The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 68: A Different Kind of System Log

[Neraxis...] Evangeline’s wary voice rang out, as the quiet of the dimly lit room made both of them feel uneasy.

It’s alright... I think, he replied, before glancing around a couple of times.

Immediately, he spotted a single table, chair, bed, and finally, the way out—which seemed to be right above him, like a trap door.

There was also food scattered across the ground, mostly moldy bread, along with a bit of watered-down soup that hadn’t even been touched.

From these things alone, he could gather: I’m in a prison? Or even worse... I don’t think they treat prisoners this shitty.

However, since he wasn’t exactly comfortable being in this room, Neraxis summoned Evangeline before jumping to the wall and blasting off right at the trap door.

Slashing downward, he cut through it like butter, since it was merely made out of wood—which, over time, seemed to have been waterlogged, making it extremely easy to cut through.

And as he did so, Neraxis appeared on the very top, taking a few glances around.

Alas, the sight was not pretty.

He was inside some kind of abandoned city, with similar hatches scattered across the dirt ground.

Walking beside the one closest to him, Neraxis looked down, and upon seeing what was inside, furrowed his brows.

Two skeletons—one on the bed, while the other was submerged in the watered-down soup.

What is this place? Neraxis thought, as an ominous feeling arose in his heart.

[I’m not sure... but this looks like a testing ground,] Evangeline commented, sharing his unease.

Testing ground? What makes you say that? he glanced around, not noticing anything wrong.

Using mana to feel the surroundings was pretty inaccurate, since he had not yet acquired his affinity; therefore, he did not even try.

But in this case, Evangeline could.

[Hmm...] she hummed before flying out from his hands and pointing in a particular direction.

[Something is over there,] Evangeline announced, sliding back into the stigmata tattoo.

Neraxis nodded gratefully and soon made his way to where she had mentioned.

And once he did, he found himself in front of a shed, from which he could smell the foul stench of blood and other unsightly things.

Alas, he had no choice but to open it. And as he did, a wave of skeletons began falling on top of him.

He evaded for the most part, until a certain figure caught his eye—one that still had its flesh attached to it.

Better yet, it had white hair and a single eye dangling from its eye socket, which, coincidentally, was purple in color.

Much like his own.

Neraxis took a startled step backward, nearly tripping on a branch, as he looked at the sight in horror.

What... Is that me?

[Well, do you feel dead?] Evangeline remarked, trying to liven up the situation.

And it certainly worked, as despite the circumstances, he let out a laugh.

"Ha... haha... No, I guess not." Neraxis composed himself and proceeded to drag this particular corpse out, neatly inspecting it.

On its chest, right below the heart, was a number written: 2885.

[Subject 2885, if I were to guess,] she commented, to which he nodded.

Seems like it.

However, at the same time, he couldn’t shake off a certain feeling.

Taking off his shirt, he said, Evangeline... sorry to ask, but can you check if I have a number on me too?

[...No problem,] she replied after a bit of a pause, quickly manifesting in her sword form and checking all of his upper body until she concluded.

[You look fine... but you do have a scar on the back of your shoulder—almost like a cut,] Evangeline added with a hint of worry.

But he simply shrugged it off. My oh-so-kind sister decided it was a fun idea to cook like a professional chef. Let’s just say her knife throw didn’t go as planned.

[Hahaha, seriously?] she let out a laugh and went back into his tattoo. [How old were you?]

I think around seven or eight. Can’t really remember much from that time. He put his shirt back on before proceeding to search the body again, just in case he missed anything.

However, after just a few moments, he gave up, simply tossing it back into the pile of bones.

So I am in an actual testing ground, where the corpses look identical to me. Not ominous at all, he remarked inwardly, trying to make light of the situation.

All of a sudden, he heard a pair of footsteps in the distance.

[Hide!] Evangeline’s urgent shout resounded, and soon, he jumped onto the roof of the shed and from it onto a nearby tree that just barely had enough coverage of leaves to mask him.

Neraxis’s nerves were at an all-time high. As he glanced in the direction of the footsteps, he spotted what appeared to be a man wearing fully black clothes and a black clown mask.

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Beside him, a slim girl—whose face he could not make out—was levitating just slightly off the ground, resting herself on the masked man’s shoulders.

The two walked through this desecrated place, passing by each trap door and checking its contents before moving to the next.

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Yet, for some reason, Neraxis felt as though they were heading in one particular direction: the place where he had been just a few minutes prior.

And he was correct. The moment they spotted that the trap door was broken, they increased their pace, appearing before the makeshift room.

The moment they did, the man froze, turning to the girl beside him.

"You said everything is under control?" His distorted voice rang out, yet Neraxis was surprised he could even hear it in the first place.

"Clown, I told you it’s fortified. His memories have been messed with as well—he shouldn’t have been able to escape," the girl replied, unamused, before she started tapping in the air.

Immediately, a blue status window appeared before her, and she began typing something.

Is that...? I can see it? Neraxis was puzzled but continued to watch in silence.

"Hmm..." The girl hummed with a strange look. "It seems like his data has been deleted? We might have a mole on our hands."

Just as the man heard that, he grabbed hold of the girl’s neck, his tone seething with anger.

"Aka. You seem to be misunderstanding the situation here," the man stated, tightening his grip. "If Subject 0 escapes, what do you think will become of us? Our entire plan of descending will be for naught."

"Clown, I am aware," the girl shot back, placing her hand on his, making him ease up. "I can’t find him. I have tried tracking his system binary code, and he’s not popping up anywhere."

"So you are implying someone has the same—if not greater—authority than you?" the man questioned, his tone clear with doubt.

These are the same people from the first log, Neraxis concluded, continuing to listen.

The girl named Aka shrugged before flying just above the room Neraxis had escaped from.

"I am but one of the many administrators. My authority can be contested," she said absentmindedly, before another blue status window appeared.

"The spires will emerge one day, Clown, but it will have to be delayed. It is inevitable."

As her words hung in the air, Neraxis’s eyes widened.

But before he could confirm his thoughts, a blue light suddenly began descending from above, covering every nook and cranny of the room.

Yet for some reason, the moment the blue light reached him, it suddenly bent at a weird angle, completely avoiding him as the blue light finally hit the ground.

"See?" Aka stated, turning to the man referred to as Clown. "A flat zero. Subject 0—Neraxis—is not present."

"Aka." The man took a deep breath before continuing, "Emergency lockdown protocol. Now."

Immediately, Aka nodded and proceeded to tap the system interface a couple of times until, eventually, a red glow began coming down from the sky.

The moment it came into contact with something—whether it be the artificial clouds or trees—nothing was left untouched.

That was when the man’s grim voice resounded one final time.

"Restart the project. I am not going to accept a delay."

As his words fell, Neraxis’s vision suddenly shifted, just narrowly avoiding the red glow as he found himself back in front of his house.

And in front of him was a red system notification.

[System Log 2: Finished]

Shit...