The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

Neraxis reappeared in his home world and, of course, he was now in his previous house.

Lana and Rara were nowhere to be seen, as he assumed Evangeline had taken them to the mountain.

And yet he soon heard a pair of footsteps from upstairs, heading down.

Evangeline was the first to skip over, and she wore a slightly conflicted expression.

Yet he didn't ask about it. Instead, he simply waited as she arrived before him and kissed him on the cheek.

But the footsteps he heard a moment ago seemed to not only belong to Evangeline, but also a very familiar figure.

Long ashen hair and pitch-black eyes. She was none other than Violet, the Sovereign of Lust.

However...

"Evangeline..." Neraxis muttered warily. "What is she doing in our house?"

"Well... remember the lead I mentioned? Yeah... that's the lead," Evangeline replied sheepishly. "She showed up while we were searching for the others and offered to help. I refused her at first, but she showed me something interesting."

"It better be really interesting, Evangeline," Neraxis said with a frown.

Evangeline giggled. "Oh, believe me, it is."

With those words, she suddenly summoned a single blood thread and hovered it right in front of him.

He couldn't understand what she was doing at the moment, but then the blood thread turned to the number six before dissipating.

"Ta-da~" Evangeline raised her arms. "The Sovereign of Pride is dead!"

"I can confirm that," Violet chimed in. "I've lost all connection with him ever since a year ago. Evangeline told me you two had a fight, and you also vanished. Though unlike the Sovereign of Pride, you returned alive. Congratulations."

"And are you sure he's dead? You know how unreliable that is. You couldn't even sense me while I was gone," Neraxis remarked. "And I'll have you know, I don't remember killing him. He killed me first."

"Us Sovereigns are bound by something more than a simple connection," Violet stated with a sigh. "When one dies, the others grow weaker. That's one of the covenants that the universe placed upon us. What that means is we have only a single soul, sharing it between 7 people. Well... 6 now."

"Exactly." Evangeline nodded. "I talked over it with her a lot, and she did grow weaker. At least if I had to compare her to the time I saw her in Dreamspire, her strength decreased by at least 10%."

And in the grand scheme of things, Neraxis knew that was a lot, especially for beings such as herself.

Hmm... so in the same way Lagus gets weaker if I kill his doubles, the Sovereigns get weaker if I kill them.

If all of them were together, they'd naturally be a problem, but he assumed they didn't exactly talk with each other much.

And Violet further confirmed his theory.

"We may be similar, but after eons of being together, we grew distant. We only gathered for a reunion once every millennia or two. Even then, most don't even show up. It's just me, Wrath, and Sloth."

Neraxis could tell it was bad if the literal Sovereign of Sloth showed up, the laziest one of them all, whereas the others did not.

"So you're basically siblings then. I'm sure you're angry that I had killed him," Neraxis commented, narrowing his eyes. "What now? Do you wish to fight, or do you wish to die?"

Evangeline coughed, getting his attention.

"Actually... she said she's going to help us kill the rest of the Sovereigns. Basically, she's joining us," she said.

His eyes widened as he turned to Violet. "Is this the truth?"

She simply nodded, but that wasn't good enough.

"I want a yes or no answer. Tell me. Are you lying to me?" Neraxis pushed.

Violet let out a sigh. "I am truthful. We Sovereigns have roamed the universe for far too long. We had our fun times, we had our sad times, but it's time to say goodbye..."

She wasn't lying, but he sensed a trickle of sadness in her tone.

And it was obvious why.

She was planning on killing her very own siblings.

He couldn't understand why, but at the same time, he didn't exactly care.

She was offering help in his time of need, so he would naturally accept.

Anyhow, he stared at her for a few moments, then opened up his status screen, taking a look at it one final time before he went hunting.

Name: Neraxis Valen

Age: 209 → 215

Bloodline: The Progenitor Solarian Vampire {Mythic}

Affinity: Abyssal Solarity [Mythic]

World Cores: 10

—Perks:

[Primordial Presence] Mastered

[Unyielding Vitality] (Grandmaster)

—Stats:

Rank: Saint- → Mythic

Strength: Saint-

Agility: Saint-

Stamina: Saint- → Mythic-

Intelligence: Transcendent+

Mana Capacity: Transcendent+ → Celestial-

—Secondary Stats:

Luck: H+ → G-

Charm: Saint+ → Mythic-

—Skills:

[Ancient Sun Vampirism (SSS+)]*

[Manifestation of the Sun (SSS)]*

[Vampiric Dominance (Mythic)]

[Universal Diffusion (Saint)]

[Stellar Dominion (A)]

[Minor Reflect (D)]

[Aegis of Eternity (C)]

—Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (5/???)

Stupid Vertical Slash (Transcendent)

Basic Abyssal Calamity Footwork + Swordsmanship (Mythic)

Mastered Horizontal Slash (Saint)

Mastered Stab (Saint)

Mastered Illusion Slash (Saint)

+-----+

He was definitely strong, and his Mana Capacity finally broke through into the Celestial rank.

Yet he only had a single World Core.

He chuckled to himself and turned to Evangeline.

"How about the others?"

"The other girls?" Evangeline tilted her head. "They're fine. I told them to head back since what we're going to be doing is quite dangerous. Seraphina and Amaterasu will stand guard, and the others will cheer us on... or I hope so at least."

"We'll see..." Neraxis replied as he met Violet's gaze.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Because once I kill all the Sovereigns, I can't promise that I'll spare you."

A faint smile appeared on Violet's face.

"I don't wish to be spared. If anything, my only wish is to be the last one to die. I've lived a long and fruitful life, and so have the others."

She performed a curt bow.

"So moving forward, do not hesitate on my behalf."