Villain Retirement

"I wonder when I am going to fight, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Be patient, my young protege. They let all the matches finish before they proceed with the next batch — and most matches at this level actually either end in the first second, or sometimes even last for days. And seeing as that guy is fighting…"

It hasn't been a day yet, but it was close. But the fact that the fight was lasting was not really a surprise to everyone who was watching the last match of the batch — even Riley was just nodding his head as Miss Pepondosovich was explaining.

After all, one of the remaining combatants was Yanchuen, and Yanchuen truly liked to enjoy his battles to the fullest. But more people would have probably enjoyed his match if it was actually a battle, but no…

…Yanchuen was just playing with his opponent.

As someone who could see the future, Yanchuen was just taunting his opponent each time he had the chance to do so… and he had a lot of chances to do so.

"It is no wonder he and Miss Marleen were in a relationship," Esme commented as her eyes followed Yanchuen without rest, "The two of them are very similar when it comes to how they approach a battle."

"Hm," Miss Pepondosovich shrugged before nodding, "The mind readers and clairvoyants are always so tricky to match up with."

"Are there a lot of them in the Domain of the Gods, Miss Pepondosovich?" Riley asked; gulping down another mug of milk soda as his eyes were also glued to the match, "Mind readers and clairvoyants."

"A whole lot of them," Miss Pepondosovich breathed out in disdain, "But if you are talking about Grandarena City, then you could probably only count them with a single hand — most mind readers and clairvoyants have their abilities as powers, after all. Yanchuen and Marleen are different since their special traits are innate in their body; it's not like they can turn it off. There's also the fact that most mind readers are physically weak, by our standards, of course."

"Hm," Riley nodded.

"Someone like you should not actually even be here, Riri," Miss Pepondosovich then let out a small groan as she turned her focus to Riley, "Your telekinetic strength is at a cosmic level, or perhaps even beyond. Not to mention you also have an unfair number of other abilities — couldn't you make your body entirely intangible?"

"Yes," Riley shrugged, "It is a racial trait that I received from being killed by King, who has lobotomized a Norinlad and stole its life and abilities, Miss Pepondosovich."

"That—"

"I could also fully turn myself into a puddle of blood. An ability I also received from being killed by King, who lobotomized a variant of Pirate Queen Xra," Riley nodded several times, "This blood control ability is actually used to fully counter a Norinlad's racial ability — so I might actually be completely invincible right now if I utilize all of my abilities to their most effective use."

"See what I mean by unfair?" Miss Pepondosovich pointed at Riley as she looked at Esme, "Some people just got to have it all."

"Master was already strong when he fought against me while I was still an undead," Esme also nodded several times, "I actually could no longer imagine how strong he has become after receiving all the abilities he received from the conqueror that calls himself King."

"...For someone who has only lived like a speck, you sure have experienced some of the wildest things, Riri," Miss Pepondosovich could really only scoff as she shook her head.

"I have not experienced anything compared to you, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley shook his head, "You have lost the love of your life and your children — I believe that alone makes everything that has happened to me completely mild."

"...I am not really going to respond to that," Miss Pepondosovich's voice slightly became meek as she chose to focus on Yanchuen's match. Unfortunately for her, Yanchuen's match was suddenly over after 2 seconds as he finally decided to end it by spinning his opponent's head and pulling it off of her neck.

"Whew, that was a little fun," Yanchuen appeared right back at the table; wiping the blood from his face, "Not as fun as our little exchange of fists, Riley Ross. But—Why do you look so down, Miss Pepondosovich?"

"Master insensitively mentioned her dead children and husband, Mr. Yanchuen."

"I suppose that is a very valid reason to be suddenly so meek," Yanchuen sighed, "Although I suppose it was always bound to happen with someone like Riley Ross. But you do not have to worry for so long, Miss Pepondosovich."

"I will not mention your dead children and husband who died by being burnt alive anymore, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley let out a small and very deep sigh as he shook his head, "Only now do I realize it was quite wrong for me to say what I said."

"That's—" And fortunately for Miss Pepondosovich, she was able to completely avoid the conversation altogether as she was teleported away to the 92nd floor. Unfortunately for her opponent, however, Miss Pepondosovich truly wanted to let off some steam after what she just heard from Riley.

"Are you sure that someone as small as you actually belong to the tower?"

"Oh." A smile quickly crawled on Miss Pepondosovich's face as soon as she saw her opponent grinning at her; realizing that her opponent was not aware of her identity as one of Grandarena's previous champions,

"There are actually quite a lot of people smaller than me. Have you seen Big Teeth? And you're not that much of a giant yourself there, kid."

"Everyone has seen Big Teeth." Miss Pepondosovich's opponent, who was actually also quite small; perhaps an entire one and a half foot shorter than Riley, placed his hands behind his back as a way to taunt Miss Pepondosovich further,

"But this is the first time I am seeing Big Feet — especially from someone as tiny as you."

"My legs are perfectly beautiful," Miss Pepondosovich very slowly raised her left foot from the ground; the lines which silhouetted her muscles, very lightly snapping as she did so. Although incredibly tiny, Miss Pepondosovich's body was perfectly anatomically correct — except, of course, her legs, which were clearly the most trained part of her body. Thick, but still very much incredibly appealing.

"I could see that," the man slightly tilted his head down, completely staring at the little bits of exposed skin of Miss Pepondosovich's buttocks. Completely unbeknownst to him, however, what he was actually seeing was already an afterimage. And once he blinked, he suddenly found his head only inches away from hitting the ground.

"What…?" The man once again blinked a couple of times as he quickly analyzed his situation. His body was completely bent the wrong way, with Miss Pepondosovich's foot hooking his neck. It was weird — by all means, the man should have felt Miss Pepondosovich's foot slamming on his neck… and yet none of that happened and the next thing he knows is that his spine was already broken and his head was almost touching the ground…

…he didn't even feel any sort of pain.

"What did you—"

And before the man could even finish his words, Miss Pepondosovich fully slammed his head to the ground; pinning it before she pressed his neck with both legs. She then also laid down on the ground, spinning her body and completely twisting the man's neck as she did so.

The man was still very much alive and struggling, however, as he started swinging his hands toward Miss Pepondosovich while both of them were on the ground. Miss Pepondosovich, however, just caught his hand and also trapped it in her arm before pulling and stretching the man's neck and shoulder apart.

And before the man could even do anything or react, Miss Pepondosovich suddenly lightened her grip on him and just rolled away. The man also quickly stood up and leaped back; his head spinning several times until it was back in place.

"You are showing me mercy?" The man muttered as he patted his neck, "That's a mistake."

"Mercy?" Miss Pepondosovich let out a small chuckle, "There is no such thing as mercy in the Domain of the Gods — all there really is are different values of entertainment. And right now, I truly want to be entertained, so…

…Shall we dance?"

"Oh?" Riley quickly reacted as soon as he saw Miss Pepondosovich moving into a stance. Her words made him remember his time back in Mega Academy; much simpler times — and sometimes, Riley even preferred to have just kept everything like that, completely grounded and humble. But right now, he was surrounded by gods who were just as strong as him…. well, maybe not most of them.

"It would seem Miss Pepondosovich truly is a champion of Grandarena City, Master," Esme pointed at the center of the table as she watched as Miss Pepondosovich was practically just slamming her opponent left and right. And even though she was just doing incredibly simple moves, her opponent still seemed even more confused than Yanchuen's opponent… and Yanchuen could literally see the future.

"I suppose it is to be expected," Riley nodded, "And—"

"No!"

And before Riley could finish his words, Miss Pepondosovich suddenly appeared back at her seat,

"Why did he have to surrender!? I haven't even stretched my legs yet!"

"Anymore would have been torture, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme welcomed Miss Pepondosovich back by handing her a bottle of beer, "The other matches are already about to be over as well…

…maybe it will be my turn soon."