I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space - Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Needs Solution
The whole tavern was buzzing voices bouncing across coral tables, echoing off the shell-lined walls, the water vibrating lightly with every whisper. The moment Razeal stepped inside, he was hit by a wave of murmurs swirling everywhere like a low, restless storm.

“But it seems true though…” A man whispered to another, leaning forward with wide eyes. “No one has seen the Sea Lord since this morning. Not a single one or even a ripple about her nothing. It… it could be true.”

His friend scoffed loudly, waving a hand. “Sea Lords aren’t seen every day anyways. So stop talking nonsense. You think they go around making public speeches? They sleep half the time.”

“But I heard..” another voice cut in quickly, almost tripping over his own whisper, “it was a human. A human shot straight toward the Royal Sea. Our Sea Lord intercepted and got… killed.”

A heavy silence dropped over that table.

Even Maria, who had just entered behind Razeal, paused mid-step.

“A human? In the Second Sea?” the scoffing one barked, then lowered his voice because even he realized how stupid that sounded. “That’s impossible! I can imagine a human crawling around the Seventh Sea at best, but here? In Second Sea?”

He shook his head hard, like trying to shake the stupidity out of the rumor itself. “Surpassing all seas where every creature would want to hunt them down? Where humans get treated as rare specimens? Slaves? Toys? And then there are Sea Lords guarding every layer. A human passing all of that? Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?”

The man across from him swallowed nervously. “B-But what if this one was strong? I mean… strong enough to kill our Sea Lord in one strike.” His voice cracked a little. “If a human can do that, then obviously they can reach here too.”

“If something like that happened.. King himself would’ve move.” Another Atlantian said firmly, as if that single sentence settled everything. “He knows everything happening in his seas. Do you think he would just sit there and let a human shred one of his Sea Lords? No chance.”

“I mean…” someone started timidly, “the King doesn’t really care about.. ”

Everyone at his table turned and stared at him like he was the dumbest creature in the entire ocean.

He shut his mouth instantly.

The entire tavern was a nest of whispers, tossing the rumor around like a hot pearl every table adding fuel, twisting it, doubting it, defending it, mocking it, fearing it. It was the biggest piece of nonsense they had heard in months, yet the rumor spread simply because it was nonsense. That made it more entertaining.

Maria though .. she froze for a full heartbeat.

Purple hair?

Her gaze instantly shot toward Razeal’s trembling back.

Her stomach dropped.

No way…

No.. no no please no…

It’s not her… right?

His CRAZY sister?

Maria felt cold shivers rush down her spine, crawling all the way up to the back of her neck. She remembered THAT woman.. very clearly.

That terrifying purple-haired bitch who tortured Sylva in the middle of the tournament. The one who sliced off the limbs of the duke’s heir in front of the whole empire with a crazy seductive smile… Like of a duke heir literally..

And now she remembered that..

Maria gulped sharply, her throat tightening.

If that monster was here in the Second Sea…

Her eyes darted around nervously. Just the thought made her skin feel like it was peeling with sheer fear.

“Give me one room.” Razeal’s voice suddenly cut through the noisy tavern low, strained, almost shaking.

He had heard everything too.

But the wild rumor wasn’t what bothered him.

It wasn’t even the mention of a purple-haired woman.

No.

His emotions were already spiraling, violently surging and crashing inside him like a tsunami.

And all that talk only made it worse stirring something unstable inside him… something reckless. Something urging him to confront them.. whoever it was to face his family, to demand answers, to scream at them, fight them, prove something. He could almost feel the phantom of his mother’s eyes. His sister’s emotionless smirk.

Everything inside him pushed harder.

His blood boiled.

His emotions snarled.

He needed control. Now. Before he tore something apart.

He barely registered the conversations anymore.. just loud static crashing in the background of his mind as he pushed himself toward the counter, his body trembling visibly.

The receptionist a young Atlantian woman with soft turquoise scales along her cheekbones nearly forgot how to breathe when she saw him up close. Her eyes widened, lips parted just slightly, awe painting her entire face.

He looked like some divine noble descending into a common tavern. Majestic. Beautiful and Dangerous. Even unstable.. Not to say looking like he had truama or something too.. he even radiated superiority effortlessly.

She swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice firm.

“Y-Yes, sir… h-here, take this.” She shakily placed a carved coral key onto the counter. “Room number four… two gold coins per day….. One For you.. Umm.”

But then her eyes softened with concern as she looked at his trembling hand, his pale knuckles, the faint cracking of the coral counter where he had gripped it.

“S-sir… are you alright?” she asked, her voice tiny now. “You look… stressed. I.. if you need anything… I can help. Personally. I m-mean.. if you desire…”

Razeal didn’t even wait for her to finish.

He didn’t look at her.

He didn’t acknowledge her.

He simply took the key, turned, and walked upstairs not caring about the way she stared after him with starstruck eyes or the way she seemed ready to faint.

While down… there…

Neptunia finally stepped inside the tavern, her footsteps soft on the coral-polished floor as she slipped through the entrance. The sudden warmth and the dim glow of bioluminescent shells hanging from the ceiling washed over her, but she barely noticed because the moment she entered, she saw Maria just standing there frozen near the doorway, her whole posture stiff, shoulders slightly trembling as if something had startled her.

“What happened to you?” Neptunia whispered, brows furrowing as she drifted closer. She too could hear the murmurs rippling around the tavern people whispering about humans, sea lords, purple-haired monsters or whatever and she felt the tension crawling up her spine.

Maria jerked lightly at Neptunia’s voice, almost snapping out of whatever terrible thought she’d been drowning in. “Nothing… nothing…” she muttered, shaking her head quickly too quickly. Her fingers were twisting nervously around each other. Her eyes were still slightly widened, like she was forcing herself to calm down from something that had genuinely horrified her.

Neptunia watched her for another moment, suspiciously. Maria’s reaction wasn’t just fear it was something more. Recognition. Panic of Trauma and fear maybe?. But Maria wasn’t elaborating, and this wasn’t the time to pry too deeply.

So Neptunia exhaled softly, shifting the topic.

“Where is he??” she asked, scanning the tavern and realizing she couldn’t see Razeal anywhere. “I don’t see him. Did he go somewhere..?”

“He’s upstairs,” Maria answered immediately, her eyes flicking toward the staircase as if she’d been watching it non-stop. “Room four.”

Of course she had been keeping track of Razeal. Even shaken, Maria was alert when it came to it. Neptunia noticed it but chose not to comment.

They both headed toward the stairs, weaving between coral-carved tables and clusters of chattering patrons. Their footsteps were quiet, careful. The tavern air smelled faintly of saltwater and roasted kelp. A few Atlantian men and women gave them curious glances two beautiful strangers heading upstairs with purpose but neither Maria nor Neptunia paid attention.

Once they reached the top, they arrived just in time to see Razeal enter room four. His back was slightly hunched, one hand clutching his forehead as if desperately holding something together inside himself. His aura was unstable like static cracking around him, like something inside him was clawing up his throat.

He paused at the doorway, looked back at them with eyes that were no longer calm but trembling with too many emotions pain, fury, confusion, restraint then rasped

“Wait. Give me some time.”

His voice was strained. Choked. He didn’t even wait for either of them to respond before stepping inside and firmly shutting the door behind him.

The click of the door sounded heavy. Final.

Neptunia blinked, genuinely taken back.

“What happened to him…?” she whispered, confusion filling her voice. “He looks… emotionally unstable… or scared? Or angry? Or all of them? What even was that?”

Maria stared at the closed door as if expecting it to open again, her brows drawn tightly together. “…I don’t know,” she said quietly, her voice low, almost troubled. “I really don’t know.”

Neptunia folded her arms helplessly, still trying to piece together the sudden shift she had witnessed.

“This happened after you said those words,” she said softly but firmly, glancing sideways at Maria. “He was already irritated… but after you spoke, he looked like he was about to shatter. You should’ve seen his face from close. His whole body was shaking. Maybe… maybe you shouldn’t have said that.”

“I… I don’t know!” maria said. “He’s… he’s not that type of person. He doesn’t take anyone words to heart.. Well i mean hes not really that reaction person. He never reacts like this. I didn’t even expect him to show emotions. He’s always… empty. Cold. Like someone who just doesn’t care.”

She shook her head again, confused, replaying everything she’d said to him earlier.

“And even an emotional person wouldn’t react this extremely,” she murmured. “Something else is wrong with him… something more is happening maybe. I don’t know but It can’t be just because of my words.”

She took a softer breath..

“And… I really was only trying to help him,” she whispered, a genuine sigh escaping her. “I swear. I didn’t have any other intentions. I wasn’t trying to hurt him… Like.. I usually do.. ”

Neptunia’s gaze softened a little. She wasn’t judging, just observing.

“What was it even about?” she asked slowly. “He looked really furious. What did he do? And… you called him disgusting before? Why? I thought you two had a good relationship… I mean definitely not enemies.. You help each other.. fight together. I didn’t expect… something like that between you.”

Maria opened her mouth, but the words tangled in her throat. She shut it again, inhaling slightly as memories flashed behind them.

“Well…” she whispered.

Neptunia waited.

Maria’s lips parted. But she shut them a second time, unable to voice the truth, whatever it was. She looked up finally, meeting Neptunia’s expectant eyes.

“I can’t tell you about that…” she said, voice dropping. “And… I called him disgusting because… well, even you would if you knew.”

“Well… I would take those words back now…” she added quietly. “He was right about one thing. I was childish back then. Really childish… I mean it wasn’t my buisness to say anything to him.”

Neptunia stepped closer, laying a gentle hand on Maria’s shoulder.

“You can tell me, you know?” she said softly. “I maybe can help. And he doesn’t seem like a bad person. Not from what I’ve seen. And… what you said earlier… it seems like this thing, whatever it is, has really hurt him. It’s not something small.”

She paused, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

“And if it’s something truly bad… then a guilty person wouldn’t react like that. People who lie.. people who harm don’t break down the way he just did. They don’t tremble like that. They don’t look heartbroken.”

Maria stared back at her.. just silently

“I… I don’t know,” she admitted. “Everything he’s doing… everything he said… I’m confused too.”

She looked back at the closed door again the wooden door separating them from Razeal’s storm of emotions.

Neptunia gently squeezed her shoulders again.

“Hey… how about you tell me?” she whispered, leaning closer, voice warm and coaxing. “I can help. Truly. What did he do…? Why did you call him that…? Tell me?”

Maria stiffened the moment Neptunia pressed her for answers. Something in her expression something usually hidden behind her bluntness twitched, then shut down entirely.

“No… I can’t tell you that,” Maria murmured, voice dropping low as if heavy with something unspeakable. “You can ask him if you want… but I..” Her throat tightened. She forced the rest out in a breath. “I wouldn’t wanna talk about that.”

Her hands gently reached up, wrapping around Neptunia’s wrists, and she slowly pushed them away from her shoulders. The motion wasn’t harsh. If anything, it was strangely careful, almost apologetic. But it carried a clear message: drop it.

Maria herself felt weird like she rarely refused to talk. She rarely backed away.. atleast from something like that.

Yet right now, she was withdrawing like someone being backed into a shadow she didn’t want to revisit.

Usually.. no, always Maria would want to warn any girl. Because in her mind, not warning them made her feel like she was throwing them to the wolves. Especially when the “wolf” wore human skin.

Especially when that wolf was Razeal.

Because obviously her entire being recoiled just thinking it Razeal was a rapist. A predator dressed as a protector. A danger wrapped in expressionlessness. And every time she didn’t warn someone, every time she stayed quiet, it felt like she was helping him hunt.

That guilt bit at her again, right under her ribs.

She should’ve told Neptunia before too, right? Like she should told every girl sooner, so they could protect themselves from the man. That had always felt like the right thing to do. The responsible thing.

So why the hell.. why now was she hesitating?.. Like yeah she did before.. So.. well he would kill her if she did.

And now she isn’t.. She would understand if its the same reason like yeah she is afraid he will kill ber if she did.. But no this isn’t this time.. Like yeah not that she’s afraid and wants to do this.. But rather she doesn’t wanna do it for some other reason.

Her brows scrunched in a pained confusion, her lips pressing together. She hated the way the uncertainty flickered across her face, hated the softness creeping into her chest like some unwanted fog.

Was she… protecting him?

The very thought made her stomach twist.

It felt wrong. Disgustingly wrong. Like she was helping him hide that ugly, dirty face under a mask. Like she was covering for him. And she wasn’t the kind of woman who ever hid the truth especially not truths that could save someone else.

So what the hell was she doing?

Her fingers curled slightly, nails pressing into her palms. Her eyes unfocused, drifting downward as if chasing some answer on the floor that wasn’t there.

Am I really trying to hide him? I’m not like that… am I? I don’t protect monsters…

She didn’t know. And the uncertainty made her chest tighten painfully.

The confusion in her eyes deepened, reflecting a storm of questions that refused to line up. Razeal’s earlier expression flashed in her mind the hurt look, the strange vulnerability, the raw defensiveness in his voice.

“Am I a villain?”

Those words echoed again and again. His tone. His eyes. The way he looked almost… betrayed.

What did he even mean by that?

Betrayed by who? Her? Saintess?

Or That bitch Celestia?

The names tangled with the questions in her skull, and her thoughts scattered like shattered glass. She tried to piece them together, but the harder she tried, the more everything blurred.

Could it be.. just maybe that he wasn’t what she thought?

Her face twisted. “If he isn’t… then why doesn’t he just say it?” she muttered under her breath, frowning. “Why stay quiet like a damn idiot.. Like only guilty willl stay silent right?”

The contradiction frustrated her, and it made her thoughts spiral faster. One moment she was convinced he was a monster. The next moment some stupid, soft worry crept in.

“What am I thinking…” she exhaled, dragging a hand through her hair. “… has staying with him made me stupid?”

The thought horrified her. Even more horrifying was the next one that slipped in without her permission:

Why am I feeling worried for him…?

Her eyes widened slightly. She stared at the floor as if the answer might claw its way out of the floor.

She said nothing. Could say nothing. Her mind was literally throwing contradiction after contradiction at her, leaving her speechless as she shook her head at herself tiny tremors of disbelief and disappointment rolling through her.

Maybe it was her fault. Maybe she had spoken too harshly. Maybe his reaction those hurt, almost wounded expressions were sticking to her heart more than she wanted to admit.

“Damn it…” she whispered, exhaling as though exhausted by her own emotions.

Maybe she wasn’t the heartless woman she thinks to be. Maybe she gave herself too much credit for being cold. Maybe.. Or maybe that demon heart she carried was messing with her, twisting her emotions until she didn’t even recognize them.

Like.. Becoming like an angel? Worrying for a monster?.. That sounds right? Right? Like only angles could be.. And he said.. Demon’s are something like angles so..

She snorted under her breath in disbelief.

Maybe it wasn’t softness. Maybe it was that cursed demon heart. Maybe it made her feel too much and now she was worrying about someone she shouldn’t care about at all.

She sighed again. Long. Heavy and Total confused.

Neptunia, standing right in front of her, watched Maria’s expression shift through frustration, guilt, irritation, self-disgust, and something that suspiciously resembled worry. The girl’s eyes narrowed slightly, baffled. When Maria shrugged her hands off earlier, it made sense.

But this?

This silent, spiraling, distracted Maria?

This was new. And weird.

Neptunia tilted her head, studying her like she’d suddenly grown horns.

Neptunia waved a hand halfheartedly in front of Maria’s face. “…Hello?”

No response.

Maria was too far inside her own collapsing thoughts to even notice she wasn’t alone anymore.

Inside the room

Razeal collapsed onto the strange bed its surface soft and jelly-like, sinking under his weight as if it were made of dense water. The furniture around him shimmered with metallic coral patterns, glowing faintly in the dim light.

But he didn’t notice any of it.

He didn’t care.

Both hands were clamped over his head, fingers digging into his scalp as if trying to physically hold his thoughts in place.

His breath came in sharp, uneven bursts.

His vampire instincts were spiraling out of control, his emotions multiplying by the second anger, sorrow, fury, humiliation, hatred, frustration, confusion everything mixing and crashing violently inside him until he felt like he might explode.

It’s getting worse… worse… he need to take control…

His thoughts were suffocating him loud, sharp, repetitive.

Every time he tried not to think, the thoughts only screamed louder.

Every emotion doubled, then tripled, then twisted around into something unbearable. It was like his mind was eating itself alive. A growl escaped his throat as he clenched harder.

[Host… there is no way to suppress it.] Villey’s voice echoed calmly, contrasting sharply with Razeal’s internal chaos. [It’s a primal instinct something you must accept. You can’t outrun it, and you can’t completely shut it off.

Just drink some blood for now. It’ll calm things down… temporarily.]

“That’s just temporary!” Razeal roared back mentally, breath hitching. “A temporary fix for a permanent problem!”

He dragged one hand downward, gripping his chest as if trying to quiet the erratic pounding of his heart. His body was heating up unnaturally; veins bulged beneath his skin, pulsing with a violent rhythm.

“What if this hits me in the middle of a fight? What if these emotions take over? I can’t afford that. I can’t die because of… feelings. This.. this is a weakness. I need a real solution.”

[Host you are not.. ]

“Whatever!” he snapped again, cutting Villey off. “I won that right to meet an EX-ranked villain, didn’t I? Take me to it.” His entire body tensed. “That level of existence must have something some way.. some answer.” His voice cracked slightly. “Fast. Do it fast.”

He could feel it.

He was seconds away from losing control completely. From snapping, from breaking, from doing something he couldn’t take back.

He didn’t know what he would do.. but he knew it wouldn’t be sane.

So he pushed the system, desperation dripping from every word.

Villey sighed quietly. […Alright then.]

And the moment those words were spoken

System yanked his consciousness.. pulling him inside system space..

Straight toward one of the ten strongest beings in all of reality.

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