Villain Retirement

Riley had done so many things that one could not even imagine doing. He had killed trillions of people, traveled across multiverses, traveled in a spaceship almost as large as a moon, killed several universes, died hundreds of times… and yet right now, Riley was doing something for the first time that most people have already done once in their lives.

Travel by sea.

But of course, as the sea itself looked incredibly flat due to the fact that the ship was actually moving across the water at an unknown speed, most people have actually not traveled by sea in this way.

Miss Pepondosovich had explained to him that the land of the mortals was actually far, and in terms of the perspective in the Domain of the Gods, far is… quite far. It is no wonder that the mortals can not really reach the land of the gods, try as they might.

And of course, it was not only the sound of the endless sea waving at the speed of light that Riley was allowing to enter his ears, it was also the sound of Miss Pepondosovich puking.

"Are you alright, Miss Pepondosovich?" Esme was by her side, patting her back as everything she ate at the tavern was practically now with the sea. In most circumstances, Esme patting Miss Pepondosovich's back would have been impossible for the simple fact that Esme was at least 10 feet tall, and Miss Pepondosovich was probably shorter than 4 feet. But currently, the two of them were close to each other's height.

"No. No, I'm not alrig—Eugh!" Miss Pepondosovich continued to puke everything she could puke; her human ears which were not there before, completely red.

And that was not the only change in their physique, Miss Pepondosovich's rabbit ears were also gone. By all means, the two of them just looked human now. And it wasn't only them, the other gods who were also on the ship looked incredibly human.

And once again, Riley, with his white hair and abnormally white skin was the weirdest-looking one of the bunch.

This was one of the conditions of going to the mortal world — one must look like a mortal. How they were able to change their appearance, well, there are many gods living in the harbor who were capable of changing others' appearances, for a price of several gems, of course.

"I have been meaning to ask, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley seemed to completely ignore Miss Pepondosovich's state as he just casually stood beside her; his eyes, on the endless sea instead of the suffering woman vomiting her entire life,

"These gems you have been using as payment, are they this world's currency?"

"Y… yes," Miss Pepondosovich raised a finger, gesturing to Riley to just wait for a bit.

"And how exactly do we repay you?" Riley breathed out as he glanced at Esme, "You paid for all of our fares, as well as Miss Esme's transformation."

"Trust me…" Miss Pepondosovich took in a deep breath as she wiped her mouth, "...the entertainment you are bringing me is enough payment. Do not underestimate a god's boredom, Riri."

"Hm…" Riley nodded, "...Then I will make sure that you get more than what you paid for, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Somehow… I don't like the sound of that," Miss Pepondosovich, "Remember, Riri. You too, Miss Esme — you do not, by whatever circumstance, even death, show any of your godly abilities to the mortals."

"What will happen if we do, Miss Pepondosovich?" Esme tilted her head to the side, "Will we get punished?"

"There are no rules here, Miss Esme," Riley shook his head, "I do not think that is the case."

"That is the case," Miss Pepondosovich quickly pointed a finger at Riley, causing him to dodge whatever it was that almost hit him in the face, "We have strictly self-imposed ourselves that we will not reveal ourselves to the mortals. In this domain, we have a saying; If a god dares show itself to the mortals, then the said god must prepare to receive the wrath of a million gods… or something."

"We will be hunted down by everyone, Miss Pepondosovich?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he stared at Miss Pepondosovich's finger.

"Yes," Miss Pepondosovich nodded, "Once it has been proven that you used your abilities to hurt or manipulate the mortals, you will be forced and exiled to the deepest part of the domain and become one of the Fallen."

"That does not sound good, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme covered her face, trying to imitate an emotion of shock.

"It's not!" Miss Pepondosovich scoffed, "It is practically a prison."

"But what happens if you use your powers for the sake of the mortals, or to save them?" Esme asked.

"Then you just get scolded and warned not to repeat it again," Miss Pepondosovich shrugged.

"I have been sent to prison a couple of times, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley shrugged, "I always seem to manage to get out."

"Not this time," Miss Pepondosovich shook her head, "Even I do not know exactly where the deepest part of the domain is since it is basically just an endless flat world, but no Fallen has ever come back from it."

"That sounds interesting, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley squinted, "And since we are on the topic of exiled gods, does the name Paige Pearson mean anything to you?"

"Page what now?"

"No, you do not need to mind it, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley shook his head as he just once again focused on the endless horizon of nothing but blue. And soon, something that had never happened before during his stay in the domain happened — the scenery turned dark.

"Ah, we are getting near." And as soon as Miss Pepondosovich uttered those words, everyone on the ship felt their entire bodies slightly being tugged as the ship started to slow down. And as the ocean once again regained its shape and the sound of the waves whispered into everyone's ears, the sight of a gigantic statue welcomed everyone.

No, it wasn't just a single statue, but several. Some of the statues also had candles lit up on them, meaning there were people coming to the sea and praying for the gods.

"Oh, is that not you, Miss Pepondosovich?" Esme quickly pointed at a statue that somewhat resembled Miss Pepondosovich when she still had her rabbit ears on.

"Oh, sheesh," Miss Pepondosovich could not help but just scratch the back of her head, "I did not realize that it was still there."

"The mortals know you exist, Miss Pepondosovich?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he also looked at Miss Pepondosovich's statue.

"Y… yes," Miss Pepondosovich shyly answered, "I sort of saved a couple of their peoples here and there when I was last here."

"So, you used your powers, Miss Pepondosovich?" Esme blinked a couple of times, "After warning us several times that we should not, by any circumstance, show our powers to them?"

"Well… I learned from experience," Miss Pepondosovich crossed her arms and let out a confident nod, "And also, that was a warning to myself too, since if I show the mortal my powers again, I will be exiled."

"Hm…" Esme squinted as she looked suspiciously at Miss Pepondosovich.

"I think you should be alright, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley shook his head as he pointed at Miss Pepondosovich's statue, "Your statue seems to have not been cleaned for thousands of years, and there are no candles lit up too. I believe they have already forgotten you, there is a chance the other gods might have too."

"I do not know if I should be happy about that or not," Miss Pepondosovich's eyes twitched.

"You should, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley sighed, "Being famous is a curse, I know it."

"A…anyway," Miss Pepondosovich started walking back inside the ship while waving her hands, "Get a good rest, we will be traveling at mortal speeds from now on until we get to one of their seaports. And remember, once we dock there…

…act as normal as possible."

***

"Are… are you a god!?"

"Yes, behold."

"What!? No!"

Not even a second after literally stepping foot on mortal soil, Miss Pepondosovich already had to forcefully push Riley away as one of the loiterers around the dock approached him due to the nature of his hair and skin.

"What are you doing, Riri!? I thought I told you not to do anything."

"They asked me, Miss Pepondosovich."

"You're not supposed to say anything!"

"It is not my fault that he asked me."

"Of course, they are going to ask you!" Miss Pepondosovich looked back at all the people kneeling on the dock, "Look!"

"..." Riley turned to look back at the dock, only to see the loiterers asking everyone that was stepping off the ship the same question — and it wasn't only their ship, they even approached the other ships and boats.

"Those people are desperate, Riri. They will ask everyone that has come from the sea the same question," Miss Pepondosovich sighed, "Riri, promise me… do not use your powers, or else this will be a very short journey to search for a cosmic piece."

"Do not worry, Miss Pepondosovich…

…I won't use my powers."