The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 404
Chapter 404: No Deal
“So resetting the world completely, huh?” Neraxis mused with a distant look.
“It’s not really resetting, just getting rid of the mana from everything,” Raguel replied plainly. “So those mana lamps and all of the other fancy stuff you used to have won’t work anymore.”
“…”
“What about Seraphina and Amaterasu?” Neraxis asked. “They aren’t even technically real beings. Seraphina is a spirit born from mana, and Amaterasu is the literal goddess of the sun.”
“That…”
A conflicted look appeared on Raguel’s face as he met Neraxis’s eyes.
“I’m afraid those two will have to vanish from this world one way or the other. You can keep them in that necklace like you used to, except they won’t be able to leave it, nor will you be able to enter it,” Raguel explained. “But they will be alive. I can assure you that much.”
Hearing that, Neraxis sighed and shook his head.
“That is unacceptable.”
“Seriously? You don’t even know those two women,” Raguel said. “You’ve had like what, 5 conversations? And you’re willing to abandon a whole pathway to freedom just for those two?”
“What can I say, I’m naive,” Neraxis replied with a slight smile. “So because of my naivety, it appears we are not left with many choices.”
Raguel stared at him for a few moments, then spoke. “I will offer the position of being a guardian to Delta.”
“You will do no such thing,” Neraxis said sternly. “It stays how it is. Whatever happens, happens.”
“You really are an idiot,” Raguel remarked with a sigh. “And there’s no way to convince you?”
“There isn’t.”
Raguel took a few steps forward. “Then I guess I’ll just have to take up a role as your guardian until you die.”
Neraxis smiled. “I don’t think you’ll be my guardian for long. I don’t think I have many years left to my life.”
After a moment’s pause, Raguel scoffed. “Do you think I won’t notice you artificially halting your lifeforce? Even without mana, you sure are a creative idiot.”
Before Neraxis could utter another word, the ground shook, then cracked open.
The force caused him to be shot up into the air, and moments later, he found himself being held by the collar, suspended in the air with Raguel right behind him.
“Well, here are the consequences of your actions, or rather, decisions,” Raguel remarked. “Someone came through. They’re probably looking to kill you now, mister Fragment of the Eternal Sin.”
All of a sudden, Raguel’s eyes widened. “Wait, that pop-up is gone. It doesn’t say that you’re the Eternal Sin’s spawn anymore.”
“I know, I cleansed my soul of that filth long ago,” Neraxis replied. “Whatever connection I had with Lagus had vanished eons ago.”
“The fuck is that then?” Raguel pointed at the ground that had split open, with several dozen monsters emerging from within. “That shit is not normal. Not unless…”
He trailed off as a look of understanding appeared on his face.
“I believe… all the rifts have opened up.”
“That’s a bit random,” Neraxis remarked. “Can you deal with it?”
“Can I use your Void realm powers?” Raguel asked.
Neraxis shrugged. “Do whatever you want. Those resources are going to remain untapped unless someone takes over. And no, I’m not letting you become the guardian, I’m just lending you those powers temporarily.”
“If that is what you say,” Raguel replied, and in the next instant, vanished from sight.
Immediately, dozens of explosions rang out, followed by the ground being further split apart.
But as those cracks reached Neraxis, a figure appeared, Raguel, who blocked the cracks from continuing to form and resumed the fight.
So he’s going to act like this now, huh? I guess I should go out and grab a snack or something, Neraxis thought, his hunger reignited.
He left the torn-apart cemetery and walked through the streets, reaching the city once more.
A monster ran up to him, but before it could do anything to him, it was crushed to bits and pieces.
Yet a single droplet of blood couldn’t help but fall onto Neraxis’s face, causing a faint frown to appear.
He wiped it off and walked into a shop.
To his surprise, there were actually people there, just very few.
The cashier and two customers.
Only then did he realize that he had entered a coffee shop.
He walked up to the cashier, and just as he was about to order, he felt cold steel pressing against his neck, followed by one of the two customers he had seen standing right behind him.
The cold steel was none other than a gun, and soon after…
“Heya, pretty boy. Give us your cash or I’ll blast your brains out here, alright?” the man said ominously and pressed the gun harder.
However, Neraxis simply stared at the innocent cashier who avoided his gaze, as if she couldn’t control what these men were doing.
Neraxis slowly turned around, meeting the gaze of the man with the gun, and then, he spoke.
“Are you doing this because you’re poor? Or maybe, you’re doing this just because you have nothing else to do. Am I on the right track?” Neraxis asked.
“Wrong on all accounts.” The man chuckled. “The reason this guy is in your face is because of that big-ass bounty on your head. Neraxis Valen, right? Who knew I’d find someone so sneaky inside a run-down coffee shop.”
He turned to the woman. “No offense, Rina, this is a great coffee shop and all, but—”
“Shut up,” Rina cut him off. “And don’t you dare shoot him inside my shop. You know how hard it is to clean off blood? Plus, you’re going to ruin the shop’s reputation if there’s a murder inside.”
“How nonchalant of you two,” Neraxis remarked with a slow chuckle. “However, have you once thought about why I have a bounty on my head? Is it for show?”
The man narrowed his eyes. “When the bounty was first placed on you, you were an SSS-ranked awakened, but now? I can’t even feel a trace of mana coming from you. Pfft… in all honesty, I’d probably have a harder time fighting against a toddler than you.”
Neraxis rolled his eyes and glanced at the knife on the counter, then back at the man.
“I can’t escape people like you no matter where I go.”