Villain Retirement

Chapter 456: Raleerus Rising

"Haha!"

Raleerus.

Perhaps as a clone that was left on his own for almost an entire year without any outside influence from Riley, interacting and trying to live amongst the aliens, he had a personality that was completely different and independent compared to the rest of Riley's recent and latest clones.

And since he had met hundreds of different species and learned some of their languages, he had also gained an understanding of their different cultures— one could even say that Raleerus was more… cultured than his creator, and even John.

When Riley left him, he didn't really have any sense of purpose or mission. The only thing he had was an urge to kill everything that talks; and so, with him finally being allowed to kill and wreak havoc, murder and destroy he did.

After leaving Hotis 4J, he found a ship forcefully stowed away in; asking the unfortunate pilot to take him to the nearest planet. And not even an hour after landing on the said planet, he killed every living soul on it, including non-intelligent life.

Unlike Riley Ross, he did not really tend to enjoy the screams of his victims, no— the only thing that mattered to him was their death.

As soon as his feet landed on the ground, he sent out some sort of telekinetic pulse that served as a radar to track and trace anything and everything that breathes, moves, or has a heartbeat.

And with an excited and almost moaning breath, he attached invisible ropes in all of them; and ten, with a giggle, he embraced himself; and as he did so, he pulled the billions that were attached to his invisible rope.

Screams no longer mattered to him, just death and presentation. Most of the creatures that he pulled were already in pieces just meters after they left where they stood, shredded either by walls, or a mountain that happened to be in their path. But still, whatever remained of them, Raleerus pulled closer to him.

And just like that, in less than an hour— he eradicated all life on the planet, creating a mountain the size of Mt. Fuji with their corpses; and if one were to look closer, they would notice that Raleerus intentionally made it to be that way…

…and he did so while laughing.

And after an hour, he didn't do anything. He just stood on top of his creation and relished the sights and smells of death. No— saying that he just stood there is misinformation.

He danced.

He danced and hummed on the top of the mountain, dancing with one of the corpses that managed to stay intact, while making more than a dozen corpses their audience.

But alas, he had to stop as after a few more hours, he found himself surrounded by different people, all wearing a red luminous suit and circling around him as they hovered in the air.

During the broadcast, he was able to briefly read Riley's thoughts as he executed someone who wore the same uniform as the people surrounding him— and if the information he received was correct… then these people were partly responsible for Diley's death.

"You people killed my senior."

"You… you should still be on the remote planet! How… how are you here!?"

The leader of the squad of Guardians was the first to directly address Raleerus; his eyes, hastily reviewing all the holograms containing Riley Ross's current information in front of him.

A few moments later, however, another hologram popped out in front of him— another recorded footage of Riley on another planet close to where they are.

"...What?"

"Surprised?"

"!!!"

The squad leader quickly floated away as he felt a whisper on his pink neck— he looked to where he was previously hovering, only to see Raleerus there. To his surprise, however, there was still someone standing on top of the mountain of corpses.

"W—"

And before he could even say another word, another hologram popped up in front of him. He didn't immediately turn his eyes towards it; as he was afraid that his thoughts were right. But after a few more breaths, he had no choice but to check on the hologram— and true enough, it was a report of another Riley Ross wreaking havoc on another planet.

And before he could see where it was, another hologram popped up. This time, however, it wasn't a report of Riley Ross wreaking havoc on another planet, no— it was a report of him splitting one in half, killing all of its 3 billion inhabitants.

"Twenty," Raleerus's clone once again whispered as he very slowly floated near the squad leader, who didn't really know what to do, right now,

"I made twenty other clones. I don't really have any connection to them right now, but it is good they are still doing what they need to do. I would have to say though, I might have to step up my game a little bit…

…don't you think so?"

Guardians have faced many threats before— planet eaters, genocidal overlords, galactic pirates, and even rogue juvenile Themarians. But never once has there been a singular threat that destroyed several planets that were trillions of kilometers away from each other…

…and all at the same time.

***

"Is father not coming?"

"Oh, he's already on the ship. He's still unconscious so I just decided to throw him beside Aerith's son."

"...What?"

In front of the Ross' residence, a dagger-shaped ship the size of a large house was now casually parked— Diana's ship. Tomoe, Paige, Katherine, and Karina were already inside and making themselves familiar with the interior. As for Hannah, she was inside the house, helping her mother to carry basically the entire house.

"Why are you bringing the oven!?"

"I got that on a bargain, of course, I'm bringing it. Do you know how much that costs without the discount?"

"Then why don't you carry it, then!? You're supposed to be a themarian!"

"You know, if you spent the time you spent talking instead of carrying our stuff, we would have emptied the house by now."

"And where the fuck is Riley!? This would have been done hours ago! And why are we even packing everything!?"

Hannah could really only let out a loud groan as she carried their oven, which probably weighed twice as her.

"He's out there talking with Aerith or something," Diana let out a small sigh as she sat on their sofa, "I swear, I don't really see your brother sees on that woman. He's obsessed. Did you check his room? Did you see how many cutouts and figurines of Megawoman he has?"

"...I don't really get it. Are you really a Themarian that's hundreds of years old?"

"Thousands, twelve thousand something, to be precise."

"Twelve— shouldn't you be like, very wise right now!?"

"I'm knowledgeable. I never learned to be wise, sadly," Diana covered her mouth as she giggled.

"Wait… is this why you're so chill with Riley being with Katherine back then!? Oh my god, you're two hundred times older than—"

"Say it."

"I… I said you seem too young for your age."

"And what age is that?"

"That— Oh, look at that!"

And without even any explanation whatsoever, Hannah suddenly easily carried that oven outside; not waiting for her mother to say anything else. She already has a sense of fear from her mother even back then, but now that she's a themarian…

…her fear of her just doubled.

***

"How's Gary?"

"Asleep."

"Hm. He seemed quite distressed the last time I saw him."

"...You manipulated him, Riley. Although… perhaps I should thank you for not killing him."

"You are welcome, Aerith."

"..."

Somewhere in the lands of Europe, Riley and Aerith were casually standing on top of a cliff; in front of them, a view that seemed almost untouched for eons— the very location where Riley and Aerith had their first proper talk.

"So, it's finally happening. You're finally leaving this planet."

"...You predicted this from happening, Aerith?"

"Of course," Aerith's sighs echoed throughout the immaculate horizon filled with nothing but mountains and nature,

"Even someone with lesser power than you has always left their home planet. I have actually predicted that after a hundred years or so, most of the supers would be exploring the different worlds that the Universe has to offer— your species is unique in that way…

…and you even more so."