The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"There you are." Magnus's voice rang out as Neraxis and the girls finally came into view. "You were almost late. Watch yourselves."

"Of course." Neraxis nodded absentmindedly, and soon, Magnus spoke again.

"We're going to make an entrance now, and within 20 minutes, the entire arena will fill up with people. When that happens, I don't want any of you having stage fright, understood?"

Everyone nodded in unison, including Aurelia.

Out of everyone present, she was the most likely to mess up. Therefore, Neraxis decided he would stick with her for now.

"Come now." Magnus stated, and as he did, they went toward the entrance of the arena, which was just some giant parted gates.

They went through them and, after going down a long flight of stairs, finally arrived near the grassy arena.

But just as a student was about to step on it, Magnus interjected.

"If you step on the grass, you're expelled," he said coldly. "I told you to behave, and since the tournament hasn't started yet, I need you to follow the rules I informed you about back in class."

"S-Sorry..." the student apologized before walking back and standing beside his friends.

"..." Neraxis stared at what was happening, then glanced to the side.

The arena was circular, meaning he could see exactly where the rest of the participants were gathered.

Farther away was the Skryder Academy, with Lar confidently walking alongside his classmates and instructor.

Neraxis grumbled and turned toward the academy they would be fighting, the Chronus Academy.

They were right beside his class, and their uniforms were a nice cyan.

All of the students looked confident; however, Neraxis took notice of one thing.

Why are they all so scrawny?

None of them had even an ounce of muscle.

But as he was staring at them, a single person stared back at him.

It was a pink-haired girl, and once her blue eyes landed on him, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

She's dangerous. Neraxis concluded inside his mind, as both of them broke off their gazes at the same time.

If what Magnus said was true, then all of them could manipulate time to some degree.

Neraxis had never directly fought someone who had the Time affinity, but if he were to guess, they'd be one big pain in the ass.

Nonetheless, he glanced at the other academies, some of which looked menacing, while the others, not so much.

He narrowed down that aside from the Chronus Academy, the strongest one was the Skryder Academy.

"Stand." Magnus startled him out of his thoughts, and as Neraxis took a glance around, he suddenly saw people beginning to fill up the entire arena.

The number was ridiculous, as most were running to their seats, with even more trying to get past.

It was chaos, but while it was settling down, a massive blue cube floated toward the very center of the entire arena, hovering in the sky for everyone to see.

And soon, a robotic voice rang out.

—Welcome to the annual Inter-Academy tournament! Like before, we have eight academies in total, with the previous winners, the Skryder Academy, also being present.

The people who were entering began cheering, and following that, the robotic voice continued.

—The format is duo elimination, and since we don't want to keep you waiting, we will begin the tournament immediately!

As its words fell, Magnus suddenly turned toward them. "You all will be the first to go. I recommend the first team to go up and gauge their strength. Therefore... Soren and Veronica. You seemed confident last time you wanted to enter Dreamspire, so go ahead and prove me wrong."

"Huh? Why do I have to go first?" Veronica complained, her black hair swaying in the wind. "If you wanted someone to gauge their strength, why not send someone who can't fight, huh?"

"Shut up." Kael said from the side, annoyed. "If all you are going to do is complain, then just forfeit. Let me and Neraxis go instead."

"I can't do that." Magnus shook his head. "You two are like our trump cards, and I will only send you in when they send in their genius student, Ariella."

"Which one's that?" Veronica asked with a tilt of her head, and Magnus tilted vaguely with his chin. "Pink hair, it's hard to miss. I heard she's a prodigy who managed to turn back time by a few seconds, so the only ones who could deal with her are Neraxis and Kael, naturally."

She managed to turn back time...? Neraxis furrowed his brows.

[Well, didn't you do the same?] Evangeline giggled. [Even if it was borrowed power, you turned back time by hours.]

I think he meant she turned back time for the whole world. Neraxis replied with a grim look. I'm sure she can turn back time by more than that in a fight, so fighting her would be like fighting a stronger Soren.

[Hmm... You're right.] Evangeline replied with a soft hum. [But I'm sure you'll figure it out.]

I hope you're right... he trailed off with a sigh, and soon, Soren and Veronica stepped onto the grass.

"Neraxis, put this on." Magnus handed him a white bandana. "Tie this to your arm, it will show that you are the captain."

Neraxis nodded and did just that.

"We have our own fancy spectator seats. Come." Magnus spoke again and gestured toward the 22 seats beside them.

They looked to be a bit separated from the rest, however, Neraxis didn't think much about it and sat down.

The others did the same, and as the last person, Magnus sat down. The seats suddenly shook, before the entire platform separated from the arena, neatly floating off the ground and giving them a perfect bird's-eye view of the entire grassy arena.

All the students were equally as surprised as Neraxis was, all with the exception of Aella, of course, who sat beside him.

"I built this, by the way," Aella remarked with a smug smile. "Well... not actually. I gave them the blueprints to build it, but still, it's my creation."

"You're a genius, Aella," Neraxis praised with a chuckle and glanced around.

The other academies were spread out in a manner similar to an octagon, each at the same height.

But there was one thing he had to do, somehow get Alice's attention.

He could see her sitting in the front row beside a few girls, and as if he imagined it, they locked eyes.

They were still golden, just as he remembered, but instead of affection, all he felt was utter repulsion.

After all, following the events leading up to his death, he found out she was a possessive psychopath.

But of course... It won't be the same this time. Neraxis thought, holding eye contact with her.

He tried his best to maintain a smile, but it soon faded, replaced by an uncontrollable frown as he finally broke eye contact with her.

I can't even look at her...

Nonetheless, even if he hadn't broken eye contact, the massive blue cube from earlier started beeping.

Soon, it spoke.

—Havenspire Academy, who came in second place last year, versus Chronus Academy, who came in third. They were evenly matched; however, Havenspire managed to come out on top. Now, however, the first years of both academies have far exceeded their peers!

Suddenly, a few colorful beams shot out of the blue cube, flew high into the sky, and exploded in a colorful mess.

They were similar to fireworks; however, Neraxis could tell it was made completely out of mana. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Lastly, a timer appeared on the blue cube, counting down from three.

And once it reached zero, it spoke again.

—Let the first round of the tournament begin!