Rogue Villain-Chapter 391: Curtains

<I was honestly a little worried when it looked like you were about to talk that thing out of his goal.>

The world froze. It stopped spinning. The wind stopped blowing. The clouds stopped sailing. The water, even the waves about to crash, stopped moving like it had suddenly turned into realistic sculptures.

<That would have been a boring end. It’s always much more fun when one side dies in the end. All in all, it’s a satisfying conclusion. It’s almost worth my hard work.>

Something spoke.

Ackster heard it. Unfortunately, there was no one else nearby who could tell him if he had gone crazy after accomplishing what he had set out to do ten years ago. Or maybe it was fortunate.

Whatever the source of the voice was, it wasn’t something Ackster understood. He couldn’t even sense it. But each sentence, each word, each syllable, each letter gave Ackster chills. If he had been permitted to move, he would have trembled like a wet dog.

<Hmm?>

All of a sudden, something entered into existence in front of Ackster. It looked like it walked through space to appear in the world. Ackster saw a vaguely humanoid form made of light, deep purple light, mixed with bright spots and dark areas.

Whatever it was, it looked like someone had taken a piece of deep space, maybe a galaxy, and molded it into a humanoid shape. But Ackster doubted anything could have molded it. If anything, it did the molding. It looked like a being of pure cosmic energy.

<Not only are you still conscious, but you can even think clearly?>

The cosmic being leaned forward and took a closer look at Ackster.

<Wow! I sure did great! You’ve repeatedly exceeded my expectations, and now you’re even resisting my power? Incredible! It’s almost a shame you’ve now outlived your purpose.>

Ackster’s eyes couldn’t even widen in realization. The cosmic being, whatever it really was, would dispose of him. After all he had gone through, some superior life form with no regard for his life was going to kill him as soon as he was done. As soon as he had finally done what he had to do to achieve peace, some fucker was going to end him. End him?

<’Some fucker’? ’No regard for your life’? No, no, no, my dear child. That’s all wrong.>

’As if I care.’

<But you do care. I can tell if you haven’t noticed.>

’...’

Ackster couldn’t talk. He could communicate since the being could read his mind, but Ackster had nothing to say.

<Well, I do feel responsible. You did bring me great joy, after all. The last I can do for you is help you rest in peace. That’s something that the humans you know want to do, right?>

The being didn’t wait for an answer.

<You’re my creation, child. I made you.>

’...What?’

Ackster couldn’t believe his ears. No, he didn’t want to believe. He didn’t want to understand or comprehend the deeper meaning of the being’s words.

<You see, this place...> The being looked around and gestured at everything around himself—at Millmeria. <Has quite the reputation. It’s a rather interesting place. It’s also old. Sure, it’s not as old or interesting as Earth. But it would be a shame to see it go just like that.>

Ackster wanted to ask what that had to do with him. But he didn’t want to give the fucker the satisfaction of someone entertaining his monologue.

<Of course, I couldn’t care less about this place. But since it got destroyed, I decided to have some fun. And what do you know, I haven’t seen a show this great in eons! Man, you’re actions and emotions were so interesting! Yet, so infuriating at times. And during other times, you made me proud.>

’Fuck...’

<See? I’m especially proud of how quickly you realize things nowadays. I’m done with my monologue, which means I’m done here. Now, it’s time to well...Close the curtains on this play.>

Emotions Ackster didn’t understand bubbled up inside him. It really was the end. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even talk. It didn’t matter what he thought.

This fucking being that showed up out of nowhere decided it had had enough fun. So, it was going to undo what it had done. By the sound of it, the being wasn’t going to just kill Ackster now that its creation had fulfilled its purpose. The being was going to reverse or restore Millmeria to its original state before it intervened.

And before the being intervened, the world had been destroyed.

’Is that it...?’

Ackster couldn’t believe it. He refused to believe this was how it ended.

<It has already ended. Did you know, child? The entire genre of a play can change based on when you end it. That’s why I’m calling it here. You defeated all the enemies. You overcome countless obstacles in your path. You grew as a human and as a fighter. You saved the world! That’s a good story!>

’...’

<I heard what you said earlier about everything in the world coming to an end being the most tragic end you knew. I agree with you. But sometimes, tragedy is necessary in life. Otherwise, how can there be joy and ecstasy? Besides, this world has already ended. Its fate has been severed. Even if I don’t do anything, it will just collapse in on itself sooner or later. But I don’t leave things half-finished, so wipe the hope away.>

The being turned around and took a step away from Ackster.

<Besides, if you look at it another way, this story could be one of redemption. This world got another chance at salvation through the seemingly random transmigration of a young man looking for a great life after death.>

It looked like the being crossed his arms behind his back as he sighed and reminisced about the story he had made Ackster and the rest of Millmeria experience the last ten years.

It was a memorable ride. Things hadn’t gone as it always expected them to. But that only made the story so much better!

’Bullshit!’