The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

Neraxis strolled through the perfectly maintained garden, and eventually arrived in front of a small house.

Even if it was small, he remembered it being very cozy.

After all, this was where he was born and raised at some point long ago.

He's inside, Neraxis thought with a hum as he pushed the door open.

Lo and behold, a nearly identical replica to Neraxis himself.

It was Lagus, with his white hair and purple eyes, yet he seemed much older than he remembered.

"I guess even beings like you age," Neraxis remarked, taking a few steps closer. "Were you waiting for me?"

The fireplace at the far end of the house flickered, and that was when Lagus finally turned his head in Neraxis's direction.

"You've come slightly earlier than I expected," Lagus remarked with a chuckle. "According to my visions of the future, you should've shown up with your children to face me."

Neraxis raised a brow. "Doesn't sound like me. I would never put my children against someone as dangerous as you."

"You'd be surprised," Lagus replied. "But I suppose you had a little chat with the administrators and became just a bit stronger."

"...Indeed," Neraxis replied dryly as he approached Lagus and sat across from him.

In front of them was the family table.

It had a small dent in the very middle from when Neraxis had accidentally fallen from the chandelier.

He was pretty hurt back then, but since his mother was pretty proficient in healing magic, she fixed him up right away.

These were warm memories would feel much warmer if he wasn't sitting in front of a psychopath.

Still, they didn't get to fighting right away.

Instead, Neraxis reached for the bread on the table, then picked up some butter.

He spread it on the bread and took a bite.

It's not that bad... Neraxis thought with a faint smile. "So how is it? Living forever, I mean."

A moment of silence ensued as the wind from the outside blew in through the window, causing the flowers to flutter.

"It's... not what I imagined," Lagus replied nonchalantly. "I didn't know what I wanted eons ago, and I still don't have the faintest clue. I want to kill, but killing you right away seems like a mercy."

He put a piece of bread in his mouth, chomping down on it.

"I could wait for your children to grow up, then take them all away from you. That'd give me more satisfaction, I believe."

Neraxis didn't even budge at that horrific comment.

"Why not strive for something less dark? Maybe something along the lines of becoming a grandpa?"

"Pfft..." Lagus nearly choked on his bread. "If I had the capacity to feel compassion, or any other emotion for that matter, then I might consider."

He met his gaze.

"But you're starting to turn out just like me. What's the saying again? Like father, like son?" Lagus chuckled. "Rid of emotions, rid of the shackles that hold us to our mortal shells."

With those words, Lagus downed the rest of the bread, then narrowed his eyes.

"You know... I'm nearly an all-powerful god, but there's one thing that's missing. An attachment to the past, you could call it."

Neraxis tilted his head. "From your actions, I didn't get the idea that you're that attached to me."

"Have you heard of tough love?" Lagus muttered. "I suppose even if I don't feel such a feeble thing as love, the sheer thought in my mind that you're my son is holding me back. That is why I need to kill you once and for all."

"That what was with all those body possessions?" Neraxis asked. "You took over my body millions of times, and for what?"

"I was testing out a shortcut," Lagus replied, clearing his throat. "What if I took the body of the person who has emotions. Could I better understand them? Maybe I could see what makes them so... annoying."

He let out a sigh. "But after countless attempts, I could never truly take over your body. That also meant I couldn't exactly tap into those emotions I was looking for since the person I became after I took over your body was myself."

"But..." A faint smile appeared on his face. "I suppose you've heard of the guardian position, right? It was meant to help me assimilate with you better. But alas, there's no longer a point."

Neraxis shrugged. "I've become pretty strong myself."

"Have you now?" Lagus raised a brow. "You've reached the level of strength I've been on for eons. Do you think you'd stand a candle to me if we were to fight?"

"What's with the hypotheticals?" Neraxis stood up, sharpening his gaze. "You're speaking as if I hadn't come here to fight."

"Pfft... seriously?" Lagus chuckled. "You've actually come here to die? And here I thought you were only paying a visit to your late mother, who you had so gruesomely killed."

A grin appeared on Lagus's face.

"I can remember the amount of blood that pooled from her neck as she was dying beneath your feet," he said, his grin widening. "N-Neraxis... baby, please. H-Hold my wound... my magic is escaping..."

Lagus dramatically dropped down to the ground, sticking out his tongue.

Then a moment later, he got back up, his playfulness as present as always.

"Oh well. If you had helped her, she might've still been alive. But I don't blame you, I really don't. It was the perfect moment for you to realize the consequences of your actions," Lagus commented. "And acting them out firsthand made you a better person—or at least, a person who turned out slightly better than I did."

With those words, Lagus took a step closer, then another.

He looked down at Neraxis, yet he wasn't channeling any mana.

He didn't need to.

After all, just his mere presence alone was enough to distort space-time itself.

But the same went for Neraxis, who also mastered the powers of time throughout the course of all those years.

So with his gaze locked onto Lagus, he finally spoke.

"Let's have a little spar, shall we?"