The villain's way to tame the protagonist

After an unknown amount of time, Helen heard a gentle and peaceful voice behind her:

"Now, just act like the emperor."

Her father still seemed to have no intention of telling her the truth.

Helen clearly heard the additional meaning behind this sentence, but she was not unhappy at all. She just nodded seriously and said, "I understand. The emperor is your enemy. Then... I will definitely create a weapon for you that is powerful enough to kill gods. Please believe me."

"Of course I believe you, Helen." Ansel responded with a smile.

"Thank you for staying with me for so long. If you have anything to do, you don't have to stay here any longer."

Helen turned her head, her dull eyes showing her attachment to Anser: "Even if you are not by my side, I will do everything for you, for you who could have changed the world."

Ansher didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded, then stood up and left the alchemy workshop.

When he walked out of the workshop filled with the smell of steel and fire, he did not feel much happiness even though he was sure that everything was moving in the best direction.

Although he already had a chief who was absolutely loyal to him and had talents that even fate favored him, a chief who might even be more loyal than Hitana, Ansir Hydra could no longer catch them after the incomparable sense of accomplishment and pleasure dissipated.

Two faces that were exactly the same but had completely different expressions appeared in his mind at the same time.

One so cold, so distant, with deep disgust and rejection, yet so firm and alive.

One that is so affectionate, so loyal, exuding deep dependence and affinity, and yet so... lonely and empty.

In this bet, no matter who wins or loses, Anser will not lose, and he will get what he wants.

But in the same way, no matter who wins or loses...

He had truly and forever lost his friends.

"I just said that to Helen."

The young Hydra laughed and shook his head: "I am thinking about these meaningless things again."

In just a moment, the loneliness and confusion in his eyes disappeared.

Do the right thing, Anser. Your enemies are watching you, manipulating everything around you, even... yourself.

So, destroy all possibilities of being disturbed by His threads and do the right thing.

Anser raised his head, and his sight seemed to penetrate through layers of ceiling and reach the fortress ten thousand meters in the sky.

The point that changes everything is right here.

"Father."

He murmured softly:

"I will overcome it all, I promise you."

Chapter 8: He is the Abyss (K)

After the successful completion of the plan to tame Ming Furo, the entire imperial capital seemed to have returned to its former tranquility, with no more ups and downs.

But this kind of calmness made the sensitive bigwigs realize something.

In Antiche, Efesand's palace, Ivora narrowed his eyes and stared at the closed door in front of him.

Her dear mother had not held any court meetings or handled any government affairs for half a month.

The princes and nobles of the empire had long been accustomed to this. It would be more accurate to say that they were more pleased to see such chaos at the end of Effisand's reign. The emperor who did nothing was the best emperor.

But as Ivora, who was about to inherit the authority of the gods, she sensed something... extremely abnormal.

In common sense, no matter how close Efesandr was to madness, he still had two to three years to live. Generally speaking, the emperors of this period either tried their best to find a breakthrough from the huge factors that Hydra was carrying, or gave up completely and indulged themselves in the last moments.

But no one is like Effisand, hiding in the source flame, just simply... struggling to survive.

In the past, Ivora thought that she just wanted to delay the approaching end of madness, but now that she was getting closer and closer to that limit, such behavior was obviously meaningless.

Ivola, who was reminiscing about the past, reached out to touch the gate of Antichego, and the blazing blood flames instantly enveloped her entire palm. The woman let out a light sigh and immediately pulled her hand away, but her entire palm had been completely burnt, and in just a moment, one could see the bones that had been burned black.

Ivola frowned, and with his other hand he turned his palm into a knife, cutting off his entire hand at the root. The new hand healed under the burning blood flames.

"You are not lingering..."

The fierce and violent flames reminded Ivora of the mother he knew in his childhood.

That... absolute power that looks down upon the world.

She held the newborn's hand and murmured to herself:

"You are...accumulating strength?"

Ivora, who was cruel and brutal by nature but never stupid, thought of many things in an instant. Her face suddenly became gloomy and she looked hesitant.

After two or three seconds, she made up her mind, her body turned into flames, and disappeared on the spot.

And inside Antichege, in the never-extinguished blazing flames, the aging king who had been silent for a full half month opened her eyes.

"It's really... a stupid thing that doesn't make me feel at ease at all, but it doesn't matter."

Those extremely turbid flame-colored eyes were still filled with horrifying chaos and madness.

"I'll have plenty of time to educate you in the future."

On the other side, Ivora, who arrived at Anser's bedroom in an instant, did not find Anser there, but instead saw a pitifully weak girl.

"Where is Ansher?" she asked impatiently to the slightly dazed girl with long snow-white hair in front of her.

"His Highness Ivora... Hello—"

Marina came to her senses and greeted Ivora first, but was immediately interrupted rudely:

"I ask you, where is he?"

The tyrannical princess, who was in a very bad mood, grabbed Marina's neck and lifted her off the ground expressionlessly: "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

"Mr. Anser...at...the...Imperial...Theatre Royal...cough cough cough!"

After answering Ivora's questions with difficulty and pain, Marina was thrown roughly to the ground. The bright burn marks on her neck silently told of the pain she had just endured.

"Theatre Royal...does he still have the mood and time to go to a place like that?"

Ivora frowned and muttered to himself, then glanced at Marina who was lying on the ground, coughing.

"You are the mortal that Anser deliberately kept by his side... Marina, right?"

Marina struggled to stand up, bowed deeply to Ivora in a very humble manner, and wanted to answer, but her throat was so hoarse from being burned that she couldn't utter a complete word.

"You're so fragile... What's the point of him keeping you around? He won't be able to have fun with you."

The eldest princess waved her hand unhappily, and the blood flame stroked Marina's throat, instantly healing her injuries.

"It's me... Thank you for your grace, thank you for remembering me, Your Highness."

Marina folded her hands over her abdomen and bowed deeply, responding to Ivora in a humble and respectful tone, without even a hint of displeasure.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Help me tell Anser a message - now, immediately."

Although she didn't know what Ivora was going to do, Marina still said respectfully, "Please give your orders, Your Highness."

"Tell him: That old man might take action against you and Mr. Flamel, so be more careful."

Ivora said this casually, but Marina's heartbeat stopped instantly.

She opened her mouth, but was unable to speak for a moment. After overcoming the extreme shock with her strong character that had made great progress, the girl risked being abused by Ivora again and spoke with difficulty:

"Could you please... say it again?"

"What? Do you think I'm talking nonsense?"

Ivora sneered, but did not abuse Marina anymore. He just said indifferently: "I didn't say a single word wrong. You should also bring this sentence to Anser as soon as possible."

Then, she disappeared into Anser's bedroom.

Marina stood there in a daze for four or five seconds, then ran towards the door at a loss as if she had gone crazy. She had studied aristocratic etiquette for so long, but now she was as flustered as a disabled person who could not coordinate her hands and feet. She even almost tripped over the hem of her skirt.

Five minutes later, Ivola, standing on the roof of Hydra Manor with his arms folded across his chest, watched the carriage depart from the manor gate and gallop away. Then he looked at the highest point of the imperial capital with cold eyes.

She originally wanted to tell this to Ansel directly, but after meeting Marina, she had other ideas.

The moment he touched the gate of Antichego, Ivora could be sure that Efesand was alarmed by him.

Although his mother was old and confused, she would be extremely clear-headed when it came to anything involving her life - after all, she probably put all her thoughts on this.

If her guess was true, then Efesand would definitely kill Marina as a warning, and she would not let her plan go wrong. In this way, Efesand, who had a warning target, would not burn her, and she would not have to take risks.

And if Marina was unharmed, that meant... my guess was incorrect, at least not quite correct. That old immortal might be trying to accumulate strength for other things.

Of course, theoretically, there is another possibility, a terrible possibility.

——That is, Effisand is 100% sure of winning.

But this is of course only in theory.

Ivora looked up at the sky. Ten thousand meters above the ground, out of sight, hung a sharp sword placed there by another god.

"Think you can definitely defeat that monster Flamel?"

The eldest princess sneered disdainfully:

"You're not that crazy yet, old man."

*

In a private room at the highest point of the theater, Anser, shaking his wine glass with his face tilted, was looking down at the woman performing solo under the only light.

She has a graceful and slender figure. The black backless dress dotted with crystal diamonds reflects bits of light. The exquisite and alluring lace middle finger cuffs embellish her hands, which are so beautiful that even the top puppet craftsmen may not be able to make. Her ten slender, white, flexible and slender fingers dance lightly on the black and white keys like a fairy dancing.

But none of this was as fascinating as her special pair of completely black eyes. Those pupils seemed to be immersed in pure darkness, with an indescribable magical quality that attracted all light and attention, and were bottomless.

There is no doubt that this is a stunningly beautiful woman who would attract the attention of men, women, young and old when she walks on the street, but... in the theater with only the sound of music, no one seems to be immersed in her outer beauty, but is completely captured by the music that is dozens of times more magical than her appearance.

Yura Nanaga, just a few months ago, when this unknown female violinist came on stage to perform, most people thought that she was another forbidden vase brought up by some big shot.

But now, she is the most sought-after pianist in the entire empire. Even the marquis needs to make an appointment to hear her solo. Every time Miss Nanaga performs, the tickets are sold out in an instant. Her beauty, her music, and her inexplicable magic make her the dream lover of countless young talents in the imperial capital.

But this young lady of the zither, who seemed to have no background at all, was able to maintain her purity, aloofness and self-independence among countless suitors. If one could hold her delicate hand, it would be something to brag about. But to this day no one has been able to do this - anyone who boasted that he had done it would either disappear or become disabled the next day.

As the melodious piano music slowly faded away over the theater, Miss Yula Nanaga stood up gracefully, saluted with a smile amid the thunderous applause, and finally left the stage calmly.

Anser took a sip of wine and asked Helen, who was sitting in his arms, "How do you feel?"

“Even someone like me who knows nothing about music was a little shocked.”

Helen responded softly: "But this should not be as simple as playing skills. She seems to have used some kind of spell... No, to be precise, it should be an... unconscious... instinct?"

The genius warlock lady, who had never seen such a situation, frowned slightly: "As a superhuman, she has no awareness or control over her own abilities. She is as innocent as a newborn baby... She should be one of the extremely rare superhumans who has fallen into the abyss, but there seems to be something wrong with her."

As they were talking, the comment on the music inexplicably turned to Miss Yura herself:

"She is obviously very unstable, but...she maintains a certain stability in a subtle way, and..."

Helen turned her head and looked at Ansel: "If I'm not mistaken, during the curtain call, she seemed to be...looking at you?"

The gaze from those dark, lightless demonic eyes clearly left too deep an impression on people.

"Hehe, because she is indeed——"

"Mr. Anser!"

The tightly closed door was suddenly opened, and Marina, panting and with messy hair, rushed into the private room.

Marina Lancemalos, Xitana Lancemalos, the sister of the monster Qi Shou, but her fame in the powerful circles of the imperial capital has never been based on this identity, but on herself.

Gentle and demure, calm and decent, graceful and generous... She was so perfect that even the most old-fashioned and conservative nobles could find no fault with her. Whether in appearance or etiquette, knowledge or cultivation, she did not behave like a little country girl from a cold border village at all. Even a young lady who had received the most standard aristocratic education since childhood might not be able to reach her level.

Because of her existence, an unspoken rule in the circle of power was broken - that is, temperament is something that cannot be cultivated after birth, and it is even more impossible to cultivate it in a short period of time, but Marina Lancemalos did it.

As Anser's current representative for communication with the nobles, Marina is absolutely perfect.

Of course, the big shots didn't know how much effort and hard work this country girl with no extraordinary qualifications had put in to have her current status and abilities... Studying day and night was just the basics. Since the day she met Ansel, Marina had never given him even a little bit of time that truly belonged to herself, not even a little bit.

But now, this girl who was praised by all the big shots was so panicked, so scared, so anxious... It was as if she had returned to the beginning, back to the days when she was still the little village girl who was afraid of angering Anser and was extremely timid in all her words and actions.

"Mr. Anser...Mr. Anser..."

Marina kept gasping for breath, and her anxious and flustered look surprised Helen a little, because she had never seen the girl in such a miserable state.

"Calm down, Marina." Ansel waved to Marina, and an invisible force gently lifted her to Ansel's side. Helen, who was sitting in Ansel's arms, silently and obediently gave up her position so that Marina, who seemed to be tired and exhausted, could lie on Ansel's legs.

"I'm so sorry... Mr. Anser, I... I'm so rude."