After I walked out of the room.

Egostic, are you okay?

Yeah, yeah. Dont worry.

I joined Katana and Li Xiaofeng, our East Asian Villains League colleagues, who had arranged to meet separately after the meeting.

The conference room here is smaller than the round table weve been accustomed to, but still quite cozy.

Technically, its a bunker for the Japanese governments emergency response. For some reason, its currently occupied by villains Well. Could be, I suppose.

Please have a cup of tea.

She, the shadowy, S-class villain Katana, who controls the Japanese government, hands me tea.

With her black hair tied back and dressed in a white robe, her demure demeanor as she handed me the tea was not at all indicative of the actual ruler of this Japanese archipelago.

Well, of course, despite her appearance, she had overthrown the rotten Japanese government by force and sat on the throne.

History is the record of the victors, after all. Even though her villainous group, SamHyupPa, were the villains in the first place, they, like me, had the support of the people, and (seemingly) succeeded in getting the international community and the Associations to turn a blind eye to them because they had set up politicians who were not puppets in the background.

In fact, they were no different from the rebels in that they were the villains, not the good guys.

Of course, I provided the traitor and key information along the way, so it could have been different from the original.

In fact, in the original, Japan was destroyed by the Moonlight Gate incident, and the archipelago became a monster land, and I was always worried that monsters from over there would cross the water in Korea Im glad were a safe country now. Of course, Katana knew that, so she was always in my favor.

Of course, when the villainous group was taking over the country and I didnt know how to control it, I introduced her to Lee Seola, who had a lot of experience in this dark field.

Thanks to that, she and Katana became close, and the relationship between the two of them grew closer. Now that theyve gotten to know each other

Oh, yeah. Thank you.

Anyway, I was offered a cup of tea by Katana, and I gulped it down. My throat was already burning. It was a little hot, but it was fine.

And across from me.

Hahaha! Comrade Egostic, now youre even betting against Celeste.

There was Li Xiaofeng, who said that with a chuckle.

Li Xiaofeng with his hair pulled back, smiling broadly as he spoke.

He looked like hed recently reunified the Chinese mainland and was in a very good mood. Its a lifelong ambition, so its no wonder.

His group of villains, the Fire Dragons, have finally taken over China, but unlike Katana, they have yet to be recognized by the international community. He doesnt seem to mind, though, as he knows theyll eventually have to admit it.

In particular, hes quite grateful to me for his conquest of China, claiming that Im the one who gave him the Chinese governments information.

Actually, to be honest, in the original work, he took advantage of Chinas turmoil during the Moonlight Gate incident and easily conquered China

In this world, I closed the gate early, so the country was relatively intact, so his conquest plan was further delayed. However, it is fortunate that this is a story from a parallel world that Li Xiaofeng will never know

Anyway, thats how the three of us got together.

Katana from Japan, Li Xiaofeng from China, and me from Korea.

We have formed the East Asian Villains League.

Today was the day that we all decided to meet together for a meeting while Katana was on her way to the capital.

Haha, thats too flattering. Anyway, its great to see you all after such a long time, and now that Li Xiaofeng is the head of China In fact, youve got the heads of two countries here, except for me, this is very embarrassing.

What are you talking about, Egostic?

At my words, Katana smirked and waved her hand.

Like her, Li Xiaofeng also laughed in disbelief and said,

Haha, Egostic. What a funny joke. Youre the one who helped us get this far, and arent you practically soul mates with Lee Seola, the head of Korea? I still dont know how far youre looking down on yourself.

At his words, I only laughed as if he was joking. Since I had informed only these two that the Moonlight Church was going to happen last time, I felt that their trust in me was strengthened by the fact that they both survived the crisis and even benefited from it.

Anyway, in such a friendly atmosphere, the meeting proceeded.

Despite the name, the East Asian Villains League

Then well give you our support.

Thank you. Considering the interest rateswell take care of that. Ah, diplomatic relations

In effect, it felt like a meeting of the three East Asian leaders. We are villains, but we are also the leaders of a country, so theres a lot of backroom deals going on here.

I also received some documents from Lee Seola and was acting on her behalf.

Anyway, thats all the important stuff out of the way.

Its time for something a little lighter.

Well, it was just a quick catch-up. What Im eating these days, if any of the powers that be have taken notice. How the situation in Europe might affect us here in East Asia, all the kind of small talk that friends talk about in a cafe.

Of course, they also asked me what the hell Celeste and I were doing together. I vaguely explained that we were just getting to know each other, and everyone seemed to be convinced.I dont know why they were convinced.

We kept talking like this and the two of them seemed to value this time very much.

Time flies by just chatting with you and Mr. Li Xiaofeng like this. Haha, theres a lot to keep an eye on.

Taking another sip of tea, Katana says that with a smile on her face.

Well. Both of them are the final decision makers of a country, so there arent many people of the same status that they can talk to so casually. They have few friends with whom they can talk openly. Thats why she likes me so much, because theyre all beneath her

Anyway, in such a relaxed atmosphere I remembered.

Oh, by the way, Im thinking of stopping being a villain. Im going to retire and do something else.

Without thinking, I said it and the two people who heard that were like.

What?

What did you say?!

Suddenly there was a frenzy.

Now that I think about it, maybe it wasnt something to say at a nominal villain meeting.

***

Just like that, the meeting of the East Asian Villain Federation that followed Cathedral was over.

God, that was hard

I returned home and flopped down on the couch to rest.

They were surprised that I was retiring, and it wasnt easy to answer their constant questions. They were relieved when I told them that I was only stopping the terrorism, but still working underground.

Still, it was a big change just to stop terrorizing, because I was giving up one of my identities.

Of course, the Egostream is alive and well, and Ill continue to do things behind the scenes, but Ill eventually fade from the limelight. Maybe after some time, the name Egostream will be forgotten.

My biggest regret is that I wont be seeing Stardus anymore.

.

Im definitely sad to see her go, as weve been together for quite some time, and shes been a big part of my life.

But it was time to move on. Maybe thats the true role of a fan, to stay behind the scenes and quietly support her.

When I think about it, its been a long time.

Ive been a Villain for almost five years now, and a lot has happened in that time.

Still, it was time to leave. The all-important Moonlight Bridge is closed, and its up to Stardus to finish the job.

Ill keep attending Cathedral in the meantime, preparing for the end.

And then Ill get some rest, and then

..

Maybe it was time to start thinking about life after the Ending.

Ive been so focused on seeing this world to the end that Ive never really thought about it, not sure Id make it this far Now I feel I might have to start thinking about it. I dont know if Ill survive the final battle, but if I do, I think Ill open a small cafe.

As for the Egostream membersI dont know. For a moment, I wondered if we should remain good friends and go our separate ways but then I realized that I could predict the reaction of the members of Egostream when they heard this, so I stopped myself.

I dont know. Maybe once I retire, Ill go on a trip with the members.

I closed my eyes as I thought about it.

For now, I had to take care of my bet with Celeste.

Itll be my last show before I retire, a big, non-terrorist show.

Angels

The cookie-cutter concept of phase three and the trailer for phase four, the Angelic Descent event was about to unfold.