Villain Retirement

"What… What the fuck is this!?"

"Marvelous, truly."

For those who have been to space many times, the sight of the unending cosmos would not really yield that much excitement anymore. Of course, there will always be a certain drop of amazement here and there—but unless something truly different appears, one would just find oneself smirking at those who are seeing the wonders of space for the first time.

And that is exactly what Hannah was feeling right now, a sense of superiority against two members of the Hope Guild. Tempo did not even try to hide how excited and in awe he was as his eyes looked everywhere. As for Bulwark, his eyes seemed relaxed, but very much curious.

But of course, if there was anyone seeing them from afar right now, that someone would be even more in awe than them—no, perhaps the better term for it would be shocked, or petrified in fear. Earth's Champions were currently traveling at hyperspeed… while staying on the palm of a colossal creature that was almost the size of Uranus. How that was even possible could really only be described as magic.

"I get the purple pervert, but I didn't think you'd be this excited from seeing something like this, Bulwark," Hera removed her sunglasses as she too, indulged herself with the euphoric and colorful streaks of light flowing around them, "Aren't you from outer space?"

"I did not think that even you would fall victim to that rumor, Hera," the smile on Bulwark's face completely faded away as he heard Hera's voice, "I would like to reiterate to everyone present here, the Elder known as Elder Apo and I are not related."

"...Really?" Hannah raised an eyebrow, "But you're almost identical."

"We are not," Bulwark almost sighed in frustration, "Just because our skin, hair, and the way our body glows are the same, does not mean we are related, Hannah."

"No… I'm pretty sure you're from the same planet as the dude," Hannah let out a small hum as she looked at Bulwark from head to toe, "What do you think, Dad? Didn't you get some sort of DNA sample from Elder Apo last we met?"

"...Yes."

"What?" Bulwark's golden eyebrows started to lower, "Why would you even do that to a person not belonging to our civilization? That is rude."

"Don't worry, he doesn't know," Bernard let out a small chuckle as he waved his hand. His helmet then unfolded, covering his entire head as he looked at Bulwark, "I have actually finished analyzing the data I received from him."

"What did it say!?" Hannah quickly approached her father. Even Tempo and Hera, who were quietly arguing, could not help but set aside their silent debate and turn their attention to Bernard.

"It says…" Bernard's voice turned into a whisper, "...secret."

"Oh, come one! Fuck you!" Hannah raised both her middle fingers at her father, "What did it say!?"

"It's not my information to divulge, Hannah," Bernard once again chuckled as his helmet folded back, "If you want to know, then ask Bulwark."

"But he doesn't know!"

"He will if he asks me," Bernard once again looked Bulwark in the eyes.

"It is not important right now," Bulwark, on the other hand, just looked away and started admiring the flowing cosmos around them, "What is important is that we should find out where Riley is."

"Pft, knowing that fucker…" Hannah scoffed as she too, looked away,

"...He's probably already there. We'll find him, that guy always stands out."

***

"I take back what I said, there are so many fucking people here."

Hannah was expecting something grand, and she wasn't alone. After all, a Tournament that involved the entire Known Universe, and the first Tournament after what seemed like an eon in which all the Higher Races participated will probably not come again. Hannah was expecting some sort of… luxurious welcome, but no.

The Messenger known as Sukka just left after literally dropping them on some sort of… flat planet. The planet was wide and vast, however—and even though it was flat, it was impossible to see the end of the horizon due to how far the end was, and there were also mountains blocking the end.

There were also 2 other Messengers aside from Sukka, who also seemed to be bringing in the champions of the other planets and civilizations…

…and there were a lot of them—and the spot where Sukka dropped them off did not seem to be the only spot where the champions were gathering, This is just one of many, and there seemed to already be at least 500 of them here in a single area.

They were in the middle of a vast field. There were occasional trees that twisted around each other, and plants that did the same—in fact, the blades of grass and even the empty ground showed signs of… spiral.

"I don't think Riley is here," Hera approached Hannah, "I don't smell his presence."

"...You can smell my brother?" Hannah raised an eyebrow.

"His presence," Hera rolled her eyes, "That's just how my abilities work—I don't feel the kind of danger I sense from him amongst this lot."

"Nope, no Riley—or evaniels for that matter," Tempo suddenly appeared beside Hannah, "I checked on all the faces of the aliens within the perimeter, I don't see anyone we know. Whiteking, what about you?"

"No," Bernard also suddenly appeared from thin air while shaking his head, "No sign of Riley. Bulwark?"

"Oh, I was not looking for him," Bulwark shrugged, "Now that we are far from Earth, I would like to remove Riley from the list of things I worry about and focus on the present. This is truly astonishing, to think we are but one of many in the universe… fascinating."

"I don't really think it's the time to be sightseeing," a small smile crawled on Hera's face as she started looking around,

"We seem to be very popular."

The races that gathered in their area all looked different. Most were humanoid with different skin types, varying numbers of orifices on their faces, and also varying numbers of limbs. There were also people who looked completely alien in terms of Earth standards. Octophoids, quad pedals, and even floating… fish-like people.

And if there was one thing they all had in common…

…it was that they were all looking at Hannah and the others.

"We should be popular," Bernard subtly walked in front of Hannah, "We are from the Unknown Universe, and we were immediately but officially introduced as one of the Higher Races."

"What are you guys even talking about?" Tempo scratched his chin, which was the only part of his body visible from his new purple suit, "Bulwark and I should really have been oriented first about all these new jargons."

"Just stay quiet and obser—"

[Champions.]

The invisible tension starting to form in the air completely dissipated away as a voice rumbled throughout the entire flat planet. No, perhaps 'rumbled' was an understatement, as the entire planet literally trembled and quaked as it wasn't just a single voice, but many.

All the eyes that were on Hannah and the group all strayed away as everyone turned to look at the 4 horizons, only to see 4 slightly faded faces talking in the distance; their mouths, all moving at the same time.

Just a single Messenger was already almost the size of Uranus, and now with 4 of them gathered and surrounding the flat planet, one could not help but feel trapped and drowning at the same time.

[20 Spawn Point, 100 Groups in Each,] the Messengers all spoke at the same time, [The 1st rule is simple…

…Fight until only 1 group remains in each Spawn Point.]