Villain Retirement

Chapter 1177: Chapter 1177: The Move

"Fake hero!"

Riley had held many titles in his life, and ’Fake Hero’ had been one of them before.

The Paragon.

But then again, was he truly fake during that time? He had helped save many lives and improved many more.

In fact, he had done the same in Camrose, on an even bigger scale.

And right now, someone who actually mattered was finally challenging him.

The Pope of the Church of Fate himself.

The Pope was aged. His long, white eyebrows almost reaching to his exaggeratedly wide shoulders. His shoulders were not the only thing exaggeratingly wide. His mitre was too, almost an umbrella on his head.

But the Pope was large, a towering behemoth of a man even at his age.

And he seemed to have brought along an entire audience with him—no. Not exactly.

"This is... interesting, Pope."

Riley was right outside the doors of the main church of Fate, in a city with less than a thousand, and mostly only clerics in training and officials of the church.

But the entire Camrose could see him, and he could see them too.

The entire city was surrounded by a dome, and plastered on the walls were the projections of the entire population of Camrose.

"This is a very convenient magic, Pope," Riley let out a small chuckle as he stepped down the large stairs leading to the rest of the city—the rest of the city which was now filled with all the soldiers of the Church of Fate who opposed him.

Riley, however, did not care for any of them at all as he only focused on the Pope, who was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

"If you had this sort of ability, Pope..." Riley muttered, "...Why have you not turned everyone to Fate?"

"Because people are allowed to believe in something else," the Pope whispered, and yet his words traveled across the entire lands of Camrose, "But you took that away from them! Fake!"

The Pope’s voice thundered, almost a roar, as he pointed his sceptre at Riley.

Riley did not say anything, and his steps were the only things that were making a sound as he looked up at all the people being shown on the dome caging the city.

The faces and everyone’s reactions were zoomed in from time to time, panning each second.

"Are you afraid now, Fake Hero?" The Pope’s breaths were almost a growl, "That the people would finally know you for what you are!?"

"No, not at all," Riley shrugged as he finally took the final step down the stairs. He now stood in front of the Pope, who towered over him completely and was twice his size, "They know who I am, Pope."

"You force them to kneel to you! And not to Fate! Deceiver!" The Pope screamed and swung his sceptre at his face, but Riley just casually caught it and said,

"I have never forced anyone to kneel to me, Pope," Riley shook his head and sighed, "They do so of their own accord. I do not even like it. But I suppose that is what happens when you help them instead of doing nothing."

"You have killed tens of millions!"

"That is true, Pope."

"They kneel because they are afraid of you!"

"That I am not so sure of, Pope." Riley shook his head again, "It is true that I have killed tens of millions of people, but the rest, hundreds of millions, now thrive. Famine, hunger, plague, poverty—I have eliminated all of that."

"That is not your role!" The Pope roared.

"But I am a Hero. It says so in the Book," Riley shrugged before summoning the book, raising it in the air to show everyone his title.

"The role of a Hero is to defeat the Demon King!"

"I thought it was to save and improve lives, Pope."

"Your very existence itself is an anomaly—you...you are the Anti-Fate!"

"Oh..." Riley blinked a couple of times before placing his hand on his chin and looking the Pope in the eyes, "...That might honestly be the best title I have ever received, Pope—thank you."

"I will now end your disgusting existence, Anti-Fate!" The Pope then raised his sceptre in the air, and as he did so, a violent beam of light rained down from above—and without even uttering another word, the Pope leaped back and slammed his sceptre down on Riley.

The violent beam also slammed down, obliterating everything its light reached.

The church, the houses, the quarter of the entire city.

Everything except Riley, who only looked at the Pope before sighing and shaking his head in disappointment.

"You have to do better than that, Pope," he muttered, "You say that I do not speak for Fate, and that you do."

"I am! Fate herself has spoken to me—and she told me what you are, World Destroyer!"

"If what you say is true—that I do not speak for Fate and that you do..." Riley stretched his arms to the side as he looked at all the faces in the dome, "Then does that mean that Fate rebukes and abhors the things I have done? That I have killed in her name?"

"She does!"

"That I have helped save the lives of hundreds of millions? That I have gifted water to those who do not?" Riley clasped his chest, "If Fate abhors the things I have done—then does that mean that she is against helping her own people? To leave them to death, hunger...to lead them to their only... fate? Is that it, Pope? Is suffering the people’s fate?"

"Blasphe—"

"It is not you."

And before the Pope could say anything else, Riley suddenly appeared right in front of him. Hovering in the air before casually plunging his arm into the Pope’s chest.

"You are not the villain this world needs, Pope."

"Yes..." The Pope, even with his heart crushed, still leaned closer to Riley and whispered into his ear, "...It is you."

"Hmm?"

The Pope pulled himself away, leaning before falling to his back on the hard ground. His eyes, however, were still looking at Riley.

And he smiled. A wide smile crept on the Pope’s face as the life disappeared in his eyes.

Riley stared at his corpse for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and then casually turning around. He didn’t even care about the army of the Pope that filled the city.

He hovered in the air, and with him, all the remnants and debris that the beam of light destroyed.

Riley was about to rebuild the church, but then several orbs of light started flickering in the air—slowly coming into existence.

"Hmm?" Riley tilted his head to the side as he looked at the orb that was floating right in front of him. He then turned to look at the walls of the dome, only to see orbs also floating in front of everyone else—in front of all the people of Camrose.

Riley turned his focus back on the orb before just pressing his finger on it without any hesitation.

And as soon as he did so, it popped.

And along with it, every heinous and diabolical thing Riley had committed.

It was a memory, playing in his mind.

The people he had killed and tortured mercilessly back on Earth. The atrocious things he had done. The children he killed with a smile on his face.

Everything.

It showed everything.

Riley descended back to the ground as a trace of nostalgia crawled through his skin. He remembered how intimate each kill was now.

Nostalgia, it would seem, was not what the rest of the population of Camrose felt.

Riley once again looked at the faces of the people, and what was once filled with devotion and blind loyalty was now filled with horror, fear, and disgust.

"They see you for what you are now, Anti-Fate."

"Oh?" Riley turned around, only to see the Pope standing on his feet again.

"Look at them," the Pope said as he pointed his sceptre at the faces of the people on the dome, "They see you for what you are now. I told you—Fate has spoken to me. Show them again, show them who you are! Summon the Book!"

"Okay," Riley only shrugged as he once again summoned the Book—and there it was.

’Demon King.’

"Well, this is interesting," Riley looked at the dome again—no. He wasn’t looking at the dome, but beyond it, "You truly are making your move now, Fate."

"Would you still deny that you are evil, Anti-Fate!?" The Pope roared.

"No—I have never denied that," Riley shrugged, "Everything they saw is true. And I enjoyed all of it, Pope."

And as soon as he said that, the faces of the people twisted even further. And then, just like that...

...everyone started to shout for his death.

"Oh?" Riley smiled as he saw the people raising their hands in anger, "I suppose that the lives I have improved and helped do not matter anymore all of a sudden."

"Men! People of Fate!" The Pope raised his sceptre in the air, "Even if we die today, we will vanquish the Anti-Fate!"

The soldiers behind the Pope all roared.

"Hmm," Riley just looked at all of them before once again looking up, "Now that you have shown your move, Fate—I will show mine."

Riley then raised both his hands and said, and out of nowhere...Louis leaped out with a sword in hand, plunging the blade straight through Riley’s back and out his chest.

Riley only glanced back at Louis and muttered,

"I surrender."