The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 338: Yeti

"Help you? You know... the two of us don't exactly like liars very much," Evangeline replied with a frown. "But let's get back to the real question now. What's the reason you weren't able to reach the temple even after all this time?"

Jane stared at her for a few moments before letting out an exhausted sigh.

"You see... every time we arrive at the temple, we're thrown back out. It's almost as if there's a key we're missing... I just could never find it, you know?" Jane said plainly. "But maybe with you two... I'd be able to do it?"

"What do you mean by 'thrown out'?" Neraxis asked. "Were you teleported out, or could you just not enter the temple because of some barrier?"

Of course, he was a bit puzzled that he didn't catch onto her lie earlier. But that was likely because his truth-detecting eyes only worked every now and again.

But this is a bit dangerous...

"There's a barrier, and we don't know what awaits us once we cross it," Jane replied. "There's a powerful presence inside. However, no matter what type of magic I brought, or what kind of skills the other expeditioners used, we always came out empty."

"So you're just basically unprepared. And how many times did you say this has happened? Over 80,000?" Evangeline commented, facepalming. "I don't know what you expected, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

Jane looked down and clenched her fists. "I know... but there's nothing I can do about it. I tried a different approach thousands of times, but it never seemed to work. Even the forest earlier—I once took the path forward instead of backward. The outcome was even more disastrous than the previous times."

She cleared her throat and continued. "I think it was expedition 66,539 or 66,538. I forgot. But they were the ones with the highest number of people participating. So we went into the forest, and I had them take the forward path."

She fell silent, but Evangeline broke it a moment later.

"And then what? They all died?"

"Mhm." Jane slowly nodded. "I couldn't find them. We were all separated in that path, and even after searching for weeks, I wasn't able to find them. Basically... that was the only path I thought could make a difference, but it only brought despair."

"So you were only able to escape because of your teleportation, right?" Neraxis asked.

"Yes. I developed this power during that expedition," Jane replied. "I escaped using it. A few weeks later, I came back by myself and tried clearing the Chasm. But I was a bit too weak... I might look strong, but my mana pool is very poor. In fact, the stronger I get, the less mana I can wield. By now... one revival spell is enough to take me out, and three teleportation spells are enough to put me in a coma."

Hearing that, Neraxis could only let out an exhausted sigh. But just as he was about to speak up, Evangeline interjected.

"We'll help you for the sole purpose of surviving. After all, we did get pretty far already. It would be a shame to stop here."

Really?

[Nope. I just want to see what kind of barrier she's talking about since she's clearly doing the question,] Evangeline replied inside his mind. [Plus, I have a feeling whatever's at the temple is not going to welcome us.]

Neraxis rolled his eyes. Yeah. It would be strange if the Sovereign of Pride welcomed us.

Despite that, Neraxis stepped up and patted Jane on the shoulder.

"We'll help. Take us to the next part," Neraxis stated before slightly furrowing his brows. "And be transparent with us next time, okay? Especially the part about us meeting nearly two centuries ago. In my world, only a bit over a year has passed."

"I see... my bad," Jane replied and walked past them. "Let's go now. We don't have much time to waste."

[So now we're wasting time, huh?] Evangeline remarked. [She really is a bundle of bad luck. For all we know, we're about to walk into some masochist camp filled with monsters.]

Why'd you add the masochist?

[No reason. Just thought it'd tell you how much more pissed off I am,] Evangeline replied with a giggle.

Neraxis let out a sigh, and with that, began trailing Jane.

The path across the mountain range wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be. After all, aside from the three dire wolves they killed at the start, no one else came after them. It seemed fair, but at the same time, oddly ominous.

But he knew better than anyone that there was probably some sort of monster waiting for them near the end of this area.

And, after several hours of travel, they finally halted.

In front of them was a giant red yeti monster who was riddled with scars. It was currently feasting on some sort of animal. Yet after just a few more moments, it turned around, meeting Neraxis's eyes.

He didn't waste even a second and inspected the giant thing.

—Abyss Yeti (Level 175) [Boss]

Yet again, he was met with an annoying situation. The monster in front of him was strong—nearly twice his level. And it even gave off this slight feeling of dread that Neraxis was only used to seeing in the most powerful of enemies.

I haven't felt this feeling since my last life... huh... I guess this might be a worthwhile opponent.

"Oi, Yeti!" Evangeline yelled, startling Neraxis. "What do you say to becoming a blood bag? Eh? What about you, Bubub? Do you wanna feast?"

The demon king slime on Neraxis's forehead suddenly began jumping up and down, almost as if it was excited.

"Great!" Evangeline let out a hearty laugh before turning back to the yeti. "Now then... I guess now's as good of a time as any to find out if Yeti meat is edible."

With those words, she dashed forward, leaving the stunned Neraxis behind.

She's... a bit hungry, isn't she?