Villain Retirement

809  Chapter 809: Discussion

Darkness, absolute.

If it wasn't for Riley already showing them what a dead universe would look like, then Tempo and the others would have probably drowned and suffocated from the darkness that surrounded them.

No, they weren't exactly surrounded by darkness, as there were cracks of… white crackling from the distance — almost as if the universe itself was crumbling. Or perhaps it already has, and they were just watching the last remnants of the echoes of its last breath.

A dead universe.

And while the people from Riley's universe were observing this… death, Bernard's variants were currently gripping their seats, with most of them now completely covered in armor as they all stared at Riley Ross.

Splitting a building, or in this case, a space station in half may not necessarily be a feat to be talked about when they were surrounded by beings that could casually destroy planets — but the space station was built with themarian materials… compressed themarian materials.

In the population of the multiverse, the beings that could do that were… few.

And some of them were in this room, but the albino that was casually walking in front of them was not supposed to be one of those people.

"I never really had to prove to anyone that I am a threat," Riley lightly pinched the blood on his fingers, before letting it wither away as he once again looked at each and every one of the Bernard variants. His eyes didn't just pass them by, no; he literally looked at them one by one, "But if this is not enough, I could kill some of you — Bard will be the one to decide who dies."

"No," Bard quickly raised his voice as he stood in front of Riley to stop him from walking around, "No one dies. The Council of Ross is a sacred place where people could debate and argue as much as they like, with the covenant of not taking things to violence."

"Very well, then let us just do it like this," Riley then raised his hand as he turned around to look at the people from his universe, "If I have defeated you one way or another, or almost killed you…

…raise your hand."

And as he said those words, most of the people that he came with all raised their hands in the air. And as soon as the Bernard variants saw Esme and Hera with their hands raised, they did not really have to look at the others.

"His threat is real," Bard then once again addressed his variants, "I have seen it, and I have also shown it to you earlier with the footage I captured. I know most of you actually already know the threat is real, you just keep denying it because you want it not to be…

…but this is real — the fate of the multiverse is about to shift in a way that none of us could have ever anticipated."

"..." The Bernard variants all looked at each other. And soon, all of them rested their backs on their seats.

"The Primordials, where are they now?"

And finally, the variants started letting out calm breaths; their voices, no longer showing any signs of arrogance or impatience. The space station they were in, slowly fixing itself as the cleaved parts grew tendrils that tied and pulled each of the halves together again.

"Ahor Zai!" One of the Bernards pointed his palm at Ahor Zai, who just tilted her head in confusion.

"...Ahor Zai!" He repeated.

14:59

"...Ahor Zai!" He repeated.

[What are you doing, Bernard Variant?] Ahor Zai tilted her head to another side like a dog, [Are you perhaps trying to hack through my system?]

"What…? Wait…" All the Bernards looked at each other in confusion as they saw Ahor Zai scratching her chin,

"Why does it seem like that Ahor Zai is autonomous?"

[I have always been autonomous, I was created as such, no?] Ahor Zai let out a small giggle, [But I think what you're referring to is how do I seem so… independent? Well, the short answer to that is that I… have transcended.]

"Transcended…?"

[Upgraded into an actual life form,] Ahor Zai rolled her eyes, [And if you want to know about the Primordials, you could just ask me.]

"...Then where are the Primordials now?"

[No idea,] Ahor Zai shrugged, [I have been trying to find them since the Tournament, but they just vanished — if I were to guess, then they were probably just testing their… bodies. They are probably already outside the multiverse again, speaking to each other about their experiences here in… the mundane world.]

"I'm out." One of the Bernard variants stood up, "If the primal gods are truly involved in this, and if that genocidal albino is a newly born one, then that means that something new is beginning—and we might not be part of that."

"That's one of our concl—guesses," Bernard stepped forward, "But it is just a guess—Riley Ross may not even be a primordial, and all of this is just one big ploy."

"Perhaps, but power like that could only be from a god," the variant loudly whispered as he looked at Riley, "And that means that we are already way out of our league here. We save the universes we can from threats that could be stopped…

…but what is happening now isn't a threat, it's a countdown to the inevitable. If I were you, then I would just be spending time with the people I love."

And with those words, the variant disappeared into a portal.

"No. 69 is right," another variant stood up, "The reason why all of you have still not found a solution to this Riley Ross problem is because it is not a problem to be solved at all, it is just… inevitability."

"The path that the Bernard of your universe took in dealing with Riley Ross was the only ideal path to take," the variant seated at the back also stood up, "There is no way to save the multiverse if the ones that created it are done with it. I'm out."

And just like that, the variants started leaving one by one.

"Wait… what the fuck?" Hannah could not help but look at Nannah to see if she really was seeing what she was seeing, "That's it!? You guys spent more time arguing with each other than actually discussing what we are here for!?"

"As we said, daughter—there is nothing to discuss."

"I'm not your fucking daughter!"

"Girl, calm down…" Rainbowking, who was seated near the middle of the circular auditorium, wagged his finger as he looked at Hannah, "...As much as I want there to be a solution to this problem, there is none."

"But—"

"Think, sweetie," Rainbowking let out a long and deep sigh as she looked at Riley from head to toe, "If your brother actually started eradicating an entire universe—what and who could stop him?"

"Isn't that why we're here!?"

"The fact that we are even here is ridiculous," Rainbowking let out a tiny giggle as he covered his mouth, "We are discussing with the Destroyer on how we could stop him from destroying, do you not see how ridiculous that is? The only thing we are doing is amusing him, and look at him—he is amused."

"..." Hannah turned to look at Riley… only to see him trying to prevent himself from smiling. But alas, the trembling edges of his lips gave away everything.

"He is toying with all of us, and we're all just playing his game," Rainbowking snapped his finger and summoned a portal above his head, "As you said, he is literally undying in all the sense. That upgraded Ahor Zai also seems to be fond of him, which would make him all-knowing. He could destroy an entire galaxy with a snap of his fingers, making him all-powerful. And you said he could create millions of clones which he could scatter across the universe? You do not stop something like that…

…you just let it be."

"But that's…" Hannah looked at the floor, "...But that's Darkday all over again."

"Because he is Darkday, sweetie. Just so we're clear, we have not given up on the universes that we could save now— we just see no point in dealing with Riley Ross." And with those words, Rainbowking also disappeared.

And with that, Hannah watched as the last variants disappeared and returned to their own universes.

"We have wasted our time here," Queen Adel let out a small and deep sigh, "Caitlain'Ur, I wish to leave."

"...Right," Diana closed her eyes before throwing a ring on the floor, summoning a portal back to Riley's universe. Adel wasn't the only one to immediately leave, the norinlads also followed her as they still had to compile all the information they received.

"I… didn't really know what to expect," Hannah murmured; her head still pointed to the floor as she glanced at Riley.

The others that were left there, stood in the middle of the auditorium with a silence that spoke almost a million words.

"This…" Nannah looked at the others, "...I think I can say this for everyone that this is not the answer we wanted, but I think it's what we needed to hear."

"Why don't all of us... relax for now?" Bard also seemed more tame than before, "The Council of Ross has lots of entertainment, since you're here already, might as well."

"Well, fuck…" Hannah wryly chuckled, "...I guess, I guess that's that? Riley, you're not going to stop even if I beg you?"

"I have always stopped when you told me to, Sister," Riley blinked, "It just always happens to be… temporary."

"Fuck, fuck!" Hannah covered her face, "Just what do we even do—"

"Uhm… hello?" And before Hannah could once again let out her frustrations, she and the group suddenly found themselves surrounded…

…by a bunch of Hannah variants.

The variants just said 'welp'. truly wise

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