Villain Retirement

878 Chapter 878: Our Territories and Stories

"Grea, is it truly alright to let him go?"

"That is the only right option to take here, rodent."

Big Teeth and Grea stared at Riley's back as he very slowly disappeared into the distance. Their sighs, almost filled their entire city as the transparent gates in front of them very slowly closed.

"But the Domain have decided that gods like him should be kept in isolation for one hundred thousand—"

"I know what we have decided, I was one of the people who approved of it," Grea let out a small but very deep sigh as she turned around, "Since you are young, you do not seem to realize what sort of existence that Two-arms is — we can not have someone like that staying here, let him be another city's problem."

"What… kind of existence is he?" Big Teeth squinted his small eyes as he looked up at Grea.

"The kind you do not want to be around," Grea crossed her four arms as she once again sighed, "Do you even remember how strong you were when you have only lived for that short amount of time, rodent?"

"I… do not even remember what I am during that time — but I know I was a rat before I turned into something else different," Big Teeth hummed as he looked at his tiny hands.

"I was a slave when I was the same age as him," Grea grunted as she closed her eyes, "Used to lift heavy stones by my masters endlessly for years and years. My species, you see, is one of the physically strongest of my home planet."

"You… still remember who you were before all of this?" Big Teeth's eyes widened. It wasn't only him, soon, people started to gather around them as they wished to hear whatever words were coming out of Grea's mouth.

"But we were weak to magic, and those who could wield it, wielded it against us," Grea stretched her arms to the side and pointed her palms to the marbled ground, and as she did so, blades of grass started to sprout beneath her feet,

"They lashed me when I was even a little slower than the last round, that means they lash me regardless of what I do. My people carried everything – marble, stones, dirt… we carried them to the point that the chalk that fell from them covered our beautiful black skin into the color of ash," Grea turned to look at her hands which now resembled that of a marble statue,

"My only rest is the time between when I place the thing I carry to the ground and before I lift the next one. But that time in between was everything, it was but a moment, but the soft green grass beneath my feet served as my bed, as my rest," Grea closed her eyes once more as she sighed,

"What I am trying to tell all of you is that we were nothing when we were his age. Just mortals, completely unaware and completely hoping. But Riley Ross, the God Of Nothing…

…I think he does not belong here."

***

"What do I even do in this place?"

And once again, Riley's number one enemy returned — boredom. He had been walking across the planes of grass for a few hours now. The city was no longer to be seen, the only problem was that the Book Keeper's Tower, which Riley had been using as some sort of compass, had also disappeared as he found himself trapped in an endless prairie.

And the grass beneath his feet wasn't even Grea's grass anymore, he knew, as he had been walking barefoot since he left the city.

"Navi, is this what you wanted to happen?" Riley then stopped walking as he raised his hands in the air, talking to himself as deep breaths escaped his lips,

"For me to eternally walk on grass so that I may not be able to do my purpose to destroy everything? But you make a mistake, as this domain you trapped me into…

…is it not also part of everything? Granted, the people of this domain are strong — beautifully so, but like always, it will only be a matter of time before something happens that would increase my power without any further detailed explanation other than destiny. But I must truly thank you, the people of this domain… they will be more fun to play around with."

Riley then lowered his arms as he finished his monologue; sighing as he once again continued to walk across the endless prairie,

"When will this road of mine truly end? Will this forever be—"

"As I thought, you have no idea how to control your Territory!"

Fortunately, before Riley could start a post-monologue, a voice suddenly approached him from behind. Riley quickly looked behind him, only to see Miss Peponvondosovich hopping and leaping towards him,

"You should cancel your Territory unless you want to get tired and sleep for a couple of thousand years!"

"Miss Peponvondosovich?" Riley tilted his head to the side as he turned around when Miss Peponvondosovich got near him, "Have you been following me all this time?"

"Of course," Miss Peponvondosovich's ears rose up as she looked at Riley, "I told you we were going to another city, right? You might be weird, but I, Miss Peponvondosovich, will never break my word until my thick voluptuous legs do. Anyway, I have been following you for 6 hours and you've had your Territory triggered the entire time."

"My Territory…" Riley squinted his eyes as he started looking around, "...Is that the same power Grea used to expand the area when she and I had our little skirmish?"

"Yup, you are using it now," Miss Peponvondosovich nodded as she also looked around, "Everyone has experienced what you have been experiencing, Riri. Just not as long as you since all of us have actually been oriented by the Book Keeper."

"So I have been walking for this long because I have my Territory activated?" Riley sighed, "How do I deactivate it, Miss Peponvondosovich?"

"I have no idea," Miss Peponvondosovich answered without any hesitation as she shook her head, "It is different from individual to individual, we all have our own instincts, after all. And Territories activate on instinct once we transcend to this domain — and also, since you are a Newbie, you might also not know this…

…but Territories are Domains, just in the lowest capacity."

"Interesting," Riley could not help but place his hand on his chin. Talia had her own domain where all her variants go to when they have nowhere else to go — does that mean she was a god? If so, why hasn't she transcended yet?

"Is that why everything in this place seems so far and confusing, Miss Peponvondosovich?"

"Exactly," Miss Peponvondosovich pointed at Riley, "It is very common not to realize that one's Territory is activated, so people just forget most of the time. And there are different types of Territories too — a lot, actually. You can trap people in it, you can restrict people from entering, you can just push people away. Territories are fun that way."

"Hm," Riley looked around him, "Then, I suppose we just continue to walk until my Territory settles down?"

"Pretty much. Or…" Miss Peponvondosovich's ears once again stood up on their ends, and as they did so, Riley could feel everything around him shift until the trees that seemed extremely far away were now within eye's reach,

"...You have someone else deactivate it for you."

"Oh," Riley widened his eyes as he gave Miss Peponvondosovich a look of acknowledgment before clapping his hands, "That is very good, Miss Peponvondosovich."

"Well…" Miss Peponvondosovich's bunny ears quickly lowered as she scratched the back of her head, "...I was only able to do it since I have better control than you with my Territory. If I have lived this long and couldn't cancel a newborn's Territory, then I might as well end my life."

"Hm," Riley nodded as he took a step back and stood behind Miss Peponvondosovich. Miss Peponvondosovich wondered what Riley was doing at first, before he gestured to Miss Peponvondosovich to walk, "You are my senior in this place, Miss Peponvondosovich. You lead the way."

"T…that's right, isn't it?" Miss Peponvondosovich nodded several times as she chuckled, "And you don't even know where to go, do you?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I am used to just following wherever the wave takes me, Miss Peponvondosovich. Anywhere will be fine as long as it is not boring."

"Then…" Miss Peponvondosovich's ears started moving on their own, "...Shall we go to one of the most fun cities in this Domain!?"

Riley could really only quickly hover from the ground as Miss Peponvondosovich suddenly started hopping and leaping without even waiting for him. And finally, Riley could actually visibly see the surroundings change according to the speed they were moving. Territories… …they truly are such interesting things.

"Where are we going, Miss Peponvondosovich?"

"Where else…" Miss Peponvondosovich grinned as she glanced back at Riley,

"...The City of Creatures, also known as…

…The Summoner's City."