"Neraxis," Aella called out as she, alongside Aurelia, Celina, and Eris, approached. "Did something happen between you two?"
"What do you mean?" Neraxis asked, acting oblivious.
"You fought, a massive crack appeared in the ground out of nowhere, and then she suddenly forfeited," Aella said, narrowing her eyes. "Is she really coming to our academy?"
"I think so," Neraxis nodded, not trying to explain himself before turning to Eris. "Did you lose as well?"
However, Eris merely shook her head. "I didn’t fight. I was like a backup in case someone couldn’t make it. The tournament was supposed to be twenty-versus-twenty, after all."
"Hmm... I see," Neraxis replied, looking at each of the girls seriously. "It’s time to put the plan into motion."
"But you haven’t seduced her yet," Celina pointed out. "Won’t one hour be too short to torture, kill, and erase all our traces?"
"I don’t think I need to seduce Alice anymore," Neraxis said before explaining, "I went to the bathroom earlier and used one of my skills on Lar to inflict a lot of pain. Safe to say, I don’t think he’s going to stay silent during this break."
"Neraxis." Aella got his attention, showing him her phone.
It was the trackers they had put on both Alice and Lar, and each of them was straying further from the other.
Lar headed for a shop inside the arena. On the other hand, Alice seemed to have left the arena completely, heading somewhere with her friends.
"Safe route?" Celina asked. "I can separate Alice so you can chat with her, or we can simply proceed with Lar, using you as the medium."
She really sounds like some assassin when she speaks like that. Neraxis chuckled inwardly before glancing at each of the girls. "What do you all think is the best choice here?"
"It doesn’t hurt to try messing with Lar," Aella remarked.
"I-I believe you should go the safe route with Alice," Aurelia added with a stammer.
And of course, Eris: "We don’t have the time to argue about this. Let’s just go kill Lar already."
"Agreed," Celina nodded, and Neraxis let out a relieved breath.
"Majority vote, sorry, Aurelia."
She shook her head. "It’s fine... I will still help."
"Good, let’s head toward him," Neraxis prompted, and with that, he, alongside the girls, began heading toward where Lar was.
It didn’t take long to arrive, and Neraxis found Lar inside the clothing shop, all alone and looking for a new pair of shoes.
Surprisingly, the entirety of Lar’s arm looked pale, even after being fully healed. Your next chapter awaits on freewebnovel
Guess I did a lot more damage than I thought. Neraxis chuckled inwardly and explained the last-second plan.
"I’m going to head in, antagonize him, and head out to the abandoned hospital. Aella, scramble the cameras and delete the feed. Aurelia, protect Aella. Celina, you’re behind me—preferably while invisible. And lastly, Eris, high-ground support—make your way over to the abandoned building in advance."
"Sure~" Aella replied as the rest nodded.
Eris ran out, and Aella, alongside Aurelia, walked to the women’s bathroom.
As for Celina, she turned invisible and, all of a sudden, brought her hands under his shirt and embraced him.
"Celina?" He whispered, flustered.
"I don’t want him to see my shadow." She replied and hugged him tighter. "I’m not taking any chances of being caught."
"...Suit yourself." Neraxis shrugged as he began making his way over to Lar, stopping right behind him.
"Neraxis Valen. What do you think of these shoes?" Lar turned around, trying to mask his hostility.
"I’d say they are as shitty as your smug smile, Lar Hardcrest." Neraxis scoffed, looking at Lar in disgust. "It seems like your arm has healed up fine."
"No thanks to you," Lar replied in a cold tone. "I don’t feel the sensation of touch anymore. Thank you, Neraxis, truly. You broadened my horizons on how short life and ambition can be."
What bullshit is he spouting. Neraxis tilted his head. "Are you going through a midlife crisis at your age? Doesn’t seem like you."
"My age? I guess you can say that." Lar let out a chuckle before narrowing his eyes. "But you could say I’m a little older than I look, Neraxis Valen."
Despite it being a casual remark, Neraxis picked up on the possible intentions behind Lar saying that.
"Oh? What? Did you spend several years inside the fifth floor... Or maybe...?"
Maybe you came back from the past too. Neraxis’s gaze darkened. "Maybe you just read too many comics."
"Maybe I do," Lar replied with a shrug. "Maybe I don’t. What matters is that you are in my face, Neraxis Valen, and I wish to have some peace and privacy before the upcoming match."
"It looks like you need a retainer for menial stuff like clothes shopping. Where is Jeremy? You know, the red-haired kid?" Neraxis asked plainly.
However, this question was more of a test—to gauge whether Lar was foolish enough to reveal his past ties.
After all, there was only one red-haired kid named Jeremy, and that was the hero wielding the shield as well as Lar’s future butler.
"Him? He’s a good prospect of the A-class. Not quite up to my level yet, but he seems promising," Lar replied and walked past Neraxis, approaching the receptionist and placing down a pair of old-looking shoes.
So he’s in Skryder Academy as well. A lot of unforeseen variables indeed. Neraxis nodded to himself.
Even though Neraxis hadn’t cleared his suspicions, it seemed like his plans needed to be revised.
Since on the off chance that Lar remembered the past, there was an equally high chance that Alice did too.
Clearly not Bale, but the two he had the most complaints about were Alice and Lar.
Therefore, Neraxis walked up to Lar and patted him on the shoulder, making him flinch.
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"You did it again," Lar remarked with a groan.
Neraxis didn’t bother to answer Lar as he began walking away. "See you later, Lar Hardcrest."
The {Aura of the Abyss} mark he left on Lar’s body was many times weaker than what he had done earlier since he was practically out of mana.
But despite that, it was enough to piss him off greatly.
As Neraxis left the clothing shop, he approached a nearby wall and leaned on it before sending a text in the group chat.
<Neraxis: Change to plan B. He’s a bit different than I remember, so for now, come back everyone.>
The moment his message was sent, the group chat blew up.
<Eris: Huh? Motherfucker, I just got here!>
<Aella: Neraxis... You know at this rate we won’t be able to kill him.>
<Aurelia: Safe option?>
"Are you calling it off?" Celina whispered, still clinging tightly onto him.
"Temporarily. I need more information. I will go see Alice instead." Neraxis replied.
"Should I inject her with an aphrodisiac?" Celina asked, making him flinch.
"I’m not going to fuck her, Celina," he stated in a firm tone. "I won’t be trying to seduce her either. Instead, I want to find out if she knows as much as Lar does."
As he finished his words, Neraxis sent one more text in the group chat.
<Neraxis: I’m heading over to where Alice is. I want you all to be on standby. I don’t think I’ll be needing you for this encounter.>
Putting the phone back in his dimensional ring, Neraxis let out a sigh.
"Celina, you can let go now."
"You sure?" she asked, squeezing harder, her breasts pressing against his back like pillows. "I read that men like stuff like this though..."
"Celina... There’s a time and place for that. But for now, we still have things to do," he said, unfolding her arms as her invisibility faded.
"Fine..." Celina replied reluctantly. "I’ll be watching from the side."
"I’m sure you will." Neraxis chuckled and recalled the location where Alice had gone.
He was a bit reluctant to find out whether or not she truly had her memories of the past since that would greatly complicate things.
But nonetheless, in the end, neither Lar nor she would be spared.
Neraxis felt his dimensional ring vibrate, and as he took out his phone, he saw an oddly convenient message.
<Aella: Her friends left for some reason. I think you should hurry over before it’s too late.>
Just what are you thinking, Alice?