Villain Retirement

1033  Chapter 1033: Greatest Scam

"Stop! You are not allowed to enter our holy ground!"

"But I am already inside, Guard."

"Oh, Dad…"

The only thing Karina and Angela could do was watch as more than a dozen knights started appearing from one of the smaller buildings inside the church's territory. The knights wasted no time on surrounding Riley, brandishing their weapons and some even using their abilities to warn him.

But of course, Riley did not even bother to glance at them as he continued to make his way to the church, even raising his hand and gesturing to Angela to follow him in. Angela, of course, did not move from his spot as she absolutely had no idea what to do.

"Miss Angela, you are a Paladin directly serving the Pope," Riley then let out a small sigh as he turned around, but since the knights were surrounding him, no one could really see him but Angela, who was able to look through walls and all sorts of other things, "You outrank all of these people, you should be ordering them to stand down and make way."

"I'm—"

"The Crimson Paladin is no longer part of the holy church!" The knight who was initially stationed at the gate continued to deny Riley and Angela, "She has no right to order us around!"

"Interesting," Riley smiled as he continued walking toward the church building.

"We warned you! May god forgive you, but we will not!"

And with those words, those who had abilities threw their attacks at Riley first; be it fire, ice, lightning, or any other sort of material. And with the smoke completely veiling everything, those who had weapons and melee abilities all rushed toward Riley to finish him off.

After all, those who mock and sully the name of their lord shall have no mercy, whether it is just a tiny rabbit or one of the false gods themselves — everyone must be treated with utmost wrath.

"I do have to say, though…"

All of them, however, quickly backed away as soon as they heard the blasphemer's voice whisper through their ears; the cloud of dust, also dissipated as they leaped away. Their eyes, squinting as they looked at the silhouette slowly being unveiled from the cloud,

"...It would seem your church has returned to its more barbaric roots. I thought the entire identity of your church is to welcome anyone, no matter their faith and no matter their beliefs?"

"You think we will welcome those who can be a threat to our world!? Never!"

"Then, I suppose you are no longer what you once were."

"!!!"

All of the knights' eyes widened as soon as Riley took a step. How could they not, when all of their attacks were completely useless, and not even a speck or a strand of his hair was dirtied? And throughout all of this, Riley did not even use even a tiny bit of his telekinesis, he was completely just dodging their attacks with his body, and using the tiny bit of wind from his movements to keep the dust away.

After all, unlike the knights, he wasn't going to use a cannon to hunt a mouse — that doesn't make for a good show at all, after all.

"Miss Angela," But Riley did not take a step toward the church at all. On the contrary, he headed back to the gate; he didn't, however, step outside and just stood short a step of passing through it, "Are you sure you still want to pray to a church that rejects you, and rejects those who are lost? If you say…

…then I will help you pray inside, because that is what We stand for."

And as he said those words, all the people who had been following him and registered to his religion, and all those who were just following him due to their curiosity, could not help but just look at each other; their eyes, all glistening as they thought they have probably made the correct decision to follow him.

"I…" Angela's words were weak, almost hesitating as everyone's eyes now seemed to be on her. And after a few seconds, she took in a small breath and said,

"...I do. I serve not because of what they say, or because of them. I serve because of what I believe in. So, I will go inside."

"Well then — fight," Riley took a step to the side as he gestured to Angela to go ahead, "And once you are inside, I will fight for you."

"..." Angela stood there quietly for a few seconds before she nodded… and took a step through the gates.

"Good, Miss Angela," Riley smiled and nodded, "Stick to your beliefs, it doesn't matter if your god has been proven not to exist — the lesson you learn from it is real."

"Is… that supposed to be a compliment or a diss?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"That is up to you, Miss Angela."

"What is that—"

"Don't let her inside the church!"

"I am not going to fight your battles, Miss Angela — only protect it."

And as he said those words, Riley stepped to the side and let Angela be hounded by the knights. But of course, as in most cases with those who are nigh-fanatics, they have completely forgotten that Angela's title as the Crimson Paladin was not just a title.

Angela stabbed her large slab of a sword through the ground before wearing her helmet — she did not, however, pick up her sword again and just rushed through the knights while they were attacking.

And like Riley, not even a single of their attacks could hit him. Suffice it to say, Riley was truly intrigued with how Angela's abilities actually work, or what they truly are — when their so-called god showed itself to the Pope, it was almost as if it made sure that Angela would not be present there at all.

Does that mean Angela's eyes were powerful enough to see through a Primordial? If it truly was a primordial, and not just some other god playing around. But considering all of the remaining gods were probably left inside the remaining universe, it was truly safe to say that it was one of Death's siblings… or perhaps, if there is another entity out there that Riley and the other primordials were not yet aware of.

The knights who tried to stop Angela were left completely bruised. As although Angela did not resort to using her greatsword at all, she was still proficient in several types of martial arts — and with her strength in the upper echelon of supers, the knights were clearly outmatched and the only thing they could do was crawl and watch as Angela forcefully open the large door open; creating a blast of wind which howled across the entire area.

Soon, however, this prompted the reinforcements to back their fellow knights, dozens and dozens of them coming out of another barracks and quickly rushed toward the church to pull Angela out. Before they could actually enter the large door, however, Riley suddenly blocked his path while brandishing Angela's greatsword.

"None of you…" Riley then spun the greatsword above his head before plunging it on the marbled floor in front of him, "...shall pass while one of my people is inside."

"Who… who do you think you are!?"

"Get him! We can't let someone like that sully the name of our church!"

"I am warning you…" Riley then lightly tapped the handle of Angela's greatsword, causing the marbled floor and the ground outward to crack almost instantly, "...I will not be as lenient as I was earlier — approach, and you will be judged according to your actions. Violence will be met with violence."

"Grab him! No, kill him!"

"Dad…" And while the screams and roars of the knights echoed through the air, Karina could not help but just stare at what was happening with wide eyes. He had almost forgotten who his father was — if there was a chance to show off, he would, and in the most dramatic way possible at that.

And judging by all the people who were now gathering around the Pope's church, it was working quite well—no. In fact, it was working more than well, as her father's new followers whose names she doesn't even know were now trying to scatter his name and what he was doing to everyone who even dared utter a glance to what was happening.

"Religion of Riley Ross? I've never heard of that."

"And Riley Ross… is that man currently being attacked by this large church? Isn't this church one of the largest ones in this city…?"

"Wait — you mean the one they're worshiping is alive and actually there?"

"Not only that, but he is willing to protect his believers, even if they believe in something else."

"What…? No way something like that is possible… what did you say the name of the religion was again?"

And soon, just like that, Riley Ross's name started to spread like wildfire.