Raising Villains The Right Way
Alon stared blankly at the sky.
Before he knew the truth, it had only been filled with the Milky Way, but now countless eyes were packed into that space.
They were all different in size and form.
Yet what was certain was that they were eyes—thousands, tens of thousands of them.
Alon silently gazed up at them and let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
‘...So that’s what it was?’
The first thing that came to his mind was Psychedelia.
The game that had given him the rough knowledge of what would unfold in this world.
The game that bestowed upon him the knowledge to save the children destined to become the five great sins.
Of course, Alon did not perceive this world as a game.
He had long since realized that this place was not a mere realm of zeros and ones.
Even the dullest fool would have figured that out by now.
Rather, what he recalled was the ending of Psychedelia.
Each time he cleared Psychedelia as Eliban, the playable character, capturing every sin, the ending would change.
It was only natural.
Depending on how the player controlled Eliban, countless branching endings existed.
Sometimes, even after eliminating all the sins, the weakened Allied Kingdom would be invaded by the Empire.
Other times, even after reaching the end, the player’s accumulated infamy would drag them into a tragic ending.
He had seen many other endings depending on the various classes Eliban had taken.
And among those, of course, there were endings that were called happy endings.
An ending where not a single one of Eliban’s companions who had formed bonds with him died.
An ending where, by miracle, the Allied Kingdom lost no influence at all, and the Empire never invaded.
Any player would call it a happy ending.
However, there was a common thread across all those numerous endings.
It was the final phrase that would appear.
Whether it was a bad ending.
Or a happy ending.
The phrase that appeared before the player never changed.
‘You alone have escaped destruction.’
It was the line that made countless players question, speculate, and complain.
Some claimed it was a hint toward a sequel.
At the time, Alon had taken only mild interest in it.
He had searched it online.
He had checked wikis gathering player speculation.
But in the end, it was nothing but conjecture with no official explanation, so he quickly lost interest.
Yet now, in this moment, Alon finally understood the meaning of that line.
The end of Psychedelia was not truly an end.
No matter which ending Eliban reached, that was merely the outcome of stopping the sins.
What lay beyond was never shown.
Hence the phrase:
‘You alone have escaped destruction.’
“Hah.”
Putting together the puzzle of a truth he had not wanted to know, Alon let out a hollow laugh.
The countless eyes above the blue night sky were still staring down at him.
He could feel countless gazes.
He could feel emotions as well.
And then—
Vroooom—!
A massive sound began to echo.
It was not the sound of a magic circle.
Nor was it any kind of machine.
It was not a resonance.
It was, quite literally, a strange sound produced by the world itself.
Yet that sound instantly devoured the emotions of everyone present.
The soldiers were consumed by fear.
The knights trembled in dread.
The mages alternated between tension and resignation.
And then—
Tck—
With a tiny sound, as if something had snapped—
The Milky Way visible to all—
The eyes visible to Alon—
No, to a select few—
Began to fall toward the earth.
“...Wow.”
The soldiers gasped in awe.
Those who had been steeped in terror had their hearts stolen by the Milky Way that rained down like a waterfall.
However, Alon was not the same.
[AAAAAAAAAAA]
[Rottingrottingrottingrottingrotting]
[Rrrrrrr]
What entered Alon’s ears first were grotesque, horrifying noises that made his skin crawl.
[Killkillkillkill]
[I will kill the god of earth and I will]
[This time, for sure—]
The next were curse-like murmurs filled with inexplicable meaning.
Murmurs thick with regret and rage, directed at no one he could identify.
And the final voices were—
-[Now I can finally see]
-[Show me, let me witness it]
-[Finallyfinallyfinallyfinallyfinallyfinally—]
Words that Alon’s mind could not comprehend.
“Why...?”
The question slipped from his mouth before he knew it.
He had never imagined that those things above would fall right here, right now.
But then—
[Because we were holding it back.]
As though to answer his doubt, One Who Bears It spoke softly.
[The rest is up to you.]
With those final words, the figure vanished completely.
Staring at the empty space where half an answer had been left behind, Alon murmured—
“...What?”
Suddenly, his vision swayed wildly.
Though briefly confused, he quickly realized the truth.
He had simply been too shocked to notice earlier.
His body was far from normal.
Though partially healed by the divine power of the Primordial Elf, his body was still covered in wounds.
Both his hands, when he wiped his face, came away soaked in blood from his eyes and nose.
Alon stared blankly at the bloodstains.
“...I should rest for a bit.”
With those words, he simply closed his eyes.
The voice calling him from behind—
And the bizarre sounds coming from the falling meteor shower—
All faded far into the distance.
When had it begun?
The moment his consciousness naturally returned.
Before he knew it, Alon had awakened.
And immediately, he began to hear various reports.
The first was that he had been unconscious for over two weeks.
And the second—
Eliban, who was believed to have vanished along with One Who Bears It, was still alive.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could simply go ask him questions.
They said that Eliban had fallen out of the sky right after One Who Bears It disappeared, but had been in a coma ever since.
Even so, Alon felt quiet relief deep down.
At the very least, he hadn't wanted Eliban to die.
And as long as Eliban was alive, there would come a day when Alon could ask him.
The meaning behind the last words Eliban had spoken to him.
“Father...”
Alon had no idea why Eliban had used that title.
It was true that Alon had taken care of him since he was very young.
But frankly, it wasn’t to a degree that warranted being called ‘father.’
Could it really be that Eliban had wanted to call him father just because of that?
After thinking briefly, Alon soon shook his head.
There had been something more in Eliban’s eyes.
The more his thoughts continued, the heavier Alon’s chest felt.
In truth, there were many other things he wanted to know.
How everything had been handled afterward.
Whether the children were safe.
What became of the countless eyes that had fallen from the sky.
He was desperate to know everything.
Someone might question him for it.
Why not just ask if you're curious?
It was a reasonable point.
If there was something he wanted to know, he could simply ask.
Everyone was gathered in his room.
People who could answer each question one by one.
But the reason Alon did not ask.
Or more precisely—
The reason he could not ask.
Was because Alon had regained only his consciousness.
Yes, only his consciousness.
Unfortunately, Alon was currently in a state where he could not move his body.
He was, in essence, no different from a vegetative patient.
For a moment, upon regaining consciousness, he had feared he might never get up again.
But he soon threw that fear aside.
Because he quickly realized why he couldn’t move.
‘How long will it take before I can move again?’
Alon calmly examined his own body.
No matter how he looked at it, it was far from normal.
It was a wreck.
To a degree where natural recovery was practically impossible.
And yet, his body was steadily recovering.
He didn’t know why.
Even though he was not using the divinity of the Primordial Elf, his body was still regenerating.
At any rate, at this pace—
He felt he might be able to open his eyes within a few days.
And thanks to Rine’s predictions—
He could accurately estimate how long it would take to wake fully.
Though there was one problem.
“To be honest, the chances are high that there will be issues with his memory.”
There was a slight flaw in her prediction.
“Godfather, he used his power far too excessively this time.”
“But... wouldn’t that cause damage to the mana hole or something?”
“Thankfully, the mana hole is intact. However, the control device you used to restrain that impossible level of mana most likely sustained damage.”
“Then...”
“Please don't worry too much. In the worst-case scenario, it should only result in short-term memory loss. If it goes beyond that—”
“If it goes beyond that?”
“Let’s end it there. Honestly, I doubt it will go that far. Mm~ but if it does, then it would probably be best to recount all the memories and experiences you've shared with him, wouldn’t it?”
“Memories and experiences?”
“Yes. Even in this state, the subconscious can remain awake. If we speak to him in advance about familiar memories, there’s a higher chance his memory will return.”
“However, do not include any unnecessary content. If the memories return incorrectly, it could cause problems.”
“Incorrectly?”
“He may remember things exactly as we tell them—even if those things never happened in reality.”
Rine’s calm voice echoed in the room where everyone had gathered.
For a moment, silence fell.
“That... that would be bad.”
“We’ll have to be extremely precise.”
“That’s right. We should tell the Marquis exactly as it happened.”
“Then, whenever we have time, we can recount some memories from the past.”
One by one, they all spoke with determination and slowly left the room.
And so, late that night—
“My Lord.”
Yutia came to him.
“Um... when should I begin speaking?”
She sat down and, in a remarkably calm voice, began.
“It starts with a story from when I was eight years old.”
She began to share her memories.
“...Although Seolrang keeps saying my actual age is over two thousand, that’s obviously nonsense. Back then, I was definitely eight years old when you saved me, My Lord.”
Her memories—
“Exchanging letters with you was always such a joy. Oh, and just to be clear, Seolrang’s words aren’t true, all right? There’s no way I’m over two thousand. How could a human live that long?”
‘Are these really memories...?’
Alon felt cold sweat build as the topic of conversation drifted in an alarming direction.
For some reason, he felt that even if he could open his eyes right now, he probably shouldn’t.

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