A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me?

"We know that there are several galaxies out there, and the universe is expanding at speeds measured in light-years. Yet, what we often overlook is that this universe is evolving, growing stronger than it ever was before." Avendial decided to start from the basics.

If he launched directly into explaining the arrival of the tower and all its complexities, it would likely come across as mere fantasy, making it difficult for them to grasp the concept.

Hence, he opted for a more scientific explanation, one that would lay a solid foundation before delving into deeper ideas.

He turned to Aria with a thoughtful expression, saying, "Tell me, Aria, what changes does a human body undergo during the growth phase? No, to be precise, what sacrifices does it make in the process of evolution?"

As he posed the question, Aria looked at him, momentarily perplexed.

Even though she understood that as a body matures, it learns and advances through experiences and relationships, her thoughts raced.

There were hormonal changes during puberty and various other transformations, but her mind struggled to connect all the dots and formulate a coherent answer.

"It sacrifices old cells, regenerates skin, sheds nails, replaces bones...

Though some elements remain unchanged, there are many parts that are entirely renewed," Aecilia interjected as she replied, her gaze drifting toward Avendial, captivated by the eloquence of his words.

However, without additional context, she found it difficult to see where he was heading with this line of questioning.

"Indeed. Now, let's consider this: if we were to liken the universe to a human body, given that both remain mysteries to humanity, what do you think it would seek to replace first?"

Avendial asked, his voice calm as he moved closer to the glass wall of the room.

Outside, the city buzzed with the energy of a new morning, sunlight bathing everything in warmth and casting a gentle shadow on his face, his blue eyes reflecting the serenity of the moment as he focused on Aecilia.

"Planets? Stars? Living beings?" Aecilia ventured, reasoning that stars go through cycles of life and death, eventually creating black holes.This notion of the universe replacing such essential elements seemed plausible.

After all, humans also face mortality unless they reproduce.

"Precisely, in one year's time, the universe will grant a final chance to all races it deems stagnant to survive," Avendial stated, allowing the weight of his words to sink in as he fixed his gaze upon Aecilia with his hands resting casually in his pockets. "Now, to choose who will survive among many, how would you decide?"

"Perhaps through a competition of life and death?" Aecilia suggested.

At first, she leaned toward the idea of competition, but given the gravity of the situation, she hesitated, realizing that if survival were at stake, everyone might be pushed to extremes

"Exactly. So now, let's say you are merciful but compelled to evolve, discarding those you hold dear. What advantage would you offer to those races?" Avendial nodded, recognizing that they were starting to grasp his conceptual framework.

He needed to plant the seed of understanding before he could enlighten them about the structure of the tower and the essence of Synergy.

He glanced at Aecilia as he posed the question.

"By—" Aecilia began, but before she could finish, Aria interjected.

"By giving them abilities...." Aria muttered, her hands clenched tightly.

In that moment, clarity washed over her.

She understood that possessing such abilities was indeed a gift from the universe—or whatever entity he had alluded to—that aimed to demonstrate its mercy by providing them with the means to fight for their survival.

"Yes, that's correct. Now, for a competition, what one needs is a battleground, right?" Avendial Narada saw that both of them were understanding his meaning.

He was trying to make them understand it in the simplest terms possible, considering how in most cases, if he skipped something without any reasoning, they would just think of it as a fantasy story.

"Hm..", Aria nodded, now clearly understanding what he meant by this world being destroyed in a year.

When he mentioned it, she was doubtful.

But now, as she was answering his questions, it was making more sense.

"So, on 13th January 2032, the first battleground, to be exact, a gateway that will join other worlds together, would arrive in this world," Avendial mentioned.

The time was vividly stored in his mind, remembering the date when, before 13 days, on 1st January, humanity first met a civilization from outside this world and suffered its first betrayal, which was devastating.

Humanity, even before the 13 days of the arrival of the tower, lost their only proud weapon called nuclear bombs.

Naturally, psi energy was indeed able to dilute bullets, given they were made of certain metals like copper, magnesium, and others.

But it wasn't the case for explosives, which blasted, creating a chain reaction like nuclear bombs.

So most probably, if a nuke had been launched, the energy produced from it would have been transformed into Synergy—given it is the property of this particular energy to transform any other kind of energy into it to provide the most compatible form.

And if that were to happen, given the number of nuclear weapons possessed by the whole world, the earth in those 13 days would have transformed into a heaven filled with a dense amount of psi energy.

This would clearly create awakened individuals with stronger abilities, given the concentration would have been higher.

But that civilization which first arrived manipulated everyone, changing the decisions of higher administrations and stopped them from using nuclear bombs, which could have been a blessing at that time.

Not further thinking about it, Avendial calmed his mind.

Given it was also one of his aims to force governments around the world to use nukes, he needed to focus on collecting awakened individuals first.

'!?'

"Wh-what?"

Aria's eyes visibly widened, revealing that ruby hint which had become evident in her eyes, clearly shocked after hearing the revelation about him mentioning that exact date.

He also previously mentioned how she was betrayed by Lin around that date too, according to the information she told him when they were in attack mode.

'....'

Aecilia, on the other hand, was also second-guessing from the inside, given she was trusting all his words.

Though it appeared illogical at first, given the existence of Empyreals, he was making more sense now.

"The ability you possess and others do are due to Synergy, which in fact is like electricity—easily convertible..."

Avendial started to explain to Aria about the abilities he possesses being due to the presence of psi energy while mentioning evolvers and other things which were already known to Aecilia and the royal family.

"Th-this..."

Aria, hearing all this information about how evolvers existed, unlike how she had awakened abilities, felt overwhelmed by several pieces of information.

But due to him explaining in a simple way, she was able to understand it all.

"Now, Synergy is like remnants of leaking energy from wormholes around earth, shrouding it, and that small crack would enlarge. The amount of Synergy filling the whole space would also increase," Avendial further explained, adding how right now, the energy which was present on earth was just the shadow of the tower leaking from the crack.