Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

Chloe couldn't help but shiver, then stiffened her neck, gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and shouted a high-pitched declaration, revealing her indomitable nature.

"Tch, whatever methods you want to torture me with, go ahead, I will never betray my mother!"

"Don't be so absolute. Soon, some things will be out of your control."

The deep voice echoed in her ears, while a hand gently lifted her chin, and soft murmurs flowed into Chloe's mind, bringing an irresistible magic.

"Now, look into my eyes..."

Suddenly, the girl on the cross looked up in a daze, opened her eyes, and focused her golden-red pupils forward. Her once lively eyes gradually became empty.

Beneath their vision, a pair of vertical pupils, opening and closing, silently cracked open with cross-shaped petal-like patterns of light. Their pitch-black interiors resembled an endless abyss, luring the soul to fall, fall...

"Ding-dong...ding-dong...ding-dong..."

After an unknown amount of time, the sudden chime of the clock on the hour startled Chloe awake. Before her eyes, the hands of the clock on the wall had moved from 6 to 8, and the night sky outside the skylight was filled with stars, with a crescent moon rising in the east.

Two hours have already passed?!

The girl was startled and hurriedly searched her memory, trying to find out the reason, but no matter how hard she thought, her mind remained blank.

Immediately, Chloe felt a surge of anger and glared at a certain man in front of her through gritted teeth.

"what did you do to me?!"

"I'm just trying to extract some things I need from your memory. It's better for you to remain unconscious during this time. After all, resistance will cause unnecessary trouble and may even damage your brain."

Samael, sitting at the table, looked up, put down the quill pen in the workshop, and explained calmly before his gaze fell on the engraving on Chloe's lower abdomen.

Dominating the senses, accessing thoughts, and prying into memories—this is a new technique derived from "pain sharing."

It worked well on my first use.

However, in terms of the outcome...

After processing the jumbled memories, Samael picked up the paper on the table filled with densely written information, flipped through it for a moment, and his brow gradually furrowed.

"What, is there a problem?"

Seeing that Samael's expression was not good, Ereshkigal and Rin Tohsaka couldn't help but step forward to ask him what was wrong.

"It seems she doesn't have the information I need..."

Samael rubbed his throbbing temples, frowned and pondered, then casually tossed the record aside.

In fact, Chloe had already been blasted off the battlefield after she had summoned the [Sevenfold Ring of Blazing Sky] with all her might to block his shot. Protected by the last half of the petal shield, she fell into a complete coma and only woke up when the fierce battle ended and she was picked up by Ereshkigal and Rin who were cleaning up the battlefield.

In other words, Chloe did not have any memories of the later stages of the Battle of Ainsworth.

In addition, the girl's past memories only contained everyday scenes of "motherly love and filial piety," and there was no content related to secret plans involving Pandora.

"So, that woman..."

Ellie glanced at Chloe on the cross, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it."

Samael shook his head slightly, temporarily suppressing the slight doubt in his heart.

Of course, only temporarily.

This battle seems to have gone too smoothly.

Is it really that simple?

"Bastard! Scum! Spy! Put me down if you dare!"

Just as Samael was pondering to himself, he realized that Chloe, who was secretly smiling, had been seen through, and he gritted his teeth and began to rebuke the despicable adult.

"laugh!"

In an instant, a blinding white light flashed, and Chloe, who was chattering incessantly, suddenly felt the leather straps and ropes binding her limbs snap. Her body, now freed from restraint, nearly fell face-first to the ground in a pathetic, flat-top fall.

"you……"

After a moment, Chloe loosened her stiff joints and got up from the ground. She looked at the man twirling the paper cutter between his fingers with a look of astonishment.

Just as the girl was about to speak, a pair of golden-red eyes glanced through the skylight, suddenly narrowed, and a startled cry of alarm rang out.

"who!"

someone!

Immediately, Ereshkigal and Rin Tohsaka subconsciously looked up, following Chloe's gaze to the area around the skylight.

However, what meets the eye is still the deep night sky and twinkling stars.

No, I've been fooled!

In an instant, the two sisters, who had been slightly stunned, came to their senses and were suddenly startled. They immediately looked down and around.

"A bunch of idiots, they fell for it so easily, bye-bye!"

At that moment, a little devil who had taken the opportunity to sneak to the door turned around and looked at the three people in the basement. A smug smile immediately appeared on her pretty face as she waved her hand playfully.

"stop……"

However, just as the girl was about to step onto the stairs, a low murmur reached her ears.

Suddenly, Chloe, standing in front of the door, froze. One foot was suspended in mid-air, while the other remained rooted to the spot. She stood motionless, like a frozen sculpture, with only her eyes moving.

I can't move! How could this happen?!

The sudden turn of events filled the brown-skinned girl with horror.

Immediately afterward, Chloe's mind raced, and her darting eyes fell to her lower abdomen, where she caught sight of a blood-red mark that pulsed with light and shadow.

"return……"

At this moment, a faint murmur came from behind her again, and a burning sensation surged from the bloodstain on Chloe's lower abdomen throughout her body.

Immediately, the brown-skinned girl, having regained her mobility, lowered her half-raised right leg and, like a wound-up mechanical puppet, stiffly turned around and walked step by step to Samael, standing tall and proud in a standard military posture.

"Give up, Chloe von Einzbern. As long as this human blood seal exists, you cannot disobey my orders."

Samael, who had been leaning against the bookshelf and quietly observing, slightly rose, looked down at the little devil who had walked back on his own, gave him a cold reminder, and then casually snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the little devil, who had been stiff and rigid like a puppet, relaxed abruptly, gasping for breath, and groping wildly with his hands on his limbs and face, looking terrified.

The feeling of her consciousness being trapped in a box, in complete darkness, and being forced to perform various actions uncontrollably, was awful. She never wanted to experience it again in her life.

After a brief moment of lingering fear, Chloe looked up at the culprit in front of her, her clenched teeth grinding together in protest.

"Damn it! What kind of skill is it to bully a little kid like me? If you're so capable, then break this damn curse for me!"

Samael ignored this and turned to look at Ereshkigal and Rin Tohsaka behind him.

"Oh, by the way, did someone just call you idiots?"

It seems there is such a thing.

Upon hearing this, Ereshkigal and Rin Tohsaka, who understood the implication, arm wrestled with each other, revealing sinister smirks, and flanked the little guy who had just been mocking them at the door.

Upon seeing this, Chloe's expression changed drastically. She immediately turned around and tried to escape from this den of demons and the two demon sisters in front of her.

"Snapped!"

However, as soon as the brown-skinned girl lifted her leg, the familiar snap of fingers, accompanied by the familiar feeling of heaviness, struck again.

"five minutes……"

Samael held up five fingers, generously giving the three of them some space, then got up and walked out of the basement, closing the door behind him, seemingly unable to bear witnessing the horrific scene to come.

After all, he is the "kind and benevolent" Messiah.

Get it!

Ah, that feels much better...

Five minutes later, the agonizing wailing from the basement finally stopped. The door creaked open, and two radiant goddesses, one on each side of Chloe, dragged the little girl to Samael, returning her to her rightful owner.

At this moment, the brown-skinned girl lying on the floor, although the immobilization restriction had been lifted, was trembling almost completely, unable to get up, her pretty face was swollen and red, and her golden-red eyes were brimming with tears.

"I won't punish you for running away this time, but next time, it won't be so easy for you to get away with it."

Samael shook his head, picked up Chloe, who was clearly dazed from the ground, and gently reminded her as he reached out to brush the dust off her.

You're not punishing me, so you're letting them beat me up?

Chloe stared at the instigator in front of her, who looked completely nonchalant, and felt a surge of anger that made her teeth itch.

"you!"

"Think it through before you speak..."

"No, it's okay..."

However, as soon as Samael glanced at her, the unruly little girl instinctively shuddered, immediately forcing a stiff smile onto her face, shaking her head repeatedly, transforming from a shrewish wildcat into a docile rabbit, inwardly lamenting.

So, who is the villain after all?

It seems that tonight's "education" has yielded good results.

Seeing Chloe's reaction, Samael nodded slightly in satisfaction, and the gloom in his heart lessened considerably.

However, Chloe, who appeared to be compliant, had a different plan in mind.

Tch, a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. Even tigers have their moments of weakness. I don't believe you won't let your guard down!

The brown-skinned girl's lowered eyes were filled with intense malice as she secretly plotted.

However, what she didn't know was that these subtle intentions had already been transmitted to Samael, the caster, through the resonance of the human blood imprint.

Too lazy to play mind games with this little girl, Samael looked up at the crescent moon in the night sky, estimated the time, and casually grabbed Chloe beside him, heading towards the Tohsaka family's gate.

"Come on, come with me."

"Where?"

Chloe, who was suddenly conscripted, was taken aback and subconsciously asked a question.

Samael stopped, glancing into Chloe's eyes, a cold glint in them and a hint of hidden complexity. He then turned to look at Fuyuki City under the night sky and spoke softly.

“Go save your…other 'mother'…”

Chapter 222 A Deal? A Loli? (5.2k views)

Fuyuki City, nightfall.

After the daytime turmoil and unrest subsided, citizens returned home, some reuniting with relatives and friends, others enjoying a drink in a tavern, and still others strolling along the streets, celebrating their survival. A strong sense of everyday life permeated the city.

Samael, driving Tokiomi Tohsaka's car, left the Tohsaka residence with Chloe. They navigated through the bustling crowds and arrived at the shopping street with practiced ease. Gazing at the night scene, which seemed even more lively and prosperous than usual, his deep eyes were lost in thought.

Japan has been a disaster-prone island nation since ancient times, frequently plagued by wars, earthquakes, volcanoes, and famines. The lives of most people seem fragile and short, which has fostered a unique Japanese view of life and death and a strong culture of "mono no aware" (the pathos of things).

Of course, the Japanese cultural concept of "mono no aware" refers to a tragic beauty, a melancholic beauty, and also a pessimistic feeling about the fleeting nature of life and the impermanence of time. It roughly means that when a person reaches a certain level of understanding, they pursue "the eternal beauty of the moment"—that only "nothingness" is truly perfect, because existence inevitably leads to imperfection and eventual demise.

Therefore, in their subconscious, life is impermanent, and the beautiful moment will be the next moment of destruction; even if there are turbulent waves in their hearts, only a slight frown appears on their brows, which is not easy to detect and seems to be there but not there.

Over time, the concept of "the impermanence of life" has taken deep root in the Japanese mindset, indirectly fostering a hedonistic mentality that allows them to face life, death, and disasters with greater equanimity.

"Not here yet?"

Just as Samael was slightly lost in thought, Chloe asked him a frustrated question from the side.

"Almost there, just ahead."

Samael gathered his thoughts, gave a brief answer, then opened the car door, pulled the reluctant Chloe along, and headed towards several bustling shops along the shopping street.

"However, before that, we need to buy something."

After walking around for a full half hour, stopping and starting, Chloe looked at the various packages and paper bags stuffed into her arms, her face darkening.

"Pineapple buns, potato chips, salad, rice crackers, wagashi (Japanese sweets), and dozens of hamburgers? Are you kidding me? Are you sure you're going to rescue people and not to supply a restaurant?"

"When visiting someone late at night, it's always necessary to prepare some necessities."

Samael answered without changing his expression, and then stuffed the two new items he had selected into the arms of a human transport plane.

The weight suddenly increased, and Chloe couldn't help but look down, her face darkening even more.

It's cigarettes and spirits...

Clutching a pile of items that nearly buried her, Chloe swayed around a few times before finally losing her temper.

"Are you done yet?! It's been half an hour, when are you going to stop?!"