Villain Retirement

"..."

It is unknown where exactly the Tournament was being held in the Known Universe — the only criteria was that there should be no life within a hundred thousand or so lightyears to prevent any sort of external event from happening; this rule has been followed through the expanse of time, and even now with Riley's Tournament.

And perhaps the one who created that ancient rule did not expect that the rule he created would someday be utilized to the fullest and would prevent more lives from being lost by a single creature known as Riley Ross.

"This is fucked up… he's at this point already?"

Most of the people on the flat planet are already seeing it happen right in front of them, and even then, they find it incredibly unbelievable.

"This has to be an illusion, this isn't real."

"...It's real. I don't like that it's real."

"It's not. How are we even seeing the changes in real-time? That's impossible, they are lightyears away."

"Because they won't be lightyears away in a few moments. Riley… is pulling all of them closer."

But perhaps the ones who truly could not believe what was happening were those who actually knew of Riley. Hannah was not even aware that she was holding her breath as the cosmos became bigger and bigger—or on the grand scale, smaller.

"We…" Hannah whispered, "We were just supposed to be normal siblings, Riley. Why… why has it become like this?"

"You are never normal, Hannah," Chihiro Prime stood behind Hannah as she too, watched as the cosmos shifted around them, "You have no idea how many universes have been destroyed because of your existence. This—"

"Don't," Nannah disrupted Chihiro Prime's words as she also stood beside Hannah, "Don't tell her, that's not her burden to bear."

"It's not yours either," Chihiro Prime glanced at Nannah, and then at Bard, "The number of universes you were able to save by eliminating problematic variants is… laughably insignificant."

"Not for those we saved," Nannah quickly responded.

"Tell me, then…" Chihiro Prime once again looked at the shifting cosmos surrounding them, "...What's your plan in saving everything from this? Unlike your World Enders, Riley Ross is not a spark that would cause a universe to end — he is the end itself. Does your father have a plan for that? His… Council of Ross?"

"How… do you know that?" Nannah's eyes turned wide as she heard Chihiro Prime's words.

"You pick up a thing or two if you live different versions of your life for more than a million times. But this…" Chihiro Prime closed her eyes, "...I was right in my judgment. Riley Ross is the most important person for me, and he should also be the most important person for all of you."

"You're fucking insane."

"And you're not?" Chihiro Prime chuckled.

"Y—"

"Hannah, come here." Nannah still had many words to say, but sadly for her, Bard called for her before she could say her piece. And so instead, she just raised both her middle fingers at Chihiro Prime before walking to her father.

"What's up?"

"I've maxed out the power of the Nexus, it's ready to take all of us back home," Bard lowered his voice, "I was wrong when I thought we could have a chance in fighting Riley Ross if we had the help of the people of his universe — some wanted to try and fight Riley Ross when they heard the prize, but after seeing… this."

Bard then opened his palm, and as he did so, a holographic map of the galaxy they were in popped out on top of it. And seeing it on that small scale, it was only then that Nannah realized just how monstrous this act was — everything was moving, spinning, and getting closer and closer to each other and making a sphere.

It may have looked slow since she was looking at a hologram, but the fact that she was even seeing it move at that scale was… beyond terrifying.

"They all just want to go home." And as Bard said that, multiple portals started appearing near his people.

"Well, I'm staying for a while," Nannah shrugged as she looked at her universe's people stepping into the portals, "I might learn a thing or two from them… increase our chances of saving more universes."

"..." Bard looked his daughter in the eyes for a few seconds, before just nodding his head and walking away.

"...You're not going to force me to go home because what I'm fucking doing is dangerous?"

"I know it is not right for me to say this," Bard glanced back before pointing up, "But with that creature here, you are in the safest place you will ever be. It dotes on the Hannah of this universe…

…and it dotes on you — use that."

"Use what?" Nannah raised an eyebrow, "The fuck does that mean?"

"Learn," Bard once again walked away, "I will be meeting with the Council of Ross to talk about what I just witnessed here. I will come back for you soon."

"...Alright, fucking weirdo. Psh," Nannah scoffed, rolling her eyes before she returned to Hannah and the others. As for Bard, he just looked at Bernard and Diana for a few seconds, before heading to one of the portals.

"Hm," Bernard, of course, did not fail to see this, "Do you think he misses her wife?"

"I highly doubt it," Diana also glanced at Bard as he disappeared into the portal, "I heard the Diana of their world experimented on their daughter."

"But you did too." And all of a sudden, Xra interrupted Bernard and Diana's conversation, "The Star Compressor, I know where you put it now."

"But I did it to save her life, and everyone else's," Diana did not bother looking at Xra.

"What is she saying?" Bernard looked Diana in the eyes, "...Is there something else you're not telling me?"

"..." Diana only glanced at Bernard, before shaking her head and staring at the shifting cosmos, "Not the right time. Everything we know about the limits of what Riley could do is changing…

…this is not something we can control anymore."

"That doesn't change anything," Queen Adel also joined in on the conversation, "You have never been able to control him in the first place. This…

…This is just him showing us that he could end us if he wished."

"How can one even hold such power?" Queen Vania stood beside Queen Adel, "It is… unholy."

"Your god is unholy then. He is said to move more than a quadrillion times faster than light," Queen Adel scoffed, "Clearly an exaggeration made by his pathetic descendants."

"The only exaggeration here is your ugly hair," Queen Vania and Queen Adel, despite the falling cosmos around them, still continued to bicker,

"And it is not an exaggeration—Van could move from one end of the universe to the next in less than a fraction of a millisecond. And as proven by Riley Ross, He still exists and is moving beyond our universe — unable to be chased by even Death herself."

"Y—"

"I could still take both of them," Gracy also suddenly joined the conversation. No one, however, even looked at her or heeded her any mind, "Pft, boomers…

…you guys should at least try."

With her last words, however, Gracy suddenly found herself a battalion of eyes looking at her.

At least try?

All of them did try. The evaniels tried to stop him, and they left with people dead. Queen Vania herself tried to stop him, but she was just played. The Common Council tried to stop him, and now only two of them were left.

Queen Adel wanted to try to stop him, and fortunately, she did not push through it.

None of them were in this situation because of a lack of trying or effort. Riley Ross was just the definition of an unstoppable force… and an immovable object.

"Wait…" Gracy, however, did not seem to notice the glares she was getting as she started looking around, "...Where did my people go?"

"...They left," Nannah looked at her.

"What…?" Gracy blinked a couple of times, "And they left us here!?"

"..."

"..."

"...I thought you wanted to stay here? You were even clinging to Riley Ross earlier."

"An entire galaxy is literally coming down on us!" Gracy started pointing everywhere, "W…

…Why the fuck would I want to stay here!?"

***

"I surrender, Professor."

Somewhere in the expanse of space, Esme was now very slowly floating her way toward Riley, who was still bleeding from his eyes and nose as his arms were stretched to the sides,

"I could attempt to destroy this attack, but it is impossible the way I am now — and even if I was in full strength, deflecting this attack might kill me and you. The only thing certain is that you will just revive and it will be my loss either way."

"Okay," Riley just glanced at Esme — the cosmos, however, continued to shift as the blood flowing from Riley became stronger; turning into orbs as he actively cleaned himself even while pulling an entire galaxy closer to him.

"Why are you not stopping, Professor?" Esme tilted her head to the side, "Do you wish to send me to Eternal Death?"

"No," Riley shook his head as his entire body began convulsing, "I want to try something."

"What?"

"This."

Riley then suddenly snapped his fingers.

No sound came from it, not even a little ripple.

"What did you do, Professor?" Esme blinked a couple of times as she looked around her, only to see that the shifting cosmos finally stopped moving. Soon, however…

…the lights began turning off one by one.

"Turning this galaxy...

...into nothing."