The SSS Ranked Villain's Return - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Kind Reception
“You…” Aurelia’s shocked voice resounded from beside him, and upon turning around, he saw that the rest of the team had similar reactions.

But since they hadn’t seen what happened, he would rather just keep it between the two of them.

Sending a wink toward Aurelia, Neraxis spoke, “Seems like it healed up just fine, no need to worry.”

Each of their brows furrowed, but they were already used to his avoiding personality, so they put it aside. Instead, it was about time they got out.

“I don’t care anymore…” Aella said before turning to the side, specifically to where the blue liquid-like mass began forming. “Is that the exit?”

Noticing the hesitant tone of hope, he affirmed, “Yeah, it’s over now.”

Immediately, everyone let out the deep breaths they’d been holding in ever since the start of the boss battle, with Aurelia even falling to her knees.

Raeny was the least affected of the bunch, it seemed, but Neraxis could see her tightly clenching her hands, with a tad bit of blood trickling down her lips.

[Seems like she is blaming herself for freezing up earlier.] Evangeline remarked, and he nodded.

Probably, but look on the bright side, it’s less likely to happen again.

[Yep.] She replied with a chuckle.

All they had to do was exit the rift, and then it would open back up again. Since they’d killed the boss monster, this rift would be done for—it would disappear in just a couple of hours.

It really hit him. He hadn’t been back for long, yet he’d already cleared an E-rank rift—something he had only managed to do after two months of training back then.

Stopping his reminiscing, he glanced at his team. “Let’s start heading out. We still don’t know whether we’ll end up back in the goblin rift or somewhere else entirely.”

“Do you think they noticed we’re gone?” Aurelia suddenly asked.

But before he could reply, Aella spoke. “Of course, dummy. There were at least three drones following after us the entire time.”

Neraxis raised his brow at that comment. “How do you know?”

He hadn’t felt anything—or anyone—trail after him.

But her answer was not what he was expecting.

“It’s because I was the one who provided the blueprints to them. I’m practically the main manufacturer,” she stated, puffing her chest before going into a tad bit more detail.

“They record everything in an extremely compact size, not any bigger than a fingernail. One of my many inventions.”

Neraxis pretended to listen to her rambling about her achievements before asking Evangeline a question. Did you feel or hear anything?

[Yes, it’s a small rover, and its size is just as she described—extremely small.]

Huh… rich kids all around me.

[You are one to talk.] She quickly interjected.

He merely rolled his eyes at that comment. Even if he was rich, he didn’t exactly have anywhere to spend his money.

Not yet, at least.

Neraxis finally tuned back into the conversation as she began finishing up her bragging session. The others seemed to have grown tired of it as well.

“And that is how, I, great Aella Farren, mechanical genius as well as a healing prodigy, made my debut!” she stated, trying to make it as dramatic as possible.

Yet no one reacted—merely gathering together before walking over to the portal, leaving her behind.

“Wait for me!” Her voice rang out.

Soon, the four of them approached the portal, and without wasting any more time, they went through it.

Neraxis’s vision shifted, and he found himself in a damp environment, one lit up by the sun shining through the little cracks.

They were back in the goblin rift. However, it was not the same one from which they entered.

Quickly assessing the surroundings, he found that there were multiple green blood spills scattered all around, yet no corpses were present.

Leaning down and putting his hand on one of the blood puddles, he found out it was dry—meaning some time had passed.

Yet from his estimates, they had definitely not been in there for a very long time—a few hours at most. So this was likely another starting point one of the teams had been teleported to.

“I think we should start moving toward the final boss, if it’s still alive,” Neraxis turned to his team and suggested.

There was a certain person who could very easily kill a boss monster, and knowing his competitive nature, it was likely that it had already been killed.

However, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Getting nods of confirmation, they made their way through the rift, not encountering a single goblin monster.

But that did not mean there weren’t traps, as while he was walking, Neraxis spotted a tiny tripwire.

He immediately halted, but Aurelia seemed to not notice that as she kept moving forward. Therefore, he had no choice but to pull her back by the arm.

Just as he did that and she had a look of surprise, a single shabby spear shot out from the side before being imbedded into the nearby cave wall.

She widened her eyes before turning to him. “Thank you…”

“Don’t worry about it. Just stay behind me next time,” Neraxis said while letting go of her hand and walking forward.

Along the way, he detected a few traps—whether it be the spear trap from earlier or a pit with sharp spikes on the bottom.

All of the traps were easily avoided, until finally, they arrived at an open space—one with a massive green bloodstain spread across the entire room, as well as the cave walls.

Yet again, there was no body. However, there was one thing there that got their mood back up: the portal, which obviously would lead them back out to the academy.

Before he could say anything, his team dashed past him and immediately went through, leaving him behind.

But he didn’t stay long either—only taking a few glances around before heading toward it and touching it.

With the instant shifting of vision, he found himself in the familiar room with a closed-off door.

The fuck? He raised his brows in confusion. Aside from his own party, no one else was around.

Neraxis watched as Raeny excitedly headed over to the door, trying to open it. However, it didn’t budge at all.

She banged her fists on it, and the sound rang out, spreading across the entire room and hopefully outwards.

Did they abandon us or something? Neraxis glanced around, making sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.

And immediately, he found a note—one stuffed into the very corner of the room, very close to the portal.

No one else seemed to notice it; therefore, he reached down, picked it up, unfolded it, and read it.

There are certain unruly visitors around. Stay in there for a bit. I’ll come fetch you soon. -W.W.

This… Neraxis groaned in frustration. They were really locked in here.

“Raeny, stop,” he said, gathering their attention before showing them the note.

As soon as they read it, all their reactions were the same, mirroring his own.

“This headmaster sucks. Not even a welcome back alive? Wow…” Aella’s annoyed voice rang out, to which he responded with a nod.

“I know, right?”