My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Stepping between the web of fissured ground beneath our feet, the twins approached me.

Each droplet of rain that fell from the sky seemed to fall heavier than normal; I couldn't tell if that was due to my own misunderstanding, or if something had changed, but I forgot about it soon enough.

Regardless, as water poured, all our heads and bodies rapidly became soaked.

The hair of both me and the girls seemed to try and stick to our faces in an attempt to disguise our expressions, only letting the piercing glow of our eyes peek through the gaps, but anyone could tell that such a minor hindrance wouldn't make a difference.

After all... I raised them.

Or at least, I know them more than anyone else.

At this point, it wasn't necessary to see each other's faces to know what we were feeling.

"...Ciphy."

"Can we talk...?"

Pausing their feet less than a metre away from me, the twins called out just as they used to.

Sensing their tension in an instant, I stared at the two for a moment.

"..."

The only ones whom I entrusted with all my faith.

The ones who repaid that faith with betrayal.

I knew why they did it.

Calling everyone to my location after I recovered the memories of my past.

It was because they didn't want me to destroy the world after that incident.

These girls.

Young as they are, they knew me well enough to recognise that danger.

Honestly, even if it wasn't to the extent of preparing for the Otherworld, I should have expected something to happen from the moment I planned my appointment with Michael Guff.

And it's not like I blame the twins.

Logically speaking, it was only right to act on it.

...However.

Be that as it may, there's something about it that I just can't find in myself to forgive.

As someone who never was the merciful type, such implacability wasn't uncommon.

Still, something about that experience was different.

Sana. Sona.

"I trusted you."

""...""

As far back as I can recall, it was the first time.

Even during my time in the Playground in San Cinelia, who would I have trusted? Not any of the Professors, that's for sure, and it's not like the other kids there were any better.

Someone might look at those times and think that I trusted Ruti, but that was wrong.

In fact, even if we were friends, someone that impulsive and cluelessly destructive was the last person I could place my faith in.

By the time I had escaped the Playground, I was alone, making the twins the first people I ever trusted.

I saved them, fed them, trained them, and gave them an education.

I became their legal father and raised them as such.

Treating them so that they were left wanting for nothing.

And, after all that, how was I repaid?

"You betrayed me."

""...""

They stabbed me in the back with the same cold expression as always.

Once upon a time, they relied on me.

They begged me not to leave or abandon them.

I made a promise and they acted so that I could proudly uphold it.

Even when everybody else was against me, I could count on them to stick by my side.

But now... Where had that loyalty gone?

Like a puff of smoke, an utter illusion, it had disappeared as if it never were.

Was it all an act of deception?

Rationally,  I knew that couldn't be the case, but the whiplash of it all was almost enough to convince me otherwise.

"I know what you two want to say."

""...""

Right now, the twins wanted nothing more than to apologise.

To cry and beg at my feet for me not to leave.

That much was obvious, and I could smell such stinky foreshadowing a mile away thanks to the recording contained on the smartphone in my pocket.

But, frankly, I didn't care for it.

Out of everyone in the whole, entire world, for these two to be the ones begging for my forgiveness...

It was revolting.

I would be a fool to listen to the whimpers of a dog that had bitten its owner, and this was no less the same.

And so, despite however much you may wish for things to return to how they once were, allow me to remind you.

"Don't bother."

That is not how this world works, nor will He permit it to work that way.

A heart that was once broken will never be the same even if repaired, and in the same way, a lone man's profound and heartfelt trust will never be felt again once the line of betrayal has been crossed.

Despite never having a lover or romantic interest, I think I can finally understand the once confusing complaints of my classmate who moaned about his partner cheating on him.

In any case, I think we can move on.

Much time has been wasted, and as none of it will provide value, there is no need to hear out what anyone here has to say.

With that said, let us commence the finale.

"Now..."

Showing a sweeping gaze to everyone watching me, I gave them one last reminder.

I was already having a hard time imagining what they could possibly do, but it truly is appalling.

"Remember; your role here is to stop me."

"Unfortunately, you have failed spectacularly until now, and so I will proceed with the ending of our world."

After all, aren't things even more exciting when under the pressure of a ticking clock?

"If you have anything left to say, I would do it now."

Do your best, 'Hero'.

"Because time is ticking."

Turning my head towards the tarnished, blackened sky above, I called upon that unfathomable physical manifestation of The End.

Looking towards it, for the briefest of moments, I considered an alternative future.

A future where this world doesn't meet such a tragic fate.

A future where even I can experience a happy end.

...Alas.

Such a future can no longer be attained by my own efforts.

That's why I will instead provide the best worst ending.

The first step towards that is this next moment.

All it takes is a single word.

"―Devour."

And thus, the countdown began towards the conclusion.

-- Krrrriiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhkk...!!!

Following my announcement of the eleventh hour, a horrendous noise reverberated throughout the entire world, shaking Heaven and Earth as the sky began to fall.

"Please, try your best to stop it."

"Prevent the impending doom and show us the ending you deserve."

If I win, everything is destroyed, and thus the ending is a tragic one.

If you win, only I shall meet my end.

Either way, the outcome shall be enough to finish things once and for all.

...But.

Is it correct to assume which ending would satisfy Him the most?

Because, to that question, I think I know the answer.

"Cipher...!"

Araceli, who had started running over, stopped just beside the twins in front of me―her ragged breath all disorderly and drenched hair clinging to her face―and screamed.

"The girls―the reason for their betrayal isn't what you think it is!"

The twins and I all looked at her.

I don't know what she was trying to get at now, but at this point, it was too late regardless.

"Selling you out to the Wardens wasn't because they wanted to save the world or anything! It was more than that! Right, girls!?"

The twins meekly lowered their heads and nodded. I couldn't believe they were all trying something now, after I had already given them plenty of warning, but since Araceli was the reader of the original novel, I knew she knew what really happened.

But, would the reasoning that was used in the first story be the same as this one?

I briefly considered the question that didn't really matter, and then, Sana and Sona seemed to muster the courage to speak.

"...If Ciphy destroyed the world..."

"It means Ciphy would die too..."

"We made a mistake because we didn't want that to happen..."

"We didn't want Ciphy to go away, so we did it..."

"We're sorry..."

"We didn't know Ciphy would go away for a long time..."

"We won't do it again..."

"Please don't go..."

"Please come back to us..."

Seeing the girls' faces, distorted with all kinds of stress and anguish, it was the first time I had ever seen them bear expressions of such vivid emotion.

As they gradually let everything out, I grew certain that not all of the water on their face was a product of the falling rain.

And most of all, hearing the last of their words, I sharply recalled the video within the smartphone.

Of course, things were different here compared to that video―I was not bleeding and on the verge of death, the twins were not hovering over my body, and we were not in the middle of a razed Weinstell City.

Despite the scene not being exactly the same, however, I felt strange.

In my head, I knew that none of it really mattered.

Things were already approaching the endpoint.

The resolution was almost here, so what did any of it matter?

The truth of the girls' betrayal.

Even if they did it for my sake, it doesn't change the fact that they did it.

At the end of the day, they still betrayed me, and all of this is a consequence of that.

Maybe, once upon a time, things could have been different were I to be told this information.

Unfortunately, however.

"So?"

We were already too far gone for such a "happy ending".

"You two. I haven't been raising you for very long, but it was long enough for you to understand well what would happen if you stabbed my back."

"You knew what would happen and you did it anyway."

"What, did you think I would come around and say that everything is fine at this point?"

"We are too far along this path to go back."

The only way to change things was to see it through to the end.

"Cipher! How could you... Say something like that...?"

Araceli called out again, but her words were meaningless. I was quickly getting sick and tired of these constant, useless interruptions, and so decided to just tell it how it was.

"You don't get it, do you? The world needs an ending, and now is the time. You lot are the only ones who can decide how things turn out, so stop yapping at me and make a move to save this damn world you seem to care for so much."

"Yapping...!? Urgh, why does it have to be this way?! Why can't you just be a normal person and live a normal life?! Whatever the hell that thing up there is, you brought it here, so you can stop it, right?! Just do that and everything will be okay!"

Araceli might've known more about the original story than me, but her knowledge about the real world was severely lacking, almost as much as her ability to convince me.

I could spend hours picking apart everything she said, but the core remains the same.

The reality is, an ending where I send away the Nightmare King and live happily with everyone, just isn't satisfying.

Well, at least not to me.

And since the ending of this story is my job to direct, I have the responsibility of ensuring that whatever it is, is satisfying to Him.

Even if it means sacrificing my own life.

Because, more than anything else in this world.

"I am this world's Villain."

"I was designed to be the character who ends the world; that is my role."

"My existence is something that can only be allowed up until the end―after that, it doesn't make sense for me to be alive."

"This can only end one of two ways."

"Either I win and everyone dies."

"Or you win and only I die."

"In both cases, I meet my end."

"But, an ending where everyone also meets their end wouldn't be nearly as satisfying, would it?"

"It would leave a bitter taste in their mouths."

"I don't want their memory of me to be a bitter one."

"That's why I want you to do your best to make sure that I lose."

"Because that way, we can achieve the best of both worlds."

He will be satisfied.

They will be satisfied.

And everyone else in the story will still be alive.

The only one here who receives the short end of the stick is me, but that was always how it was going to be.

Because that was the purpose of my existence from the very beginning.

The purpose of a Villain.

At the end of the day, it is to be defeated.

So, as it is my job; my responsibility to lose.

I suppose I should at least lose in a way that will be most appreciated.

"...Sana. Sona."

Placing a hand on each of the girls' heads, I looked them in the eyes.

"We've all gone through a lot. You betrayed me, and that's something I could never forget."

Still.

"But... That's fine."

For these final moments, I suppose it's something I can let slide. After all...

"I understand you did what you thought you had to. Although it hurt, I realise you only did it because you wanted things to stay as they were, even if that's not how things work."

""...""

"Don't get me wrong. I don't forgive you."

Every father has a fight with his child every once in a while, right?

"But, I'm glad you cared about me so much to betray me, my daughters."

Crouching down, I pulled the both of them into an embrace.

"Do your best without me when I'm gone. I know you'll be fine."

""!!""

Are you happy, Readers?

Is this what you wanted?

I'm not good with sob stories or heartfelt moments, so that's the best you're going to get.

"Ciphy...?"

"Where are you going...?"

I decided not to answer their final question.

Anyway, now that the sweet was over, the time for the bitter has come.

Turning my head towards the falling heavens, I once again opened my mouth.

"Come. Take me, then disappear forever."

-- Kkrrrrriiiiiieeeeeehhhk-!!

An irredeemable screech like a banshee was the only response before the plummeting tarry sky seemed to concentrate on me alone.

Now that I think about it, could you say that Araceli was successful in convincing me? I don't know, but anyway, she probably did a good enough job to be congratulated.

Well... Regardless, I think we all saw this coming from a certain point, didn't we?

Anyone could have predicted the fall of the Villain.

Perhaps that is exactly why Kiryuuin failed to save me in the original story.

Watching The End's rapid approach, my world began to slow down, and I thought about what might happen after my time is up.

For some reason, I thought back to that scene of a teenage Sana.

Rather than the context of that vision, I somehow found it lamentable that I wouldn't be able to witness the twins growing up.

I was always curious how they would turn out in the future under my guidance, and the same even goes for the others; Emir, Selina, Sophie...

At the thought that I would never be able to see where they end up, I felt bitter.

Alas, such is the way of the loser Villain.

Once they meet their end, there is no chance to continue being part of the story.

Will their story continue without me, I wonder?

...Well.

I suppose none of that matters anymore.

Because now, my end... Is here.

Ah... Actually, now that I think about it, dying is quite frightening?

My heart...

I...

Sana, Sona... No...

I actually...

Don't think I want... To die--

...

...

......

==========

(His End)

Hey everyone. If you've read this far along; first and foremost, thank you.

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed reading and I'm glad you decided to stick through until this point - It's been over a year now since I started the story and some parts were, admittedly, not up to the quality I would now call standard (especially the first half, but I plan to revisit that at a later point for some rewriting).

Anyway, I don't know if I would have kept pushing myself to continue if I didn't know there were those who looked forward to the next chapter, so thank you very much, it always warms my heart to see.

I was getting quite anxious towards the end because I wanted to make sure the conclusion was as good as it could be, especially as this is the first story ending I have ever written. Did I do a good job?

In any case, I have said a lot, and there is a lot more I would like to say, but I also don't want to yap too much, so I'll just say that there will be some additional Epilogue chapters (undetermined amount) about what's going on in the character's lives after Cipher had his little moment. If there is any part of the story until this point that you would like to see from another character's perspective, leave a comment here and I will consider writing it.

On a side note, I am curious what you guys' favourite characters are (I know there isn't a lot of competition since Cipher has hogged the spotlight for the entire story, but anyway).

Finally, thank you so much once again. There are many stories I wish to write in the future, so I hope you will join in for those adventures too and have a good time.

-Ted_