Villain Retirement

Chapter 1183: What You Are

"Father…?"

Renna had heard the stories—about how violent and cruel her father truly was. And even when those stories had already proven true, a small part of her still chose not to believe them.

But now, after what she had just witnessed…

…whatever shred of heroism Riley once held in her heart finally vanished.

And all Riley could offer in response was a quiet:

"Oh?"

He blinked a couple of times as he looked at the faces of his children. Then, casually, he turned to glance at himself, surrounded by the blood, guts, and shredded remains of Queen Vania's own children, their broken bodies floating aimlessly around him in the void.

He pushed the pieces away with a soft wave of his hand… and with a snap of his fingers, they disappeared. As if they had never been there at all.

"No…" Queen Vania gasped, her body trembling. How could she not?

Not just her children's corpses—every last evaniel who had survived the earlier battle… was once again gone. They all exploded into mists of blood, not even spared the massacre when Riley could fully well just snap them out of existence—no.

He had to hurt them one last time.

The explosion may seem instant to everyone else, but to an evaniel—it was almost forever.

"You—!"

She surged forward to attack him, but her path was suddenly blocked by Death herself.

Death looked at her silently for a breath, then gently leaned in.

"Hush now, child," she whispered, "Do not let your rage steal the strength from your legs. You still have purpose."

"What purpose!?" Queen Vania snapped, shoving her away. And Death allowed her to be moved away.

But instead of going for Riley again, Queen Vania turned to face Death, staring into her eyes.

"Why do you refuse to take me?!" she cried out, her voice cracked with grief. "I am not Van! Whatever purpose I have, it can't be enough to outrun you! And what purpose!? What else do I have left!? Why do his people get to stay… and mine do not!?"

Death's gaze lingered on her, on her rage… and then slowly turned toward Fate, who was now floating behind Riley, her arms gently wrapped around him. Her hair spilled outward like rivers of light, its strands reaching toward Riley like weightless tendrils. Each of them, seemingly holding the story of countless lives. And slowly and softly coiling around him.

"Hmm?" Riley tilted his head, "I thought you did not involve yourself in fights, Fate."

"I do not," Fate whispered. Her voice was soft. Too soft. Almost… loving?

"What I am doing is trying to have a conversation with you, again. Without all the violence, without all the need to end."

"Must you do it while hugging me, though?"

"I want you to hear it," she said, her arms tightening slightly. "You—and only you."

"Hmm." Riley blinked a couple of times as he glanced back. He then floated forward, releasing himself from Fate's grip before turning to face her, "That sounds incredibly important, Fate."

She didn't respond immediately. She only stared at him—her white eyes locked with his.

A moment passed. Long enough to stretch the edge of time.

And then, firmly, she said:

"It is."

"Oh." Riley gave a simple nod and drifted forward, slipping free from her embrace and returning his gaze to Queen Vania.

"Our fun was interrupted, Your Highness," he sighed. And then—with another snap of his fingers—her people returned.

Whole. Alive. All of them.

"What… are you doing now?" Queen Vania didn't strike. Not immediately. Her fists clenched at her sides. Her jaw tightened at the thought of her people once again being massacred in front of her. "You—"

And before she could finish her words, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't immediately look back—but she knew exactly whose hand that belonged to.

"No…" She almost whimpered as she once again glanced at Riley, and he answered with a,

"Yes. It was always my intention to truly revive them, Your Highness," Riley said, bowing his head. "As I told you before—I only wished to do what I should have done but could not. And now that I have, I figure the torment I put you through deserved this level of repayment."

"What—"

"They are, of course, inferior to Paige's creations," Riley added with a sigh, gesturing toward Renna and the others. "You will need their help to fully bring them into our universe… or risk losing them again forever. Rennalyn?"

Renna didn't answer at first—too stunned to form words. But as soon as Queen Vania turned to her, she gave a small nod.

A gasp tore from Queen Vania's lips as she finally turned around and locked eyes with her daughter. She turned to her son, who immediately ran into her arms.

"My children…" She whispered. And this time, she felt them—warm, truly and unmistakably alive.

"You're back… you're back to me. You… you have no idea just how much I have missed all of you."

She could feel the weight of her children in her arms again.

She looked toward Riley in disbelief, but he quickly shook his head.

"Do not," he said quietly. "Do not ever feel gratitude toward me, Your Highness. That has been the downfall of many before you."

Riley then turned his attention to the others—Hannah, Aerith, the crowd gathered around him.

"Wait a minute…" Lucy was the only one who spoke, floating back onto Arthas's shoulder as he stretched his arms wide. "Our Dad… is a god!? He just brought back an entire species!"

"Lucifer," Renna snapped at him, her eyes narrowed. But Lucy just shrugged. She then turned back to her father, uncertain of what expression to wear on her face.

"Father," she said quietly, "I just watched you massacre Queen Vania's people over and over again… and then I watched you return them to her. They were not even originally killed by you. They had already died long ago. And still, you chose to give them back. I do not know what side of morality you stand on."

"Your mistake is assuming I have any morality at all, Rennalyn."

"So you truly are a villain?"

"The worst," Riley said without pause.

Renna stared into his eyes for a long moment. Then, she closed her own, took a breath, and when she opened them again, her voice was clear, calm, and resolute.

"Then I will dedicate my life to undoing all the evil you have inflicted on this universe, Father. That is my promise—to you, and to the world you've wounded."

"Oh?" Riley tilted his head. "I hope I get to see you do that, Daughter. But… I don't deserve to."

"What do you—"

Before Renna could finish her question, Riley turned from her and floated back toward Fate.

"Now," he said, stretching out his arms as Fate's endless strands of hair began to wrap around him again, "What was it you wanted to tell me, Fate?"

"What you are," she replied.

"A monster?"

"No," Fate shook her head, "You are this universe's mistake."

"I already know that, Fate."

"No," she said, pulling him closer, her voice echoing as her domain materialized and folded around them.

"No, you do not, Riley Ross. Because this universe…

…it owes you more than it could ever repay."