The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 147: Southern Church

"Hmm..." Neraxis hummed out loud while standing on the very edge of the city wall.

But despite his nonchalant look, the situation was a bit more dire than he had expected.

Circular walls surrounded the city, and no matter how far he walked along the wall, Neraxis was able to spot monsters in the distance.

And now, only around 20 minutes remained until they would come into contact with the wall.

However, one good thing was that each of the monsters present seemed to be undead.

Which also meant this was likely the doing of some necromancer.

A lich maybe?

Neraxis had been trying to spot the summoner for a while now, but there was nothing in sight.

Nonetheless, this amount of monsters would be troublesome even for him since his usual go-to skill for fighting against many foes at once, {Blood Dominion}, would not work anymore simply because the undead had no more blood in their bodies.

[Well, maybe some of them are not skeletons yet,] Evangeline said optimistically. [Anyhow, I doubt there isn’t a way to make it easier—you just have to figure out the solution.]

Yep, I’ll try to figure something out, Neraxis replied with a sigh and proceeded to go back into the city—specifically, the square.

The guard from earlier, while hesitant, seemed to have given a warning as the remaining guards frantically ran through the streets.

—Find the witch!

—I think she’s here!

—That’s a scarecrow, you idiot!

Nevermind... Neraxis furrowed his brows.

Instead of preparing for the fight ahead, they wanted to get rid of the Saint instead.

Therefore, he headed back toward the bell tower, as he needed to do some minor preparations.

Once Neraxis arrived, he spotted the Saint, Jane, gobbling down all the cookies he had given her.

But since she was enjoying herself and did not seem to notice him, he decided to let her be for now.

Instead, now that he was overlooking the city, he needed to find safe points.

However, even after extensively looking around, Neraxis was only able to spot four safe spots.

Each one was located in a cardinal direction, and quite frankly, every single one was a church.

Yet most of the guards and weapons seemed to be concentrated in those churches, which made Neraxis’s plan all the easier.

So I just need to play the part of the devil they think I am and lead them into the churches... Seems easy enough, he thought with a sigh.

That was when Jane finally took notice of his existence, jumping to her feet in surprise.

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"I just got here," he said with a soft smile before glancing down at the cookie wrappers. "You sure enjoyed yourself."

Jane flinched, but after clearing her throat, she affirmed, "They were delicious. I don’t think I have ever eaten something that tasty in my life."

"Want more?" Neraxis asked, pulling out another packet, and before she could even reply, he tossed it over to her.

She happily accepted, but as Jane was about to dig in, he interjected.

"I need you to do something for me."

"What...?" Jane looked him up and down skeptically. "I’m a Saint, not someone who would satisfy your desires."

"...That’s not it." He facepalmed. "How many devoted followers do you have? Like, actual followers?"

"A couple of thousand, I think?" she replied with a tilt of her head. "The church in the southern part of the city has great people, most worship me there. As for the others, not so much."

"That’s fine." Neraxis nodded. "I’ll bring you there, and in exchange, I want you to convince the others about the approaching monster horde."

"...Do you think they will listen to me after today?" Jane said with a gloomy look. "I mean, just earlier—"

"If they don’t listen, then I’ll make them listen," Neraxis interjected before walking over to her and picking Jane up in a princess carry.

She grew a tad bit flustered, nearly dropping the cookies he had given her.

But just as he was about to jump off the roof, she stuffed all the cookies inside her mouth, nearly choking in the process.

She’s really a Saint? Neraxis thought, letting her finish swallowing the cookies.

And the moment she did, he jumped down onto a nearby roof, then ran to the southern church.

Along the way, Jane had put her arms around his neck, trying her best not to fall.

Nonetheless, after less than a minute, he had finally arrived.

The response from the guards? It was just as he expected.

"The devil is here!" they shouted in unison, readying their spears.

However, as they spotted Jane beside him, they all halted.

With that, a single burly guard stepped out, approaching them and stopping right before Neraxis.

He’s pretty strong, Neraxis remarked inwardly.

The man was glaring at him with hatred, but that was for the best.

Since that meant they truly cared about the Saint.

"Levy, you can stand down..." Jane stated in a firm tone. "He’s my savior, and if you do anything to harm him, I will be angry."

"Yes, Miss Saint." The burly man, Levy, performed a respectful bow, as though he were some kind of puppy.

Neraxis smiled in satisfaction before looking around.

Not even a moment later, he spotted one of the people glaring at Jane with hatred.

Therefore, Neraxis walked over to the person, who just so happened to be another gorgeous woman.

However, it was clear she had some sort of grudge against the Saint.

"You," Neraxis called out to the woman. "Why the glare?"

"Ah—It’s an accident. My face does that when I’m stressed," the woman replied, scratching her head.

I don’t even need to use {Cosmic Sight} to tell it’s bullshit. Neraxis thought and put on a warm smile. "While I do understand animosity, if you pull anything, I will feed you to the incoming monsters myself."

"H-Huh?" Her eyes widened, and as they did, all the people who heard what Neraxis had said soon began murmuring amongst each other.

"R-Right, everyone!" Jane suddenly stepped up, gathering the attention of all the people present. "There is a horde of monsters heading toward the city right now. There aren’t many, and Neraxis here will deal with them. However, I do need all of you to remain inside the church. Can you do that?"

After exchanging uncertain glances, the people nodded in unison.

"Great!" Jane brought her hands together. "I pray for everyone’s safety while we deal with this situation."

As she finally finished, bouts of relieved sighs rang out around Neraxis, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

He walked over to Jane and patted her on the shoulder before whispering, "Good job."

Jane nodded absentmindedly, and now Neraxis had to make a decision.

The trial stated he had to make sure no more than 25% of all civilians died, and while it did seem impossible, if he could keep the monsters out of the city, then it might not be that unreal.

At the same time, if he brought them to the Saint, there was a high chance they’d kill her, and Neraxis would fail the trial anyway.

So that brought him to the decision he had to make.

Risk it? Or eliminate every single heretic.