Chapter 110: Two Weeks Break [X]
A few days had passed since that night.
The academy’s island was still alive with laughter and noise, students running along the sand, waves crashing gently against the shore, the cries of gulls echoing faintly in the wind.
But for Gray, all of it sounded distant.
Like an echo from a world he didn’t quite belong to.
He sat on a large rock near the far end of the beach, cigarette lazily resting between his fingers, the smoke curling upward and vanishing into the salty air.
His gaze stayed fixed on the horizon, calm, unreadable, yet heavy with something that refused to leave.
"...Dammit...."
The ember glowed red as he took another drag, exhaling a long, slow stream of smoke. The wind pushed it away before it could reach his face.
In the reflection of the water below, he could almost see her again, that night, standing by the balcony, clutching the towel, her cheeks flushed as those wide golden eyes locked with his.
The silence after he said it still haunted him.
I like you.
The words had come out of nowhere.
They had just... escaped.
And the moment he saw the shock in her eyes, he knew he’d made a mistake.
So he did what he always did best.
He ran away.
Since that night, Lyra had tried to find him again, by the training fields, in the cafeteria, even outside the inn.
Every time she called his name, her voice filled with confusion and hurt. Every time, he vanished before she could reach him.
Sometimes he’d catch sight of her from afar, still looking for him.
Standing near the ocean, talking with other students, pretending she wasn’t waiting, but her eyes always gave her away.
He knew she wanted answers.
He just didn’t have any to give.
"Gray!" her voice had called out yesterday, echoing down the academy’s hallway.
He’d stopped, just for a second, hand resting against the wall. But then he heard the sound of her running footsteps getting closer, and he slipped away again, fading into the crowd.
Now, here he was.... alone, sitting by the ocean, as the sun began to dip lower, staining the sky in a wash of orange and rose.
The waves reached for his boots, retreating with a faint hiss each time.
[You’re running again.]
Jasmine’s voice broke through the silence.
’Not running,’ he muttered inwardly, flicking the ash off his cigarette.
’Just giving her space.’
[Space? Or are you afraid she’ll ask you to explain yourself?]
Gray didn’t answer, but his jaw tightened slightly, eyes narrowing at the water.
[You’re really not good at this, you know, but what do I expect? After all, this is your first time genuinely falling in love, not trying to manipulate someone’s feelings.]
Jasmine’s tone softened.
[She probably spent the last few days wondering what she did wrong.]
’She didn’t do anything wrong,’ he replied quietly.
’That’s the problem.’
[Then what’s the point of avoiding her?]
He paused, letting the question hang in his head. The wind tugged at his coat, the cigarette burning shorter in his hand.
’Because...’ he exhaled.
’If she joins the Church, she’ll be safe. Away from me... away from this killing machine of an academy.’
[So you’re protecting her by breaking her heart?]
Jasmine asked dryly.
Gray’s lips twitched faintly into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
’Yeah. That’s the idea.’
He leaned back slightly, letting the ocean breeze wash over him. The waves sparkled gold under the fading light, peaceful, innocent, untouched by the mess inside his head.
’She deserves better than me,’ he thought quietly.
[...Even a monster knows how to love, huh?]
Gray didn’t reply to those words.
But he agreed with Jasmine. He never expected to fall in love with, much less with someone as innocent and pure as Lyra.
’...This is the feeling of love...’
He held his chest firmly, feeling his heart beating fast.
’The feeling of caring for someone... want to protect them... and never see them getting hurt,’ he frowned slighly.
Just as he imagined Lyra getting even the smallest injury, he felt a faint pain in his chest.
It wasn’t the kind of pain he was used to.... the sharp, cold sting of battle or the quiet ache of guilt that came after killing.
No... this one was much different.
It directly attacked something inside him that he didn’t even know existed.
’Love... what a strange thing...’ he thought, staring blankly at the horizon.
The sea breeze brushed against his face, carrying the faint scent of salt and warmth.
The feeling made him want to hold someone so tightly that the world itself would have to tear them apart to take them away.
’It’s... dangerous,’ he admitted quietly to himself.
’Addictive too.’
Love, he realized, was a poison that burned sweetly as it spread. It made the heart beat faster while the mind screamed for reason.
It made a man who had killed without hesitation suddenly fear a single scratch on someone else’s skin.
He chuckled faintly under his breath, the sound almost bitter.
’I only realized it when she was about to slip away,’ he thought. ’When her words stopped sounding like noise and started feeling like something I could lose.’
He tilted his head slightly, closing his eyes.
For a moment, the memories returned uninvited: her laughter when he teased her, her frown when she scolded him, that warm look she gave when she thought he wasn’t paying attention.
It all felt so simple back then.
Now, it hurts just to think about it.
"Love... really does make someone weak," he muttered bitterly.
The cigarette between his fingers had burned down to the filter.
He hadn’t even noticed.
[So... what will you do now?]
Gray opened his eyes, watching the last of the sunset fade into the sea.
’Nothing... and just go with the flow for now...’
He dropped the cigarette, letting the waves swallow it whole.
Because for someone like him, someone who killed, lied, and smiled through blood while treating everyone as tools.
Love wasn’t meant to be a gift.
It was a reminder.
That even monsters could still feel human.
BOOM!
A violent burst of energy exploded from Gray’s body, shaking the ground beneath his feet.
The air rippled with pressure as thin threads of silver mana coiled around him, cutting through the air like blades.
The cigarette that had been falling toward the ocean disintegrated before touching the water.
Gray clenched his jaw as his veins glowed faintly, his heartbeat syncing with the rhythmic pulse of mana inside his body.
The energy surged, climbed, then finally stabilized.
Crack, crack!
Small fractures appeared on the ground around him before they vanished under a faint blue light.
"...Intermediate Advanced Realm," he muttered under his breath.
Inside his mind, Jasmine’s eyes widened slightly, the faint trace of amusement fading into something more complex.
[Is your Path... Love?]
She asked curiously, her voice was unusually soft.
"What?" Gray blinked, caught off guard.
There was silence for a single second.
[HAHAHAHAHA!]
Her laughter echoed wildly through his mind, shaking his thoughts. It wasn’t mocking—it was filled with disbelief and excitement.
[Mortal... I must say, you keep on surprising me!]
Gray frowned deeply at her words.
"What do you mean?"
[First, your cursed Clown Lineage—and now, your cultivation path is actually Love?! The only forbidden path of terror?!]
Gray’s eyes widened slightly, his breath caught mid-way.
"The forbidden path...?"
[Yes... the path that no sane god dares to take. Because Love is not gentle, Gray. It devours, and it consumes everything in its way.]
She paused, voice lowering to a whisper that crawled down his spine.
[To walk the Path of Love is to hold onto the feeling that you’ll love anyone more than yourself... and this seems perfect for you, as you don’t love yourself at all.]
Jasmine chuckled again.
[Ahh... you’ll truly become a monster.]
"...The path of Love...?" Gray repeated.
How can he... walk down that path?
[Don’t worry about it... You’ll someday realize it yourself.]
Gray, although confused, simply nodded his head, but then, Jasmine’s next words actually shocked him a little.
[By the way, your little lover has been watching for quite a while...]
"Huh?!"
And somewhere far behind him, hidden by the dunes, Lyra stood half-concealed among the tall grass.
Her damp hair was tied back messily, her white outfit fluttering in the wind.
She had found him again at last.
Her eyes lingered on him for a moment, on the way he sat so still, smoking like the world didn’t matter.
There was no smile, no smirk, no teasing comment. Just a quiet, lonely silhouette staring into the endless sea.
Her fingers clenched slightly.
"Gray..." she whispered under her breath.
But when she took a hesitant step forward, his head tilted slightly, just enough to make her stop.
Without looking back, Gray stood up and walked away, straight past her hiding spot, never once turning his eyes in her direction.
The wind picked up again, carrying the faint scent of smoke and salt.
Lyra stood frozen, her lips trembling as her voice barely escaped.
"...You coward."
But Gray didn’t hear her, or maybe he did, and that was why he didn’t stop.
However... this time, Lyra wouldn’t let him go so quickly.
"STOP BEING A FUCKING CORWARD AND FACE ME!"
She directly shouted.