The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings

Chapter 286: Day One, Again

Chirp. Chirp.Shwaaaaaaaaaaaa.....

"Ooowwww~"

Cyan pushed Leon’s body away from his face and lifted himself up from the dry ground.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked around.

The first thing he saw was a clear sky where eagle shaped birds soared through the clouds.

He tilted his head forward toward where Leon and Ethan were already standing and staring. Just in front of them was a sky touching waterfall, foggy at the top, crashing down with an ear piercing sound into a massive pit below.

"....huh? What the hell? It was night seconds ago..." Cyan blinked at the sight, "I swear I was inside the Akashic Record’s ground floor— Wait. Vivy!! She is in danger!"

He looked at Leon who had already stood up and walked up to Ethan.

Cyan, confused, walked towards them as well.

"Hey guys? Leon? Ethan?"

Cyan saw Ethan holding the prism in his hands, and strangely looking at the holographic texts it prints.

[Current Iteration Count: 81,449]

[Wielder Loop Experience: 01]

"The number increased..." Ethan whispered and looked back at them.

The number on the small device had increased by one digit.

Cyan carefully glanced at it too.

"What does that mean?"

He was as confused as Ethan.

The numbers increased right after they got here...? Or does it indicate something else?

They both thought the same.

Leon patted Ethan’s shoulders.

"What do you think?" Ethan asked.

"Let me see," Leon calmly explained.

He needs to make things work in this loop, before Dreamweaver gets suspicious of their motives.

Leon knew Dreamweaver had already taken note of the visitors from outside, just like he did earlier.

Doctor Anise might be the main reason behind it all.

It was a good thing that Leon didn’t let her have all the memories.

If Leon had gone by the plan his future version had laid out for him, then he had already won.

A grin appeared on Leon’s face.

And there was just no way those Calamity Heads would leave this once in a life opportunity.

The treaty had already been stabilized by Veronica. She had herself confirmed it by not stopping Leon from visiting Evana.

So, now all of it was done, he just needs to meet with Irene and proceed with the rest.

But before that....

"It’s telling something about the loop..." Leon pretended to deduce it bit by bit, "if by they meant..."

He took the prism from Ethan’s hand and tilted it slightly.

"Iteration count.... Wielder would be you... so then its saying you are experienced loop one time."

Cyan blinked.

"Wait, are you saying..."

Leon turned the prism back in Ethan’s hand.

"This is a time loop."

Ethan had no words.

Cyan rubbed the back of his head with a confused expression.

"Hold up. A time loop? Huh, so it was not a teleportation?"

Now that Cyan thinks, they were standing in the exact position as they did when they first arrived here.

"The same scene we walked through on day one."

Ethan was now staring at the prism with intense focus.

"And the number increased, so the prism is a counter."

Cyan gulped, because if that is true then—

81,449 loops.

That’s the currency iteration count in total, earlier it was 81,448, which means it reflects on a large scale.

"The whole damn city is in Time Loop." Ethan muttered.

"Th-this is insane." Cyan panicked. "How did we end up in this mess! Wait, Ethan!"

Suddenly Cyan noticed.

"How did we still have our memory? Does that mean others also had?"

"I don’t think so." Leon interrupted, "if they did, one of them might have warned us in our first loop."

"Hmm." Ethan nodded, "But, let’s not get too worked up, if we really returned to the past, then that means Irene would still be in her home."

He pointed towards the forest behind.

"Let’s meet her and discuss it with her."

Both of them nodded.

The three walked carefully, avoiding all the obstacles to where Irene’s small home was.

They soon smell the coffee.

"We are on the right path..." Cyan muttered, sniffing the air.

’Haru? You know how you... uh, I mean that you from the future had taught her the technique to store memories in arrays using astral matter?’

’Yeah, what about it?’

’I want to learn how she is doing it, can you ask her for me?’

Leon almost laughed.

’Hey, what’s there to laugh about?’

’Heh, nothing really. But sure, I will ask her.’

Truth be told, even Leon didn’t know how he taught the technique to Irene, but he had a guess that it must be Rumi who had helped him in perfecting it.

’A real Bootstrap Paradox huh...’

The future created the past.

It was funny how strange everything was, but they still make sense.

"Found it."

Ethan pointed behind the trees.

They could see the house’s roof from here.

Just like before, the three hid behind the tree and observed.

Through the gap in the leaves, the small wooden table outside the house came into view.

Sitting on a chair beside the table, a cup of coffee in her hand was Irene.

Her platinum hair caught the morning light, falling loose around her shoulders like silver silk. Her dress was simple, a soft cream color, with the top button undone in a way that looked careless. Her golden eyes were half closed as she sipped her coffee.

A small breeze moved past her, lifting strands of her hair just enough to make the morning sun catch them like glass.

Cyan, peeking through the leaves, almost choked on his own breath.

"How is one woman allowed to look like that this early in the morning?"

Cyan ducked back behind the tree.

"Alright. What is the plan? Should we walk up and pretend we just got lost?"

Ethan glanced at him.

"Should we just go greet her?"

Cyan’s mouth fell open.

"Are you serious right now?"

"What."

"Ethan. We do not even know if she has her memories or not. What are you going to say to her? ’Hey Irene, nice to meet you again, but may I know do you remember any of us?’"

"Well, that is one option."

"No! That is not an option!"

"Then suggest a better one."

Cyan opened his mouth.

"...I am thinking. Give me a minute."

"You have had a minute."

Beside them, Leon let out a long sigh.

"Haaah..."

He stepped out from behind the tree.

"O-Oi!" Cyan whisper. "Leon, what are you doing?!"

Leon did not respond.

He simply walked across the small clearing toward the house.

Behind him, Cyan was waving his arms frantically, trying to call him back without being heard.

Ethan placed a hand on Cyan’s shoulder.

"Let him do it."

Cyan stared at him.

Then he looked back at Leon.

He was already at the small table.

He stopped just a few steps away.

Irene slowly raised her eyes to his level. For a moment, she just looked at him.

Then a small smile touched the corner of her mouth.

"Yo." Leon said.

She placed her coffee cup down on the table with a soft clink.

"Yo."

"...."

"...."

Silence.

Behind the tree, Cyan was staring with his mouth open.

"Hey, Ethan...That is it? That is his plan? He said ’yo’ and she said ’yo’ back?"

Ethan shrugged.

"Apparently. But well it confirms one thing."

Ethan stepped out as well. "She had remembered us."