Chapter 479: The Upper Realm (V)

And so, he turned toward Scarlett and Elira.

"Wait here for a moment."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"To take care of something."

Before either princess had the opportunity to question him further, Gray disappeared.

Neither of them had seen him move.

...

The six students from White Sun Academy were already preparing to leave.

Their leader had finished inspecting the stone slab and was discussing their next destination with the student carrying the golden detection device.

"We’ll return to the outpost and report our findings. Once we have someone capable of understanding the formation, we’ll come back with a larger group."

One of the combat specialists nodded.

"Understood. We should hurry, though. If the other academies find this place before us, we’ll lose our advantage."

"Agreed. Pack everything."

The students began gathering their equipment.

Then...

FWIP!

A silver flash passed through the air.

The student standing nearest to the fallen pillar suddenly froze.

His eyes widened.

A thin red line appeared across his throat.

For a brief moment, he seemed unable to understand what had happened. Then his body tilted backward, and blood spilled across the ground as he collapsed.

THUDD!

"Eh...?"

The student beside him turned.

Before he could finish speaking, another flash crossed his vision.

SHING!

His head snapped sideways as Gray’s rapier passed through his defensive mana, cutting across his neck.

The second student fell.

Two seconds had passed, and yet two students had already died.

The remaining four immediately released their auras.

"ENEMY ATTACK!"

"WHERE?!"

Their leader spun around, releasing a powerful wave of mana as he searched the surrounding area.

But there was no time to locate the attacker.

Gray was already among them.

BOOM!

His foot struck the ground, and his body shot forward.

The first combat specialist barely managed to raise his sword before Gray appeared in front of him.

The rapier struck the sword’s flat, redirecting the weapon away from its intended position before continuing toward the man’s chest.

CLANG!

The swordsman managed to reinforce his defense at the last possible moment.

The silver blade pierced through the outer layer of his mana barrier, but the protection held long enough to prevent a fatal strike.

His eyes widened.

’He’s stronger than I expected!’

He immediately pushed backward, gathering all his mana into his sword before releasing a violent slash.

KRAAASH!

A crescent of golden energy swept through the air.

Gray tilted his head.

The attack passed beside his face, cutting through the pillar behind him.

Before the swordsman could recover, Gray’s left hand appeared against his chest.

THUDD!

A concentrated burst of force sent the man crashing backward. His body struck the ground, leaving a deep impression in the dirt.

"Kurgh! Spit...!"

He coughed up blood.

At the same time, Gray was already moving toward the next target.

The remaining students were finally beginning to understand what was happening.

This wasn’t an ordinary ambush.

Their opponent had appeared without warning, killed two members of their group within seconds, and forced their strongest combat specialist onto the ground before anyone had managed to coordinate a proper response.

"PROTECT THE LEADER!"

One of them shouted.

The student carrying the golden device immediately retreated, while the second combat specialist stepped forward and unleashed a defensive technique.

KRRRSH!

A thick wall of golden mana appeared between Gray and the remaining students.

Gray looked at the barrier and raised his hand.

"Nullification"

[-20 Soul Points...]

The barrier disappeared, as if it simply ceased to exist.

The second combat specialist’s eyes widened.

"...What?"

Gray stepped through the space where the barrier had been.

SWISH!

His rapier pierced the man’s abdomen.

The swordsman looked down, his mouth opening as blood spilled from his lips. He tried to raise his weapon, but Gray twisted his wrist and pulled the blade free.

"Splurrgh...!"

Thump...!

The man collapsed.

Another student immediately attempted to escape.

"...[Swap]."

He had barely taken three steps when Gray appeared behind him.

SHING!

The silver blade passed through his defensive mana and struck his back.

He fell face-first into the dirt.

Five seconds later, another student tried to activate a spatial movement artifact.

A faint blue circle appeared beneath his feet before quickly vanishing.

Gray didn’t even turn around.

"Nullification."

[- 120 Soul Points...]

The student stared at the empty circle.

"...What?"

Gray’s rapier flashed.

SPLURT!

His body collapsed beside the others.

The entire confrontation had taken less than half a minute.

And yet, the strongest student among the group was still standing.

The leader.

The young man stood several meters away, his expression frozen as he stared at the bodies scattered across the ground.

For several seconds, he didn’t move.

Then...

"Kekeke..."

A strange laugh escaped his throat.

It grew louder.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

He threw his head backward, laughing so hard that his shoulders shook.

Gray turned toward him.

The leader wiped the corner of his eye.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

He looked at the bodies of his companions and then back at Gray.

"You killed them! You actually killed all of them!"

His laughter continued.

Scarlett and Elira, who had followed Gray from a distance after seeing him disappear, stopped several meters away.

Neither princess spoke.

They had expected Gray to deal with the students, but the speed and brutality of the attack had caught them off guard.

Even with the considerable difference in cultivation, his movements had been almost impossible to follow.

He had not given the students time to coordinate, and whenever someone managed to raise a defensive technique, Gray had removed the obstacle and continued attacking.

There was no hesitation.

No unnecessary movements.

And no sign of emotion.

Scarlett glanced at Elira.

The silver-haired princess had lost her earlier playful expression.

Both of them turned toward Gray.

He stood in the middle of the ruined clearing, his rapier held loosely in his right hand. A few drops of blood slid down the silver blade before falling to the ground.

His face was calm.

Almost completely expressionless.

The only noticeable change was in his eyes.

His crimson pupils carried an unmistakable killing intent, so concentrated that even the two princesses felt an uncomfortable chill running down their spines.

For the first time since arriving in the Upper Plane, they were seeing Gray without his usual teasing smile.

And neither of them found the sight particularly reassuring.

Scarlett’s fingers tightened slightly.

’...This side of him.’

She remembered his confrontation with her in the Demon Capital, when he had released a little of his killing intent to frighten her.

This was different.

Back then, he had deliberately allowed her to feel his pressure.

Now, he looked as though killing the six students had been nothing more than an ordinary task.

Elira swallowed.

She had seen people die before. Her family was a royal demon family, and bloodshed was hardly unfamiliar to her.

But Gray’s expression disturbed her.

He wasn’t angry, excited, or even particularly interested in the people he had killed.

He simply looked at the remaining target.

The leader noticed the two princesses as well.

His laughter became even louder.

"HAHAHAHA! You brought companions too? Excellent! Excellent!"

He reached into his storage ring and pulled out a small black object. It resembled a metallic disc, with several crimson runes carved along its surface.

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s an emergency transmission device."

Elira immediately understood.

It was an artifact designed to summon assistance or transport its user away from danger.

Such items were expensive, but Upper World academies regularly distributed them to students participating in dangerous expeditions.

The leader held the device between his fingers.

"Do you know what this is?"

He grinned at Gray.

"An emergency escape artifact. Even if you killed every one of my companions, you wouldn’t be able to touch me! The moment I activate this, I’ll be sent back to my academy, and the instructors will know exactly what happened here!"

Click...!

He pressed his thumb against the central rune.

Nothing happened.

The leader frowned.

Click...!

He pressed again.

Still nothing.

"...Huh?"

He turned the device around, checking the markings.

The crimson runes remained dark.

He poured Mana into the artifact... but nothing happened.

His expression slowly changed.

"Wait... Why isn’t it working?"

He tried again, this time injecting even more energy.

The device remained completely inactive.

Gray looked at him.

His expression hadn’t changed.

The leader’s smile disappeared.

"Y-You... What did you do?"

Gray tilted his head.

"Me?"

He glanced at the artifact in the man’s hand.

"Perhaps you should try pressing harder."

The leader’s breathing became erratic.

He activated his spiritual sense, examining the artifact for damage. The formation inside was intact, its runes were undamaged, and the stored energy remained untouched.

Yet the artifact refused to respond.

He couldn’t understand it.

He had seen the attacker move, had seen his companions die, and had watched him remove defensive barriers as though they were nothing.

But an emergency artifact was different.

It was designed to function independently, and its spatial transmission formation had been sealed against most external interference.

How did the person in front of him disable it?

The leader looked up.

Gray was already walking toward him.

Step...

Step...

Step...

The sound of his footsteps seemed unusually clear in the silent clearing.

"STAY BACK!"

The leader raised his weapon, desperately gathering Mana around his body.

Gray didn’t stop.

"I SAID STAY BACK!"

The man tried activating the emergency device one final time.

Click, click!

Nothing.

His face turned pale.

Gray finally stopped a short distance away.

He looked at the artifact, then at the terrified man holding it.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Fucking moron."

SWIP!

The leader’s eyes widened.

A silver line flashed through the air.

SPLURT!

Blood sprayed across the stones.

The man’s weapon slipped from his fingers as his body collapsed, joining the others on the ground.

Silence returned to the Ashen Vale.

Gray flicked his rapier once, removing the blood from its blade, before sliding it back into its sheath.

He looked at the bodies.

Then at the disabled emergency artifact.

’What a waste of a perfectly good device.’

[- 1982 Soul Points...]

Gray glanced at the notification before dismissing it.

[You do realize those two princesses witnessed everything, don’t you?]

’Of course.’

He turned around.

Scarlett and Elira were still standing where they had stopped.

Neither looked particularly frightened, but both had become noticeably more cautious.

Gray smiled at them.

"Well, that’s taken care of. Shall we return to the entrance?"