The villain's way to tame the protagonist

Fortunately, the giant wolf could not understand, otherwise, for a being that could understand what this meant, it would probably have completely collapsed at this moment.

In just a moment, the earth returned to peace. The tiny human got down from the corpse of the giant wolf and walked up to it with an expressionless face.

It turned out that at some point, the giant wolf, realizing its situation, had learned to "beg for mercy" out of fear. It huddled down with its huge body, almost burying its head in the snow.

"Eat."

The girl stretched her bleeding arm to the giant wolf's mouth, seeming to be very unhappy with its reaction: "Don't you even have the courage to move your mouth? If you are so scared, why were you as stupid as a pig in the beginning?"

The giant wolf didn't know why, just like it didn't know that those little things called humans could be so delicious. Before this moment, it had never experienced the emotion called fear.

Now it could only whimper and beg this monster, which was not even as big as its palm, to let it go. At this moment, its appetite and hunger had already been crushed by its desire for life, which made it look not like a mysterious ether monster at all, but just an ordinary beast.

"You are weak and timid. It is unrealistic to expect you to be of any use... Never mind. Goodbye then."

The monster muttered to himself, raised his hand, which was probably about the size of a giant wolf's fingernail, and slowly clenched it into a fist.

“Ahhhhhhhh——!”

The giant wolf didn't understand what she was saying, but it could feel that if the punch landed, its head would instantly shatter like every small thing it had ever bitten off.

No, many of those little metal things were very hard, and it was somewhat difficult for it to bite them. However, if this monster's fist was to smash its own head, it would definitely not be difficult at all, and its entire spine might even be blown into pieces.

So it howled hysterically, not as a warning nor out of madness, but purely out of a desire to survive that was aroused to the limit.

The girl was also startled by its sudden howl, and then showed contempt: "What a shame, you might as well be a dog. Don't worry, I will kill you quickly, it won't hurt at all, it's just like falling asleep."

"Ouch! Ouch!"

"Noisy!"

The real wolf beast yelled irritably: "I have never seen a monster as shameless as you, go to hell!"

boom--!

Endless blizzard rose into the sky like a huge waterfall flowing backwards into the sky, and even the howling wind could not shake it in the slightest.

The giant wolf was lying on the ground like a puddle of mud, with blood foam constantly oozing out of its eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Its huge head was soon dyed red, but judging from its body twitching from time to time, it seemed... not dead?

It was indeed not dead, because if Sitana's fist had moved forward half a centimeter more, it would have hit its head hard.

Miss Wolf, who retracted her fist at the last moment, stroked her chin and looked thoughtfully at the giant wolf, who was taking his last breath.

"It should have just been upgraded to the fourth level not long ago, otherwise there is no reason for it to be so weak... Strength is secondary, the key is its performance..."

Xitana has always kept in mind the two reminders about monsters given by Anser. Whether it is the sudden riot of monsters or the fact that no fifth-level monsters have appeared, these two points must be very critical and are probably closely related to the current situation in the North. Of course, it is also possible... that those two bastard dukes are doing something weird.

For some reason, Hitana did not want to continue relying on Ansher's help, but it was indeed too much to ask her to figure out what happened in the North with just these two reminders. Miss Wolf, who had no clue, did not pin her hopes on this and only planned to follow the old rules and solve the problem with her fists.

But she didn't expect that she would encounter such a shameful monster. You know, the monsters that were forcibly recruited by Hitana before were all beaten half to death before they were subdued. Each of them was either determined to bite a piece of Hitana's flesh no matter what, or was completely aroused to fight Hitana to the death. How could they surrender after just saying a few words, or start howling as soon as they were about to fight?

Just like the abnormal behavior of the monsters, could the abnormal behavior of this big dog also serve as an important clue?

"To be able to react so quickly and stop in time... Hehe, I'm really not a fool!"

Xitana proudly put one hand on her waist and patted the giant wolf that was hanging on for its last breath: "You are lucky. You will be with me from now on. I have to study you carefully... If I can figure out what happened to the monsters, it will definitely help Anser!"

"For Anser, you must listen to me carefully, understand?"

The giant wolf twitched and no longer had the strength to roar.

Xitana finally reacted, and took out a handful of high-purity magic crystals from the storage item with ease, and stuffed them into the giant wolf's mouth luxuriously, while complaining: "But you are too weak, I haven't even smashed it down yet, and you want to... huh?"

The girl suddenly looked up. The breath transmitted by the Head of Wind could not be blocked by the wind and snow. Just at that moment, she smelled two... strange and inexplicably familiar smells.

The strange thing is that Xitana has smelled countless scents so far, but she still has almost no impression of this scent. And the familiarity lies in...

If she remembered correctly, this smell... seemed somewhat similar to the smell on Xin's body.

Chapter 5: Growth (K)

Shitana tilted her head, and the shadow of the demon wolf behind her waved its claws forward.

Wind, snow, ether, everything in front was shattered by the terrible force that killed everything, just like a rumbling waterfall was cut in two.

Amid the deafening roar, the blizzard that blocked Shitana's vision was cleared away with one blow, and she was able to see the two people rushing towards her. The two people also stood there in a daze, not knowing whether they were shocked by the bombardment that could have killed them instantly but stopped in front of them so skillfully, or simply because they saw Shitana Lancemalos, who was notorious in the North.

However, the blizzard that had been shattered filled the sky and earth again in the blink of an eye. In Hitana's eyes, the two figures in strange black robes were covered by the vast snow. Miss Wolf looked down at her palms, revealing a somewhat confused look.

"How on earth did Anser do it... It's so strange."

Anser raised his hand to freeze the wind and snow, and the power to seal off the heaven and earth made Hitana a little fascinated. The girl's pursuit of power was completely instinctive, but when she tried to imitate Anser to do the same thing, she found that she was somewhat too naive.

"I was thinking of gathering my strength, but the result was that I compressed the attack and then blasted it out..." Miss Wolf scratched her head, "I'm really not suitable for such an advanced fighting method."

As she was talking to herself, two dark shadows appeared faintly in the vast snow, and a tentative question came from the wind:

"Excuse me, is this Lord Lance Malros?"

"…Hmm? Oh, it's me. Who are you?"

Hitana's response was quite nonchalant, without even the slightest sense of vigilance. She looked down at the giant wolf that was gradually recovering from its injuries, and continued to wonder how Anser had done that.

Although this advanced technique is not suitable for her, but... it's really cool to freeze the whole world with just a raise of her hand!

Shitana doesn't want to be like a puppy all the time. Although there is nothing wrong with being treated like a puppy, she still wants to look handsome in front of Ansor!

Miss Wolf imagined the scene of raising her hand to stop time and space, and then punching Ivora's head. Just as she was laughing happily, a voice was heard again in the wind and snow.

"We are priests of the Church of the Holy Spirit. We didn't expect to meet you here, Your Excellency Lance."

After hearing these words, the corners of Hitana's mouth, which had just been raised, drooped little by little.

After confirming with Ming Fuluo what exactly happened in Donggang, she didn't want to hear anything about the church at all.

Ming Furo briefly explained the whole story from her perspective, and the fact was just as Marina said, that the church used the revolutionary army for some unknown purpose and planned this unjust war against the entire East Port, involving countless innocent civilians in blood and fire.

As a saint, Xin did play a very important role in this. Many nodes were connected by her, but...

"She gave me a very strange feeling, as if she was somehow...going against the church."

——This is what Ming Fuluo said at the time. According to her, although Xin did several extremely key things to connect everything together, looking back afterwards, her actions seemed to be contrary to the goals of the church’s top leaders, especially the mysterious Bishop Ji.

Ming Furo couldn't explain the reason, or maybe she had some guesses but didn't want to interfere with Ansel's arrangements for Xitana. In the end, she gave the same advice as before - don't worry about Xin and do what you should do.

In short, the church's actions in East Port caused their favorable impression in Hitana's heart, which was originally acceptable, to plummet to the freezing point in an instant. The girl narrowed her eyes slightly, and her sight that penetrated the wind and snow unconsciously became sharper.

The two figures that were coming through the blizzard seemed to have sensed Hitana's undisguised hostility. After a brief hesitation, they did not choose to move forward and stayed in the wind and snow.

"We are... following that evil wolf. It attacked the shelter built by the church. In order to prevent it from attacking the shelter again, or attacking other safe areas, we tried our best to put an end to this scourge. I didn't expect you..."

The priest who was speaking was very cautious and careful. He seemed to be observing Xitana's emotional fluctuations all the time, but such small movements naturally could not be hidden from Xitana's perception.

The first attack was both an imitation of Anser by Hitana on a whim and a declaration by her that she was worthy of the title of the Scourge Wolf.

After all, Hitana can use the power of the Wind Head to sense their situation without breaking through the wind and snow. This is just a way for her to reduce trouble.

——You are facing Xitana Lansmalos, the unreasonable, dangerous and vicious monster. You'd better think carefully about what to say and do next.

In a way, I really learned the essence of Anser's evil style.

Don't think about cooperating with others, but let others take it for granted that they should obey you.

Shitana stroked the giant wolf's head and did not respond, but the coldness in her eyes faded a little.

“…We have no intention of competing with you for prey.”

Because there was no word, the priest in the snow had no way of guessing Xitana's emotions. He could only emphasize very carefully: "If we disturb you, we will leave immediately. Or...is there anything we can do to help you?"

"Shelter."

Xitana finally spoke, but the words she said made the two priests' hearts skip a beat.

"Where is the sanctuary you mentioned?"

*

Marina is in a shelter built by the Church of the Holy Synod.

It is called a shelter, but it is better to describe it as a safe zone. After all, it can barely be considered a small city and it accommodates quite a number of civilians.

The witch rarely goes to a place to do things in person. After all, she has been relying on Ansher's power to cover the entire North with her shadow bit by bit. Whether it is the mansions of the two grand dukes, the deserted headquarters of the revolutionary army, or even Ivora's boudoir, she can come and go freely. There is little in this cold and desolate land that can hide from her eyes.

But the church is different.

Marina stood at the foot of the city wall, stroking the pure white stone wall thoughtfully.

"Divinity..."

This special power system is completely independent of the existing supernatural system of the empire. Even if there is a road to heaven that is very similar to it, no traces corresponding to divine arts can be found in it.

Marina's talent in the supernatural realm was mediocre. She was completely unable to decipher or even understand divine arts, so her shadow could not spread within the shelters and safe zones established by the church - to be precise, she could not completely guarantee that she would not alert the people of the church at any time.

In this chaotic land shrouded in endless snow and wind, the isolated and helpless small towns avoided the prying eyes of the crows, forcing Marina to go and investigate in person.

"Using the Revolutionary Army as a springboard, what is the goal that must be achieved even if it means sacrificing everyone?"

The witch chuckled and strolled through the deserted streets, heading towards the center of the shelter, a huge church.

Although the shelter was not completely covered by the endless wind and snow due to the church's magic, the cold current was difficult to resist. The civilians in the shelter either hid in temporary residences to stay as warm as possible, or... gathered in the church to listen to God's words.

Like Ming Furo, Marina did not believe that the Holy Alliance Church was a church composed of true believers - a bishop could be so scheming as to lie dormant in the empire for nearly a hundred years, and could easily come up with so-called revolutions and ideals, and be so cunning and treacherous, it did not seem to have anything to do with the word faith.

Therefore, the church's plan becomes particularly important, and even if the Holy Church does not seem to be a big threat, the mere fact that they tried to plot against Ansher is enough for Marina to sentence them to death.

Xin will be entertained by Ansel himself, so Marina doesn't need to worry too much, so her focus will naturally be on the Holy Church itself.

"There are currently no less than twenty known shelters and safe zones... You have put in a lot of effort in the north."

Marina, who had already arrived at the church door, touched the heavy door and laughed inexplicably: "What on earth is there in this desolate land that is worth all your trouble? Don't tell me... you are really just trying to save civilians."

The slender figure turned into a shadow and disappeared into the crack of the door, and appeared inside the church in an instant. Marina stepped out of the shadow and looked around. The entire church was almost full, with at least a few hundred people crammed in, and even the benches could not accommodate anyone.

The civilians who had no place to sit either stood or knelt, devoutly making the prayer gesture of the Holy Synod Church - the middle finger and ring finger were placed together against the center of the eyebrows, while quietly listening to the sermon of the priest on the platform.

"Those who are worldly should have hope in their hearts, and those who are in harmony should be careful about God's grace."

Marina walked through the central aisle of the church, listening nonchalantly to the sermon, which seemed somewhat crude to her.

Since the purpose of ruling is clear, it cannot use such obscure language that pretends to be profound. The more concise and straightforward, the better. After all, for mortals, God is too far away, and its majesty and greatness are difficult to touch, but the grace it brings is visible. Instead of using such superstitious emphasis, it is better to directly and concisely say what are the benefits of believing in God and what misfortunes will happen if you don't believe in God.

"It's...interesting."

After listening to the priest's sermon for a while, Marina smiled happily and brightly.

The expected brainwashing scene did not appear. The priest delivered the sermon in an orderly manner without a strong brainwashing effect. He did not deliberately exaggerate the atmosphere nor stir up the emotions of the believers. It seemed as if he was simply using faith to comfort these poor displaced people. He established the shelter out of pure kindness and tried his best to protect the civilians in the north from disaster.

It is precisely because of this that it becomes increasingly apparent that there are serious problems with the church.

Maybe this priest really just wanted to help civilians, and maybe this shelter has been doing good deeds since its establishment, but what about the priest? What about the higher-ups in the church? Since they can use the entire revolutionary army as pawns, why can't they... use these priests and civilians as bargaining chips and bets?

How should we deal with this priest? Simply extract information from him, or... um?

Just as Marina was thinking about how to get what she wanted from this shelter, the door of the church was suddenly pushed open.

The cold wind howled into the relatively warm church, and the believers instinctively shuddered their shoulders and then subconsciously turned their heads to look at the church entrance.

"Is this your shelter? Are the houses outside the church uninhabited?"

A carefree voice sounded in the church. The uninvited guest who suddenly broke in put his hands in his windbreaker pockets, looked around curiously, and ignored the various looks from the believers and priests.

"Yes, but now is the time to listen to the sermon, so many people come to the church..."

The pastor behind the girl explained: "And everyone feels safer when they gather together."

"Hmm... a total of 3,221 people. Oh, don't worry about me, just continue reading your book."

Xitana stood in the center of the church. She first waved to the priest, indicating him to continue, then looked around and nodded slightly.

"We didn't make this place more comfortable. It's only warmer because there are so many people here. I thought you would have set up some kind of heating array for this place."

"It's already difficult to protect the entire shelter from the cold wind." The black-robed priest who followed Xitana smiled helplessly, "We don't have the energy to do these things."

"Where's the food?"

Xitana walked over to a petite and thin girl sitting on her mother's lap. She squatted down and said in a gentle tone, "What have you been eating during this time?"

"Bread... and meat, and broth..."

The little girl responded timidly.

"You're not hungry?"

"Sometimes, but the priest uncles have worked very hard, so I'm not hungry and I won't cause them any trouble."

Her mother hugged her stiffly, not daring to look Xitana in the eye, but the little girl mustered up her courage, stretched out her pale little hand, and gently pulled Xitana's clothes: