The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

Neraxis walked back to the main arena and jumped back onto the platform.

Immediately, he was met with Aella's skeptical gaze.

"You missed a lot." she whispered, pointing toward the arena. "Soren and Veronica were eliminated, and so were half of our class."

"Did Ariella appear?" Neraxis asked as he sat down, no longer whispering.

Aella did the same. "Nope. They have another person who's pretty talented. Magnus was thinking of sending you and Kael down."

Neraxis tilted his head. "But?"

"Celina and Aurelia dealt with them," Aella added. As Neraxis focused on the massive blue box, he saw a screen displaying Celina as the MVP.

"...But?" Neraxis asked again.

"Celina got bored and resigned. The same went for Aurelia, who was too scared to fight alone."

"...I see." Neraxis grumbled, looking at his class.

Each of them was downcast from losing, with the exception of Kael, who was staring off into the sky, dazed.

And of course, Soren, whose hands were shaking almost as if in anger, looked the worst out of all of them.

Neraxis glanced toward the Chronus Academy lineup and noticed Ariella staring at him with her hand resting on her chin.

Her blue eyes seemed to stare into his soul, and in the next moment, he realized why.

Each time she blinked, he felt his {Aura of the Abyss} flare up before settling down.

It was slightly crackling as well, which caused him to grow more puzzled until finally, he noticed a peculiar pattern.

{Cosmic Sight} could track the traces of long-exposure mana, and from what he was seeing, there was a long line stretching out from where Ariella sat, straight to where he was.

And each time she blinked, that trace of mana increased.

Therefore, Neraxis decided to test something.

He timed it so that the moment she blinked, he sent out a burst of mana ahead of himself.

And surprisingly, it made contact with something that immediately retreated.

As Neraxis glanced back toward Ariella, he noticed a frown on her beautiful face, as a small portion of her pink hair was frozen from his Frost.

So is she stopping time? Accelerating it? Hmm... Neraxis pondered, as his {Aura of the Abyss} was a direct counter to her time skill, considering it could disrupt the space around him, which would make her time irregular.

Nonetheless, he put those thoughts aside as she rewound her hair back to before his Frost affected it.

In the very next moment, Magnus stood up, tapping Kael on the shoulder and then glancing toward Neraxis. "You two, go down."

"Sure." Neraxis nodded and flashed Ariella a distant smirk before jumping down onto the grass.

Kael followed a moment later, stretching his back and letting out an annoyed groan.

"You know... I was a bit excited to fight earlier, but I think we're going to lose against that girl."

"So?" Neraxis tilted his head. "Are you not even going to try?"

"Of course I will," Kael replied with a shrug. "I just think that no matter what we do or what amount of damage we deal, she will just turn back time like the previous genius."

"The one Celina fought?" Neraxis asked, and Kael nodded.

"Yeah... She had to cut his head off five times before the organizers finally called it our win."

"...That does sound troublesome," Neraxis expressed and watched as Ariella dropped down, neatly walking on the grass.

He expected someone else to appear alongside her, but she was alone.

Nonetheless, the massive blue cube soon began the announcement.

—This is going to be an intense match, as despite this being a two versus one, Ariella Scarlet of Chronus Academy is known for making numbers meaningless. Therefore, without further ado, let the round start!

"Kael, use your strongest—" Neraxis's words were cut off when, all of a sudden, Kael was launched back into the sitting platform, practically piercing straight through it and sending debris all around the arena.

It happened in a mere moment, and neither Neraxis nor Kael could react in time.

Even Magnus looked slightly surprised as he caught Kael by the collar.

"That's one." An enchanting voice rang out, and as he turned to look at it, he saw Ariella staring at him with her captivating blue eyes.

"You make it look like you don't have limitations," Neraxis remarked, amused.

He was pretty sure if that attack had been aimed at him, he would have been knocked out.

So if she was able to replicate it again, he was screwed either way.

"Limitations~? What's that?" Ariella asked with a teasing smile. "I'm really curious how you did that earlier. Come on, tell me?"

"You mean this?" Neraxis said, and in the very next moment, stretched out his mana outward, freezing the ground below.

Ariella took a few steps backward to avoid being enveloped by the frost as a wide smile appeared on her face.

She stretched out her hand into the air—almost comically—and snapped her fingers.

The moment she did, Neraxis felt his mana reverse before the ice on the ground retracted, disappearing completely.

But the same applied to the crowd, as the ones who were cheering suddenly let out muffled noises, their movements seemingly inverted.

Soon, he was once again face to face with Ariella, who still had the wide smile on her face.

"Limitations~? What's tha—"

"You turned back time." Neraxis cut her off.

"...You remember?" she asked, her wide eyes visibly shaking. "That shouldn't be possible."

As the last of her words fell, she suddenly snapped her fingers again. Just this time, time rewound much faster than before, and even his body began moving by itself.

Finally, he stopped and noticed Kael beside him.

—...Therefore, without further ado, let the round start!

The match began again, and Neraxis merely stared at the unsuspecting Kael.

Just like before, he was blasted into the sitting platform by Ariella, who now had a troubled look on her face.

"That's one—"

"Don't bother, I remember," Neraxis cut her off as he narrowed his eyes. "Your mana didn't budge, and you didn't get any older either. Your organs are fine... Do you seriously not have any recoil when turning back time...?"

His voice contained traces of amazement at the fact that she was doing this, but he knew there had to be some sort of catch.

"Y-You're not supposed to remember... No one is supposed to remember what happens..." she trailed off, her voice crackling as if she was going insane. "You don't understand how easy it would've been if someone was there to remember everything..."

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"What do you mean?" Neraxis asked, walking up to her.

He saw tears form in her eyes, puzzling both him and the spectators.

"Ariella," Neraxis called out her name, but she didn't respond. Therefore, he decided to grab her by the shoulders. "Ariella—!"

The moment he was about to call out to her again, he halted as his vision turned blurry.

Neraxis was still in control. However, time was completely frozen around him.

Yet at the same time, there were some kind of humanoid spectral remnants moving around, mimicking his present , past, and even future movements.

To his surprise, {Aura of the Abyss} began reacting to everything, countering each spectral remnant and erasing them.

Turning back to Ariella, he was left shocked.

One eye remained blue, while the other turned white, displaying a clock face with an hour and minute hand.

It was moving clockwise, but each movement soon reset it back to its initial position.

Ariella stared up at him, her smile cracking.

"W-Welcome to my world."