The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Excuse me," Neraxis called out, getting one of the Tiki people's attention. "Could you help me get over to a certain land? I'm a bit lost."

Evangeline, what's your kingdom called? Neraxis asked swiftly.

[Velmoria, Moria for short,] Evangeline replied.

"A distant land? What are you, a barbarian?" the Tiki person asked as they stood up.

They had weird dresses on, but despite that, their undergarments were pretty fancy, with designer pants, shirts, and even shoes.

Almost as if the Tiki name was just some historical thing they clung to while trying out new tech stuff.

Neraxis couldn't understand it, nor did he try to.

"I'm not a barbarian, just a traveler," Neraxis shrugged. "Do you happen to know the way to Velmoria?"

The moment his words fell, the Tiki people froze as they all turned to him in unison.

"What did you say?" The person he was talking with earlier stood up, glaring menacingly. "Velmoria? That kingdom has long since disappeared due to the treacherous acts they committed."

"Such as?" Neraxis asked. "Sorry, I've never been to this part of the world before, so I don't know much about it."

"It's fine," the Tiki person said as he waved the other clansmen back, then turned his gaze to Neraxis.

"They had a tyrant ruler a few years back. Some people rebelled against her tyranny, killed her, burned her body, and of course, continued ruling over Velmoria."

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

"The catch is simple..." the Tiki person trailed off. "As it so happened, the tyrant ruler didn't die peacefully, neither was she incinerated. Instead, a strong miasma began spreading from the kingdom of Velmoria, infecting all nearby people with an incurable plague."

"So wait... that plague still isn't over?" Neraxis asked with widened eyes.

The Tiki person shook his head. "It is spreading, and everyone infected spreads it further. People are stupid and selfish, whereas we try our best to simply survive to see tomorrow."

Alright, I don't give a shit about that though, Neraxis let out a sigh.

He had gained some valuable information.

However, from Evangeline's silence, he assumed that whatever happened wasn't her doing.

"Thank you for the information," Neraxis expressed before turning around.

Just as he was about to head to Velmoria, someone grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Now wait just a moment—we need to have a little chat," the Tiki person said, a wide smile on his face.

[Oh right...] Evangeline muttered. [I had forgotten, but they are cannibals.]

Evangeline... Neraxis sighed as he twisted his body around and performed a light kick at the person holding him.

But to his surprise, the person exploded into bits, and in the very next instant, a golden spark appeared on the ground before expanding.

Neraxis didn't know what it was, but he immediately picked it up and threw it high into the sky—where, after flying several kilometers upward, it finally exploded.

The moment it did, golden shards of light rained down, piercing the ground beside him and spreading into smaller fragments that homed in on the remaining Tiki people.

He could feel a slight connection with the fragments, so he tried to stray them away from the people—but a few still managed to die.

[21x (B+ Ranked Human) Slain! Reward: Stigmata 0% → 0%]

[12x (A Ranked Human) Slain! Reward: Stigmata 0% → 0%]

[1x (S- Ranked Human) Slain! Reward: Stigmata 0% → 0.01%]

Whoops.

Neraxis wanted to simply kick the person gently, then run away.

But of course, he underestimated his own strength—especially the effects of his new bloodline.

The golden spark was none other than a miniature solar flare, and of course, he had to work on how to control it.

Otherwise... it's just an uncontrollable bomb.

Nonetheless, Neraxis didn't stick around, as he merely shot up into the sky and began flying East.

In the meantime, he wanted to have a little chat with Evangeline.

So, do you have any idea on what it could be? The plague, I mean.

[Yep...] Evangeline sighed. [You see, my body was special simply because I was a vampire progenitor. I should be immortal to an extent—unless I am burned. They probably failed to burn me, and instead separated my consciousness into my sword before leaving my body in the ground.]

So that would've happened around the same time I came back then... Neraxis thought.

It would make sense.

A talking sword, which just so happened to be an empress, and now his future wife.

Definitely not a normal coincidence.

But then the question of how she ended up in his world came about.

Lagus, The Eternal Sin, managed to destroy the tower and order it to not repair itself—so maybe there was some kind of crack in time and space.

I have no clue... Neraxis shrugged. Anyways, Evangeline. Do you feel anything? A connection maybe?

[A connection... Kind of? It's hard to tell. We're still hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Velmoria, so I can't really tell,] Evangeline replied. [What I can tell you, however, is—]

Her words cut off, and Neraxis halted.

Why?

There was a little something in the air, and that certain something weighed him down heavily.

It was odorless, but despite that, Neraxis could feel his skin melting, turning black.

However, that was where his healing factor kicked in, restoring his skin and everything else.

[So that's the miasma that spreads the plague,] Evangeline remarked. [It's gotten very far now. I'm honestly surprised.]

Neraxis nodded as he took a look around.

Every single second, it moved a couple of centimeters, which might not seem like a lot, but since there was no way of stopping it, then it was incredibly deadly.

Therefore, he decided to speed things up a little.

Neraxis used his evolved perk, {Primordial Presence: Singularity}, and in the very next moment, three pairs of wings appeared on his back.

The top-most ones were black—made from Destruction. The middle was the familiar Frost, and lastly, the bottom-most wings, emanating incredible heat, were made from Solar mana.

It burned everything around him—even the miasma wasn't spared.

Nonetheless, Neraxis glanced East as a determined look appeared on his face.

I'll find you before the day ends...