Chapter 433: The Guardian Arrives

"So, when is this Guardian arriving?"

"...Soon. We already have this location pinged and safe for hyperdrive."

"This… hyperdrive, can I use it to travel to the themarians' planet?"

"Only themarians are allowed to warp to Terran."

"Hm…"

Somewhere inside the ship of the evaniels, the eyes of all its passengers were currently following their princess… as well as an individual that was supposed to be their prisoner as he just casually walked alongside Vera.

"The Themarians, they truly seem to be feared and respected. I was told they are the most powerful race in the universe, is that true?"

"It is. The laws of the universe rarely apply to them, much like how you are free to walk in your world even after committing such atrocious crimes to your people."

"You do not seem to be taken aback by my crimes, Princess Vera."

"You'll understand once you experience the scale of the Universe, Riley Ross. Your crimes may very well be unforgivable and heinous in your world— but in the eyes of the universe, it is merely a sand in an almost endless desert; insignificant."

"I am confused, Princess Vera. Why is destroying an uninhabitable planet worthy of punishment in the eyes of the Universe, and killing a small number of people is not?"

"The planet you destroyed, Mars— it's what we call a Candidate. A planet that could have easily been made habitable since it met all the criteria. While it may be true that there are thousands of civilizations and thriving planets out there, in the expanse of the Universe, it may as well be nothing."

"Hm."

"Planets take billions of years to form, compare that to a life that could be made in the blink of an eye, well… you can see the difference of severity between the two. I am paraphrasing, of course— I'm not a robot with no feelings, life matters dearly to me."

"Hm."

"...You are getting what I mean, right?"

"I do. Someone's death only matters if you witness their life, Princess Vera."

"That's… Yes, I suppose that is what I meant."

"Like how it won't matter to the people of Earth if I kill all the evaniels in this ship right now."

"...You did not have to give an example."

"Would you like to test that example?"

"...No… What?"

The conversation between the two were as long as the halls of the ship. But finally, after what seemed like almost more than an hour of nonstop conversation, silence managed to weave between the two as they just walked around the ship; with Riley just walking beside the Princess everywhere…

…even in her chambers.

"Do… you intend to follow me everywhere?" Vera could really only step out of her room; quickly closing the door as soon as Riley followed her out,

"This is my private chambers, that means I am the only one allowed inside," she said with a sigh, "I know I opened the topic of union and marriage with you, but I am afraid that until that day comes. You… you're not allowed in my room."

"I am only following this clone's purpose while my consciousness is in it, Princess Vera," Riley only shrugged his shoulders.

"...And its purpose is following me around?"

"Stalking is the more appropriate term, Princess Vera. I was actually deliberating on whether I would let a smaller variant follow you, but due to me valuing your privacy, I chose a regular-sized one for transparency."

"...Thanks?"

"For what?"

"..."

"..."

"You really are weird," Princess Vera could really only sigh, "Can't say I don't like it, though. But you're still not allowed in my room. I'll let you in once we consummate our marriage."

"I already said that I did not wa---"

And before Riley could finish his words, Vera's silhouette suddenly became static; before slowly fading away completely as the sound of her room's door snapped in the air.

Riley wasn't aware of it before since most of the evaniels in the ship were just moving around at a slow pace… but their doors are capable of opening and closing at very high speeds as well

It made sense, Riley thought as he walked to the side of the door, before just standing there like some sort of guard. And then, with a very long and deep sigh— the glimmer in his eyes faded away.

And with that, Riley's consciousness switched with the clone.

"I'll take it from here, Boss."

***

Riley opened his eyes, and once again, he was back in the transparent cell.

"...You back from your little adventure?"

Instead of returning back to his original body, however, he switched to the doll-sized clone he had in Silvie's cell.

Silvie, who was lying on her bed, could really only sigh as the doll-sized Riley once again began to move; in truth, she was starting to get a little creeped out with it just sitting there on the side of the cell like some doll from a horror movie.

"Did you learn anything, Riley?" Silvie then asked as she sat up from the bed, "What's going to happen to us?"

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"They mentioned nothing about you, Silvie," the doll-sized Riley shook his head as he stood up from the floor, "But I believe they won't do anything to you until they know what Aerith's stance is."

"...We already know that," Silvie once again sighed, "I can't do anything until Megawoman shows up. But what about you? Did they something about what they are going to do with you?"

"My fate is in the hands of this so-called Guardian, Silvie," Riley said as he started walking around Silvie's cell, "We will get to meet with it soon, as per Princess Vera's assurance. And also…

…the Universe does not recognize me as a villain for the millions I have killed, only for the fact that I have destroyed Mars."

"I… see."

"Hm, how many do you think I need to kill to be considered as a villain in the grand scheme of the Universe, Silvie? Perhaps committing a couple of genocides would—"

"Can… you stop talking about killing all the time?" Silvie did not let Riely finish his words as she once again lay down on the bed. And after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and let out a long breath,

"I… kind of understand why they wouldn't think of you as a villain, Riley," she then said, "You know… when all the bombing happened and the number of deaths was announced— just for one second, I realized how little it is you've killed compared to the House of Super."

"..."

"Granted, they are an entire terrorist organization and you're just… well, you. I keep thinking how you would need to kill a hundred times more than you already have just for you to reach that they did."

"...Hm."

"W… wait!"

And as soon as Silvie realized that Riley was once again switching his consciousness, she quickly grabbed doll-sized Riley and lifted him in the air,

"That… that wasn't a challenge! Please don't try anything!"

"...Hm," doll-sized Riley could really only nod as Silvie's hands almost encapsulated him whole, "W—"

Riley was about to say something, but before he could do so, Princess Vera's voice echoed throughout the entire confinement bay.

[Riley, the Guardian will be arriving in less than 5 minutes. Meet me in the landing bay in— W… what the, can you stop popping out everywhere!]

[This clone has been here from the start, Princess Vera.]

"..." Silvie, who was listening in on the announcement, quickly looked at Riley's original body as she heard his voice through the intercom— but contrary to her expectations, he was still there with his legs crossed and eyes closed.

Just… where are all of his clones hiding?

***

Riley and Vera were now in the spaceship's hangar— an indoor hangar that was probably as large as the largest airport on Earth.

And even though Vera was fully aware that the body he is in now is just a clone, they still cuffed his hands as a way to show the Guardian that he wasn't going to do anything.

"..." Riley's eyes then traveled to the evaniels that were surrounding the landing bay, only to see all of them wearing some sort of portable oxygen mask. Riley was also offered one before they stepped out onto the hangar, but he didn't really need it.

So the evaniels… they can't breathe in space? But Vera wasn't wearing one, is it just some sort of precaution?

"...The Guardian isn't responding to any of our hails."

"Have you tried connecting directly to its ship?"

"We did. We were able to build a line, but then it was suddenly cut off right as its ship passed through Earth's moon."

"..." Riley then watched as the evaniels all started running around the hangar; their voices, slightly panicked.

"Did something happen to the Guardian? Would you like me to meet it in space?" Riley then said as he approached Vera, who was busy whispering with her people.

"...No, the point of all of this is that you—"

"We have visuals on the ship! ETA is 15 seconds, what do you want us to do, Princess!?"

"Damn it, where's Admiral Varen!?" Vera wasn't able to finish her talk with Riley as she let out a frustrated scream, "Just let the ship land! The Guardian might just be feeling a little quiet today."

"Okay… Guardian, you're clear to land."

And as soon as one of the evaniels managing the hangar said that, a small ship just the size of a van entered the landing bay… before docking just meters away from where Riley and Vera stood.

No, perhaps docking was not the proper word for it— as the ship definitely just drop and almost crashed down.

"...Is the ship malfunctioning?"

Vera and the others could really only just look at each other, clearly confused. And as Vera was about to step closer to the ship— its door swung up; letting out a violent cloud of smoke as it opened.

And very slowly, the cloud cleared up, revealing a tall, blue-skinned humanoid. And as Riley saw from the holograms, he was wearing a luminescent red skin-tight suit, the uniform of the Guardian Corps, that revealed every inch of his muscular figure.

The Guardian then stepped forward without saying a single word… before just suddenly dropping to the ground and revealing someone else that was on the ship—

—a girl. Her skin, pale to the point that it almost seemed translucent. Her hair, also the color of snow.

Her eyes that were somewhat of a pale blue color, looking at everyone in front of them before finally settling on Riley.

"Oh," and with a whisper escaping from her unusually wide lips, she waved her hand excitedly; the smile on her face, almost reaching from ear to ear,

"Dad!"

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