The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 420

Chapter 420: Inside the Gala
He teleported right outside of a large mansion, and as expected, the guards were the first people to approach him.

“Name?”

“Moriarty Stewart,” Neraxis introduced himself. “My name should be on the list. Do check it.”

From what he had heard about this Moriarty, he talked formally with pretty much everybody. However, he also had this weird sense of superiority over those that were below him in terms of status.

So he’s a jerk who plays nice, basically. Neraxis chuckled inwardly.

Soon after, the guards exchanged glances and checked the list. After confirming that his name was on it, they gestured for him to step forward. Of course, they wanted him to pass that strange test first, and while he didn’t get where the algorithm was, he continued walking.

Eventually, he reached the front of the mansion. He could see people inside, all of whom had wealth and status. He kind of felt jealous in a way, but he knew that his family was much richer than probably 90% of the people here.

Not my money though… so I’m technically broke, Neraxis thought with a regretful look, and right as his foot was about to cross the doorframe, he suddenly halted, getting an ominous feeling. His instincts practically screamed at him to step back and leave this place.

But he couldn’t. If he wanted the safety of his family and Evangeline to remain intact, he had to be more assertive.

“What are you waiting for?” the guard asked. “Didn’t the envelope tell you about this?”

“Apologies, it must have slipped my mind after the supper yesterday,” Neraxis replied, narrowing his eyes. “But do not act so familiar with me. You are nothing but a guard, whereas I am someone way above you.”

The guard rolled his eyes. “Alright, mister president, why don’t you step through so we can do our jobs.”

Yeah… That would be my reaction too. Neraxis smiled. If a stuck-up rich person acted like this in front of me, I would probably piss in his soup.

Of course, he had no intention of doing so, but it was simply frustrating.

Taking one step over the doorframe, Neraxis found himself suddenly being lit up by a whirlpool of mana. It was mana without an element, but that was not to say it wasn’t powerful. He knew that at this point if he were to resist, his entire body would get crushed by this pressure.

In fact, this pressure gathered around his mind and heart, as if scanning him for any irregularities. However, just as quickly, the pressure vanished.

He heard a slight buzz in the back of his mind, and he knew that whatever it had just done had indeed caught onto something. But almost as if it was too unimportant to be announced, it didn’t trigger the alarm.

And just like that, he had successfully made it into the main building.

“Very well, Moriarty Stewart, from this moment on until you leave, you are protected. Should you wish to leave, inform one of the higher-ups so they can process you and teleport you directly out of here. Understood?”

“Indeed… I shall take notice, but I do have a question… How exactly does teleportation work on the inside, but if I were to teleport from the outside, it wouldn’t work?” Neraxis asked, more so fulfilling his own curiosity.

He felt the gall to ask this because he knew that Moriarty was also a curious person. From the strange look of the guards, it seemed like they knew that too as they rolled their eyes and then spoke:

“It’s a one-way barrier. It’s unbreakable and unbreachable from the outside. From the inside, however, it’s incredibly fragile. But with such a barrier, the rich folks can gather their funds and connect gateways between places. It ignores the barrier completely,” one of the guards replied.

“Hmm… But something leaving the barrier is bound to leave behind a disturbance, correct?” Neraxis asked. “It’s like disturbing a body of water. It will ripple, and it may go back to normal eventually. However, until then, any excess motion might make the ripples fiercer.”

The guards flinched.

“Listen… We understand you are curious, but this is no place for that curiosity. The barrier is stable, and so long as too many people refrain from teleporting at once, you should be fine. Also, I understand you are a man of money, so I assume the truths I had spoken would account for a reward, yes?”

Neraxis raised his brow at the man. At first he was acting informal, but the more questions Neraxis asked, the more the man’s expression twisted. Obviously, everyone here was a fan of money, some more than others.

He’s trying to scurry favor from me… Except there’s one more characteristic to Moriarty’s personality…

And it was none other than shamelessness.

“And why should I? Did I force your mouth to move? You spat that information like a puppy, and I merely listened. For future reference, if you want something, make sure you make your demands clear from the very start.”

With that lesson in bullshit, Neraxis turned around and headed toward the people. All the while, he heard the guards snickering under their noses. Clearly, that little stunt of his pissed them off.

However, he couldn’t care less. The guards were akin to slaves of the Gala. They were only forced to follow orders, and any disobedience would lead them to death.

A very swift death.

Nonetheless, he mixed amongst the people, earning a couple of lustful gazes from the side. He was basically a women magnet with this kind of appearance. Not like he wasn’t one already though.

Making his way to a table, Neraxis picked up a cup of wine and twirled it slightly. After that, he drank a single sip, and while no one was looking, he spat it out on the red carpet.

Fucking apple juice? Are you serious? Neraxis’s brows twitched. For people who are so rich… The least you can expect from them is proper wine.