Villain Retirement

"Why couldn't you think of other solutions!? Didn't you once install your memories to an Android!?"

"It's… not that easy."

A whole day. A whole day had already passed since everyone discovered what Bard was doing in the universe he was in, and yet the beating hadn't stopped even once — it did not help that Nannah was not even listening to any of his explanations; she was just busy cursing him. While eating, and even when sleeping, she was cursing him so loud that everyone could hear it.

"Enough of this farce."

And almost like a light shining upon him, Dee forcefully pulled Bard away from the very, and almost literal sticky situation he found himself in,

"We currently need your brains to be working on another problem. D—"

"Go find another Bernard Ross, this one is already mine."

Unfortunately for Bard, he just jumped from one problem to another as Caitlain grabbed his other arm.

"...What?" Dee could not help but raise an eyebrow as she pulled Bard away, and the only thing Bard could really do was reinforce his body with his armor so that he wouldn't be split into two by these two beautiful titans,

"What makes you think I want a piece of this human?" Dee scoffed.

"Right, I forgot you were into women."

"W—I'm not."

"You and that abnormal telekinetic are together."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I like women. What Alice and I have is something different entirely."

"...You're weird."

"This entire situation is weird," Dee rolled her eyes, "Now let go of the man, we need him to gather people for us. If King is creating an army, we should too. And hopefully, the number of deaths on both sides would not be high…

…we would be needing them for the other guy."

***

The other guy Dee was speaking of was not in the space station, he was not even in a dead universe — but finally back in his own universe, exploring the new streets of New Theran.

Unlike the original Theran, the buildings did not seem old and medieval at all, but almost similar to Earth with its skyscrapers and buildings — and considering the materials available to New Theran, the streets seemed even more impressive.

He had not really gotten the chance to explore the New Theran after he disappeared, and now that he was… the people living there now wish he hadn't. Why would they not…

…when Riley brought the undead princess with him?

The worst part of this all was that he was casually strolling the streets as if he was just walking his dog. Except his dog was a sedated multiversal threat that was literally almost unstoppable.

No one approached Riley, however, as Queen Adel had already made a decree that no themarian, under any circumstance, should have a conversation with Riley Ross — perhaps for the best, as no one would want to approach him anyway.

New Theran really only had a single city, with the entire planet being a country by itself due to the number of its population. And so, suffice it to say, everyone knew what Riley was doing already except those who might be busy doing something.

"This place has not changed," And after enjoying himself a bit with a little sightseeing, Riley seemed to have finally reached his destination — the Field of Crystals, where all the young themarians who died were immortalized in an almost impenetrable crystal which, as the name suggests, preserves them for all eternity.

The themarian youths, even with their lives extinguished, stood tall inside their crystals. And with the way they died, it almost truly seemed like all of them were just peacefully sleeping. Like trees, filled with life… but not truly able to live.

Perhaps that is truer in more ways than one, as these themarians probably were not even aware that they died, as their deaths were almost instantaneous.

The crystals are a culmination of the lives of all the people and everything that there ever was on the planet, quite figuratively and literally. It is almost indestructible even by themarians. And yet, with a snap of Riley's fingers…

…the crystals began to crack.

And the bodies that were peacefully resting inside their crystal trees, now violently rolling on the debris of the crystal prison that was supposed to confine them for eternity. Their peaceful postures, now completely random and most seem even disrespectful as their limbs all just wave and fling until they reach the ground.

"Hm…" Riley nodded at himself as he saw this ominous scenery in front of him, and as soon as all the corpses were insultingly sprawled on the ground, the glass cage that was floating beside him also touched the sea of crystal beneath his feet.

"Riley Ross!"

And soon, a shadow was cast on Riley as two silhouettes suddenly appeared above him. The two seemed to want to approach closer, but they found themselves stopped by an invisible wall.

"Why are you here!? And what are you doing to our children!?" Queen Adel's unusually long and lush hair violently waved with the wind as she swung her arm at the invisible wall, but the most it did was cause a ripple that blew away all the clouds above her.

"Queen Adel… look!" And the other silhouette floating in the air was Aerith 2, who had truly committed to the name Edith. Edith was pointing at the glass cage; her finger, slightly trembling as she did so.

"That—isn't that Princess Esme!? What… what did you do to her!?" Queen Adel sucked in a short but very deep breath as she stared at the undead princess, thinking it was their own Esme, "Are you really intent on destroying the only remaining future of my people!?"

"I am truly thankful that is not me, Your Highness."

"W…" And all of a sudden, Princess Esme was also floating beside her; her emotionless eyes reflecting the undead princess who looked completely identical to her, "That's… a variant? What are you planning, Riley Ross!?"

"Fixing my mistake, Queen Adel," Riley let out a small sigh as he walked away from the cage. And with each step, the unmoving and lifeless undead princess very slowly started to move; its fingers, now tapping the glass cage.

"It… wasn't dead?" Edith squinted her eyes as she saw the lifeless princess very slowly sitting up; its skin, completely pale and blue as her head very slowly started to fidget, "But I don't sense any energy from it.

"It is a zombie, Edith."

"What's… a zombie?" Edith squinted her eyes.

"You will find out soon enough, Edith." And with those words, Riley snapped his fingers again. And as he did so, the glass cage confining the undead princess very slowly opened, "Hopefully, that is."

And almost immediately, the once weak and lifeless undead princess disappeared from its cage… and rushed toward the three themarian royalties.

"!!!"

Princess Esme quickly moved in front of Edith and Queen Adel — but she did not need to. Because as soon as a whistle hummed in the air, the undead princess stopped in its tracks and just floated right in front of Esme; only the invisible wall that Riley created separated them.

"..." Princess Esme quickly tilted her head to the side as she stared at the face of her undead variant, and the undead princess did the same. But soon, as if she did not even see her at all, the undead princess disappeared.

The three royalties could really only watch as the undead princess started flying around in circles as it chased a silhouette eerily similar to King. As for Riley, he was now casually sitting in front of a crystal pillar which was left completely intact without even as much as a scratch — and in it, was Alice Lane.

Queen Adel and the others did not need to wonder for long, however, as very slowly… they started to notice several whispers lingering in the air. Whispers that should have been impossible to hear, now and forever.

"Zombie…" Queen Adel's eyes very slowly squinted as she finally realized what was happening, "...Undead. Riley Ross, you… you dare do that upon my people!? Have you not already done enough to us!?"

"I have not done nearly enough to everyone, Your Highness," Riley shook his head as he rested his back on Alice's crystal grave, "And as I said, this is me fixing my mistake. Although it was my intention to kill all of the themarians and destroy you, I should have done it with my own hands and not led and influenced other people to do it. So, please…

…you do not need to thank me for letting your youth walk and float in this universe again."

"You… stop this!" Queen Adel was about to slam her entire body on the invisible dome that Riley created but quickly stopped as Riley raised his finger and shook his head.

"If you destroy that wall, Your Highness — you would risk the virus scattering in this universe," Riley sighed and started clicking his tongue, "I am sure you do not want that, Mother told me that this virus is completely airborne and will latch onto anyone…

…as is the case now."

Riley then very slowly stretched his arm to the side as a wide smile crawled on his face. And in his glimmering eyes reflected the themarian youths, now struggling to stand up from their supposed eternal sleep.

"Rejoice, Queens of New Theran," Riley raised his voice as the smile on his face turned completely wide,

"Your dead are now your future."