Villain Retirement

Grandarena City.

No one knows where the name came from, even the oldest gods that have existed in the Domain of the Gods could not tell you. But what they can tell you, however, is that the city was not exactly the same as it was before.

It was not exactly a tower, no; not at all. It used to truly just be one big arena, a coliseum where gods competed against each other solely using their raw physical abilities — no arcane arts, magic, not even to buff one's self. Just pure unadulterated strength.

Absolute.

And as time went on, when more and more gods joined the fray, more levels were added to the coliseum to easily separate the predator from the prey — the stronger one was, the higher the level they participated in. As one of the previous champions, Miss Pepondosovich was able to reach the top-most level, sitting there comfortably until she got so bored that no one was there to challenge her even after years and years had passed.

The first floor was simple — it was a brawl where anyone was free to hit anyone, all the gods they could fit in one arena would compete against each other until only less than 30 of them were left. And these remaining 30 would fight against one of the other batches that also gained their spot on the first floor.

And there, on the first floor…

…Riley and Esme were calmly standing in the arena, waiting with the others for the brawl to start. The two did not really stand out, not at all — not even a single one of the other gods was heeding them any mind.

The same could not be said for the gods who were watching on the bleachers, however. Riley could not even hear anything else as the audience was just screaming for blood and death. But of course, no one would really die, but they would at least be on the brink of being snuffed out of existence.

"These people seemed to really be bored, Master," Esme opened up as she stood closer to Riley.

"Hm. Miss Pepondosovich did say that the gods would do anything to relieve their boredom," Riley nodded, "These gods are probably enjoying what they can while they still can enjoy it, Esme."

"I could not really imagine what it would be like to live that long," Esme sighed.

"But you're a themarian, Esme," Riley blinked.

"Yes," Esme nodded, "But I am still just a hundred years old, I can not be compared to any of these people — I can not even begin to imagine what it would be like to be Princess Aerith's age."

"I am the same," Riley nodded.

"But did you not already spend time in eternity, Master?" Esme blinked a couple of times as she glanced at Riley.

"Yes," Riley once again nodded, "But that was entirely different in theory, I was only watching and could not do anything, Esme."

"...And what did you see, Master?"

"That is too long a story to tell," Riley only let out a sigh before shaking his head, "And it would seem we would have no time for it."

"Hm…?" Esme squinted her eyes, before turning to look where Riley was looking, only to see a small group approaching them.

"You two, hello!" The group all just looked like normal humans — but judging from the aura they were emitting, they were only using their human form. Riley had always wondered about this sort of transformation — why did they choose a humanoid form that completely resembles a human?

And if Riley gets the chance to learn this transformation, what exactly would his human form look like since he was already a human in the first place?

In the first place…

"What do you think a human is, Esme?" Riley asked, completely ignoring the group that approached them.

"Monsters," Esme pointed at Riley.

"Hm…Perhaps I asked the wrong—"

"Hello!?"

And before Riley and Esme could continue their conversation, the group once again tried talking to them; this time, moving closer and raising their voice a few levels up.

"What do you want, Stranger?" Esme was the one who bothered answering the three as she stood in front of Riley.

"Oh, I thought you guys weren't hearing us," one of the gods let out a short but very deep sigh, "Have you guys partied up yet? Would you like to join our team?"

"A team?" Esme squinted her eyes as she started looking around, "I thought this was a battle royale, Stranger. Why would we form a team with you?"

"What? But aren't the two of you a—wait, you're noobs," the man quickly took a step back as he looked back and forth between Riley and Esme, "Never mind. The two of you can stay together."

And without even waiting for Riley and Esme to say anything, the group just left like that.

"I would seem the others are forming teams, Master," Esme let out a small hum as she finally scanned the other participants, only to see that some of them really have made groups, "I suppose it is to ensure that they would pass the first floor."

"Then that means they should not pass the first floor at all, Esme," Riley sighed and shook his head, "We were told this is a test of one's strength, not strength of numbers."

"Then should we—"

[Start!]

And before Esme could finish what she wanted to say, the brawl just started out of nowhere; the gods, quickly rushing at each other and just brute forced their way through. As for Riley and Esme, the only thing they could really do was just stand there as everyone started juking it out.

"Die!"

But it did not take long until one of them leaped toward the two with her fists already locked onto them. Riley did not really dodge, however, as he just moved behind Esme and allowing her to take the hit…which she just tanked like nothing; her head, not even moving a single millimeter as the female god's knuckle made contact with her face.

"What…" The female god could really only stutter with her words as she retracted her fist. And before she could even think of anything, Esme slapped her right on the cheek… causing her head to spin in place several times, her neck twisting to the point it became as thin as rope.

It wasn't over, however, as the shockwave from Esme's slap caused a ripple that almost blew everyone that happened to be near her.

"Well then, Master…" Esme then glanced at Riley, "...I shall see you later."

"Hm." And as Esme disappeared, the only thing that Riley did was nod; once again not moving from his position as he just watched everyone fighting for their spot. He was waiting for someone to approach him, but everyone seemed to be busy with each other.

And so, Riley just opted to sit down; gathering the unconscious gods nearest to him and bundling them on top of each other to turn into a chair. But as soon as he was in the middle of sitting down, however, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him; its leg, already only inches away. But Riley did not stop at all, he did not even flinch.

Perhaps he knew he had no reason to stop, as before the leg could reach him, Esme suddenly appeared and grabbed the leg from behind; casually just slamming the shadow on the ground several times and just leaving it in front of Riley.

"Hm…" Riley looked back and forth between his new chair and the new body in front of him, before letting out a small sigh and pulling the body closer to him to use as a leg rest.

Another thunder erupted right next to Riley as another god took the chance to knock him out. But once again, Esme was there to stop any attacks from ever touching his skin — the audience who were just previously wanting to see carnage, now completely intrigued with the two.

Their eyes were all at Esme at first, as she was obviously overqualified for level 1 and would just probably speedrun the next several levels. They were, however, more curious about Riley — after all, if someone like Esme was protecting him, then how strong could he actually be?

Was he stronger than her, that's why she is serving him? Or was he weaker than her, that is why she was protecting him? None of them could really be sure.

What they can be sure of, however, was this was one of the fastest eliminations they had ever watched on Grandarena's first floor… because it was already over.

[Stop!]

And with that single word, the 30 remaining participants found themselves being teleported back to the very center of the arena.

[Congratulations on moving to the next level.]

And before any of them could even celebrate or contemplate their win, they were suddenly transported to some kind of… lounge — a tavern. And almost immediately, Esme was surrounded by people.

There were also people approaching Riley…

…but they did not really have a good expression on their faces.

"Another one being carried, great."