Villains Are Destined to Die Ending Explained

Villains Are Destined to Die ends with Penelope Eckhart defeating Laila (the ancient entity that had been wearing Ivonne Eckhart’s body since before the story began), then spending the Golden Dragon’s Fang to save Callisto Regulus instead of curing her own body, before she takes the throne as Eorka’s empress. Kakao Page dropped that finale in Chapter 214 on July 10, 2026, answering five years of “will Penelope survive her own death flag” that had been open since writer Gwon Gyeoeul and artist SUOL launched the webtoon on May 1, 2020. The English edition on Tapas has since closed out the main story as well, so the finale below is no longer ahead of where English readers can get.

Quick answers

• The main story ends with Penelope defeating Laila, the ancient entity that had been wearing Ivonne Eckhart’s body since before the story began, in a final battle that leaves the imperial palace in ruins but the world at peace.
• Penelope chooses to use the Golden Dragon’s Fang to save Callisto Regulus rather than cure her original body’s stomach cancer, and the two end up together.
• Chapter 214 closes the main story, not the series. The staff confirmed a break followed by a spin-off, and on August 9, 2026 Kakao’s Piccoma announced a TV anime adaptation with no studio, cast or air window attached yet.

Villains Are Destined to Die Ending Explained: How Does the Story Really End?

The finale resolves around a single battle: Penelope confronts Laila inside the imperial palace, and after a brutal fight, she’s the one who lands the final blow. Ivonne’s body is finally laid to rest, the mirror tied to Laila’s power is destroyed along with her, and the empire is left standing, battered but no longer under threat. By the closing pages, Penelope has stepped into the role of Eorka’s reigning empress, and the last beat leaves her at Callisto’s bedside, waiting for him to wake from the sleep the Golden Dragon’s poison put him in.

Who Is Penelope Eckhart and Why Was She Destined to Die?

Penelope Eckhart is what happens when a Korean university student named Siyeon Cha falls asleep mid-playthrough of a reverse-harem mobile game called Daughter of the Duke, Love Project, on hard mode, as the villainess. Regulars who’ve followed the series since 2020 will tell you the “hard mode” premise is the whole hook: playing as the heroine is easy, but Penelope’s route is scripted to end in death unless she wins over one of five capture targets before the game’s actual heroine even shows up.

What Is the Twist With Ivonne and Laila?

The story’s biggest reveal is that Ivonne, the duke’s actual daughter and the game’s supposed heroine, was dead long before Penelope ever arrived. Her body had been taken over by Laila, a member of an ancient, hostile species hunting the Golden Dragon’s Fang to free her kind and unmake the world. Penelope, as the last known descendant of the setting’s Ancient Sorcerers, is the only character who senses early on that something about “Ivonne” doesn’t add up.

Does Penelope End Up With Callisto?

Yes. Penelope’s arc with Callisto Regulus builds on the two of them recognizing pieces of themselves in each other — both lost their mothers young and grew up around families that didn’t function the way families are supposed to. The finale’s sharpest gut-punch is the choice it hands Penelope: use the Golden Dragon’s Fang to cure the stomach cancer sitting in her original, real-world body, or spend it saving Callisto from the Golden Dragon’s poison instead. She picks Callisto. It’s not staged as a checklist “which guy wins” ending: the story spends its last stretch on Penelope taking control of the destiny that was rigged against her from page one, and the romance is what she gets to keep after doing it, not the point of the fight itself.

What Happens Next After Chapter 214: Spin-Off and Anime

Chapter 214 wraps the main story, not the franchise. The staff have said they’re taking a break before returning with a spin-off, which regular readers will recognize as the house rhythm: the English release sat out a two-month pause before Season 5 Part 2 resumed on Tapas on March 6, 2026, and the Korean run reached its own ending four months later.

Then the franchise got bigger. On August 9, 2026, Kakao’s Piccoma announced a television anime adaptation alongside the Japanese conclusion, with no studio, staff, cast or air window attached yet. Treat it as a greenlight rather than a production reveal, the same stage Korean source material usually passes through on its way to screen, like the folktale behind Netflix’s Mousetrap.

Can English Readers Finish the Story Yet?

Yes, and that changed after the Korean finale. Tapas was still posting Chapter 210 when Chapter 214 landed in Korea, which is why most spoiler-free guides written in July 2026 told English readers to wait. The official Tapas series page now carries an August 15, 2026 notice that the main story has come to a close and that a hiatus will run until special episodes arrive. Staying on the licensed platform is worth the small friction here for the same reason it is with Korean TV, where the legal place to watch is rarely the obvious one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who created Villains Are Destined to Die?

Writer Gwon Gyeoeul and artist SUOL made the webtoon, adapting Gwon’s web novel of the same name for Kakao Page.

Q: Is a Villains Are Destined to Die anime confirmed?

Yes. Kakao’s Piccoma announced a television adaptation on August 9, 2026, though no studio, staff, cast or release window has been revealed.

Q: How many chapters does Villains Are Destined to Die have?

214 chapters make up the main story, spanning just under five years of serialization since its May 1, 2020 debut.

Q: Where can I read the Villains Are Destined to Die ending in English?

Tapas hosts the official English translation. It trailed at Chapter 210 when the Korean version finished, but its series page posted an August 15, 2026 notice that the main story is complete and special episodes will follow.

Q: What happens to Callisto at the end?

Callisto is poisoned by the Golden Dragon in the final arc, and Penelope chooses to use the Golden Dragon’s Fang to save him rather than cure her own original body. The story ends with her waiting for him to wake up.

Five years of death flags later, Penelope gets to write her own ending, and that’s the twist worth reading for.