Villain Retirement

"Release her… now!"

There it is again, the tingling feeling that was restlessly trying to crawl through his neck. He thought he had already suppressed this unnecessary frustration inside of him, but it was still there, hiding within him and still as heavy.

It was uncomfortable, truly uncomfortable.

"Let go of him!"

Fablu's men quickly surrounded Paragon; their guns, pointed at him even though all of them knew it would do nothing.

"There's no need to escalate this situation, febuvanirs," Paragon let out a small sigh as he let go of Fablu's neck. He then patted his shoulders, fixing Fablu's slightly crumpled uniform,

"I apologize, Sheriff Fablu. I did not mean to scare you and your people."

"T…this…" Fablu didn't really know what to say as the relief of still being alive flowed through his entire body. Paragon couldn't really lift him up entirely since Fablu was practically twice his height, but still… as soon as Paragon held him by the neck, it almost felt as if a noose was wrapped around him, and beneath him a billion blades ready to devour him.

"I lost control, Sheriff Fablu," Paragon let out a loud sigh as he saw the fear in Fablu's eyes, "Hera is a dear companion of mine, you see. I would hate it if she was uncomfortable in the cell."

"N…no, it was our mistake. We—Put your guns down! Have you idiots lost your mind!?" And before Fablu could express his gratitude for not killing him, he noticed that his men were still pointing their guns at Paragon.

Of course, sheriff Fablu could really only blame himself for his men's actions. They most probably still haven't realized that the cloaked individual in their midst is a Themarian—if they did, none of them would probably even think of even touching their weapons, no. The only thing they would be touching would be their recording and streaming devices as they take videos and photos of him in reverence.

A Themarian, even the weakest one, could probably just snap its fingers and their entire planet would crumble. Fablu meant what he said back in his office— for people in the Lower Races, Themarians are basically gods.

"Open cell no. 4! Let's get Mr. Paragon's friend out!"

and with that, the crystal bars that were separating Hera from the others slid back into the floor. Hera, however, did not move from her spot and just stared at Riley as her breaths became heavier by the second.

She knew… she knew that everything was a performance, but when Riley suddenly grabbed Fablu by the neck, she sensed something odd about it; it was genuine.

Riley… moved by impulse? Hera truly didn't like the sound of that. Although she had not really spent that much time with Riley before all these space adventure shenanigans happened, she knew enough that Riley doesn't show any other emotions besides extreme apathy and a skewed sense of joy.

Did… her lashing out at him caused him to become like this? If so…

…was she going to die today?

"What are you waiting for, Miss Hera?"

Fortunately for her, contrary to her expectations, Riley just gestured to her, "We need to leave for Theran, mother and the others await for us."

"...Right," Hera let out a sigh of relief as she made her way behind Riley. It would seem she gets to keep her life for one more day.

"Theran… Were you on your way home, Mr. Paragon?" Sheriff Fablu breathed out, "It's… truly a blessing that you passed by the planet when you did. If not, then we wouldn't even know what we would do if Riley Ross decided to attack us."

"Hm…" Paragon nodded; slightly moving to the side as he avoided Fablu's hand that seemed to want to touch him, "Speaking of which, we should go to Riley Ross and finish our deal, Sheriff Fablu."

"Ah, yes. Of course," a smile crawled on Fablu's face as he started to walk away, "Please, follow me."

The group made their way deeper into the jail, where the crystals started to dim and lose their color—an indication of how dense they are.

And there, right in front of them, was a door that was as dark as the febuvanirs' skin.

"We… we keep anyone above a city-level threat here," Sheriff Fablu's sigh bounced from the wall as he started unlocking it with his biometrics.

"...What are we doing here?" And while the Sheriff was doing that, Hera finally took this chance to ask Riley what exactly was going on, "Shouldn't we leave before they could discover your disguise?"

"No," Riley shook his head, "I made a deal with the Sheriff, I plan to honor it, Ms. Hera."

"...What deal?"

"To kill the outlaw that is known as Riley Ross."

And almost as if on cue with his words, the dark crystal door opened up, revealing a slightly large hall. And at the very center, a completely bound Riley Ross; unmoving and just watching them with his cold, clear eyes.

Of course, Hera knew that the Riley bound to a floating stretcher was just a clone; still, he exuded a certain aura that Hera just can't shake off.

"Ho…" Sheriff Fablu could not help but almost shake in excitement as Paragon stepped inside the cell, "If anyone could dispose of a Ranker, then it will be a respected Themarian like you, Mr. Paragon."

"..." Hera turned to look at Nana, who had also been quietly following Riley from behind. And as soon as their eyes met, they nodded at each other.

A Themarian. Hera and Nana had been wondering why Sheriff Fablu was so meek and obedient, which fully explains why. They were worried they would say something wrong and destroy Riley's disguise, but now, they have one less thing to worry about.

"I am required to tell you this, but everything happening right now is being recorded and streamed live, Mr. Paragon."

"...What? Why?" Hera was the one to respond.

"It's… just the way the law works?" Fablu just shrugged, "An execution of a Ranker is a public event. I… can't really do anything about it, even if it is your request, Mr. Paragon."

"It's alright, Sheriff Fablu. I do not mind," Paragon did not even look back as he slowly made his way to the Riley clone; their eyes, staring at each other.

"This is nothing personal, Riley Ross."

And without even a breath of introduction, Paragon's eyes started to turn red.

"...Wow." Nothing was truly happening yet, but Fablu's breath of exclamation almost filled the entire cell. He will probably never be as excited as he is now for the rest of his life. To see the prowess of a Themarian up close and personal—he would never get a chance like this again.

"Farewell, Riley Ross."

And with those words, a violent red beam surged out from Paragon's eyes. The light, shooting straight toward the Riley clone's face…

…only to freeze in space just an inch away from creating a hole in his face.

"This is it?"

"...Huh?" Not only the Sheriff, but even Hera could not help but breathe out in shock as they watched as the chains and straps that bound Riley very slowly unraveled. And in that instant, it felt like they were underwater as everything around them started to float.

And like a butterfly shedding out from its cocoon, Riley completely freed himself from his shackles.

"This is the strength of a Themarian?" He then whispered as his foot very gently landed on the crystal floor, "This…

…is pathetic