The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 263

Chapter 263: The Black Haired Swordsman
The moment Neraxis’s words fell, the space around them distorted.

Immediately, Evangeline emerged, holding her crimson sword as she proceeded to strike the black-haired man straight in the chest.

He flew backward, impacting a nearby stone structure. However, from the dull sound, it was clear he had somehow managed to negate the damage completely.

“So no peaceful negotiations?” Evangeline asked with a smirk.

“Nope.” Neraxis shrugged. “He just wanted to capture me and kill me.. Not a very fun time, if I’m being honest.”

“You left me alone again,” Ariella said, appearing through the spatial crack she had created. “Do you know how many annoyances I had to deal with?”

“A lot…?” Neraxis tilted his head, avoiding the incoming kick.

He caught her delicate foot and gently twisted her around, now standing face to face.

“Sorry,” Neraxis said with a smile, patting the startled Ariella’s head. “I got held up on some stuff. I became stronger, but at the same time, I got many more enemies.”

“Mhm…” Ariella nodded, glancing at the black-haired man who slowly began walking toward them. “I can see that… also, minus three days for the wait.”

“…How many days are we at now?” Neraxis asked, puzzled.

“Hmm…” Ariella fell into thought. “Last time was minus a week… so I think we are at negative four days now?”

“Aha…” Neraxis rolled his eyes. “You’re really some suicidal butterfly, you know that?”

“Ahem,” Evangeline coughed, interrupting them. “In case you forgot, there’s a guy who’s trying to kill us all.”

“Oh, right,” Neraxis nodded and let go of Ariella before turning toward the black-haired swordsman.

They had numbers, and he had power, so it was a very equal exchange.

Nonetheless, Neraxis decided to be the first one to attack, so he immediately activated a few of his skills.

{Stellar Dominion: Cosmic Cascade}, followed by {Manifestation of the Sun: Solar Ascension}.

<Solar Ascension Activated!>

All damage is converted to Solar-type.

You become immune to all debuffs.

Movement Speed and Reaction Time increased by +100%.

Direct sunlight doubles the duration.

In the very next moment, Neraxis summoned his Domain, then, with his rapier in hand, teleported right beside the black-haired man.

However, before he could even finish his thrust, the swordsman swung his massive katana in an arc. Neraxis just barely managed to block the fast attack, and the moment he did, a frown appeared on his face.

Even with my speed increased by that much, he can still catch up to me? Neraxis wondered and decided to try something a little different.

He had felt there was a connection with the Arksteel in both his body and the rapier; therefore, he attempted to interact with it.

The moment he did, the Arksteel, which had been wriggling on the rapier, suddenly retracted itself back into his body.

And less than a second later, his rapier crumbled to dust.

[Hey! What the hell was that?] Evangeline asked, worried. [Did he just break your rapier?]

Nope… I did that by accident, Neraxis replied with a sigh.

Nonetheless, since he hadn’t lost focus, he proceeded to control the Arksteel that had been absorbed into his body.

Of course, the swordsman didn’t give him much time to slack around, so he swiftly dashed toward Neraxis, his sword traveling straight for Neraxis’s neck.

But just as it was about to connect, Neraxis stepped to the side, avoiding the sword entirely.

The Foresight was convenient, but even then, it would only work until the swordsman figured out its weakness—which just so happened to be multiple unpredictable movements at once.

However, the strikes were becoming too fast, so Neraxis proceeded to perfectly time an attack and hit the swordsman square on the chest.

There wasn’t even a single scratch on the swordsman from the attack; however, Neraxis managed to get him in range.

Ariella’s range.

Soon, the swordsman’s movements slowed down until he came to a complete halt.

The same applied to Evangeline as well, but not Ariella, who slowly began walking toward Neraxis.

“I froze him, but I can’t hold him here for long. He has a lot of strength, so thirty seconds is the most I can do,” she stated, sweat dripping down her face.

Neraxis simply nodded back at her and approached the frozen swordsman before placing a single finger on his forehead.

He spread out Decay, Frost, and even Solar energy, trying to melt the swordsman’s brain.

But to his surprise, none of the Affinity options were doing anything. In fact, they were being repelled.

Instead of trying to kill him here and now, Neraxis focused on the Arksteel inside his body.

It was wriggling around, and yet it wasn’t interfering with anything important.

However, as he infused mana into it, the entire chunk of Arksteel he had inside his body suddenly shot out of his right arm, forming a single long staff.

“Oh? You can make weapons now?” Ariella mused. “Can you make me a rope?”

Neraxis didn’t even humor her and decided to play around with it.

Whatever he imagined came to fruition, so whether it was a sword or a scythe, it came to be.

And of course, the durability seemed top-notch as well, since it technically should still be indestructible.

Damn, Evangeline… just what the fuck did you give me? Neraxis thought, letting out a chuckle of disbelief.

In the end, he settled on a simple sword for the time being, since that was what he was most comfortable with.

And the moment the swordsman began moving again, Neraxis used {Expert Stab} and {Atomic Stab} in unison.

The swordsman attempted to block it; however, due to him being greatly slowed down, his reaction was delayed.

That was why Neraxis was able to put a hole in the swordsman’s chest.

But there was one slight problem. The swordsman didn’t have a heart. In fact, he didn’t even have any internal organs.

“Pfftt…” The swordsman held back a laugh as his eyes suddenly turned black.

“Did you seriously think I was some mere human?”