Villain Retirement

Riley has found himself lost in his own thoughts lately, perhaps even more so than ever. Initially, when the existence of aliens and other universes was opened up to Riley, he had thought that time travel would soon also make itself known to him.

He was just waiting for his future self to suddenly appear and tell him something so ridiculous it would cause Riley's entire life to change, even more so than it has already changed ever since he first retired from being a villain.

But alas, all of his thoughts of time travel disappeared when a Primordial herself told him that time travel was not possible, as time truly only moves forward. He removed the notion of time travel in his mind, and with the Domain of the Gods currently entertaining him, he had already completely forgotten about it.

But all of a sudden, elements that can and might relate to time travel were presenting themselves to him again and again.

And now, he was even starting to be surrounded by beings who see time differently than most. Of course, Riley knew who to thank for this — Miss Pepondosovich. Everything she led him to led to this.

And now, Riley was even talking to someone who could potentially see through the future, hundreds of years into the future.

"Then may I ask what you see in my future, Yanchuen?"

The banquet still had no signs of ending, but Riley's interest in it had already dwindled. And right now, all of his attention was focused solely on his table.

Miss Pepondosovich. Esme Prime. Marleen. Yanchuen — these four people were enough to almost make Riley completely forget about the tower and the cosmic piece.

"As I already said before, Riley Ross. I see nothing in your future," Yanchuen breathed out as he closed his eyes, "The glimpses I see, however, truly make me completely interested in you."

"Oh," Riley blinked a couple of times as he subtly leaned away from Yanchuen, "I am afraid I am not homosexual, Yanchuen."

"Pft," Marleen, who was waiting for a chance to sneak into the two's conversation, let out a loud snort as she looked disdainfully at Yanchuen, "So, that's why we did not click together."

"I thought we did not click together because you are afraid of what our union might bring?" Yanchuen smiled as he calmly returned Marleen's gaze,

"Weren't you afraid that I would lose myself in the future? Since you, Marleen, could access everything and anything from someone's mind — and if you transfer those memories to me, I could potentially foresee a thousand years into the future… clearly at that. You were afraid that I would lose sense of myself."

"What?" Marleen raised an eyebrow, "Don't kid yourself, boy. You think we split up because I was concerned for you? We are in the Domain of the Gods, we can not die in this place."

"But we can be damaged mentally," Yanchuen pointed at his smooth bald head, "And since you are fully aware that your mental strength is stronger than most, you are careful in dealing with me."

"Stop it with the bullshittery, Yanchuen," Marleen also pointed at Yanchuen's smooth bald head, "I will not fall for your flowery words anymore."

"...But my words do not even have any semblance of being flowery in them. Y—"

"Tup!"

"You—"

"Tututu," Marleen placed a finger on Yanchuen's lips, preventing him from speaking. Yanchuen, however… placed the finger in his mouth,

"What are you doing!?"

"I am the one putting things in my mouth for once."

"Flirt with me one more time and I am going to leave," Marleen's face became blank as she started slowly shaking her head, "One more time, Yanchuen."

"...Fine." And seeing Marleen truly starting to get annoyed at him, the only thing Yanchuen could really do was sigh, "But I would really like us to talk — so please, before the banquet is over, I would like to talk with you and—"

And before Yanchuen could finish his words, Marleen suddenly disappeared. Not only he, but Miss Pepondosovich and the others let out a slightly surprised gasp as she was teleported away.

"Oh." And surprisingly, Esme was the first one to react; probably nothing to do with the fact that she was slightly intoxicated, "For her to get herself disqualified just so she could avoid talking to you — you must have really messed up during the time you were together, Yanchuen."

"Oof, Miss Esme. No," Miss Pepondosovich formed her arms into an X as she shook her head, "Although that might be true, it might also be Marleen's fault — or maybe it was no one's fault. The two were just not meant to be together."

"The two of you, please…" Yanchuen could really only sigh and raised his hand, before gesturing to Riley's seat, "...She was not disqualified."

"Hm?" Both Esme and Miss Pepondosovich wondered why Yanchuen was pointing at Riley. But as soon as they turned their eyes to where he was pointing… they saw no Riley there at all.

"What—Don't tell me…?" Miss Pepondosovich then once again quickly strayed her eyes away, this time right at the very center of their table. And there, they could see a holographic projection—no. It was not a holographic projection at all. It almost seemed as if Marleen and Riley were truly there standing on top of a platform, but on a much smaller scale. There were also 4 other platforms, but Miss Pepondosovich just pushed the others away, enlarging Marleen and Riley's stage and making it occupy the entire table,

"They are fighting in the first match, already!?"

[Oh, wow. The gods truly do work in mysterious ways.]

[I thought we were gods, Miss Marleen?]

"We are," Marleen lightly waved her long silky black hair to the side as she looked at Riley from head to toe, "But we are not. It depends on what your definition of god is, really."

"And what is your definition of god, Miss Marleen?" Riley asked as he started looking around their stage, and the set-up was incredibly similar to the tower's first floor — an arena for gladiators. Except this time, there were a lot more people; a lot. And yet, all of them were quiet, their eyes scanning him and Marleen like hawks.

"Back when I still had not reached godhood, I only truly believed in one god," Marleen closed her eyes.

"I thought you were a non-believer, Miss Marleen."

"I wasn't always," Marleen shrugged and chuckled, "And I am not supposed to be the one that's telling my story, Riley — I am the one that reads stories."

"Reading other people's stories; is that why you lost faith in your god?" Riley finally stopped looking around the arena and focused on Marleen, "Have you seen so much suffering which made you think that a god could not possibly exist?"

"I guess it's the same everywhere, huh?" Marleen sighed.

"Yes," Riley nodded, "The only difference is the ones suffering and those who cause the suffering, Miss Marleen."

"You know all about that, don't you?" Marleen let out a small giggle.

"Yes," Riley once again nodded, "I am the one that caused the most suffering in my world, after all."

"That is where you are wrong, Riley," Marleen shook her head, "You are also one of the ones suffering the most."

"What do you—!!!"

And before Riley could finish his words, Marleen suddenly disappeared from his spot; causing the sand beneath her feet to turn into a cloud. Riley could still see her, of course, but she was moving so quickly that she almost looked invisible to him.

"I am not really that particularly strong, Riley."

"..." Riley blinked as Marleen was suddenly right beside him; her sharp nails, only inches away from stabbing his neck if it wasn't for him managing to grab her wrist at the last millisecond.

"Perhaps only slightly stronger than you, physically."

Riley tried pulling Marleen close to him since he had already caught her, but Marleen broke her hand to get free of his grasp.

"But that also means that you have no way of winning against me, Riley."

"I believe I know what you mean, Miss Marleen," Riley nodded as he crouched down and swung his leg to sweep Marleen's ankle, but Marleen just very slightly raised her foot to avoid it. Riley then lifted himself up with his hands, walking with them as he continued his barrage of kicks at Marleen…

…but Marleen just either avoids them or completely parries them to the side.

"You can't hit me, Riley," Marleen let out another giggle as she leaped away from Riley, revealing that she had her eyes closed the entire time, "You allowed me to read your everything, and even now I am reading you…

…and what you are going to do next."

"Hm," Riley slightly squinted his eyes as he looked at Marleen from head to toe.

"You are not predictable at all, Riley — but for me, you are," Marleen opened her eyes as she smiled at Riley, "Relax, Riley...

…show me what a newborn Primordial could do."