I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space - Chapter 404: Maria Breakdown

Chapter 404: Maria Breakdown

Razeal listened to Maria’s words and, after a brief moment, he also understood exactly what all of this was about. The moment she mentioned him being innocent, the pieces connected easily in his mind. Still, he was slightly surprised that Maria would react like this crying so openly and looking so shattered over it.

For him, the truth about that incident had long since settled into something dull and distant, something he carried but didn’t expect anyone else to understand anyways. Yet here she was, standing in front of him, tears streaming down her face as if the weight of that realization had crushed her.

Razeal simply spread his arms a little and shrugged lightly, his expression calm, almost indifferent. “I did say I didn’t do it,” he replied quietly, his tone flat but not hostile. “Well… now you know.” His words were simple, almost casual, but inside he honestly didn’t know what he was supposed to feel about this situation.

This was the first time someone had confronted him after learning the truth.. Like feeling sorry about this too and who had known this face to face. And judging from Maria’s reaction, she clearly felt guilty about everything she had believed before. But Razeal found himself strangely detached from the whole moment. He had already learned the hard way that tears especially from women were not something he trusted easily anymore. Even if Maria truly regretted it now… what would that change? Nothing really.. The past had already happened. He sighed softly while looking at her, feeling a strange mix of emptiness and faint irritation.. Like just whatver

In his mind he couldn’t help thinking about the irony of the whole situation. So I was right all along, he thought quietly. And the only reason anyone finally believes it is because the two people who lied admitted that they lied.. Like literally.. What a irony reality is.. The absurdity of it almost made him laugh internally. It was such a ridiculous chain of events. For so long everyone had believed the accusation without question. Now the truth came out only because the liars themselves exposed it. And yet… despite that realization, Razeal didn’t feel happy or vindicated the way someone might expect. There was no sense of relief, no satisfaction that someone finally understood the truth. If anything, the entire situation just felt hollow. Being proven innocent after everything had already happened didn’t suddenly repair the damage that had been done. So he didn’t react with excitement or relief. He didn’t smile. He didn’t celebrate. He simply stood there calmly, arms crossed, watching Maria break down in front of him.

But Razeal’s nonchalant reaction only made things worse for Maria. Seeing how calmly he responded almost like he had expected and known this all along as how Obiously it should’ve been.. caused a fresh wave of guilt to crash through her. Her eyes widened slightly as tears kept spilling down her face. His words echoed painfully in her mind: I did say I didn’t do it. Yes… he had said that. He had tried to defend himself. And she hadn’t believed him. Maria shook her head repeatedly, almost desperately, as if she wanted to deny the reality of her own past actions.

“Yes… you did say it,” she whispered shakily, her voice trembling as she struggled to speak through the crying. “You said it… and I didn’t believe you. I didn’t…” Her voice broke halfway through the sentence. The sadness on her face was overwhelming now, her entire expression filled with regret and self-loathing. She stood just a step away from him, staring at his face without blinking as if she was afraid he might disappear if she looked away.

“I didn’t believe you,” she repeated weakly. “I believed the lie instead.” Her shoulders trembled slightly as more tears ran down her cheeks. Every memory of how she had treated him before suddenly felt unbearable. She remembered mocking him. Questioning him. Looking down at him with disgust because she thought he had committed something unforgivable. And now the truth had ripped all of that apart. “When you said you didn’t do it… I taunted you,” she continued, her voice shaking with horror at her own actions. “I humiliated you… I… I Tried too..” She couldn’t finish the sentence properly. The words felt too heavy to say. Her lips trembled again as she struggled to breathe through the crying. “I am so sorry… I am so, so sorry,” she finally forced out, her voice breaking completely now. Tears streamed down her face and across her lips, the salty taste barely registering to her at all. She didn’t care. All she could see was Razeal standing in front of her.

Razeal watched her silently, his expression difficult to read. For a brief moment, he almost said something sarcastic in response something like.. ’Like sounds about right’. The thought crossed his mind naturally. After all, that was exactly what had happened. But the words never came out. Instead he remained quiet, studying her reaction. Hearing Maria apologize like this felt strange to him.

She had been just like everyone else before, believing the accusations without hesitation. Yet now she stood here crying as if she had committed some terrible crime herself. A small, confusing mixture of emotions flickered inside him. There was a faint sadness there… and maybe even a trace of satisfaction that someone finally understood the truth. But none of it felt particularly strong. Mostly, the whole situation left him feeling oddly uncomfortable. From his perspective, Maria’s expression looked almost like pity directed at him. Her tear-filled eyes, her sadness, her desperate apologies.. it all gave him the impression that she now saw him as someone tragic, someone broken who deserved sympathy. And that feeling bothered him more than the accusations ever had. Razeal had never wanted pity from anyone.

Meanwhile Sofia watched the entire scene quietly from the side. From where she now stood, she could clearly see Maria’s face in profile.. the trembling lips, the tears that refused to stop, the sheer emotional pain in her eyes. As a woman, Sofia understood immediately what Maria was going through.

She knew Maria cared deeply about Razeal. In fact, Sofia was fairly certain Maria loved him. And now Maria was facing the crushing realization that she had believed a lie about the person she cared and loved about. Worse than that, she had maybe even hurt him somehow because of that lie. Sofia could imagine exactly how heavy that guilt must feel. She remembered how violently Maria had reacted earlier when she discovered the truth. The rage, the killing intent, the way she lost control completely and tried to kill Selena and Celestia. That wasn’t just anger. That was someone realizing their entire understanding of reality had been wrong.

For a moment Sofia considered stepping in. Part of her wanted to walk over and calm Maria down.. maybe tell her to breathe, to stop blaming herself so harshly, to say that it wasn’t entirely her fault for believing what everyone else believed. But Sofia stopped herself before moving. After thinking about it for a moment, she realized something important. This situation wasn’t really hers to interfere in. Even if the emotional pain was real and overwhelming, it was still something Maria needed to confront herself. Trying to soften that reality with comforting words like by saying it wasn’t your fault or something would only be a lie meant to ease her pain temporarily. And Sofia didn’t think that was right. More importantly, stepping in to defend Maria now might unintentionally make it seem like she was standing against Razeal in this moment. Even if Razeal himself might not mind or care about this or even understand her intentions behind.. Sofia didn’t feel it was her place to say anything here.

So she simply sighed quietly and folded her arms, watching the two of them in silence. This was a painful situation for both of them, but it was something they needed to handle themselves.

She already knew this situation was delicate. The emotions in the room were too raw, too complicated. One wrong word or reaction could easily make everything worse. She could see Maria trembling, struggling to hold herself together while facing the weight of the truth she had only just realized. Sofia understood that what Maria was feeling right now was not something simple. It was guilt, regret, heartbreak, and self-blame all tangled together into something overwhelming. Sofia just been thinking about whether she should step in or just let them handle it themselves. Deep down she suspected interfering might only complicate things further. Still, the tension in the room was so thick that it made her uneasy.

But just as she settled into that thought, the silence in the room suddenly shattered with a sharp sound that echoed loudly across the shop.

CRACK.

The sharp sound exploded through the room.

As making Sofia’s head snapped up instantly.

Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Maria’s hand still hanging in the air beside her face. Maria had just slapped herself hard. The sound had been loud enough to echo slightly off the walls of the shop.

For a split second Sofia couldn’t even process what she had just seen.

“Heyyyyy! What are you doing?!” she suddenly yelled in confusion and alarm, stepping forward instinctively.

Even Razeal’s calm expression broke slightly as he blinked in surprise. He had not expected that. Maria had just struck herself across the face while still staring at him through tears.

But before either of them could react further..

Pahhh!

Another slap landed.

Then another.

Pahhh! Pahhh! Pahhh!

Maria’s hand kept moving again and again.

Each strike was loud and full of force, her palm crashing against her own cheek with brutal intensity. It wasn’t a light slap either. She was hitting herself as if she was trying to punish herself with real pain.

Pahhh!

Pahhh!

Six… seven… maybe even more strikes landed in rapid succession.

Each one harder than the last.

Maria’s head jerked slightly to the side with every impact, her hair shifting with the movement while tears continued pouring down her face.

Sofia’s shock quickly turned into real worry.

“Hey! Heyyy! Stop it! Maria, calm down! Whatt aree youu doing!!!” she shouted, quickly stepping forward toward her. Her voice carried both urgency and concern now. From where Sofia stood, Maria looked completely overwhelmed by her emotions, almost like she had lost control of herself.

Sofia reached out, intending to grab her arm and stop her before she hurt herself further.

But before she could reach her..

Maria suddenly raised her other hand toward Sofia.

Her palm faced outward in a clear stopping gesture.

“Don’t,” Maria said weakly but firmly, her voice trembling while tears kept falling from her eyes.

Sofia froze mid-step.

Maria slowly turned her tear-filled gaze toward her.

“I know what I’m doing,” she said, her voice breaking slightly under the weight of her emotions. “You don’t understand.. Youu wontt..”

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, her expression filled with a mixture of guilt and pain that was almost painful to look at.

Sofia stopped completely.

She looked at Maria’s face closely now and saw the result of the slaps immediately. One side of Maria’s cheek had turned bright red already, the skin flushed from the repeated impacts.

Maria looked completely broken.

Not physically.. but emotionally.

Sofia opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but the words didn’t come out. For once she truly didn’t know what the right thing to say was.

Meanwhile Razeal had been watching the entire scene quietly.

After a moment he finally spoke.

“You really don’t need to do this,” he said calmly, his tone neutral as he looked at Maria.

“It’s fine. No one trusted me anyway.”

He shrugged faintly as he continued.

“And I didn’t say anything either. So… don’t do this. It doesn’t really look good. Itss all finee.. Ohk?”

His voice wasn’t angry or harsh. If anything it sounded almost tired.

From Razeal’s perspective, the whole situation simply felt… awkward.

He honestly didn’t know how he was supposed to react.

Maria slapping herself in front of him didn’t create the kind of emotional response she might have expected. Instead it just made him feel uncomfortable.

It wasn’t that he felt nothing at all.

But the emotions that surfaced were complicated.

A little sadness.

A little irritation.

A strange kind of emptiness.

More than anything, it just looked bad to him.

Not because he hated Maria or wanted to see her suffer.. but because this kind of dramatic self-punishment didn’t make sense to him in any way..

Like what was it supposed to accomplish?

Razeal had never asked Maria to believe him in the first place. And he had never expected her to..

Everyone had believed the accusation. Maria was simply another person among many.

So watching her hit herself like this… it just looked unnecessary.

Almost foolish.

“Yes, you’re sorry,” he thought quietly while looking at her. “Fine. But hitting yourself isn’t going to change anything.”

He had already gone through everything that situation had caused.

The humiliation.

The isolation.

The anger.

The pain.

The suffering or whatever.

He had already survived it all.

What difference did it make now?

And more importantly Razeal misunderstood Maria’s actions entirely.

From his perspective it looked like she was trying to prove something to him. Like she was hurting herself in front of him to demonstrate how guilty she felt… or to show him how much she cared.

But Maria wasn’t doing it for him. She was doing it for herself. She was trying to deal with the crushing weight of her own guilt. She was maybe just trying to make herself feel pain trying to push her emotions out in one way or another, because of how complicated everything had become.

But Razeal couldn’t see that clearly.

And honestly, it wasn’t even really Razeal’s fault to misunderstand her intentions.

After all, his life had always been dumb and cruel like that. When he actually needed it, no one really believed him… no one came to help.

And when he finally managed to stand on his own feet after going through hell, pain, and suffering already the people who had once hurt him were now coming with open arms, telling him how bad and sad they felt… trying to show him their pain, and the things they were willing to do to gain him, or his trust, back.

When in reality… it shouldn’t even matter anymore.

In fact, the more they did things like this, the more it made him feel like they were just trying to manipulate him.

He really didn’t know what to think.

This just looked bad.

And he knew doing all this wasn’t really going to change anything not how sorry or guilty they were trying to show themselves to be.

It was just… tiring for him now.

He didn’t know.

He just felt… kind of bad.

And now she was trying to slap herself in front of him trying to hurt herself, actually hurting herself making him obviously feel like she had some kind of expectations toward him.

Like what now?

Was she expecting him to feel something from this? Was this supposed to make him feel sad for her? Or maybe forgive her after seeing how badly she was punishing herself? Maybe she was trying to show him that she truly felt guilty, that she hadn’t meant the things she had believed before. Maybe she wanted him to see that she regretted it all. Razeal honestly didn’t know how he was supposed to react or say or do..

The more people pushed these emotions toward him, the more complicated and uncomfortable the situation felt. It didn’t make him feel relieved. It didn’t make him feel understood. If anything, it just made everything feel heavier in a strange and confusing way.

His eyes remained on Maria as she cried in front of him, yet his thoughts drifted somewhere deeper.

Like what is even the meaning of this? What is the goal? Why was she doing this? What exactly did she want from him?

He was just tired.

It wasn’t the kind of tiredness that came from physical exhaustion it was something deeper. The kind of fatigue that built up over years of dealing with things alone, of carrying misunderstandings and accusations that no one had bothered to question.

And now suddenly people were reacting like this in front of him.

Slapping themselves?

Crying?

Apologizing as if their world had collapsed?

He didn’t understood any of it

Others might have seen the situation differently. To many people, this might have looked like sincere remorse, like someone desperately trying to atone for their mistake. But to Razeal, the entire thing just felt… strange.

He didn’t need someone to hurt themselves in front of him to prove they were sorry.

He didn’t need someone to punish themselves just to show they cared.

And honestly, Maria wasn’t even someone he believed needed to go this far.

When he thought about it carefully, she hadn’t actually done that much to him anyways.

Yes, she had believed the accusation like everyone else.

Yes, she had mocked him and treated him badly for it.

But compared to everything else he had endured, compared to the hatred and cruelty the rest of the world had thrown at him, Maria’s actions barely even registered.

To Razeal, what she had done back then had always felt like childish behavior more than anything else. Something immature, something driven by attention and emotion rather than genuine malice.

He had been annoyed by it.

Maybe even angry for a while.

But it had never been something that truly wounded him the way other betrayals had.

That was why watching her act like this now felt so out of place.

Why is she doing this? he wondered silently.

She looked like someone who had committed an unforgivable sin.

But from his perspective, the situation had never been that dramatic to begin with.

The entire world had misunderstood him.

Not just her.

So what did it matter if Maria had misunderstood him too?

If every single person who had believed the lie suddenly reacted like this crying, apologizing, punishing themselves? then what?

Was the entire world supposed to collapse in front of him?

Were they all supposed to kneel down and mourn because they had been wrong?

The thought felt ridiculous.

Razeal exhaled slowly, the breath leaving his lungs in a quiet sigh.

Like that wasn’t what he wanted.

Not even close.

If anything, watching someone act like this made him uncomfortable and weird.

It almost felt wrong.

Because when someone stood in front of him crying and hurting themselves like this, it created a strange feeling he couldn’t easily explain.

It made him feel like they were pitying him.

And that was something he absolutely hated.

Yes, they had done him wrong.

Yes, they had believed lies about him.

But that didn’t mean he wanted them to fall apart in front of him because of it.

He had never expected anyone to understand the truth in the first place.

He didn’t need it.

He didn’t want it.

And he certainly didn’t want people treating him like some tragic victim who needed to be pitied..

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