The Return Of The Exiled Villain-Chapter 189: A Trip To The City Of Sword & Magic (VI)

Chapter 189: A Trip To The City Of Sword & Magic (VI)
[
Gray...
]
’Shut up! If I had trusted you, Lyra would’ve probably be dead by now!’ he snapped inwardly, ignoring completely whatever she was trying to say.
[
...
]
He kept walking toward the exit when he suddenly felt Lyra shifting slightly in his arms, prompting him to look at her.
"...Gray?"
The voice was faint, and yet made him stop on his tracks, and put all of his attention on her.
Lyra’s eyelashes fluttered, her brow knitting as consciousness slowly returned. Her fingers twitched first, then curled weakly into his clothes as if afraid he would vanish if she let go.
"...Gray...?" she whispered again, her voice coming out hoarse.
"You’re awake," he breathed out in relief.
Her eyes finally opened, unfocused at first, then slowly locked onto his face. For a second, she just stared, then her lips trembled.
"I-I thought..." Her voice cracked.
"I thought I was going to die..."
She shifted clumsily in his arms, pressing her face against his chest, arms wrapping around him with far more strength than her condition suggested.
"I couldn’t find you," she murmured, words spilling out between shallow breaths.
"I kept walking, and walking, and everything looked the same... I heard your voice, but every time I followed it, it disappeared. Then those things..."
Her body shook.
"I was so scared," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I thought I’d never see you again."
Gray tightened his hold without realizing it, one hand moving to the back of her head, his fingers threading gently through her hair.
"I’m here," he muttered in a comforting tone.
"You’re safe now."
She nodded against him, clutching him like a lifeline.
"I missed you," she admitted softly. "So much. I didn’t care about the test anymore. I just wanted to find you."
His expression softened slighly.
The last stretch of the forest passed in silence after that, broken only by Lyra’s breathing slowly evening out and the distant sound of wind moving through the thinning trees.
After a while... they finally stepped out of the mist.
The Forest of Nightmares ended abruptly, as if someone had drawn a line through reality.
The oppressive air instantly vanished, replaced by open space and clear ground.
"Gray!"
Selene’s voice rang out.
He lifted his head.
The rest of the group stood near the edge of the forest: Selene, Selina, Leon, Adrian, Ronan, Katia, Lira, Claire, Maelis, Cassandra, every single one of them.
All looking at him, but then their gazes dropped to the person on his arms.
To Lyra.
"...Gray...?" someone called out slowly.
His heart skipped as he heard someone step forward.
"...Gray?"
That voice.
Gray’s blood ran cold as he slowly turned his head, and standing a few meters away from the group... was Lyra.
Another Lyra.
Her eyes were wide, fixed on him.
"...Why are you holding... me?" she asked softly.
Time stopped.
Gray’s mind went blank for exactly half a second.
But just then, his body moved before thought could catch up.
He released his arms.
The Lyra he had been carrying was thrown away, landing hard on the ground with a dull thud.
"Gray?!" Selene shouted.
Fwoop!
Mana exploded beneath his feet as he dashed backward, creating distance in a second.
He stopped far from the group, back pressed against a broken stone outcrop, his eyes snapping between the two identical figures.
"Agh... Gray, why did you drop..." Her voice broke mid-sentence.
The Lyra standing beside the group froze, her eyes locking onto the other Lyra, who was slowly getting back on her feet.
The two of them stared at each other.
Same face, same hair, same trembling breath... and the same familiar mana signature that made Gray’s chest tighten painfully.
"...That’s me," the Lyra beside the group said first, her voice shaking.
"That’s not funny. Gray, that thing..."
The other Lyra laughed softly.
"Don’t be stupid," she replied, brushing dirt from her knees as she stood upright. "She’s the fake. Can’t you feel it? That wrongness?"
Gray didn’t answer.
His gaze flicked between them, scanning every detail, whether that was their posture, breathing, micro-movements, or mana flow.
They were identical.
Perfectly...
"Gray," the Lyra beside the group took a step forward, panic creeping into her tone.
"You carried me out of the forest. You saw me hurt. You heard me cry. You know it’s me."
The other Lyra stepped forward as well.
"No," she stated firmly.
"That’s exactly why she’s the fake. The forest feeds on guilt and attachment. It gives you what you want to see."
She looked at Gray, her eyes revealing a soft and pleading look.
"Gray... remember that time we trained together? You wrapped my hand because I burned it trying to conjure the Lightning Snake spell. You told me I was ’reckless but earnest.’ You laughed."
Gray’s jaw tightened.
The Lyra beside the group sucked in a sharp breath.
"...I remember that too," she added quickly.
"And you said it while pretending not to care, but you were smiling. You always do that little thing with your mouth when you’re lying."
She mimicked it unconsciously.
Exactly right.
"T-this is messed up..." Ronan swallowed hard
"Gray...?" Selene’s fingers twitched near her weapon.
The Lyra who had been carried took another step closer.
"Gray, you promised me. After the date. After the circus. You said... even if you were sent away, you’d come back. You said I didn’t need to be afraid."
Her voice cracked.
"I believed you."
The other Lyra’s eyes widened in genuine shock.
"...I said that," she whispered.
"Word for word."
She turned to Gray desperately.
"And you teased me right after. You said I was getting sentimental. Then you kissed me to shut me up."
Gray’s fingers curled slowly into his palm.
That was true.
Both of them were true.
"Gray," both of them spoke at the same time.
He flinched.
"Look at me," the Lyra beside the group pleaded, tears forming. "You know me. I’m not afraid of you when you look like that. I always get closer instead."
She stepped forward boldly.
The other Lyra also stepped forward.
"And I always hesitate," she said quietly. "Because I know that look means you’re about to do something dangerous."
She stopped one step short.
’...Fuck! They’re both perfectly identical! It’s like their twins or something!’ Gray groaned inwardly.
Everything matched together, even the tiny tremble in their fingers when they were nervous... the same.
’Huff... calm down and think! Details! There are always details!’
He focused harder.
The way Lyra stood when she was scared, she usually leaned forward just a little, like she was ready to run or cling. But both of them did that now.
When she lied, her eyes tended to blink too many times.
But neither of them blinked.
’This is bullshit.’
His fingers twitched, his threads threatening to slip free without his command.
’Think about memories. Reactions.’
But that was the problem.
Every memory they spoke of was correct. Every reaction was something Lyra would genuinely have.
Fear, trust, or love.
Even the tiny anger she tried to hide when she thought he was being reckless.
"Can we simply go already? Just try your luck and kill one of them."
Suddenly, Cassandra’s voice reached out to him, causing him to stare at her for a slight moment.
But at that same slight moment, one of Lyra’s expressions changed slighly, just for the slight moment.
A hint of jealousy...
"...Found you."
Clink!
His threads instantly tightened around the neck of the Lyra that he had thrown off his arms early, lifting her off the ground before she could even gasp.
"Arghh, uagh..." Her hands flew to her neck, nails scraping uselessly against invisible strands.
Gray stepped forward and then lightly moved his fingers.
Grip!
The threads twisted.
Crack!
A sharp, sickening crack echoed through the clearing.
Her body went limp.
For half a second, she still looked like Lyra, with her eyes wide, mouth parted, and hair falling over her face.
Then her skin began to pale unnaturally.
The warmth drained from her frame as her form collapsed inward, bones shifting, flesh warping, until the illusion shattered completely.
What fell to the ground was no longer Lyra.
A completely white humanoid creature lay there instead, its elongated nails retracting as its body broke apart, turning brittle, then crumbling into fine gray ash.
The wind picked it up.
Swish...
The remains scattered upward, dissolving into the mist as if it had never existed.
"GRAY!"
The real Lyra launched herself at him.
Her arms wrapped around his neck with desperate strength, her body trembling violently as she buried her face into his shoulder.
"I-I really thought I was going to die," she choked, fingers digging into his clothes.
"I was so desperate! I thought you wouldn’t be able to see that I was the real one..."
Gray caught her without a word, holding her tightly, his hand pressing firmly against her back as if to reassure himself she was real.
"...You’re safe now," he muttered quietly.
Behind them, the rest of the group finally exhaled.
Selene wiped her brow, and Ronan slumped onto a rock. Even Leon let his shoulders drop, tension easing from his posture.
The only reason he was so tensed up was because his necklace didn’t seem to affect both of the Lyras, and he knew how important she actually was...
The others looked equally relieved.
"Tsk," Cassandra merely looked away, clicking her tongue softly.