The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 221

Chapter 221: Gluttony
“You want to shrink the barrier…?” Fiora asked, not sure if she heard it right. “I can definitely do that, but are you sure? I’ll have to expend a lot of mana.”

“Use mine,” Neraxis suggested, stretching his hand out.

Fiora looked him up and down one final time as she grabbed his hand.

In the very next moment, Neraxis felt nearly a third of his mana drain in an instant.

But at the same time, the barrier, which had been pretty massive, had now shrunk to a tenth of its size.

“Wow…” Fiora exclaimed in amazement. “Your mana is very potent… I didn’t even use that much.”

However, with that, the barrier changed color to silver, which didn’t seem to affect its structure, however…

<Eve of Ruin {B} New Skill Effect unlocked!>

<Skill Effects (4/4): Gluttony (Active): Harvest the souls of those within a 10-kilometer radius who have succumbed to fear. Doesn’t work on those higher ranked than the user>

Oh? Neraxis raised his brow in interest before turning to Fiora. “How big is the barrier right now?”

“Should be 6 or 7 kilometers, why?” Fiora asked, puzzled.

“Eight,” Liza chimed in, her face a tad red. “Could you please deal with them faster? Any longer, and I feel like my head is going to burst…”

“Perfect then, see you two in a second.” Neraxis nodded with a smile before jumping out of the balcony and flying upward.

Below, he could see many people still alive, all looking at him with horror in their eyes.

Most didn’t even bother to fight back anymore—almost as if they accepted their fate.

Strength-wise, there wasn’t even a single person above A+ rank left.

So, Neraxis took a deep breath and did the one thing that would end this quickly.

{Eve of Ruin: Gluttony}

Immediately, a white light shot out from his body like a pulsating wave and flew over the city.

For a moment, nothing happened.

However, just as he began to doubt it, the people started dropping to the ground, their expressions the same as they were before they died.

To his surprise, he saw his status screen lighting up, so he decided to check it out.

[Status]

Name: Neraxis Valen

Age: 18

Stigmata: [Fragment of Calamity {100%} (Seals Unlocked: 4) {Unseal? Y/N}]

Affinity: [Eclipsed Abyss {SSS}]

Body Compatibility: 16%

—Perks:

[Aura of the Abyss] (Advanced)

[Unyielding Vitality] (Master)

[Cosmic Sight] (Master)

—Stats:

Rank: S- → S

Strength: S- → S

Agility: S- → S

Stamina: S → S+

Intelligence: S+ → SS-

Mana Capacity: S- → S

—Secondary Stats:

Luck: Q+

Charm: SSS-

—Skills:

[Eve of Ruin {B}]*

[Ancient Sun Vampirism {SSS}]*

[Ancient Moon Swordsmanship {A}]

[Stellar Dominion {A}]

[Minor Reflect {D}]

[Sword Dash {F}]

[Restorative Cut {E}]

[Aegis of Eternity {C}]

[Body Manifestation {B}]

[Phantom Step {B}]

[Aura {B}]

[Domain {A}]

[Eyes of the Vampire {S}]

—Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (4/???)

[Advanced Horizontal Slash]

[Expert Stab]

[Atomic Stab]

[Illusion Slash]

+—–+

His stats increased by a minor rank, which might not seem like much at a glance, but it was equivalent to several months of effort.

Therefore, he was very pleased, but at the same time, slightly disgusted.

It took killing an entire city, and setting aside his morals to obtain it.

[Neraxis,] Evangeline called out with a sigh. [Deep down, I can tell you don’t care about these people, so why are you deluding yourself into thinking you are? You know I know you better than anyone, so don’t even lie to me.]

Neraxis remained silent for a few moments as he glided down.

Some people were still alive, but there weren’t that many—only a handful.

Therefore, he walked over to each one and placed a hand on their foreheads, freezing them and disintegrating their brains in an instant.

He did that until finally, there was only a single person left.

It was a man around his age, with pitch-black hair and hatred-filled eyes.

“Are you happy with yourself? Killing this many people, and for what!?” the man yelled, but Neraxis didn’t want to hear any of it.

“It was inevitable,” Neraxis remarked, an extremely faint smile tugging at his lips. “If you didn’t want to be slaughtered like sheep, then you should’ve simply gotten stronger.”

With that, He prepared to crush the man’s head, but then, to his surprise, footsteps rang out behind him.

Neraxis turned around in amusement and met the eyes of an old man who barely had a presence.

He had a katana on his waist and a broken straw hat.

More importantly, Neraxis glanced past the man and saw the barrier cracking open—splitting the sky—until the entire silver barrier collapsed.

He shattered the barrier? Wow, Neraxis thought, as he pulled out his sword.

Of course, he didn’t want some revenge situation to be in play here, so with a mere swing to the side, he cut the black-haired man’s head off and then turned back to the old swordsman.

“You’re very ruthless,” the old man said coldly as he gripped his katana. “But I shall show you what happens when outsiders like you mess with our world.”

Neraxis raised a brow. “This isn’t your first time being invaded?”

The Sun God had mentioned that many had attempted the 10th trial before, but none had passed, so Neraxis assumed each one went to a different world.

But maybe that’s not the case…? Maybe everyone traveled to this world instead? he pondered, but was quickly interrupted by one simple realization.

Those people he’d killed earlier? They definitely weren’t actual protectors.

This old man, on the other hand, was definitely someone great.

“Our world has been infested with the likes of you ever since the rifts first opened. Each year, several of you come, cause mayhem, and get killed by us,” the old man explained, narrowing his eyes. “You’re slightly different than the others. But in the end, you will be killed all the same.”

Neraxis chuckled as he put on the same emotionless expression from earlier and took a fighting stance.

“We’ll see about that.”