The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Hmm?" Neraxis tilted his head, staring at the trillions of lives he had created inside his Void realm.

They had a consciousness, and their appearance resembled humans.

After a few million years, he finally managed to create actual life, with their own ego and more.

And all it took was time, simple enough, considering how much time he truly had.

He leaned back on his chair, swiping his hand to another universe he had made.

And when he was done checking that one, he moved on to the next, then another.

Finally, once he was done checking over 100 universes, he felt like he was done.

And yet, it seemed like only a fraction of the time had passed, with the exit being nowhere in sight.

Truthfully?

He could open up the Void and slip out of this realm, but when an opportunity like this presented itself, it would be rude not to use it.

And by use it, Neraxis was truly going to use it.

He took a deep breath, spreading the Void's influence in the white space around him.

Then, with a single pull, he absorbed the space, leaving him in a pitch-black nothingness.

<Looks good to me,> Raguel remarked. <Want a skill for that?>

Neraxis shook his head.

"A tooltip is fine. I don't need all those unnecessary details."

<Very well... one second...>

A few minutes passed, and finally, the pop-up he had requested appeared.

<Ding!>

<You've successfully mastered the Concept of Time!>

<Skill: God of Time (Null) has been created!>

Name: Neraxis Valen

Age: 1,938 → 9,323,993

Bloodline: The Progenitor Solarian Vampire {Mythic}

Affinity: Abyssal Solarity [Mythic]

Universe Cores: 129

—Perks:

[Primordial Presence] (Mastered)

[Unyielding Vitality] (Mastered)

—Stats:

Rank: Celestial- → Origin

Strength: Transcendent → Origin

Agility: Transcendent → Origin

Stamina: Celestial- → Origin

Intelligence: Primordial- → Null-

Mana Capacity: Celestial+ → Origin+

—Secondary Stats:

Luck: D- → ???

Charm: Mythic+ → Null+

—Skills:

[Ancient Sun Vampirism (SSS+)]*

[Manifestation of the Sun (SSS)]*

[Vampiric Dominance (Mythic)]

[Universal Diffusion (Saint)]

[Stellar Dominion (A)]

[Minor Reflect (D)]

[Aegis of Eternity (C)]

—God Skill Tree:

Void Manipulation (Null)

God of Time (Null)

God of Space (Null)

God of Death (Null)

Lesser God of Fate (Origin)

—Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (12/12)

Ancient Aura Circulation (Origin)

Reality Erasure Slash (Eternal)

Temporal Vertical Slash (Primordial)

Abyssal Calamity Stance (Primordial)

Abyssal Calamity Footwork + Swordsmanship (Primordial)

Echoing Slash (Celestial)

Void Step (Celestial)

World Severing Slash (Celestial)

Stupid Vertical Slash (Transcendent)

Mastered Horizontal Slash (Saint)

Mastered Stab (Saint)

Mastered Illusion Slash (Saint)

+-----+

<Damn... you're for sure fucking old, aren't you?> Raguel noted. <Do you want a 'thank you grandpa' gift card for your next birthday?>

"Quiet down," Neraxis replied with a chuckle.

If not for Raguel chirping in his ear, he would have gone crazy millions of years ago.

All that time passing... it really made him miss the daily life he used to have.

Wake up, go to the academy, laze around, not do anything, and then come back to a loving family.

That was the ideal life he had for less than a week until things turned south.

And the only one he could blame was himself.

If he hadn't been the person he was, then he could've maybe enjoyed life better.

If he was born regularly, not between literal gods, then maybe, just maybe, he could've achieved something greater.

But now, the only emotions that remained in him were love for Evangeline and his family.

He remembered their faces, he even made replicas of them in his universes.

But when he tried to reach out and talk with them, he realized he could truly never replicate their actual selves.

Aside from that, his mind was practically empty.

There were fragments of Celina, Aurelia, a few others.

Zaria was the most prominent as well.

However, he didn't feel the same spark that he used to.

He had grown tired of it all, this world, what it made him become.

And now the only thing that he wanted to do was end it all.

Neraxis's gaze hardened as he closed his eyes, preparing to form another universe.

And just like that, a couple more million years passed, then a little more.

That was when he saw his final improvement.

Name: Neraxis Valen

Age: 9,323,993 → 15,992,004

Bloodline: The Progenitor Solarian Vampire {Mythic}

Affinity: Abyssal Solarity [Mythic]

Universe Cores: 129 → 153

—Perks:

[Primordial Presence] (Mastered)

[Unyielding Vitality] (Mastered)

—Stats:

Rank: Origin → Origin+

Strength: Origin → Origin+

Agility: Origin→ Origin+

Stamina: Origin → Origin+

Intelligence: Null-

Mana Capacity: Origin+

He was a bit surprised that despite all that his Abyssal Solarity affinity managed to accomplish, it still hadn't gone up in rank.

But it was most likely not necessary.

Every stat aside from Intelligence was the highest he could get it.

Sure, he could spend another couple hundred million years in here and hope for the stat to go up, but it felt like he had hit his limit.

From here on, there was no growing stronger.

He was not some systematic being, not anymore.

In the same way he didn't want to be chained by some worldly laws like the Akashic Records.

He just wanted to be himself.

With those thoughts, Neraxis raised a hand and gently ripped the space open.

The pitch-black nothingness was still present, but it only lasted for a few moments as Neraxis soon snapped his fingers, causing a loud crack to resound in the air.

Following that sound, cracks actually began forming in the pitch-black void as it shattered completely, revealing a familiar sight.

Four beings sat on thrones, glancing at him with puzzled looks.

They were the administrators, and once they realized how powerful he had become, they stood up, approaching him.

"You've... how long have you been in there?" Weaver asked, shocked.

"Around 16 million years," Neraxis replied flatly and narrowed his eyes, deciding to get straight to the point.

"Where's Lagus?"

"Don't get hasty, you're not ready yet," Crimson chimed in.

But instead of letting him finish, Neraxis raised his arm again, freezing the time around him.

Only he remained unfrozen, yet the administrators, with the exception of Crimson, were frozen.

The only reason he wasn't frozen was because he dabbled in time himself.

And when he realized what Neraxis had done, he let out a sigh.

"It seems like I was mistaken..."

Neraxis nodded emotionlessly.

"You were. So let's get down to business, shall we?"