The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 64: Battling the Imps

Sarah swiftly jumped down, her Twinblades immediately clashing with the demon—yet seemingly met with similar force in response.

So she’s around B or A rank, good to know, Neraxis noted just from that lone exchange, then quickly turned his gaze toward the imps.

There were quite a few of them already huddled together, so he did not waste any time, using Stellar Dominion’s Cosmic Cascade.

Immediately, it enveloped at least ten of them in astral flames before their bodies seemingly disintegrated into nothingness.

[14x (E- Ranked Monster) Demonic Imp Slain! Reward: Stigmata 59.26% -> 66.26%]

Nodding in satisfaction, Neraxis glanced back at the other imps.

However, the rest were unfazed, as though their fellow brethren had not just died in front of them.

Therefore, they extended their arms, and a pair of white claws emerged.

Before long, they dashed toward him almost mindlessly.

Neraxis did not dawdle and wait until they struck, stepping up himself and raising his sword, before feinting a pierce, and slashing instead.

Yet just before his slash was about to connect with several of the imps, they all halted in place, letting the blade pass before them.

Immediately after, they reacted by clawing forward, trying to sever his outstretched arm.

However, he quickly retracted it, and in that mere moment of their carelessness, used Simple Horizontal Slash, killing the few that had advanced toward him.

[6x (E- Ranked Monster) Demonic Imp Slain! Reward: Stigmata 66.26% -> 69.26%]

Ignoring the red system popup for the moment, he glanced toward the group who had been trying to flank him.

They were a tad bit startled when meeting his gaze, but since they were relatively fearless creatures by nature, their attacks did not stop.

That was why Neraxis swiftly looked away from them and locked onto a single Demonic Imp off in the distance. Without wasting any time, he used Sword Dash, immediately appearing before it and severing it in half.

[1x (E- Ranked Monster) Demonic Imp Slain! Reward: Stigmata 69.26% -> 69.76%]

But that did not put him at ease, as when he finally turned around, Neraxis was able to count how many were present in total.

It came up to 31, with 30 of them looking like normal imps, and a single one having a white-dotted circle around its heart.

1 Elite and 30 Normal, not too bad, he nodded to himself and checked his possibilities.

Most of his main damage skills were on cooldown, and as for his main skill, he preferred to use it on the Elite after wiping out the rest.

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However, he didn’t have too much time to ponder as a single group of ten began running at him, urging him to fight back.

Immediately, Neraxis stretched out his sword, preparing a feint since that seemed to work on them.

But to his surprise, they scattered and began circling him, with the 20 other normal imp monsters doing the same, creating a circular perimeter.

Are they trying to trap me in or something? Neraxis raised his brow, waiting patiently since Simple Horizontal Slash was about to go off cooldown.

[I would not stay still if I were you; those imps have a Passive Drain Life skill that quite literally drains the life force of entities around it,] Evangeline warned.

Got it, he nodded in response and immediately ran up to a single imp, cutting it in half without any struggle.

[1x (E- Ranked Monster) Demonic Imp Slain! Reward: Stigmata 69.76% -> 70.26%]

However, as he did so, the imps nearby grabbed hold of his arm, seemingly threatening to rip it off.

Noticing that he was in an unfavorable spot, Neraxis used Eve of Ruin’s Aura of Vulnerability.

Immediately, each of the 29 normal imps left had a silver orb floating around them, which gave Neraxis a bit of an idea.

I was able to detonate the mark because of that black orb, but what about the silver? It can’t only be there for the duration... right? he doubted, and proceeded to clutch his hand.

Alas, nothing special happened, and the imps resumed trying to rip his arm off, and he responded with a slash of his sword, returning to the very center of their entrapment.

As simply as he was killing them, their strength was still slightly greater than his own.

Therefore, he had to take it easy—at least for a couple moments until Simple Horizontal Slash went off cooldown, which would happen in the next ten seconds.

However, it seemed like he was out of luck, as the Elite Demonic Imp screeched and, all of a sudden, the imps surrounding him began closing in cautiously.

At their pace, he would be surrounded with no escape in six seconds, let alone ten—meaning he had to think of another way out.

That was when Evangeline’s voice rang out. [I have an idea.]

I am all ears.

[What if you combined Mark of Decay with Aura of Vulnerability?] she suggested, making him raise a brow.

How would that work exactly?

[You can manipulate the mark, right? Casting it on a single person is possible, and with it, you also summon one of those black orb thingies,] she expanded, before continuing, [So my idea is, reach maximum stacks with Mark of Decay, and then try detonating the mark while fully focusing on the silver orb instead of the black one.]

The black is the only one that lights up though... he let out a sigh. But I’ll try it out anyway. I don’t want to waste Vampiric Dominion’s skill effects yet.

With that, Neraxis glanced at a single imp and immediately cast Mark of Decay, making the black orb appear around that imp in particular.

But now, he needed to reach max stacks, and to do that, he would need to not kill it instantly, while at the same time dealing with the others surrounding it.

A difficult idea; however, he did not exactly have many other options.

Besides, what better way to improve than to experiment while in battle?

Neraxis stepped backward, reeling in the ones in front of him to come closer, before swiftly blasting off the ground and appearing right before the imps—and the one imp he had marked.

Slashing sideways, he was blocked by their white claws which sent a dull reverberation through his arms, but he was not discouraged. After all, one of those who blocked was marked.

1 stack, he noted down, before trying it again and getting a similar reaction.

2 stacks... 3 stacks, Neraxis counted in his mind.

However, he had to hurry up, since the encirclement was basically in a five-meter radius right now, and if they were to dash at him all at once, it would be troublesome.

Therefore, Neraxis attempted the same maneuver. This time, he was able to cleave four of them in half, making their formation crumble a little.

[4x (E- Ranked Monster) Demonic Imp Slain! Reward: Stigmata 70.26% -> 72.26%]

Ignoring the red kill notification, he glanced toward the marked imp. 4 stacks.

Only a single stack remained, and to finish it off, he decided to do a double feint slash, forcing their formation open before he finally brought the sword down onto the marked imp.

Immediately, the black orb lit up, and just as he initially thought, interacting with the silver one seemed impossible.

However, out of nowhere, a sudden surge of strength emerged, seemingly opening up a channeling path toward the silvery orb.

And without further ado, he focused on it, channeling it in a similar manner to how he did with the black orb.

The silver orb disappeared, with him being left confused about what had happened.

But soon, a familiar red system window appeared, making his eyes widen.

[Eve of Ruin: Rank up available.]

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