The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

There was a hole in his abdomen, and half of his guts had fallen out.

It was bad, and what was even worse was the pop-up that followed.

<Healing has been temporarily disabled!>

He tried to weave his blood and patch up the wound, but it was almost like the wound was rejecting his blood.

And as he turned to Ash, he was met with a wide smirk.

"The fact that you thought you caught me off guard with such a shallow attack is baffling," Ash chuckled. "I've blocked entire black holes collapsing onto me before. Do you think an attack that stuns is going to damage me? Much less stun me? Pfft... you're really something else, Neraxis."

Neraxis's brows furrowed further as he dashed back and tried to collect himself.

That was when Ash flicked Neraxis's shoulder, tearing off his entire arm.

Yet Neraxis didn't give up just yet as he sent out his blood threads and wrapped them around his cut-off arm.

But in the end, that was only a distraction, as Neraxis suddenly leaned in.

He bit Ash's collarbone, or tried to at least. However, he was met with a dagger that pierced straight through his throat, making him choke on his own blood.

Fuck... Neraxis's heartbeat was increasing as he realized the situation he found himself in.

No matter what kind of skill he used, it seemed like Ash was always ahead. It was almost as if he could see the future.

But so could he. Neraxis could do it just as well.

In the end, it didn't matter since he was now on the brink of death, while Ash was unscathed.

Or so he thought. However, the area where Neraxis bit seemed to have a single trickle of blood running down, and it was definitely not his own blood.

Therefore, he focused on that single bit of blood, and in the very next moment, Ash's neck began expanding at an abnormal rate.

"Oh?" Ash raised a brow. "It seems like you managed to puncture my skin. But do you think inflating me like a balloon is going to do anything?"

Despite his confident thoughts, Neraxis could feel that Ash was trying to resist his mana. But since their strength was relatively the same, he wasn't able to.

A frown began to form on Ash's face as it seemed like his neck was about to burst.

But before it did, Ash suddenly grabbed Neraxis by the neck and crushed it as hard as he could.

Neraxis's ears began ringing as his head flew into the air, then down to the ground.

<You've been severely injured...>

<Reconstructing body...>

<Process halted!>

Ha... Neraxis's vision began to fade as the pain began taking over what was left of his body.

But before he died, he wanted to at the very least take care of the person responsible.

So with the last of his strength, Neraxis proceeded to infuse all of his available mana into Ash's neck.

And as his eyes faded away, the last thing he saw was a black flame burst from Ash's neck.

Then it all went blank.

His thoughts were slowly vanishing, and what little feeling he had was starting to dissipate. Even his connection with mana was gone.

And most importantly, he couldn't feel Evangeline either.

There were many thoughts running through his mind at the moment. How he had lived his life, what he could've done differently, and most importantly...

How he could have changed this outcome.

The recipe to victory was clear: land a hit, use the blood to destroy Ash's body.

But he went for sword strikes, long-range attacks which only worked against monsters and idiots.

And Ash wasn't an idiot. He was likely the most proficient fighter in the entire universe.

Yet despite all of that, in his last dying moments, he could only think of one person.

Evangeline...

***

[Evangeline's POV]

"Huh?" Evangeline's eyes darted around the throne room.

One second she was fantasizing about Neraxis, and the next, she was standing in front of a completely ruined throne room.

The walls had crumbled to bits, revealing pieces of the outside.

It was strange how black the sun had become, just earlier, it was golden.

Yet the more she looked around the throne room, the more worried she became.

Neraxis was nowhere to be seen, only Jane, who brushed her hands across the empty throne.

"A fight happened," Jane remarked, causing Evangeline's heart to sink.

"Do you think..."

"Yes." Jane nodded. "I'm pretty sure the two of them fought. And I don't think I need to tell you which one won in the end."

N-No... Neraxis? Neraxis! Can you hear me? Evangeline shouted inside her mind, yet no response came.

And the moment she looked deeper, she felt the connection had completely vanished—almost like it never existed in the first place.

"Neraxis!" Evangeline yelled, spreading her blood around to search for him.

And after just a few seconds, she found something.

There was a fountain of blood on the ground, and it seemed to be a mix between two people.

But one thing was certain...

T-That's Neraxis's blood... Evangeline gasped as she put a trembling hand over her mouth, falling to the ground in terror.

The person she loved the most had just vanished, and she couldn't help but think that the worst had happened.

They had made plans together, and before they could go through with them, this happened.

Evangeline turned her head to the nonchalant Jane and flashed a hateful glare.

It's all her fault...

With those thoughts, Evangeline kicked off the ground, arriving behind Jane in an instant.

She stretched out a single blood claw, ready to cleave Jane's head clean off.

But once their eyes met, Evangeline froze and crashed into Jane.

The two fell onto the throne as Jane pushed Evangeline aside with a frown on her face.

"What was that for...? I actually got hurt this time," Jane sulked.

Yet the reason Evangeline stopped wasn't because she was no longer mad at Jane.

Instead...

That look in her eyes... it's familiar.