Villain Retirement

"What… what the fuck was that?"

"Fuck, everyone's staring at us."

"...Our cart."

Roan, Lilly, and Bert were sprawled on the ground; their breaths, pushing away all the dust… as well as the ashes flying around them. These ashes, of course, belong to their cart.

The Leville party could do nothing—they just stared as the cart they spent a lot of their money on was swallowed by flames. Flames that were as if taunting them as their eyes reflected its violent dance.

Well, at least that was what happened earlier. Now, the group just stared at what remained of their brand-new cart—smoke and ashes. The worst part of it all was that all their supplies withered away with it.

"We… just bought that," Lilly breathed out as she wiped her face, only to make it even dirtier as she painted her cheek black from the char on her hand, "Just… what happened, Roan? What was that fire…? Did you forget you have like a flint or something on—"

"No!" Roan did not let Lilly finish her words as he screamed and waved his hand, "Do you think I would make a rookie mistake like—"

"!!!"

If it wasn't for Lilly's quick reflexes, then she would have definitely suffered the same fate as their cart. There was truly no need to ask any more questions as to the origin of the fire, as this time, everyone clearly saw what happened.

As soon as Roan waved his hand, flames instantly burst forth and fanned from his palm out of nowhere.

"W… what is happ…ning…" Roan looked at his hand for a few seconds… before his vision just faded into nothing; his body, falling limp onto the ground. Fortunately, he still seemed very much healthy from the way his seemingly exhausted breaths reached everyone's ears.

The group saw what happened—and for everyone but Riley, the only explanation that they could reach was magic. Add to the fact that Bert's son, Jacob, also exhibited some form of sorcery when he disappeared earlier, and only really became visible again when he got tired. Is… it possible they encountered something?

And while the Leville party was losing their minds, Riley clearly knew what happened. But still, of course, he couldn't help but be curious.

The Supervirus is airborne, and Riley had actually been making a great effort to scatter it throughout Arlusia. And like holding his breath, he has been actively trying to keep his telekinetic armor off ever since they stepped into this mysterious fantasy world.

But still, he was surprised when he finally infected someone.

He had been with the Leville party for more than a month, and Riley was already starting to think that they were not susceptible to the virus. As for Jacob, well—the rate of children being infected was obviously higher.

But for the two to have their 'awakening' episode at the exact same time, Riley can't help but think of how… interesting that was. The same, however, could not be said for their abilities.

Summoning flames and invisibility, both useless. If it won't be able to scratch, or let alone kill him, then it is useless. But since he already confirmed that the people of Arlusia could be infected… then he just needed to plant more seeds.

"Magic… the timing is just…" Lilly didn't really know what to think. While they were in the midst of putting out the fire that Roan caused, most of the parties have already entered the dungeon.

They've already lost their chance to—No.

Lilly shook her head, why would she even think of the Expedition at this point?

"Bert… what… what do we do now?" Lilly then said as she just once again let herself fall; this time, however, she leaned onto her husband. Nathan didn't really have an answer for her.

"We… should go home." And so instead, Bert was the one to answer her question as he stood up and carried his son, "While the others are busy with the Expedition, we should take one of the carriages and go."

"You… want us to steal?"

"Do we have a choice!?" Bert could no longer hold off his worries as he raised his voice, "My son… my son suddenly disappeared into thin air, Lilly. He was gone, but I could still feel him. They obviously can't control this… whatever this is. What if Roan suddenly loses control again and burns us? What if my son disappears again, but only this time we can't find him? We—"

"Fine," Lilly did not let Bert finish his words as she gruntingly stood up, using her husband's shoulder as support, "We should hurry up. The people inside the dungeon aren't going to be busy for too long. I saw the color of the portal earlier, it should only be a 3-Star dungeon."

"Then let's stop talking and go while there's only a few people," Bert nodded as he started looking around, trying to find a cart that was completely left unattended, "There… I don't think anyone will see us if we get—"

And before the Leville team could even take a single step toward the abandoned cart, a sort of violent tremble reverberated in the air—No. It wasn't just a simple tremble, everyone that was still outside in the field felt their bones shivering along with the quake; every strand of hair in their body, now standing up.

They did not get the chance to wonder what it was, however, as another tremble echoed through the field.

And this time, the source was clear.

The people that have entered the dungeon were now running out of the portal; their screams, enough to drown everything with the desperation and fear they contained. And as they continue to run and scatter, something was clear for everyone that was watching them panic.

…The number that went in was not the same as the number that went out.

"W… what's going on!?" Lilly tried to grab one of the people that were running past them, but her hand was quickly flung away without even as much as a word. All she really heard was a whimpering scream.

"We… should probably run?" Nathan said as he carried Roan from the ground and looked at Lilly.

"..." Lilly returned Nathan's gaze, before just nodding her head and looking at the rest of the group. And without even saying another word, they all just nodded to each other and started running away.

…But they didn't get far.

They didn't get far as another tremble caused the air to shake. This time it was a quake—a quake that caused the ground to crack into a web, causing Nathan to trip and fall along with Roan.

"F… fuck," this fall seemed to wake Roan up, however, as he quickly sat up in surprise and started looking everywhere. His straying eyes, soon landing on something that made them open as wide as they could.

"G… guys…" Roan very slowly stretched his arm forward, causing Nathan and Lilly to quickly move away in fear of another fan of flames shooting out of his hand. But as soon as they confirmed they were safe from any premature firings, they turned to look at where Roan was pointing…

…only to see the portal.

That, in itself, is a problem as they shouldn't be able to see the dungeon entrance from where they were at. That could only mean one thing…

…the entrance was growing larger.

"..." The group then once again looked at each other, and this time, they didn't even have to nod as their bodies prioritize their legs to hurriedly move away.

…But they didn't get far.

They didn't get far as a roar loud enough to reach the skies pierced their ears. There was also a ripple of wind, a gust strong enough to almost cause the small Roan to tumble forward and fall.

"..." And as the Leville party turned to see what caused it, their legs that were once previously moving on their own to run completely turned limp. Their bodies, just freezing as they saw an ominous silhouette stepping out of the now towering portal.

They have never seen something like it before, but they all knew what it was. The very field itself started to change color as the light of the sun started to reflect on the creature's scales, almost turning the day into a bright night from its purple luminance.

Majestic, ominous, death—perhaps the three words that best described the towering creature as it crawled out of the dungeon; its long neck, flexibly moving its head as a pair of eyes that seemed like gemstones scanned all the frozen and scared people.

It stepped forward, and when it did, it destroyed everything within its path with its feet that might as well be a hammer with claws; claws that were the size of an entire human.

And with a whip of its tail, the very ground itself seemed to ripple as if water as large pieces of it were just shaved away.

And then, finally, a word escaped Roan's opened mouth.

"Dura… Dragon!?"

"S…Shh!"

But alas, Lilly covered Roan's mouth too late as this… purple dragon quickly turned its head toward them.

"...Bert," Lilly then whispered; her eyes, not leaving the colossal creature even as its eyes started to stare at them, "...You should go, take Nathan with you while I try to distract it."

"What are you sa—"

"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for the boy," Lilly breathed out. Her voice, seemingly calm even in the face of a creature she hasn't seen before, "Nathan, I love you… okay? Never forget—"

"Riley Ross."

But before Lilly could fully gather her resolve, the dragon suddenly spoke. Its words…

…containing a certain click in them.

Riley quickly tilted his head to the side; his eyes, blinking several times as he looked at the dragon from head to toe. And after a few more seconds, he whispered,

"...P'lopi?"