Villain Retirement

Chapter 1040: Bullcrappery

Everything stopped. Not literally, of course. But everyone stopped moving as soon as they noticed Riley moving closer to one of the holes. The people who were already in his religion and wanted to try the trials all backed away from the tower, all so they could witness the greatness of their lord.

Elizabeth, who was now left all alone because Karina and Angela just suddenly left, was free to do anything she wanted — and what she wanted was to quickly rush over to Riley and once again kneel beside him, stretching her arm and gesturing to him to go ahead and put his arm inside the hole.

"Hm," Riley nodded in approval toward Elizabeth's theatrics. As expected of the woman who anointed herself to be the Cardinal as soon as she joined the religion, "We will talk about your promotion when I get back, Cardinal."

"P… Promotion!?" Elizabeth was flustered but immediately once again bowed her head down, "I… I deserve no such thing, I only wanted to serve you."

"You are questioning me, Cardinal?"

"No! I… I thank you for the chance!"

"Hm," Riley once again nodded as he continued to approach the tower.

"Halt!" But alas, it would seem that everything that was going to happen was going to happen before Riley could proceed with his trial. He had already expected this, after all, that was just how his story usually goes.

Elizabeth's eyes quickly lowered and knotted as she glared at the group of people who arrived, only to see people of different races approach the Black Tower while pushing away everyone else.

They did not push everyone, however, as some made way for them as soon as they saw the golden sash hanging from their necks, tentacles, or tails depending on what their race was.

"Who authorized any of you to loiter around the Black Tower!?" One of the tailed humanoids that looked like he did not fully evolve from his ancestors once again raised his voice; his tail, brandishing the golden sash and hitting some of the people he passed by, "You, tell me!"

"N… No one!"

"Since… Since when did we need authorization to be around the Black Tower, Monkeh!?"

There were complaints from everyone, but all of their words were stuttered and hesitant.

"Since now!" The monkey-looking humanoid, Monkeh, opened his mouth and stretched his lips; showing his large gums and sharp teeth to the people questioning him. And as soon as he did that, no one else opened their mouths. Well, all except a certain group of people.

"You do not need authorization to be here." It was Elizabeth and the others who were now blindly following Riley, "But you should at least have the decency to not make any annoying monkey noises and push people around."

"Did you just call me monkey, you ape!?" A disgruntling sound almost escaped Monkeh's mouth as he suddenly rushed toward Elizabeth, only stopping a foot away from mowing down her face. Elizabeth, however, did not even flinch.

"Ew," she only leaned away after a few seconds to cover her nose, "You should at least learn how to brush your teeth."

"You—"

"Enough! Do not make a fool of yourself!" "Bishop Maverick!"

An unusually tall bald man, perhaps even taller than Esme, raised his hand; the sash hanging around his neck, longer and more vibrant than the others—his glowing golden eyes, almost a reflection of his authority.

That was not the only reason why the tall bald man, Maverick, stood out, however. It was the fact that Monkeh, who was all arrogant and haughty, quickly shut his mouth and returned to their group as soon as Maverick stepped forward.

"I have not seen your face around these parts, girl," Maverick then approached Elizabeth; his long limbs were like branches as they moved in an almost unnatural way. The only thing Elizabeth could do was lean away as his finger almost touched her chin, "Well, it does not matter — while it is true that there is no law forbidding anyone from going near the Black Tower, it should already be known to everyone that we, the Golden Road Church, have taken upon ourselves the responsibility of protecting the Black Tower."

"I don't know what's more impressive — your height or how much you yap," Elizabeth once again did not back down, even crossing her arms as she looked at Maverick from head to toe, "And you're wrong, you have no responsibility whatsoever to protect the Black Tower because it is not yours — as of right now, we are just allowing all of you to bask in the achievements of our Lord…

…the one who activated the Black Tower!"

And with Elizabeth's almost humming roar, she and the other followers of Riley all turned around to look at him. Riley, however, was not even bothering with them and was about to just insert his arm into the hole.

"Are you saying the responsibility of protecting the Black Tower falls onto your measly church now?" Maverick smirked, "Then if so, I hope you do well in protecting it, Little Girl."

Maverick then opened up his palm; the tips of his long fingers, summoning several orbs of gold light.

"What a waste, we could have used a loyal girl like you," Maverick sighed, "And now you'll just be in pieces."

"No," Elizabeth scoffed, "Because my lord protects me."

"Your lord who does not even seem to care? Funny," Maverick chuckled, "Goodbye to you and your cohorts."

And with those words, the light on Maverick's fingertips started to shoot out; reaching toward Elizabeth and the others' forehead instantly. Well, not really, as there was still a centimeter of gap between their foreheads and the golden beam.

"H—" And before Maverick could even utter another word, this golden beam suddenly bounced back at him… all of them—no. They did not just bounce back, they went through him like swords, dancing all over and across his body… n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

…and this all happened in less than a span of a second, leaving everyone completely bewildered.

And soon, the other members of the Golden Road Church all watched as Maverick's tall body became shorter by the second as parts of him started to fall off one by one.

"Heh…" And once again, Elizabeth was completely unbothered by this as she just stared down Monkeh and the remaining members behind him, "How's that for protecting? Run along, little boys and girls, and whatever the rest of you are."

"You—"

"As I said!" Elizabeth raised her voice before Monkeh could talk, "All of you are free to gather around the Black Tower, it is the RRR, the Riley Ross Religion's gift to all of you! And if anyone dares to commit violence or otherwise claim the Black Tower for themselves. Well…

…you have seen what would happen!"

And as Elizabeth said those words, the people gathered in front of the tower could really only just look at each other. Some of them, already thinking of changing their church as soon as they finally heard the name of the church that activated the Black Tower.

"You… you have not seen the last of us!" Monkeh's screams were almost primal as he and his colleagues all left in a rush; all of them glaring and raising their fists at Elizabeth like they were gangsters.

"Our lord, we have successfully shooed away the hecklers," Elizabeth then proudly approached Riley as if she was the one who killed Maverick, "You may continue without any more interruptions."

"You have my gratitude, Cardinal," Riley smiled and nodded; flailing his long white hair to the side as he turned around and finally put his arm into the hole, "How does this—"

And before Riley could even finish his words, he found himself completely losing consciousness, only to be awoken just seconds later now in front of a woman that was incredibly familiar to him; but at the same time, she was not.

The woman, who was sitting on the floor, looked completely confused; the noodles she was about to put in her mouth, slid out of the chopsticks she was holding. Riley did not bother with her immediately, however, as he looked around the somewhat familiar place.

"This is the Supermax Prison," Riley whispered to himself, "Wh—"

And once again, before he could finish his words, he found himself suddenly being blown away; his face, now stuck on the wall that did not even seem to break even with the force that was enough to probably destroy Theran's terrain.

But the reason it wasn't breaking was not because it was made with such materials, but because they were also reinforced by a telekinetic might that equaled—no, that surpassed Riley's.

Alice Lane.

"Who the freak let you in here?" Alice then casually leaned next to Riley and looked him directly in the eyes, "And woah, you look like a freak."

"I will let you know that what I look like is because of you, Mother."

"Mother…?" Alice raised an eyebrow, "Wait…

…Don't tell me this is some time-traveling bullcrappery? Did Diana put you up to this?"