The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Eve of Ruin
[Eve of Ruin: Rank up available.]

[G->F]

[Would you like to proceed? Y/N]

He only glanced at the system message for a mere moment, and when he turned back to look at Evangeline, she was already gone.

However, her reassuring voice quickly resounded in his mind, [I’m still here, just kind of ran out of power for the moment. Don’t worry about me and rank up the skill.]

Are you sure? Neraxis questioned. While she did her best to hide it, he could notice her voice slightly cracking at the end.

Do you want more of my blood?

She chuckled. [That won’t work, silly. You are not here with your physical body; I only took you with me while your friends are still busy healing you.]

You are getting extra blood once I am out of that rift, Neraxis exclaimed with a sigh before pressing “Yes.”

Immediately, the red system window appeared, and without the extra stuff, his skill was directly upgraded, its effects enhanced.

[Eve of Ruin {G->F}]

[Skill Description: Harness the power of Vulnerability and Decay. Due to the low rank of the skill, most options are locked.]

[Skill Effects (1/2): Aura of Vulnerability: All enemies within a 5 -> 10-meter radius take an extra 5->10% more damage from all sources. Duration: 1 minute; Cooldown: 15 minutes.]

[Skill Effects (2/2): Mark of Decay: Mark a single enemy within a 30 -> 50-meter radius and inflict the Decaying debuff. Detonate Mark: Instantly triggers the cumulative damage from the 5 most powerful attacks inflicted on the marked target while the mark is active. If the mark is detonated, the Decaying debuff ends early.]

[Mark of Decay Cooldown: 10 -> 5 minutes.]

[Detonate Mark Cooldown: 3 Hours]

[Debuff – Decaying: Each attack against the target has a low chance to remove a beneficial effect and temporarily disable healing. Each attack reduces the target’s Movement Speed by 1->2% per stack. Stacks up to 5 times. The debuff lasts as long as the target is being hit; if not hit for more than 30 seconds, the debuff vanishes.]

Not as great as the other one… but some progress at least, he thought before glancing around. It was a fruitful experience.

Though it was a bit of a mystery why this skill decided to suddenly rank up, he had not used it ever since entering the rift.

But putting that thought aside, he was a bit stumped on what to do now.

Evangeline, how do I get out of this place?

[Behind you, place your hands on the sword,] she said, her tone sounding a bit strange for some reason.

And as he put his hands on the sword, he found out why.

[Phahahaha, yeah, just kidding. Close your eyes,] Evangeline burst out laughing, while at the same time instructing him on what to do.

I… You still have this much energy left to tease me? he felt exhausted already, but nonetheless, closed his eyes.

And in the very next moment, he felt a headache, one that was increasing each second, followed by the sound of something being hit.

But just as his senses returned, he saw a staff flying directly at his face, and before he could dodge it, it struck.

Neraxis found himself being slightly knocked back, yet at the same time, he had fully regained control of his own body.

A furious-looking Aella walked up to him and held the staff above her head, but just as she was about to bring it down, he swiftly stood up and held the staff mid-air.

“You can stop now,” Neraxis said with an innocent-looking smile that did not mimic what he inwardly felt.

“Oh, you are finally fine. Took a few hits,” Aella shrugged it off and brought her staff back.

“Are you okay?” Aurelia’s voice rang out again, and he simply nodded. It was about time they finished with the dungeon.

It was a bit of a pity that he still couldn’t feel mana. Unlike Stellar Dominion, the new A-ranked skill did not increase his mana capacity in the slightest.

As for his other physical stats? He couldn’t see nor feel the changes yet.

Neraxis and the rest walked through the grassy cave, not spotting a single Venomous Wasp nest.

I am sure there should be more monsters like the one I faced, he thought as suspicion began arising.

And just as he thought that, a single minute sound was heard in the far-off distance.

At a glance, it looked like nothing, but as seconds passed, the monster finally came into view.

Unfortunately, it was another mini-boss. There should have been 3 in total, and yet he had already met the first 2 so early on.

Each had different characteristics, and while the first mini-boss had Paralytic poison, the one coming straight at him was different in both color and size.

Much bigger, and its skin was fully yellow. Yet their powers should not differ, as they were bound to the E-rank category.

I hope that’s the case, at least, Neraxis signaled toward his team, and they immediately got into their usual positions.

“I am off cooldown,” he announced, earning a nod from each one of them before slightly scattering around.

The mini-boss was approaching at a steady yet fast pace, and when it finally got within 100 meters of them, he once again called out, “Aurelia, create an attack that can bring it down after my skill. Raeny, you kill it.”

“Got it,” the two replied in unison, and he watched as Aurelia summoned some kind of fishnet.

Odd tastes, but it works, he thought to himself before stepping forward and dashing ahead.

However, the moment he did that, he saw a faint yellow line travel out from the mini-boss’s stinger.

Sensing the approaching danger, Neraxis twisted his body unnaturally, yet at the same time, that innocent yellow line turned into a full-blown lightning blast.

He was lucky enough to dodge, yet Raeny, who had been not too far behind him, was hit.

Neraxis could hear the sound of a sword clashing in the very last moment; therefore, he heaved a sigh of relief, not taking his gaze away from the mini-boss.

It recoiled back for a moment, seemingly suffering the aftereffects of its own attack, and during this little chance he got, he decided to strike.

Using Stellar Dominion’s Cosmic Cascade, the cave was soon lit up, and in the next moment, the fierce attack descended onto the monster, immediately igniting it.

Its body began writhing and twitching, yet it did not seem like it was close to backing down.

However, it was already too late.

From above him, a single fishnet appeared, swiftly dropping down and picking up the mini-boss along the way.

It tried resisting, yet the sheer strength of his previous attack was enough to damage it heavily.

Neraxis turned around for a mere moment, glancing at Raeny, whose clothes were a tad bit in tatters. However, aside from that, she was fine and healed up by Aella.

As the monster finally hit the ground, she took it as her sign to go.

Unsheathing her sword, a faint blue light began emitting from the tip, traveling all the way down to the base, until eventually, it looked like some glowing saber.

Yet, even from over here, he could tell it was deadly.

I could probably kill the mini-boss myself now, but… we need all the morale we can get, he concluded, making way for Raeny as she began approaching.

She dashed past him and raised her sword into the air, the monster below her still struggling.

However, while this was happening, Neraxis noticed something was off—it had grown a bit quiet… too quiet.

He watched as she swung down and ended its life, but the familiar red system screen notifying him of the successful kill never came.

The weariness only grew as his group huddled together and cheered their victory, seemingly oblivious to the irregularities.

[I don’t mean to alarm you, but… do take a look ahead,] Evangeline’s amused yet worried voice rang out, confirming his earlier suspicions that something was off.

And as he glanced forward, he spotted something.

A pair of glowing massive eyes, ones that were larger than a few of him combined, and a morphed body, that of both a wasp and a spider, sending shivers down his spine.

The boss monster.

It’s here…