The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 187: Turning Point 2

The moment the announcement finished, Neraxis leaped onto a nearby tree branch.

All of the trees that sprouted were colossal, and there was a lot of branch coverage, which allowed him to move from above.

As for Kael, he decided to be on the ground, and Neraxis didn't bother to stop him.

However, the warnings kept echoing in his mind.

But they were especially alarming because he was the only one who couldn't feel any danger.

Nonetheless, he put that off for now as he arrived before the first group of monsters.

They were the Scrapfang—ironically, the first monsters he had faced after returning to the past.

He dashed off the tree and, using the momentum, cleaved the heads of six Scrapfang in a single slash.

No kill notification came, but it was only natural—he was much, much stronger than them now.

Neraxis moved forward, clearing more monsters until finally, he managed to gather around 20 points for his academy.

Looking up, he noticed the leaderboard.

<Havenspire Academy: 43 Points>

<Skryder Academy: 44 Points>

We're losing. Neraxis grumbled as he began speeding up his pace.

Not using skills was a bit annoying, but he still made it work.

However, in the middle of dashing through the trees, he halted.

The moment he first entered the forest-like arena, people had been cheering loudly.

Now? It was completely silent.

"You noticed it too?" A voice rang out from behind him, making a frown appear on his face.

"Alice," Neraxis said coldly, turning toward her. "So you can't kill, huh? What an interesting restriction."

"I don't want to fight you," she replied, her expression serious for once. "There is a barrier blocking us from leaving this arena. I think you'd be able to break it."

"A barrier...?" Neraxis muttered. "Can't you do it yourself? You seem pretty powerful."

Alice shook her head. "I tried, Lar tried. Even that guy with tattoos, Kael, tried. None of us were able to break it."

Kael too? Neraxis thought, his eyes widening.

The situation seemed a bit worse than he expected.

It was to the point where, for a bit, he was willing to have a truce with Alice.

After all, the words she had spoken were not lies.

"Lead the way," he stated, and with a nod, Alice dashed away at a speed he was just barely able to keep up with.

Nonetheless, they arrived in front of some sort of blurry white barrier.

Lar, Kael, and some other students were already gathered here, none of them fighting.

Neraxis stretched his mana outward and noticed the girls were still safe, merely hunting the monsters, with Aella sitting on her phone, almost like she was trying to figure something out.

As for him? He was going to break this barrier.

"Do you think you can do it?" Alice asked.

He ignored her and approached the blurry white barrier, placing his hand on it.

It felt like he was touching wet wind, which was an unpleasant thought, but he didn't waste time before activating {Aura of the Abyss}.

As he did, the barrier immediately parted, and a gust of hot air shot right toward Neraxis's face, puzzling him.

Feeling like something was wrong, he picked up his sword and, with a single {Aura}-filled slash, parted a massive chunk of the barrier.

"The fuck?" Kael's confused voice rang out, and everyone shared the same sentiment.

After all, the previously peaceful blue, cloud-filled skies were now replaced by a crimson red color.

At the same time, the stench of blood flooded their noses, making most of the students churn.

But not Neraxis, who stepped out of the barrier and glanced around the debris-filled spectator arena, with the stands caved in—almost like a meteor had fallen on top of them.

Nearby, a group of monsters far stronger than those inside the tournament arena.

"Can't say that has happened before," Alice remarked as she stopped beside him. "Do you think it's the Monster Warper?"

Celina's father? Neraxis's brow twitched, but it was definitely a possibility.

He did join Eternal Night. However, aside from promising not to harm his friends, they didn't say much more.

However, deep down, he knew this wasn't it.

"It's the Evangelists," Neraxis stated. "The same people who believe there is something beyond the rifts."

Alice tilted her head. "But there is? We both saw the inside of the S-ranked rift. And somehow, you also managed to see what happened after you, well, you know... disappeared."

"I know. That's what makes this much more troublesome, since the events are starting to play together as they did in the past."

If Monarchs were the people who directly worshipped the Sovereigns, then the Evangelists were the people who indirectly worshipped the Sovereigns.

Both were terrible. However, the Evangelists were more ruthless, and what he was seeing in front of him was proof of that.

"I'm going home," Alice said, pushing past him.

But before she could get too far, Neraxis slashed his sword down at her head, cleaving her in half.

She lifelessly plopped onto the ground and, after a few seconds, reappeared inside the arena, a frown on her face.

"This is not the time for that."

Neraxis shrugged. "Thought I could catch you off guard."

The stench was unbearable, so he began making his way up the stairs to the highest point in the entire spectator arena.

Sadly, Alice was following right behind him, and Lar, as well as Kael, were not too far away either.

They were the only ones not affected by what they were seeing—that being, the hundreds of corpses scattered lifelessly on the ground.

Finally, he could see the entire arena, and with that, a few people dressed in fanatical white robes.

"So it is them," Alice remarked with an annoyed sigh. "I can't believe we have to deal with them again."

"We? I was the one who made them disband," Neraxis replied with a scoff before locking onto one of the fanatics in the distance and immediately using {Sword Dash}.

He appeared in front of the Evangelist. However, the Evangelist swiftly reacted, stretching out a battle staff and barely redirecting Neraxis's attack.

They have people above C rank working with them now? Neraxis thought, his brows furrowing, and before the Evangelist could react, he performed a {Simple Stab}.

A hole appeared in the middle of the Evangelist's robe-covered head, and then:

[1x (B- Ranked Modified-Human) Slain! Reward: Stigmata 96.39% → 96.49%]

Modified... Neraxis read through it, and as he turned to the side, he watched as Alice slashed the head of the second Evangelist off before flashing him a grin.

She can kill... he thought, but soon, Evangeline spoke up.

[It's conditional, I think. I'm pretty sure she can't kill humans, but if they are modified humans, then it's possible. She likely has a skill that determines whether she can kill them or not,] she stated, making him nod in understanding.

That seems very possible.

However, as he was about to confront her, his dimensional ring suddenly began vibrating—almost as if hundreds of messages were being sent.

It seemed like it was coming from both of his phones, therefore, he checked the Obscura phone first.

<Amara: Emergency mission. You need to get out from where you are as soon as possible. This new group that showed up is targeting you.>

He got that message ten minutes ago, meaning it was right before the third round started.

And as for his main phone, there were several messages in the group chat.

<Aella: I got the connection back. This entire city is being attacked. I'm not sure what's their objective, but the Eternal Night and the people calling themselves the Evangelists teamed up. We need to leave this place fast.>

<Celina: There's some urgent business I need to attend to. Don't wait up for me.>

<Aurelia: Guys... Celina is going after the Monster Warper. I tried to stop her, but she slipped away.>

Fuck... Her father just had to be here. Neraxis furrowed his brows.

He was glad he had prepared Aurelia a few hundred potions yesterday, since if something were to happen to him today, he didn't want her to pay the price.

<Neraxis: On it. I'll get her. All of you regroup or go to Kael. He will help out.>

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Just as he was about to put his phone away, three messages appeared at the same time.

<Aella: Neraxis. Don't do it. If you go, you might die.>

<Aurelia: Celina is near the restaurant where we were... But please be careful.>

<Eris: I'm already there. I count 1,487 monsters. Need backup.>

Three different opinions, and as much as he wanted to listen to Aella, he didn't want Celina getting herself killed either.

He let out a conflicted sigh and glanced between the arena's exit and the taunting Alice before steeling his resolve and sending out his final message.

<Neraxis: See you later.>

Immediately, his phone began lighting up with messages and calls, yet he merely slipped it back into the dimensional ring.

[Are you sure about this?] Evangeline asked, worried.

I'm sure. He nodded and dashed out of the arena, heading toward where both Eris and Celina were.

[Alright... I'll help you out as much as I can,] she assured, and he let out a chuckle.

Always and forever.