The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 44: First Encounter With The Government

After what felt like hours of senseless waiting, they heard someone take hold of the door, and every single one of them shot up.

A frown was plastered all over Neraxis’s face. What if he hadn’t healed his hand and actually gotten injured? He would have been forced to wait three more hours before seeing a healer.

This had better have been the fucking government knocking. He watched as the door opened, and some unfamiliar man greeted their sight.

Without introducing himself or speaking, he gestured for them to follow.

Of course, even if he was an unknown person, it was still better to be out there than in the prison-like rift room.

Nonetheless, Neraxis wanted to strike up a conversation.

"How long had it been since we all entered?"

And he succeeded in starting a conversation.

"Five hours. You were not in there for that long." He glanced back at them before continuing, "The academy has faced some backlash, which is why there’s a lack of personnel to greet you. I apologize."

Neraxis noticed the man’s strictly professional tone and felt an ominous sense.

"Are you with the headmaster?"

The man swiftly replied with a shake of his head. "I am with the Damage Assessment Department. I was tasked with going inside the rift to check whether you lived or not."

A government dog, Evangeline, how strong is he?

[I understand that there are some things you might be furious with them about, but hold back,] she warned in a serious tone.

He grumbled inwardly, before asking a question that would determine whether he would use his special card.

"Are we being taken back to our homes or somewhere else?"

"We are heading toward the Skill Assessment Department. I will be bringing you there for questioning while the headmaster deals with legal issues."

Evangeline. How strong is he? Neraxis repeated himself, there was only one more nail left until he hit the coffin.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

[Neraxis..,] she stated with a long pause before continuing, [He’s E- ranked.]

I see... Neraxis took a deep breath before asking the final question, the one that would determine whether or not he would complicate things for himself.

"Have you ever heard of Project Z17?"

He quietly monitored every gesture of his, making sure to catch any movement that might arise.

But there was nothing.

"Hmm? Never heard about it."

"I see... Sorry." Neraxis apologized, reeling in his rising bloodlust.

His team was looking at him in a strange way, but he ignored them.

Still, while this person might not be corrupt, the Skill Assessment Department was no good back then, and likely even now.

After all, one of the 10 heroes who had died gruesomely was first admitted to the Skill Assessment Department.

For that reason alone, he would rather stall for time. "Say, Aurelia, where’s that bracelet you had on your arm?"

"Huh? Wha—" She asked in confusion and stopped upon seeing the look in Neraxis’s eyes that seemed to scream ’Follow along.’

Even though she was shy and a klutz, she was not stupid.

But, she was not the greatest liar.

"O-Oh... Yeah... I-I think I need to go back in."

Aella caught on to what was happening and joined in, "Oh! And your staff—you’re sure acting silly today, Aurelia."

"Haha..."

All the while, the man watched on with a conflicted look, before sighing. "Ten minutes," the man said. "If you take longer, I’ll have to go back in and get you."

Neraxis nodded, and, sharing a look with the team, proceeded to walk back. However, the man’s voice rang out again.

"One of you stay. You don’t need all four people to search for one item."

Now this is a bit unordinary. Neraxis glanced at his team before saying,

"Get going and find her items. I will stay behind."

"O-Okay!" Aurelia said, her voice cracking a bit in the end as she began jogging back to the door, the rest of the team behind her.

As for Neraxis, he was left alone with the man from the government.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet, and he could clearly tell something was off, that was until the man spoke.

"Why did you ask that question earlier?"

Neraxis tilted his head, acting oblivious. "Which one? I asked a few."

"Project Z17. Why did you ask that?"

Hmm? Why is he so curio- Neraxis’s thoughts were interrupted as he looked into the man’s eyes. They were slightly blurry, but then quickly returned to their usual luster.

"Sorry, forget about it. Some secrets must be kept after all," he said with a chuckle, turning his gaze to the wall.

However, the moment he did that, Neraxis appeared before him, sword in hand, and by utilizing Sword Dash along with Simple Horizontal Slash, he attacked him.

The man was startled and attempted to dodge, but from the sheer speed and strength behind Neraxis’s attack, he was unable to do anything but watch as his body separated into two.

His upper body flew a few meters away, a shocked look on his face.

"W-Why!?" He shouted, choking on his own blood.

But Neraxis was not amused, merely looking down at the man with a cold look.

"How’s the research coming along? You finished researching those chimeras yet?"

The man’s eyes widened for a moment before the blurriness once again came back, stabilizing his expression into a normal one.

Despite that, the shock and pain were enough to momentarily bypass his built-in code, the same one he was likely trained in ever since he was born.

"H-How do you know about them?"

Bingo, Evangeline. I told you something was off. Neraxis stared at the man as his eyes began to twitch, growing blurrier with each passing moment.

That was when his head suddenly exploded, spewing brain matter all across the room.

However, Neraxis had been prepared for that, already a fair distance away.

[Hmm... Was he mind-controlled?] She mused.

Sort of, they have a way of dealing with leaks. One of them was true memory altering and shaping ever since someone is born. He explained patiently, disgust clear in his tone.

[Ah, so not magic, but psychology... that’s a neat solution. Though you do know problems will arise now, don’t you?]

They won’t. Any type of surveilance would be instantly detected. He quickly answered, his tone resolute.

But Evangeline did not seem convinced. [How can you be sure? His death is bound to be investigated.]

Tell me this: if you had a bucket of rice and a single grain fell out, would you notice?

[How is that the same?] She shot back..

However, he calmly continued his explanation.

Their organization, even at its dwindled state, is in the hundreds of thousands range. You don’t understand how many children go missing each year, at least one in ten of all kids born, to be exact. Neraxis said, glancing at the body of the dead man not too far away from him.

Now in this context, an operative was sent out and was unsuccessful in his mission. They have nearly perfect disguises and can’t be recognized by many, except the most powerful.

[William.] She concluded.

Exactly. The story is that he got caught by William and killed. Simple as that. Neraxis stated before preparing to use Cosmic Cascade on the corpse to disintegrate it.

But a sudden pair of footsteps startled him; it was not his team. Instead, it was the person they had just spoken about.

William finally appeared within view, and upon seeing the sight, furrowed his brows before turning his gaze toward Neraxis.

"You know what I dislike more than anything?"

Neraxis remained silent, watching as William began conjuring water and fire, enveloping the man’s body and all the blood.

"It’s someone who doesn’t know how to perform a clean kill."