The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 128: The Feast

"Sit, don’t be shy," the Sovereign of Gluttony said, materializing a chair and pushing it over to Neraxis.

"What’s your plan here? You want to finish what you started?" Neraxis asked with narrowed eyes.

The situation had turned out for the worse. He wasn’t even sure when he had entered this mind realm, as the change had been instant.

From the looks of things, Evangeline wasn’t sure either.

[I... I don’t understand. The invite was supposed to uphold the rules of the system... Even if they can manipulate it to a large extent.] Evangeline muttered, trailing off. [...I don’t know.]

I don’t understand it either, Evangeline. It’s already done, so no need to think too much about it, Neraxis assured.

All the while, the Sovereign of Gluttony went over and sat on the other side of the giant round table before speaking. "I have genuinely invited you to talk. My curiosity has hit an all-time high, after all."

"Talk about what?" Neraxis asked with suspicion.

"Your return, perhaps, or maybe before that? I’m not sure. I’m just curious how you were able to retain your sense of self after what happened," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied with a chuckle.

Neraxis tilted his head. "I was betrayed by my friends and died. What is so interesting about that?"

"Oh?" The Sovereign of Gluttony let out an amused voice. "Is that the version you remember?"

"What else am I supposed to remember? Unless you want to tell me now that you so generously invited me over to your mind realm?" Neraxis said with frustration.

"Hmm... I don’t know, are you even worth the time? The current you has a very large memory gap—years, if not hundreds of years of missing memories," the Sovereign remarked as he reached down and picked up a fork, before suddenly digging into a dish, eating it in an instant.

Neraxis grumbled. "Then what else do you want from me? Just send me back."

"Not yet." The Sovereign of Gluttony shook his head. "We, the Sovereigns, can invite a user to join our mind realm once every couple of years, and I just used my ticket. Therefore, you will have to entertain me for a little while longer."

As the last of his words fell, he twisted his hand and pushed a dish over to Neraxis.

"I don’t want a guest to stay hungry. Eat up."

"Fuck off and just get to the point." Neraxis leaned back in his chair. "What are these memories you are talking about?"

"You are no fun." The Sovereign of Gluttony frowned and suddenly clapped his hands.

Immediately, the giant table disappeared, and the entire room, which had been white, began flickering, the colors changing.

Soon, a familiar sight appeared before Neraxis’s eyes.

The ruined city and a massive rift in the sky, spewing down monsters.

In the very middle was a man with many scars, cleaving each monster into several pieces with a flaming red scythe.

"That’s me," Neraxis said with a frown. "Why are we here?"

"Just keep watching," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied with a snicker.

The events played out like he remembered.

Monsters spewed out, and he killed them.

Stronger monsters did the same, and after suffering some minor injuries, he killed them as well.

It was a cycle that continued for several hours, yet in the heat of it all, he was able to notice something he hadn’t been able to last time.

One of the monsters he killed suddenly got up after being enveloped by a golden light, a clear sign of someone using a high-ranked healing skill.

In the corner of some rubble, he saw a certain someone—Alice—waving her staff around and frantically healing all the monsters Neraxis was fighting.

"Pfft... Hahahaha," the Sovereign of Gluttony let out a distorted laugh.

Nonetheless, the events continued, all the while Neraxis saw the heroes getting closer and closer.

A monster approached, and they killed it off easily, nearly as easily as he did.

But soon, they all halted as a figure appeared before them out of nowhere.

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A man with barely visible brown hair and a creepy grinning shark mask now stood before them.

It was the Sovereign of Gluttony, and he soon spoke. "You all seem to be having second thoughts? Why? You were dead set on betraying him, and now you are hesitating?"

"We’re not. We just want to get the job done a bit faster. We can handle the rest," Lar spoke up, pointing his sword right at the Sovereign of Gluttony.

"That only seems to be the case for you," the Sovereign of Gluttony snickered, turning to the remaining heroes. "The others? Not so much. Hesitation is clear in your breaths, especially you, girl."

Alice flinched upon hearing that, and with clear denial, began yelling, "I don’t want anything to do with him! He’s bad luck all around! Because of him, my parents, my sister... Everyone died!" Her eyes narrowed as tears began to fall. "I want him dead... For my family..."

"Pfft... Really? You speak bullshit with a straight face, young one," the Sovereign of Gluttony laughed at her. "You are still obsessed with him even after he supposedly got your family killed? You still like him despite that? What a joke."

Her cheeks reddened upon hearing that, which made the watching Neraxis frown.

Her mind really has been fucked from the moment I met her... He trailed off. I didn’t kill her parents either. How am I supposed to predict rift appearances—Oh.

Realization soon dawned on him as he turned to the Sovereign of Gluttony, who was watching the entire spectacle unfold with a wide grin on his face.

"You killed her parents."

"Hmm? No, how could I? It’s your bad luck that got them killed," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied, barely holding back a laugh. "Anyways, forget that for now. Keep watching, it gets more interesting."

Neraxis reluctantly turned his head, and soon, the conversation, which had been paused for a mere moment, continued.

Alice turned to Lar and the others. "Just keep your end of the deal... I want his body after he dies."

"...Sure, you can do whatever you want with him, I don’t care," Lar replied, and the others shared the same sentiment.

"Crazy bitch..." Bale’s voice rang out amidst the momentary silence.

However, as Alice flicked her head toward him with anger, a sudden rumbling of the ground stopped all of them in their tracks.

"Oh, your time is up, little ones. Do what you have to do, okay?" the Sovereign of Gluttony said teasingly, vanishing from their sights.

"I think it’s over. Follow my lead, especially you, Alice," Lar stated, and approached Neraxis, who now was lying on the ground.

"Hey Nera, good work out there."

Civilians from all around began gathering, looking at Neraxis with reverence.

"The hero-!!" One of them was about to speak, but Asher, the dagger hero, dashed toward the civilian, slitting their throat.

Soon, that body was tossed over near the unsuspecting Neraxis, and not even a moment later, Lar spoke.

And the events soon replayed exactly as he remembered, with Lar flashing a disgusted look and saying, "How far you have fallen, to think you would resort to killing humans...?"

"What bullshit are you spouting?" Neraxis asked, stunned.

"He’s agitated, good." Lar whispered to the other heroes, who nodded in response.

"What do you all think? What should we do with this traitor of humanity?" Lar turned to the remaining civilians, who were greatly intimidated by what had just happened.

And soon, they all followed suit, like mere puppets, slandering him just like in the past he remembers.

That continued, until Lar approached Alice and gave her a pat on the shoulder, before whispering, "You’re up."

She prepared, and Lar said out loud, "Alice, why don’t you come over and heal him? He is looking a little roughed up."

What is he even trying to show me... Neraxis frowned and watched the same scenes unfold, her approaching him, stabbing him in the back, and him eventually falling to the ground with the remaining heroes stabbing their weapons through him.

"Fuck yeah, we got him!" Asher said with excitement, turning around.

Yet as he did, a purple spire suddenly stretched from out of the ground, and as it did, each of the heroes, including the civilians, felt an intense pressure.

"Phahaha! Good job, all of you!" The Sovereign of Gluttony shouted with excitement, practically skipping through the bloody battlefield and approaching Neraxis’s body. Find adventures on novelbuddy

"Finally... Everything fell into place. Envy, come."

At his words, a figure materialized, a man with a hyena’s mask, who soon walked after Neraxis’s body and let out a scoff. "For a mere pup, he sure did a great job. I almost feel proud."

"Stop with your narcissistic shit. Check his condition," the Sovereign of Gluttony urged, and soon Envy complied, leaning down and placing a single finger on Neraxis’s forehead.

"Stable..." the Sovereign of Envy stated, yet as he did, his eyes widened, fingers shaking. "I-It’s... It’s done."

"What!? It worked this time?" The Sovereign of Gluttony shot up from the ground with excitement, and a tinge of fear. "When is he... You know... Coming back?"

"I’d say in around—"

"Quiet." A cold voice rang out, as Neraxis, who had multiple holes in his body, stood up and dusted himself off. "How long has passed?"

What...?

[You’re... Alive?] Evangeline said with disbelief, and he too, shared the same sentiment.

Nonetheless, they continued watching as the events unfolded.

"I believe 492,000 years, give or take a few thousand," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied.

"I see, it’s been a little while then," the one in Neraxis’s body remarked with a frown. "Did you do something different? I feel weaker."

"No, sir, same as always... just more rage," the Sovereign of Envy replied, pointing to the shocked heroes. "You might be feeling weaker because of these bugs."

"Hmm... They are peculiar—so much wrath and greed, envy and lust, pride, and even laziness. How ironic: there’s one who’s stomach is gurgling too." Neraxis let out a faint laugh and summoned a small white flame in his hand. "But you are of no use to me."

As his words fell, the white flame split into seven parts, and at a speed no one could track, traveled toward their foreheads.

Not even a moment later, each of the heroes fell to the ground one by one, their brain matter splattering as they landed.

"Aah... So refreshing to be back." Neraxis turned to the two Sovereigns, who immediately performed respectful bows.

"We welcome your return, Fragment of the Eternal Sin."

However, as the shocked Neraxis prepared to watch the next events unfold, everything suddenly froze.

The surroundings of a ruined city soon disappeared, replaced completely by white, along with the creepy grinning shark mask staring right at him.

"Ah, I’ll cut it there. I believe you’ve seen enough."

"Who—no, what was that?" Neraxis asked, wary.

"I wonder?" the Sovereign of Gluttony replied teasingly, standing up. "My time is up, and our chat is over, Neraxis."

"What do you mean, over? Right after showing me that?" Neraxis said with anger clearly present in his tone.

"I couldn’t care less about answering more of your questions," The Sovereign of Gluttony remarked, beginning to walk away but soon halting before turning around. "On second thought, I’ll give you a warning instead.

Noticing the ominous tone, Neraxis couldn’t help but grow even more wary.

"The Sovereign of Pride is adamant about killing you once and for all for what you have done. He won’t stop at anything to do so," the Sovereign of Gluttony stated before adding, "Though this new world has many more restrictions placed upon us, meaning we can only send out apostles. Consider this my debt repaid, Neraxis."

With those words, he vanished, leaving Neraxis alone.

Yet not even a moment later, the white space around him began crumbling, albeit very slowly.

However, during this moment of self-reflection, Neraxis realized his approach needed to change much sooner than anticipated.

Soon, the hall from before reappeared in his sights, with Aurelia still standing behind him and the apostle from earlier flashing a wide grin.

So he really did get me at the very start, Neraxis thought, readying himself for battle.

...I need to speed things up.