Villain Retirement

890 Chapter 890: God's Boon

"Human…?" Miss Pepondosovich looked at Riley and Esme, before turning her head back…

…only to see Ray standing there with his legs trembling uncontrollably.

"You followed us again? I seriously need to learn how to discern human noises from other noises."

Ray could not really say anything, as he was just trying his best not to pee his pants right there and then in front of the gods. Although Ray had already convinced himself that Riley and the others were gods, he did not really know what that entailed — and so, he tailed them.

But alas, he was now finding himself being slowly wrapped by vines that were slowly crawling from beneath his feet.

"H…" Ray could not even ask for help as he felt the fear inside him covering his entire body like a bladed blanket—no, that was actually the small thorns of the vines crawling across his skin.

"Oi, oi," Miss Pepondosovich clicked her tongue several times as she wagged her finger at the Tree God, "Did you hear any of us agreeing to your deal? Why are you already wrapping your fingers around the boy?"

"You do not want information regarding the cosmic piece?" The Tree God lightly hummed in confusion, "A single mortal for information worth billions of them, I do not see any reason you would refuse, hm?"

"One, we did not bring that child with us," Miss Pepondosovich sighed, "And two, we can just report you for using your abilities in the mortal world."

"Oh, you would tell on me?" The Tree God let out a tiny burst of laughter as the vines wrapping around Ray started to tighten, "That is a sure way to make sure that no other god would be helping you from here on out. And also — I am disguising myself as a monster, and therefore not really revealing myself to the mortals."

"...There was that kind of loophole?" Miss Pepondosovich could not help but just place her hand on her chin as she looked back and forth between Ray and the Tree God, "Do you want to hear another loophole?"

"Hm?"

"My friends and I could just kill you here and now," Miss Pepondosovich smiled, "Trust me, you won't even have time to share your thoughts with other gods — these two gods behind me can erase you just like that."

"You are resorting to threats—"

And before the Tree God could finish its words, the forest returned to its original state… except for the Tree God, which was no longer anywhere to be found.

"What…" Miss Pepondosovich quickly turned to look at Riley, who just nodded at her in response, "...Why did you do that!?"

"Oh," Riley immediately stopped nodding, "I thought that was your signal for me to kill him, Miss Pepondosovich as we talked about."

"No…" Miss Pepondosovich could really only blink as she stared at the small but incredibly smooth crater suddenly in front of them, "...And we did not talk about anything. I was trying to negotiate with the guy, Riri!"

"Perhaps make your signals clearer next time, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme sighed.

"What signal!? There was no signal!" Miss Pepondosovich wanted to pull her hair out from frustration. Riley was already a handful, and now practically another version of him joined them—just what universe did these two actually come from?

Instead of trying to rack her brains around it, however, Miss Pepondosovich just walked away to help Ray up, who still seemed quite shocked by what just happened to him.

"Go home, child," Miss Pepondosovich sighed as she patted away all the dried-up vines and leaves still sticking to Ray, "This forest will be quite dangerous now that the tree god is gone, all the monsters will be vying for the top spot."

"You're… you're gods."

"No," Miss Pepondosovich shook her head, "You see any of us using god-like abilities?"

"...No."

"Exactly," Miss Pepondosovich then lifted Ray up so he could stand straight, "Now, be a good boy and take care of your mother Leticia."

"B—"

"Go on boy, get," Miss Pepondosovich gently pushed Ray and started shooing him away. And since Ray was still quite shocked by what just happened to him, all he could really do was follow Miss Pepondosovich's orders; his legs, walking on their own.

His stupor did not last long, however, as it was replaced by excitement as he confirmed that the three were actually truly gods. And so, he quickly turned around toward them… only to see they were no longer there.

"Where… did they suddenly go?" Ray could really only blink a couple of times as the three just suddenly disappeared, "No… no."

This was Ray's chance to become someone different from the rest, and he would not just let go of it. He had heard it many times before, people gaining a god's boon in exchange of promising to live their life searching for the cosmic piece.

He already made a vow to himself to search for the cosmic piece in the first place, the life-long promise did not matter to him. No matter what happens, he will be getting a boon today.

And so, Ray started running deeper into the forest to try and find the three gods. But Ray… Ray did not get far until he found himself being stared at by a tall bipedal monster that was almost as thin as paper; its limbs, seemingly cut the air with even just a single movement.

"Wh—"

And before Ray could even say anything, he saw the paper monster being ripped in half by a 6-legged monstrosity with a mouth the size of an entire house. Ray, of course, took this chance to quickly run away.

But alas, his trembling legs zapped out any strength he had left, causing him to just violently trip and roll there and then.

"Kh…!" He didn't want to make a noise in fear of being noticed by the monster, but as he glanced at the 6-legged monstrosity, he realized that it was actually already looking at him; its large mouth, threatening to just swallow him whole.

Fortunately for Ray, however, he caught a glimpse of Miss Pepondosovich and the others actually walking close to him.

"H… help!" Ray quickly let out the loudest voice he could muster as he reached his hand at the three gods. And of course, Miss Pepondosovich quickly noticed him crawling toward them.

"It's that child again," Miss Pepondosovich said as she looked at Esme and Riley… but then just shrugging her shoulders and walking away.

"Are you not going to help him again, Miss Pepondosovich?"

"I've already been warned once, Riri," Miss Pepondosovich sighed, "If I use my abilities again and some other god sees us, that's exile for me. Why don't you help him instead?"

"I do not usually help people, Miss Pepondosovich."

"And you?"

"I will only do as the Master tells me to do."

"Ack, tough luck for the human, then."

And with those words fading away, Ray could really only stare and watch as the back of the three gods disappear into the trees.

"W… what?" Ray stuttered. Did… the gods just forsake him? Left him for dead? But…

…gods are supposed to grant wishes and save mortals.

But alas, Ray did not really even have any time to contemplate as the monster grew closer and closer to him.

"N…no, stay… stay away!" Ray screamed, and as soon as he did so, the monster actually stopped moving. No, it wasn't just the monster—even the trees that were endlessly swaying and the leaves that were dancing and mocking his predicament all froze.

And before Ray could even wonder what was happening, he heard a voice whispering into his ear.

"Do you want strength, child?" The voice said. And of course, without even thinking or hesitating for even a single second, Ray started nodding his head,

"Would you still want it, even in exchange for something dear to you?"

"Yes!" Ray's words trembled; his eyebrows, completely lowered as he just stared at the monster in front of him, "Give… give me power — power enough to kill even the gods themselves."

"Revenge?"

"Justice," Ray almost bit his lip.

"Very well. Stretch out your hand and point your finger at the monster, and say…

…Pavoom."

Ray once again followed the voice's instruction without any hesitation as he pointed at the monster and whispered,

"Pavoom."

***

"Mother Leticia! I'm back!"

The young Ray quickly returned to the orphanage, reaching it in no time at all as he felt himself almost flying across the land with his newfound strength — a strength strong enough to completely destroy anything he wanted.

"I have… I gained a god's boon! I can go on an adventure now and the children don't need to work anymore! Mother Leticia!"

Ray excitedly barged into the orphanage, excited to share the news of his triumph, but no one seemed to be there to welcome him, however.

"Mother Leticia!" Ray once again called.

"What are you shouting for!? We're in here in the dining room!"

"Ah!" Ray smiled as he quickly rushed to the canteen, and there, Mother Leticia and everyone quickly welcomed him with a smile.

A smile that reached from ear to ear as they all looked at Ray. Their heads, all neatly placed on the table.

"What's the matter, Ray?" Mother Leticia's mouth moved—no, someone lifted it up from behind the table… Riley Ross,

"Didn't you say you wanted power, even at the cost of something dear to you?"

"No…

…No!"

***

"Riri, why did you suddenly blank out all of a sudden?"

"Hm?"

Back in the wide fields of the world of Mariposa, Riley and the others were once again continuing their journey.

"Why did you suddenly blank out all of a sudden, I asked."

"Oh…

…I was just thinking of how much fun we would be having moving forward, Miss Pepondosovich."

"That… sounds incredibly ominous coming from you."