Villain Retirement

[You…

…You are Riley Ross.]

Of course—is what both Hera, and even Captain Nana thought as they heard the words that vibrated through the ship. 

Of course, the Messenger was staring at them because of Riley Ross. Nana has not known Riley for long, but she knew enough that there was no use in holding her common sense with him around.

As for Hera's case, the uncommon has become the norm. Back on Earth, a large number of internet individuals on Blueit had an unofficial power scaling for the supers aside from the Classes.

Hera was officially categorized as a Class-S super by the Government, and so are the other members of the Hope Guild. The internet people, however, were not content with that kind of ranking and made their own based on how much damage the supers could inflict with their abilities.

She was only listed as a City-buster, as she was capable of leveling down entire cities based on her feats. V, although they have proven several times that Hera was a lot stronger than her in terms of combat, was listed higher as a Multiple City-buster super.

Ironically, or perhaps not, there have only been two listed as Planet-busters in the history of the Hope Guild—one was Ms. Phoenix, as is obvious with how effortless she could lift entire mountains.

And the other one, was, ironically, the only member of the Hope Guild that was not a super—Whiteking. Even without powers, Bernard Ross has been voted by the people to be a Planet-buster simply for the fact that he could take down Earth's entire economy in probably less than a minute.

Outside the Hope Guild, the only one higher than them is Megawoman—who they listed as a Sun-buster. Hera laughed when she read that tier list, but now that she knew just how respected and feared themarians were even outside of Earth, her placement was a clear understatement.

And then, there is Darkday aka Riley Ross. One would expect him to be included in the same category as Megawoman, but no. Like the official ranking by the government, Riley managed to nab a category all to himself.

The Common Sense-buster.

People on the internet have absolutely no fear behind their keyboards, and together, they have come and bonded to give Riley a category of his own… and Hera never doubted it even a single bit.

"I am Riley Ross, Elder Tedi."

[...You know who I am?]

Elder Tedi blinked as she backed away from the ship, allowing Riley and the others to finally see her entire face; a single lens of the glasses she was wearing, probably already the size of an entire country.

"I remember your voice when I wore Elder Zora's head during our first online meeting, Elder Tedi. I believe you were the only female there."

Even with this beyond colossal entity in front of them, Riley just nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as he approached the window to try and see more of Elder Tedi,

"I have heard tales of your species' size from mother, but seeing it in person truly is a different experience. If I were to make you my guest… I would need a cage bigger than Earth."

[My… species? I am afraid you might have mistaken me for a Messenger—I am not.]

"Hm?"

[But what I am does not matter. You have been giving us Elders a very difficult time, Riley Ross,] Elder Tedi once again backed away. One might think she was moving slowly, but no—the distance between Nana's ship and Elder Tedi already spanned more than ten thousand kilometers,

[I have the opportunity to learn how to deal with you now, but this is not why I am here.]

A reverberating hum traveled throughout the entire ship as Elder Tedi's silhouette was finally fully shown to them. Her entire body was that of silver; her clothes, if she was truly wearing one, completely wrapped around her body and amplified the parts that needed to be endowed.

"If Gary was to be here, I believe he would comment on how large her buttocks are."

[...] Elder Tedi's head quickly turned back to Riley as she heard his words, [I would appreciate it if you do not comment about my physical appearance, Riley Ross.]

"I don't need your appreciation, Elder Tedi."

"Why are you trying to provoke the planet-sized woman, Riley?" Hera's emotions have finally calmed down as she approached and whispered to Riley.

[My species can not be provoked,] Elder Tedi, however, seemed to be able to hear even the most minute of whispers even from thousands of kilometers away,

[I truly wish we could have met in a different circumstance, Riley Ross. Right now, I am here to make sure the Cherbi will not take any lives—but if it so happens you are still here after I successfully diverted its path, then I would wish to have a dialogue with you.]

And with those words, Elder Tedi began flying away.

"You are going to battle it out with the Cherbi, Elder Tedi?"

"..." Hera, who was trying her best not to escalate the situation, already gave up as she rolled her eyes and decided to watch for now—that was the only thing she could really do between a conversation of literal titans.

[...] As for Elder Tedi, she once again stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at the microscopic ship behind her,

[There is no battling it out with the Cherbi, Riley Ross. It has been here before us, and when we have become ashes, it will still be here. But you are welcome to try, it would certainly solve one of the problems the Common Council is currently having. If you will excuse me, I currently have a task at hand.]

"How do you plan to lure it away, Elder Tedi?"

And before Tedi could fly away, she once again turned around to answer Riley's question,

[The Cherbi may have already lived for eons, but its intelligence is that of an animal driven by instinct. It feeds on energy, therefore it would follow the source that has the most of it. The Cherbi has always followed a calculated path, but for some reason, it had strayed from it.]

"Your energy is more than a sun, Elder Tedi?"

[I can emit more than the sun in this stellar system, correct.]

"Interesting."

"..." Were the two actually having a casual conversation right now? Hera and Nana thought as they watched as the gigantic silver woman continued to turn around to answer Riley's questions.

"May we watch you lure it away, Elder Tedi?"

[No.]

Elder Tedi suddenly stretched her palm toward Nana's ship, and as soon as she did so, the ship's internals and signals that were being interrupted by the Cherbi all started to boot up again—and without even a second later, the ship's hyperdrive activated by itself…

…practically throwing them far away.

"..." And just like that, the view of the gigantic Elder Tedi, as well as the Cherbi, was no longer to be seen anywhere.

"Are you able to take us back there, Captain Nana?" Riley's eyes started to squint as he quickly turned around and approached Nana, who was still completely frozen and stupefied by everything that had been happening around her.

"Captain Nana?"

"Y… Yes!?" But still, seeing Riley's face right in front of hers was enough of a shock to wake her up.

"I… I can't," Captain Nana said as she quickly checked the status of her ship, "The Cherbi is making it so that we can't go back there, all the signals are messed up."

"I will fly us back there, Captain Nana. Point me to the right—"

"Riley, enough!"

And before Riley could finish his words, Hera's slightly frustrated voice echoed through the control deck,

"Your mother and the others are probably on Theran by now. If you want to go on a space adventure, then you can do it after. Please, at least respect Alice's… final funeral."

"..."

"If you want to kill yourself, then you can always just do it after." Once again, Hera gained a courage she dearly wasn't asking for, "Do you want to keep Megawoman and your sister waiting?"

"...I suppose you're right, Miss Hera."

And once again, it surprisingly worked.

"G… Good," Hera nodded to herself; her voice, almost cracking from the anxiety her body was failing to resist.

"I believe we will see the Cherbi again anyway."

"...What?" Hera was about to talk to Nana, before Riley continued the conversation, "...What do you mean? Don't tell me you can talk to it?"

"No. Elder Tedi said the Cherbi suddenly changed its course. I think I know why, Miss Hera," Riley placed his hand on his chin,

"The Cherbi feeds on energy—Hannah can produce an infinite amount of it without her limiter. I may, or may not be exaggerating."

"Are you saying… it smelled your sister?" Hera blinked a couple of times in disbelief.

"It is only a theory, Miss Hera. I have her abilities, and it feels limitless whenever I use them," Riley said as he raised a finger, summoning a ball of light on top of it. And as soon as he did so, the monitors of the ship started to turn red—indicating that it detected an anomaly.

"Are… you for real? What is wrong with your family?" Hera rolled her eyes,

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. We even keep meeting creatures that are usually supposed to be reserved at the end of the story—the Cherbi, a giant space alien… those are usually last bosses," she then let out a loud sigh before starting to rant, 

"And we just happen to meet them at the same time at the start of our journey. This is shit story-telling, I tell you. I would sack my writer if she writes something like this."

"But Elder Tedi and the Cherbi are considered old and ancient, Miss Hera," Riley replied, "It makes sense that they would meet me already as they are at the end of their journey."

"...What? What are you saying?"

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Miss Hera. They are not the last boss…

…I am."