The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 47: The Astral Tower

[Neraxis’s POV]

It did not take long for him to arrive back home; however, the urge to lie in bed was strong.

Before he knew it, he had slept for 12 hours, with only a couple more left until it was time to head back to the academy.

Yet there was also something else he could not quite forget, and that was:

[Blue Skill Book Unveiled: Aegis of Eternity {C}]

[Skill Description: A powerful defensive skill that summons an ethereal shield capable of blocking a single incoming attack.]

[Skill Effect (1/1): Eternal Ward (Active): Summons an ethereal shield that absorbs and nullifies all damage from a single incoming attack, regardless of its nature. Cooldown: 12 Weeks.]

Block any attack every three months? Neraxis stared at it in wonder before waving it away.

It was definitely a great skill—one that he would make use of in the future.

However, with the free time he currently had, there was something else he would much rather try.

His Stellar Dominion skill had a strange final effect: "Enter the astral plane." He assumed now was as good a time as any to check it out, and immediately, he felt several pricks on his skin that kept increasing with each passing second.

At the same time, his vision started to blur, and faint blue lines became visible in the surroundings.

Before he could grasp what was happening, he suddenly fell forward.

Just as he was expecting to hit the ground, he went through it instead, appearing on the other side in an awkward position.

That was not the only strange part, as his hands sank into the substance he found himself on—it was water.

Yet it was very shallow, allowing him to stand up on top of it.

As he did so, Neraxis finally took a good glance around himself.

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It was flat land with equally shallow water and stars of all colors shining brightly above him.

However, the one thing that stood out the most was a specific tower—one that looked eerily similar to Dreamspire.

Upon closer inspection, he could immediately tell its size was nothing alike; the structure was built entirely distinct from Dreamspire as well.

In the end, the only similarities the two towers carried were their slim stature.

By the entrance, there appeared to be some type of golem-like sentries.

Do you see this, Evangeline? Neraxis called out in amazement.

[Yeah, it looks like another trial tower,] she replied, curiosity clear in her tone.

Hmm... He thought about it for a moment and quickly made the decision to check it out.

Neraxis quickly neared the entrance of the tower—which appeared to be just a massive double door—and stopped a few meters before it.

He made eye contact with the sentries and, upon closer look, noticed they did not actually have faces but were made completely out of starry blue mana.

"Can I pass?" Neraxis asked innocently, realizing this thought might have been a little impulsive.

After all, golems couldn’t be alive—they were mere constructs that followed the orders of their creators.

Yet, he saw the two sentries exchange glances before grabbing hold of the door and pushing it inward, opening the path for him.

Still a bit stunned, he began slowly walking forward, not letting his guard down in case the sentries reacted differently.

But nothing like that happened. Instead, he entered inside, and what greeted his sight was a dimly lit room, still somehow illuminated by the stars above.

Strangest of all, a grandfather clock—one that spanned the numbers 1 to 12, with the hour hand pointing directly at the number 1.

It also lacked a minute hand, suggesting it showed which floor he was currently on.

After all, this was some sort of trial tower.

The moment he thought of that, the number 1 lit up, and immediately, he felt as though he was pushed, landing onto the ground and once again falling through to the other side.

This time, however, he was in a dark forest, finding it extremely difficult to see ahead.

Yet he tried, but noticed he could not move a muscle.

It did not take long to find the culprit: before him was a system window, dominated purely by red, with just a tinge of blue, reflecting the starry atmosphere he had just been in.

[Astral Tower - 1st Floor: The Initiation Trial]

[Objective: Find the exit.]

[Status: Initializing...]

Just as he saw those words, the message reading "Initializing" soon vanished. What replaced it was the sound of howling in the far distance.

Neraxis also noticed that he had regained his ability to move. Without further delay, he jumped to a nearby tree before summoning his sword, sticking it in, and hanging on as though he were on a branch.

Soon, a pack of black wolves rushed toward where he had just been. Upon noticing he wasn’t there, they dispersed.

Shadow wolves? They’re pretty weak monsters. Neraxis mused while climbing onto his sword and jumping onto an actual branch.

So it really is a trial, huh… He thought to himself before taking a deep breath and looking upward.

Getting above the trees seemed like an option at first, so he tried.

However, when he reached a certain height, he suddenly felt a wave of repulsion hit him.

Neraxis attempted to resist and go higher, but the further he went, the stronger the repulsion became, rendering his efforts in vain.

Well, that’s out of the bag. I guess I really do have to go down. Neraxis sighed before sliding down the tree and landing on the ground.

Just as he did that, a pair of footsteps resounded in the distance, followed by a row of glowing purple eyes.

He wasn’t intimidated. After all, these creatures were merely F-ranked. To him, it was just a simple walk in the park.

Or so he hoped—but the number of eyes grew to an alarming amount, even for him.

Nonetheless, it was either fight back or jump through the trees like some sort of monkey—something he would much rather not do.

After all, his goal, first and foremost, was to grow strong enough to fix the way things had turned out in the past.

That was—by killing all the heroes, each and every single one of them.

[Neraxis...] Evangeline’s worried voice rang out, which he chose to ignore as he lunged forward, slicing the foremost shadow wolf in half.

Using his already built-up momentum, he used the Simple Horizontal Slash skill, severing the bodies and heads of most who had been near him—and even some farther away.

Yet the numbers were overwhelming. All the skill managed to do was buy him time to reposition.

That was enough, as he swiftly cleaved through the wave of monsters, for some reason not tiring.

That was until Evangeline spoke. [My skill has the ability to make enemies bleed over time, which in turn makes them gush out a lot more blood than should be possible. Even if you kill them instantly, I can absorb their blood and share a small portion with you.]

Wait... doesn’t that mean—

She quickly cut him off. [No. It is not the same as you directly absorbing the blood. I can’t cure your wounds—only prevent them from bleeding more. I can, however, restore a bit of your stamina.]

Oh... He sighed in disappointment, but still—it was an exceptionally powerful skill at the end of the day.

Now, all he needed to do was finish this trial.