Villain Retirement

"You… can revive Miss Esme?"

"It should be no problem at all. Her body is fully intact, without even a single millimeter of her skin in decay — in all accounts, she is alive except for her mind."

"Hm."

It is true. Even though Miss Esme was literally a zombie variant of Princess Esme, the two almost did not differ from each other physically aside from the color of their skin and eyes. Miss Esme, even though she was already dead, has not shown any signs of decaying due to her themarian physiology, which seemed to continue healing her body despite her already being in a state of Eternal Death.

In fact, if she stopped moving so clumsily and weirdly, even Riley would probably have a hard time differentiating him from the normal Princess Esme, since Esme was already weird from the start.

"And forget about any deals, I can just do it for free," Randall once again brushed his horns, causing streaks of light to once again dance around him, "But once she resurrects, there is a high chance that she would be thrown out of the Domain of the Gods. So, what do you say?"

"Hm…" Riley turned to look at Miss Esme for a few seconds, before just letting out a small sigh and shaking his head, "No. There is no need for that, Randall. From all the lives that have turned into nothing by my hands, I have learned that death can sometimes be a blessing."

"That… is true," Randall also let out a sigh as the light dancing around him quickly dissipated away, "Very well, if death was her fate, we have no right to take it away. And I have also tried resurrecting the undead before, and they chose to take their lives after as they remember everything they had done during the time they were mindlessly killing everything and everyone that breathes. It is not a fate I would wish even against my worst ene—"

"Resurrect her," Riley did not let Randall finish his words as he gestured something with his hand, and Miss Esme just proceeded to walk toward him in a very careful manner, "You said she would remember, correct?"

"Yes…?" Randall squinted his eyes at Riley as he noticed a smile very slowly forming on his face.

"Then if I could bother you to do it," Riley stretched his hand to the side and called for Miss Esme's cage, before seemingly ordering her to enter it.

"Miss Esme really follows your orders, huh?" Miss Peponvondosovich could not help but be in awe as Riley could actually control Miss Esme, who just seemed to do whatever she wanted and eat anything she wanted, "Are you sure you want her to resurrect her? What if she begins to resent you?"

"That is the point, Miss Peponvondosovich," the smile on Riley's face persisted as he closed the cage, "Randall, if you may?"

"Very well, since I was the first to open up about it," the light dancing around Randall returned as he pointed both his fingers at the age. Another rhythmic tune whispered in the air as the lights started to circle around the cage, before ultimately seeping through and covering Miss Esme.

Miss Esme quickly started growling in place as she watched as the streaks of light started separating from each other and becoming fireflies that started hovering and dancing around her.

Miss Esme tried catching one of them, but they just passed through her like the lights lived on a different plane entirely. And soon, the light started to envelop her entire body, before they all just started entering her.

"Grk!?" Miss Esme started wriggling and trying to get them out, but all she did was tear her body apart; creating booms and ripples as she did so.

"...No wonder you put her back in the cage," Miss Peponvondosovich slightly winced, "That is going to be a lot of mess if she was outside."

"I did not put her inside because of that, Miss Peponvondosovich," Riley shook his head as he approached the cage and placed his palm on it; his eyes, just completely fixated on the screaming Undead Princess. Very slowly, however, her screams ceased as she started to calm down.

And soon, a violent steam started to fume out from all of her pores; filling the entire cage with white mist in no time at all.

"Hm…" Riley then turned to look at Randall, who just nodded in response as he too, seemed slightly excited with what was about to emerge; there was, however, a slight hit of concern lingering inside his throat for some reason.

As for Riley, he was not really that concerned — the reason Miss Esme was incredibly strong was that because she was already dead and did not have the same limitations as the other Esme; to make her alive again meant that Riley would be returning that weakness to her…

…but for some reason, Riley truly wanted to see what would happen if Esme was to remain in the Domain of the Gods... if whatever greater power was responsible for this place did not throw her out, that is.

"!!!"

Everyone who was watching the scenery all let out a collective gasp of awe and shock as a loud thud drummed in the air as a hand emerged from the smoke, seemingly trying to touch Riley's hand which was on the other side of the cage. Riley turned to look at this large palm, before snapping his fingers and making all the smoke disappear.

And the very first thing that Riley noticed was the color returning to Esme's slightly tan skin.

"Hello, Miss Esme," Riley then whispered as soon as he saw Miss Esme looking him in the eyes, "Do you still remember me and all the time we have played together?"

"..." Miss Esme did not really answer Riley and just started looking around, causing the other gods to get excited, as by all definitions, Esme was the first non-god they had seen for the first time in a very, very long time. Esme did not just scan the crowd, she looked at each of their faces one by one, staying longer at Randall. But after a few seconds more, her eyes returned to Riley.

"Yes. I remember you, Riley Ross," Miss Esme tilted her head to the side as she stared at Riley, "How could I not when you threw an entire galaxy at me, and then proceeded to turn me into your pet."

"That is correct," the smile on Riley's face returned as he quickly opened the cage to let her out.

"Woah, woah…" Miss Peponvondosovich slightly backed away, "...Are you sure it's okay for her to be here? And why is she not disappearing, Randall?"

"Interesting," Randall squinted his eyes as he too, took a step back, "It might be that the Domain of the Gods is recognizing her as a god too. It only makes sense, after all — the strength she has shown so far is not inferior to most of the gods here. And physically, she might even be on par with those barbarians in the City of Warriors."

"This feeling…" Miss Esme whispered as she stepped out of her cage, looking at her hands which now had color, "...it is truly a weird sensation that I am once again able to make them move the way I want to. I thank you, Demon."

"Randall," Randall bowed his head, "You may call me Randall, Madam."

"There is no need to treat me with such a formality," Miss Esme shook her head, "Whatever I was before has already died. And although I did not truly have the desire to live again, or perhaps I was not able to desire at all, I still thank you for reviving me, Randall."

"I am merely the instrument, he is the one who revived you," Randall gestured to Riley.

"I know," Miss Esme turned to approach Riley, completely towering over him, "But from the time I have been Riley Ross's pet, I believe he asked to revive me for his own enjoyment."

"That is true, Miss Esme," Riley smiled, "What do you wish to do now?"

"What is there to do, Riley Ross?" Miss Esme shook her head, "When you recovered me and my people from my universe and brought me to yours, you have already claimed ownership of us…

…I am still your pet, and will forever be."

"...Oh," Riley could not help but slightly lower his eyebrows in disappointment, "Do you not hate me, Miss Esme?"

"Why would I hate you?" Miss Esme tilted her head to the side, "You were not the one who killed us and turned my people into the undead. You have even fed me, played with me, clothed me, and even talked to me as if I were alive. You have given me dignity, Riley Ross. If anything…

…I love you, Riley Ross."

"I forgot you were also in the spectrum, Miss Esme," Riley could really only sigh and shake his head. But after a few seconds of expressing his disappointment, he grabbed something from one of his many pockets and showed it to her,

"What do you want to do with them?"

"Hm?" Miss Esme once again tilted her head to the side as she looked at Riley's palm, which was now carrying several miniature glass cages, "Are those undead themarians, Riley Ross?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I have 1,254 with me. Since you are alive now, I am giving them to you. Perhaps…

…Randall could resurrect all of them and could potentially revive your people here, Princess Esme."