrupts me when I’m in the middle of something important!” he snapped. “And now the artifact is on cooldown for an entire month!”

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“…Fuck.”

He shifted on the bed, forcing himself upright, then glanced toward the wall where the academy calendar hung.

His eyes narrowed.

“…He even attended the Seven Stars Ball?” Gray clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Tsk… did he at least seduce someone?”

He scanned the room instinctively, half-expecting to find a card, a token, something left behind…. some trace of the other Gray’s usual mess.

Nothing.

That was when it hit him.

“…Right.”

They weren’t on the same side anymore.

“Huff…” Gray exhaled slowly, trying to control the huge amount of irritation that was flowing through his head.

“…Status!”

[———✵ Status Panel ✵———]

Name: Gray Vireux D’Aurélion [2]

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

Race: Human (?)

Class: [✧ Clown (High) ✧]

Rank: Early Grandmaster

Unique Skill: [✧Swap✧]

Unique Talent: Nullification [200/200]

Active Skills: Puppet Strings (Class), Madman’s Mirror (Class), Nine Illusionary Dream Steps [0% (9th Step)], Dimensional Storage

Passive Skills: Blessing of Beauty (Vessel Skill), Laughing Veil (Class), Combat Intuition

Ultimate Skills: Final Masquerade (Class)

——+——+——+——

Gray stared at the panel, and almost immediately, his eyes widened.

“Oh?”

His lips curved into a wide grin.

“I actually broke through to the Grandmaster realm?” he exclaimed in pure excitement.

“Doesn’t that mean that my combat power has perhaps reached the same level as Great Grandmaster-level powerhouses now?”

Hearing his words, Jasmine went quiet for a moment.

She thought of the other Gray.

That version of him had already crushed an intermediate King-level beast as if it were nothing. He had crossed boundaries that shouldn’t have been possible.

He had done something unheard of.

Despite being only in the Master Realm, he had formed his own Sword Intent, something that even most Emperor-level powerhouses struggled to achieve.

So compared to him… the Early Greatmaster realm was mediocre at best.

“Ah… the semester’s over.” Gray exhaled softly.

He glanced at the calendar again, confirming it.

“Two whole weeks of free time, huh…” His lips curved faintly.

“Should I go meet Lyra?”

For once, he genuinely wasn’t in the mood to train.

After being trapped for over two years in that damned dungeon, he obviously wanted to do something fun other than fighting.

“…It’s currently morning, so maybe she’s in the cafeteria?” he pondered, before deciding to take a quick path and get dressed.

Then, he headed out of the dormitory and walked towards the cafeteria, where he hoped Lyra would be.

“HEY, YOU!!!”

But unfortunately for him, before he could get closer to the cafeteria, a voice called out to him, interrupting his peaceful walk.

“What?” he asked flatly, clearly irritated by the interruption.

“HOW DARE YOU REFUSE OUR PRESIDENT’S REQUEST?!”

Fwip!

A dagger screamed through the air toward him.

Gray reacted instantly.

He stepped sharply to the right, his body twisting as he narrowly avoided the blade.

The dagger sliced past where his head had been a moment earlier and buried itself in the ground with a dull thud.

Before the echo faded, Gray extended his hand.

Thin, nearly invisible strings spread outward in all directions, weaving around him in a dense web.

His eyes narrowed instantly.

“Why the fuck are you attacking me?” Gray exclaimed, clearly annoyed.

“Don’t play dumb, fucker!”

Two figures stepped forward aggressively, hostility clear in their posture.

[…They are probably… guys that are in love with that president.’]

Jasmine spoke, to which Gray nodded as he was thinking about the same thing. But deep down, he was a little annoyed.

Why had Cecilia come to talk with the other Gray?!

Did he do something during the meantime to get her attention?!

The idea that the other Gray might have been better. more impressive, or more desirable than himself, made something dark coil in his chest.

And now these two idiots stood in front of him, projecting their frustration onto the wrong target.

A dense, chilling bloodlust leaked from Gray’s body, spreading outward like an invisible wave. The air around him seemed to thicken, pressure crashing down onto the two attackers.

The students nearby felt it instantly.

Their conversations died mid-sentence, and some people instinctively stepped back, sensing danger before their minds could process it.

For once, they had remembered that the academy allowed killing. It had simply been peaceful lately because no one had felt the need to kill someone.

…Until now, that is.

He stepped forward.

The threads around him tightened, almost invisible as they stretched outward, clinging to walls, pillars, ceilings, anchoring themselves like a spider claiming its web.

The two attackers stiffened.

“Don’t just stand there, kill him!” The one on the left snarled.

Instantly, both of them lunged towards Gray.

“[✧Swap✧]”

Space twisted for a fraction of a second.

The assassin on the right suddenly found himself behind his ally, his forward stab plunging straight toward his companion’s back.

“—?!”

Gray reappeared above them, already moving.

Fwip!

Threads snapped downward.

They wrapped around wrists, ankles, and throats, causing thin lines to cut into flesh as the attackers desperately tried to pull away.

One of them slashed wildly, his blade scraping sparks off the stone wall as he severed several threads.

“Slow…”

Gray landed lightly, his foot slamming into the man’s knee.

Crack!

“AAAAAGH—!”

The leg bent the wrong way.

The man collapsed, screaming, but Gray didn’t even look at him.

He was already gone again.

“[✧Swap✧]”

The second attacker felt the world flip.

One moment, he was charging forward, but the next one, he was standing where Gray had been, directly in front of his fallen ally.

Gray appeared behind him.

Fwip!

A thread was directly tightened around his throat, enough to kill, but Gray decided to torture them a little, as they had annoyed him quite a lot.

And with this, Gray yanked the strings hard.

BAAM!

The man flew backward, smashing into the wall hard enough to rattle the entire hallway. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he slid down, gasping.

Students were watching now.

Some backed away in fear.

Others watched with wide eyes.

This was the academy they remembered.

The attacker with the broken leg tried to crawl away, fingers clawing desperately at the floor; however, Gray slowly walked towards him before stepping on his back.

Creack!

The floor cracked beneath the pressure.

“You wanted a fight,” Gray said coldly.

“So don’t crawl away.”

Fwip, fwip, fwip!

Threads pierced into the stone around them, forming a tightening circle. The hallway itself became part of the trap, walls, ceiling, and floor all stitched together by Gray’s control.

“DIEEEEEEE!”

The second attacker roared and surged forward again, veins bulging as he poured mana into his body.

Gray smiled darkly.

“Good.”

The man swung both daggers in a cross aimed at Gray’s neck.

Gray didn’t dodge.

“[✧Swap✧]”

They switched places mid-swing.

The attacker’s own blades tore into the stone wall instead, embedding themselves deep. Before he could react, threads wrapped around his arms and yanked them outward.

Rip!

Shoulders dislocated with sickening pops.

“GAAAAARGHHHH!”

The scream that followed echoed down the hallway.

Gray raised his hand and tightened the strings before pulling them again.

Rustle!

The two attackers were dragged toward the center of the hallway, bodies lifting slightly off the ground as the web converged.

Threads dug into skin, drawing blood in thin lines, binding tighter with every second.

Step, step…

Gray slowly walked towards them, hoping to torture them since his rage hadn’t subsided yet. And how could he waste such a good opportunity?

“You think refusing a request gives you the right to try and kill me?” he asked quietly.

“You think you’re protecting someone?”

He stopped in front of them.

“Pathetic.”

One of them spat blood onto the floor.

“Go to hell!”

Gray raised his hand slightly.

Fwip!

Threads snapped inward.

“AAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHH!”

The man screamed as the pressure increased, bones creaking, ribs compressing.

“…Boring,” Gray sighed.

There was no point in playing around anymore, so he decided that it would be time to finish it, but just as he was about to increase the sharpness of the strings…

“GRAY, STOP!”

The voice cut through the hallway like a blade.

Everything froze.

The threads halted mid-motion.

Gray’s eyes widened just slightly as he turned his head, just to see Lyra, standing at the end of the hallway.

Her chest rose and fell quickly, her mesmerizing golden eyes fixed on him, not angry, but actually worried about him.

Students parted instinctively around her, giving her a clear path.

“…Tsk,” he clicked his tongue before letting them go.

“You guys are lucky today.”

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