Villain Retirement

"It is just very unfortunate for everyone else that I could kill everyone. But fortunately for everyone else, there is a certain breed of species that could stop me…

…You."

There was a certain feeling that crawled through the back of Zac's neck as he heard that. He knew what Riley was capable of; what he was truly capable of. Perhaps aside from Aerith and Caitlain'Ur, he was the only themarian that knew.

Even Princess Esme only knew of a part of his strength, but not the full extent of his capabilities. Zac was a witness of that during their first meeting in the bar at Galpath—he was flying across the skies when he saw the weird white beam that shot out from that bar… erasing everything within its path, and even sending a number of themarians to their Eternal Death.

Of course, most of the themarians there were weak—strong criminals would usually fight until their eternal death, after all. But even so, in a single second, Riley dispatched almost a dozen of them.

And now, Riley is telling him that there could be thousands of him out there; potentially terrorizing the rest of the Known Universe?

While it is true that Zac is confident that they could subdue Riley if he decides to go on a rampage on Theran, what about a million of him? And their only weakness is that unlike their Original, they could easily die.

But while fighting, Riley's clones could still produce thousands and thousands more clones.

It will be… war.

But if a war were to happen between Riley and Themarians… wouldn't that mean that the rest of the Known Universe would have already lost? Trillions and trillions of lives, tortured and killed.

Zac could potentially stop that destruction now if he just reports it to the Overlord of the Grand Militia. But why…

…why does he feel somewhat excited at the thought of war?

No, the answer to that was simple—he belonged to a race of warriors. And what is a warrior without war? Their last war was way before his time, the war against the evaniels.

Perhaps… it was time?

"!!!" Zac then blinked a couple of times as he instinctively touched his face, which was already smiling unbeknownst to him. Zac immediately shook his head as he looked at Riley.

No, the possibility of Riley actually destroying the Known Universe was close to none. If he remembers correctly, there should still be those Universal soldiers called the Guardians. If they were to amass all of their forces, they could stop the spread of Riley's clones.

And although Zac was completely unaware of how strong the Evaniels and the other Higher Races are, they should be able to defeat an army of Rileys with ease—after all, they wouldn't be in the same category as the themarians if they were weak.

"..." Zac once again shook his head off of the thoughts he was having as he once again looked Riley straight in the eyes.

"You seem to be lost in thought, Star Sergeant Zac," Riley then finally said something as he tilted his head to the side, "Are you perhaps also in the spectrum?"

"I… don't know what that is," Zac could really only sigh as his thoughts started to calm down; his neck and arms, shivering by themselves, "But I will request a change of topic, Lord Riley. The talk of war is… doing something to my body."

"Hm," Riley nodded as he started walking again; his eyes, straying toward the stalls and stores that were in front of the border, "I have not tried truly cooking themarian cuisine before, perhaps you have an idea, Star Sergeant Zac? I would like to cook for Aerith once I am awarded the chance to do so."

"I… am afraid my knowledge of food is not up to par," Zac could really only sigh as he followed Riley, "Soldiers of the Order are starved for years on end as a sort of training."

"Hm…" Riley placed his hand on his chin as he let out a deep breath, "Then I believe I have nothing to do, Star Sergeant Zac. My clones are doing everything for me now."

Riley then suddenly just stopped where he stood; any expression on his face, fading away completely.

"I…" He then whispered,

"I'm bored, Star Sergeant Zac."

"That… don't you have anything you want to do?"

Why did it suddenly feel like Zac was now a chaperone instead of an officer tasked to follow Riley?

"Why don't you try and request to be allowed to take missions from the Credit Board?" Zac then said as his voice slightly became high-pitched, "Princess Tifa might be able to grant you that. In that way, I could also hunt monsters with you underground… it's been a while."

"Hm," Riley nodded, "I will forward that to my clone. But for now, I have nothing to do, Star Sergeant Zac. Searching for Aerith will be futile since she does not want to be found."

"...What about searching for your mother?" A small smile then crawled on Zac's face. Although the Grand Militia was completely unaware of what Riley was doing, Zac was still keeping up to date on whatever was happening with Caitlain'Ur—and right now, their last sighting of her was when she sent several of his comrades to Eternal Death.

If Zac was to be the one to find her, then wouldn't that mean a real promotion?

"Searching for mother?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he looked Zac straight in the eyes, "I already can't find Aerith, Star Sergeant Zac. Mother is completely untraceable."

"...That's true," Zac sighed, "What do you usually do in your free time back on… Arth? Earth?"

"My free time on Earth?" Riley blinked a couple of times as visions of death, torture, and more death surfaced in his mind, "I—"

"Wait…" And before Zac could hear Riley's words, Zac suddenly stretched his arm to the side as his eyes widened, "…Lord James should still be waiting for you in the Camel's inn!"

"Who is that?"

"Lord James, Cadet Fionn's father!"

"Oh," Riley's eyes also turned wide, "But it has been a month, Star Sergeant Zac."

"It's only been a month! Although I don't really advise you in meeting him, if I am going to be stuck with you, then some action would be fun…" Zac's eyebrows then started dancing as he nodded several times at Riley, "...If you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean, Star Sergeant Zac."

"That—wait, are you sure?" Zac could not help but take in a small gulp as he saw the smile growing on Riley's face.

"I truly thank you for your suggestions, Star Sergeant Zac," Riley then breathed out as the smile on his face grew even wider, "The thought of doing my pastime back on Earth did not really occur to me since arriving on Theran. After all, even with Aerith already showing me what your race could do, I still somewhat underestimated your strength and durability."

"...What are you talking about, Lord Riley?" Zac once again nervously chuckled.

"You asked me what I liked doing earlier during my free time, Star Sergeant Zac," Riley's feet then started leaving the ground,

"Well, I kill people—usually in the millions at a time."

"..."

"I obviously can not do that here on Theran, but one at a time?"

"You're not… No."

"We have our first target, Star Sergeant Zac."