Villain Retirement

"I am going to dissect you, Mr. Kravos — I am going to enjoy that process very, very much. You…

…perhaps not so much."

Life has unlimited possibilities — and for immortals like Kravos, those unlimited possibilities were actually possible to be possible. But never did he think this sort of possibility would be possible.

By all means, he wasn't using his full power just yet, of course. He was a Higher God, it would be absolutely wrong of him to do so against a god that has barely even been in the Domain of the Gods… but he was truly tempted to do so. But doing so, however, would make him lose reputation, especially since there were probably hundreds of other gods watching them.

"I am giving you another chance, boy," Kravos placed his machetes together, melding them together to create an even bigger machete that was almost the size of Riley's entire body. He then lightly placed the tip of the machete on the ground… causing all the grass to just wither away and die—no. The field of grass didn't dry out and turn brown at all, no; it turned into a sea of sand,

"Walk away, and don't create any more trouble for this peaceful land."

Even the dismembered limbs, flesh, and guts that were still not blown by Riley and Kravos's fight withered away and turned into sand. The gods who were watching them fight, quickly lifting up their feet as they noticed that they too, almost turned into sand. None of them seemed to mind, however, as they even cheered and hyped up the battle between the two even more.

"This is not a peaceful land at all, Mr. Kravos," Riley smirked as he raised his hand, summoning a ball of light the size of a yoga ball. No, it wasn't clear whether or not it was a ball of light at all, or just an empty spot in space,

"They are just comfortable — they shouldn't be."

Riley then flicked his hands, and as soon as he did so… Kravos watched as some of the gods watching them suddenly disappear along with the white ball above Riley.

"What did you…" Kravos squinted his eyes as blood started to ooze out from Riley's nose and eyes. And not even a second later, he realized what Riley just done, "Did you stop time?"

"How quick of you to come to that conclusion immediately, Mr. Kravos," Riley seemed genuinely impressed as he batted his eyes several times at Kravos, "I reckooned most would just think what happened, happened extremely fast."

"I have fought people faster than light before, boy… I know what that speed feels like," Kravos looked Riley straight in his bloody eyes, "That wasn't speed at all."

"Then have you fought someone named Van, Mr. Kravos?"

"T…" There was a visible fear in Kravos's face as soon as Riley uttered the name of the God of Evaniels; one could even see a sweat form on his face, "You have no right to utter that name in this place."

"Interesting," Riley then pointed his finger at Kravos, summoning another ball of white; this time, only the size of a basketball, "Tell me what this one feels like too, Mr. Kravos."

And once again, everything around Riley stopped; the ball of white hovering at the tip of his finger, throbbing and following the rhythm of his breaths.

"Pavoom," Riley then whispered as the ball of white turned into a beam that instantly covered Kravos's entire silhouette—no, not exactly.

"Oh…?" Blood started to profusely gush out of all of Riley's orifices as he hovered toward Kravos. King was not able to use other abilities while he stopped time, but Riley could due to his monstrous and abnormal durability — and even if he did die, he would just resurrect after a while like nothing happened.

But of course, Riley was not really thinking of all of that as he just focused his attention on Kravos as he stood close to him. Everything around Kravos was covered in white, all except the space inches around his silhouette.

And with a breath escaping Riley's bleeding nose, sound once again entered his ears as everything moved again; with Kravos quickly leaping away as he realized Riley was standing just a meter away from him.

"That is very impressive, Mr. Kravos." And even though he was bleeding everywhere, Riley still placed his hand on his chin as he looked at Kravos, "You and I are similar in the way that you are covering yourself in a layer of your abilities. You are subconsciously and instinctively changing the matter of anything that touches you or is a threat to you, no? Like a layer of armor. I do it too with my telekinetic abilities."

"Hm…" Kravos grunted as he stared at Riley's bloodstained silhouette. He then turned to look at his giant machete, before shaking his head and letting it go, causing it to instantly disappear.

"Oh, are you done, Mr. Kravos?" Riley snapped his fingers, and as soon as he did so, all the blood painting him seeped back into his pores, "Pirate Queen Xra's abilities are truly broken. My universe was lucky she wasn't as mad as they make her out to be, only heartbroken. But I am getting sidetracked… perhaps the Nectar actually has an effect on me."

"Our time to fight will come, boy," and as Riley suddenly started talking to himself, Kravos grabbed something from his pocket — a fragment of something, a piece of an eggshell of some sort, perhaps.

And as soon as that object met with even a tinge of light, the very space and air in the Domain of the Gods rippled; the ground that Kravos turned into a sea of sand, suddenly returning to its original state of grass.

It wasn't just the land, even the gods who were supposed to be dead suddenly came back to life without rhyme or reason.

"What… is that?" And perhaps for the very first time in a very long time, Riley found himself slightly taking a step back. Riley was not really someone who could sense the power and energy of things — he could, but he just actively chooses not to do so — not knowing something is part of the fun, after all.

But the eggshell the size of a biscuit that Kravos was holding, Riley won't be able not to sense even if he actively chooses to not do so. The energy it was giving out was truly too much, that even just looking at it was causing his hair to flail around like there was a raging storm currently blowing everyone and everything away.

"It's a cosmic piece!"

And as Riley was wondering what the eggshell was, the random god that introduced Kravos once again raised his voice as he pointed at Kravos's hand.

"A cosmic piece…" And as soon as Riley heard that, a smile very slowly started to crawl on his face. At first, he thought a cosmic piece would just be something similar to the pocket universe that Ahor Zai created — but he was wrong, extremely wrong.

If the pocket universe was equivalent to playing a simulation game, then the cosmic piece could be said to truly be creating an actual world of your own. The two were similar, yes, but one was actually truly a reality.

And without even saying another word, Riley summoned another clone before once again stopping time. He and his clone quickly rushed toward Kravos, with his clone pushing out all his powers to create a telekinetic blade that could probably cut an entire galaxy in half… and cutting Kravos's arm with it.

The clone immediately withered away as it used everything at its disposal in just a single move, while Riley quickly grabbed the cosmic piece and retreated back before letting time around him move again.

But as soon as time moved again, however, Riley found that there was nothing in his hand at all.

"Fool."

Riley quickly turned his focus back to Kravos as he heard him whisper, only to see the cosmic piece back in his other hand.

"A cosmic piece will always and forever be bound to its owner," Kravos scoffed as he raised the cosmic piece, once again creating a ripple that seemed strong enough to blow everything away… without actually blowing anything away,

"Such is the rule set upon by Creation itself. After all, if one could steal a cosmic piece, it would not be its owner that would suffer, but the universe's inhabitants."

"Hm…" Riley's eyes slightly squinted as he stared at the eggshell in Kravos's hand; his head, tilting to the side as there was a hint of annoyance growing on his face.

"We will meet again, boy…" Kravos let out a small chuckle as the space behind him started to distort before just ripping apart and opening a portal,

"...and I will not be as courteous as I am now."

"Wrong, Mr. Kravos," and as Kravos took a step back into the portal, a smile once again started to crawl on Riley's face, "I do not need to steal your cosmic piece to make you or your universe suffer. Once I get out of here, I will torment your universe first. I promise you that…

…and I usually do not break my promises."