The Return Of The Exiled Villain

Gray had earned the Law of Seduction for a reason.

He had seduced every type of woman required to awaken it, from ordinary women to nobles, warriors, cultivators, monsters, and women with personalities so troublesome that most people would have run away from them.

He had done it before.

He had done it repeatedly.

And, in one particularly ridiculous case, he had even managed to make a woman with a god complex fall for him.

Compared to that, seducing a bratty princess did not sound too difficult.

The only difference was that he had no intention of rushing this one.

He wanted to take his time.

After all, the Crimson Moon Princess was a Monarch Realm cultivator and a member of one of the strongest royal families in the Underworld. Approaching her too aggressively would only make her suspicious.

Gray glanced toward the road.

’Slowly, then.’

He did not need her to fall for him today, which was probably impossible... he only needed her to remember him.

A little curiosity would be enough for the first meeting.

Then he would let her grow accustomed to his presence while slowly figuring out what kind of person she was.

And there was another advantage.

His current identity was an Incubus.

If the princess knew what kind of demon he was supposed to be, she would naturally make certain assumptions about his intentions.

Gray’s lips curled upward.

’She’ll probably think I’m after her Yin Energy.’

And honestly...

She would not be entirely wrong.

Gray coughed lightly.

’Ahem.’

The Demon Converging Gourd was still inside his spatial storage, and any Demonic Energy he obtained could be converted into Mana anyway.

If the princess happened to give him cultivation resources, there was no reason for him to complain.

But that was not his main goal.

He wanted a proper fight against a Monarch, and if he needed to play the part of an Incubus to get it, so be it.

Gray turned toward the direction the princess had taken.

’First, I’ll get her attention.’

His crimson eyes narrowed.

’After that...’

A faint smile appeared on his face.

’I’ll make her angry enough to fight me.’

That part would probably be easier than seducing her.

After all, from what he had seen earlier, the Crimson Moon Princess possessed the kind of pride that came naturally to someone who had grown up surrounded by praise and fear.

A little teasing.

A little arrogance.

Perhaps a few carefully chosen words about her strength.

Gray already had several ideas.

He walked through the busy streets of the demon city, following the faint traces of the royal convoy until he reached the central market.

The number of demons gathered there had increased considerably.

Merchants were shouting over one another, the guards were keeping people away from the royal path, and curious demons were standing near the sides of the street, trying to get a look at the princess.

Gray stopped near a small shop and casually leaned against the wall before his gaze landed on the princess.

She did not bother looking around to see who was watching.

When the merchant explained something she did not like, she simply raised one eyebrow.

The merchant immediately started sweating.

Gray almost laughed.

’Definitely a brat.’

He watched for another minute.

Eventually, the princess finished shopping and started walking toward another street. Gray instantly pushed himself away from the wall.

He waited a few seconds before following them.

He did not walk directly behind her. Instead, he took another path through the crowd, keeping her within his sight while casually moving in the same direction.

He wasn’t hiding his presence or anything like that, so the princess’s guards noticed him almost immediately.

One of the armored demons glanced over his shoulder and frowned when he saw Gray approaching from the side.

He whispered something to the princess.

She stopped.

The Crimson Moon Princess slowly turned her head, and her crimson hair slid over her shoulder as her ruby-red eyes settled on Gray.

Gray stopped as well.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

The princess’s expression was calm, but her eyes were not as there was clear suspicion in them, not to mention the not-hidden-at-all annoyance.

She studied him from head to toe before looking directly into his eyes.

"You’re following me...?"

Gray glanced behind himself, looking a little confused.

"Me?"

The princess’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

"Yes, you."

Gray looked around again before pointing at himself.

"You mean me?"

A small twitch appeared near the corner of her eye.

"Is there another Incubus standing behind me?"

Gray looked over her shoulder.

"No... not really," he shook his head.

"Then stop pretending you don’t understand what I’m saying." Her voice remained controlled, but the irritation was becoming easier to hear.

Gray smiled at this.

"I understand perfectly. I was only making sure."

"And now that you’re sure?"

"Mhm..." Gray scratched his chin.

"I suppose I should answer."

The princess folded her arms over her chest and waited for whatever he was going to say. Gray looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"I saw you at the market, and I became slighly curious."

"Curious?"

She repeated the word with a faint frown.

"About me?"

"Yes."

Her expression became slightly more guarded.

"Do you often follow women around because you’re curious about them?"

"No."

"Then why me?"

Gray shrugged at her words.

"Just because... you look... interesting, to say the least."

The princess stared at him for a while. For a moment, she seemed caught between being annoyed and amused.

"Hah..."

Then she gave a quiet scoff.

"You don’t even know me."

"That’s why I’m curious."

"That makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense."

Gray took another step closer, though he stopped well outside the distance where her guards would consider him a threat.

"The rumours say that you have the cultivation of an Early Monarch, and supposedly inherited some kind of Royal Bloodline. So I thought I’d pry a little into your power... unfortunately, because of that damned necklace, I couldn’t," he shook his head with genuine disappointment.

At those words, the princess’s expression changed slightly.

"Huh?"

She blinked once, and then her lips slowly curled upward.

"My power?"

There was a noticeable change in her voice.

The earlier suspicion was still there, but now something else had appeared.

Pride... and a lot of it!

She raised her chin slightly and looked at Gray as though she had suddenly remembered exactly who she was.

"And what gives you permission to pry into me, huh?"

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A suffocating aura exploded from her body.

The stone beneath her boots cracked, and the air itself seemed to grow heavy as an overwhelming pressure spread through the street.

Several nearby demons immediately staggered.

"Urgh..."

"What’s happening?!"

"That pressure..."

The weaker demons did not even have enough strength to remain standing.

Their knees buckled as they collapsed onto the ground, while the stronger ones hurried backward with pale faces.

The princess’s three guards reacted almost instantly.

"P-Princess!"

"Please control your aura!"

"We’re in the middle of the city!"

Their voices carried a mixture of concern and panic.

They were not worried about Gray, but instead were worried about what would happen if their princess continued releasing such a strong pressure in a crowded city.

But the princess did not seem interested in listening.

Her ruby-red eyes remained fixed on Gray.

"You wanted to pry into my cultivation?"

Her voice carried an arrogant edge.

"Who gave you permission?"

Gray stood inside the pressure without moving. His clothes fluttered from the force, his black hair swaying around his face.

Then...

His lips slowly curled upward.

"Mhm..."

The princess frowned at his expression.

Gray tilted his head.

"Thank you for confirming my thoughts, Princess~"

The princess froze.

For half a second, she did not understand, but just as quickly, her eyes widened in pure shock.

"You..."

Gray smiled.

"I was wondering if the rumours were true."

His gaze moved over her calmly.

"Now I know."

The princess’s expression immediately darkened as she pointed her index finger at him in complete shock.

"Y-y-you... you tricked me!!!"

"Tricked you?"

Gray placed a hand against his chest.

"I merely asked a question."

"You deliberately provoked me!"

"I wouldn’t say deliberately."

He paused... before smiling teasingly.

"Not entirely."

Pop...

A vein appeared on the princess’s forehead, causing one of the guards to cover his face as he already knew what was going to happen.

’Oh, no...’

The princess took a slow breath.

"You’re an irritating little demon."

Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Little?"

The princess stared at him.

Gray looked down at himself, then back at her.

"I don’t think I’m particularly little."

Her eyebrow twitched.

"I wasn’t talking about your height."

"Oh."

Gray nodded thoughtfully.

"So you were talking about something else~! Oh my! Such a tease!"

The princess’s face tightened.

"You know exactly what I meant."

"...Do I~?"

The princess clenched her fists.

"Do you always speak like this?"

"Only when someone is interesting."

"Do you think you’re funny?"

"Sometimes."

"You aren’t."

"I noticed you were smiling earlier."

"I was laughing at you."

"Still counts."

Her expression twisted.

"You..."

Gray calmly smiled back at her.

"Huff... huff...!"

The princess took another breath.

Her guards looked increasingly nervous with each passing second.

"Princess, please..."

One of them tried to step forward.

She raised her hand.

"Stay out of this."

The guard immediately stopped, and then the princess looked back at Gray with a strange gaze.

"You wanted to know my strength, right?"

Gray’s smile faded slightly.

"That is true..."

"You wanted to pry into my cultivation because you were curious."

"Correct."

"And then you deliberately provoked me into revealing it."

Gray nodded.

"That is one way to describe what happened."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You really don’t know when to stop."

"I could say the same about you."

The princess stared at him.

Gray’s smile returned.

"After all, you’re still standing here."

"...."

The place fell into silence.

The princess’s face went completely blank, but just as quickly a small smile formed on her lips... though it definitely wasn’t a pleasant smile.

"Fine."

Her voice became strangely calm.

"Since you’re so curious..."

Gray’s instincts suddenly warned him.

Something was wrong.

The princess slowly raised one hand.

"...I’ll show you."

FWOOOOOOOOOM!

The world around them suddenly shook.

Crimson light erupted from beneath her feet.

The street vanished.

The buildings vanished.

The merchants, the guards, the demons, the noise of the city...

Everything disappeared in an instant.

Gray’s eyes widened.

The space around them twisted violently as countless crimson vines burst from the ground and rose into the sky.

They wrapped around everything in sight, forming an enormous enclosed space.

The air became thick with Demonic Energy.

Above them, a massive blood-red moon slowly appeared behind the twisting vines, bathing the entire area in dark crimson light.

The ground beneath Gray’s feet had transformed into something resembling dark, wet soil covered in thin red roots.

The entire world had changed.

Gray looked around slowly.

His expression became serious.

"A Domain...?" he mumbled.

A drop of cold sweat slowly formed along his forehead.

The Crimson Moon Princess stood several dozen meters away.

Her crimson hair floated gently in the strange wind.

Her ruby-red eyes glowed beneath the light of the blood moon.

And for the first time since Gray had met her...

She was smiling.

Not the small, annoyed smile from earlier.

Not the proud smile of a princess.

This was the smile of someone who had finally found an excuse to fight.

"You wanted a taste of my power, didn’t you?"

Her voice echoed through the crimson space.

Her hand slowly tightened into a fist.

"Then..."

The Demonic Energy around her surged.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"HERE IT IS!"

Sweat slowly formed on his forehead.

’...Fuck.’