Chapter 432: ...Dad?

A few minutes ago, somewhere in the outer orbit of the Earth, a suddenly beamed; almost creating a sound as it flickered through the vast darkness. And as instantly as it revealed itself, it also disappeared almost instantly. It did, however, leave something behind.

A small ship.

And in the expanse of the universe, one would find it hard to even see it. But it did, and it carried inside it nothing but a bout of sighs and complaints.

"...Why did they even bother sending me to a backwater planet? Are the Guardians really left to investigating scraps?"

The blue-skinned humanoid, Ineego, once again added another sigh to the collection of sighs already filling his ship. Although the ship looked small, its interior was actually quite spacious— with only the seat that seemed to swivel in the air as well as Ineego occupying most of the space.

There were, however, multiple holograms floating in front of Ineego; his eyes, reflecting the image of Riley Ross— the individual that he was tasked to investigate, and if needed, terminate.

He didn't really even bother reading the file that came with his image. He knew he destroyed a planet, but since this white-haired individual came from a backwater planet, he probably just relied on some sort of bomb.

Most of the cases like these were like that, this one shouldn't be any different.

"...Let's just get this over with so I can return to watching the tournament," Ineego once again sighed as he waved his hand, removing any images of Riley as he focused on the map of the Solar System.

"...Hm?"

Not even a second later, however, a ping suddenly rippled on his map— warning him of an object that was approaching him at a very high speed.

"..." Ineego didn't really think much of it as he just moved his ship away from the object's path; as soon as he did so, however, the trajectory of the object also changed. Its target, still his ship.

Ineego's eyes slightly squinted as he pointed his finger at the object, zooming in on it.

"!!!" And as soon as he saw the object that was keen on colliding with his ship; his eyes that were the color of emerald widened,

"Is... that someone from the Higher Races?"

Most of those that were able to breathe through the expanse of space were of the Higher Races— but if there were any other than Princess Aerith and the evaniels, the corps would have informed him of their existence.

So... who exactly is this?

"..." Ineego's eyes then soon squinted as he once again waved his hand, bringing up the image of Riley Ross.

"Lux, try to match the profile."

And as soon as he said that, the image of the Riley Ross and the face of the individual that was moving towards his ship was placed in a single hologram; with the ship's AI trying to find any similarities between the two— it was, however, clearly not a match.

But in Ineego's eyes, their only real difference was the color of their hair— Riley Ross was of a jet-black color, while this other one has a hair as white as a star.

"...This can't be an inhabitant of the planet, is it?"

Ineego finally received the impulse to look at the information sheet they have on Riley Ross; but alas, before he could even read a word out of it, the sound of a rumble resounded throughout his small ship as he felt a slight turbulence suddenly tugging on his seat.

"..." He then waved his hand as he opened the view of one of the many cameras attached to his ship, only to see the white-haired humanoid now clinging just outside the ship's door.

And very soon, it started to knock.

***

"Dad!"

Ineego found himself suddenly waking up— not even knowing how he fell into the depths of unconsciousness in the first place. Although, he didn't really know what woke him up, the sudden scream that pierced his ears... or the fact that he couldn't breathe.

Fortunately for him, the latter reason did not last long as he heard the familiar howl of a hangar door closing on space.

"...What—" Ineego was about to float himself away from the floor, but before he could even get the chance to get up and stand, he found himself stuck in the air.

"..." Ineego then finally started to look at his surroundings, only to see the individual that latched on his ship now... stepping on his back and preventing him from moving further up to stand. He then turned to look at the other people that were present there, only to see the princess of the evaniels.

"Princess... Vera?" Ineego breathed out, "What's... going on? Am I inside your ship?"

Vera, however, completely ignored her and was just looking back and forth between the individual stepping on his back and—

"Riley Ro—"

But alas, before he could even finish his words, he felt his head being touched by the individual stepping on him, and then after that... he just fell back to the cold hard metallic floor; his consciousness once again fleeting away from him.

"He looks funny," the white-haired girl that was stepping on Ineego then flicked her hand, causing Ineego to gently slide towards the evaniels that did not really know what to do right now.

It was obvious that the blue humanoid was the Guardian, as obvious from the red glowing suit he was wearing... so who exactly is this white-haired individual?

"...Did she just call you dad?" Vera was the very first one to react as she finally settled her eyes on Riley. She also quickly gestured to her people to tend to the unconscious Guardian.

"I believe I heard the same, Princess Vera."

And for the very first time, Vera saw the expression of confusion surrounding Riley's face as his head tilted to the side; his eyes, looking at the white-haired girl from head to toe.

"..." Come to think of it, the two of them do look alike— white place skin, and a mouth so wide that it could probably swallow an entire village.

"Dad!" The white-haired girl then repeated as she suddenly flew straight towards Riley; but alas, Riley quickly stepped to the side to avoid her.

"..."

"..." The white-haired girl's head then very slowly turned towards Riley; her arms still stretched to the side. The smile on her face, almost turning into a giggle as her eyes squinted.

"Aunt Diana did say you were shy, dad," the white-haired girl then said as she covered her mouth, but failing to hide the cheeky smile on her face all the same.

"And mom says you have a problem with being touched by strangers?"

"Diana... mom?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he stared at the weird girl. And then, without even a second later— he figured it out.

"Katherine is alive?"

"..." And as soon as the white-haired girl heard that, her already squinted eyes squinted even further as she stood up straight, before looking Riley straight in the eyes,

"...Mom had a better reaction when she found out you were alive. So, it's true... she said you didn't really love her the way she loved you. Aunt Diana said that it wasn't your fault and that there was a problem with your hypothanos."

"Hypothalamus," Riley said as he once again tilted his head, "Are you some sort of experiment by Diana?"

"...Hmph, my name's Karina," Karina let out a small harrumph as she crossed her arms. But after a few moments, the aggression on her face quickly dissipated and was replaced with a smile, "Anyway...

...can I please hug you?"

"No."

"...Why not? Even aunt Diana allowed me to hug her once."

"Because I don't want to, Miss Karina."

"Why don't you want to?"

"Because I don't want to, Miss Karina."

"Yes, but why!? There should be a reason!"

"The reason is I don't want to, Miss Karina."

The evaniels that were there could really only continue to look back and forth between the two, waiting for their princess to order them a command; but alas, she seemed to be the one that was most engrossed amongst them as an amused smile was clearly plastered on her face.

"...But you're my dad," Karina's voice slowly started to become meek as a frown slowly crawled on her face, "Shouldn't...

...shouldn't you be happy to see me?"

"I am not your father, Miss Karina," Riley then shook his head as he let out a sigh, "I made sure that Katherine and I will not have any offspring. Mother most probably made you the same way she helped in creating me."

"...No," Karina hummed as she shook her head,

"I'm pretty sure you're my dad. See? I have practically have your everything," she then said as she pointed at her face and smiled; the edges of her lips, almost reaching from ear to ear.

"You are too old, Miss Karina."

"...I am actually just turning 3 in a couple of months," Karina forced a chuckle as she placed her hands on her waist, "But don't be fooled by that, I already had my menstuition! I'm an adult!"

"I notice your mind is like that of a toddler."

"...Is that a good thing?"

"Sometimes, Miss Karina."

"So you believe you're my dad now?"

"Hm...

...If you truly are my daughter, why did Diana and Katherine just allow you to meet me, Miss Karina? I specifically told mother of what I would do when she asked me the question of what I would do if ever I had a child."

"W... well..." Karina slowly looked to the side as she scratched her chin, "Aunt Diana has been... pretty busy lately, mom too."

"Well..." Riley then closed his eyes as he let out a small sigh, "I suppose it doesn't matter...

...you need to die either way, Miss Karina."

"...Dad?"