The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 127: Deceiving Invitation

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Neraxis replied coldly. "You manipulated my past, and now you expect me to walk into your trap?"

"My master thought you would say that." The apostle nodded before adding, "That’s why they told me to leave behind another message, on the off chance you didn’t change your mind."

"If you want answers regarding your past, come to me. I can’t kill you in the mind realm, so we would merely be having a conversation."

"Bullshit." Neraxis scoffed, summoning his sword and narrowing his eyes. "You can hear me, right? I know you have ties to the system, so why should I believe you? For all I know, that message is just a decoy, and you’ll send me off somewhere else."

As his words fell, a moment of silence ensued—quickly interrupted by the shaking of the black system message.

Soon, its contents changed.

[The Sovereign of Gluttony says you have a foul mouth but is willing to let it go if you come to them.]

[Do you accept?]

[Y/N]

Neraxis was about to reach out and press "No" but remembered how he had been tricked back in Dreamspire. Therefore, he let the message hang in the air just a while longer.

Nonetheless, he voiced his thoughts aloud. "I refuse."

"We understand," the apostle replied with a deep sigh. "In the event that Neraxis declines the invitation, force him to come."

[I have a bad feeling about this...] Evangeline said, worried. [If he forces you to enter the mind realm... then I’m not going to be able to help you.]

What’s the mind realm? Neraxis asked, entering a defensive stance and pushing Aurelia slightly backward. "Provide cover fire for me, I’ll defend you."

"O-Okay!" she agreed.

Soon, Evangeline spoke again. [It’s a space inside your or someone else’s mind. While you’re in there, time does not pass on the outside.]

Even more reason not to go there, he decided, and before the apostle could even draw a single breath, Neraxis used {Sword Dash}.

He appeared before the apostle and swung down. However, to his surprise, the sword was caught between the apostle’s fingers.

But as that happened, Neraxis suddenly stretched out his hand, the {Aura of the Abyss} perk on full display.

Yet before his hand could even come into contact with the apostle, Neraxis found himself being flung back—crashing straight into one of the pillars.

"Neraxis!" Aurelia’s panicked voice rang out as she cast one of her light spells, sending a beam directly toward the apostle, who merely tilted his head to the side, dodging the attack.

Yet, in that small moment of distraction, Neraxis shot back up from the pillar, his head dripping with blood as he swiftly approached the apostle.

At the same time, he used {Eve of Ruin’s: Mark of Destruction} while simultaneously activating {Crimson Sovereignty’s: Blood Dominion}.

Even though Blood Dominion was unable to stun the apostle, it was still able to restore Neraxis’s health—albeit slightly.

I need blood... or I simply need to make contact with that thing. My {Aura of the Abyss} should weaken it, he thought, and before long, also used {Stellar Dominion’s: Cosmic Cascade}.

However, to his surprise, the moment his skill was about to make contact, the apostle suddenly raised his hand and, with some kind of invisible gray shield, redirected the fiery aurora back at Neraxis.

"Fu—" It was too late to dodge, so he gritted his teeth and tried slashing the skill in half.

Alas, the only thing that did was prevent him from being killed instantly—his skin was scorched heavily, sizzling.

The skill seemed to have further improved once his strength increased, the limits lessening.

"Neraxis, here!" Aurelia ran up behind him and suddenly slashed her wrist with his sword, drawing blood and making his eyes widen.

"What are you doing!? Are you trying to kill yourself?" He covered the heavily bleeding wrist and saw as she began shaking her head, a fatigued expression on her face.

"You can heal yourself with blood, so take mine again..."

This idiot. Neraxis exhaled a frustrated sigh and leaned in, drinking the blood gushing from her wrist.

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In an instant, all of his injuries were healed, and he was ready to fight again.

However, he held his hand over Aurelia’s wrist for just a couple of seconds longer—just enough for her natural regeneration to patch the wound up.

"Don’t do something reckless like that again," he said.

"It’s fine. You just have to win now," she giggled with rough breaths.

Did she lose too much blood? Neraxis narrowed his eyes. No... it’s something else.

"Regroup with your sister and get out of here. I’ll follow after you soon," he instructed.

"But—"

Neraxis interjected. "No buts. I can’t fight properly if I have to protect you. Find your sister, find the club members, leave. Got it?"

As he finished speaking, he slashed downward, creating a hole in the floor through which Aurelia could leave.

"...Be careful," she said reluctantly and jumped into the hole, entering the grand hall where some other people were gathered.

But since the threat of the apostle lay with Neraxis currently, they should be fine.

Yet just as he thought that, he spotted a wolf-like monster running through the grand hall and lunging at an unsuspecting person—immediately killing them.

However, not even a moment later, someone else slashed down with a halberd, killing the wolf.

It was the girl who was with Emily—the only B-rank.

Soon, she regrouped with Aurelia, and the two began making their way out of the grand hall, making Neraxis let out a relieved breath.

I won’t have to worry about her for the time being. He turned to the apostle. But now I have to deal with this problem somehow.

"I’ve received another message," the apostle suddenly said, clearing his throat. "There are many more monsters outside than inside, Neraxis. If you wish to keep at least one of your friends alive, I suggest you accept my invitation."

"Fuck you," Neraxis kindly replied and dashed in.

Out of the many skills he had, none would really help him in this situation aside from the Fragment of Calamity skills.

Therefore, getting just a tad closer, Neraxis used {Simple Stab}.

And for the first time since fighting the apostle, he saw a slight glimmer of surprise.

But once again, dodging Neraxis’s attack was no problem, as the apostle merely twisted his body.

In that small moment, Neraxis approached even closer and stretched out his hand.

Just barely, he was able to touch the apostle’s hand, and the {Aura of the Abyss} soon took effect.

A smile appeared on Neraxis’s face, but it soon faltered as he noticed the deterioration was not spreading—only concentrated in the area he had touched.

"You can’t win, boy," the apostle said with a massive smirk. "No matter what skill you use or how much you struggle, I will always be stronger than you in the end."

Frowning, Neraxis pulled his sword back before using two skills together.

{Simple Horizontal Slash} and {Vampiric Dominion’s: Blood Rend}.

While it didn’t have the desired effect because he was completely healed, the damage should still be reasonable.

Yet, despite its sharpness, the sword barely dug deep—stopping right after drawing blood.

He’s A-ranked at least, Neraxis deduced and immediately proceeded to saw the apostle’s neck—albeit slightly.

At the same time, his stacks swiftly built up, and after they did, he detonated the mark.

However, the explosion he was expecting never came. Instead, the apostle merely smiled at him before stretching out his hand.

As he did, a puff of black smoke came out.

"Not what you wanted to see, I believe?" The apostle chuckled eerily as his eyes suddenly grew redder.

Yet, in the next moment, they returned to normal.

Neraxis noticed that, and he wasn’t about to stick around. Aurelia has probably found her sister by now. I’m out of here.

Therefore, he de-summoned his sword and soon dashed to a nearby wall before punching it with his {Aura of the Abyss}.

It crumbled in an instant. However, the ocean he had been expecting to see was nowhere in sight.

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Instead, there was only white.

Puzzled, he turned around—just to spot that the entire hall he had been in mere moments ago began shattering, replaced by completely white surroundings.

And in the very middle stood the apostle, still smiling at him eerily.

"It was fun messing around with you, Neraxis," the apostle said, his voice much different than before as he began approaching with slow steps. "You see, the benefits of having such authority are that nobody can refuse me."

The apostle stopped in front of Neraxis before continuing, "You know what that means, don’t you?"—his smile growing. "The moment I sent you an invite, you were already inside the mind realm."

"You are the Sovereign of Gluttony?" Neraxis asked with a frown.

The apostle merely chuckled before stretching out his hand.

Immediately, the white space was replaced by a giant round table, on which hundreds, if not thousands, of dishes were placed.

"That’s correct," the apostle said, his face distorting. Then, all of a sudden, a mask appeared.

It was that of a creepy, grinning shark, as the Sovereign of Gluttony stared at Neraxis through the miniature eye holes.

"Welcome to my feast, Neraxis."