Villain Retirement

Obstacles have never been a problem for the evaniels.

They weren't just fast; they live in a completely different world where everything else is too slow for them. Most of the advanced species are similar to each other, but at the same time, completely different in terms of abilities.

But perhaps the most common trait of each of the Higher Races was their environment; specifically, their youth. How they grow up and how they were taught to move through life. As beings that held unimaginable powers, the Higher Races were living in a world that was too fragile for them.

For the evaniels, they learned how to adjust to everyone else's time; to perceive the moment as others perceive them. They were told to be patient, they were taught to wait. But of course, as beings of incredible speeds, it was their natural and primal instinct to want to break free.

You can't imprison an evaniel, they will become mad very soon and very fast.

But alas, sadly for a very minuscule and very insignificant number of the evaniel's population, they were currently trapped in a prison that seemed like it was designed to shatter their entire being, their entire reason.

A sea of trees.

Of course, this wouldn't have even been a problem if it were just a normal forest— after all, they could just bulldoze their way through the trees; their bodies were more than capable of withstanding the weight of mountains.

A forest? That was just like running through cardboard.

But alas, the forest they were in was… weird.

It was an illusion, but at the same time, it was not. They have seen their comrade die a very gruesome death as he smashed and splattered himself on a tree that should have been completely intangible because it was supposed to just be an illusion.

And so now, the evaniels found themselves once again adjusting to everything else; just this time, it meant life or death.

Their hands were waving everywhere, checking all the trees to see if they could touch them or not. But so far, after what seemed like an eternity of walking around; they have not, even once, found a tree they couldn't pass through— everything was just an illusion.

"...Let's just avoid the trees."

One of the evaniels that were trapped in this unconventional prison raised his hand, "The humans have probably escaped with the prince, let's get out of here as well before anyone notices us."

And with his words, all the evaniels within the prison forest all nodded their heads, before turning into a streak of white and moving through the gaps of the trees.

Well… that would have been the case if it wasn't for one of them once again splattering like a bug on a windshield. He didn't hit a tree— what he did hit, however, was a dried leaf that was falling in the air.

"..."

And very soon, another whisper echoed through their ears, laughing.

And that was when the evaniels within the sea of fake trees finally understood their situation. The humans didn't escape, no; they were still there, watching them… playing with them as if they were mice in a maze impossible to escape from.

It didn't matter even if they were to move through the gaps between the trees; as long as any of them attempted to run or move fast, they would instantly find themselves turned into paste. The telekinetic within the group…

…he was the one that was watching and laughing at them.

"Riley Ross, you're not going to get away from this!"

"...Why would I want to get away from this, assassin?"

"!!!"

And as one of the evaniels screamed, he could not help but take a step back as Riley, out of nowhere, just instantly appeared in front of him.

"I am here on a mission," Riley sighed as he started to walk towards the evaniel, "Well, it was more like a request, really. But since it's from Aerith, I couldn't really refuse, nor did I want to."

"...What?" The evaniel looked around him, trying to look at his other comrades… but found himself suddenly alone as he was suddenly surrounded by trees that shouldn't weren't there just moments ago.

"I am taking a blind guess that one of you killed Commander Voris," Riley then whispered as he looked to nowhere in particular, "There's also the possibility that he killed himself to prevent any information from leaking out of him."

"..."

"None of you have to worry, though," a small smile then slowly crawled on Riley's face as he looked the assassin straight in the eyes, "None of you can kill yourselves from now on, I need to ask some questions, after all. So…

…it would be better for all of us to get comfortable."

***

"...They're all dead."

After a minute, Riley was now standing in front of a mangled corpse, not the one he was speaking to earlier, but a different evaniel. No, perhaps it wasn't as simple as that.

Riley was, in actuality, in front of all the evaniels in the hall at the same time; questioning all of them separately with different clones.

"The evaniels… they also die fast," Riley then said; his breaths, filled with disappointment as the rest of his clones faded away— leaving only him who was actually still just standing from where he was from the start, beside Tomoe.

"Did we manage to get any information, master Riley?"

"We did, but dismissable," Riley could really only sigh as he raised his hand; and as he did so, the sea of trees around them disappeared, "The mastermind behind all this is still out there, but we already knew that."

"W… wait. Someone… someone really wants to kill me just to frame you people?"

The young prince's voice then whispered in the air as he was being slowly carried down back to the ground by Paige,

"Wouldn't that mean… someone is also after the royal family as much as they are after you humans?"

"No," Tomoe was the one to answer the prince as she shook her head, "More likely than not, they are only after you, your family, and perhaps someone else on this ship. We 'humans' were just a means to an end."

"How… how do you know that?"

"I don't, it's just an assumption. No wonder your race is serving a Queen, all the princes seem to be unreliable," Tomoe rolled her eyes, before walking away to check on the corpses scattered in the vast hall.

"Very great with kids, Tomoe!" Paige hollered; Tomoe, however, only shrugged her shoulders and ignored her.

"...What do we do now?" Paige then said as she approached Riley, who was just once again looking at Commander Voris's corpse, which was still peacefully resting inside its cell, "And please don't suggest killing everyone."

"Why would I suggest that, Paige?" Riley blinked a couple of times before he placed his hand on the glass wall securing Voris's cell. And before Paige and Tomoe could start to wonder what he was doing, Riley pulled his hand away… taking the massive colossal wall along with it.

Riley then casually threw the glass window upwards, causing it to penetrate and stick through the ceiling of the confinement bay.

"..."

Judging by the several wounds and blood splatters on Commander Voris's corpse, he wasn't really able to put up too much of a fight— No, he probably died sitting here just like the position of his corpse now.

"It's someone he knew and trusted," Tomoe then suddenly appeared behind Riley as she started examining the commander's corpse, "He probably thought he wasn't going to die today."

"...How can you tell that?" Paige also entered the cell, along with Prince Val who was still completely shaken up by the things that have been happening around him,

"...Are you sure you're not just coming up with random theories?"

"I'm afraid the only one random here is you," Tomoe squinted her eyes as she glanced at Paige, "It should have just been me and master Riley."

"Are you still jealous?"

"W— what are you saying in front of master Riley? We should just focus on getting out of here now!"

"No, we will stay," Riley quickly said before… stabbing Voris's corpse with his bare hands.

"W… what are you doing!?" Val quickly moved behind Paige as he saw what Riley did; not just once, but he stabbed the already dead commander several times.

"Don't worry, prince Val. He doesn't mind," Riley sighed, before flicking the blood away from his arm, "Your species do not use weapons a lot?"

"...Our bodies are our weapons."

"I suppose that makes sense," Riley shrugged as he once again looked at Voris's corpse, "Let's just wait and see what happens now, everyone."

"W— shouldn't we leave!?"

Paige and Tomoe only nodded as they once again started casually walking around the cell; as for prince Val, however, the only thing he could really do was worry.

"If… If we need to wait, then let's do it somewhere else! We will be in trouble if they see us surrounded by… by dead people!" Val said as he raised his voice,

"This… this will all be solved once my sister arrives!"

"Your sister?" Riley quickly asked, "Another member of the royal family is coming here?"

"Y… yes," Val nodded, "My… my sister is usually the one responsible for fixing relations with other races. And… well, since I messed up, she was told to come here by mother."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To try and explain the situation to princess Aerith that we mean no harm…

…and to talk to you, Riley Ross."