The villain's way to tame the protagonist

Mr. Devil would always lay the groundwork before luring her into depravity, maybe it was something insignificant, maybe it was just a casual remark, no matter what it was, he would give her the opportunity to fall at the most appropriate time.

At that time, Xin was unable to tell the difference, both because of his lack of ability and because of the unsolvable information gap.

But now... the situation has reversed.

In order to force Lulis to make this choice, it was not any bishop who ordered the priests of the sanctuary to forcibly become hostile to Xitana, but she, the saint herself.

Ansher could never have imagined that after Xin suffered the vicious deception that destroyed her psychological defenses, she would immediately seek out Mu and Ji. She could never have imagined that the bishop, who had begun to fear the changes in the saint, would have to temporarily obey Xin's orders.

Xin doesn't want Hercules' heroic journey to end here, so Ansel will definitely continue to play the role of Hercules.

She wanted to use this opportunity to... spy on everything about Anser.

Now, Xin has been able to use this advantage to vaguely glimpse Anther's intentions - the church, the priests, God... Combined with what Anther said before about the topics between people, God, and faith, Xin has roughly figured out Anther's words and methods to lure her into fall this time.

By trampling on and defiling the church to interfere with me...Mr. Devil, are you serious?

There were few things in the church worth her attention. It could be said that she didn't really care about anything about the church, and Xin didn't think Ansel couldn't see it, so... there could only be one reason.

Anser was looking down on her. No... Anser really didn't take her seriously this time.

Her Mr. Devil's heart and eyes were filled with the shadow of Miss Wolf, so he was too lazy to even give her a decent difficult question.

The wind and snow ahead seemed to be thinning a little. As visibility gradually improved, the outline of the city became faintly visible in the gray world.

This is the starting point of the heroic story of Hercules.

But Xin felt that Mr. Devil was not the one who wrote this story, but she was.

I will definitely defeat Miss Wolf, Mr. Devil. Not only will I defeat her, I will also let you personally make her experience the same jealousy that I have experienced...

You will be the hero who overcomes everything, I promise you.

*

In fact, if the confrontation with Marina had not occurred, Xin's thoughts... might not have been diverted here.

She is more likely to think that Ansel's current wrong judgment is actually intended to hide something, rather than directly blaming Hitana and believing it firmly.

Obviously, the lethality of Marina's last words... was a bit too terrifying.

She is definitely not a child who cannot get candy - the current Saint Lady is so eager to prove this.

Not to prove it to Marina, but to prove it to myself.

Chapter 6: The Pleasure of Pain, Part (K)

Compared to the church's shelter, this city standing in the snow was obviously more lively. Inside the high walls were normal urban buildings, not small houses that were packed tightly together to compress the space. Pedestrians could be seen walking on the streets, and it looked as if it was just experiencing an ordinary deep winter.

"The Skyfrost Tower has extensive experience in dealing with severe cold waves, so their protective measures are better than ours."

Lulis looked at the tall tower in the center of the city and sighed, "Theoretically speaking, it shouldn't be a problem to shelter more northern civilians."

"Why didn't they do that?" Hercules asked in a low voice, looking at the streets that were still in good order. "Since the Grey Tower Duke wanted to protect civilians, why didn't he protect as many people as possible?"

Lulis smiled bitterly. The kind priest's face was a mixture of sadness and numbness. He did not show the undisguised dissatisfaction and anger like the young Mr. Hercules.

"Who knows, maybe it's just... unnecessary."

"In the previous war of independence, the fighting between the Grand Dukes and the Revolutionary Army had already caused a large number of northerners to become homeless. At that time, not many cities were willing to accept these poor people who had suffered from the disasters of the war. How could it be possible that... they suddenly had a change of heart now?"

To the rulers of the various cities in the north, one more refugee meant more food consumption and a little more disorder. Compared with that, their insignificant labor was obviously meaningless.

If Ivora defeated Anser, they would be able to leave this bitter cold land and become the highest nobles of the new generation as heroes of the revolution; if Ivora was defeated, it would mean the coming of destruction. Therefore, the so-called ruling foundation and the so-called people's hearts no longer had any meaning at this time.

Even if there is a supernatural power that can create things out of thin air and change celestial phenomena, some things will not change.

"It's...disgusting." Mr. Hercules suppressed the anger in his whisper.

Xin was looking at Anser's profile at the moment. She felt that Mr. Devil was really scary as he could express such true feelings without any burden even when being stared at by her.

How to see through Mr. Devil's disguise has always been the biggest problem. Even though he now has many advantages, Xin does not feel relieved at all.

Although he is kind, he has his bottom line. Although he is calm, he gets angry easily. He has a longing for justice in his heart, and also hides a huge and firm courage... In general, he is a young man whose mind is more mature than he appears, and he is tenacious, upright and resolute.

This is the image of Hercules that Xin has drawn through observation so far. Since he wants to be portrayed as a hero, it cannot be just the fighting movements, but all-round... to make Hercules look more like a hero.

And it has to be said that Anther built the foundation of the hero very well. From Sin's perspective, she couldn't find any fault with Hercules' entire character.

The joys and anger of a mortal make Hercules seem more real, and his heroic character makes it easier for his reality to be tinged with legendary colors. It's simply... perfect.

As expected of Mr. Devil, even if he is disguised as a hero, he is still the best.

I don’t know why, but Hercules’ performance and setting... always give Xin an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

"Mr. Hercules, we are going to meet the person in charge of the Skyfrost Tower in this city directly... Don't worry, there will be no accidents."

The church team would always be looked at with strange eyes when walking on the street. Lulis looked at Anser who looked a little unnatural and comforted him: "With the help of Lord Lance, we don't need to force any compromise with the other party."

Hercules was silent for a moment, then stared into Lulis' eyes and said very seriously:

"I believe you, Father Lulis."

That is of course impossible.

Anser looked at the flash of shame and struggle in the young priest's eyes and couldn't help but sigh to Xin:

[Ms. Xin, has Priest Lulis committed a sin?]

【No】

Xin answered very straightforwardly.

[He is deceiving an honest and kind person, isn't this considered a sin?]

If nothing happens, how can the hero's story unfold? The church's order is absolute, and Lulis has no choice but to let Mr. Hercules get the opportunity to "awaken". Even if the Sky Frost Tower really doesn't make things difficult for them, he has to make something happen.

Anser brought up this absurd fact again, as if to emphasize something.

It was nothing more than emphasizing the chaos of the church. Xin didn't want Anser to always use such low-level methods to provoke her. She even missed how Anser broke her blind faith in God in Donggang.

She missed Mr. Devil's evil, cruelty, and his...focus and passion towards her.

The saint does not need to treat everything in the world from the perspective of good and evil ethics. As God's agent, she should look at all living beings from a more macro and great perspective, from the perspective of God's scrutiny and coordination.

——Since the purpose is to redeem Anser, a very evil person who harbors the greatest motives in the world, then any means can be accepted, regardless of whether it involves sin or not.

Xin is even willing to bear the sin for Anser, so why would he care whether her decision is good or evil?

[Priest Lulis felt full of guilt for his actions, so in essence, he did not commit any sin]

Xin's tone when responding was very calm, even indifferent. She didn't want to confront Anser over such a trivial matter, so even her answer was filled with emotion that she had never had before.

And how could Mr. Devil not notice it?

He turned to look at Xin who was almost lying on his shoulder, and asked with a slightly strange look: [You seem... a little unhappy, Miss Saint]

【Why am I unhappy? 】

Answering questions with questions, a cunning evasive tactic, this is what Mr. Devil taught her.

[I just don’t know why you are unhappy, Miss Saint, so I asked this.]

[Since Mr. Devil doesn’t know, then it’s Mr. Devil’s illusion. I’m fine and not unhappy.]

Facing his good student, Mr. Devil was silent for a long time, and then said with deep emotion: [Ms. Xin, when did you become so eloquent... It's incredible]

He had taught Xin very well, there was no doubt about that, but considering her natural talent, Xin was now... too alive.

Anser could easily find the only solution, because now there was only one thing that could explain Xin's changes.

The young Hydra withdrew his gaze, and in the depths of his ocean-blue eyes… the endless darkness seemed to rise up little by little, becoming more and more obvious.

Marina, what exactly do you want to do?

The three leaders of the clan represent every time Anser was defeated by fate, and represent the three kinds of bitter fruits he had to endure.

What choice the uncontrollable and unrestrained Beast King will make in the distant future is not within Anser's control. This is a risk for the future.

The wise man who risked his life and everything to save Anser wiped out Anser's only possibility of defeating fate 100%. This was the sacrifice of the past.

And the witch... as the only one in the world who has the courage and awareness to make a decision for Ansor and is accepted by Ansor, she represents the unknown of the present.

Fate can hardly disturb Anther, and Xitana and Ming Furo are highly wary of fate, and never go beyond Anther's decision on major matters, so it is difficult to influence Anther through them.

But Marina was different. Ansor acquiesced to her existence and gave her incredible freedom, but he did not tell her... about the existence of fate.

Because Marina was completely transparent in front of Xin, so even if Marina became the head of the clan, even if Ansel was willing to keep her as an uncontrollable factor, he did not tell her about the existence of fate.

After all, Anser knew his Devourer too well. Not only did he not let the Abyss Preaching destroy him, but he used his love and desire for Anser to twist it into a positive cycle. Her greed for herself would never stop, and she could not hide anything from Xin.

After all, Ansel felt that he had not given much care and love to Marina until now, and the crow, who was already unsatisfied, would be even less likely to be content.

Marina is Ansel's biggest help at the moment, but also the biggest unknown and flaw.

Ansir Hydra should not have left such an uncontrollable existence. After all, even if fate was not taken into consideration, a follower who made decisions for her master without authorization should not exist - even if the decision she made was indeed better and more correct.

Ansel himself couldn't explain what made him choose Marina. Perhaps it was because he recognized Marina's will that could even distort the Abyss Sermon, or perhaps it was because he had no choice at the time, or perhaps... it was just because of the same failure as the previous two times.

He chose to give up on making Sitana completely surrender and completely eradicate her animal nature; he sacrificed the chance to defeat fate in order to preserve the little humanity he had left; so why couldn't he choose... to accept Marina?

Marina had helped him so much. This conspiracy involving the entire empire would not have been so easy without her. In that case...even if she had caused him some trouble, it was not impossible to understand.

And it’s hard to say whether it’s a trouble or not. After all, Marina’s starting point must be for Ansher.

In this case, her malice towards Xin can only be to help Anser better calm the Saint Miss whose mentality is gradually getting out of control.

Xin would not easily accept Anser's kindness. She had grown to this point, so how could she be emotionally affected by a few words of comfort and praise from Mr. Devil? But if Marina's deep malice was in front of her, the situation would be completely different.

Although he didn't know what Marina said to Xin to make her so sensitive, it didn't stop Ansel from making good use of this opportunity.

The Saint Lady is too anxious now, and she should calm down for a while.

Under the leadership of Lulis, the church's purchasing team quickly arrived under the high tower in the center of the city. The two puppets in front of the gate emitted etheric fluctuations with considerable deterrent power, almost at the level of a third-order transcendent.

"Good afternoon, Reverend Lulis."

The eyes of a puppet suddenly flickered, and then a deep middle-aged male voice uttered: "It seems... your shelter is running out of supplies again."

When Anser and his party entered the city, the person in charge of the tower must have known their purpose, but... they were a whole team after all, with a total of ten third-level transcendents, but let alone any courtesy, they couldn't even sit in a reception room, couldn't even enter the tower, and had to be stopped outside. This kind of treatment can explain a lot of problems.

"Oh, this time he brought four more level three transcendents... The church has a lot of transcendents. So, are you planning to just rob them?"

"...You're joking, Mr. Murphy." Lulis bowed his head slightly. "It's the same transaction method as usual. This time I want to exchange for half a month's worth of supplies."

"Heal the wounded, fight monsters, or anything else we can do."

The only thing the church can provide to the Skyfrost Tower is the manpower of extraordinary people.

As an independent supernatural system, divine arts covers a wide range, and its research in various auxiliary fields, such as healing and strengthening, is far stronger than that of the Empire.

The priests of every shelter in the North exchanged supplies from the Skyfrost Tower in this way. Of course, in the beginning, they had other things worth trading.

"So, you really don't have any bottles of water of salvation left?"

The puppet's eyes flickered with light as it stared at Lulis: "The things that haven't been taken out yet should be good things of good quality."

The mouthless puppet let out a low, slightly piercing laugh: "Do you still want to hide at this time? Those refugees are still counting on your supplies. Living saints of the church, do you really have the heart to watch the people you saved starve to death one after another?"

Most of the priests in the team had frowned, but there was nothing they could do.

That’s right, the thing they used to exchange for supplies at the very beginning was the church’s most precious item, the one-of-a-kind creation on the entire continent, the Water of Redemption.

Without the supplies obtained from the Water of Redemption, they would not have been able to hold on until this time. The supplies obtained by working hard for the Skyfrost Tower would definitely not be able to meet the needs of the entire shelter.

"All the water of salvation has been traded to you, Mr. Murphy."

Lulis replied in a deep voice: "We can't possibly have so much water of salvation in reserve. The only ones who can be used as bargaining chips are ourselves."

"Oh... so you brought a few more people this time. It seems like you can't handle it at all?"

Murphy did not hide his gloating at all, as if those refugees who were about to starve to death were not from the North, not his compatriots.

"Yes, so what do you need—"

"Unfortunately, there is nothing needed in Ice Valley City right now." Murphy interrupted Lulis, "There are no wounded people who need to be treated, and no monsters that need to be exterminated. In other words, we can do everything you can do, and we are just a little bit worse than you at most."

The puppet took steps that seemed clumsy but actually had no sense of sluggishness. It walked in front of Lulis with a rumbling sound and looked down at him condescendingly:

"But why should I pay so much extra for such an insignificant line?"

"Transactions should be equal, what do you think, Father Lulis?"

The transaction should certainly be equal, but the right to define equality is now clearly in Murphy's hands.

He did not regard the church as trading partners at all, and simply blocked them outside the tower without even meeting them. From the very beginning... he had already planned to squeeze the church to the limit.