Villain Retirement

"This... is stupid."

"...Why are we even here?"

"We... were supposed to fight that? Did Megawoman's daughter actually send us here to die?"

No one could really see the fight between Esme and Riley, as they were already beyond the reach of Ahor Zai. And yet, it seemed as if everyone actually knew what was happening... because they felt it.

Everything was trembling; one might even say that the galaxy itself was crying - one was not supposed to hear anything from the expanse of space, and yet all of them could feel something tingling in their ears. Well, most of them, anyway.

While most of the people were holding their breaths and trying to stop their hearts from beating too fast and too heavily, the themarians were looking up; their eyes, moving from time to time along with their expressions.

"Mom… who is winning?" Hannah could not help but take in a small gulp as she leaned closer to Diana. And it wasn't only her, everyone within Riley's circle was surrounding the themarians… in a circle.

Even Nannah, who was incredibly aloof and awkward with Diana, was inching closer to her. As for the others from her universe, well… they were currently glaring at Gracy.

Gracy did not seem to notice, however, as she was also invested in knowing what exactly was happening… to the point that she did not notice that her breasts were currently resting on Silvie's back.

"..." Silvie wanted to say something, but she couldn't really talk to Gracy that much knowing that she's the biological daughter of an Aerith from another universe. How would she even start a conversation with her, since she was adopted by Aerith? Suffice it to say, the only thing that Silvie could really do was turn her head awkwardly and try to lean away.

"Are you also able to see what's happening, Sis?" Gracy, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the awkwardness as she once again stood closer to Silvie; also looking up trying to see if she could also see Riley and Esme.

"That…" Silvie was completely taken aback, "...I can only get glimpses of their energy."

"Huh…" Gracy blinked a couple of times, "So, what's happening right now?"

"They…

…are ripping through space itself."

***

"Truly interesting."

The expanse of space, and everything itself quivered in fear as Riley and Esme continued their clash. The crushing force emitting from each of Esme's moves was enough to cause even darkness itself to ripple. The galaxy itself shuddered and trembled as they were caught up in the chaos; everything in it was being sucked into the swirling maelstrom of destruction.

The planets that orbited around them were pulverized, turned to dust in an instant by the sheer power of these two... gods. The deafening roar of space itself seemed to echo with a terrible dread as it witnessed this cataclysmic event.

Cataclysmic — perhaps that was really the only way one could describe this battle. The two were not trying to kill each other, not really. Their breaths, however, were enough to kill everything else around them. Nothing could survive here - no life, no hope. Nothing but death and destruction remained for those who dared gaze upon it.

"Are you having fun, Your Highness?" Riley asked Esme as he called forth several asteroids the size of Earth toward him, "Because that is the most important part in this."

"I am, Professor," Esme nodded even as the asteroids shot towards her at an insane speed, "But I am not fighting you for fun, but for the purpose of winning the pocket universe."

"What do you need it for, Princess Esme?" Riley watched as Esme just floated there; not even dodging or blocking the asteroids as they slammed at her consecutively. Of course, she did not need to do so in the first place as the asteroids just shattered upon touching her skin,

"You do not need your own star system to create or revive your kingdom."

"I apologize for my lacking, Professor," Esme shook her head as she disappeared from her spot, completely pulverizing the debris of asteroids around her as she did so, "But I do not have the patience to wait — I can recreate and expedite the process inside the pocket universe."

"But you will not be able to bring them out of the pocket universe," Riley felt his skin almost being pulled from the rest of his body as Esme created some sort of cyclone even though she was just moving behind him, "The pocket universe is real, but it is also just a simulation in a way that anything that exists there, only exists there."

"Even still, Professor," Esme snapped her finger, causing another ripple to echo throughout the entire star system; as well as completely erasing Riley away, "Even an ant's colony that is millions of lightyears away, that no one knows other than them exists, is still a kingdom."

"But you will have no way of expanding it," Riley appeared from the distance, summoning another clone as he lost the other, "But I suppose there is beauty in knowing that there are limits. Limits…

…that I wish to test now."

Riley stretched his arms to the side again. And as he did so… darkness itself began to shift.

"..." Esme blinked a couple of times as she looked around her, slightly confused as to what exactly was happening. But as another asteroid slammed against her — she finally realized what Riley was doing, and for the first time in a very long time, Esme looked someone straight in the eyes…

…only to see blood profusely bleeding from them.

And for the very first time in her life, Esme's eyes widened as a hint of glitter appeared from them; a gasp, very lightly escaping her lips as she stared at Riley. For the very first time in her life…

…she was truly able to relate to someone.

For as long as she could remember, she had lived her entire life barely breathing; barely living because if she does, then everything else will not be able to… even herself.

She was so strong that everything around her just crumbled, even herself. And now, she was able to find someone who was the same.

Darkness wasn't really shifting no — but everything else was. The bright dots from the distance… were becoming larger and larger; some turning into streaks that almost made it look as if the stars themselves were just fireflies in a pond.

Riley Ross was not moving the darkness, no— he was moving everything else. The asteroids that were near them started to orbit around him, rotating at a speed that made it seem as if Esme and Riley were in the middle of a colossal tornado.

The planets from afar, removing themselves from the natural order of things and were now also using Riley as their center.

And the bright dots from the distance were proof that Riley was not just doing this in the star system they were in—no. He was doing it even to the stars from the distance, lightyears away.

There is no longer a simile, no figure of speech.

Riley Ross was trying to move and compress an entire galaxy…

…and he was succeeding.