Villain Retirement

Chapter 1148: Fumbled Winter

Chapter 1148: Fumbled Winter

"No… no!"

Odun's wrinkled face folded even further as he caught a glimpse of the gray and desolate land before him—and that was when he only saw it from afar through the hole. As he very slowly made his way to Riley, or more specifically, toward the hole with the view of Aegard, he slightly limped; now using his majestic spear as some sort of cane as he walked.

As for the other warriors, they truly still wanted to attack Riley, but Heli's warning rang in their minds. Why exactly did she warn her father not to attack Riley…? And why did their king not listen at all?

It was obvious now just how abnormally strong this strange white man was—could it be it was Odun who first instigated the situation? But why?

Why would their king, known for his incredible intellect and wisdom, offend someone like this? Someone who was capable of playing around with him, and then freeze their entire domain? Is it true what Heli said, then?

Did Odun doom them all?

"No…" Odun's wrinkled hands stretched forward as he finally reached the hole in the wall. And there, his remaining eye reflected the consequences of his actions–the entirety of Aegard, stuck in an eternal winter.

"You truly fumbled in this one, Odun," Riley let out a small but very deep sigh while shaking his head in disappointment, "And now I had to fulfill the prophecy—the end of Aegard as you know it. But you do not have to worry, of course. You could still try to save it."

"H… how?" Odun's words trembled.

"Since the Grand Triangle is filled with people with the Supervirus—I am sure you could find someone who could reverse the effects," Riley shrugged, "You are the god of wisdom, correct? You can find one if you try—but then, even if you do manage to escape the winter, I will make sure to turn it back even if I am already far away…

…I believe I am fully capable of doing that, Odun."

"Wh—"

"King Odun!"

And there, everyone watched as Riley just casually pushed Odun down the hole; his figure, violently crashing down the side of their tower before ultimately crashing on the ground.

Of course, Odun could have prevented that, and he wasn't even hurt—but he just let himself fall, as it is what he deserved.

One might think he was weak, but not at all—definitely not. Odun was probably capable of defeating several average themarians on his own, that is how strong he is. But alas, Riley…

…Riley is just at a different level now ever since he had encountered King the Conqueror.

After all, to this day, aside from Zombie Esme, Riley still considered King the Conqueror to be the most powerful of beings he had ever faced. Of course, not including the primordials. King the Conqueror was capable of fighting Diana and Aerith at the same time without breaking a sweat—and he was also capable of stopping time if even just for a second or two.

And because of him…

…Riley had evolved into a being logic does not apply to at all.

And now that he was in a place where the Supervirus originated, he was actually quite excited—after all…

…just what sort of abilities would he find here?

"Well…" Riley then let out a small sigh as he leaned over the hole to look at Odun, who was still just lying on the ground, his eyes completely blank, "...I suppose it is time for us to leave. I will still take the throne since you gave it to me. Would that be alright, Heli?"

"...Yes," Heli closed her eyes and nodded, "You may do whatever you wish with it."

"Okay," Riley also nodded as he walked to the throne, and everyone watched as the throne just instantly shrunk, with Riley just putting it in one of his many pockets, "You could still save your people, Heli—what I said is true, find someone who could cancel this eternal winter, and then find someone who could overpower it."

"Where… am I even going to find someone like that?" Heli let out a small but very deep sigh as she also looked at the frozen horizon.

"I do not know, Heli," Riley shrugged as he started walking back to their table; the warriors of Odun, all just running away to help and assist their king, "You could come with us if you wish? Our ship still has a lot of space."

"Wh…" Monkeh's eyes widened as soon as she heard that, "Wait… we can't seriously be thinking of—"

"Very well," Heli immediately approached their table and kneeled down, "I started this mess, and I will make sure to solve it—let me join your journey."

"...Huh," V squinted her eyes at Riley as another woman joined their expedition. But for some reason, however, she did not feel threatened at all since Riley wasn't showing any signs of liking the other women anyway—wait…

…why would she be threatened by that? Her goal is not to think about Riley at all.

V started shaking her head off of the thoughts, trying to distract herself with a different train of thought.

"Oh…" V blinked a couple of times, "...This feels like an RPG where you gather different companions as you go along. But… just how many are you planning to gather, Riley?"

"I do not know, Victoria," Riley just shrugged as he gestured for everyone to just stand up, "We should go now—we still have to find the map to the next island."

"There is no need for that, Master Riley," Heli approached Riley and bowed. She then stretched her hands into the air, and as she did so, the holographic map of the Grand Triangle that was resting on the ceiling once again fell down—this time, however, they compressed right in front of Heli and into her hands,

"Aegard is the one who developed the Map—you will no longer need to search for it from this point on," Heli then offered the compressed holographic map to Riley, "This would update what path we should take in real-time. But of course, we still need linearly to the next island, that is the law of the Grand Triangle."

"Hm…" Riley nodded, "Give it to our navigator."

"Of course," Heli then bowed her head again as she walked toward Aurora and handed her the holographic map, "This will serve as our map from now on."

"R… right," Aurora did not really know what to do and just very carefully grabbed the hologram—and to her surprise, it actually had weight on it and was solid, "Should… we leave then?"

"...I feel like everything I did on this planet was eat," Miss Pepondosovich caressed her bulging stomach; her eyes, still looking at the buffet table that did not seem to run out of food, "...Riri, maybe you could ask for that magical table too."

"No," Riley just quickly shook his head, "I do believe my cooking is still better, Miss Pepondosovich."

"It is—but you rarely cook!" Miss Pepondosovich pointed at Riley before following him as he started walking away, "Since we have the live map of the Grand Triangle now, maybe we could explore some of it and hunt for something to eat, what do you think? Renna will be fine, she's protected by the universe's strongest beings."

"I will think about it, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Wait, we're seriously bringing Heli…?"

"This is fate, my love—we are together again, ordained by Death itself."

"Guys… shouldn't we talk about this more?"

"No," Riley just stretched his arm to the side for no reason at all; wind, just blowing across all of them as they started walking out of the lavish hall, "We do not talk, Monkeh…

…We just go."

***

"Lord! Lord!"

"The Lord is sleeping. What do you want, Child?"

Somewhere in the grand expanse of the Grand Triangle, a ship the size of an entire continent was hidden amongst its colorful tundra—and unlike its bioluminescent structures, this ship was completely gray, almost barren and empty, in a way. No design at all, just a big block of gray.

"We have been receiving reports of a ship that has been making its way through the planets of the Grand Triangle!" And inside that ship, a man was kneeling in front of another man.

"A lot of ships go through the Grand Triangle, Child," the man being knelt to was incredibly tall and thin—his silhouette almost looked like it floated since he was wearing a robe that touched the gray floor.

"Not, not like this, Grand Puppeteer—I have been hearing reports that the people of this ship are wreaking havoc. It has passed through 4 planets now, and each is left completely different than before."

"Oh, how so?" The Grand Puppeteer placed his hand behind his back as he looked at the man.

"We have received reports that the people of this ship… have been defeating the Supreme Rulers of each planet they visit."

"Interesting, even Odun?" The Grand Puppeteer scratched his incredibly flat nose, "Then…

…I suppose Lord One should hear about this."