The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 185

Chapter 185: Second Round
—Welcome back, everyone! As a reminder, the tournament’s second round will be an Academy versus Academy, capture-the-flag format! One of the competing academies must capture the opponent’s flag and bring it back to their base!

Neraxis listened to it patiently.

Yesterday was fun as after all that talk about Alice, he and the girls managed to make up.

Of course, he still preferred that they be more careful, but that was a conversation for another day.

For now, he had to focus on the tournament, which was about to start.

His academy, as well as the academy he would be going up against—Luminara—was gathered in this grassy arena.

This time, the setting was more aesthetic.

A few castles were built overnight—ones actually resembling small fortresses.

In each of them was a flag. One was red, the other, blue.

His academy was given the red flag, while Luminara got blue.

He just had to wait for the blue box’s announcement to finish before they could officially start.

Out on the floating platforms, Neraxis saw Alice and Lar, who were staring at him warily.

It was obvious that she knew they had discovered her weakness.

As for Lar? He was probably thinking Neraxis was coming for him next.

Letting out an amused chuckle, Neraxis glanced at his classmates.

Some were fidgeting, while others looked as ready as they could be.

Just as he was prepared to laze around until the match started, one of his classmates walked up—a guy with bleached hair.

“Listen! We need a strategy. What do you guys think of letting the strongest of us sit in the back while we head on and grab the flag?”

“What bullshit are you spouting?” Kael scoffed. “If we stay here, you’ll be wiped out, and we’ll have fewer idiots defending the base.”

“Even so!” the student said, pointing at Kael. “You and Neraxis are more than enough to hold down the fort. Why don’t you give us some opportunities?”

What is he even talking about? Neraxis tilted his head before speaking up. “Opportunities? You think you’ll get into a top faction just by showing off in this tournament? What are you, delusional?”

At his words, the entire class fell silent.

But that silence was soon broken by Kael.

“Pfft… I know, right? If they truly had talent, they would’ve already been scouted.”

That’s not what I meant. Neraxis let out a sigh.

Despite that, he didn’t correct him and instead decided to be the bigger man.

“You want an opportunity? Go for it. I’ll give you five minutes before I make a move,” Neraxis stated and walked inside the small fortress.

There were barrels of fake food scattered all around, and in the very middle, embedded into some stone, was a red flag.

He sat beside it and waved toward his classmates.

“Good luck.”

Kael chuckled before doing the same, going up to Neraxis and sitting beside him.

Soon, the girls followed suit.

There was one more person who wanted to come as well—Soren—but he seemed overly hesitant for some reason.

In the end, he caved in and sat on the ground, right in front of Neraxis, avoiding his gaze.

What an oddball. Neraxis thought before turning to the blue cube, which, after the long speech, finally finished.

—Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, I believe we’ve given both academies enough time to prepare themselves. Therefore, let the match begin!

Neraxis glanced toward his classmates, who had so confidently told him to sit back, before scoffing. “Shoo, go get your five minutes of fame.”

Those words made them glare at him, but Neraxis merely shrugged their gazes off as he leaned against the red flag.

“That was a bit rude of you,” Aella remarked. “But if you wanted to be ruder, you should’ve flipped them off.”

“It’s childish,” Eris sighed. “I don’t understand why they want attention. Neraxis and this weird tattooed kid stole all of it already.”

“I’m Kael…” Kael added, but was completely ignored.

“Well, let’s just see what they can do,” Neraxis said and, with that, glanced toward his classmates.

They were running toward the other small fortress rapidly, and Luminara Academy sent out a few people to intercept them.

Neraxis was left a bit surprised by the skills of some of his classmates, such as telekinesis.

It belonged to some blonde girl whose name he couldn’t remember, but she was pretty impressive.

The problem? She sucked at using her skill.

Instead of crushing people or making them fall out of the arena, the only thing she was doing was throwing boulders at them.

What a waste of a good skill… Neraxis thought, taking his glance away from her.

They were losing, and quite badly at that.

It was almost like Neraxis, Kael, and the girls were their main firepower.

Which they were.

Nonetheless, after taking a few people down with them, the ones who sought out their five minutes of fame were eliminated.

With that, 13 people were eliminated from his side, and nine people from Luminara Academy.

“You think they impressed the top factions?” Kael asked with a chuckle, making Neraxis let out a sigh.

“I think the only thing they managed to do was prove they don’t deserve to be in the top factions.”

“Haha—” Kael suddenly halted and glanced toward Soren. “What? You’ve been staring at me and Neraxis since we got here. I don’t know about Neraxis, but I personally don’t swing that way.”

Neraxis rolled his eyes at that comment before flashing a look toward the girls, who had cheeky smiles on their faces.

But aside from that, he was a bit curious.

What did the edgelord Soren want from them?

“Teach me,” Soren said, standing up. “I want you to teach me how to get all the spotlight.”

“Huuh?” Kael furrowed his brows. “Spotlight? Don’t you think it’s only natural given our strength?”

“That can’t be all there is to it.” Soren shot back, his eyes shaking. “How? How do you do it?”

“There’s no magic to it,” Neraxis said plainly. “We’re popular simply because we aren’t trying to be popular. Our looks might also play a part in it, though.”

“They definitely play a part in it,” Aella added with a giggle. “I did a comprehensive statistical check, and 88% of the people cheering for you two are women.”

“…” Neraxis listened speechlessly, and the same went for Kael.

But not for Soren.

“Looks…? Is that it?”

Soren looked like a gloomy emo kid Neraxis might meet on a rooftop—not a very good impression, since even his posture was crooked.

If anything, Soren would pass off as the type of person you would try to avoid instead of actually trying to approach.

“Yep.” Neraxis nodded. “First impressions are everything. I can tell you straight up—you came off as some battle-hungry weirdo.”

Hearing those words, Soren flinched.

“I believe you need a makeover,” Aella said and tossed over a card. “This is my hairstylist. Just tell them I sent you.”

Soren nodded aggressively, as though enlightened.

As for Neraxis, he finally stood up, flashing a glance toward Kael.

“Want to see who can eliminate the most students?”

“There are only eleven of them left, though,” Kael replied, readying his gauntlets with a grin.

Neraxis scoffed. “On the count of three, we go.”

“Sure,” Kael said with a nod.

Immediately, Neraxis began counting. “One… two—motherfucker.”

Kael blasted off the ground, running ahead.

[You’re having another game against him…] Evangeline let out a sigh, making Neraxis shrug.

Why not? It’s not like the same thing that happened last time will repeat itself.