The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

It was a wild idea, and he wasn't sure where he was truly going with this. But what if he technically formed some sort of world core not in the world, but instead in the empty space itself?

He didn't want to bother Evangeline about it since she didn't really know herself, but Delta had given him a general idea of how it worked, so he might as well give it a shot.

Worst-case scenario, he'd lose a bit of mana. Best-case scenario? He'd probably find some interesting way of utilizing mana.

Therefore, Neraxis focused on a random part of space and teleported toward it.

The moment he reappeared, a chilling sensation ran down his spine. It wasn't because he was scared or anything, it was simply because it was a bit cold.

After all, while the sun was present, it was extremely far away.

But still... it's a good spot, probably, Neraxis thought as he extended his hand.

In the next moment, he used Destruction, carving out a piece of space.

It was a strange feeling, and he couldn't exactly tell if he was getting something done. However, when he entered the space he had carved out, his eyes widened.

Inside, all he could see was darkness, but due to the distant sun illuminating him, he could barely see his own hands.

To fix that, he summoned a single golden thread, which lit up the empty space.

Hmm... this reminds me of my mind realm, sort of, Neraxis thought, looking around the empty space.

He waved his hand, summoning a golden couch as he sat down, staring into the blank space.

He waved it again and summoned a miniature sun, then the ground, buildings, and finally, he got bored.

But that was only after making an entire village coated in a golden light.

Though... what now? Do I just infuse mana into something? Neraxis wondered and decided to try it out.

He focused his mana on a single point and began condensing it. However, just as quickly, it scattered.

Neraxis tried again, yet the same result followed, making him let out an exhausted sigh.

Maybe I should try infusing the space itself?

He tried that right away, and to his surprise, there was a result. The space glowed with a faint golden light, and all of a sudden, he felt a deeper connection to it.

At the moment, he could only feel an area of 10 meters around him, and since the space was endless, that also meant the possibilities were endless.

As a test, he stepped out of the space he cut open, and then, with a simple gesture, he closed it.

To his surprise, the connection remained as strong as ever. But just in case, Neraxis teleported away to a different area.

It was at least several worlds away, yet the connection never faded.

Therefore, Neraxis cut open the space again, and the moment he did, the familiar golden village entered his sight.

So it's literally a pocket dimension... in my pocket? Neraxis mused and stepped inside the cut-open space.

To make it easier for himself, he'd simply call it the Void, as it fit his powers best.

Nonetheless, since he had plenty of time on his hands, he decided to infuse more of his mana into it.

Bit by bit, the area expanded from a village to a whole city.

A few weeks later, it was the size of an entire continent.

And yet, he didn't feel like he had used up a lot of his mana, so he continued infusing it.

Another two weeks went by, and by now, his control over the Void was as vast as the world he had lived in, if not slightly bigger.

It was a satisfying feeling, and for once, he felt his mana go down by 1%.

But that seemed to be a temporary feeling, as aside from the mana he currently felt, if he focused deeper, he was able to access the mana inside the Void.

It was neat and rather addictive, but since he had spent so much time here, he decided to step out.

The connection was even stronger than before, but having gotten used to that feeling, Neraxis shrugged it aside.

Instead...

Hey Evangeline. Did you find what you were looking for? he asked with a hum.

[Just a sec... Still following them,] Evangeline replied in a serious tone.

After a short pause, she spoke up again, her voice containing a trace of surprise. [What the... what happened there?]

Hm...?

[Your memories just flooded into me. You spent three weeks in there? It's only been three hours on the outside,] Evangeline added, impressed. [Wow... you're definitely going to have to take me there. Oh, and I'm going to do some remodeling because there's way too much gold, okay? Oh, and I gotta go now, see you later.]

He remained hovering in space, stunned.

It wasn't strange that time moved differently in such a distorted place as that.

A second for Evangeline was nearly three minutes for him. It was a massive difference, but also a boon he would definitely abuse to its full potential.

Therefore, with a massive grin, he stepped back inside the Void and began expanding it. Bit by bit, the size increased, and after what felt like two months, he managed to make his Void cover an area equal to ten of his home worlds.

And now, it was time to do something likely unorthodox.

Neraxis entered full focus, and with a single thought, began compressing all 10 of his worlds.

It was a strange feeling, but he definitely didn't feel less powerful—if anything, his strength increased.

He kept condensing the worlds until finally, after several hours, they combined into one extremely bright golden world, then shrunk down to the size of a village.

But once Neraxis realized he could shrink it down even further, he did just that.

It took longer than all the other attempts combined, and once he was finished, the 10 worlds had become the size of a soccer ball.

Neraxis felt satisfied, but once he glanced at his mana consumption, his eyes widened.

It was 10%... but now it's less than 1%? Neraxis thought, his hands trembling as he tapped into the power of those 10 merged worlds.

To his surprise, the mana was immense, and definitely the equivalent of the 10% he had invested.

And yet... not only did the 10% he invested get restored, but he also now had an extra 10% mana from condensing the worlds.

In short, he had just found an infinite mana glitch.

And because of that, he decided to name this anomaly a simple title.

All the worlds he merged from here forth would be called Void Cores.

Though that might be too cheesy, maybe World Cores? Yeah... that works better, Neraxis decided with a smile.

So for the time being, he had 10 World Cores, and he wanted to pump that number up to at least 100 before he began creating his own system.

Nonetheless, he stepped out of the Void with a hum, then contacted Evangeline.

I'm back again. Found anything?

A moment of silence ensued, but Evangeline soon spoke up, sighing.

[Don't freak out, but two weeks have passed for us... which means you were in there for over six years,] Evangeline said, and before he could voice his shock, she continued.

[Also... I think we might have a lead on the location of one of the Sovereigns, so come back home. Okay?]