Chapter 496: Bounty Hunter Kerrigan

"At least one of us gets to enjoy this fight, Sir Kerrigan."

"Ho?"

Shards of orange started to glitter in the air as the Guardian Force that he was grinding with his teeth slowly escaped his mouth. His lips showed a shocked expression at first, but soon turned upward into a smile.

"You remind of the Queen—she has an arrogant air around her as well," he then muttered as the metal floor beneath his feet started to crumple in a twist,

"Come to think of it, except for the color of the hair, you two sort of look alike—Could it be that you are her offspring?"

"No, Sir Kerrigan. I—"

And before Riley could finish his words, Kerrigan suddenly disappeared from his spot—no, it was more as if he sunk into the floor. Riley did not have time to tilt his head in curiosity, however, as Kerrigan's silver face almost immediately showed itself beneath his feet.

And without even any warning or a word, Kerrigan pulled Riley down into the floor until only his upper body could be seen. As for Kerrigan, he fully emerged from the floor; his eyes, not leaving Riley for even a single second.

"So, your body is also strong," he then said, "90% of the population would have already died from having their bodies dug deep into Oro, one of the strongest metals in the entire Known Universe. Just the weight and the pressure would be enough to crush and grind their insides."

"Hm," and with Kerrigan's slightly long explanation, Riley only shrugged; casually pushing away the metal around his arms before he just floated and pulled himself up,

"I do not think Pirate Queen Xra appreciates her ship being—Oh, interesting," Riley stopped his words as soon as he saw the hole he made tangling together and closing, "Is this your ability?"

"...No. Oro self-regenerates and returns to its forged shape," Kerrigan squinted his eyes, "So, it's true—you're from the Unknown."

"You—"

And once again, before Riley could speak, Kerrigan moved. This time, his hand stretched straight toward Riley's face at a speed that was enough to cause the entire exterior of the Bloodcruiser to ripple from the push of his foot.

Riley watched as the silver fist brushed past his cheek. He initially thought that it was just a normal punch, but as soon as it touched a strand of his hair—the part that made contact with his fingers completely disappeared, splitting the strand into 5 pieces.

And as soon as he saw that, Riley used his telekinesis to move the rest of his hair to the side. Kerrigan didn't allow him to rest, however, as his already stretched hand swung toward Riley's neck.

Once again, Riley watched as his hand moved toward him—but as soon as the edge of Kerrigan's hand touched his epidermis, Riley quickly floated back.

"..." Riley then touched his neck, only to see a hint of blood lathering on his palm,

"You—can pass through my telekinetic barrier, Sir Kerrigan?"

Kerrigan once again struck Riley as he talked. This time, however, Riley did not let himself be interrupted as he talked while still dodging.

"You don't even know what I am?" Kerrigan smirked as he swung his leg toward Riley's waist, but once again, Riley floated back, "So, you're just indiscriminately murdering your way through the Known Universe without reason?"

"Are you not the same, sir Kerrigan?"

"I only kill Guardians and murderers," Kerrigan smirked, "But honestly, the line between the two is blurry."

"Interesting," Riley said as he tried to twist Kerrigan's neck with his mind, but all it really did was slightly stretch his silver skin.

"You're one scary monster, Riley Ross," Kerrigan stopped attacking as he touched his neck, "Y—"

This time, it was Kerrigan's turn to be disrupted as Riley suddenly appeared in front of him—his entire arm, already pierced through his chest.

"Wrong move," Kerrigan only scoffed, before slamming his palms on Riley's head. Before his palms could even get close, however, Riley was already far away and floating in the expanse of space...

...missing one of his arms.

"..." Riley turned to look at his shoulder, before turning his eyes back to his dismembered arm, which was now just floating quietly behind Kerrigan.

"I am guessing you haven't fought someone like me before?" Kerrigan then let out a small chuckle. Riley didn't notice it before, but Kerrigan wasn't using any device to translate his words—nor was he even using anything to transmit his voice through the dark and empty space.

It somewhat reminded him of...

"Are you perhaps related to Elder Tedi, sir Kerrigan?" Riley asked as his arm started to regenerate.

"That giant freak?" Kerrigan's eyes once again squinted as he saw Riley's arm healing almost instantly, "We're from the same planet."

"..." And as soon as Riley heard that, he looked at Kerrigan from head to toe—something he could only do when Elder Tedi was thousands of kilometers away, "But you are not—"

"You and Xra truly are similar, you even like to talk."

"Are you not the same?"

"Only when I need to."

"And you need to now, sir Kerrigan?" Riley smiled, "Are you trying to figure out what else I am capable of?"

"Enough."

"You are impervious to damage due to your body being capable of turning... immaterial," Riley said as he glanced back, before tilting his head to the side as Kerrigan's hand was once again already threatening to shave it off,

"You're not turning into anything, it is as if you do not really exist."

"..." Kerrigan no longer said anything as he just continued his attacks—his limbs, seemingly duplicating as they started leaving afterimages.

"I am guessing you are the same, sir Kerrigan?" The smile on Riley's face started to grow wider; his eyes, just staring at Kerrigan's face as he let out a barrage of strikes,

"You haven't fought someone like me either," and with those words, Riley opened up his palm and pointed at Kerrigan's stomach.

Kerrigan, however, completely ignored it as he just focused on hitting Riley's head; as hitting him anywhere else seemed to be useless.

"Mini Paboom," Riley then muttered. And as soon as he did so, the dark empty space started to be sucked in into the white orb that suddenly appeared and hovered on Riley's palm.

It was the very same move he used at Xra, except as he said, it was at a much smaller scale as the beam that gushed out from it just had the girth similar to...his arm—but like the previous one, it was long enough to be seen even from afar.

"..."

"..."

Kerrigan blinked a couple of times as he stared into Riley's eyes. He then very slowly turned his head to look at his stomach... only to see a huge gaping hole in it, his blood that was as dark as the expanse of space itself, formed into a spiral with the hole as its convergence.

"Oh, it worked, sir Kerrigan," Riley was also looking at the hole in his stomach, "I used a smaller amount of power since I would probably faint—I used most of my energy fighting Pirate Queen Xra earlier, you see."

"..."

"Is Elder Tedi stronger than you? If she is, then I would very much like to fight her the next time we—"

And before Riley could finish his words, he was once again interrupted by Kerrigan. This time, however, it wasn't an attack... but rather a retreat as Kerrigan quickly flew away.

"That is very rude, sir Kerrigan," Riley let out a small sigh, before raising his index finger and pointing it at Kerrigan's shrinking silhouette. And with another smile crawling on his face, another white orb emerged near the tip of his finger,

"Even Tinier Pa—"

"That's enough."

But alas, before he could release an even tinier Paboom, Xra suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist.

"You're going to draw the Cherbi toward us if you continue using that move."

"...It's a tinier version, Pirate Queen Xra," Riley's smile quickly disappeared... even turning into a small frown as he looked at Xra.

"Yes, I heard," Xra sighed as she removed her hand from Riley's wrist, "Seriously, you're like a toddler."

"But I learned how to declare my moves because of you, Pirate Queen Xra."

"I only utter it in my mind, Riley."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that it is childish and detrimental to say your moves out loud."

"It is sort of cool, Pirate Queen Xra. It is like in Italian Mafia Reborn."

"Do you even know what cool means?"

"Do you? I figure the vernacular is much different from when you were still on Earth.

"...Are you dissing me right now? Do you think only Earth has that sort of word? Also, what's Italian Mafia Reborn?"

"I am very glad you asked, Pirate Queen Xra. Read my mind."

"No. Your thoughts are noisy."

"Just do it."

"No."

"Please."

"Fine."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What... what is this?"

"It is the first episode of Italian Mafia Reborn. You do not have to worry about missing something, I have memorized every dialogue and every inch of the scenes."

"Hm."

"..."

"..."

"Did... the main character just die?"

"Continue watching, Pirate Queen Xra."

"Wait, he's not the main character!"

"Hm."

"..."

"It's him! This bastard is the main character? Why—wait, what? He ran an orphanage!?"

"..."

"..."

"Wait, it ended like that!? So, the character who I thought was the main character burned the true main character's orphanage? How is he alive? He was the bad guy?"

"Italian Mafia Reborn is very good at cliffhangers, Pirate Queen Xra."

"Let's... just go back inside the ship."

"Very well, Pirate Queen Xra."

"I will get some snacks...

...let me watch it while we are on our way to Theran."