I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space

Chapter 309: To The Portal

A-Ranked Portal The Land of Ice

The moment they stepped through the portal, the cold hit them like a living thing.

A vast white world stretched endlessly in every direction. Snow blanketed the land in uneven layers some thin and wind-swept, others piled thick and heavy, as though the earth itself had been buried under repeated storms. Jagged ice formations rose from the ground like frozen spears, their surfaces reflecting pale light back into the sky. The air was sharp, biting, carrying a silence so deep it felt unnatural.

Nova’s boots sank slightly into the snow as she took a few slow steps forward. Her eyes moved constantly, scanning the terrain not just with sight, but with senses far deeper than vision.

”This place has seen a fight,” she said calmly.

She stood at the very edge of a massive crater carved into the frozen ground. The snow around it had been blasted away, exposing fractured ice and scorched earth beneath. And even a sword slash meters wide cut through the land in a straight line, tearing the terrain open as if the world itself had been split apart.

”The snow is shallow here,” Nova continued, crouching slightly and brushing her fingers across the ground. ”It hasn’t had time to settle. Whatever happened... it wasn’t long ago.”

Arabella closed her eyes.

In an instant, her presence expanded vast, overwhelming, sovereign. Invisible waves of power rolled outward from her body, sweeping across the frozen world. The land responded to her will, every living and non-living thing laid bare under her perception. Monster’s, beasts, lingering mana trails everything within range revealed itself.

Her brow furrowed.

”I can’t sense her,” Arabella said slowly, disbelief creeping into her voice. ”Not within twenty thousand kilometers that is.”

She opened her eyes, crimson gaze sharp and focused.

”But If Nancy entered this portal yesterday, she shouldn’t be able to reach that distance. Not in this time frame which is definitely not possible with her strength.”

There was nothing.

No aura.

No presence.

Not even the faintest echo.

It was as if Nancy had never been here at all.

Areon stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the massive sword mark tearing through the land. His expression tightened.

”But this is her sword style,” he said. ”I recognize it.”

He walked closer to the slash, crouching beside it. His fingers traced the edges of the damage, feeling the familiar flow of power embedded in the strike.

”I remember teaching her this sword slash,” he said quietly. ”Breath of the Ancients... fourth form.”

”Sky Talon Drop.”

The name hung heavily in the frozen air.

A moment later, Areon leapt down into the crater. Snow scattered beneath his boots as he landed. His eyes scanned the broken ground until something caught his attention.

”This”

He bent down and picked it up.

A sword handle.

Only the hilt remained. The blade itself was gone shattered beyond recovery. Cracks ran through the metal, the remnants still faintly warm with lingering mana.

Areon’s fingers tightened around it.

”This is her sword,” he said firmly. ”She was definitely here.”

Arabella’s frown deepened.

”But she isn’t now,” she said. ”And that’s the problem.”

Her gaze swept the landscape again, searching for any anomaly, any distortion. Nothing.

”She doesn’t have the strength to travel that far in a single day,” Arabella continued, frustration seeping into her voice. ”Not even close.”

”Then maybe...” Areon hesitated. ”Maybe she left the portal after the fight?”

But nova shook her head immediately.

”No. She didn’t.”

Nova straightened from the crater’s edge, her eyes narrowing.

”Intelligence reports confirm it,” she said. ”She was seen entering this portal but never exiting it.”

She paused, then added, ”Wait here.”

Before either of them could respond, Nova vanished.

Not teleported.

Not displaced just blinding speed.

The air where she’d stood rippled faintly, then settled.

Arabella and Areon were left alone in the vast frozen silence.

Areon broke it first.

”Did Nancy try to contact you?” he asked, concern threading into his voice despite his effort to stay composed.

Arabella shook her head slowly.

”No.”

She brought her hand up, biting lightly against her finger an unconscious habit when she was thinking too hard, worrying too much.

”Something’s wrong,” she muttered. ”If she could have contacted me... she would have.”

Her eyes darkened as a familiar face surfaced in her mind.

White hair.. white eyes boy.

Riven.

”He said her fate was inevitable,” Arabella said under her breath. ”That it had to happen.”

Her worry sharpened into something far more dangerous fear.

”Is he playing games with her?” she whispered. ”Is this his doing?”

The thought of something happening to her daughter sent a sharp spike of agitation through her chest. Her power stirred unconsciously, the air around her heating slightly despite the freezing world.

Areon clenched his jaw.

”She might already be injured.. She definitely pushed herself to bring this much power out as looking from the marks left behind,” he said. ”And if she really pushed herself that much... there would surely be backlash. Severe backlash.”

Before Arabella could respond

”Nancy is still here.”

Nova reappeared in a flash.

This time, she wasn’t alone.

In her grasp was a man.

A large, heavily built figure clad entirely in black metallic armor. His skin what little was visible had the same unnatural sheen, like polished obsidian. His body hung limply, dazed, unresponsive.

Nova held him by the head, her fingers gripping his skull as if it weighed nothing.

Her palm glowed faintly purple.

Mental energy.

Using some metal abilities of her Obviously

”I’ve read his memories,” Nova said calmly. Her voice was even, controlled but there was a sharpness beneath it, a dangerous clarity.

”He’s the same one who helped Ranguard attempt to rape your daughter.”

The words landed like a blade.

”Well,” Nova continued, unfazed, ”There’s one interesting thing. He was killed by razeal.”

She tightened her grip slightly. The man twitched, a low, broken sound escaping his throat.

”But somehow,” Nova went on, ”he revived yesterday right after Nancy entered this portal.”

Arabella’s pupils constricted.

”He fought her in that moment but she was unable to escape him due to this man ability,” Nova said. ”Well good thing she’s safe she escaped when was unable to defeat him. Maybe hid herself somewhere in forest. He continued pursuing her afterward, even though there was no logical reason to do so.”

Nova’s eyes narrowed, focusing inward as she recalled what she’d seen.

”There’s an alteration in his mind,” she said slowly. ”A forced directive. Someone planted the thought.. the compulsion to chase and rape Nancy. It appeared immediately after his resurrection.”

She lifted her gaze, meeting Arabella’s eyes directly.

”This isn’t a coincidence. Someone is targeting your daughter.”

Silence.

Nova continued, methodical, relentless.

”And whoever it is... they can bring the dead back to life.”

She paused, letting that sink in.

”That might also explain why you can’t sense her presence,” Nova added. ”And why she’s unable to contact anyone.”

Her conclusion was simple. Terrifying.

”Someone is interfering directly.”

The air exploded.

A surge of killing intent erupted from Areon without warning, raw and violent. His aura flared instinctively, power bursting from his body like a storm breaking its restraints. The temperature around him spiked instantly snow within several meters evaporated into steam, hissing violently as it vanished.

His eyes locked onto the man in Nova’s grasp.

”He...?” Areon’s voice shook, thick with rage. ”He tried to..”

His hand flew to the hilt of his sword, fingers trembling as power coursed through his veins. Every instinct screamed at him to move. To cut. To erase the thing daring to exist after even thinking of his sister.

But he didn’t move.

He forced himself still, jaw clenched so tightly his teeth ached. Information mattered more than vengeance. Nancy mattered more than bloodlust.

Still, the killing intent poured off him in waves, uncontrollable, violent, the mark of a dragon barely holding back its fury.

Nova didn’t even glance his way.

Neither did Arabella.

To them, Areon’s outburst was background noise irrelevant compared to what they were facing.

Arabella’s expression shifted, something dark flickering behind her eyes.

”It must be him,” she said suddenly. Her voice was low and contemplating.

Nova’s gaze snapped to her. ”Who?”

”The white-haired white eye boy,” Arabella said.

Her draconic aura began to leak unconsciously, thick and oppressive, warping the air around her. Power pressed outward, the sovereign presence of a true apex being revealing itself.

”I met him some days ago,” Arabella continued. ”He called himself a Preserver. One of the three Supreme Gods.”

Nova’s expression hardened.

”He said it was Nancy’s destiny,” Arabella said flatly. ”To be raped. And to die.”

The words were spoken without embellishment but the fury beneath them shook the ground.

Nova’s eyes darkened.

”A god,” she repeated, her voice edged with contempt. ”And he said that.”

She turned fully toward Arabella now, her stare sharp, openly judgmental.

”And you still let him live?”

Arabella’s jaw tightened.

”What do you think?” she snapped. ”I tried to kill him..”

Her hands clenched at her sides.

”But wasn’t able to.. Honestly I couldn’t even move.”

That gave Nova pause.

”He overpowered me completely,” Arabella said. ”Effortlessly.”

For the first time since arriving, Nova’s composure crackedbjust slightly.

Arabella was not weak.

Nova didn’t like her. Didn’t respect her behavior. Despised her shitty personality and bad manners.

But still ber strength? That was unquestionable.

Someone capable of overpowering Arabella was not something that should exist so casually.

”This is alarming,” Nova said quietly. Her mind was already racing, connecting threads, mapping possibilities. ”Someone like that appearing out of nowhere... this changes everything.”

She looked back at Arabella.

”What did he want from you?” Nova asked. ”Someone like that wouldn’t spare you without reason. And why haven’t you called a duke council meeting? Or informed the Empress?”

Her tone sharpened.

”This is a Continental-level threat. From his actions alone, he’s an enemy.”

Arabella exhaled slowly.

”He said he wanted me to guide my daughter,” she replied. ”To accept her destiny. To stop running from it. Well be didn’t look harmful to me since someone as powerful him wasn’t openly showing any hostility towards her.. Well he letted nancy slap him on face so i missunderstood thinking he might not be.. well..”

Her eyes hardened.

”He called himself the Keeper of Cosmic Balance. A guide.”

Nova scoffed softly, disgust evident.

”And you believed him?”

”No,” Arabella said immediately. ”But I understood him.”

She looked away, gaze distant.

”As for telling the council... I didn’t.”

Nova studied her closely. ”Why?”

Arabella’s silence stretched.

”I had my reasons,” she said at last.

The tension between them was thick enough to cut.

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