The villain's way to tame the protagonist

He stroked the gray-black bracelet on his wrist, which looked like an ordinary decoration. After a long silence, he whispered:

"Give me the power to defeat the Emperor... Is this the confidence of a hero?"

"Even Xitana is not as confident as you, Ming Fuluo."

"I talked so much to myself."

The boy raised his hand and pointed the bracelet towards the sun. The dim red sunlight shone on the bracelet but could not refract any light.

He murmured softly: "You are really arrogant--"

"…Arrogant?"

Anser stared at the bracelet and curled his lips: "It's not arrogance, but stupidity."

"Just like me."

From the words in the diary and the video that was left behind, how could Ansher not see that Ming Furo had no confidence at all that she could succeed.

Ming Fuluo was just doing what she thought she had to do. As for whether it was right or not... she had never considered it from the beginning.

Even if she wanted to make Anser give up, she would have to possess the power to be hostile to the emperor, or even equal to the sixth level. Even if she wanted to achieve such a fantasy, she did not hesitate at all and acted without fear of the consequences.

——It was as if I, a tiny chess piece in the eyes of fate, wanted to destroy it at all costs.

The same stubbornness, the same...stupidity.

But the difference is that Anser has no choice. The inevitable doom and the eternal blood feud leave him with no choice but to be the enemy of fate.

But Ming Furo was different. No one forced Ming Furo to stop Ansher, and she actually didn't owe Ansher anything. When the truth was reversed, it was Ansher who owed someone something.

Even... with her wisdom, she might have guessed her original destiny - she was chosen by Ansel, who knew the future, and she would definitely have unlimited achievements in the future.

If Mingfuluo Zeger had chosen to stand aside and watch, perhaps she would have had a brighter future than she has now.

She clearly had more choices, but she still chose the most meaningless path.

Ansel closed his eyes. The afterglow of sunset cast a deep look of fatigue on his face, and the dim light depicted silence and loneliness.

Now, there is no one around him.

He found an excuse to send Xitana back to the Red Frost Territory because he didn't want the girl to see him committing such a cruel and morbid act, he didn't want her to waver in his determination, and he didn't want her to become a hindrance to him.

Because Ansor knew very well that if it was Sitana, if she knew what he wanted to do, she would definitely do everything to stop him, even if it meant threatening his life again.

But after sending away the person who could most shake him, there was still a lunatic who had been preparing for this moment for three years... no, four years.

But he couldn't hysterically yell at Ming Fuluo who was no longer there, yelling at her for being so high up that she never felt his pain, yelling at her for thinking she couldn't understand his despair. Because she clearly... knew everything.

It was because she knew everything, because she could feel and understand her own pain and despair, that she did such a stupid thing without hesitation.

So after a brief moment of shock and loss of control, Ansher never showed any inappropriate behavior again. All he had was... numbness.

When the pain that seems to pierce the heart and gnaw at the soul becomes the norm, all that is left is numbness.

The beauty of his childhood, the beliefs he once held, his beloved parents, and... his friends who had never truly betrayed him.

How much more sacrifices must he make before he can face fate and fight it to the death?

How much...does he have left that can be sacrificed?

Time passed by little by little, and there was not much time left before that node arrived. Anser just sat in the garden carefully taken care of by his mother. The woman named Anelsa always wanted to show the best things to her children and husband.

Anser watched the sun gradually set, and even the dusk seemed cold.

At this moment, when Anser did not want anyone to disturb him, a maid approached him cautiously and whispered:

"Master, we have a visitor."

"...Guest?" Anser's voice was a little hoarse, "Who?"

"He...he claims to be Miss Zeger's father."

"..."

Anser curled the corner of his mouth.

Fate... Fate, you really never miss any opportunity.

You don't even want to let go of a chess piece like Leiden. Do you want to make the best use of it?

What do you want him to do? Want to use his concern for Ming Fuluo to further break my will? Want to use the existence of my father to make me more hesitant?

Ansel raised his hand while thinking this, but he just shook it slightly and paused before he could move it.

"…Let him in."

The malice and calculations of fate... everything is fine.

He always wants to do something for his friends.

Not long after, Leiden Zeg, the incompetent son of Erion Zeg and the father that Mingfulo Zeg once hated, came behind Ansher and stood uncomfortably.

"Anser...Sir, I'm sorry to bother you."

"Ah."

Ansher didn't look at him, but just pointed the wine glass in his hand at the remaining sunset, as if he wanted to pour the dusk into the wine.

Leiden lowered his head for several seconds, then raised it nervously and fearfully, as if he had mustered up all his courage and asked:

"Could you please tell me about Ming Fuluo's...recent situation?"

Anser turned his head and looked at him. The humble man immediately wanted to lower his head, but after lowering it halfway, he forced himself to look up and look at Anser, his eyes full of pleading.

"Please... forgive my presumption, but I want to know... I want to know what happened to her."

"Why do you suddenly ask this?" Anser swirled his wine nonchalantly. "Your worry is not without reason. In your eyes, is her condition very bad?"

"Because someone told me that Ming Fuluo seemed... seemed to be rebelling against the Tower of Babel."

Anser paused for a moment while shaking his wine glass. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Don't say such things. Ming Fuluo is willing to sacrifice everything for Babel Tower. Are you sure this news is reliable?"

"Yes, that person... is my friend and one of the senior executives of the Tower of Babel. He told me that the relationship between Ming Fuluo and Hendrick had become extremely bad for some reason, and that the strange thing that happened to the eldest princess that day was also related to Ming Fuluo."

"…Are you connected to someone high up in the Tower of Babel?"

Leiden nodded and said carefully: "It's not a particularly deep friendship. I just asked him to tell me about Ming Fuluo's daily situation. After all, after all, I am still Ming Fuluo's..."

The man opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say those two words.

The young Hydra stared at the crystal liquid in the wine glass and said nothing.

Although the memory of this world is quite complete and detailed, it is not complete enough to mention such a thing.

Leiden Zeg, his story is just the most insignificant scrap in the story of the source of truth, the great sage. Among everything Anser saw, he was just a small character who was mentioned in passing.

So Ansor didn't know that Leiden was actually in contact with the people in Babel Tower... Although he just wanted to understand Ming Furo's situation, it was still a little incredible.

Because Leiden betrayed Erion, the members of the Tower of Babel, as the students most loyal to Erion's ideals, naturally hated Leiden very much, and it was impossible for Leiden to have a good face towards the people who "kidnapped" his daughter.

But he contacted a high-level official of Tower of Babel just to find out about Ming Furo's... situation.

How much did he pay for this? Money? Dignity? Or something else? And what was the reason why the person who was willing to tell Leiden Mingfu Luo about his living conditions agreed?

Was it the price Leiden paid that was enough, or was it... mercy for a poor father?

In the silence that made Leiden increasingly uneasy, Anser slowly spoke:

"But if I remember correctly, Mr. Leiden...theoretically, you and Babel should be in opposition."

"You hate your father, and you also hate Babel Tower, which took your daughter away. If Ming Fuluo plans to rebel against Babel Tower, shouldn't it be a good thing for you?"

Anser looked at the uneasy man and asked softly:

"Why are you still worried about Ming Fuluo?"

His inquiry was calm but sharp, piercing the wound that Leiden was most reluctant to touch.

The man's face turned somewhat gloomy. He opened his mouth first, but due to the surging emotions, he was unable to organize his words and only uttered a few meaningless syllables. After a second silence, he spoke with great difficulty:

"Because...that's what she wanted."

Leiden looked down at the grass at his feet: "In the fifteen years that I was away from her, Babel and I... my father's ideals have become everything to her."

His eyes were a little dazed, as if he had returned to fifteen years ago, when Ming Furo was still a child, and saw the good times he had spent with his family.

"She loves everything she's working for now and has no regrets. For me, that's enough."

When he raised his head again, Leiden's face showed a look of relief:

"She has a new life. If that is what she truly desires, my hatred... is not worth mentioning."

"…So that's why you want to know the reason? Are you worried about what kind of impact or harm Ming Fuluo has suffered?"

"Yes, because from what I know, she will not give up what she is pursuing for anything."

Leiden's face once again showed a pleading expression: "So... so please, I just want to know what happened to Ming Fuluo, is she... is there anything wrong with her?"

Anser did not answer, but asked again:

"Even if she doesn't know what you've done, even if she doesn't care about you, even if everything that happens to her in the future has nothing to do with you?"

"..." Leiden looked at Anser in a daze. He didn't know why this young man who could press him to death with just a raise of his hand asked these questions, but he still gave his response slowly and firmly.

"Yes, Lord Anser."

"You think I am... self-admiring or self-deceiving. I still want to know whether Ming Fuluo is doing well."

The mediocre and incompetent man lowered his eyes and smiled:

"Even if it's just wishful thinking, I'm still her father."

Anser looked at the smile on his face that seemed to have gained some kind of power, and was silent for a long time.

It was not until he picked up the wine glass and drank the wine that he said with a smile:

"Ming Fuluo is doing well, don't worry, Mr. Leyden."

"……Really!"

Leiden's face instantly glowed with such vivid colors. This father, who could only open an ordinary small shop in the outer area of ​​​​the Ether Courtyard and left everything to his daughter who was unwilling to acknowledge him, showed the brightest expression among the several times Ansel had met him.

"Yes." Anser stroked the bracelet and said softly, "She... has been working hard for what she wants. The incident at the Tower of Babel is just a small problem."

"Yeah... that's the kind of person she is. She won't be defeated. I know... I know she won't."

The man smiled with relief, but then he realized that he was not qualified to show any relief. He covered his mouth slightly and bowed to Anser with tears of gratitude.

"Thank you for telling me this, Lord Anser, thank you!"

After thanking him, Leiden, feeling relieved, said goodbye to Anser. Not wanting to disturb Anser any longer, he left quickly. However, before he had walked far, Anser suddenly called him:

"Mr. Lydon."

The young Hydra looked at Leiden who turned around in surprise, and said to him while stroking the glasses in his arms:

"Ming Fuluo... has actually realized her past mistakes. She doesn't blame you anymore. Instead..."

For some reason, his voice became a little softer.

"She felt guilty instead. She didn't know...how to face you."

"..."

The man stood there blankly.

After a few seconds, he seemed to have been drained of all his strength and fell to his knees, limp.

For more than ten years, this mediocre, incompetent man who had neither fulfilled his father's wishes nor raised his daughter well, this insignificant little man who had almost no space to be described in that great story, should have suffered countless humiliations and pains, but he should have never been as unbearable as he is now.

He buried his face in his hands and cried bitterly.

Because at this time, Leiden Zeger was nothing more than a father.

"Thank you... Thank you, Lord Anser... Thank you..."

And Anser's figure had disappeared at this time.

*

The terrifying pressure within the Notong had somehow dissipated, and this huge alchemical fortress seemed to be empty, with no living creatures.

Anser put his hand on the door handle. Behind the door was a place he had not stepped into even once in six years.

"..."