The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 108: Secret Exit

They all stepped out of the mansion and began walking back through the weird corridors, finally reaching the tunnel where Neraxis and Celina had entered from.

"Hey, how did that car fit inside anyway?" he asked, walking in front.

"...There’s another secret door that works like a garage," Aurelia explained, her expression turning droopy. "But... did you kill them all?"

Neraxis remained silent before slowly nodding, not meeting her eyes. "The guard tried killing us. As for the alchemist, they tried getting you killed—I couldn’t risk it."

His reasoning was sound, but Aurelia still seemed pretty naive. "But... I’ve known them for as long as I can remember..."

Noticing the tears welling up in her eyes, Celina stepped up. "Aurelia, listen." She patted her hair. "They had bad intentions from the very start and wanted to take advantage of you."

"I-I..." Aurelia did not know what to say, and Neraxis took this as his cue to move a bit ahead.

Yet as he did, he suddenly halted.

"Stop," Neraxis said with urgency in his voice, making the girls stop.

There was something off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what.

What he did know, however, was that the tunnel they had come in from was not the same as this one.

[Yeah, I can’t feel what’s above ground, but the marks you made are nowhere to be seen,] Evangeline remarked.

It is suspicious, but I doubt going back would do much. He turned toward Aurelia. "Is there another exit you know of, or is it only this one?"

"There is an elevator... but I don’t know the passcode. I never needed to use it," she replied, avoiding his gaze.

"That’s going to be a bit of a problem then. Let’s go back and take the car—it might be a bit more efficient," Neraxis suggested, but Aurelia merely shook her head.

"The car won’t work since my... former guard dismantles it when we arrive," she explained, but he wasn’t discouraged.

"I know how to work with cars, so I can put everything back together."

"Oh right!" Aurelia sprang up. "Me too! I’m pretty good at car stuff. Did you pick up his dimensional ring? He keeps all the parts in there."

The moment she finished her words, Neraxis’s expression sank.

I accidentally destroyed it along with his arms. Fuck. He let out a sigh and gave up on the possibility of an easy escape.

"I didn’t get the ring... Also, this is not the same tunnel we came in from, Celina," Neraxis warned. "I’m not sure what to expect, so stay behind me at all times—both of you."

"O-Okay!" Aurelia replied, taking her staff out, followed by Celina readying her daggers.

With that, the three of them began walking forward until, eventually, they reached some sort of massive metal door.

It had only taken them 20 minutes, so Neraxis had his guard up as he walked to the door and placed his hand on it.

Slowly, the door began deteriorating, revealing what was behind it.

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And to both his and the girls’ surprise, what they saw was a simple street, with cars driving around.

Ahead were several skyscrapers, which meant they were in the very middle of the city.

"This was a secret exit too, I suppose," Neraxis mused and stepped onto the street, with people busily walking by.

"We’re in the central area of Argon. The academy is not too far away either," Celina said, walking up to him with a frown.

"It was hidden in plain sight," he mused out loud. "I can only imagine how many more things like this exist in the city."

Obviously, there was a massive door-sized hole in one of the walls now, so the police would notice it soon.

That was why he decided to make haste and get Aurelia back to her house already.

Taking a taxi, they swiftly arrived, and the exterior looked almost identical to what they had seen in the tunnels.

"Aurelia, do you want us to head in with you?" Neraxis asked, and she shook her head in response, a determined look on her face.

"No... I want to talk to my dad privately. I... I can’t believe that they all planned on betraying us." She paused. "...I also can’t believe my dad didn’t know about it."

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"I see." Neraxis and Celina nodded in unison as he stretched out his phone. "Could you give me your number? I’ll take the role of your alchemist until I find a cure for you, and it’s best to keep in contact."

"W-What? Oh, okay." Her eyes widened, and she picked up his phone with shaky hands, typing in her number and handing it back. "I’ll go now. See you, Celina. You too, Neraxis." She waved and headed into her house.

"Will you really do that?" Celina asked amidst the silence.

"It took me less than 10 minutes to brew enough vials to last her 10 days, Celina. Yes, I am really going to do it," Neraxis affirmed and began walking back to his house, with Celina trailing close behind.

"I can help you," Celina said. "I know how to get cheap alchemy ingredients from one of my grandpa’s friends. If you want, I—"

"It’s alright," he interjected. "I’m going to Liora’s alchemy club, so I have a few unused benefits I plan to make use of soon."

She seemed a bit downcast but nodded anyway. "I see..."

However, even then, she still followed after him until, eventually, they reached Neraxis’s house.

Okay... why is she still following me? he thought while taking a glance at Celina, who had an oblivious look on her face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Neraxis let out a sigh before saying, "Do you want some tea?"

"Sure." Celina immediately agreed, and the two went inside his house.

Yet the first person Neraxis saw once he opened the door was his sister, Elara, carrying a plate of food up the stairs.

As she noticed him—and especially Celina beside him—she froze.

"You have a girl over already...? But didn’t you just go on a date? You sure work fast," Elara remarked with a whistle, making him roll his eyes.

"She’s just over for some tea. Don’t look too much into it," Neraxis waved her off and led the slightly smiling Celina into the kitchen.

His parents seemed to be out, so he prepared some tea and placed some sugar on the side in case she wanted to add it.

In the meantime, Neraxis also prepared a couple of sandwiches, and soon, they began eating in silence.

However, after a couple of bites, Celina broke the silence. "This is delicious. You should’ve joined the cooking club instead of the traveling club."

"How do you know I’m in the traveling club?" he asked with a raised brow, noticing her flinch.

"...Aurelia told me."

"Is that so." Neraxis chuckled inwardly and continued eating his sandwiches.

He just hoped such peaceful moments would last longer.

Yet knowing his luck, peace was not on the table.

Just as the two finished eating and Neraxis was about to clean the plates, the doorbell rang.

"I’ll get it!" Elara shouted and practically slid down the stairs, opening the door.

Yet he couldn’t hear any voices, which meant that someone either rang their bell and ran, or...

Elara walked into the kitchen, holding a small black note with a white half-mask on the forefront.

Yet instead of handing it over to him, she threw it into the trash.

"Some door-to-door salesman. You guys can continue your lovey-dovey time—I’ll have my headphones on," Elara said with a wide grin and ran up the stairs.

However, Neraxis remained in place, staring at the note in the trash can, a conflicted look on his face.

And before long, the phone Amara had given him vibrated, indicating that he had received a message.

...Wasn’t the next mission supposed to be in about a month?