Villain Retirement

"You…"

Kravos had fought many beings in the entirety of his existence, half of them could be considered gods in their own right. He had also fought many other beings in the Domain of the Gods — just based on experience alone, Riley is supposed to not even be a match for him, not even a single bit.

He had thought he already had fought all the sorts of beings he would ever face in his life, and twice over — but he was wrong, he was definitely wrong.

"It is a little fun to face someone like me, no?"

Kravos swung his machete, creating a sort of invisible beam that seemed like it tore through the fabric of space itself, creating a dark crescent so gigantic it swallowed everything in its path; not even fading from their sight even after it traveled thousands of kilometers into the distance. They could see it, of course, since the Domain of the Gods was flat.

"That might reach the realm of the mortals, Mr. Kravos."

As for the target of the violent crescent force, he was just calmly looking at the torrent as it very slowly faded away.

"Does being a Higher God exempt you from harming the people of Manirosa?" Riley tilted his head before turning to look at Kravos.

If they were not currently in the Domain of the Gods, then Kravos's attack would most probably be able to destroy an entire star system without any trouble at all.

"What sort of creature are you?" Kravos did not really answer Riley. He just squinted his eyes as he looked at him from head to toe, "To be completely intangible, and then also choose not to be… but instead just choose to be a living puddle of blood floating just what—"

"A villain, Mr. Kravos." Kravos was not allowed to finish his words as Riley stretched his arms to the side, seemingly urging Kravos to just continue to attack him, "A supervillain, to be exact."

"...Hm," Kravos could not help but just scoff as he saw Riley very slowly making him toward him… two of them — no, there were 3 of them now, "Just how many more of yourself could you summon?"

"I have never actually tried it before, Mr. Kravos, but…"

"!!!"

"...Why don't we try?" Riley's words suddenly echoed and reverberated throughout the air as he suddenly multiplied out of nowhere, almost painting the blades of grass that had been newly painted red because of all the blood into white. White, because anywhere one would look, there was probably a Riley standing there. Of course, unlike the other gods who suddenly found themselves in a sea of Riley, Kravos did not allow himself to panic at all as he just started swinging his machetes again as he rushed to where the original Riley should be.

"I have to admit that you are really strong," Kravos grunted, "But like all gods who have faced me, you will fall."

And as soon as Kravos said those words, the sound of something vibrating quaked in the air — it was Kravos, more specifically, the crystal machetes he was holding in both of his hands. And very soon, the very air itself started to distort around the machetes; even with just a slight movement, it was almost as if the machetes were burning the air itself.

And perhaps it was because as soon as the blades touched the Rileys surrounding Kravos, their flesh and skin all just started melting as the blood in them boiled.

"I may have never faced someone like you…" Kravos scoffed as he almost seemed like he was dancing while he started mowing through the thousands and thousands of Riley clones, "...but if you separate each of your abilities, then you are truly nothing special."

"You say that, Mr. Kravos…" A mocking thunder echoed through the air as all of Riley's clones just started laughing even as Kravos picked them off one by one, "...But you are forgetting one simple fact…

…I have not really put the effort into attacking you just yet."

"W—"

And before Kravos could even say anything, the clone that was in the very front of Kravos suddenly grabbed the crystal machete by his hands and hands alone. A smile, very slowly crawling on his face as he looked Kravos in the eyes.

"I am also actually immune to very high levels of temperature and radiation, Mr. Kravos," Riley almost giggled as his entire body suddenly turned into a sort of metal, completely locking Kravos's weapons in his hands. Riley was not able to move since he had practically turned into a living statue, but it didn't really matter since there were thousands of them there — all looking at Kravos.

"I see," Kravos really only closed his eyes as he let out a very long and deep sigh. And then, with a shake of his head, a chuckle also started to escape his lips, "I apologize, young god. I seem to have underestimated you solely for the fact that you are young. Perhaps it is time to properly introduce myself…

…My name is Kravos, also known as the God Killer."

"My name is Riley Ross," all of the Rileys bowed their heads, "Also known as Aerith's Lover."

"...Aerith?" Kravos's eyes suddenly glowed white. And as soon as it did so, Kravos's shadow disappeared… before just suddenly emerging from the ground and turning into some sort of white silhouette that started moving across all the clones. The shadow did not really do anything special, it just touched each of the clones one by one at an incredibly abnormal speed; it was so fast that it just looked like a blast that rippled through the clones.

And with each touch, the skin of Riley's clones instantly froze—

no. It wasn't that the clones' skins froze, they weren't frozen at all. Their entire bodies just turned into a sculpture of ice — they did not freeze, but the composition of their bodies changed completely.

Kravos also started moving along with his shadows, breaking and melting all the clones and making sure there was nothing left of them — and he did so, he did just that until only a single Riley remained standing there.

"That is very impressive, Kravos." And the remaining Riley that was left standing was not even among the clones that were surrounding Kravos. The original Riley was actually just hiding amongst the crowd, stepping outside as he clapped his hands and nodded his head several times at Kravos,

"I knew you were not just someone who swung a large blade around — someone like that could not possibly be a Higher God, after all. But to think you could completely manipulate matter…

…I would very much like to have that ability."

"Silence, young god," Kravos's shadow returned to him; not on the ground, but to him. The white shadow wrapped around him, causing his skin to just turn gray as he very slowly made his way to Riley, "You mentioned a name, boy — how do you know that name?"

"Aerith?" Riley squinted his eyes as he looked at Kravos from head to toe, "Could it be that you are acquainted with her?"

"That depends on whether or not we are talking about the same Aerith."

"Aerith'Ross."

"Hm…" Kravos halted his steps as a frown very slowly started to form on his face, "Riley Ross… I did not immediately notice the connection between the two. The color of your hair and skin are also similar, how are you related to the White God?"

"I do not know yet, Mr. Kravos," Riley shrugged before his eyes started to glow red, causing Kravos's already lowered eyebrows to lower even further, "Perhaps you may be able to help me in knowing it?"

"If you truly are related to the White God…" Kravos let out a very long and deep breath, once again releasing a smoke from his nose as he did so,

"...Then I judge you not worthy of living."

And all of a sudden, Kravos disappeared from his spot; the ground and grass beneath his feet, cracking.

"..." He then appeared behind Riley, his hands already meticulously placed on his back; his fingers, seemingly touching specific parts of Riley's spine. And without even saying a word, his white eyes glowed even more violently as he pushed forward…

…turning Riley's body into a strand of spaghetti, literally.

Riley's entire silhouette just fell down like a wet noodle, even almost twirling as he hit the ground.

"I just turned your bones, your flesh, your blood into some sort of goo, Riley Ross," Kravos then stepped on Riley, causing a squishing noise to whisper in the air, "You are alive, but you will not be able to use your abilities anymore… since even your brain has been turned into mush. The worst part of this all is that you will not recover, because there is nothing wrong with you — this is your normal state now. You can control blood? But you no longer have blood."

"How bold of you to assume that's not another clone, Mr. Kravos," and as Kravos was talking to the goo, another Riley stepped out of the crowd, "You truly have a very unique ability, Mr. Kravos…

…Perhaps it is finally time to use what I learned from King."