Villain Retirement



"The other Librarian said he was the only one that works here, so…

…who might you be?"

"..."

The inside of the library was already eerily quiet; but as soon as Riley's words whispered through it, it was almost as if everything was just instantly drowned by complete silence—and yet, at the same time, the library felt like it was filled with noise.

The current librarian in front of Riley didn't really answer him, and instead just stared at him for a few seconds; his eyes, blinking a couple of times as his eyebrows very slowly furrowed along with the growing silence.

But soon, however, a small chuckle escaped his lips—dissipating the heavy silence that filled the air.

"Because I don't officially work here—Dave just pays me to cover him once in a while," the man waved his hand as he scoffed, "One man can't handle all of these books by himself. Don't mind what he said, Dave just… likes to complain. He went to Denspot to check the library there, I think he's trying to pick up books regarding dragons"

"Hm…"

"I assume those are the books you want?" The man sighed, "He can be like that sometimes, he must be excited that someone actually visited the library in this small city. He'll be here later, you can just wait for him here if you have the time?"

"I'll just come back later, suspicious Librarian," Riley shook his head as he turned around, "What time will Librarian Dave be back?"

"You really should just wait for him," the man shrugged, "He should be arriving soon. We have new books—they're not about dragons, but they should still be as entertaining."

"Then maybe you have something on a race called P'lopi?"

"P—what?" The man slightly tilted his head to the side, "What language is that? Maybe I can find it somewhere?"

"...No," Riley shook his head as he continued walking away, "I will just come back later."

"Okay, please do come back! Hopefully, Dave has the books you want."

"Hm," Riley only nodded as he grabbed the handle of the door, only to find that it wasn't budging at all.

"..." Riley then very slowly glanced back at the new librarian again, only to find the librarian staring at him—but it wasn't only him, the customers that were minding their own business and drowning themselves in their books were also staring at him; the whites of their eyes, completely gone and replaced by nothing but the shade of their dark irises.

"I suppose all of you are P'lopi?" Riley then turned around as he looked at everyone one by one, "I have only heard of your language once, so forgive me if I am saying it—"

And before Riley could finish his words, the librarian just suddenly vanished from the counter, only to instantly appear again beside Riley—already waving a sword that threatened to cut him in half.

Riley, however, did not move. He just allowed the blade of the sword to meet his shoulder, trying to see if it could penetrate his skin. But alas, the one to split in half was the sword—shattering into pieces.

But before these pieces could fly away, the librarian was already gone… and so were the 'customers'.

In truth, Riley had already set up a telekinesis net as soon as he saw how fast the librarian moved. The net covered the entire library, and yet not even a single strand was triggered when the librarian and the customers vanished.

Except for the norinlads, the net could detect every one. Even Queen Vania, with her ridiculous speed, still triggered his telekinesis net. The only one that it wasn't able to detect was the god of evaniels, Van.

But… these people shouldn't be as fast as him, that was impossible.

And so, Riley could really only think of one thing—instantaneous short-range teleportation.

The P'lopi. They already proved that they were capable of teleportation just from the mysterious plaques that caused Riley to just suddenly move from one place to another. 

It wouldn't be that far-fetched if they have the technology to move short distances and have already incorporated it into their lifestyle. They probably don't even walk that much anymore and—-

And before Riley could finish his thoughts, he heard a small click whisper in the air. And not even a second later, Riley found himself covered in nothing but fire as all the books in the library suddenly burst into flames and exploded.

But before the impact of the explosion could completely destroy the library and maybe even the entire city, Riley snapped his fingers—instantly causing the flames that danced wildly to just instantly stop.

The shockwave that threatened to swallow everything within its path, now gradually becoming smaller and smaller until it just withered away along with the flames.

"Hm," Riley then shrugged, before starting to look around the now-scorched library. For them to go as far as sacrificing thousands of lives just to kill him, these P'lopi sure didn't want to be found by others.

Riley continued to walk around until finally, his eye caught something that was completely out of place in the world of Arlusia—something digital.

Of course, Riley wasn't sure if it truly was digital, but it was a small tinted glass box that could fit on his hand, containing some sort of shiny bead inside it. And considering it was placed right at the very center of the library's ceiling, Riley could only assume that it was some sort of… surveillance.

"A camera?" Riley then tilted his head as he raised the tiny box, "Are you watching me right now, P'lopi people? Do forgive me if you are not P'lopi, but I would be addressing you as such for now until otherwise said so."

"..."

"This will be a little awkward if this was just some sort of decoration. But just in case you are truly watching me from the other side, then I feel like I should introduce myself," Riley slightly giggled as he placed the box on the counter, before taking several steps backward as he bowed.

"My name is Riley Ross," he then said, "As you might have already theorized, I came from another planet—but if you fear that I am from the Known Universe, or if I am at all, related to the Common Council, then you are mistaken—I am the villain of the Known Universe and have presumably killed more than a hundred billion people…

…but you don't have to worry about me."