The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Eris," Neraxis called out as he sat beside the four girls. "Did Aella call you?"

Before she could answer, Aella spoke up. "You two seemed close, so I thought it was best to invite her too. Sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds."

"No, it's alright, but did you even tell her what we'll be doing?" Neraxis asked.

"I told her we'd be doing some killing, and she kind of accepted," Aella stated plainly, making him facepalm.

"You're really something, aren't you?" he said with a sigh. "But if all of you really want in, then we need to talk elsewhere. I don't want someone snooping around."

"Want to go to my grandpa's office? He's not in the academy right now," Celina suggested, her mood seeming a lot better than earlier.

"Hmm... Yeah, we can do that." Neraxis nodded, and the five of them soon made their way over to the headmaster's office.

Unsurprisingly, they received a lot of strange glances, as he was supposedly the famous kid walking around with a bunch of beauties.

Nonetheless, he ignored those gazes while chatting with the girls about random stuff until, finally, they arrived and went inside.

It was empty, and he spotted a few documents lying scattered on the ground, which no one bothered to pick up.

Celina led them to her personal training ground, where multiple broken dummies lay.

But Neraxis didn't mind, and they merely sat on the surprisingly comfortable floor.

Finally, he decided to tell them what he would be doing.

"Have any of you heard of Lar Hardcrest? He's a student at Skryder Academy," Neraxis asked.

After a few moments of silence, Aurelia replied, "I-I think I remember seeing him on the news last week... He killed a C- ranked monster as a D- ranked Awakened, and the government was praising him."

"Up until you came back," Aella added with a smug look. "Do you want me to do the same as I did with Bale?"

"Not necessarily. This one I want to kill for good," Neraxis said, and immediately, the girls went quiet.

But the silence didn't last long as Celina let out a sigh before saying, "Killing someone so famous would be difficult. I'm sure you already know that."

"I do," Neraxis nodded. "But that's exactly why I brought you all here. I need ideas since the best one I have is luring him to a secluded place and doing it there."

"Simple is always best," Aella remarked, scrolling on her phone. "But I can see he has an SS- ranked skill. He's a very big asset to the entire continent, if not the entire world."

"Trash covered in gold is still trash," Eris said with a scoff. "I'm still waiting for that ice cream card, and since I don't want you to get caught, I need to help you."

[Tsundere spotted.] Evangeline commented with a giggle.

Ignoring Evangeline, Neraxis pulled out his phone, turning to Aella. "Could we create a sort of secure group chat? I know you're good at making stuff, so is it possible for you to also create something untraceable?"

"Possible? Give me a few seconds," Aella replied confidently and began aggressively typing on her phone.

As for the others, they still seemed a bit out of the loop, therefore, he decided to tell them a bit about his grievances.

"You see, Lar Hardcrest, as well as a few others, wronged me in the past. For that, I wanted to take my revenge," Neraxis stated. "As petty as it sounds, I believe killing them might even make the world better."

His words received mixed reactions, especially from Aurelia. She had always been the meek girl people overlooked, even before.

But it seemed like after the incident back at Stradon Fortress, she became a bit braver, given how she's currently here.

"Who are the others?" Celina asked, narrowing her eyes. "I searched up Lar, and a few other names popped up. Bale was one of them, then there was Alice and Asher. Are they a part of the trash you mentioned?"

"...Yes," Neraxis replied with a sigh. "I'll deal with them another time. If all of them went missing at once, it wouldn't be good."

"Obviously," Celina nodded before adding, "However, this Alice girl in particular has a solid reputation as the Saintess. Killing her would be even harder than Lar."

"It doesn't sound like you think it's impossible," Neraxis chuckled. "But let's drop it for now. Lar is like the leader of those goons, and if we were to kill him, then they would become vulnerable."

"Agreed," Celina replied, and soon, Aella finally let out a giggle.

The very next moment, each of their phones vibrated. As they pulled them out to check, they noticed a new app had appeared.

"I made a messaging app. It's authorized and completely encrypts all our messages," Aella explained smugly. "No need to call me a genius, I know I am."

"Yes, you are," Neraxis remarked playfully, and the other girls let out giggles of their own.

Nonetheless, it was a good start.

They had a means of communication, and now all they were missing was the basics of the plan.

No pressure.

"Where's the tournament being held? Was it announced?" Neraxis asked.

"It's in between Argon and Astrad. I believe it was Vandros?" Aella said before pulling up her phone and making sure. "Yeah, Vandros."

"Isn't that where Skryder Academy is...?" he asked with a sour look.

Aella, as well as the other girls, froze.

"Wow... Now the odds are definitely stacked in our favor if we're going to be trying to kill them in their own city," Neraxis remarked with disbelief.

"I-I have an idea!" Aurelia suddenly spoke up. "What if we lure Lar out by having Neraxis confess to Alice?"

"...What are you talking about?" Neraxis asked with furrowed brows. "I hate her nearly as much as I hate Lar. I'd rather shoot myself than confess to her."

"N-No... Well, yes... But I think Lar is interested in her... From what I saw on the internet, he made countless advances and was rejected," Aurelia explained, making his eyes widen.

"So you want me to set a bounty on my head and use that to lure him somewhere quiet... That's actually a good idea," Neraxis thought out loud.

If he remembered correctly, Alice was obsessed with him in the past. So using her like this might actually be possible.

But at the same time, if he did do it this way, then he'd be doing exactly what she did to him in the past.

...I'm not doing it without reason... Revenge is revenge. He concluded inside his mind before turning to the group. "I'll do it then. I'll try to seduce her. In the meantime, I want you all to find a place where we can kill Lar."

Having said that, it was also time to distribute the roles.

"Aella and Aurelia, I want you two to stay in the back and give us information." He turned to Aurelia. "If something goes wrong, I want you to take Aella and leave."

"...Okay," Aurelia replied with a nod, determination clear on her face.

"Eris, long-range support. I want you to be a scout, basically. Can you do that?" Neraxis asked patiently.

"I don't mind. But if I get caught up in all of this, then I'm bailing," Eris said with a shrug.

"That's fine," Neraxis said. "If this really does backfire, I want all of you to run away."

Each of the girls nodded, however, he could see a trace of hesitance, almost as if none of them really listened to what he had said.

Nonetheless, it was time for the main batch.

"Celina, you and I will be at the very front. I want you trailing me while you're invisible, and the moment we get Lar somewhere secluded, I want you to erase our tracks."

She was the only one he could trust, aside from himself. Maybe Eris too, but she was pretty low on the trust ladder for now.

"Understood," Celina replied almost professionally.

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With that, their little meeting came to an end, and the rest they would discuss on the messaging app as a group.

Neraxis stood up, a small grin tugging on his face.

This will be a fun tournament.