Villain Retirement

"...Autopilot?"

"I... I'm just guessing."

The more information Princess Vera receives regarding Riley Ross, the less she actually knows. She had heard from Riley himself that he actually had dozens of abilities; some, he hasn't even used once since he didn't really need to.

And so far, the only powers that Riley has showcased in front of her were his monstrous telekinesis, as well as his weird cloning abilities. Although Riley's telekinetic prowess was beyond shocking, there is actually an entire race of telekinetics out there-- it was a common ability.

The cloning, however, was something that she had never seen before. It was like a hive mind-- but at the same time, Riley didn't need to give birth again and again to use it. And if Vera was right... then it wasn't really originally Riley's ability.

Perhaps even more so than everything else, his abilities showed what the people of this planet were truly capable of.

"...So, you're saying that Riley can transfer his consciousness to a clone?" Princess Vera once again backed far away from Riley, making sure she was making as little movement as possible as she leaned closer to Silvie.

"I... think so? He did it the other day when I was in the cell," Silvie squinted her eyes as she looked at Riley, whose eyes just seemed... empty, even for him.

"So... what do we do now?" Princess Vera could really only try to calm her breaths as she too, watched as Riley continued to grab the evaniel Guardian by his face-- perhaps the fact that he was still alive should already be enough of a relief,

"...Any ideas?"

"Tell the Guardian..." The tone of Silvie's voice suddenly became serious as she glanced at Vera,

"... to lower his killing intent."

And as soon as Vera heard her words, her eyes started to widen as she took in a short but very deep breath.

"..."

"..."

"...What's a killing intent?" She then said after a couple of seconds.

"I don't know!" And just like that, the serious tone in Silvie's voice disappeared as she raised her voice, "I thought you would know! That's what they say in all the animes I've watched!"

"What's an animes!?" Vera also could not help but raise her voice; the calm she had made great effort to hold onto, was now gone.

"I don't think that matters right now!" Silvie also screamed as she pointed at the struggling evaniel Guardian.

"You..." Princess Vera gritted her teeth as she waited for Silvie to say anything that could be useful to the predicament they were in right now. But alas, after a few more seconds, the only thing she could really do was slowly approach Riley again.

"You... You're Viole, right?" Vera once again calmed her breaths as she looked at the evaniel guardian.

"I need you to calm down. He..." Vera slightly glanced at Silvie, before quickly returning her attention to Viole,

"It... reacts to killing intent."

Even with his face being covered by Riley's palm, Viole's eyes could be seen turning wide in disbelief; looking at the princess of their race as if she was some sort of lunatic.

"Just stop trying to fight! It reacts to threats!"

"..." His eyebrows did their best to furrow. But soon, he turned his eyes so that he could see the other guardians in his peripheral.

All of them were frozen-- their faces were like statues that didn't even have the time to be shocked.

As part of the Guardian Corps, he is able to communicate telepathically with other guardians within a planet-wide radius.

And he was sure of it-- he was the only Guardian left inside the evaniel's ship.

He had also been trying to contact those who went to check on the anomaly... but no one was responding to him. Most likely...

...everyone was dead.

He could detect another Guardian somewhere on the planet, but whoever it was, didn't seem to be interested in talking to him.

They did say that Riley Ross was a possible Star-level Threat, that is why they sent these many Guardians in the first place in order to capture and escort him alive.

...But to kill 6 Guardians at once almost instantly?

Ridiculous.

There's also the anomaly that had a similar output of energy to a black hole.

Just... what is going on with this planet?

"..." Viole then turned his eyes to Riley, only to see his eyes that were completely devoid of any emotions.

And it wasn't just that Riley didn't care that he was killing him, no. Viole had seen many killers during his time as a guardian.

This was different-- it was almost as if Riley Ross was just... a machine.

"..." Viole's mind was currently moving at a million thoughts per second-- and after what seemed like an entire day for him...

...the markings on his skin slowly faded away; his hair, also losing its radiance.

And as soon as he did so, he also felt Riley's grip on his face becoming lighter.

"..." Riley then finally looked him in the eyes, and without even saying a word or a breath...

...he just started casually walking away, returning to the middle of the indoor field and just sitting on the ground.

And almost at the same time as his buttocks made contact with the grass, the other guardians that were standing frozen also dropped to the ground.

"..." Viole could really only look at his comrades-- and those that had ears and mouth were bleeding from them.

Their brain organs were most likely destroyed the very moment they made even the slightest movement to restraining Riley.

Perhaps the only reason Viole was still standing right now was that, unlike the others, he didn't make a move yet-- after all, he was the fastest among them and was just waiting for things to happen before he joined in.

"Are you... alright?" Although Princess Vera's face didn't show it, it was obvious in her eyes that she was showing... pity for Viole.

"I'm... alright, Princess Vera. I am honored that you know my name."

"...Of course I know your name," Vera sighed, "Your name is next to mother for the most popular evaniel on the planet-- you're a celebrity."

"Well..." Viole didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he massaged his face, "...I guess I embarrassed myself in front of you."

"Not at all," Vera said as she looked at Riley, "You tried to fight against a creature that is able to fight with a themarian head-on."

"I see," Viole closed his eyes and sighed. But after a few moments, they opened and turned wide, "Wait...

...what? What do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'what do you mean'?" Vera raised an eyebrow,

"...Don't tell me the Elders didn't tell you?"

"...No," Viole's eyebrows started to furrow, "If we knew we'd send more! Much more!"

"I told them repeatedly!" Vera also raised her voice, before letting out a loud groan in frustration,

"Did they think I was exaggerating!?"

"..." Viole could really only let himself drop to the ground as he looked at Riley,

"Damn it, and you're saying it's not even... fully functional?"

"Where's Elder Zora!?" Vera could no longer contain her anger as her hair started to light up.

"He's... checking on an anomaly."

"What? Where!?"

Viole then tapped his arms several times before a hologram popped out in front of him showing a 3D scan of Earth,

"There," he then pointed at the red dot that was pulsating.

Vera was about to disappear, but before she could do so, Silvie stepped closer to the map.

"This..."

"You know what it is?"

"...This is Atlantic City. The Paige and Paragon is in here."

"Paige... and Paragon?"

"...Riley Ross's building."

"...Shit."

***

"Woah!"

Somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean, several towering walls of water burst forth from the surface of the ocean, shaped almost like a claw-- after all, a set of claws caused it.

And right in between those violent waves of water was John; carrying a smile on his face as he avoided the claws of Elder Zora, whose each strike caused the surface of the ocean to split apart.

John was either dodging Zora's attacks with a hair's breadth, or using the red stones around him to block them.

"You need to clip those, no one likes a cat with sharp nails," John let out a small chuckle as he caught Zora's wrist, before throwing him away as he rotated in the air.

"..." Elder Zora didn't immediately attack again, and instead just remained in the air staring at John,

"You're strong, clone."

"Pft..." John could not help but let out a small chuckle, before wiping the blood trailing on his cheek,

"...I'm actually the weakest of the clones."