The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 288: Land, And Arrival

"T-This?" Neraxis asked, holding Zaria by the hand as he floated her around the new area.

Unlike all his previous areas, he was currently in some ice cap area, similar to the one where her father and Zaria had a face-off.

Though he wasn't the most keen on living here, even if he could literally remove the ice.

But one person would enjoy it: Seraphina. She might even make her own little hidey-hole inside the mountain.

Nonetheless, Zaria had fallen quiet, much, much quieter than all the previous times.

And after just a few minutes, she finally spoke.

"I think this is solid. Aside from the rift inside the mountain, I think it's fine. All you have to do is clear it out, kill what's left of the monsters, and you should be good to go," Zaria explained.

"Oh? The first good review in the last 6 hours. I like that," Neraxis replied with a relieved sigh.

He would usually not care much about the opinions of others; however, since Zaria was Zaria, he kind of wanted her genuine opinion.

Because of that, he had to teleport around with her for the last 6 or so hours.

In the end, they found something—this mountain.

Now I'd just need to terraform it. Not like I'm telling the Sordana government I'm moving in here; they can figure that part out on their own, Neraxis thought, whistling as he floated toward the peak of the mountain and landed alongside Zaria.

She stretched her back, since throughout the entire search, he had been embracing her. Sometimes, he couldn't control his strength that much, so he held her more firmly than he intended to.

Anyways, she didn't exactly push him away and was rather compliant. It was surprising seeing her so tame after all that talk earlier.

Though I don't think we got any closer... Neraxis sighed, glancing her up and down. Though maybe she eased up a little? Who knows...

"Any other tips you want to give me, miss landlord?" Neraxis asked, causing her to stop mid-stretch and turn to him.

"Really? Landlord? Is that some kind of foreplay fantasy you're going with now?" Zaria replied with a smug look. "I don't mind dressing up as a landlord, but do know I'm going to buy my own stick."

A shiver ran down Neraxis's spine. "Forget it."

She giggled. "Yeah, no wonder I can't make any friends. Even you're feeling uncomfortable with the stuff I say. Granted, we're not friends."

"Well, you literally just said you'd stick a stick up you-know-where, and I'm not too keen on that." Neraxis tilted his head. "And I think the only reason you can't make any friends is because you never try to. You expect some magical perfect friends to end up on your doorstep, but then again, when is that ever going to happen?"

Especially since you became friends with a person like Alice... Neraxis thought, not voicing it out loud.

Alice was fine at some point. Still a sadist control freak, but not as bad as she was at the end of her life.

Despite that, Zaria's sense for friendship was pretty messed up; it was no wonder she asked Alice's cup size the first time they met.

Still, he glanced at her, and the moment he did, he realized she had already been glaring at him for the past couple of seconds.

"Jockey, do we have a problem?" Zaria asked. "You've been on my ass about friendship for a while now."

Neraxis smirked. "Seems like someone's mad I called them out."

"We're done here," Zaria said with a scoff and turned around before walking away.

Yet not even a few steps later, the mana spiked in the air, and soon, a shadow was cast over them.

Neraxis could see a bit of blood drip down, and as he looked up toward it, he noticed Evangeline's smug face staring down at him.

She was on some sort of blood construct, and it resembled a cloud.

To top it all off, he could feel several other people up there, including the girls and, obviously, his parents too.

Soon, the blood cloud descended, and the moment it did, Evangeline jumped off, flying straight into his arms.

Neraxis gladly caught her and embraced her tightly.

"Hey, you've really been searching this entire time?" Evangeline asked, giggling. "Though I can't say I dislike a nice mountain. We could live inside it."

"Yep, all thanks to her," Neraxis said, pointing to Zaria.

She flinched, not expecting him to put her on the spot like that.

"Oooh, right, Zaria." Evangeline grinned as she pushed away from Neraxis, approaching Zaria instead. "Girl, I appreciate all the help you've given to Neraxis, though do you mind if we step out for a little chat?"

What are you doing? Neraxis asked, puzzled.

[I'll try befriending her,] Evangeline replied knowingly. [Watching her be so antisocial around you made me want to help her out, you know? I hope you don't mind.]

Not at all. Go for it. Neraxis gave the go-ahead, and soon, his family, alongside all the other girls, descended.

"I'm surprised all of you went along. I wasn't expecting Celina or Aella to come with."

"Well, I can always fly back within minutes with my gadgets," Aella replied with a smirk. "Celina, on the other hand, was just bored and wanted to check out what you were planning. Hope you don't go too hard on her."

"You don't need to bring that up, cow tits," Eris said, stepping down the blood cloud. "Neraxis, why did you leave that masochist with us?"

Neraxis tilted his head. "Evangeline? What'd she do?"

"She was like a beast in the pool..." Ariella commented, her expression haggard. "She created giant waves from the jacuzzi, and then nearly drowned Aurelia."

"I can vouch." Celina raised her hand, pointing to Aurelia, who had an almost lifeless look. "She can't swim."

"Oooh! I see ice!" Seraphina suddenly yelled, shooting past everyone and gliding slightly above the mountain.

The same went for Amaterasu; however, instead of stepping off, she merely remained lying on the blood cloud, almost as if she were tanning in the sun.

Everyone was scattered, and even his family were chatting idly by while wearing thick fur coats.

God... this is going to be a headache.