Villain Retirement

891 Chapter 891: Good Evening

"When did you find them like this?"

"I—R… Ray hasn't picked up their bread for a few days, and trust me. The boy… the boy would never miss it even if he was sick. And so… I—I got worried and decided to visit the orphanage and then… there was this smell and—"

"That's enough."

Several days after Riley massacred the entire orphanage, a group of people wearing luxurious black robes were currently inside the cafeteria; the bright silver sashes hanging around their necks, almost reflecting the gruesome sight surrounding them.

There were also other people there, who obviously reported what had happened and called for these mysterious men. None of them really knew where to look, as the carnage was everywhere.

The decapitated heads of Mother Leticia, the other mothers of the orphanage, and even the children were placed on the table on top of the plates. They weren't eaten, however, as the rest of their body was actually hanging out in the orphanage's backyard… hanging on the clothesline like pigs being dried in the sun.

There was only a single corpse that was intact… and it was also hanging, but on the ceiling of the cafeteria; a rope tightly wrapped around his neck.

"That is the boy called Ray?"

"Y… Yes," the woman who reported the scene could not help but just look away as soon as she saw Ray hanging by his neck. And so, she just focused her attention on the leader of the mysterious group — the only one who was wearing a golden scarf instead of silver,

"I… I can't even fathom—did he take his own life? He's just… he's only 10 and 2 of age. What… what could have done all of this, Father Redmund? Was it a monster?"

"We will handle it from here, Liezl," the man wearing a gold sash, Redmond, gently placed his hand on the woman's shoulder, "Please, rest."

"Do you think… do you think you can get whoever did this?"

"We will," Redmund smiled and nodded; his bright red hair and even brighter red eyes, almost giving some sort of warmth as he stared at the woman, "Knights, take her away."

And as the men wearing silver scarves escorted the woman out, Redmund started walking around the cafeteria, gently brushing his finger at the blood-soaked table, dusting away all the dried blood on it.

"We have escorted the woman out, Father Edmund." The knights quickly returned, "What do you think could have done this? A monster?"

"A god," Redmund shook his head as he casually pulled out one of the chairs and sat on it.

"Could it be… the tree god plaguing the forest nearby? Is that why we could not find him?"

"No, this is a different type of god entirely," Edmund let out a long and very deep sigh as he shook his head, "Secure the perimeter and make sure no villagers—"

"Already done, Father Edmund."

"Hm…" Edmund only glanced at his knights, before letting out another deep breath and closing his eyes. And as he opened them again—no. The thing that opened was no longer his eyes, it was still an eye, but it was his entire face that opened vertically — revealing an eye the size of his head. And at the same time, 6 wings suddenly protruded from his back, completely destroying the chair he was seated on.

A god.

"Light Reversal," Edmund's separated mouths that were now on the side moved as he spoke. He stretched his hands to the side, causing another set of eyes to open on each of his palms. And as they did so, the chair his wings destroyed built itself again and returned to its previous condition.

Edmund then once again started walking around the cafeteria. And as he did so, the scenery around him started to change incredibly fast; with the woman from earlier returning, but all of her actions were in reverse.

The movements of everything in the cafeteria grew faster and faster, until they saw Ray stacking down chairs and boxes on top of the table but in reverse.

"Hm…" Edmund could really only shake his head at the sight. But soon, he finally saw what he was trying to find — an unfamiliar silhouette holding Leticia's head. But for some reason, however, that was all he and the knights could see, a silhouette of something clearly humanoid; they couldn't see its face.

Edmund's head-sized eye closed, and as it opened again; another hundreds of eyes opened up from each feather of his 6 wings. And if one were to look closer, one could see that each of the eyes was reflecting something completely different from each other — different places, different people, and perhaps… maybe even a different time.

"Now…

…who are you?"

***

"It would seem it doesn't work."

"What have you been even wasting your time there, Riri?"

"A multiversal portal ring, Miss Pepondosovich."

And while another god was already hunting them down without their knowledge, Riley, Miss Pepondosovich, and Esme were just seated around a campfire; the dancing flame, being reflected by all the large boulders around them and the seemingly calm river beside them.

"Seriously? Your world truly is up there." The three of them were supposed to be resting and relaxing, but Miss Pepondosovich could not help but just watch Riley tinker with some sort of large ring that he had pulled out from one of his many pockets an hour ago,

"...And just how many things do you actually have inside your pockets, Riri? And I don't even see any pockets from your clothes, you always just slide your hand and a pocket just appears."

"Why do you seem surprised, Miss Pepondosovich?" Esme, who had just been staring at the flame the entire time, joined the conversation, "You also have that hat which seemed to have an infinite space inside it."

"I have magic," Miss Pepondosovich shrugged, "You know, like most of the gods here. You also have it, you know? That thing that's coming out of your eyes — that's magic."

"We have never really treated it as such," Esme shook her head, "In our world, in our universe — we just call them racial abilities, Miss Pepondosovich."

"The universes seemed to have changed much the last time I was there," Miss Pepondosovich let out a very long and deep sigh as she just let herself fall down on the ground; her eyes, staring at the dark lands above them, "But from everything I have heard, you guys are from a completely different version of my universe entirely, or multiverse or whatnot."

"We are from the main multiverse, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley nodded as he hid the ring back in his many pockets.

"What…? What makes you think mine is not the main universe?" Miss Pepondosovich scoffed as she looked at Riley and Esme.

"Because my universe is the only universe where I exist, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley shrugged.

"From what I have been hearing, your universes have the same people — that means…" Miss Pepondosovich pointed at Riley,

"…you are the mass-produced universe. Hah!"

"Interesting," Riley placed his hand on his chin, "I have not thought of it like that, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Maybe you should bow down to me!?" Miss Pepondosovich quickly sat up again as she looked excitedly at Riley and Esme, "Maybe…

…Maybe I'm the one from the main universe!?"

"I do find it intriguing, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley nodded, "None of the gods here do not seem to have any variants, which in terms of statistics, should not be the case. If you are the strongest of your universe, it serves to stand that your variants would have the highest chance of being the strongest of their universe too, like Miss Esme."

"Oh, you are saying that all of us are from completely different multiverses entirely?" Miss Pepondosovich looked at Riley, "That is actually the main theory going on around here — it is crazy, no? Once you think that you know all of Creation, it turns out you have only seen the tip of it."

"Hm," Riley once again nodded, "That makes what I am about to do even harder now — I don't even know if I can produce enough clones powerful enough to explore the entirety of Creation anymore. I suppose Navi is right, fulfilling my purpose is impossible even in my current state."

"Your plan to turn everything into nothing?" Miss Pepondosovich sighed and groaned, "Why even bother? And truth be told, I am still doubtful of everything you have told me — I mean, if it is true that you plan to wipe out the entirety of Creation, why tell me? That is something you should keep to yourself."

"Because I am a supervillain, Mss Pepondosovich," Riley shrugged, "Supervillains always reveal their plans."

"I don't even have any idea what you just said," Miss Pepondosovich once again sighed, "Anyway, how many gods have we talked to now?"

"10, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme was the one to answer her, "And none were willing to share information with us. And the last one was asking for a sacrifice similar to the Tree God from before."

"We should have sacrificed Miss Pepondosovich."

"What the—was that a joke?"

"Yes."

"Psh. You would think there would be a sense of camaraderie amongst gods, right?" Miss Pepondosovich let out a small chuckle,

"But do you think that one would help us out?"

Both Riley and Esme calmly turned their heads to where Miss Pepondosovich was pointing, only to see a man floating above their camp; the hundreds of eyes across its six wings, all seemingly glowing as they stared at them.

"Good evening, traveling gods…" Father Edmund's words reverberated through the air, slightly fanning the flames away as he spoke,

…might I bother you with some questions?"