The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

It took a bit, but Jane finally finished her mental breakdown.

She sat down to rest and began explaining the plan to them.

"Listen... The key I mentioned was a certain mana signature. It's almost like someone inside was looking for something, but couldn't find them. So it never opened the door of the temple to us."

"So after so many years, you try the same thing again? Uhh... are you sure you didn't hit your head one of those times?" Evangeline asked. "Because if I tried the same thing and got the same results for 150 years straight, then I'd have to get my brain checked."

"No, I had the key all this time," Jane replied flatly, pointing to herself. "I'm the key."

"...?" Neraxis tilted his head. "So what's the problem then?"

Evangeline pointed to herself. "I'm Evangeline."

"Evangeline, cut it out already," Neraxis scolded, turning back to Jane. "Why didn't you use it then? Or yourself, I mean... Didn't you say you got here multiple times?"

"I did." Jane nodded slowly. "But not once did I feel like I could pass whatever is on the other side. But now... I feel like we can... even if there are only the two of you."

[Are you buying it?] Evangeline asked. [Because I'm not. Hundreds of thousands of people died during her expeditions, and what... she doesn't feel it? Bruh.]

Despite what it might sound like, she wasn't like that time, Neraxis replied.

"Are you rested?" Neraxis asked. "Or do you need more time to recover your mana?"

"Neraxis, it's been 4 minutes. Most people take days to fully recover their mana. They're not like you, who can do it in a few minutes," Evangeline remarked with a sigh. "Anyhow... wanna check out the temple?"

"But my mana...?" Jane muttered.

Evangeline brushed it off. "It's fine. As it stands, Neraxis and I can synergize pretty well, so we can deal with whatever's inside. All you have to do is stand behind us., okay?"

"It's reckless... what are you aiming for exactly?" Jane asked.

"Nothing much, it's just that delaying the inevitable won't really change the outcome. Right, Neraxis?" Evangeline replied.

He nodded. "There's an individual inside, and he's pretty strong. It doesn't matter whether you have full mana or not. If he wanted to, he could likely kill us all."

Jane flinched and slowly stood from the ground, her knees shaking from fatigue.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"A Sovereign, though I doubt you'd know him," Neraxis replied. "The Sovereign of Pride. I don't know much about him myself, to be honest, but I was warned that he's very dangerous."

It was strange, though. He had so many memories, but none of them consisted of the other Sovereigns. Almost as if they weren't exactly important.

But that couldn't be. They were the people who experimented on his former selves, killed his parents, his sister. They even went ahead and killed his friends.

And yet, those same people were deemed not worthy of even a single memory?

Something doesn't seem right... Neraxis frowned.

Despite that, Jane's answer was quite surprising.

"The Sovereign of Pride? Are you talking about the one with the blue dragon mask? I've heard of him. He's a hero among heroes in our world... is it different where you're from?" Jane asked skeptically.

"A hero?" Evangeline whistled. "He's the furthest one could be from a hero. But maybe your definition of hero is different."

"He's done a lot of evil to me, Jane," Neraxis replied. "So let me ask you this... is there going to be a problem? Do you have any attachments to that hero?"

"Oh god, no." Jane shook her head and began slowly walking toward the temple. "In fact, I hate all the heroes from the myths. They're lousy scumbags who fake drastic events."

Just as he was about to reply, she continued. "There's a hero that goes by the name of Sovereign of Wrath. He's the worst of them all, in my opinion..."

Neraxis tilted his head. "Why?"

She scoffed. "There was once a great war between two neighboring countries. Many casualties, all of that. And yet, there was one person in the middle who acted as the hero. Wrath."

Jane took a deep breath and continued. "He established a treaty between the two, but for some reason, that treaty lasted no more than a day. From then on, the leaders of both sides began dying out of nowhere."

A silence hung in the air, and Neraxis could already assume what happened next.

But for assurance, Jane said it herself.

"The war stopped because there weren't any people left to fight. The militaries went from millions to thousands, and because of that... Wrath was deemed a hero who stopped the war. Though only a select few knew what really transpired, since the notebooks painted him as a hero who stepped in last second to save the day."

"You sound like someone who's been there personally," Neraxis pointed out, tilting his head. "Were you?"

Her eyes met his, and she slowly nodded. "I was there... I was the healer. This was around 17 years after you left, by the way."

"I see..." Neraxis muttered. "I guess they are the same no matter where they go."

"You got that right." Evangeline giggled and grabbed him by the clothes, stopping him in place.

And thankfully she did, because while he wasn't paying attention, he nearly slammed into the temple door.

He was so out of focus that he missed this colossal building.

"As much as I would have loved to tease you about that, I need you in tip-top shape," Evangeline said softly. "Anyhow, Jane. What now? How do we open this thing?"

Since she was the key—whatever that meant—she could open it somehow.

But it was less grand than he expected, as she merely approached the massive door and placed her hand on it. In the very next moment, a loud rumbling resounded, followed by the door opening, revealing a pitch-black inside.

Jane turned back to them and flashed a small smile.

"Shall we?"