The villain's way to tame the protagonist

He could not stimulate Xin anymore. He had to make Xin feel more needed and stabilize Miss Saint's pathological mental condition.

That’s why the scene just shown to the entire empire happened, and why Marina and the Supervisory Bureau came on stage.

To be honest, Anser didn't actually want to put his witches and the Supervisory Bureau on the table so early, because even if the supernatural power can indeed erase many rules of human society and make the impossible possible, the idea of ​​"supervising the supernatural" is still too early for this ignorant and distorted era.

At the very least, we have to wait until Ming Fuluo's social experiment in Donggang has achieved initial results. At that time, bringing the Supervisory Bureau to the forefront will have a much better effect.

But facing the fate of full firepower, Anser has no time to worry about future gains and losses.

“It’s a very difficult thing.”

The devil who was so arrogant and said in a high-sounding manner, "I am saving the empire," sighed softly:

“Sometimes it is so heavy that it makes people despair, just like Hercules who escaped from the North.”

Xin finally came to her senses. She actually couldn't quite understand what Marina's declaration meant to the empire, but she could feel the atmosphere of the entire Ice Valley City.

Thousands of souls were trembling and cheering, praising the name of His Royal Highness the Regent to prove that what the devil said was not empty and false.

“…Is it difficult?”

She slowly moved her eyes away from the light curtain, once again staring at the face that had almost occupied her entire life without her knowing when, and said softly:

"Is this difficult for Mr. Devil? Miss Crow, Mr. Devil... and Miss Wolf outside, don't they all act very relaxed?"

Saving the empire... This concept was too far away for Xin. She could not understand what it meant, and naturally had no way of understanding how difficult it was to do it. But in the final analysis, her current reaction was essentially due to that reason - she could no longer trust Anser, even if she had never believed in Anser.

It sounds a bit confusing, but Anser just realized that this is not Xin's contradiction, but a change in her attitude.

——Attitude towards truth and falsehood.

“Ms. Xin, you think that Marina, Xier, and I can do something easily, not because it is easy, but because we succeeded.”

Anser tilted his head towards Xin: "I think for you with that kind of power, salvation is a very simple thing. Do you think it is easy to save or judge others?"

"……No."

Xin has an extremely lofty belief in every person who needs salvation or judgment. Even if she can easily change the other person's soul, she will not think that her duty is easy.

The Saint Lady immediately understood what Anser meant. The difficulty Anser mentioned might not be about the difficulty of success, but the meaning behind it.

Save...the Empire.

This is the evil of Mr. Devil... Is this the good that corresponds to it under the help of the counselor?

Xin fell into a trance. If it was such an achievement, a great act that saved the entire empire and could even directly change the entire world, it was indeed worthy of the huge sin that the devil bore.

So that means...her redemption worked?

Xin should have felt extremely happy about this, but she didn't.

He just stood there blankly, looking at Anser in confusion, whose expression was so pure and sincere, without feeling even a little bit of reassurance.

Because of Marina's words and everything that happened before, it was clear to her that the devil had been deceiving her from the beginning to the end, and even the expectation that seemed so real was just a lie.

Since Donggang, she has never received even a moment of Anser's true love.

But now, Anser answered Xin with the truth - he was not lying, he had a grand vision that surpassed all heroes and righteous people.

The dead nobles were real, the turmoil that should have happened was real, and even the reactions of the common people, who were the least likely to cooperate with Anser, were real.

All this tells Xin that her rescue has paid off and Ansel is responding to her hopes and her heart.

What should she believe? Should she choose to believe that this is a bigger scam set up by Mr. Devil for herself, or choose to immerse herself in the hard-earned happiness and joy at this moment?

Xin...feels painful.

She had never thought about these things before; all she had to do was fulfill her duty.

She does not need to think about good and evil, right and wrong, but obeys God's will and acts as His agent on earth, maintaining the balance of the Supreme Coordination. The turmoil and suffering in the world have nothing to do with her.

That's why she was so determined and single-minded in chasing Anser from the very beginning, trying to save Anser. But now, the purity of the past... has become the biggest obstacle for her to move forward.

"Ms. Xin?"

Anser asked in confusion: "What's wrong with you? You look like... not well."

"I……"

If it were the Xin of the past, she would have confessed all her confusion to Anser long ago, but she can't do it now, whether it's because of her twisted heart or the doubt that can never be eliminated.

Why do I doubt Mr. Devil so much? Why... I don't even want to believe that he can teach me and guide me on what to do? From a long time ago, it has always been Mr. Devil who has been teaching me how to move forward.

Why can't I even believe this?

Xin even felt pained that she could not trust Anser himself, so after a long silence, she lowered her eyes and said softly:

"I'm alright, Mr. Devil."

Then, the saint raised her head and gave Anser a smile that was so pure... yet fragile.

"It's great that you can do such a great thing."

Xin chose to believe that her salvation did work on Anser, and this was the only choice she had.

Because she didn't want to endure that kind of endless torture and pain anymore. If the devil wanted to save the empire from the bottom of his heart, then her redemption would have meaning, and she would have the reason and determination to continue to accompany the devil and continue to redeem the devil.

As long as she thought this way, Anser's plan would succeed. The Saint Lady returned to a reasonable starting point, and her thoughts would no longer easily deviate to those twisted and paranoid aspects, but would focus on redeeming Anser himself.

only……

Ansher looked at Xin, who had returned to normal and seemed to have become the innocent and naive saint she was at the beginning. The depths of his sea-blue eyes were filled with complexity.

Xin, do you really choose to believe me, or do you choose to... numb yourself?

She refused to accept malice disguised as goodwill and strongly distrusted everything Ansher said. It was not because of anything else, but perhaps just because... she no longer wanted Ansher to deceive her, that's all.

For Xin, her desire for Anser's malice seemed not only because the malice represented Anser's attempt to corrupt Xin, but also because of the pain that she suffered again and again, which was the only real trace that Anser left on her.

But Xin could not be so pretentious. She was the most perfect saint, the supreme masterpiece born out of the church's 800 years of heritage. She would not and could not have such unnecessary and completely meaningless negative emotions during the process of redemption.

Even though Ansher has changed her beyond recognition, he has not touched her core so far, so it is impossible.

This is also why Anser was so unbelievable when he deduced Xin's emotions at the time.

Because these signs only point to one possibility.

Before sinking into desire and falling into sin—

The saint has fallen in love with the devil.

*

On the wall of the shelter, Hitana, with her hands on her hips, looked at the refugees evacuating in an orderly manner and nodded with great satisfaction.

"If these nobles work hard, they will be able to get things done!"

Marina's method of controlling those traitor nobles was very sophisticated. She really chose a traitor as one of the supporting forces. Otherwise, that group of people would not be able to produce evidence to convince Murphy, and there was no way... to pass the false evacuation route to the Skyfrost Tower.

That's why Hitana was not worried about the safety of the evacuation team at all. After all, when the joint attack force of Grey Tower and Iron Blade crossed the vast snow and wind to reach their destination, what was waiting for them was not refugees who were at the mercy of others, but a group of hungry monsters.

While she was happy, Miss Wolf also felt a little regretful. After all, her sister seemed to be busy dealing with those traitors in the imperial capital and could not be there to share the joy of victory with her.

According to Marina, this was just the beginning. The first group of nobles who jumped out were the most stupid. It would be a very long and difficult task to completely purge the empire's completely distorted political system under the control of the emperor.

Shitana didn't understand, but she knew what she could do and what she should do, and she didn't need to worry about what was happening with Marina.

"Finally one of the most troublesome things has been solved. It's great!"

Although Miss Wolf, who had threatened to kill, had no idea why the situation had turned out like this—a group of people rebelled for no apparent reason, fell into Marina's hands for no apparent reason, were watched by the entire empire for no apparent reason, and were finally executed in court for no apparent reason, this did not prevent her from finally having one less thing on her mind. Anyway, everything went smoothly and she didn't need to worry about anything.

Why do I dare to rush like this? Because I have Anser, do you have Anser?

The refugees in the north were evacuated one after another. Now she could focus all her energy on investigating the truth of the cold disaster and counterattacking the Grand Duke.

And both of these things involve Miss Wolf’s area of ​​expertise—the war is over!

Hitana began to hum a tune with great interest as she secretly planned her next move. She looked at the long evacuation team and suddenly found Anser and several church priests standing at the gate of the shelter, maintaining order.

The girl rolled her eyes, jumped off the wall, and strode towards them.

"What are your plans next, Mr. Hercules?"

Lulis talked to Anser enthusiastically: "Why not let Brother Mura introduce you to Bishop Mu directly! If you can accept the bishop's teachings with the blessing of the saint, you will surely make rapid progress!"

Hercules smiled helplessly: "Have you forgotten why I am here, Priest Lulis?"

The priest was stunned for a moment, then bowed his head and apologized with a slightly bitter look: "I am shallow, Mr. Hercules."

This righteous man returned to the North for his beliefs and justice. How could he leave for the so-called power?

"Next... I will probably wander between the various shelters."

Hercules looked at the evacuation team and said softly, "After all, no one can guarantee that the same thing will not happen a second time. If something unexpected happens, I hope I can be there."

All the priests present were impressed by his will, but...

The bishops' orders remained unchanged. Even though the salvation brought by Sitana was a foregone conclusion, the orders coming down from the highest levels of the church were still to "stop Sitana" rather than "assist Sitana," especially to guide Hercules in this direction.

This makes them sound not like they are cooperating with Xitana to help the refugees evacuate, but rather that they want to become... troublemakers.

A troublemaker who appears for unknown reasons.

To some extent, this goes against Hercules' firm belief.

"Hey, you, it's you!"

A proud and clear voice interrupted the conversation of the priests. Sitana, who was walking towards them without any manners, raised her chin and said, "You are the... Hercules? The hero blessed by the saint?"

"……Yes."

Hercules showed some hesitation, but finally bowed his head slightly and saluted the pretty and graceful girl: "Hello, Lord Lance."

For some reason, this lady of killing suddenly stopped in her tracks, her body seemed to tremble slightly, and a subtle expression of comfort appeared on her face.

But the priests didn't dare to look at her face, so no one noticed this strange abnormality.

"You're not that... ahem! Not that great!"

Xitana stood not far away, crossed her arms, and suddenly said loudly, "You sound so great, but in the end you still want me to rescue you?"

She seemed to be having a great time.

"Yes, Lord Lance, I will definitely find a way to repay your kindness."

The girl's chin was almost raised to the sky. If her tail grew out now, it would probably spin as exaggeratedly as a turbine.

She narrowed her eyes happily and hummed, "Then you can think about it slowly, but I don't expect you to do anything."

While saying such arrogant words, Xitana subconsciously touched the collar around her neck, and her cheeks unconsciously turned a little red.

"How about this, you call that saint out and let me fight her!"

The priests were horrified, but Hercules shook his head calmly: "I don't know where the Saint is. I'm sorry, Lord Lance."

"Tsk, no... Ugh! Ahem, it's no use!"

Miss Wolf, who had just made a small strange sound, looked around instantly. When she found that no one was looking at her, she glared at the devil in heroic appearance with shame and anger, but she couldn't help scratching her collar again.

Perhaps she was worried that her acting skills were not good enough or that she had poor control, so after saying "it's useless", Shetana turned and left.

"...It's really dangerous, Lord Lance."

Lulis finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Hercules with great admiration: "You can confront her so calmly... It's amazing!"

Hercules smiled and said, "If it were a saint, she would definitely be able to do better."

"Yes, if the Saint was here..." The priest lowered his head slightly and whispered in confusion, "The Saint, as God's representative on earth, has clearly come to the North, but why hasn't she done anything for the tragedy on this land... Where did she go?"

"yes……"

The devil who had reacquainted himself with the saint also said thoughtfully:

"Where did she go?"

*

"You said you were... in pain."

Still in the Church of the Holy Fathers, the place closest to God, Xin was still kneeling under the huge Ouroboros statue, praying to God for an answer, just as she had doubted herself and her faith at that time.

God still did not respond to her. The one who responded to her was Bishop Ming, who had solved Xin's doubts last time and removed a layer of shackles from the saint.

"Yes, Bishop Ming."

Xin stared at the statue of God, but her holy blue eyes seemed empty. She murmured in silence and confusion: "Mr. Devil makes me feel painful. His deception and lies... make it impossible for me to make an objective and reasonable judgment."

The saint turned to look at the elderly bishop, her eyes filled with fragile longing and hope.