The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

—BOOOOOOOM

One building fell, followed by three more.

—BOOOOOOOOOOM

And of course, it didn't take a genius to figure out that .every single one of these buildings he had destroyed was merely a decoy.

"Dud after dud, I thought you said this was their headquarters?" Evangeline asked, kicking away a corpse.

"Well, it used to be." Neraxis shrugged. "You know how it is, future-is-not-the-same-as-the-past type of bullshit. I can't exactly help it."

Nonetheless, he had spared a single person, so he began walking toward them

It was some old man wearing a lab coat, and to Neraxis's surprise, the man didn't exactly seem shocked at this outcome.

"Neraxis Valen..." The old man nodded at him. "I have a message to deliver to you."

"Of course you do." Neraxis sighed. "Let's hear it then."

The old man took a deep breath and stared straight into Neraxis's eyes. "The prophet knows. Cease your efforts of finding her, since in the end, you will only get yourself killed, Neraxis Valen."

"She said that, huh?" Neraxis chuckled, turning to Evangeline, who also had an amused expression on her face. "What do you think?"

"Pfftt... I think if she's really the prophet, then she's aware of our choice, right?" Evangeline mused with a smile.

And the moment she did, her hand shot toward the old man and, without even giving him a moment to react, tore his head clean off his shoulders.

"Yep, that's what I would've said as well," Neraxis remarked, earning a giggle from Evangeline.

"I know, I read your mind. That's why I said it," she replied teasingly. "But on another note, she knows everything, right?"

Neraxis nodded. "That seems to be the case, but I wonder how?"

He had severed the connection with the universe, so naturally, he expected there to be some sort of connection linking him to the prophet.

However, there was nothing of the sort, and instead, the only thing he felt in his mind was the Eternal Sin and Evangeline.

Hmm... this really is tricky, Neraxis remarked inwardly and proceeded to fly up into the sky.

If there was anyone left here, then he would've sensed it, but since there wasn't, then he'd get out of here.

Also, it seemed like the only reason Evangeline's clothes—and, well, the other girls' clothes—disappeared was simply because he imagined them naked in the back of his mind.

"You what...?" Evangeline muttered.

"Oh right..." Neraxis facepalmed. "Just pretend you didn't hear that."

"But if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask?" Evangeline commented, her smirk growing. "Someone can't hold back, can they~?"

Neraxis let out a sigh and proceeded to ignore her for the time being.

Instead, there were a couple more government bases he wanted to check out.

But just as he was about to do that, his senses flared up, and he immediately turned in a particular direction—which just so happened to be where the Wilds were located.

"I feel that too..." Evangeline said, her brows furrowing.

Therefore, he didn't waste even a moment and proceeded to grab Evangeline's arm and teleport.

The moment he reappeared in the Wilds, he was greeted with the sight of hundreds of monsters overrunning the campsite where all the students were gathered.

Funnily enough, they weren't exactly trying to attack the students. Instead, it almost seemed like they were running from something.

And of course, that something was the sole reason why Neraxis had come here in the first place.

"What rank is that?" Neraxis asked.

"Saint, down the middle if I had to guess," Evangeline replied. "Whoever that is, they are slightly stronger than me."

"Yeah, I can see that," Neraxis said with a nod. "I didn't expect the first invader to show up to be someone so high-ranked. I was thinking small fries would travel first, followed by the big shots later."

"That should usually be the case." Evangeline shrugged. "But the promise of immortality is pretty heavy. Everyone just sends out their most promising hounds to capture someone... but yeah, we can deal with this."

"Of course," Neraxis replied with a smile and descended downwards.

He swiftly wrapped all the students in his threads and tossed them further from the area.

Of course, since Aella and the rest of the girls were in a much safer area, he didn't even bother with them.

However, from the looks of things, Ariella had already gone ahead.

He hadn't seen her in a while, but aside from being a little pissed off, she shouldn't bite his head off.

Probably.

Neraxis flew toward where the strong presence was coming from alongside Evangeline, and the moment they arrived, they were greeted by some black-haired man holding an extremely long katana.

Lightning was crackling around him, and from the sadistic grin on his face, Neraxis could tell this guy was likely some brainwashed idiot.

Nonetheless, small talk was always nice—especially when you didn't know what to expect.

Neraxis spotted Ariella in the air and sent Evangeline toward her.

In the meantime, he descended toward the black-haired man.

"Welcome to my world," Neraxis greeted. "Though I'm sure you haven't come here bearing gifts now, did you?"

"No." The black-haired man shook his head, amused by Neraxis's actions. "Tell me, you are the one we're looking for, right?"

Neraxis chuckled and tilted his head menacingly. "And if I am?"

The black-haired man sighed. "Then I'm afraid I'll need you to go on a little trip with me. Make it quick and fast for me since I have a date in a few hours."

"Congratulations," Neraxis said with a smile. "But I'm afraid you're going to have to cancel on her."

"The universe has complied and given us your status window," the black-haired man stated, readying his katana. "Sadly, you're no match for me. But I promise, if you surrender peacefully, then we're going to kill you painlessly."

"Pfftt... right..." Neraxis held back a laugh as he stared the black-haired man straight in the eyes.

"Sadly, I'm not alone."