The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 184

Chapter 184: Dinner and Weakness
Neraxis got back to the 50th floor and went inside his room.

Along the way, he scrapped his disguise, making sure to destroy it with {Aura of the Abyss}, just in case.

Now, the only thing left to do was send a message in the group chat.

<Neraxis: Dinner?>

He felt a bit uneasy typing that, but nonetheless proceeded to look at the high-class restaurants in Vandros, the city he was in.

It didn’t take long to receive a few replies.

<Aurelia: Me and Celina are coming.>

<Eris: I’m down.>

<Aella: Sure, but you’re not going to leave midway through again, are you?>

Neraxis furrowed his brows. <Neraxis: I’m not. I will send you all a location in a few minutes, need to get reservations.>

With that, he kept scrolling until, finally, he found an expensive restaurant in the heart of the city.

He made the reservation, ensuring his name, Neraxis Valen, was emphasized.

He put his phone down and waited.

Not even a minute later, a call rang out, and he immediately picked up.

<Hello, Neraxis Valen, we would be glad to have you here at any moment. Will it be a table for two?>

“Five,” Neraxis corrected as a moment of silence ensued.

<A table for f-five it is… Would it be possible for you to arrive in an hour? That is the earliest we can get you in.>

“It’s fine,” Neraxis assured. “We’ll be there in an hour.”

<Very well, Neraxis Valen, we will await your arrival.>

With that, the speaker hung up, and Neraxis quickly searched through his dimensional ring.

There were a few suits his mother packed for him just in case, and he had a nearly identical suit to when he last went on a date.

This one was a pure white, perfectly complementing his hair.

Therefore, he put it on and quickly linked the location in the group chat before ordering them a limousine.

He had installed a banking app, and the moment he checked his balance, he could only let out a laugh of disbelief.

<Balance: 5,441,994,220 Crowns>

Safe to say, he was more than rich at the moment.

Nonetheless, he went back downstairs, and to his surprise, the girls had already gathered, their dresses matching their hair colors.

All except for Eris, who wore casual clothes and, frankly, seemed a bit uncomfortable standing there.

“All of you look beautiful.” Neraxis remarked, before asking, “Is everyone ready?”

The girls meekly nodded in unison.

With that, he led them outside, where a limousine was already waiting for them, and soon, they got inside.

The drive to the restaurant was silent as the girls were still mad at him, but despite that, he would at least treat them to a delicious dinner.

It didn’t take long to arrive, as the restaurant had a golden parkway, with countless expensive statues scattered around.

Eris was clearly impressed, but he didn’t comment on it as they were led inside and to their table.

The restaurant was empty, mostly because they wanted to make a good impression on Neraxis, allowing them to have as much fun as they wanted.

“On the menu, we have—”

“We’ll have one of everything,” Neraxis cut off the waiter, making his eyes widen.

“Are you sure, sir? The food is a bit on the expensive side…”

Neraxis had already checked the prices out, and despite them being astronomical, it didn’t matter much.

So, he affirmed. “I’m sure.”

“Very well, we’ll have your food ready shortly.” The waiter performed a curt bow and left toward the kitchen.

As for Neraxis, he flashed each of the girls a glance and let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry for earlier, and thanks for helping me out again.”

“You ought to rely on us a bit more. We are capable, after all,” Aella said plainly, taking a sip of juice. “Or is it that you just don’t trust us anymore?”

Neraxis shook his head. “That’s not it.”

It was time he explained himself.

“I believe the situation has spiraled too much out of my control, so I’d really appreciate it if none of you got involved further. Alice is unnaturally powerful now, and frankly, I don’t want any of you to die.”

Silence ensued until Celina spoke up.

“I was tracking Alice earlier,” she said matter-of-factly. “She knew I was there but didn’t do anything about it.”

“Celina…” Neraxis narrowed his eyes.

But before he could speak, Eris interjected. “We’re following your plan. You’re going to kill all of them, and we’re just making sure we know everything we need to know to help you.”

This is so frustrating. Neraxis grumbled, trying his best not to snap.

Why were they not listening to him?

Was it that hard to not thrust themselves into danger?

“I want you all to stop now,” Neraxis stated coldly. “I can appreciate help from the side, but when you specifically get close to Alice for no reason, you’re just making me doubt whether I can trust you or not.”

Celina’s brow twitched at his words. “You doubt whether you can trust us or not? I’m going headfirst just so I can learn more about Alice’s power.”

“You’re doing the opposite of what I’m telling you,” Neraxis shot back.

But before their argument could get more heated, Aurelia stepped in.

“G-Guys… calm down, please. I was the one who suggested Celina do that in the first place since, listen… Neraxis, Alice has similar powers to me.”

“Light?” Neraxis raised his brow. “Just because your affinity is the same doesn’t mean you have the same skills.”

“No, no.” Aurelia shook her head. “I know that, but whenever she materialized that sword, I felt connected to her.”

Neraxis fell into thought for a moment.

There were two possibilities: one of them was that Alice was also in cahoots with an angel, or simply, she was cursed.

Either way, it still didn’t explain the reckless gamble they took.

“I don’t want you doing that anymore—”

“Alice can’t kill anyone,” Eris stated flatly, earning a few weird glances from the girls around.

“What?” Eris tilted her head. “You weren’t going to tell him simply because you lot wanted him to worry about you longer. I, on the other hand, couldn’t care less.”

Neraxis flinched as he stared at the girls with an accusatory gaze. “What does she mean?”

Aella let out a sigh. “She means we found out Alice’s weakness,” she turned to Celina. “Or, I guess, she did.”

Celina nodded, then added, “I set up an assassination attempt on Alice. She beat them to a pulp but didn’t kill them.”

“That could just mean she’s cautious about who’s around her,” Neraxis commented skeptically.

“Not exactly.” Celina shook her head. “I made one assassin be persistent, and he tried to kill her. She only stopped once she had cut off his arms and legs.”

Before Neraxis could ask anything, she continued.

“I pushed the assassin onto her blade, forcing her kill him. The moment I did, Alice’s skin caught on fire, and she ran away screaming in pain.”

“…She has all that power but can’t kill?” Neraxis narrowed his eyes.

If accidental kills set her on fire, then he could only imagine what would happen if she intentionally killed.

More so, if Alice ran away screaming, then…

Well, well, well… A grin began forming on Neraxis’s face.

I know how to kill you now.