The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

After their little room tour and shower session, Neraxis and Evangeline made their way downstairs, their fingers interlocked.

Evangeline's face was still pretty flushed, but at least he had cleaned her thoroughly... which took a bit of time, given how deep he had gotten inside her.

Aside from that, Neraxis could feel that his parents were not too far away—As if both of them were speeding back home.

But he didn't have to wonder for long—soon, their cars pulled into the driveway. With hurried steps, both of them ran inside, his mother leading the way.

"Yeaaaaaah! Roskaris, I told you to prepare thoroughly, or else I'd beat you!" Sophia stated with a taunt. "Or maybe... you're just too old now?"

"I'm only a year older than you, Sophia," Roskaris grumbled. "Plus, look at it this way—if I hadn't knocked you up, then we wouldn't be having this race in the first place!"

"True." Sophia nodded as if just realizing something, before glancing toward Neraxis and Evangeline.

As she noticed them standing on the stairs with their fingers interlocked, a wide smile appeared on her face. "You two must've had some fun. But let's get to the food."

"Yes, Mom," Neraxis said, still a bit embarrassed.

Sophia glanced toward Evangeline, who immediately flinched.

"Y-Yes, Mother-in-law."

"Good, I always wanted to have two daughters," Sophia said half-jokingly before grabbing Roskaris's arm and heading into the kitchen. "You two just wait there, food will be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Sure." Neraxis nodded, turning to Evangeline. "Want to go to the yard?"

"Oh? Do you want to spar with me?" she asked teasingly.

"I do." He affirmed. "You talk about being very proficient in swordsmanship, but I'd love to see it firsthand."

Evangeline shrugged. "Very well, let's go. But I won't be holding back, if that's what you're expecting."

"I want you to go all out," Neraxis replied in a resolute tone, and with that, the two began walking toward the yard, which, after some accidents during his training, had become a bit more flat than before.

She walked up to the side and picked up a random wooden sword off the ground before twirling it in her hands.

"God, this is nostalgic," Evangeline remarked with a giggle before pointing the wooden sword right at him. "I'll use a wooden sword. I want you to use my sword instead."

Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Neraxis tilted his head. "You sure? I mean, don't you want to make it dull at the very least?"

"Nope~" She shook her head. "It wouldn't be fair even if I used a toothpick, take the advantage and use it however you want. But of course, no skills."

"You're very confident..." Neraxis grumbled. "But don't underestimate me. I did get a bit better with the sword."

"Oh please." Evangeline let out a giggle. "You rely too much on skills. Without them, your swordsmanship is subpar," she narrowed her eyes. "And I will show you that now."

As the last of her words fell, Evangeline took a few steps forward, holding the wooden sword outstretched.

He was puzzled for a moment, but in the next, he felt a dull impact right on his abdomen, and immediately after, Evangeline dashed in before bringing the wooden sword down on his head, knocking him flat to the ground.

"1-0," she said teasingly before walking back to her original position.

"Did you just use {Simple Stab?}" Neraxis asked while slowly getting up.

The pain was not so severe, and his {Unyielding Vitality} perk took care of most of it.

Almost like Evangeline perfectly estimated the game.

"Nope. Even if it's my own swordsmanship, I said no skills, and I'll abide by my word," she said before stretching out her sword again. "Pay attention."

Neraxis narrowed his eyes and did just that. However, the same thing happened as last time.

The sword did not move out of its place, but he was still hit, and right after, hit again over the head.

"Did you see it?" Evangeline asked.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he replied with a sigh.

She nodded and brought the sword forward—just this time, it was many times slower. "Pay attention."

Neraxis watched carefully, attempting to see what she was talking about.

And then, it clicked.

It only took him a few seconds to notice, and honestly, it seemed pretty simple.

Evangeline was moving forward, however, the sword was not—it remained in place.

At the same time, she was vibrating her hand, which in turn, made the wooden sword violently vibrate as well.

And once she finally decided to strike, she stopped the vibrations before using the pointed sword as a gun and shot him with an extremely small beam of plasma.

Right after, she dashed in without any tricks and brought her sword down on his head—this time, just a regular attack.

"Was the last part necessary?" Neraxis grumbled, standing up again.

"I'm just a strict teacher," Evangeline replied with a shrug before changing her stance.

It was one he wasn't familiar with, but at a single glance, he could tell it was an offensive stance.

"I'll attack in three seconds," Evangeline said with a smug look on her face.

"Sure, I'll attack now then." Neraxis stated and immediately dashed in, the red sword resting at a clean downward angle.

And just as he got close to Evangeline and slashed upward, she suddenly thrust the wooden sword into his shoulder, nearly making him lose his grip on his weapon.

However, he did not, and following that, he slashed in an arc, attempting to cut her wooden sword in two.

But Evangeline reacted in kind, using the momentum of his slash to redirect the blade upward before sending an attack right at his fingers.

Despite it being a wooden sword, the blunt force caused him to wince in pain.

Taking advantage of that, Evangeline thrust the wooden sword forward, stopping right as it was about to reach his neck.

"2-0," she teased, and as he was about to go for the third round, his mother's voice from the kitchen stopped him.

—Neraxis! Daughter-in-law! Food is ready!

"I guess we can continue later," Evangeline said with a soft smile. "We still have 11 hours left on the skill."

"I'll take you out somewhere fun after dinner." Neraxis replied and walked up to her, interlocking their fingers again and leading her inside.

They finally arrived at the kitchen, and a very rich aroma assaulted his nose.

"That smells amazing." Evangeline whispered.

"Yep..." He shared the same sentiment as the dining table finally appeared in front of their eyes.

There were a bunch of dishes scattered around—from caviar to lamb chops to merely sandwiches.

A lot of variety, and one thing they all had in common was the side dish of Ancient Blueberry and Coconut Jam.

"Daughter-in-law, come, sit." His mother, Sophia, called out, gesturing toward the chair beside her.

Evangeline flashed Neraxis one more glance before giving him an embarrassed kiss on the cheek and heading on over.

As for him, he sat beside his father and the grumbling Elara.

"So what's your name? I can't keep calling you 'daughter-in-law," Sophia asked with a chuckle.

"Evangeline Noctis..." Evangeline replied, feeling the tension rise in the air.

"I see..." Sophia trailed off as her expression turned serious. "What are your intentions with my son?"

...This feels a little familiar.