The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 214

Chapter 214: Talking with Amaterasu
The moment Neraxis accepted the being’s hand, a warm feeling enveloped him—until he regained his composure.

However, once he did, the sight of a plain room greeted him.

<Congratulations! You have arrived on the 11th floor: Sun God’s Abode>

This is definitely not it, is it? Neraxis thought, looking around.

There wasn’t anything of note—it was just one massive bedroom with all sorts of furniture scattered around.

And of course, a massive bed in the very middle.

As he looked toward it, however, Neraxis spotted some movement, so with wary steps, he walked on over.

Finally, he stopped right in front of the bed and tilted his head.

“You don’t happen to be the sun god, do you?”

The moment his words fell, he could see the being under the sheets flinch.

<The Sun God flinches as they continue to hide.>

“Seriously…” Neraxis said with a sigh. “If you invited me here when there is a limited amount of time, then why don’t you say anything?”

<The Sun God—>

Before they could finish their whimpering, Neraxis leaned over and yanked the sheets off, revealing a surprising sight.

“You’re… a girl?” he commented, shocked.

[Well, it was a bit obvious from the way she spoke, wasn’t it?] Evangeline remarked. [Look on the bright side, as lost as she is… she’s a female, so your charm stat will—]

Stop right there, Neraxis cut her off as he glanced at the female Sun God, who was covering her face in embarrassment.

However, he was still able to see her long, obsidian-colored hair.

She was beautiful—but like many other girls, shy.

<The Sun God whispers that you should sit down, as they will begin the explanation after a few more seconds.>

“I see… Well…” Neraxis sat beside her as he got comfortable.

But of course, he wasn’t really sure what to do from here.

She invited him, and now she was merely sitting there, not talking.

This was a whole new level of anti-social.

However, as he thought he should take a nap, the Sun God suddenly cleared her throat.

“M-My name is Amaterasu. I welcome you here, N-Neraxis. What’s your name?”

“…”

Amaterasu immediately realized what she said as she burrowed her head back in the sheets.

“It’s nice to meet you, Amaterasu,” Neraxis replied, not making fun of her.

It was an honest mistake.

Knowing his name, then asking for it.

Yep, definitely.

“I’m sure you didn’t invite me here just to have a normal conversation, right?” Neraxis asked, and she nodded before slowly turning to him and revealing her eyes, which were a clear gold color.

“It’s about the tower itself…” Amaterasu said, no longer muttering. “I don’t have access to the 10th trial, and I don’t even know what’s on there… However, everyone who has made it up to there was killed.”

Neraxis tilted his head. “So you’re warning me? That’s pretty sweet of you.”

“O-Of course, you’re the most promising climber I’ve ever seen!” Amaterasu praised as her cheeks began growing redder. “I believe you’ll really be able to clear it.”

“On that topic…” Neraxis trailed off, his eyes narrowing. “The SSS ranked skill I was promised—am I still getting it? Or was it all a ruse?”

Amaterasu shook her head. “The reward is legit… Everyone gets their own reward, and it’s based on what they need most at the moment.”

Did I need an SSS-ranked skill at that moment? Neraxis thought with furrowed brows, before nodding.

“So what’s the 9th floor all about?”

If she couldn’t talk about the 10th, then surely, the 9th floor was fair game.

“The 9th floor…” Amaterasu’s eyes darted around, almost like she didn’t want to answer.

However, after a bit of thought, she hesitantly replied.

“You’ll have to kill my clone.”

“Your clone?” Neraxis’s brows furrowed. “How strong is it?”

“By your world standards… SSS- Ranked? I think?” Amaterasu replied, tilting her head. “I don’t think I can go any weaker, as that’s the minimum threshold.”

“Your weakest is our strongest…” Neraxis said with a sigh, before turning serious. “So what rank are you? SSS+? Is there another after that?”

He remembered seeing EXX rank in the Eternal Sin’s memories—however, it seemed like a bug.

“Uhm… Is that really important?” Amaterasu asked.

“I’m interested. There’s stuff I still don’t know, and I’m aware there are people who are a bit too strong for their own good, so I’m wondering what rank they are,” he replied.

“Well…” Amaterasu put a finger on her chin in thought. “I think after SSS+ is Saint-? Then it goes in a similar order until you reach Saint+.”

“So… there’s a bunch then?” Neraxis commented, and Amaterasu merely nodded before continuing her explanation.

“After Saint comes Mythic, then Transcendent, Celestial, Primordial, Eternal—and there are two more I don’t know… But I’m at the Celestial Realm, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Neraxis furrowed his brows.

For a moment, he thought there would only be two or three more—but there were eight in total.

That just got a lot more complicated… How strong are the people I have to deal with, then? he thought, before glancing at his stigmata. Evangeline, how strong were you?

[I was a Transcendent,] she replied confidently. [There’s a barrier I couldn’t cross, so I never became a Celestial… I think it was my ambition? I didn’t really aim that high aside from ruling over my land.]

So to become a Celestial, you have to think of the bigger picture… Got it. Neraxis nodded, as he turned to Amaterasu. “If you don’t mind telling… How long did it take you to reach the Celestial realm?”

“Reach? I was born as the Sun God,” Amaterasu stated flatly, making Neraxis’s eyes widen.

“Can people be born with the power of the Saint realm and higher, seriously?”

“Yep… My father was the previous Sun God, and after I was born, he trained me to become one before pawning off all his power to me,” Amaterasu explained, sounding salty. “Now I do nothing but watch over the people—it gets pretty boring…”

Pawning power off… That’s exactly what the Eternal Sin tried doing with the skill… Neraxis’s eyes widened.

It was all starting to make sense.

The Eternal Sin he met was some kind of a fragment—which meant there was someone much higher.

An inheritance? Memory transfer? Neraxis wasn’t sure.

But one thing was sure, and that was…

I’m a part of that bullshit now, and I need to see it through to the end.

“Amaterasu,” Neraxis called out, since she seemed to be growing more cozy around him.

Now, she even showed her body, which she previously hid under the sheets.

And her figure… well, she seemed perfect.

Perfect breasts, perfect waist—even a perfect ass.

The entire combo.

But aside from that, she looked at him and tilted her head. “What is it?”

“I want you to tell me your weaknesses, since I doubt I can kill your clone easily on the 9th floor,” Neraxis said flatly.

“My weaknesses? I don’t have any,” Amaterasu replied, as a smile beamed on her face.

It seemed like she wasn’t that anti-social—she just didn’t have much contact with anyone for a while.

“Okay… So if you had to kill your clone, how would you do it?” Neraxis rephrased.

Amaterasu thought for a moment, before an idea suddenly struck, making her cheeks redden again.

“My waist is very sensitive… So if you get in a brawl and tickle me, I think I might lose…”

“…”

Tickle her to death?

That didn’t sound like such a bad idea.