Villain Retirement

"Wrong hole."

"...Wrong hole."

"Wrong hole again."

Riley has lost track of how many hours he had been in Theran's underground ecosystem. He was now out of the woods, literally. He stood on top of a cliff, overlooking a sea that shouldn't exist underground.

Theran is completely different from Earth—perhaps he could no longer refute this fact.

He had been here for long, and yet the shadows that scattered everywhere had not moved for even a single millimeter. The sun which didn't exist still fully drowned the landscape, not withering for a single second.

"Boss, I've searched 4 holes—I don't think we're anywhere near the city, or any city for that matter."

Another Riley then descended from the sky, landing behind Riley who just continued to stare at the endless horizon.

"Even the holes that are near each other, end up not even being close once you get to the surface," Riley's clone let out a small but very deep sigh as he too looked at the ocean.

"Good work," Riley nodded, "You can take a rest now."

"I'll go check out some more holes first. I haven't seen any signs of that James guy either. Do you think he left?"

"I believe he is still here somewhere. He probably covered his bald head to conceal his presence. Just be wary of anything that resembles a head."

"Roger that, boss."

"Hm."

And with his clone leaving, Riley just once again nodded; his eyes, still looking at the endless horizon. He already ordered his clone that was still in Hel castle to come and find them, but when it arrived at the Camel's inn, they already closed up the hole.

Riley could probably just fly up into any of the holes, and just find his way while he's on the surface—but then he wouldn't be able to finish his hunt with James. He already killed his wife and only remaining son—it would be awkward if he let James just live; they come as a set, after all.

"Oh…"

Riley then blinked a couple of times as he suddenly lost connection with his clone. Although it was just a glimpse at the end of its life, Riley was able to see what killed it—it wasn't James.

It was a wolf. A thin and very lean wolf the size of a car, with a tail that was longer than its entire body. Most importantly, it leaped all the way from the ground; a skirt of wind flowing around it as it completely eviscerated his clone.

Riley had initially thought that the wildlife of Theran migrated and evolved underground millions of years ago because of Themarians, but that wasn't the case at all. Even themarians would be sent to Eternal Death if they weren't careful here—it is no wonder why not everyone takes missions from the Credit Board.

Sadly for the long wolf, however, what he just ate was a mixture of the ground and plants. Fortunately for the wolf, it still had something to hunt as Riley's clone carried his scent.

"..."

Riley then very slowly turned around, only to find the long wolf already sneaking toward him, emerging from the bushes; its steps, eerily quiet for its size—no, there was not even a single noise. The wolf's paw was slightly above the ground… perhaps even if it wasn't as sophisticated as the themarians, the wildlife also knew how to fly?

In the wolf's case, it was probably just enough to make his steps completely silent.

And as soon as the wolf's glowing eyes met with Riley's, it immediately abandoned any of its stealth and lunged toward Riley. Riley, on the other hand, just very slowly stretched out his palm.

"!!!"

The wolf immediately pushed itself away from Riley, using the empty air as some sort of step as it landed back to the ground; its head, all the way down; its feet, still ready to leap toward Riley again.

This time, however, the wolf was looking back and forth between Riley's hand and his eyes—and each time it did so, it instinctively took a step back.

And as soon as Riley stepped forward, the wolf just immediately turned around and ran away into the bushes.

"...I only wanted to touch it," Riley whispered to himself as he sighed. The Ross family used to have a pet—a dog. Diana brought it home one day when Riley was just a little over 9 years old; it seemed to love Hannah and grew attached to her the very first day. But Riley?

It always ran away whenever it saw Riley. It barks and whimpers whenever Riley tries to get near. Hannah said that the dog just hates it when ugly colorless people touch it, so Riley just stopped trying to pet it.

And just a week later after it arrived, it ran away from home and got hit by a car.

The truth is, Riley now knows that the dog doesn't really hate him at all—it feared him. The dog smelled what Riley truly is before he even knew himself. It was able to smell the darkness, the void that lived inside of him.

And it would seem the animals of a completely different planet could see the same as soon as they see his eyes.

Even with the bright horizon behind him, they see Riley for what he truly is.

A being unaffected by light. A monster that will soon bathe the entire universe in darkness.

"..." Riley then looked at his palm, before letting out a long and deep sigh and closing it.

"Lord James, if you are not going to come out from the shadows…" Riley then breathed out as he stepped away from the cliff, before kneeling and placing his palm on the ground,

"...Then I will just have to take away the shadows."

And as soon as he said that, a pulse rippled from his palm; the grass and plants around it, suddenly blooming and turning even greener as they became bigger and more dense. But with the second pulse, however…

…they started to wither.

"This is what I am, Lord James," Riley then whispered as the plants around him continued to perish. The thick bushes, the trees… all wilting in an instant as soon as the pulse touched them,

"This is a power I received from dying to a woman capable of controlling and making plant life bloom—a power that literally gives birth to life, and yet…

…I use it to spread death like wildfire."

The once green and lively land became nothing but ashes of life; gray and completely devoid of any joy.

"There is no use in hiding from me, Lord James," Riley then once again stood up as he sighed, causing the ashes of life around him to ripple away,

"I am one of the things constant in this universe. I am Suffering and Death."

And with those words, another pulse escaped from Riley. This time, however, the pulse was violent—blowing away all the corpses of the plants and wildlife and revealing the creatures that lived within the once lively world.

And one of them was James; his eyes, already as red as they could be as he rushed toward Riley.

"I will end your suffering then, Riley Ross!"

"Come then…" Riley stretched his hands to the side, summoning two blades of light as he calmly stepped forward,

"...Try."