Chapter 502: Caught Lacking

"I am Aerith's lover."

"..."

Riley couldn't really see what kind of expression the red-haired themarian had on his face right now, he was holding the back of his head, after all. But with the few times that Riley had revealed to people that he was, they all usually express shock.

And for this red-haired themarian, it would seem that was amplified. He was no longer moving, not even trying to wriggle and struggle away from Riley's grip as his arms just fell to the side.

"I… I heard that Princess Aerith has returned. Could… could it be you're with them?"

"I was," Riley lightly pushed the themarian away, "I suppose they really have made it to Theran."

"W—"

"And I suppose it doesn't matter for now."

And before the red-haired themarian could say anything else, Riley's eyes started to glow red. He then stretched both his arms to the side, summoning another red orb. This time, 2 of them and only as big as him.

"You… are a themarian? Why—"

And once again, the red-haired themarian was not able to complete what he wanted to say as the two orbs suddenly shot straight toward him. He didn't dodge, however, but just stretched both his hands forward to catch the red orbs; and as soon as they made contact with his palm, he quickly rotated his entire body to throw the orbs back to Riley.

"I have had enough of you!" The themarian screamed; and with his voice the only thing that really resounded through the dark expanse of space, it felt like someone was talking through a boombox,

"I am Fionn! The guard of the Imdall Zone! Even if you are indeed Princess Aerith's lover, you will show me some respect!"

"You are tasked with protecting this area, Sir Fionn?" Riley said as he casually swung his arm, splitting the two red orbs that made their way back to him, "You seem too young to be doing that. Although, I suppose I can not judge themarians norms."

"I am already 340 years old!"

"Is that considered old on your planet?" Riley tilted his head to the side to avoid Fionn's fist, "You were not even born when Aerith arrived on Earth. Does that mean you haven't actually seen her in person?"

"It doesn't matter!" Fionn swung his leg straight toward Riley's liver, but instead of making contact with Riley's torso, his leg was caught in between Riley's knee and elbow. Fionn didn't seem fazed by this, however, as he bent his leg to pull himself closer to Riley with his knuckles already targeting the back of Riley's head.

"..." Riley tilted his head down to avoid Fionn's fist, only for him to see Fionn's free leg already threatening to squash his head in. Riley did not dodge but just blocked the leg with both his hands.

With his other leg free, Fionn added even more strength to his leg that was already targeting Riley's head. And with this added force, it almost seemed as if Riley's entire body bent backward before violently tumbling into place.

Even with Riley blocking the leg with his hand, he should still be completely fazed and stunned—is what Fionn thought. But before he could even drop his leg, he felt two hands suddenly grasping his head tight.

"Wh—"

And before he could even utter another word, his neck completely snapped in half; twisting several times as Riley's body continued to spin and flow using the momentum of Fionn's own attack.

And with a smile suddenly growing on Riley's face, Fionn's neck finally stretched to its limit; his head, violently tearing away from the rest of his body.

"Hm," and with a breath, Riley's body instantly stopped spinning; his hands, still carrying Fionn's head. And with another breath, blood started spewing out like rain from Fionn's neck.

Hera, who was watching what was happening from inside the Bloodcruiser with Xra's crew, did not really think much about this scene. After all, this was just a typical sight for someone like Riley—but no. Blood would just float and clot in space, and most of the 

time would not even leave the body even with an open wound.

Riley was squeezing each of Fionn's veins.

Riley was capable of that, especially with a themarian body. After all, he had free access to completely learn about their anatomy for an entire day with Aerith.

Riley and Fionn's battle may seem ordinary and even basic from afar, but the people watching in the Bloodcruiser knew it was anything but. The only reason it looked like the two were just casually exchanging blows is that there wasn't anything around them to visualize how strong each of their strikes was.

If the battle took place on a planet the size of Earth, then that planet would have already been completely obliterated several times over. The red orb alone that Riley summoned was enough to raze an entire continent if it were to fly above it.

This kind of show of strength; Hera finally realized how out of touch the Hope Guild and the rest of the heroes on Earth were with the reality of things. Hera initially thought it was stupid of Empress to protect Riley, even after the Mars fiasco.

After all, there were a lot of supers capable of destroying Mars. Hera, however, didn't take into consideration the duration—Riley Ross was capable of destroying Mars without even snapping a single finger.

"..."

"..."

And after a few breaths of reminiscing and enjoying the moment, Riley felt a tremble in his hand. He slowly lifted the head in front of his eyes, only to see Fionn looking directly at him.

"..."

His mouth was opening, but no words were really coming out of it.

"So, Aerith could also do something like this?" Riley tilted his head to the side as he tried to figure out what Fionn's head was saying. But alas, as Riley was still not completely fluent in the themarian language, he still couldn't read his lips.

And so, Riley just did the only thing he could—he let go of Fionn's head.

And then kicked it.

"..."

Riley just watched the head disappear into the darkness. And even after it was gone, he just stayed there floating.

"Why… is he still not returning to the ship?" Moira, whose eyes have not left the built-in monitor in the windows that were following each of Riley's movements, finally looked away as she asked Little Riley a question, 

"Don't tell me… he plans to proceed to go to Theran on his own?"

"I have no idea, Moi," Little Riley just shook his head in response.

"...What? But aren't the two of you directly connected to each other?" It wasn't only Moira who was focusing on Little Riley right now, but also the rest of her crew, and Hera.

"The Boss is connected to me, I am not connected to him," Little Riley shrugged, "And no, he won't just leave the Bloodcruiser. Miss Hera is still here—Aerith will be mad at the Boss if he leaves her."

"...So you really have no idea why he is just floating there?"

"I do now, Moi."

Everyone quickly turned their eyes to where Little Riley was pointing, only to see another monitor pop out on the window—showing something approaching Riley at a very high speed.

"Welcome back, Sir Fionn."

"I am dragging you to Theran myself!"

It would seem Fionn did not seem fond of Riley's greeting, as his words thundered through the dark expanse of space and straight through Riley's ears like a dagger,

"I don't care if you are the Princess' lover anymore, I am dragging you there in tiny little pieces!"

"I heard themarians also grow stronger after each death," Riley stretched his hands to the side to welcome the oncoming rage, "Did you grow stronger, sir Fionn?"

"You think I died from just that!?" A red hazy light suddenly started to form around Fionn's silhouette, "And if you are asking that, then you're not actually a themarian…

…that means I can kill you without any consequences!"

"But killing me has always been the major consequence, sir Fionn," Riley sighed,

"And as I have been insinuating since earlier, you are too weak. It feels like I am fighting a budget version of a themarian."

"Don't be so smug!"

"Are you not weirded out that we have been talking for a while now, and you still have not reached me even after increasing your speed, sir Fionn?"

"!!!"

And as soon as he heard those words, Fionn instantly stopped himself from advancing any further; the red light surrounding his body like fumes, also withering away.

Fionn then turned to look at the Bloodcruiser, only to see it had become a dot in space.

"Fighting in space is really weird, no?"

"!!!" Fionn's eyes quickly widened as he heard a voice coming from behind him. He quickly turned his body toward the voice, only to see Riley casually floating there. He looked at where he was just a moment ago… only to see him actually still there.

"You lack strength and training, sir Fionn."

"...What?" Fionn then turned to look at the Riley that was near him, only to be welcomed by a palm on his face.

"Let me help you with that."

And with Riley's words whispering into his ears, Fionn's vision very slowly started to distort and turn even darker. The rare beating of his heart, drumming through the empty space.

"Let go of him!"

But before his vision could completely fade away, he felt himself being pushed away. And before he could even feel the crushing weight fade away, he felt a hand grabbing his arm.

"Fionn, are you alright?"

"...Huh?" Fionn blinked a couple of times as he tried to recover himself. And after a few more breaths, he turned to look at the woman beside him.

"Orla?"

"Are you alright?"

"..." Fionn no longer responded and just turned to look to where Riley should be, only to see him being surrounded by three other themarians. And even then, the smile on his face did not disappear, no…

…it grew even wider.