Chapter 72: Practical Dungeon Exam (V)

“Fine! You win! But if you save u, you can’t tell a soul about this. Not a single person!” Mira finally agreed, snapping at him.

“And you’ll make sure we get a good grade. You’re not dragging us down with you,” Selina added coldly.

Gray tilted his head, his expression thoughtful.

For a second, it looked like he might accept…

“Hah.”

But then, his smile returned, lazy but cruel.

“…That’s it? A kiss for those two conditions? Isn’t it a little too unfair for me?”

“KRIIIIIIII!”

One of the monsters screeched, the sound echoing through the cave.

The girls flinched as the beast’s claws scraped against the ceiling, threads cutting into its limbs.

“Let’s add something more so it is fair for both sides…” Gray narrowed slighly as he looked at them.

“Three kisses… and maybe a little squeezing.”

“What?!” Mira’s face flushed, her voice breaking into a furious shout.

“You sick bastard!”

Selina’s hands trembled at her sides, water dripping from her fingertips.

“Over my dead body!”

Gray sneered at their words, playing around his strings slighly.

“What’s the matter? A kiss is harder than death for you? The last condition is hard to guarantee anyway…”

His eyes turned slighly colder.

“There are too many strong students, making it very hard to get good grades with such high competition.”

“You’re disgusting. You’re clearly very powerful, yet you’re using your damned power to mock us while we’re fighting for our lives!” Mira’s lips trembled, her anger mixing with shame.

“If you think that makes you superior, you’re clearly wrong!” Selina scoffed.

At the same time, Claire hadn’t said a word. Her fists glowed faintly with fire, but her body shook.

She glanced at the beasts twisting helplessly in the air, then at Gray.

Gray tugged one finger.

CRACK!

One monster’s neck snapped sideways with a sickening sound. Its scream cut short, the body jerking as blood sprayed onto the stone.

The three girls screamed in reflex.

Their spells collapsed in their hands.

Gray leaned back against the corpse mound, resting his chin on his palm, eyes half-lidded.

“Tick, tock. Every second you stall, the more the darkspaws will get hungry.”

Mira’s throat closed.

“Say something! Tell him no! Tell him he’s insane!” She turned on Claire and shouted.

Claire froze, her lips trembling.

“Don’t you dare agree to this! Don’t even think about it, Claire!” Selina’s voice broke.

Claire looked down at her trembling hands, fire sputtering between her fingers.

“…You don’t get it.”

“What?”

Mira’s eyes widened.

Claire lifted her head, eyes shining with panic and shame.

“I don’t want to die. I don’t care how disgusting it is. I don’t… I don’t want to die here.” Her voice cracked as she forced the words out.

Silence hit the cave, broken only by the shrieks of the trapped monsters.

Mira and Selina stared at her like she’d just betrayed them.

“You can’t mean that,” Mira whispered, her voice shaking.

“Claire… you’d give in to this?” Selina’s jaw dropped, her voice trembling with rage.

Claire’s face twisted, her tears shone in the firelight as she shouted back.

“What else do you want me to say?! We’re surrounded, we’re injured, low on mana, and he’s the only one holding them back! You think pride will keep us alive?!”

Mira staggered, her anger collapsing into fear and shame. Selina clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms.

Gray watched all of it calmly, and then, slowly, his smirk returned.

“…Now that sounds like an honest answer.”

He twisted another finger. The beasts jerked violently in the air, their screams echoing through the cavern.

“So… what will it be?”

Claire’s lips quivered.

She bit down hard, her teeth almost breaking skin. And finally, with a shaky breath, she was the first one to answer:

“…Fine. I’ll do it.”

Mira’s eyes went wide.

“Claire—!”

But before she could finish, Selina snapped, her voice raw with fury.

“Goddammit! Fine too! I’ll do it!” She glared at Gray with a burning hatred, her whole body shaking.

“But don’t you dare think this means you’ve won. I’ll never forgive you for this.”

“Ah… such sweet words. Spoken through gritted teeth.” Gray tilted his head at her words, that mocking smirk playing on his lips.

“Go to hell,” Selina spat.

And finally… Mira also followed up.

“I-I… will also agree with your conditions…,” she clenched her fists tightly, trembling with shame.

As soon as she said those words…

Fwip!

Gray pulled the strings.

SPLURT!

And the cavern shook shortly after.

KRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

The trapped beasts shrieked as their heads burst like ripe fruit, black blood spraying across the stone.

Skulls cracked, jaws tore free, and in one terrifying instant, the horde collapsed.

Heads rolled across the ground, thumping one after another. Limbs twitched, wings flapped weakly, until silence swallowed the cave.

The girls froze.

Their eyes went wide at how quickly Gray had dealt with all of the monsters.

“Hup…!”

Gray stood now, brushing the blood from his shoulder as if it were nothing.

Threads snapped loose behind him, fading into the air.

“Good girls. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He looked at them calmly, his face having a strangely normal smile.

“…You’re disgusting!”

“…I hate you.”

Claire… couldn’t meet his eyes. She stared down at the bloody floor, her voice barely audible.

“…I’m alive…”

The three girls looked at Gray tensely.

“Fine. Just… do it quickly and get it over with.”

Mira was the first to speak. At the same time, Selina’s face twisted with utter disgust, but she nodded stiffly.

“…Don’t drag it out. Just finish it.”

Claire simply hugged her arms around herself, saying nothing; her silence was more of an answer than words.

Gray only glanced at them once, then casually walked past, his boots crunching over scattered bones and wet stone.

He didn’t even slow down.

“Keke~”

A small laugh slipped from him.

The girls quickly turned around with a confused expression.

Gray raised a hand and wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye, his shoulders shaking as though he had just heard the best joke of his life.

“Your faces were so damn funny,” he laughed.

Their cheeks flushed, not with shyness, but with a heat that came from humiliation and anger.

“I’ll take my reward whenever I want. You girls don’t have to worry about it…” Gray turned slightly, flashing them a mysterious smile over his shoulder.

But this was just another of his little games… keeping the girls guessing about when he might finally kiss them, deliberately drawing them into a quiet suspense that made them inevitably think of him.

“…That bastard. He planned this. I swear he did.” Mira clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms.

Selina’s face was pale, but her eyes burned with anger.

“He’s playing with us… like we’re toys.” She grit her teeth hard enough that it almost hurt.

“I’d rather die than let him—”

“Don’t.” Claire’s voice cut through, soft but sharp.

Both Mira and Selina turned on her instantly.

“Don’t? Claire, he just—”

“—Are you out of your damn mind? You were the first one to agree! You were ready to—” Selina snapped

“—I don’t want to die!” Claire’s voice finally broke, loud and trembling.

Her hands shook as she hugged herself tighter, her knuckles white.

“I don’t care how disgusting he is, I don’t care what he asks… I-I don’t want to die here!”

The cave fell silent again, only the faint drip of water echoing against stone.

Mira bit down on her lip so hard she tasted iron. Selina closed her eyes, breathing through her nose, her whole body stiff like a bow pulled too tight.

“…He’s a villain,” Mira whispered harshly, her eyes glistening though no tears fell.

“A damned villain. And he knows it.”

Selina looked coldly at his back.

“A villain that was exiled from his family… an fucking Exiled Villain.”

At their words, Gray remained silent, walking ahead.

[…Exiled Villain, huh? That title suits you.]

“Really? I think ’Banished’ would be more… pleasing to the eye,” Gray muttered, glancing lazily around the cavern.

[Mhmn…]

“Oh? What is this?”

He stopped before a boulder half-buried in the ground, its surface carved with a faintly glowing symbol.

“A rune!” Selina gasped, rushing up behind him.

Once she saw the rune, her eyes widened.

“A light rune!”

She crouched to study it, brushing dust from the grooves. The glow brightened beneath her fingertips.

“It really is one,” she said, excitement flashing across her face.

But when she noticed Gray’s bored gaze, her voice faltered, and she coughed lightly.

“…Light runes are extremely rare. They’ve been lost for centuries. They repel dark creatures, which makes sense here… this dungeon belongs to a dark species.”

Gray raised an eyebrow at her words.

“…So what sort of monster would need a light rune to keep it in check?” From behind, Mira’s voice chimed in.

“Hey… I think we shouldn’t get close to this thing…”

Claire shifted uneasily, not liking the direction of the conversation.

However, Gray quickly reached out and lightly touched the rock.

“Why don’t we find out?” His faint smile teased them.

“NOOO!”

Selina shrieked.

“…”

Gray’s jaw tightened as he said coldly:

“…You dumb bitch.”

KRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

The cavern shook with a chorus of shrill screeches.

Shadows writhed as dozens of darkspawn poured from every crack in the walls, claws scraping stone, eyes burning with hunger.

In the blink of an eye, Gray and the three girls were surrounded. And this time, Gray had no preparation whatsoever.

[…As they say, women truly are the downfall of men.]

’Aren’t you a woman?’

[…And?]

’…Forget it.’

Gray exhaled slowly, his black eyes dimming to an eerie gleam as he flexed his fingers.

His outline blurred, his form shifting as his presence thickened like smoke.

“…Time for a show~.”

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