Villain Retirement
chapter-1069

"Do all of you know that the Known Universe will forever just be a percent of the entire universe? Van mentioned it to me while we were outside it - come to think of it, I do not truly understand what he is searching for outside our universe. He could be in the Outerverse if he wanted to, but he chooses to remain in our universe searching for something...

...Even the fact that the multiverse exists-well, existed, my universe still remains the most mysterious and curious of all of it. I would like to think it is because of me, but really, Viel and Van came before me and were also born in the same universe. They both have V on their name, perhaps I should have been named Viley, you know?"

There were many things that Riley was good at, but perhaps his best and most natural trait was that he could talk to himself for an entire day and not get tired at all. But of course, he wasn't really talking to himself currently, there were more than hundreds of people with him, after all — but all that he really received as a response were grunts and heavy breaths.

"Paige Pearson also exists in my universe," Riley then let out a small but very deep sigh as he just casually avoided an attack that was at the speed of light several times; just casually moving and floating around in the expanse of space, with his body rotating and spinning while his hand was on his chin, "She could actually be the main character instead of me, but then again, from what I have gathered, she was born the very first time I was killed — so, that leads us back to Nothing, which I have actually not seen in a very long time. Did all of you know that Nothing actually made me experience eternity? Perhaps...

...I should have actually just gone with Van when I met him, the entirety of creation, based on what I have seen, will always find a way to destroy itself - it destroyed itself the most when I was not present. Come to think of it...

...I left a clone with Van. I wonder what they are doing now, though?"

Riley just continued talking to himself as the entire force of the Guardians bombarded him with all sorts of attacks. Some of them were even sacrificing themselves and causing the Guardian Force inside them to implode as they got close to Riley, but all he did was just casually swat the collapsing strength of a star away with a single hand.

"By the way, Elder Zorah and Elder Apo were still actually alive," Riley then muttered as he finally looked at one of the Guardians as he spoke, "Well, were. Your attacks completely obliterated Ahor Zai, which I am sure you are sworn to protect - so, technically, the Guardian Force killed the Common Council."

"We have had enough of your useless blabber!"

"Oh...?" Riley tilted his head to the side as the guardians suddenly stopped attacking and started gathering in a single place, "Oh, that is quite dangerous."

"Elder Skeem has sent us a message - to stop you at all costs," the alien who seemed to be the leader of the Guardians floated right at the very center of the army; his eyes and orifices, now emitting a violent light which also started to ripple across the army, whose bodies also began to lit up, "That means that you are a threat to the universe itself - Guardians!"

"We offer our life back to the Universe!" The Guardians then all stretched their arms, tentacles, and whatever limbs they had as the light emerging from their body completely drowned Riley's sight.

"I have always been told that a single Guardian Force contains the strength of several stars," Riley, despite this force trying to pull him forward, just smiled and wore a pair of sunglasses that he got from one of his trusty pockets, "It is really only now that I feel that - so, I suppose that was an exaggeration. And-"

And before Riley could finish talking, the entire universe turned silent as the Guardians used the very last of their life force; creating a supernova that engulfed trillions of star systems- no, which engulfed millions of galaxies across the entire Known Universe; a damage completely drowning the strongest of Riley's feats. Supernovas, in the relative scale of the Universe, are almost nothing - the suicide supernova the Guardians released, however, was ravaging across the expanse of the universe a million times the speed of light.

"Your reign of terror, let it end here! Graaah!"

"Commendable, truly..." Riley looked at his hands as his flesh and bones started to fade away, "...But your suicide attack probably just killed more than a thousand civilizations, Guardians."

"It does not matter!" The voice of the Guardians all melded into one, "Your army has already been eating away at the universe - we stop the original, and the rest will follow!"

"Commendable, truly..." A wide smile crawled on Riley's face as it too, started to be swallowed by the supernova,

"...But this is not my original body, I am merely controlling it."

"..." The Guardians did not really utter any more words, as anything they would say would just further remind them of the apocalyptic failure they had made. And so, the only thing they could really do was fade away with Riley Ross's clone.

"Well..." Riley's clone was still able to speak even with most of his body already gone, "...Even if this was the original, your attack would not have made a difference. We, the Boss...

...We have already grown far stronger than any of you realize."

And with those words, even with his eyes alone, it was obvious that the clone was smiling as The faded away from existence.

"Hm."

And in an unidentified distance away, Riley Ross, the original one, was also looking at his hands as the blast of the supernova actually caught him - all it did, however, was create a small sizzle, just a teeny tiny dot, on his cheek.

"Sister is still stronger," Riley just shrugged before just once again casually flying across the universe. In truth, Riley was actually connected to all of his clones, controlling them all directly so he could feel everything they were feeling for maximum enjoyment. He was actually having trouble with one individual - Pirate Queen Xra, the only other true immortal he knew aside from him... and perhaps Hera, but Hera is something else entirely.

Riley continued to just fly, however, just smiling here and there whenever something funny happened with his clones; like if someone just decided to just kill themselves instead so that they would be able to avoid him. There was even an entire civilization that lived on a planet the size of a tennis ball - and as a matter of course, Riley caught some sort of dog from one of the planets and flew it there so it could play with them.

All of them probably died from being drowned by the alien dog's saliva, but from what he was hearing, some of them were still alive and crying for help - he couldn't understand them, of course, but that was probably what they were doing.

There is also a civilization that was almost entirely like Earth in terms of advancement, they even look completely identical to humans. Riley hasn't started destroying them yet and just decided to let his clone stay there for a while to see if there was anything interesting, but if there is nothing, then he would do his favorite move - crash their planes into their buildings. There was nothing like people panicking inside a box knowing they couldn't escape anywhere, after all.

"Thank you, Paige," Riley once again whispered to himself as he thanked Paige. If not for her, after all, Riley would not be able to experience this, "You truly are a friend. Now, I could really only truly wonder what awaits me on the next floor of the Trial, or what ultimately awaits me inside this Black Tower you have created."

Riley continued to fly across the expanse of the universe, it was truly a shame that he would not be able to fight against Queen Vania. And although it was only in passing, Diana said that Queen Vania was completely different from the rest of the evaniels - and her daughter too, would one day unlock her strength.

Riley was planning to stop the time when fighting her to see what would happen, as it was mentioned, and of course, he already knew this, that Van was already a being that was outside of time entirely — that was the very reason why Death is no longer able to chase him at all.

Well, no matter.

He was already planning to settle with the planet that was in front of him right now - and they seemed to have already prepared a welcome committee for him. "Hello there..." Riley smiled as he saw the people floating in front of him,

"...Themarians — it is time to fight you without tricks and politics."