Villain Retirement

Riley is not foreign to fighting without all of his 5 senses. He was, however, foreign to fighting someone who was physically stronger than him without all of his 5 senses…

…and it was glaringly obvious not only to Marleen, but also to the audience who were watching their fight intensely.

"You are going the wrong way—Never mind, you can't even hear me."

Marleen could really only let out a sigh as she watched Riley's dislocated arms flail around everywhere. Riley truly could not see and hear anything, and as Marleen reads his mind, she also discovers that he was also doing his best to not feel or sense anything at all. After all, Riley's senses were actually much higher than most of the other gods in the Domain — an ensemble of the traits of all the abilities he had received.

But relying on those senses right now was a complete detriment to his current predicament. If he was to even think about anything, Marleen would immediately be able to get a read on it. Right now, perhaps his most effective weapon against her was his broken arm which randomly whipped in different directions.

"Oh, your hearing is back," Marleen then let out a small but very deep sigh as she read Riley's mind, "Good — please surrender. You are incredibly young, Riley. You will have many more chances in the future and you don't even truly need the cosmic piece, just give me the win."

"I am afraid I can not do that, Miss Marleen," Riley shook his head as he rushed toward Marleen's position while randomly swinging his broken arms like a whip; creating several thunders with each snap, "I have the desire to get out of this place."

"You will, you are a Primordial," Marleen breathed out, "I do not know the true reason why the original Primordials sent you here; they said it was to train you and to see if you are worthy to replace them, but you and I both know that is not true."

"I have the desire to get out of this place sooner rather than later, Miss Marleen," Riley breathed out as he started waving his hands like a pair of nunchucks, causing Marleen to slightly widen her eyes as she dodged and took a step back, "Sister can not really live that long, I wish to be beside her when she dies."

"...Please don't make me feel guilty," Marleen groaned. Unlike Riley, anyone she ever knew when she was still a mortal had already died millions of years ago — she could not even remember the names of her children anymore… and yet, she still had a sort of attachment; a sort of sentiment for her original universe,

"I know you know already. You might have had the chance to defeat Pepondosovich, Yanchuen, and maybe even the themarian princess — but you will not be able to defeat me solely for the fact that you are physically weaker and slower than me."

"But you will not be able to defeat Miss Esme and Miss Pepondsoovich, Miss Marleen," Riley shook his head, "So that means my victory would have more meaning since as you said, I have the chance to defeat them."

"I do have a chance to win against Pepondosovich now," Marleen awkwardly chuckled, "As for Esme, that remains to be seen. I know how strong she was when she was still an undead, and I know what she did during the strength test on the 15th floor — but I might still have a chance against her as long as I play my cards right. And when I said that you might have a chance to defeat them, I was being generous…

…it would be a miracle if you win against any of them."

"That makes me feel very inadequate, Miss Marleen," Riley sighed.

"Don't be," Marleen shook her head, "If it was using all of our abilities and strength, the chance of you becoming the champion of the tower is incredibly high. Unfortunately, raw strength and the technique to use them well is most important in this place…

…you are just lacking."

"I suppose," Riley let out another sigh. Soon, however, he opened his eyes and looked Marleen straight in the eyes, "But watch this."

"Wh—!!!"

Marleen suddenly and quickly leaped back, making the audience slightly confused by her actions. After all, Riley stopped swinging his arms; he stopped moving altogether… and yet Marleen moved back.

But how could she not, when Riley did something that the audience could not possibly perceive…

…he stopped thinking altogether.

And it wasn't just a simple prevention of thought, no — there truly was nothing in his mind, it was completely blank—no.

It was as if his mind was completely gone altogether. Marleen could actually probably end the match if she attacked Riley now, when he was completely defenseless and in a silent coma; he was practically brain dead… but the fact that the tower had still not eliminated him means that he was still conscious.

Should she just rush at Riley and end the match now? Or was he actually planning something? But that would be impossible, since he was incapable of thinking at the moment… but just what if, what if Riley had something in his sleeve?

Was she just overthinking it? After all, if Riley were to use any of his other abilities, he would be instantly thrown out of the tower.

"...Enough of this." And after deliberating it for a few seconds, Marleen just let out a sigh and rushed toward Riley; her hands aiming at both his brain and heart,

"Even if I do not win the tournament, I could at least boast that I defeated a primordial."

And with those words, Marleen's fingers pierced through Riley's flesh and skull.

But suddenly, as the tip of her fingers were only centimeters away from piercing Riley's organs, Riley's eyes suddenly opened up as he slightly lifted himself up with his toes. Marleen was still able to hit his organs, but not enough to completely incapacitate and immobilize him.

"What the—"

Marleen was not even able to finish her words as Riley suddenly stepped forward; letting her arms completely pierce through his head and torso as he embraced him tight.

"What are you doing?" Marleen whispered, "I am still stronger than you, Riley."

"Perhaps," Riley whispered back, "But I am more durable than you…

…and much more brutal."

And with those words, Riley opened his mouth and did not hesitate to just bite off Marleen's face, literally — Riley completely bit off her nose, causing Marleen to slightly gasp at the action. And almost in instinct and without even thinking about it, Riley spat out her nose and then bit off a chunk of her neck.

And without even having the chance to react, her entire head was completely separated from the rest of her body as Riley just practically mowed down through her neck like some sort of carnivorous goat.

Riley then grabbed her decapitated head by the hair, before pulling himself away from the body and kicking it away; making sure it would not have a chance to suddenly move even without the head.

And as soon as Riley realized that Marleen was still alive, he quickly slammed the head down and started stomping on it wildly without pause. But when his stomps proved weaker than his bites when Marleen just looked at him in slight shock, Riley once again picked up her head.

Marleen could really only widen her eyes as she read Riley's mind.

"Wait, wait!" Marleen breathed out as she saw Riley's mouth opening again, and with it, all of his thoughts regarding what he would do to her head. There were a lot of things currently going on in Riley's mind, things more gruesome than him biting off the rest of her face. Marleen voluntarily stopped reading Riley's mind — and if she could just shake her head, she would have,

"I surrender!"

And before Riley could start biting off her face again, Marleen's head instantly disappeared as she surrendered. And without even a second later, Riley found himself back in the resort, where Yanchuen and Miss Pepondosovich were looking at him very… suspiciously.

It wasn't only them, some of the other gods who were still relaxing and idling on the 91st floor also stared at Riley like they were looking at some sort of ghost.

As for Riley, he just blinked a couple of times as he looked at Miss Pepondosovich,

"I lost?" Riley muttered, "Why am I back on the 91st floor, Miss Pepondosovich?"

"...You won," Miss Pepondosovich could really only squint her eyes at Riley, "You almost ate Marleen's brains out, literally. Do you need something to… wipe all of that?"

"That is the tastiest part, after all," Esme, who did not seem surprised with what Riley had done, just nodded, "Of course, I will not eat any of that anymore — I am just recounting from my experience during my time as an undead."

"I am back on the 91st floor even though I won?" Riley gently grabbed the napkin Miss Pepondosovich handed him and wiped all the blood on his face and neck.

"From here on out, all the victorious combatants will return to this floor," Miss Pepondosovich explained, "The matches from the 92nd - 99th floor would actually span several months, but I think we are nearing the end…

…there is actually a chance that Marleen would still be in the final matches. But you will not be able to fight her anymore until the very last match since you already defeated her."

"Oh," Riley let out a small hum, "Then perhaps I should have just lost instead of eviscerating her face with my teeth…

…I could have just climbed the tower again."