The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Are you paranoid or something?" Celina asked as they made their way through the forest.

"Not exactly paranoid—more like cautious," Neraxis replied before halting and signaling his group to be quiet.

In front of them, two people were clawing at the ground with their hands, seemingly digging for something.

What truly caught Neraxis's attention, however, was their clothing.

Orange jumpsuits—something only prisoners would wear.

"Two prisoners up ahead, proceed slo—" he whispered, but stopped upon noticing that Celina wasn't with them anymore.

In the very next moment, the sound of something hitting the ground resounded.

Twice.

When he turned around, Neraxis saw Celina cleaning the blood off her daggers, with the two prisoners' bodies below her.

"Celina... we need to act more cautiously," he said with a sigh, earning only a shrug in response.

"They had their backs turned toward us—why wouldn't I go for the kill?"

"...Never mind, just make sure to be careful," Neraxis dismissed her and glanced at the rest of his group.

Aella seemed fine—amused, even.

However, Aurelia was visibly shaking at the sight of blood on Celina's daggers.

So she's afraid of blood... I'm surprised she didn't panic in the Venomous Wasp Rift. She even gave me her own blood, Neraxis mused but didn't comment on it.

His main goal here was to scout the general area and ensure the terrain was relatively the same as in the past.

If that was the case, escaping after the Rift outbreak happened would be quite easy.

But not even a few minutes in, he found irregularities. Near where Celina had killed those two prisoners was a ledge with a drop of a couple hundred meters below.

That was not there before. Zarj is more elevated now? I guess. Neraxis noted it down and took a better look around his surroundings.

After just a few more glances, he confirmed that the general area was the same, except for the ledge leading down.

[Not too bad, though I think you should check up on Aurelia,] Evangeline said with a hint of worry. As he turned back toward her, he saw Aurelia stumbling over seemingly nothing.

Neraxis swiftly walked up to Aurelia and tapped her on the shoulder a couple of times to get her attention.

"Are you alright?" he asked, receiving an overly fast nod in response.

"Y-Yup, n-never better," she stammered in a shaky voice, and immediately, Neraxis furrowed his brows.

"Aurelia, I understand that you might have certain fears, but now is as good a time as any to conquer them. We are beside you, so you don't have to worry about anything," he assured her.

However, she merely looked down before saying, "T-Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Neraxis replied with a smile before flashing a glance toward Celina, who was watching all this unfold.

Come console your friend already, he practically signaled with his eyes, and soon, Celina came over, taking his position while he went deeper into the forest.

There were a few more interesting things in this forest bordering the Zarj Encampment—namely, the lack of wildlife.

A couple of trees had various berries on them, but that was all.

If even one of the people from the Encampment went out and checked, they would notice something like this and immediately alert the higher-ups.

Alas, they were greedy pigs through and through.

Neraxis continued walking when, all of a sudden, he stumbled upon something.

Yet that certain something made his blood boil.

A spear with a golden shaft—the signature weapon of the hero who wielded a spear, Bale.

However, as his heartbeat began quickening out of rage, Aella's voice suddenly resounded from behind him.

"Neraxis? Are you okay?"

He kicked the spear toward the bushes and steadily replied, "...I'm fine."

[So he's here...] Evangeline said in a grave tone before adding, [A joint group outing—I suppose that's not something that happened in the past?]

No, it hadn't. It is a bit concerning how we haven't encountered anyone yet... but the fact that he is somewhere nearby is enough. Neraxis affirmed and walked near the bushes.

Can you store that spear inside your storage?

[Yep,] Evangeline replied, and soon, the shaft that was barely visible disappeared.

Turning his gaze back to Aella, he put on a smile. "Sorry if I worried you. I thought I had found something, but I was wrong."

"Mhm..." she hummed suspiciously before pulling out a sandwich from her spatial storage ring and handing it to him.

"Since you plan on being all mysterious, at least do so on a full stomach," Aella said and began walking back to the rest of the girls.

Neraxis was left speechless, but now, another goal had appeared while on this random expedition.

Find Bale, interrogate him, and, well—he would decide how things went from there.

"Neraxis!" Aella's urgent voice rang out, and as he turned to look at them, he saw a few prisoners circling all around.

However, before they could get too close, Neraxis used Sword Dash, appearing right behind one of them and cleaving them in half.

That startled the few close to him, and with the added confusion, he lined both prisoners up, getting into the perfect stance before using his newest skill:

Simple Stab.

Immediately, two massive holes appeared where their hearts were supposed to be—the damage being doubled thanks to his Cosmic Sight perk.

Yet as he looked toward the rest of the prisoners, Neraxis noticed most of them were already dead, with Celina swiftly cutting them apart and Aella caving their heads in with her staff.

But that wasn't the case for Aurelia, who was meekly standing by the side, shaking.

However, as he took notice of her, Neraxis also saw a prisoner approach—a bit sneakier than the rest.

Before the prisoner could do anything to Aurelia, Neraxis appeared in front of him, slashing his head off.

Thanks to his enhanced physique, he was able to shield Aurelia from the sight, with only a little blood splashing onto his face as he turned toward her.

"Are you alright?"

Just as his words rang out, however, Aurelia suddenly fell to the ground, completely passed out.

"Neraxis..." Celina walked up to him and sent a playful punch to his waist. "We had it under control. It was the perfect time for her to fight back."

"Yeah, Celina had a hidden wire tied around that tree over there—it would have cut that guy's head off," Aella elaborated, earning an exhausted sigh from him.

"Maybe next time, then. I'll pick her up." He reached down, but before he could, Aella suddenly summoned a little cart.

Immediately, Celina picked up Aurelia and tossed her inside. "I can't feel any more prisoners around here. That makes it... 14 in total now, I believe?"

"15," Neraxis corrected, pointing toward a guy he accidentally tossed into a tree.

"15 it is," Celina agreed and redirected her attention to the ground. "I've analyzed their footprints and movement patterns. I know where the rest are. Follow me."

Oh?

"You know how to track?" Neraxis asked, receiving a nod in response.

"I was taught a long time ago, yes. Every single prisoner seems to have come from the same batch, and while they aren't strong, they are a bit trained," Celina explained, much more talkative than ever before.

Neraxis listened along, yet in the very end, he added, "Not all of them were from the same batch."
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"...What?"

That seemed to startle Celina, her eyes narrowing.

Therefore, he began going into more detail.

"First of all..."