Villain Retirement

Chapter 1128: Set vs. Riley

Chapter 1128: Set vs. Riley

"...Interesting."

"Were you… inside your quarters the entire time!?"

"I was, Aurora."

Even Monkeh, whose sense of smell could probably be enough to catch a whiff of beings from another planet, could not help but be taken aback as she saw Riley just casually approaching them — and judging by how messy his hair is… and the fact that he was wearing a pair of white pajamas, he had actually just woken up from a nap.

Sure, most of Monkeh's strength and abilities were completely sealed — but she did not even notice Riley ever going to the quarters, he had always just remained on the bridge ever since she joined the crew. Is it possible…

…that the Riley that fought her was also a clone this entire time? If so, that would mean… they have actually been hanging out with a clone?

"You know, clones are supposed to be my forte," Monkeh let out a small disgruntled groan of frustration as she looked at Riley slowly approach them, "Anymore tricks you have up your sleeve?"

"About a thousand, Monkeh," Riley just shrugged as he stood beside Aurora before just casually opening the window shield; his eyes, glancing at Set who was also staring back at him. Riley did not really look at Set for a long time, however, as he just floated out of the ship; his attention on Miss Pepondosovich who was sitting on top, "You seem to be having fun on your own, Miss Pepondosovich."

"I needed to stretch my legs," Miss Pepondosovich just lifted up one of her hoot and started shaking it; the muscles on her thighs and calves, just popping and contracting as she did so, "What about you? What are you doing up?"

"My clones are the only ones having all the fun, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley let out a small sigh as he shook his head, "But I also did make it so that I will only be disturbed once it dies."

"What are you even doing in that room of yours?" Miss Pepondosovich squinted her eyes as she looked at the floating Riley from head to toe, "...You're not doing some sort of weird ritual, are you?"

"Hm," Riley just blinked in response, "My sister used to say the same."

"Your sister, huh…" Miss Pepondosovich squinted her eyes even further, "Come to think of it, you and your sister don't really talk much. From when we were in the Domain of the Gods; whenever you talked about her, it was always as if the two of you knew just about everything about each other."

"She was obviously avoiding me, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley sighed, "And her powers have grown too strong to be anywhere near anyone that can not at least take the heat of a star."

"W—" Miss Pepondosovich quickly grabbed her bunny ears and brought it down to the side of her head; a millimeter of her fur, just disappeared without a trace when she did so. She then quickly turned her eyes toward Set; the breath she released, extremely disappointed, "Now, why…

…would you even do that?"

Set's eyes could not help but slightly widen as he instinctively placed his scepter close to his chest. How could he not, when ever though Miss Pepondosovich was outside of his Territory, he could still feel her glare all the way from where he stood?

And right now, from where he was standing, Miss Pepondosovich was not some knee-height creature at all, but a colossus that almost completely shadowed the Grand Triangle. Set, however, smiled at this challenge.

"Meh, too bothersome," Miss Pepondosovich then just let out a tiny sigh before waving her hand, "This is all yours, Riri."

"Would you win against him, Miss Pepondosovich?" Riley asked.

"Duh," Miss Pepondosovich shrugged, "He is stronger than me and has more abilities — but I will always win, Riri. That is just how it is."

"You are a pretty boring character, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Say that to yourself!" Miss Pepondosovich pointed at Riley's face, "I don't even know why you're out here playing with us when your primordial pals are currently on the verge of dying! Now go, shoo! That guy has been glaring at us like we're grass and he's a horse ready to devour the entire field."

"An ugly horse," Riley followed up before he started floating toward Set again — this time, however, Riley's silhouette just disappeared from where he was floating; appearing almost instantly behind Set as he tried to choke him from behind.

Set, however, just completely turned into a million black butterflies that just flew in all directions–no. They weren't butterflies, but scarabs.

"Hm…" Riley just let the scarabs dance and over around him; their contrast with the colorful expanse of the Grand Triangle, just twirling in his clear eyes.

Soon, however, these scarabs just attached themselves to him in an instant — their pincer-like mouths just eating through his flesh bit by bit. Riley, however, just let out a long, and almost unrhythmic chuckle before stretching his arms to the side… which both also soon dropped to the ground as the scarabs ate through his bones.

—and as the scarabs continued to mince and maw down his arms, the skeletons of his fingers moved on their own; letting out a snap that caused a silent ripple to just explode from it.

Nothing really happened at first — but after a whole second, the scarabs just started dropping one by one as all the flesh they ate started protruding from their bodies in the form of millions of tiny spikes.

As for Riley, well — his entire body just regenerated instantly along with the snap his severed arm did.

"Well then," Riley then did an exaggerated shrug; causing his pajamas… which also somehow regenerated, to just snap and flutter with the wind, "I am sure you have many more tricks to show me, Set."

And as Riley just casually started walking around the desert, the dead scarabs all just turned into sand; melding along with the endless horizon — and very soon, the entire desert started to tremble as a silhouette emerged from the sea of sand.

From how much the sand was violently shaking, one would think that it was a giant who was emerging, but no — it was Set, but not the one with the elongated head of a horse, but the very first one that Riley met; the one with the long handlebar mustache and tuxedo suit. But of course, his mustache was no match for Spectacular Mustache Man…

…which Riley was now wondering where he could be.

"Is this your true form, then?" Riley tilted his head to the side as Set just once again summoned his scepter from the sand.

"I suppose you could say that," Set then just stretched his hand to the side along with the scepter, "No more tricks — just all out brute strength."

And as Set said that, he once again just disappeared from his spot — causing the sea of sand to form a wave that was as tall as a mountain. And before any of the sand from that mountain could fall, he had already unleashed millions of attacks against Riley…

…who just blocked it all with his body, which regenerated any flesh, skin, organ, or bone that was completely obliterated with any attack. He was already healing by the time the scepter was still scraping through the flesh it devoured.

And very soon, even with his body disappearing and healing simultaneously, Riley started stepping forward with a smile on his face.

"Oho…" Monkeh, who was watching the entire fight unfold from afar, could not help but form a smirk on her face, "...What a monster, almost reminds me of Yangjian. But I relax my excitement and place my attention on you, our dear supposed normal being."

"H… huh…?" Aurora turned her head slightly toward Monkeh but kept her star-shaped eyes watching the battle unfolding far from her.

"This entire time…" Monkeh squinted her eyes, "...You have been following everyone's movements without any problem — and the two have been moving well past the speed of light."

"Is that a big deal…?" Aurora just waved her hand nonchalantly, "They are fighting far away, of course, we could see what was happening."

"...You don't even know, do you?" A small smirk crawled on Monkeh's face.

"Know… what?"

"Never mind," Monkeh let out a small chuckle as she placed her hands behind her head and just focused on the battle—no. Right now, it was more like Riley just having all the fun he wanted.

"There is no use winning against me through brute force, Set," Riley just shook his head as Set continued to bombard him with attacks, "I admit that your physical prowess rivals that of a themarian — but it is not even close to Esme, and I won against her. What else—"

"Then one more trick!" Set then just let go of the scepter — letting it disappear into the sand before it just once again emerged a hundred times bigger behind Riley; this time with some sort of weighing scale oscillating across it. And before Riley could actually turn to look at it, Set suddenly grabbed his face and looked him in the eyes,

"I will show you the weight of my sins and you will show me yours…

…and we will see which will devour which."

"...Hm."