The Return Of The Exiled Villain-Chapter 197: The Purpose Of Living

"Unfortunately, you won’t be able to beat me, Dante."

Gray muttered the words in a strange tone that was strangely seemed to be carrying a faint trace of something that almost sounded like sadness.

His dull eyes, which had been empty for so long, seemed to regain a small hint of brilliance, as if something deep inside had stirred for just a moment.

Dante gritted his teeth at his words.

He tightened his grip on the sword, and the white aura around his body surged forward, rushing toward Gray like a violent tide.

FWOOOSH!

But the moment it got close, the aura shook, twisted, and was forced back, recoiling on itself as if it had felt fear.

Pure fear.

Dante froze.

He could no longer deny it.

Gray was a being that never had the chance of being defeated.

"...How dumb am I?" Dante muttered to himself.

He had always believed in something simple.

Someone without emotions should have weak mental power.

After all, emotions were the source of will, of drive, of madness.

That was what he thought.

But he was wrong... completely wrong.

A person with no emotions was not empty because they had nothing.

They were empty because they had already lost everything.

They had seen through the world, seen through people, seen through hope and despair alike. They had felt pain again and again, so many times that pain itself lost its meaning.

When suffering never ends, it stops hurting.

It becomes normal.

It becomes silent.

An empty shell.

And yet... that shell does not break.

Because there is nothing left inside that can be shaken.

No fear to exploit.

No anger to provoke.

No love to threaten.

No despair to deepen.

The mind becomes still.

Unmoving.

Like a deep ocean with no waves. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

And because nothing could reach it anymore, nothing could destroy it.

That was why his mental power had no end.

Not because it was filled with strength, but because it had nothing left to lose.

"Don’t worry... I’ll take care of your first love."

Gray’s words reached Dante’s ears clearly.

Dante’s body stiffened.

His head lifted slowly, almost as if pulled by those words alone, and his eyes flashed with raw surprise as they locked onto Gray.

Gray... was smiling.

Not a cold, empty gesture.

...But an actual smile.

[Ding!]

[The host has destroyed the implanted Seed of Love!]

[The Shadowless Sword Art has been destroyed!]

[The Emotionless Sword Intent has been destroyed!]

[The user’s realm has dropped to the Early Master Realm!]

Drip...

A thick drop of blood fell to the ground.

And another...

Tears of blood slid down from Gray’s eyes, from his nose, from the corners of his mouth, staining his face as his body trembled under the backlash.

Yet he kept smiling.

A sincere smile, fragile and calm, as he stared straight at Dante.

"First... love?" Dante muttered, his voice hollow as he continued to stare at Gray.

Something stirred in his mind.

A memory he had buried.

A girl named... Lyra.

Not the Lyra from Gray’s world, but the Lyra from his world.

His real first love.

The one he had forgotten... yet never truly lost.

The feeling was still there, buried deep in his heart, strong enough that he had unknowingly recreated her existence through a character.

"I see..."

Dante let out a weak laugh.

"No wonder... I fell for her again, even without my memories," he said, shaking his head slowly.

Then his gaze sharpened as he looked back at Gray.

"But... are you going to be able to return to normal?"

Gray lowered his eyes, watching the blood slide down his trembling hands.

"I will... because of you."

He replied firmly; the original coldness seemed to have melted entirely from his face, containing a calmer expression instead of a cold one.

"Well..." Dante sighed softly.

"I knew I was going to die sooner or later."

If he truly believed he would live, why had he unconsciously broken up with Lyra? Why had he made sure the other Gray would never have her?

"...However," Dante continued, his tone shifting.

"I’m sorry to tell you this."

His voice turned cold as a flood of notifications appeared before his eyes.

[An unknown soul form has been detected!]

[The world’s balance has been disrupted!]

[Demonic forces will become more active.]

[Your Author’s Privilege has been erased!]

"The Demon Forces are going to grow far more active than before," Dante declared as he continued staring at the notifications.

[The world’s danger factor has increased by five times.]

"Demon Forces?" Gray’s eyes narrowed, regaining that same coldness from before.

"...The balance of this world broke because of your awakening," Dante continued as his body began to blur.

"A monster with no emotions is frightening..."

His form slowly turned into drifting wisps of white light.

"...but a monster that has them..."

His voice faded.

"...is terrifying."

Swish...

Dante vanished completely, breaking apart into countless white wisps that rushed forward and flowed into Gray’s body.

Gray closed his eyes.

He accepted them without resistance.

A violent surge of memories crashed into his mind.

[Congratulations!]

[Your soul has fused with Dante’s!]

[You have inherited the Soul Contract with Jasmine!]

[You have obtained the title: Vessel of Beauty & Destruction!]

[You have obtained the title: Incubus in Human Form!]

[You have obtained the unique talent: Nullification!]

[Ding!]

[The Clown Class has been forcefully erased by the Akashic Records!]

[All related skills have been erased from existence!]

[The Combat Intuition skill has been deleted due to the user possessing overwhelming combat experience.]

[The Emotion-Severing Technique has been completely removed from the user’s constitution.]

[The user is the first being to destroy an innate blessing!]

[Calculating rewards...]

Gray slowly opened his eyes and found himself back in the inn room.

He stared at the endless wall of notifications in front of him, and yet, he showed no surprise at all, like he had expected something like this to happen.

"...Ugh."

His hand surprisingly reached out to his chest as he actually felt his heart rate increasing with each passing second.

"Is this what it feels... to be sad?" he muttered to himself.

He truly was feeling sad because this room remembered the moment where Dante, no... himself broke up with Lyra, someone he truly loved.

"Jasmine... you truly did as you promised."

[...Is it over?]

"Yes."

[How do you feel? Have you regained your emotions...?]

"Very strange. But yes, I did regain my emotions... and I apparently inherited his as well," Gray sighed with a faint smile.

Honestly, Gray’s deal with Jasmine wasn’t for her to betray Dante, but for her not to interfere during their fight.

She always thought Gray would probably be the one to win, but she was a bit doubtful about how Gray was going to regain his emotions.

After all, when they made the deal, Jasmine asked why he suddenly wanted to get his body back, and Gray replied...

"I think I found a purpose to live."

At that time, Jasmine had asked what it was, but Gray refused to reply.

’...Now I just need to make up with Lyra. But I’m quite curious about the rewards the Akashic Records are creating for me.’

’However... there are more important things to do right now.’

Gray closed his eyes and extended his spiritual awareness. Unfortunately, since his realm had fallen to the Early Master Realm, his spiritual awareness was not as vast as before.

Even so, it was still strong enough to sense Lyra’s mana traces.

"Found her."

He opened the window leading to the balcony and jumped out, landing softly on the ground.

Then he rushed directly toward the source of Lyra’s mana traces and soon found himself approaching a small green field, where a fountain stood beside a marble pathway that led to a seating area.

"Sniff... w-why? W-why would h-he do this to me? Sniff..."

A crying voice reached his ears... no, it was more precisely to say that it reached his heart, since it directly created a faint pain in his chest.

The sound of her crying pulled him forward without giving him time to think.

Gray slowed his steps the moment he saw her.

Lyra was sitting on the edge of the fountain, her shoulders shaking as she tried, and failed, to hold back her sobs.

Her hands were pressed against her face, fingers clenched tight, as if she was afraid that if she let go, everything inside her would spill out.

Gray stopped a few steps behind her.

For the first time in a very, but very long time, he hesitated.

His chest felt tight.

He opened his mouth, and nothing came out.

The silence stretched, and Lyra slowly sensed something behind her. She stiffened, then turned her head slightly.

Her eyes met his.

For a second, she froze, and then her expression twisted.

Her eyes reddened even more, and she stood up so fast that water splashed from the fountain.

"Y-you..." Her voice cracked.

"Why are you here?"

Gray’s throat moved as he swallowed.

"I..." He paused, then forced the words out.

"I was looking for you."

Lyra laughed at his words.

"Oh? After what you said?" she snapped, tears spilling freely now. "After you told me you c-cheated on me?!"

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"Do you know how stupid I felt?" she continued, her voice trembling as her body shook slighly.

"How small? I kept thinking I did something wrong. I kept replaying everything in my head, wondering when I stopped being enough for you."

Gray hesitated once again.

Two times in a row.

But then... he realized something that caused his whole demeanour to change instantly. After all... he was acting based on his emotions, but if he didn’t...

The whole result would be different.

[Phew... I almost thought you would turn into a love idiot, but thankfully, you didn’t.]

Jasmine sighed in relief the instant his demeanour changed, almost causing Gray to laugh, but he didn’t; after all, he was facing the girlfriend he broke up with today.

And so...

His lips parted slighly, as a faint smile appeared on his lips.

[The Blessing of Beauty has been activated to the maximum!]

[The Authority of 『Beauty』is taking effect...]

"Lyra," he called softly, her name leaving his lips just before he dropped to one knee.

The familiar posture made Lyra’s eyes widen, her breath hitching as she struggled to guess what Gray was about to do.

It was then that she realized the hypnotic rings she had once loved, and now hated, had completely vanished from Gray’s eyes.

All that remained were his black irises, which, for the first time since she had known him, looked truly empty.

But now...

They held a warm brilliance that made her face flush the moment she met his gaze.