The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Everyone, I—"

His words were cut off when Aella suddenly lunged at him, delivering a tight hug.

"I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes. "I thought we meant more to each other, but you didn't even contact me once!"

"I had my reasons," Neraxis replied, gently caressing her head, which was buried in his chest. "The ones who tried to kill me would've been much more active had I revealed myself."

"But a text or—"

"Nothing," Neraxis cut her off. "I'm pretty strong now, which is why I put a bounty on my head. I want them to know I'm here since they will be hearing from me soon."

"Neraxis," Celina called out, her expression clouded with guilt. "Was it my fault? Is that why you couldn't escape?"

"Not at all. They had a different agenda and held me back long enough for the nukes to drop. I'm just glad none of you were close by."

"Do you know who saved you?" Eris asked, her tone making it obvious she was referring to the Obscura.

He nodded. "That's right. I was completing a few of their assigned tasks the past year."

"Eclipse..." Aurelia muttered. "I'm positive it's you. Your stance might be different... but your eyes aren't."

How did she become so sharp? Neraxis grumbled before shrugging.

"I'm really surprised so many people are figuring out my hidden identity, though I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

As his words fell, the girls stared at him in silence.

All except Aella, who got up from his chest and stared right into Neraxis's eyes.

"I knew it..." she muttered. "I knew that the appearance of Eclipse coincided with when you disappeared... or it was close anyway. He appeared two months after you disappeared."

At the mention of two months, Neraxis flinched.

Delta was a caring woman—or so he had thought.

However, when it came to training, she made him practice with real weapons and even cut his head off several times before reattaching it with one of her skills.

I don't even want to remember that... Neraxis thought with a shiver.

"Either way, I don't want other people knowing for now. Or ever, actually. My reputation isn't the greatest as Eclipse."

"Oh? You mean the fact that your confirmed kill count has reached 82,254?" Eris asked with a grin on her face. "I actually became a bounty hunter for the sole purpose of capturing Eclipse."

"Then you're an idiot who would've died if you had come after me while I was on the job," Neraxis shot back as he glanced at all the girls present. "Again, sorry for disappearing, but I didn't have much of a choice."

"You can make it up to me by doing one thing..." Aella trailed off, leaning in right next to his ear before whispering, "My birthday is in a week. Want to come celebrate it with me?"

The brows of all the girls present twitched, as most of them had heard it.

As for Neraxis, he merely patted her on the head with a smile on his face.

"I'll be there." He turned toward the other girls. "How about the rest of you? Any request—"

"My fucking ice cream card," Eris interjected with a frown. "You promised to get me an ice cream card for an entire year... one year ago!"

"Right, that's why..." Neraxis glanced into his dimensional ring before pulling out a white card and tossing it over to Eris.

She skeptically caught it, but upon reading its contents, her eyes widened.

"Free ice cream for life...?"

"Yep." Neraxis chuckled. "I had some free time while out on missions, so I thought I'd get you this for when I'm back."

But he wasn't done, as Neraxis took out an unworn dimensional ring and tossed it over to Aurelia.

She checked it with curiosity, nearly dropping the ring as she turned toward him with a shocked look.

"H-How many is that?"

Neraxis grinned. "Around 3,000. I brewed a few batches every other day. It should last you long enough for me to find a cure."

And, of course, there were Aella and Celina too.

Instead, Neraxis took out a new pair of daggers, ones that were crafted from the same material as his rapier.

"Celina, I know you still have an attachment to those daggers of yours, but—" Neraxis narrowed his eyes. "Where are your daggers?"

"I threw them out," Celina replied absentmindedly. "They were cursed, so I got rid of them."

Right...

"Then what have you been using for the last year?"

As his words fell, Celina suddenly took her hands out of her pockets, showing him her knuckles.

They were battered and bruised, with scars riddling them.

"Celina..." Neraxis trailed off and summoned his sword before slightly pricking his finger.

Blood began dripping down, to the confusion of everyone present.

However, Neraxis merely approached Celina and held his bleeding finger in front of her.

"Drink it."

[That sounds lewd, Neraxis,] Evangeline commented. [I told you that you might need a better phrase for when you want others to use you as a healing potion.]

It's fine... Neraxis shrugged, watching as Celina's cheeks slightly reddened.

With a bit of hesitance, she obediently leaned in, not expecting much.

But as his blood traveled down her throat, a clear sizzling could be heard in the air.

Following that, her battered knuckles visibly regained their porcelain color, as the scars simply faded away.

"W-Wait a moment!" Aella approached, her eyes darting around. "Can I get a sip too? Look."

She pointed to an almost invisible paper cut on her finger.

Neraxis sighed and took his finger out of Celina's mouth before bringing it to Aella, who immediately began sucking it as though it were a lollipop.

But, of course, the invisible paper cut healed in the process.

The other girls weren't brave enough to do the same, and he honestly wished they wouldn't try.

Having someone suck his blood felt oddly... arousing.

[Get your head out of the gutter, Neraxis,] Evangeline said with a giggle. [Give Aella your final gift, and let's get going already. I want to see a monster zone.]

Yep, he nodded, and while Aella was still sucking his finger for some reason, he took out a particular mechanism.

It was similar to the Pandora's Box that was used on him, but just slightly different.

The effect could be bypassed if someone was strong enough, as it didn't really work on anyone above B rank.

But besides that, it was a good mission haul, which he hid away from the Obscura for the sole purpose of giving it to Aella, who finally took his finger out of her mouth.

"What's this?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "I can't tell what this is, Neraxis...?"

"Oh? Not even you can?" He grinned. "It's fine. My gift to you is this weird thing that you probably will have a lot of fun deciphering."

A smile beamed on her face as she gladly accepted it.

Yet the moment she did, Aella accidentally activated it.

[Barnes Magic Box Activated!]

[Usage Of Skill—ERROR]

As that message fell, the box turned itself off.

One fatal flaw was that if someone within range was strong enough to bypass it, then it would turn off completely.

But if Aella could fix it, then this would be a powerful asset.

"Can I suck your finger too?" a voice startled him out of his thoughts, belonging to Ariella.

Neraxis tilted his head. "Why? You're not injured."

"Your blood looked tasty. I'm curious," Ariella replied with a shrug. "So, can I?"

"Maybe later." Neraxis shot her down. "I'm not some blood smoothie... Besides that, we should get ready for the excursion."

The girls nodded in unison, and so did the disappointed Ariella.

"Minus one week..." she muttered, making his brows twitch as he let out a sigh.

"Fine, come here..."