The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 126: Turning Point

In front of them was a rat with multiple mouths and an extremely deformed appearance, stepping toward them with its innards dragging on the ground.

"Grrrr..." The monster ahead growled again, but before it could get too close, Neraxis sent a kick, immediately killing it.

Fucking abomination, he thought with disgust.

"What was that thing...?" Aurelia asked, shaking.

"It’s a stupid project made by stupid people," he replied vaguely.

In reality, it was a chimera made by the same people who thought there was something or someone beyond the rifts.

Although he had thought of them as cultists at first, Neraxis now knew that they were right.

The Sovereigns and other worlds—there was much more.

Nonetheless, this chimera lying dead on the cold, hard floor in front of him was one of their creations—a sensory-type monster that would alert them if anyone got close.

[Did the alarm trigger?] Evangeline asked in a curious tone.

It didn’t. That chimera was running dry on mana, and since it was made so long ago, most of its functions were broken. If it had made an alarm, this entire fortress would have woken up, Neraxis explained.

Suddenly, Aurelia grabbed his hand, tightly clenching it.

However, he did not push her away and instead walked deeper in.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally stumbled upon a bit of light, which seemed to be coming from outside the fortress.

It made him think it was some kind of ventilation system, so he ignored it and went on.

But as he took another step, he suddenly froze.

"Shit..." he muttered with a sigh, turning to Aurelia. "Step back a bit."

She seemed puzzled; however, as she looked down, she finally noticed what had happened.

Neraxis had stepped on a trap, and if he took his foot off it, the trap would trigger.

"You’re a bit clumsy," Aurelia remarked, taking a couple of steps back.

He rolled his eyes before looking inside his dimensional ring and pulling out a dumbbell.

Since the trap was a mere pressure plate, he simply placed the dumbbell on top of it and stepped off.

Thankfully, this is old, otherwise, it wouldn’t have worked. Neraxis mused and glanced at Aurelia with a teasing smile. "Coming?"

"Yes..." she replied and stepped up before confidently grabbing his hand.

They continued walking, but this time, he was looking out for traps.

There was a pattern of at least a single trap every 25 meters, and it was always the same pressure plate trap.

"Hey, did my sister tell you to hang out with me?" Aurelia asked in a low voice.

"She only asked me to protect you if things turned out for the worst," Neraxis assured. "Despite how this place seems, it’s pretty dangerous."

"Do you mean the rift stuff? I know. We learned about it back in elementary school." She giggled, making his brow rise.

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"And you’re not scared?"

Aurelia shook her head. "Not at all. I know it’ll be fine since you are here..." She trailed off, her face growing red. "I-I mean, there are a lot of strong people here, so..."

"I understand," Neraxis said with a chuckle, tightening his grip on her hand. "It’s fine to rely on others, Aurelia."

She simply nodded without saying anything, but he knew he had gotten his point across.

After all, she was too shy for her own good.

Nonetheless, after walking for a couple more minutes, they finally reached the end, and surprisingly, there was another room, similar to the one they had entered from.

It looked like a torture chamber, but much neater, with every single tool meticulously sorted.

Almost like someone is maintaining this place, Neraxis thought, and after a quick scan around the room, he headed toward the exit.

It was covered by a banner, just like the other one; however, this one seemed a bit better made, as it was not sticking inside the room itself.

The passage was much narrower too.

Neraxis pushed aside the banner, and what greeted his eyes was some sort of hallway leading who knows where.

"This... isn’t in the pamphlet?" Aurelia suddenly said, and as he turned around, he saw her browsing through the map of the entire place.

"How can you tell?" Neraxis asked, pulling out a pamphlet of his own. "Oh... I see."

The canteen was pretty massive, so it was easy to spot. Tracing downward to where he had found the banner, he saw absolutely nothing.

No room, but it was obvious they’d hide it, considering it was an actual torture chamber.

Nonetheless, he went further down, trying to locate which room they were in; however, there was nothing.

Neraxis had memorized the entire path—even when there were a couple of turns, they did not vary too much.

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But by his estimations, they were directly above the grand hall where a throne room stood.

"I think we should check it out," Neraxis said, stretching out his hand.

"I think so too... It’s suspicious," Aurelia replied with a resolved nod.

They walked forward and were soon met with a turn, which they took.

Immediately, the sight of a massive hall entered their vision, likely directly mirroring the grand hall below them.

In the very middle of it all were a bunch of chairs scattered roughly around, with barely any other furniture present.

It reminded him a bit of the Obscura, but at a much, much lower quality.

If this was the gathering spot for some kind of organization, he could admit it was very sloppy.

Approaching the chairs, Neraxis tried spotting something off about them.

And after a few minutes, he found something interesting.

The chairs were all scattered randomly at a single glance, but if he looked from above, he might be able to see a message.

"Just a sec," he announced before jumping onto a nearby pillar, sticking his sword inside, and holding onto it.

Turning around, he glanced at the chairs—and immediately, a grin spread across his face.

It was a date—September 16th, 2367—which, frankly, was today.

Well, fuck. Neraxis urgently jumped back down.

"Something’s happening today, we need to get out," he said, making her tilt her head.

"What do you mea—"

Before she could finish, the entire fortress shook, and he frowned.

Neraxis did not waste time and immediately grabbed Aurelia’s hand, pulling her back toward him.

As he did, a single spear penetrated through the ground where she had stood—black in color.

Yet it soon dissipated, leaving behind only a hole.

With the hole now directly below him, he glanced at the attacker and spotted a horned individual covered in red scars, looking up at him with a crazed expression.

[The Apostle of Gluttony has noticed your presence!]

"Hmm?" Neraxis turned to look at the sudden red notification. First Envy, and now Gluttony? Are the Sovereigns actively trying to kill me now?

But before he could ponder further, the Apostle suddenly disappeared from Neraxis’s sight, and in the very next moment—

A massive hole appeared where most of the chairs had been, and from it, the Apostle climbed through, looking at Neraxis with a wide smile.

"I have a message," the crazed Apostle said in distorted voice before clearing his throat and continuing. "I have noticed your return, and I welcome it. You completed your task splendidly, and for that, I thank you and want to extend an invitation."

As the last of the Apostle’s words fell, a fully black system window appeared before Neraxis.

[The Sovereign of Gluttony invites you to a feast!]

[Do you accept?]

[Y/N]