Villain Retirement

"It's really gone."

Vatican City was completely ruined. It did not take too long, however, to find where the Silver Paladin's corpse should be, as Angela used her x-ray vision to look through all the rubble and debris. She was easily able to find the vault, but Silver Paladin's corpse was nowhere to be found.

It could be deeper into the ground, but seeing as the other corpses that were there were still there — there was no reason for Silver Paladin's corpse not to be.

That could only mean one thing — he left.

"If… it wasn't George… then what did they do to his body?" Angela also tried searching everywhere for the Silver Paladin's corpse, but could not find it anywhere — and the thousands of corpses drowning in the rubble did not help.

"..." Angela could really only let out a sigh as she shook her head, "We'll… find him later. Our priority now is chasing the Soul Conqueror. He… 

…couldn't have gotten far," Angela then said as she started rummaging through the rubble, digging deep until Riley and the Pope could no longer see her. And after a few seconds, she once again emerged, now with her sword in hand.

"They attacked us, we're going to end this once and for all. It… will be an inquisition."

"Violence is never the answer, child," the Pope could really only sigh before placing his hand on Angela's shoulder.

"But—"

"But sometimes blood is," the Pope continued, "Let those who are meant for blood and destruction handle this," he then said as he looked at Riley.

"No," Angela moved away from the Pope, "They attacked us — I will retaliate. Riley…"

"Hm?" Riley, who was quietly looking nowhere in particular, slightly tilted his head as he was suddenly called.

"Can you… remove my stitches?" Angela then meekly said as she pointed at her shut eyes, "Do it gently and all at once so that it wouldn't— Fuck!"

Angela could not help but suddenly cover her eyes as the stitches were suddenly pulled all at once,

"Why did you do that!?" Angela screamed.

"...You told me to."

Angela was trying her best not to curse again in the presence of the Pope, to the point that she was biting her lips to prevent her mouth from opening again. And after a few seconds of trying to collect her breaths, Angela was finally able to remove her hands away; her eyes, still squinting as they batted several times.

There really wasn't that much blood, only enough for a single trail on each of her cheeks to slide down. And soon, light started to enter her eyes as they started to recover. And finally, her eyes fully revealed themselves.

They were dark—No. Perhaps it was better to say that they were the color of the universe; almost as if one would be completely lost if they were not careful and stared at her eyes for too long.

And it didn't even take a minute for her eyes to start scanning in every direction.

"There," Angela then suddenly pointed to a certain direction, "He's… running along with several other people. They just got on a car."

"..." Riley slightly tilted his head again as he pointed his left ear towards the direction where Angela was pointing to; but after a few seconds, his eye started to twitch as he hit his head several times.

"...Too noisy," Riley whispered as he shook his head, "But I did hear a car's engine starting, Angela."

"I—" Angela was about to say something, but her eyes suddenly landed on the Pope, "I… need to secure the Pope's safety first. I can guide you to—"

And before Angela could finish her words, she saw Riley standing beside the Pope… as well as walking away.

"...What?"

Angela was slightly confused at first, but then quickly remembered that Riley had the ability to clone himself. Soon, however, the Riley that was standing the Pope disappeared — Angela was going to ask why at first… but then noticed something was crawling on the Pope's robes, a miniature… and somewhat plush version of Riley.

"..."

"..."

"...What are you looking at?"

"..." Angela quickly looked away as Little Riley suddenly stopped climbing the Pope's robes and looked at her.

"..." Little Riley stared at her for a few seconds, before letting out a scoff and continuing to move his little limbs.

"You will be safe with Little Riley, Louise," Riley then said as he nodded towards his miniature version, "Your daughter and I will go hunting for now. You don't have to worry, she won't die."

"..." The Pope moved his eyes back and forth between Angela and Riley, before finally sighing and nodding his head, "Fine. Maybe this too is the will of god."

"I am sure it is, your Holiness," Angela bowed her head.

"...Should you not be calling him father, Angela?" Riley placed his hand on his chin, "But considering who he is, then maybe you already have. That's quite a dilemma."

"...Let's just go before they could get far," Angela didn't even bother to answer Riley's weird question as she leaped away. As for Riley, he seemed to have contemplated his own question for a few seconds, before just flying away — dragging Angela with him as he reached her since she was moving too slow.

And now, it was only the Pope and Little Diley left in the ruined city of the Vatican.

"..."

"..."

"Are you still watching Italian Mafia Reborn, old man?"

"..."

"...Yes."

***

"Don't you have any abilities to make us invisible?"

Riley and Angela were now following behind the vehicle that Soul Conqueror was riding on; their pace was fast, but careful enough that no one would be noticing them — and with Angela's x-ray vision, they could even follow behind houses and buildings.

It was, however, not too convenient for Angela as it strained her mind bit by bit.

"Don't you?" Angela once again asked. And Riley, instead of answering her question, once again grabbed his phone that was hovering around them and dialed someone.

[...Yes?]

"Can you make us invisible, Paige?"

[You're… too far.]

"Okay, that's all. Thank you for answering the call, Paige."

[Hm, please return safely.]

"..." Riley then let go of his phone; no longer streaming to prevent others from discovering what they were doing, but still recording so that he would be able to upload it later on their page. He then turned to look at Angela, before letting out a sigh and finally answering her question with a,

"No. I don't have the ability to turn us invisible."

"...Really? I thought you'd have one."

"It's a disgusting ability."

"What? How?"

The two continued to casually talk as they followed the car — and soon, they reached a large open area, surrounded by more than a dozen people.

"That… looks like a helicopter," Angela then said as she looked at the black aircraft sitting in the center of the open field, "Let's just wait for him to board the helicopter. We don't need to worry about the guards."

"What guards?" Riley muttered.

"What do you mean what guards, th—" And before Angela could finish her words, she let out a small gasp. The people surrounding the open field were still standing, but something was wrong.

It would be hard to notice if one were not looking at them, but they were all bleeding from all of their orifices. And as someone who has x-ray vision, Angela knows why — they were all already almost hollow from the inside.

Their organs… were compressed into a ball, their brains mushed.

And as soon as the helicopter left the ground with the Soul Conqueror, all of the people that were guarding the field dropped to the ground.

"You…"

"I already made the announcement, Angela," Riley only shook his head as he and Angela started floating in the air,

"No one lives."