The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Great, now that everyone's back, we can finally get a move on," Magnus said sternly before handing each of them a paper bag. "Don't complain about it. The moment you go through the portals, some of you might want to vomit."

Neraxis flinched at those words before neatly pocketing the paper bag.

After all, he was one of those people.

Nonetheless, all twenty of them were gathered in the classroom, and after being given the basic street etiquette rundown, they were ready to go.

Magnus led them outside the academy, where a massive armored limousine awaited them.

This is a bit fancy...? Neraxis thought, and just like before, Magnus seemingly read his mind.

"Some of you might think it's too fancy. However, it might not even be enough," Magnus said before adding, "All of you will be paraded as the pride of our city, Argon. The academy's name will also be put into play, so if we took you in shabby cars, everyone would look down on us."

That sounds pretty accurate. Neraxis chuckled inwardly before proceeding inside.

It was spacious, yet, for some reason, Aella and Celina still sat beside him, with Aella leaning her head on his shoulder.

He didn't push her away, noticing that Eris sat directly opposite him.

"Playboy," she scoffed, taking her eyes off him.

His brows twitched, but he decided to ignore her. After all, they were on good terms now.

And if anything, the only thing he would gain from talking back was an annoying car ride.

Therefore, Neraxis kept his mouth shut and decided to lean back—maybe even sleep a little.

After all, he hadn't slept in nearly four days now.

Letting his eyes rest, he immediately fell asleep, but after what felt like mere moments, he was jolted awake again.

And as he did, Neraxis stared at the ceiling of the armored limousine.

However, Aella's face was in view, with a wide grin spread across it as she stared at him.

"You looked uncomfortable, so I let you sleep on my thighs. Hope you don't mind," Aella said teasingly.

"..." Neraxis sat back down properly, completely speechless.

Nonetheless, they had arrived, as he spotted Magnus talking outside the limousine with a guard.

Within a few minutes, they were escorted inside the same building he had entered last time—the one with the multiple warp gates.

But of course, his unease about teleportation still existed, so after Magnus was done filling everything out, it was finally time for them to enter through the Vandros City warp gate.

Everyone went through it one by one, and finally, it was his turn to step through.

Neraxis did just that, and as he arrived on the other side, he noticed several of his classmates already violently vomiting.

Frankly, Eris was no exception.

"Pfft... Ugh—" Before he could tease her, his own stomach began to act up, and he too joined the vomiting club.

After several minutes of continuous vomiting, Magnus spoke up again.

"Throw the paper bags in the trash before you leave the building. Also, from here on out, everything you do will be recorded and watched," he said before expanding, "Not by us, of course, but by the paparazzi of this city. So for the academy's sake, please refrain from any foolish behavior."

Haha... Neraxis scratched his head, flashing a sheepish look toward the girls.

They would be doing something very stupid later.

Magnus led them outside, and in the meantime, Neraxis walked completely on autopilot while taking in the surroundings.

Technology-wise, this city seemed superior to his.

There were floating cars flying all around, and virtual reality seemed more advertised here as well.

In fact, they advertised gaming alongside virtual reality, which seemed pretty niche.

Nonetheless, a fancy floating limousine soon arrived to pick them up, and they all swiftly sat inside.

Of course, the crowd of people began to grow in density, making it hard to even drive without being blocked by the masses.

Just how big is this tournament...? Neraxis wondered, feeling Aella's head resting on his shoulder.

He decided to pat it, earning a distant scoff from Eris, which he ignored.

Nonetheless, after a couple of minutes of driving, a colossal arena appeared in his sight.

It looked similar to the arena on the first floor of Dreamspire—just many times larger.

And almost as if the people of this city loved floating things, each of the signs and billboards hovered neatly off the ground.

"This is it," Magnus announced as the limousine finally stopped. "From here on out especially, watch your behavior. I mean it."

Hearing his stern words, everyone nodded in unison as they all finally got out of the limousine.

As they did, they formed groups, with Aella, Celina, Eris, and Aurelia obviously by his side.

After all, it was time to scout out the perimeter.

He also noticed Kael, who seemed pretty uninterested, merely flashing Neraxis a nod before walking over to some food stand.

I feel like inviting him would've been a good idea, Neraxis pondered and let out a sigh. If we can't find anything, then I'll bring it up.

With that, Neraxis and the girls sneaked off from the rest of his classmates as he checked the time.

1:30 P.M.

That meant they had less than 30 minutes to find something before the tournament would start.

"Aella, did you bring the drone?" Neraxis asked, and she nodded before pulling out a nail-sized drone from her dimensional ring.

As she did, Aella tapped her phone a couple of times until finally, the miniature drone lifted off into the sky and began traveling above the colossal arena.

"Woah... It's really massive," Aella remarked, and they leaned in closer to take a look.

The drone was broadcasting everything directly to her phone, and from it, they saw the entirety of the arena.

Inside, instead of the regular and plain fighting grounds, what he saw instead was an uneven grassy terrain.

So we'll be fighting using the terrain. Neraxis nodded, remembering a particular lesson they had not too long ago.

Combat tactics.

The main point of it was to teach them how to kill others while using the terrain to their advantage.

Safe to say, for Neraxis, Eris, and especially Celina, it would be easy.

But then there were Aella and Aurelia, who would likely be the first ones to fail.

The no-killing rule is going to get abused. Neraxis thought with a frown.

As long as one didn't tap out or straight-up die, then the match wasn't over.

Putting his unease aside for now, Neraxis and the other girls continued paying attention to the drone footage.

Finally, after scouting the arena, it was time to look around for any nearby abandoned buildings.

And not even a few moments later, he found at least six.

"Decoys," Neraxis and Celina said in unison.

"Should I check it out directly?" Eris offered with a tilt of her head. "I'd be back pretty soon."

"No, it's fine," Aella assured. "The drone won't stop functioning even if there is electromagnetic interference. It's made out of nanobots."

"...I-I see," Eris replied, flustered.

She doesn't even know what nanobots are. Neraxis chuckled inwardly as Aella searched through each of the buildings until they finally found the right one.

It was an abandoned hospital, and there were only a few booby traps.

Aside from that, it was an ideal location. Therefore, Aella sent out a few more drones and covered the entire building in cameras.

Finally, she brought her drone back. Yet, as she did, Neraxis spotted something.

It was another limousine that had pulled up on the opposite side of the arena, and out of it, a few familiar faces emerged.

Neraxis narrowed his eyes at the golden-haired man and the white-haired girl in particular.

You're here...

"That's them?" Aella asked, bringing her drone closer. "Lar and Alice?" Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

"Yes," Neraxis affirmed before saying, "Can you attach a tracker to them?"

"Give me a second..." Aella said, focusing.

In the very next moment, a very small black piece broke off from her drone and floated down onto Lar and Alice's black academy uniforms, blending neatly into them.

"Done." Aella let out a relieved breath before turning to Neraxis with a soft smile on her face. "I'm happy you let me help."

"Thank you," Neraxis expressed sincerely. "It would've been much harder without your help." He turned to the rest of the girls. "All of you too—thank you, really."

"Mhm..." The girls nodded in unison.

Nonetheless, he took a glance at the time and noticed it was now 1:56 P.M., which meant the tournament would start shortly.

"Let's go, shall we?"