Villain Retirement

"How many universes has he conquered?"

[The only number we can confirm on our side is 2,432. It could be more.]

"That many? Just how strong is this King? Even the Space Pirate Queen has not conquered half of the Known Universe, and she has already lived for 4000 years."

"...Who even said I was actively trying to conquer the universe?"

With the portals littered around the auditorium gone, Riley and the others were finally able to use the same as it was intended as most of his universe's greatest minds and warriors gathered in a circle. And at the very center was only Ahor Zai, who records and compiles everyone's thoughts so that they can discuss in the most efficient manner…

…or so that's what was supposed to be happening.

"I know I am late in this game," Empress raised her hand as she subtly glanced at Diana, who was seated directly across her, "But as probably someone who had spent one of the longest time with a depressed and stressed out Bernard, and I do not mean anything else from this, he may incredibly dangerous, but at the same time, his mind is incredibly weak and vulnerable to certain temptations."

"What the fuck…?" Hannah wanted to raise her voice, but opted to just whisper to herself.

"I know you said no plans, Diana. And I agree—you can't plan with Bernard," Empress let out a small but very deep sigh, "He is a very… very magnificent human and—"

"Get to the point," Diana's eyebrows started to lower.

"I am saying there are certain things we can take advantage of," Empress cleared her throat; her voice turning deep as she looked at the other people in the council hall, "Bernard might have the highest IQ in the entire universe, but his EQ is that of a child—perhaps something Riley himself adapted."

"I will have everyone here know that I consider myself to have a very high EQ."

Everyone present there could not help but just turn their heads toward Riley, who, unlike most of them who were seated on bleachers, was seated on some sort of luxurious chair without anyone beside him; consuming almost a quarter of the council room for himself.

"That is why I have done the things I have done without getting bored, because I know what my victims were feeling — it would be disrespectful not to."

"That's not exactly true."

"Hm?" Riley turned to look at who disagreed with him, only to see Katherine seated beside Alice Prime, who did not really seem to care about the meeting and was just asking questions and playing with Karina.

"You can be incredibly dense and unfeeling most of the time, Riley." And as Katherine's words traveled through the council room, almost everyone there nodded their heads, "And perhaps the worst thing about it is that you do know what you are doing, but just do not care. You are even acting as if your daughter doesn't exist at all."

"That is not true at all," Riley shook his head, "A part of me has always been beside Karina, Katherine."

"...What?"

"Ah, that's true!" Karina raised her hand high and stood up, "Mini Dad pops up every time I need someone to talk to."

Riley pointed at Karina and shrugged.

"...You're letting your clones be the one present for your daughter?" Katherine raised an eyebrow, "That's… not healthy."

"Perhaps for normal people, Katherine," Riley shook his head, "But Karina is half primordial. I do not even know how she fits in all of this."

"I can fit anywhere," Karina just shrugged, before sitting back down and talking to Alice again.

"But—"

"I think we have lost track," Queen Vania, who was sitting beside Empress, also raised her hand, "This is not the time to hear about Riley Ross's romantic affairs."

"As I was saying," Empress cleared her throat and spoke up again, "Yes, any strategy we might have might prove to be useless, but we can take advantage of King's emotional state."

"I agree with you to a point," Bard leaned forward, "All Bernards, including me, are weak emotionally, extremely so. Most of the Bernards I have… killed are those who have lost someone dear to them. Just one person, and my variants stray to a darker path. And we know that King lost his best friend…

…but I do not think we have any chance of using that against him. His mind has been corrupted, he is no longer doing all of this because he lost someone, he is doing this because he likes the power — to be in control."

"..."

"Because deep down, what all Bernards want is the feeling of being in control," Bard looked at the auditorium, "That is why I created the Council of Ross, that is why he is conquering all these universes — control."

"So, that's it?" Aerith raised her hand, "We just go to his main universe, and we attack just like that? And when are we going to discuss rescuing Paige?"

"He would be ready for us," Bard nodded, "In fact, all the breadcrumbs he had left were probably on purpose."

"So, there's a chance that it's a trap?"

"No," a small smirk crawled on Bard's face as he scoffed, "The bastard's taunting us. Believe me, his ego is hurt that he was not able to defeat us when he disguised himself as one of the council — he wants to defeat us head-on."

"We have a primordial on our side," Queen Vania raised her hand again.

"And he has god knows how many variants on his side," Chihiro, who had just been quiet the entire time, could not help but roll her eyes as she finally joined the meeting, "Remember, there is a reason Machina is wary of King. You know who else Machina is wary of? Him."

Everyone looked at Riley as Chihiro pointed at him.

"If we put it in perspective, Riley is capable of destroying entire galaxies in just a breath — King should be capable of doing so as well."

"We all know how dangerous he is," Nannah raised her hand, "He was able to hold his own against Aerith and Diana."

"That's just it, we don't," Chihiro shook her head, "We have seen what he could do when he is cornered, but now we will be facing him in his own game, War. This man has conquered thousands and thousands of universes — who here has actually gone to war?"

Everyone involved in the very short themarian war raised their hands.

"...Right, so less than half of us," Chihiro sighed.

"What are you even trying to say, Chihiro?" Hannah squinted her eyes as she looked at Chihiro

"I am saying…

…just send in Riley alone."

"...What?" Hannah raised an eyebrow, "And you just said we can't underestimate King!"

"I object that," Queen Vania immediately raised a hand, "What prevents the two from just joining hands?"

"Because deep down, King knows he is inferior to Riley," Chihiro sighed, "And as you said so yourself, he has a massive ego and wants to be in control, and emotionally vulnerable. What do you think will happen…

…when King expects that all of us would attack him, but only Riley appears in front of him?"

"...He'd take a hit on the ego," Hannah placed her hand on her chin.

"And he'll most likely want to face Riley alone, even if he has an army of thousands of variants. Which is probably for the better. We have an Alice, we have an Esme — he probably has too. Even with that, though, I am confident we can win an out battle…

…because we actually have the strongest versions of our variants in this very room."

"..." All the Dianas started looking at each other.

"I am actually talking about me and Alice," Chihiro cleared her throat before waving her hand, "But I guarantee you…

…most of us will die."

"And we have already established that," Queen Vania stood up, "Everyone here is ready to die."

"Well…" Gracy, who didn't really know why she was part of the council, could not help but raise a finger at Queen Vania's statement, "...Maybe not all of us. Look, all of you are talking about going to war, and killing, and death…

…can't we just talk to the guy first?"

"...He is beyond reason," Bard sighed and shook his head.

"Hm, that's not what I saw," Gracy slightly shrugged as she hummed, "He did a villain's monologue when he was here. Of course, he might just be trying to recruit some of us in his crusade…

…but every villain that does a monologue wants to talk."

"That is true," Riley nodded, "I do like to talk a lot, Gracy."

"See?" Gracy pointed at Riley, "Talk no jutsu. Why don't we just get another best friend, Steve…Prophet, whatever… and then give it to him…? No? Let his best friend talk to him? It worked on that cartoon I watched where they brought his wife from another universe. No? Just me?"

"Considering he has destroyed many Earths that might have contained a variant of Steve, talking to him is futile," Bard shook his head, "This—"

"The only way this ends is with him dead," Diana raised her hand as she stood up from her seat, "The only thing we need to discuss here is who will go."

"Look, lady. I don't want to sound insensitive…" Gracy sighed, "...But we all know you're angry since he killed your husband. Honestly, you shouldn't even… be in this circle."

"King has killed many, not just my husband."

"Okay, but we can clearly see you are emotional."

"I am not emotional!"

"Yes, you said that very calm."

"What even is your purpose here?" Diana gestured to Gracy.

"I don't know. I thought we were all here to give different perspectives," Gracy raised both her palms and scoffed, "I mean, we've already wasted an entire chapter for this."

"Look, everyone…" Chihiro once again raised her voice, "...All of you know I'm right, the only real way to do this is just to send the handsome primordial alone."

"..." Diana did not really say anything anymore and just turned to look at Riley. And it wasn't only her, everyone turned their attention to the man sitting on a throne.

"We can't seriously be considering that, right?" Hannah quickly stood up from her seat, "I know Riley is strong and he is practically immortal, and you think he's some sort of god…

…but he's Riley. Mom, come on?"

"So, we gathered this fancy meeting just to throw it to the big guy?" Gracy leaned back on her seat, "I mean, well… that's actually kinda smart."

"Chihiro is correct," Diana let out a small but very deep sigh as she looked her son in the eyes, "And I believe it is only fitting that you end this… get revenge for Bernard. And I know you have also been training your undead army."

"Oh," Riley blinked a couple of times as he returned everyone's gaze,

"I'm not joining the war, I'm just watching all of you."