Villain Retirement

"Do you know why I try to learn all the languages of all the people I meet, Undead Princess?"

"..."

"Because when I do my villainous monologues, I want them to hear my words in their native language — it is much more impactful that way. I learned Theran's language too, 3 of them including your kingdom's."

"..."

"But with you, all of that becomes utterly meaningless. And yet… I still do it, Undead Princess. Because I believe, even mindless, you deserve to be treated in a way which befits your status."

"Khhgrah…"

"Hm, that is right."

Riley has been talking for several minutes now, and all he receives as a response is the darkness of space, as well as the growls and grunts of Princess Esme.

He did not seem to mind, however, as he still continued to speak with her — even making sure his words reached her in the expanse of space by using his telekinetic abilities; even while already trying to shield himself as she continued to lunge onto him.

"..." Riley stretched his hand to the side, quickly pulling Mars, reinforcing it with his abilities and using it as a shield to block the oncoming Esme.

But alas, once again, Mars had become a victim of Riley Ross as its pieces shattered across the solar system; not even offering any protection as Esme just flew through it like it was just a ball of diluted mud.

Riley, however, used the remains of Mars to trap Esme inside, once again compressing it and using more force to do so… only for a ripple to instantly blast across the entire solar system — ripping everything in it.

And Riley, who was near the explosion, also felt his flesh being ripped apart even though he wa already wearing the thickest telekinetic armor he had ever wrapped himself with.

And perhaps the scariest part of all of this is not the strength capable of casually destroying an entire system with just a clap of her hands — but to be able to do it again and again.

And she did. The undead princess started clapping her hands again and again; not even minding that her flesh and bones were disintegrating while doing so.

"Hm…" Riley could really only let out a small but deep hum as he summoned and repaired his armor without pause; shattering as soon as they were made. After a few more claps, however, the undead princess finally slowed down as she seemed to realize that her attempt to disintegrate Riley was not working at all.

And so, with another growl, it just once again rushed toward Riley, threatening to turn him into a mangled corpse.

Riley did not dodge even with this unstoppable force violently rushing toward him again. And instead, he just created some sort of harness — telekinetically connected the two of them with a rod so that no matter how fast Esme lunges toward him, he would just follow the same speed as they were directly attached to each other.

"..." Perhaps this was a mistake, however, as even though they were in space, Riley could feel the undead princess accelerating at a speed that caused the stars from the distance to become streaks; similar to hyperspeed.

And soon, with no resistance whatsoever to stop them, they were now moving several times faster than the speed of light.

"This is truly a mistake…" Riley whispered to himself as he just started creating clones from anything he could make them from; leaving a trail of them so that he could still find his way back to Chihiro and Diana. But as he stretched his telekinetic radar to its limit, he found that his limit was not at all what he imagined it to be anymore.

It was stretching, and still stretching as he found himself farther and farther away from where he came from…

…almost as if he could see everything in this galaxy and the next.

And as they continued to increase their speed, Riley stretched his arm to the side and he started pulling everything his reach could get a hold-off. And if one were to see what was happening from afar, the trail he and Esme were leaving almost seemed like a vacuum as he was pulling all the celestial bodies with him.

The undead princess was completely unaware and just continued to rush toward Riley like a donkey chasing a carrot, not knowing there was already a celestial drill chasing it from behind, literally.

Riley started compressing all the celestial bodies he gathered and shaped them into a drill; spinning at an unimaginable speed as the gap between its tip and Esme's back grew shorter and shorter.

"..." And very soon, as a hint of blood finally started escaping from Riley's nose a he stretched his upgraded powers even further to its new limits, he found himself…

…smiling.

He was wrong.

Being trapped in an eternity did not make him completely emotionless or without feelings at all, no. It was just merely suppressing; molding it from within him and making it more… more… well, just more.

He had never felt excitement like this before — it was as if his entire body started to shiver as he saw the undead princess still growling at him, and the celestial drill which was made from an entire galaxy following her behind like a dragon.

And then, with a small but stuttering breath…

"Ha…hahaha. Hahahaha!"

Riley began laughing. Not like his previous bursts of laughter which had the purpose of making his victims uncomfortable, no. This laugh did not even reach from ear to ear, and yet even his eyebrows were slightly raised as his pale white face became flushed.

And then, almost as if imitating the undead princess, a small but manic growl escaped his lips as he pointed his palm at her. An echoing pulse then escaped his palm; a pulse instantly covering the size of an entire star system, he pushed the undead princess back — causing several of her flesh and bones to flatten.

This wasn't enough to stop the undead princess at all, however, as her body just instantly recovered. But stopping her was not Riley's goal at all, but just slowing her down so that the celestial drill chasing her from behind could finally ram itself toward her.

And there, he watched as the undead princess started to scream as the heavens fell upon her, quite literally. It did not really pierce her at all; after all, the size was incomprehensible.

Even Riley himself never imagined that he would one day do things like this. He had really only always gone with the flow of the wave, just destroying whatever he could in whichever direction the wave took him.

That was him, a being just always going with the flow. But perhaps now…

…now was the time to take control of the wave.

"Undead princess."

And as the back of the undead princess was being ravaged by the cosmos, Riley suddenly flew toward her and grabbed her by the face. And even with her busy trying to resist the force drilling her from behind, she still tried to bite Riley's hands.

Riley did not mind, however, as he even placed his face closer to hers.

"I have a plan," Riley smiled as he looked the undead princess in its white and lifeless eyes, "And I am going to need you in it, so…"

A clone then appeared behind Riley, grabbing something tiny from one of his many pockets. And then, with a snap of his fingers, the tiny object the clone was holding turned into some sort of glass cage.

"...I was saving this for Aerith just in case she misbehaves again, but I am using it on you instead."

***

"What… the fuck is that?"

"A zombie variant of Princess Esme."

"I know what it is, but I am asking why you brought it here!"

Back in the Council of Ross, all of the Hera variants who were still left in the space station were currently huddled up in one place; their instincts, all turned to their max as they stared at the bluish-skinned woman sleeping in a glass cage in front of them.

And Hera, who had the urge to return to the space station, could not help but just quickly hide behind Diana as she saw the undead princess.

"Mrs. Ross… I am really glad you're here now, but… why did you bring something like that?" Hera slightly stuttered, "I can feel my body acting up just by looking at it."

"I am… as worried as you are," Diana could really only just sigh as she looked at the undead princess, before turning her attention to her son, "Riley… where were you even hiding this… contraption?"

"I found it here in the Council of Ross, Mother," Riley shrugged, "Bard probably built it for his Diana, but ended up killing her instead."

"...Do you think she'll wake up anytime soon?" Gracy carefully approached the cage.

"No."

But as soon as she heard Riley saying that, the confidence in her stride returned as she tapped on the glass.

"Pft, why are you guys even scared from just this?" Gracy then let out a chuckle as she hit the glass cage, "She already died once, I could just easily kill it again with my Thunder—!!!"

And as soon as Esme's undead variant flinched, Gracy instantly rushed behind Riley, "You… you said she won't wake up!"

"She won't, because she is not asleep in the first place," Riley shook his head, "She is dead. Her energy is merely being drained by the cage."

"...Fuck. So…

..what is it doing here again?"

"Well..." Riley turned to look at Diana,

"...I always wanted a pet."