Chapter 506: A Shave

"!!!"

Facial hair. For some men, it was the epitome symbol that one has finally reached manhood. And somewhere in the universe, Unknown and Known, there is one man whose facial hair was his entire life.

His name was Spectacular Mustache Man. His entire persona circled around his mustache—a billion people, revering at the greatness of his mustache. But even if one was not Spectacular Mustache Man, a mustache is still a great deal for some people.

"Are you one of those people, Champion Sergeant Darmuid?" Riley's voice seeped from the edges of Darmuid's palm; his eyes, still as wide and staring straight at Darmuid with glee.

And soon, Darmuid's upper lips soon started to tremble as each and every strand of his thick mustache started to vibrate much like Riley's hair.

"What are you— !!!"

And before Darmuid could finish his words, a pluck thundered throughout the entire expanse of the universe. Not really, but that is what it sounded like to Darmuid. His mustache was groomed daily, laced in oil and moisture to keep them as fresh and dapper as possible.

And soon, another one was plucked away.

"Stop!"

All this time, he had been trying to gauge how strong Riley Ross truly is for him to receive the attention of not only the princess of the largest and most powerful country in Theran... but also The Caitlain'Ur.

The Caitlain'Ur, a themarian also born with the same name. But soon, her name had become a title for the themarian's greatest nightmare—a literal one, as even for them, she had become some sort of a mythical creature.

And so, Darmuid could not help but be curious, but no more. Darmuid tightened his grip on Riley's face to try and finally crush it—he was done playing games.

Unfortunately for him, Riley was just starting.

Darmuid tightened his grip even further, but no matter how much force he added, it almost seemed as if he was holding something that couldn't be moved no matter what. It wasn't like this when they were fighting just earlier.

Just a few moments before, Riley's flesh was either torn away or mangled with each of their exchange—but now, not a centimeter of his skin was stretched.

No...the only thing that was stretching was his mustache.

"I said stop!" Darmuid finally used his free hand; retracting it back, before twisting his entire body and using the momentum to strengthen the punch that was heading straight at Riley's liver.

His fist didn't seem to be that fast; in fact, it even looked slow. The force behind the punch, however, was clear for everyone to see—even from the Bloodcruiser that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

Space itself distorted — like a vacuum — the space surrounding Darmuid's fist turned into a spiral, a whirlpool that sucked the darkness itself.

And then, a snap.

The sound of a snap that shouldn't have happened, but it did. And it did so in extremity. As soon as Darmuid's fist made contact with Riley's stomach, a snap reverberated throughout the expanse of space. It rippled, destroying the meteoroids, and even some larger asteroids that happened to be within an unknown distance—but judging by how violently the Bloodcruiser shook even with its shield at full capacity, the raging ripple reverberated farther than a hundred thousand miles.

The way the themarians fight is simple, too simple. But there was a reason why they were the most powerful, feared, and respected species in the entire Known Universe; they will sneeze, and a planet would be gone.

What more could a punch do? And what could it do to a person?

"..." Darmuid was still holding Riley's face—and that was it. Only Riley's face remained.

His entire body was obliterated by the punch, his neck and the back of his head included. Perhaps the only reason why his face was still completely intact is that Darmuid was holding it.

Even then, however, Darmuid let out a small grunt as he did not let go of Riley's face. After all, even with 90% of him gone, the maniacal smile on his face was still completely there.

Darmuid waited for a twitch, but even after several moments passed, there was nothing. And so, with a small sigh, he closed his hand—completely squashing whatever was left of Riley.

"That was powerful, Champion Sergeant Darmuid."

"!!!"

Darmuid's eyes quickly widened as he felt a cold breath slithering through the back of his neck. He didn't even need to look back to know that there was a pair of eyes and a wide, sinister smile just waiting for him to turn around.

"Shall we continue to shave this off, then?"

And before Darmuid could actually recover and react, he saw a palm suddenly blinding his view. He didn't see it for long, however. As soon, he felt a sting crawling across his face. Darmuid quickly touched his mouth, only to feel his teeth.

Darmuid finally turned around to look at Riley, only to see him holding the part missing from his face.

"I am actually also starting to grow facial hair, Champion Sergeant Darmuid," Riley just casually raised his hand; his eyes, looking at Darmuid's torn-off upper lip—which of course was adorned by his thick mustache, "But I do not like the feeling of feeling it, so I just destroy any strand as soon as they grow. Father also has a stubble, and I see him putting effort in...

...Your mustache did not grow back."

Riley's monologue was cut short as soon as he realized that Darmuid's regenerated upper lip... was no longer adorned with its once thick and groomed mustache.

"..." Riley blinked his eyes a couple of times as he stared at the trembling Darmuid, "If I may be honest, Champion Sergeant Darmuid—you look a thousand times younger now. It doesn't suit you."

"..." Darmuid's eyes started to twitch; his unusually smooth upper lip, also doing the same.

"Hm," Riley squinted his eyes as he stared at Darmuid's now smooth face. He then started turning his eyes back and forth between him and the torn-off mustache in his hand. And after several times of doing so...

"I apologize, Champion Sergeant Darmuid. Here, you can have it back."

...Riley handed Darmuid's torn upper lip and mustache back to him,

"You can still attach it with some glue. I have seen several Chinese people do it on the media and—"

"Rah!"

And before Riley could finish his words, a guttural and visceral roar escaped from Darmuid's smooth mouth. His muscles, contracting and seemingly becoming even denser as the veins on his neck started to show themselves.

"..."

"Grah!"

And with another roar, a sort of red aura started to form and exude from his body.

"I feel like I have seen this before, Champion Sergeant Darmuid."

And even as streaks of red lightning started to trickle across and around Darmuid's trembling body, Riley just tilted his head to the side and stared at him.

"You..." Darmuid finally stopped roaring as he looked Riley straight in the eyes. It seemed like there was something he wanted to say just from the sheer look of rage on his smooth skin, but in the end, he just gritted his teeth and seemingly continued to contract his muscles.

And while the empty space around Darmuid started to distort and collapse from the sheer pressure being exuded from his body, Riley turned around...

...and started to fly away.

"If this is going to take long, then I am going back to the Bloodcruiser, Champion Sergeant Darmuid," he said without even glancing back, "I will see you in The—"

"Get back here!"

And with a quiet explosion, a trail of red suddenly flashed behind Riley—and inside that light, Darmuid's gritting face emerged; his hands, stretched to the side and ready to once again squish Riley into a pulp.

"..."

And before Riley could even turn around...

...he glimpsed a smooth, silky, and long hair brushing past him and toward the direct path of Darmuid's crushing arms.

"!!!"

But then, all of a sudden, the violent torrent of wrath disappeared. The arms that were flailing to end everything in the universe, instantly stopping in their tracks; just a few inches away from hitting an incredibly smooth, perfect, pale face.

"..." And when Riley was finally able to fully turn around, all he saw was the black hair just freely flowing and almost opening up like a fan. He then tilted his head to the side to try and see what was actually happening, only to see Darmuid's eyebrows completely furrowed; his eyes, squinted as they looked at the new player that just arrived.

"Pirate Queen Xra," Riley pushed Xra's hair to the side as he floated closer to her, unusually close like how they usually were; Xra's back, now almost leaning at Riley's chest,

"You came out of your seclusion?"

"You and I will talk more later," Xra did not even move her eyes toward Riley as she spoke; instead, they were just fixated on Darmuid,

"Are you not Darmuid?"

"Blood... Spirit," Darmuid very slowly retracted his hands.

"And that confirms your identity. You have grown to look older since the last time we have seen each other," Xra shook her head and sighed,

"That would mean that you have not really achieved the strength you said you would."

"..."

"Your revenge is weak, Darmuid."

"And you still look down on people, even those that are superior to you," Darmuid's body straightened out as any traces of the red aura surrounding him dissipated,

"If we fight now, you will not even last a single second."

"Riley Ross," Xra smiled as she leaned back and rested her head on Riley's shoulder, "Between him and me, who is stronger?"

"Aerith, Pirate Queen Xra."

"..."

"..."