I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space Chapter 394: Sofia And Razeal

Back at Levy’s shop.

The air in the quiet room rippled as a shadow stretched across the flooring. Darkness gathered for a fleeting moment before imploding upon itself. Instantly, three individuals materialized from nothingness: Razeal, Sofia, and Maria, whose limp form Sofia held with the utmost care.

The atmosphere within the shop felt oddly tranquil compared to the turmoil they had just departed.

Razeal entered the room first. Upon placing his feet on the wooden floor, he released a slow, measured breath. Though quiet, it was heavy with the exhaustion of one who had just escaped an emotional battlefield. He raked a hand through his hair and gave a slight shake of his head, as if dislodging lingering thoughts that persisted in clinging to his psyche.

He remained silent.

He said nothing to Sofia.

He offered no words to Maria, despite her condition serving as the catalyst for their recent confrontation.

For a brief moment, he simply stood with his back to Sofia, his gaze lowered, lost in whatever echoes still resonated within his mind.

Sofia noticed, yet she chose not to interrupt him immediately.

Instead, she navigated toward the counter with swift, measured steps. Her movements were gentle now, possessing a delicacy far removed from the fierce composure she had exhibited earlier.

Leaning forward, she carefully laid Maria’s unconscious body onto the table.

Maria’s breathing was shallow but consistent.

Adjusting her posture, Sofia brushed several loose locks away from Maria’s face. Her fingers hovered near the girl’s neck as she verified her pulse once more.

Stable.

There was no immediate peril.

Satisfied, Sofia straightened up and finally directed her focus toward Razeal.

He stood motionless in the same spot.

His posture was no longer rigid, yet it lacked true relaxation.

"So... are you alright?" she inquired softly.

Her voice was poised, though her eyes scrutinized him intently.

Razeal did not provide an immediate answer.

Eventually, he offered a single nod.

"Of course," he replied.

He turned slowly to face her.

Their gazes locked.

For a split second, Sofia attempted to decipher his expression. As usual, Razeal remained stoic, though a faint shadow of melancholy lingered behind his eyes.

Sofia folded her arms across her chest.

"Well... those bitches are truly..." she started, her hands gesturing in frustration as she hunted for the correct phrasing.

Her lips curled in disdain.

"...they are just so..."

"Disgusting," Razeal finished flatly.

Sofia nodded vigorously.

"Yeah... that." She said it, though she knew that specific word didn't quite capture the depth of her contempt, yet she didn't want to embarrass him, so she settled for it.

She observed him quietly for a moment before forging ahead.

"Don’t worry," she stated, stepping closer with a confident smirk. "Eventually, I will take revenge for you."

She tilted her head to the side.

"Honestly, I would have taught them a lesson right then and there... but this place..." she sighed, gesturing vaguely around the room. "It is strange."

Her brow furrowed.

"The energy here is nothing like what I am accustomed to. My powers feel... off." She flexed her wrist, testing the flow within her body. "Everything functions differently. My control is not as sharp as I would like. I feel like a fish out of water."

She offered a small, amused smile.

"I just need time to adjust."

A glint appeared in her eyes.

"And I promise you... the next time I cross paths with them, I will absolutely destroy them."

Despite the violent sentiment, Sofia’s tone remained light, almost playful. She was clearly trying to settle the mood. She had watched Razeal nearly lose his grip on himself earlier; anyone subjected to such raw, long-held trauma would still be fragile. She was simply trying to anchor him.

However, Razeal did not react to her overture.

He merely watched her.

In total silence.

His gaze lingered on her face longer than standard social norms dictated.

Finally, he spoke.

"Forget about them."

Sofia blinked.

"Can I ask you something?" he requested.

Her curiosity piqued instantly.

Nodding without hesitation, she tilted her head.

"Sure," she said. "What is it?"

Razeal kept his eyes fixed upon her.

"I am curious," he said slowly. "Why did you choose to trust me when I claimed I was innocent?"

Sofia’s brow furrowed slightly.

"Trusting someone after seeing proof is one thing," he continued.

His eyes sharpened.

"But you believed me even before that. When people turned on me—Maria, my own mother, the media—you still stood by me."

He searched her expression.

"I must admit... that part still perplexes me."

Sofia did not waver.

"Because I believed in you," she answered simply.

Her tone made the fact seem entirely self-evident.

Razeal’s expression remained stagnant.

"And why were you so convinced?" he asked again.

He took a slow step toward her.

"In all fairness... I have never done anything particularly extraordinary for you."

He took another step.

"I have never saved your life, nor have I sacrificed anything grand on your behalf."

He was standing within arm's reach now.

"Logically, there is nothing I can point to that would warrant such unfaltering confidence in me."

He scanned her eyes.

"So, explain it to me."

His voice dropped an octave.

"Why would you believe in me so blindly?"

Sofia watched him approach, unmoving.

Then, she smiled.

"Because I love you," she replied softly.

The words were spoken as naturally as drawing breath.

The smile on her lips held zero hesitation.

Yet, Razeal pressed on.

"And that brings me back to my original inquiry," he stated quietly.

He was now only a half-step away from her.

Their eyes held each other captive.

"Why would you love me?"

His tone held no mockery.

It was filled with genuine bewilderment.

"What action of mine made you fall in love?"

He gave a slight shake of his head.

"I honestly cannot recall doing anything deserving of such affection."

Sofia studied his features for a moment.

"So you’re telling me... you think love requires a justification? That is where you are missing the point, my foolish little husband. Love is unconditional." She whispered this as she placed a hand firmly on his shoulder.

"And why do you persist in thinking you are unlovable?" Sofia asked, her voice gentle and patient. "You are worthy of it. So stop scrutinizing yourself in such a harsh light. Try viewing yourself through my eyes for a change... perhaps then you will see the truth."

Her words were simple, yet they struck deep within Razeal’s core.

Only moments ago, he had been standing there with a light, curious smirk, treating the conversation like an intellectual puzzle. But upon hearing her, his internal defenses faltered.

Huh?

His eyes widened.

It was the instinctive reaction of a man encountering a reality that fundamentally contradicted the laws he had lived by his entire life.

For him, love had always functioned through conditions.

That was the only iteration of love he had ever witnessed.

Love relied on merit.

Love relied on utility.

Love relied on whether or not you were useful, respectable, successful, or obedient enough to meet others' expectations.

Once you failed those expectations, the love evaporated.

This was the logic he had utilized to rationalize every trauma of his existence.

He had lived his entire life with that singular belief carved into his bones. Naturally, he had seen that love vanish when he failed to measure up.

They cast him aside because he was deemed insufficient.

They betrayed him when he failed to meet their standards.

They judged him because he was perceived as unworthy of their trust.

Over time, he had internalized this same code.

Love is conditional.

Yet, Sofia’s words dismantled that architecture entirely.

Consequently, his mind felt as though it were short-circuiting.

He blinked once.

Then again.

His head tilted as he peered at her, utterly confused.

"It requires no validation," Sofia continued, watching his reaction with a subtle smile. "That is the nature of love. It simply... occurs."

She shrugged lightly.

"What do you think I love you for?" she asked teasingly. "Some complicated rationale?"

She tapped his shoulder.

"No. I love you because you are my soulmate. The love of my life."

"Yes, I believe those things. But that belief did not originate from a checklist."

Her voice softened.

"And it certainly didn’t require proof."

She leaned back, folding her arms with a playful glint in her gaze.

"Think about it," she challenged. "If I wanted you to fall madly in love with me... what would I have to do?"

She began counting on her fingers casually.

"Would it be my beauty? My fame? My intelligence?" She ticked off the possibilities. "My kindness? My wealth? My strength? Or perhaps you would demand to see me perform some dramatic feat? Must I bring you flowers? Write letters in blood? Perform some grand gesture of devotion?"

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him.

"Would those acts be what made you love me?"

Razeal remained silent.

He honestly didn't know; the notion seemed absurd to him.

Sofia continued to watch him closely.

"Consider this," she added. "There will always exist someone better than I am."

She gestured vaguely toward the world beyond the shop.

"Someone stronger. Someone more beautiful. Someone richer. Billions of people walk this earth."

Her tone remained casual, but her intent was sharp.

"The same applies to gestures. What if someone else performed those grand deeds better than I ever could?"

She locked her eyes with his.

"Would you discard your love for me in favor of them? If that were the case, it would not be love."

"It would just be... fulfilling a set of conditions." Her fingers tapped lightly against his chest. "It would be a transaction. A negotiation. Perhaps even a form of manipulation." She gave a soft shrug. "But it would never be love."

She tapped his chest again.

"Conditions can always be replaced by a superior commodity. That, by definition, is the antithesis of love."

Razeal stood mute, absorbing her words. They drifted through his mind, rearranging his internal landscape like pieces of an intricate puzzle. He had never examined the concept consciously before, but the clarity of her logic was undeniable.

Consider the most mundane example.

A mother and her child.

The child is not necessarily the most intelligent person on the planet.

Not the most beautiful.

Not the strongest.

Yet, to the mother, that child is everything.

Why?

Because love does not evaluate worth like a contract.

The child need not meet conditions to be cherished.

The child exists, and that is enough.

That is love.

Unconditional.

Just as a child would never perceive their parent with the critical eyes of the world, love had colored how he saw her. It was a logic that defied numbers or reasoning. It simply existed.

Razeal processed these thoughts as Sofia watched him in the silence.

Finally, she spoke again.

"So, you see," she said softly.

"You do not need to perform any task for me to love you."

She placed her palm gently over his heart.

"Because I just... love you."

She shrugged again with a gentle smile.

"And that is all there is to it."

The simplicity was almost dizzying.

Her words were uncomplicated, yet their weight struck deeper than she could have intended.

Razeal stood perfectly still.

Silent.

For the first time in an eternity, he had no retort.

Because no one had ever spoken such simple truth to him before.

Was it really just... love?

For a heartbeat, his mind went blank.

Then, a strange sensation washed over him.

His vision blurred.

He blinked once.

Then again.

The shop seemed to lose its focus.

He frowned slightly.

Why was his sight failing him?

He blinked again, staring at Sofia’s face as if to clear the haze.

Then, the truth dawned on him.

No way...

Razeal stared for a second longer, still reeling from the foreign sensation.

He let out a shaky breath.

"...Figures," he mused inwardly. "I suppose it must be because... even Heaven does not love me."

"I mean..." Sofia started, ready to continue her patient explanation to her stubborn husband who struggled so much with unconditional acceptance. Her lips moved to form the next sentence, but she stopped mid-word.

She looked up into his face.

And then, she froze.

For a moment, she wondered if she were dreaming. Her brain struggled to process the visual input, as it defied the image she held of him.

A single line of moisture had escaped the corner of Razeal’s eye.

Just a tiny amount.

It caught the light perfectly.

Tears?

Sofia’s entire train of thought derailed instantly.

Her mouth hung slightly open, her words lost in the air. The shock hit her with physical force. In all the time she had known him, Razeal had never appeared remotely vulnerable; he had always seemed like someone who had forgotten how to weep.

Yet, here it was.

She stared at him, stunned.

"Ummm..." was the only sound she managed.

Meanwhile, Razeal had noticed the shift in her gaze. He saw her widening eyes, the sudden stifled silence.

He blinked rapidly.

Once more.

Ah.

Right.

Shit.

The realization struck him a second later.

His mind leaped into damage control mode.

"Oh... I should check to see if Maria is alright," he blurted out, his voice unnaturally brisk. Before Sofia could analyze or comment on what she had just witnessed, he had already turned on his heel and strode past her toward the counter where Maria rested.

The topic shift was so abrupt that Sofia remained rooted to the spot, her mouth still slightly parted in bewilderment.

Then, a slow, gentle smile blossomed across her face.

She turned to watch his back as he retreated.

"Ah... haa..." she hummed softly under her breath, her eyes brimming with warmth and amusement.

He was trying to hide it.

Of course he was.

But she had seen the truth.

And that simple fact was enough to make her smile.

How cute... my little bad boy, she thought to herself.

Razeal halted at the counter, peering down at Maria’s unconscious frame. He leaned in, checking her respiration and her vitals—the only things that could justify his sudden retreat.

Behind him, Sofia tracked his movements with quiet affection.

She had absolutely no intention of letting that moment dissipate entirely.

She took a single, deliberate step forward.

Her strategy was transparent: close the distance, see his face once more.

But as soon as she shifted her weight...

"Thank you."

Razeal spoke the words suddenly.

His voice halted her momentum instantly.

He did not turn around.

Not even a fraction.

It was as if he were purposefully looking away so she would not see his expression while he acknowledged the truth.

Sofia paused.

"For what?" she queried, a tender smile blooming on her lips as she watched his back.

"For trusting me," Razeal said.

His voice carried a different resonance this time.

It lacked the usual cold detachment.

There was a warmth beneath the surface—a profound gratitude.

Perhaps even a trace of relief.

"No one ever trusted me before you," he murmured. "Not a single person."

He paused briefly.

"Not even my own family."

The words hung heavily in the stagnant air.

They were simple, yet the weight of them was undeniable.

Sofia’s smile softened into something deeply motherly and protective.

"Well, of course I did."