The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 58: More Than Expected

[Celina’s POV]

He’s pretty fast, but just what is this strange energy? Celina thought while phasing through another one of his slashes.

It was not difficult, as one of her skills essentially placed her in a mist-like state, allowing all attacks to pass through her. However, its cooldown was long, and at most, it could withstand ten attacks from someone of equal strength before dissipating.

At least her invisibility skill was holding up; otherwise, more trouble would be in store.

However, a single thought crossed her mind.

How is he following me?

She knew very well the flaws of her invisibility, as it somehow cast a shadow beneath her. There was only her main skill to blame, but it still worked very well at night—especially when she was out doing some contract work behind everyone’s back.

After roughly twenty-five seconds, she felt the strange energy from earlier leave her body, and immediately, a frown appeared on Neraxis’s face.

"Oho? Is that all?" Celina couldn’t help but tease, earning another attack that flew right by her side, narrowly missing her.

"I doubt you can keep this up for long. Why aren’t you attacking?" Neraxis questioned, preparing his sword to strike once more.

Why? Hmm... She fell into thought for a moment before inwardly chuckling.

"It’s fun."

That seemed to get a reaction out of him, as his brows momentarily rose before he slashed right at her.

This time, however, she decided to fight back—it would be no fun if she just kept avoiding him. Reappearing before him and using both of her daggers, she redirected the sword downward.

Immediately following up with a backhand dagger slash, she expected to deal some damage. But to Celina’s surprise, he managed to evade it cleanly before slashing back at her with an unamused look on his face.

He’s making it look so effortless... She inwardly sighed. An attack like that would have easily killed anyone below E- rank.

And one thing was for certain—he was still not as strong as her, but the gap had closed considerably, to the point where if she wasn’t careful, she would actually be injured.

Nimbly evading an attack, Celina sent out a fast jab with the same hand she was holding the dagger.

He seemed startled for a moment but quickly moved his body backward, catching her wrist and attempting to throw her to the side.

But she was trained well for such encounters. Therefore, she attempted to stab the hand holding hers.

Before she could do that, however, a sharp red sword appeared in her vision, leaving her no choice but to evade or somehow—by the barest margin—escape his grasp.

Alas, that wasn’t everything she had up her sleeve. As the sword was about to reach her, she glanced to the side, focusing on a single pebble that had somehow appeared.

Without wasting even a single moment, she used the final skill effect of her main skill, Switch.

Immediately, she appeared standing in the place of the rock, her wrist still stretched out. And as she turned back around, Celina spotted the familiar puzzled expression on his face.

"You can switch places with inanimate objects?" Neraxis said, amused.

A smile appeared on her face as she replied, "What do you think?"

At the same time, Celina began reducing her presence drastically—one of the passive skill effects of her main skill. Noticing that Neraxis was starting to narrow his eyes, she took it as a sign the skill was working. So, similarly to invisibility, she walked behind him.

But as his back finally turned toward her, something unexpected happened.

Celina’s senses flared out of control, practically screaming at her to dodge—and she did, leaping backward to evade an attack that never came.

What just happened? Her hands slightly shook as she looked at his back once more, and yet again, the same pressure was being emitted. It felt as though if she were to try attacking him, her head would go flying off.

I can’t be imagining it... right? She tried convincing herself, but the result stayed the same. She was afraid—afraid to strike his back.

Soon, his voice resounded as he turned his purple eyes, akin to crystals, toward her.

"Are you done?"

"..." Celina did not reply but revealed her presence regardless. Fooling him seemed to not work either way.

"Neraxis, stop ogling," she said teasingly, and in the moment of surprise, she dashed in before delivering a straight kick to his jaw.

This time, he was unable to fully dodge it, being sent back quite a fair distance.

So that works... Celina let out a small giggle before taking a glance at her leg, which, for some reason, had droplets of blood falling to the ground.

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When did he...?

Her thoughts were interrupted as her senses were once again overwhelmed by some strange energy, making her feel slightly more vulnerable.

As that happened, he appeared before her with unbelievable speed. This time, however, she couldn’t dodge.

Watching as the attack closed in, she could do nothing but close her eyes and wait for her body to be sliced. However, the pain—or anything else for that matter—did not come.

When she opened her eyes, a conflicted-looking Neraxis met her sight. His sword rested on her cheek, similarly to what she had done to him with her daggers, as he said,

"You lost."

"Hmm? Did I?" Celina replied playfully, and in the next moment, attempted to kick his knee. But his foot met hers in the middle, sending her hurtling toward the edge of the platform.

"Celina, neither of us are going all out, and since that’s the case, we should end this here."

Should I just... Her thoughts raced for a moment before coming to a halt.

If she were to use her main skill—or any of her other skills—the fight would most certainly end with her victory. However, what was the point? Her identity as a contracted killer would be exposed.

It was a career she chose to better herself, and surprisingly, her grandpa was the one who recommended it to her. Alas, her reputation was starting to blossom, and if by some miracle these classmates of hers—or that pesky teacher—found out, there would be big trouble.

Therefore, her decision was swift and final. With a single step backward, she walked off the platform, immediately being eliminated.

"You win," Celina said before flashing a soft smile. "Congratulations."

For some reason, however, Neraxis was not replying, making her feel slightly uneasy. And that unease seemed warranted, as his next words made her freeze on the spot.

"I’ve not paid much attention to it before, but you have killed before, haven’t you?" he spoke in a whisper, making sure no one could hear.

But she couldn’t find it in herself to reply.

Her efforts to steel herself—to harden her resolve and refine her skills to finally finish off her father—would all be in vain if someone found out.

However, she was not illogical to the point of not understanding where he was coming from. After all, Neraxis fought in a similar manner to her—meaning that to recognize a killer, one must be a killer.

Flashing a soft yet innocent smile, Celina met his eyes and put a finger up to her lips before quickly walking away to the sidelines, soon regrouping with the rest of her classmates.

She scanned through all of them until her gaze landed on Aurelia. Before long, she arrived and sat beside her.

"You were awesome!" Aurelia’s excited voice rang out, to which she merely shrugged.

Childhood friends or not, her admiration was a bit excessive.

But Celina did not point it out. "Thank you."

With those words, she pooled all her attention back onto the platform, where the sweaty muscular dude, and the twig were locked in a standstill.

Upon seeing that sight, she immediately nodded to herself.

Yep... Neraxis is definitely going to win.

However, as she thought that, Celina suddenly noticed something off about Neraxis.

Why does his stare look so blank?