The villain's way to tame the protagonist

This move of fate is no longer limited to the chessboard, but is to take Anser, who has experienced such a long period of suffering and despair, back from the chess player playing against Him to the chessboard, and make him a chess piece at His mercy.

But Anser, who was willing to tell the two girls everything, was unable to express his torment at this moment.

How worried was Ming Fuluo about becoming a burden to Anser? How persistent was Xitana in contributing her strength to Anser? And if Ming Fuluo found out that her worries had already become a reality, and Xitana found out that her feelings were tormenting Anser almost every moment...how would they face themselves?

...They should not be allowed to experience this kind of pain, like walking through thorns.

That's why Anser felt an unspeakable loneliness when Xitana and Mingfuluo each went to pursue what they wanted.

In fact, he already had a vague sense of it at that time - not that he thought Xitana and Ming Furo had left him, but that he sensed the weakness in his heart that shouldn't have appeared, but he didn't know who to tell.

“…There will always be a way.”

The dark hatred gradually faded from Ansher's eyes, but it was only a brief fade.

He felt that fate had left him with little time, and he would eventually have to make a decision, and his decision would not waver in any way.

It doesn't matter if it's ten thousand times of suffering, or ten million times of torture, if the fuel that burns hatred is only pain, if the price of revenge is never being free... if, that's all -

Then he will continue to fight against fate with this curse, never give up, never bow his head, until his death...

He may not sacrifice everything in order to defeat fate, but he must never let go of the despair and hatred that he alone in the whole world has endured for the past six years.

He will find a way, just like he has found a way to force his fate into a dead end countless times from a dead end that was impossible to win.

Anser gradually calmed down, looked at the scene in front of him that was distorted by his out-of-control emotions, exhaled slowly, lowered his eyes and whispered: "Let's restore this place to its original state first, otherwise Xi'er and the others--"

His words suddenly stopped.

Because even if there was no knock on the door, Ansher could sense that someone had come to the door of the study.

The one who had already lost the chance to be saved, had given up countless wonderful possibilities, and had fallen into the bottomless abyss... but who had talents that Anser could not give up no matter what.

"come in."

Ansher spoke without waiting for her to raise her hand to knock on the door.

In this study, the only intact door except the chair where Ansel was sitting was slowly pushed open. The girl in the wheelchair pushed the shadow forward, but when she saw the scene in the room, she was stunned for a moment.

The ceiling, floor, and walls were forcibly twisted together. The originally square room has become a spiral passage. Bookshelves, tables and chairs, potted plants, ornaments, windows... everything is kneaded into this spiral, extending and rotating closely against the wall, like the delirious ravings of a crazy but extremely famous artist created on canvas, a twisted spiral hell.

The young man with eyes as deep as the abyss and the sea sat at the deepest part of the room, as if he was sitting at the end of hell.

"You are in a very bad mood, Mr. Anser."

"Are you looking for me at this time just to talk about these things?" Anser leaned back in his chair with an indifferent expression, interlaced his fingers, and all the distorted scenes were restored at high speed as if time was reversed. "I don't have time to talk to you about my feelings now, No. 9."

Number Nine, who was sitting in a wheelchair, tilted her head slightly. She was no longer wearing a mask and smiled in front of Anser. Her face, which had become more mature and charming, was so heart-stirring.

"But you could have restored all this before you let me in, couldn't you?"

Anser's fingertips trembled slightly in an imperceptible arc.

"What do you want to say?" He stared into the pair of dark eyes that could no longer return to their original color, as if he was staring into the abyss he had long been accustomed to.

Number Nine's wheelchair continued to move forward under the push of the shadow... She used to be a person with a strong sense of propriety and distance, and had a very clear understanding of where she should be and when. But now, she had no intention of stopping and kept getting closer to Anser.

"You know what I want to say, just like I know what you want me to do."

Number Nine spoke inexplicably difficult words, but after getting used to his slightly hoarse voice, it actually carried an indescribable charm.

The scene in the room was almost restored, and the desk in front of Anser also recovered from the distorted wall like a clay toy being pulled and stretched, but before that, No. 9 had appeared at the original position of the desk, so Anser had to stop temporarily.

Until number nine stopped in front of him.

——She had never taken the initiative to get close to Anser to this extent before.

"You wanted me to know that you were in a bad mood."

I would never... say such a thing.

Anser looked at Number Nine who was so close to him. They were so close that their knees were almost touching and they could touch each other's faces with just their hands.

After staring for a moment, the young Hydra suddenly laughed.

"Why would I want you to know that I'm in a bad mood?"

Although they maintained a very ambiguous distance, Number Nine behaved very properly. With her hands flat on her knees, her manners were impeccable. If it weren't for the overly evil black lines on her left cheek, she would have been a perfect lady picked out of a million.

When faced with Anser's seemingly mocking question, the lady in black replied in an extremely serious tone: "Because you need help."

"I thought our last conversation had come to fruition."

"No, our conversation was interrupted last time because of Miss Sitana's intrusion, Mr. Anser."

Number Nine, with his hands folded, said softly, "I told you, I still have a lot to say to you."

With Anser's memory, he could naturally recall the conversation that day very quickly. He rested his chin on his hand and looked at No. 9 who was sitting there: "So when you say 'later', do you mean after so many days?"

Number Nine lowered her eyes slightly because of these words, and she looked as if she was ashamed of her own mistake, but the smile on Ansel's face gradually disappeared as he looked at her.

Ansel saw it clearly. It was not shame, but torment and sorrow.

...exactly the same as him.

He didn't think that Number Nine, who could read his mind and was completely different from him, would show such an expression because of a joke.

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

Number Nine raised her head and looked at Anser. The torment and sorrow shattered in her dark eyes and then melted into a kind of determination.

"I could have talked to you about this earlier, I could have saved you from getting hurt less, but I didn't."

"Because only at this time, only when your unexpressed pain reaches its limit, will you be willing to...listen to my words."

"…You're talking nonsense again about things that don't exist, Nine."

Anser's expression remained unchanged: "I am just facing a problem that requires me to make a choice, not a major decision that will affect my life."

He didn't think that No. 9 could find out something so deep in his heart. What right did No. 9 have to find out something that neither Xitana nor Ming Fuluo had noticed?

"But you clearly know better than anyone that the question is not whether to save the civilians or to retake Ivora, right?"

Number Nine stared at Anther's slightly shrunken sea-blue eyes, and the determination in his eyes melted uncontrollably into such a vivid, disgusting... sadness that Anther hated.

She stretched out her hand towards Anser's face, her delicate fingertips trembling slightly:

"You're trapped, Mr. Anser."

"What you need is not a choice, what you need is...liberation."

Anser grasped Nine's wrist, her fingertips just a hair's breadth away from his face.

Hydra's eyes were filled with a darker color than that of No. 9. He tightly grasped No. 9's wrist and said word by word, "You should leave. You and I both have important things to do, No. 9."

"Yes, right now, Mr. Anser."

Without hesitation, Nine responded, "This is more important than my life, my soul, my everything, and yours as well."

relief.

Why...what right does she have to say these two words?

"I am qualified, Mr. Anser."

Even though anger gradually rose in Anther's eyes, Number Nine's expression did not waver in the slightest. She hid her sadness in the deepest part of her heart, and replaced it with a color that was so similar to Anther's... calm as iron.

Anser twitched the corners of his mouth, and that subtle expression seemed to be mocking the foolishness and ignorance of Number Nine: "Has your talent for tools made you complacent to this extent, Number Nine?"

"No, it has nothing to do with your preaching, Mr. Anser. This qualification was given to me by you." Number Nine whispered softly, "You only gave it to me as one person."

"Has your fantasy gotten this crazy?"

Faced with No. 9's endless stream of ridiculous words, Hydra finally stopped hiding his sarcasm. He looked at No. 9 with such contempt, just as he had done in the past with all those incompetent, pathetic guys who were willing to give up everything for him and even easily abandon themselves.

"The only good thing about this fantasy is that at least you still think of yourself as a qualified person, rather than someone I can easily discard."

Faced with such ruthless sarcasm and contempt, No. 9 laughed: "Mr. Anser, do you really want to keep saying this to me?"

"It's just this little bit, you can't bear it——"

"You obviously know that I know exactly what you are thinking."

In just a moment, No. 9's smile disappeared again. She seemed to be really crazy. The transition between joy and sorrow was like countless consciousnesses and souls hidden in one body.

She was so sad and sentimental at this moment.

"Every time you show an indifferent expression, every time you smile sarcastically, every time you say contemptuous words, it's like you are asking me for help."

"Because if you don't care, then you don't care. You could just let me leave or not even look at me. But you are here laughing at my stupidity and trampling on my dignity, as if you are using a more radical method to drive me away, as if you are asking me not to continue talking, as if..."

Number Nine's eyes reflected Anther's expression, which was a mixture of sarcasm and majesty, but what he saw... was only fatigue and exhaustion.

"…As if he was covering up his own scars."

In her eyes, the boy already looked scarred.

"Mr. Anser, you are in a dilemma that only you and I know about."

Number Nine leaned forward slightly, her knees gently against Anser's knees. She put her hands on Anser's thighs, and this time, Anser, who seemed frozen, did not drive her away.

Or maybe... at this moment, Ansel suddenly understood the purpose of Number Nine's visit.

"I don't know who your enemy is. I only know that... until now, you have not defeated Him."

"All I know is that in order to defeat Him, you need to do whatever it takes and sacrifice everything. All I know is that you have been living under a heavy pressure that I cannot even see."

She stared at Anser's indifferent face, and said softly: "I already knew these things when I was in the Red Frost Territory."

"I know you are not evil, I know you just... have no choice."

What kind of powerful enemy could leave Mr. Anser no choice? Was it the emperor? But now that the emperor is dead, why is Mr. Anser still struggling? No. 9 has never been able to find Anser's enemy, but in fact... she doesn't need to find Anser's enemy.

She just needed to know that Anser had always had a hard time, and that was enough.

"Later, I discovered that you are not evil at all. You have always been kind. It's just that you have no choice but to be kind, because kindness... can only bring you failure."

She didn't need to know what kind of powerful enemy made Anser so desperate, but she knew very well that facing such a powerful enemy, Anser had no room for kindness. He had to force himself to become an evil ghost without weaknesses in order to have the power to fight against it.

"After you had Miss Xitana and Miss Ming Fuluo, you seemed to have more choices. I thought so at that time. I wishfully thought that you finally had the right to choose and could carry out your previous ideals. That's why I longed to follow in your footsteps. I thought that only in this way could I contribute my insignificant strength to you."

Number Nine was speaking softly as if she was telling a story, but in fact she was cutting herself open with a knife, revealing her heart, everything about her, to Anther in such a bloody manner.

"But later I found out that I was wrong. The help that Miss Xitana and Miss Ming Fuluo brought to you was only a fleeting illusion, but the shackles and curses they gave you are eternal."

"..."

Anser's eyes changed at this moment, from the original silence and indifference to a chilling coldness.

"Because they are not willing to give up everything to love you. Besides you, they have something else that they cannot give up."

"Number Nine...you are not qualified to judge them." Ansher spoke word by word, his low voice like a howl from the abyss.

But No. 9 seemed to have not heard what Anser said at all, and continued to talk to himself: "Because the things they can't give up are so close to what you expected, you are inevitably changed. You start to be unwilling to be cruel and ruthless, you start to reject the evil deeds of the past, and you start to move towards the beauty that seems to be getting closer and closer, but you forget one thing-"

"You still have no choice."

"I... don't have a choice?"

Anser suddenly grabbed No. 9's hand and made him point at his nose. He smiled slightly, "You actually said that I have no choice until now? No. 9... How well do you know me? Can you understand what the power I now hold means to the empire? Do you know what level the imaginary enemy in your eyes is at? How can you, who know nothing, say that I have no choice? Is it based on your wishful thinking?"

"I really don't know anything, Mr. Anser." She said so frankly, "I just kept looking at you."

I'm just watching you.

Nine had no idea what Anser was facing, not even for a moment.

But she knew that every step of change for Anser was becoming more and more difficult, and she found that every time Anser gave in, it was becoming more and more bitter. Until now, knowing that she felt the torment and pain that she could not tell anyone, No. 9 was sure that Anser still had no choice.

And Anser was stunned by these words.

At this moment, he seemed to... figure out a lot of things.

"Mr. Anser, you said before that I seem to have some special abilities."

Number Nine had unconsciously held Anser's hand. She was a little embarrassed and smiled regretfully: "I'm sorry, that might be your illusion. Perhaps... understanding your heart is not my talent."

"It's just because I'm the only one who's always watching you by your side, that's all."

There will never be anyone around Ansir Hydra who is willing to abandon himself for him.

Everyone must have his own ideas, his own ambitions, and his own desires. Only such a vivid and independent existence is qualified to follow Hydra.

And among these people...how could there be someone who would devote everything he has to Anser, always looking at Anser and not caring about anything else?

There is a burning and fiery justice in Xitana's eyes, and there is a bright and glorious future in Ming Furo's eyes. Ansher will always be the brightest and most brilliant part of their lives, but it will not be all, because if that were the case, they would not be the one that Ansher wants.

Therefore, no matter how well they can sense Anser's emotions, no matter how well they understand each other, if Anser deliberately hides himself, they will never be able to see the truth beneath the illusion.