The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Hey, you," the being muttered, tapping his fingers on the throne's armrest. "You've really been avoiding us, haven't you?"

"Who are you?" Neraxis asked warily, a bit surprised that he could now speak.

"At ease, Neraxis. We're not your enemies," the being said, standing up from the throne and slowly walking over to Neraxis.

The being didn't exactly feel foreign to him. Instead, it almost seemed like it—well, him.

Is it really me? Neraxis pondered. Maybe some kind of mind mechanism made him appear.

"You're only half right," the being stated with a chuckle. "You're correct that I am you, and that certain circumstances made me appear. However..."

As it finished its words, the being suddenly vanished from his sight.

But just a few moments later, a dozen of the same beings appeared, each one looking identical to Neraxis.

They kept expanding, but in the end, they once again merged together into the same being as earlier.

"We're you. All your past incarnations, every single one of us," the being added. "And while I don't expect you to understand, what I do want to tell you is that you're clearly not ready."

"Obviously." Neraxis nodded, feeling as though he was regaining control of his body.

However, it was definitely not his physical body—more so a form inside whatever place this was.

Though it was most likely a mind realm—his mind realm. Just the fact that it was so empty greatly threw him off.

Nonetheless, Neraxis decided to figure out what this being wanted.

"So did you come out here to say hello? Or do you actually have something to say?"

"Bit of both." The being shrugged. "You don't seem very shocked that we're inside you."

"Well, I had seen a few system logs that showed me your existence, so I guess I'm not very surprised," Neraxis replied matter-of-factly.

"Pfft... I suppose that makes sense." The being held back a laugh as its face soon turned serious. "Tell me, do you think you're the only one who tried to go against the Eternal Sin?"

Neraxis's brows twitched. "Do you think you can convince me not to get rid of him?"

"Oh god, no." The being shook its head. "In fact, we encourage it. You must get rid of him swiftly—otherwise, he'd gain full control of your body."

"Mhm." Neraxis nodded. "That's pretty obvious. But if I wasn't the only one, what happened to the others? Not even a single one of you managed to deal a blow to him?"

"Of course we did," the being replied. "The first ever Neraxis managed to significantly shatter the Eternal Sin's existence. He was the strongest of us, and ever since then, our actions have been moderated by those Sovereigns you've come to know."

Neraxis's brows furrowed. "Is that why the Eternal Sin is called the Fragment of the Eternal Sin?"

"Precisely." The being nodded. "Lagus was once whole. However, the first Neraxis shattered Lagus's physical body, damaged his soul, and even killed his family."

Neraxis's eyes widened. "So how did the first Neraxis die, then?"

"He killed himself," the being stated plainly. "He realized that no matter what he did, he couldn't kill the Eternal Sin. Even if he got much stronger, in the end, the only way to actually kill the Eternal Sin was to kill him from the inside out."

"So—"

"Yes," the being interjected. "Before killing himself, the first Neraxis made his body habitable—basically, a perfect vessel for the Eternal Sin. And for the future Neraxises, our goal was to simply subdue the Eternal Sin inside our bodies, seal him, and then eventually zap his soul away."

"That's the stupidest shit I've heard in the last 47 minutes," Neraxis scoffed. "Why couldn't the first Neraxis just seal the Eternal Sin in someone else's body? Why did it have to be himself?"

The being stared at him for a few moments and let out a sigh. "You've probably noticed by now, but you have a very high affinity for chaos. Even as you wield multiple affinities inside your body, you've never faced any repercussions. It's not normal—and you're only able to do that because of your body's freedom."

"And how exactly does that help me? If he can take over my body before I can get strong enough, then it's a loss," Neraxis asked.

The being chuckled and paced around Neraxis, looking him up and down.

"Our attempts haven't been meaningless. The Eternal Sin can't be bound to the body of Neraxis for long. It's like an oven—the longer he's in control, the more damage is done to his soul. There's not much left; he's merely a shell of his former self."

"So you're just playing the long game, then? Sacrificing me until we get a desired result...?" Neraxis muttered.

"Reality is often disappointing," the being replied. "If there were another way, then we would've found it by now. But look on the bright side: you're the last of us. There won't be any more Neraxises after you—even if you die. So technically, if you were to die now, your suffering would end."

"Yeah, fuck off," Neraxis said flatly. "I knew I shouldn't expect some sort of encouragement from a bunch of failures."

"That's a little rude." The being pouted.

Neraxis stared at the being for a few moments and let out a sigh before walking away.

Yet not even a few moments later, the being reappeared in front of him, wearing his casual smirk.

"Now now, don't be hasty. Even if we're failures, there's still a lot we can teach you."

"Let me guess... the best ways to hand over my body?" Neraxis said. "Oh wait! How about: How to sweet-talk the Eternal Sin into giving me an easy death, yeah?"

"Nope," the being replied with a grin and tapped the air in front of Neraxis.

The being flicked his fingers again, and soon, Neraxis's vision shifted as the surroundings began to clear themselves, taking on different shades.

He found himself in a forest, but he couldn't move his body.

However, the being's voice soon resounded in his mind, causing him to involuntarily frown.

[Why don't you take a gander at our memories, dear Neraxis? There's only 492,882,153 of us.]

"..."

This is going to take a while.