The villain's way to tame the protagonist

"Not everyone comes to the Skyfrost Tower with a pure desire for knowledge, Lord Lance."

The Grand Duke of Gray Tower shook his head with some emotion: "If that is true, then many things are unnecessary."

"I don't know how much you know about the church on the other side of the continent that replaces order with faith... I can tell you this - even if you live in a place like that, where faith is the core and is almost equivalent to life, it is impossible for every citizen and every believer to have a truly devout faith in the so-called God."

Dormer was studying church theology, so it was not surprising that he brought the topic to the church, but Ansel immediately realized the true meaning of the old man's words.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Grey Tower Grand Duke paused and hadn't finished his next sentence, Anser suddenly asked, "Miss Xin, I don't think you care about this kind of thing now, right?"

"...Yes, what's the matter, Mr. Devil, are you...worried about me?"

Xin looked at Anser with some confusion. The complexity of faith was no longer something she needed to explain. Even her own faith had become chaotic and impure.

Anser smiled and said, "As the one who has led you to re-evaluate your faith, I have no right to worry about you on this matter. I just hope that you can be more resolute. Now that you have a new understanding of faith, don't be afraid of more changes."

"More... changes..."

Mr. Devil, are you talking about coordination and good and evil, God and the church?

The assistant maintained by God has never transcended the scope of human beings, and the scene that God wants to see has not deviated from human expectations... This makes Xin, who has never had the slightest doubt about the existence of God, feel panic. If it were not for Mr. Devil's need for her, Xin would probably have fallen into the abyss of self-doubt. Even now, she is still in danger and must always follow the footsteps of the devil... Even if it is the devil himself who brings her into the abyss.

Mr. Devil, are you comforting me? I know clearly that it is you who made me what I am now, but why am I still happy that you comfort me?

[You need to recognize what is between you and Mr. Anser]

The witch's meaningful words still lingered in Xin's mind from time to time. She subconsciously touched Ansel's shoulder. There was an emotion that Xin had never experienced before, flowing along her fingertips into her heart, and then flowing through her blood vessels to her whole body.

Just as Xin was happily and timidly savoring this emotion, the voice of the Grand Duke of Gray Tower came again:

"Because for believers, and even church leaders, faith, and even God himself, is just a tool."

"..."

Xin's expression froze.

"After all, it's just a——"

"You're being long-winded." Xitana frowned and interrupted the Grey Tower Grand Duke. "I'm not interested in listening to your long speech. Where are we going next? Lead the way."

——Although she didn't know why Anther suddenly asked her to stop Dormer from speaking, Hitana didn't need to know and did as Anther asked without thinking.

The Grand Duke of Gray Tower had no intention of giving a long speech on the affairs of the church, so he just smiled and nodded: "Then let's go to the ninth floor. I have set up a research area there specifically for the church's divine arts... I'll take you to see it."

[Wait, why does this guy always bring up the church?]

Xitana also realized belatedly that the Grand Duke of the Grey Tower was abnormal, and hurriedly communicated with Anther's soul.

[Anser... He can't possibly discover your true identity, and also discover Xin, right? Should I reject him? ]

Miss Wolf had just asked half of her question when the Grand Duke of Gray Tower said slowly, "I know you will definitely be interested."

“…Why should I be interested in church matters?”

"Because you are not suspecting that the cold disaster in the north has something to do with me?"

Dormer Grey Tower smiled calmly. "Polynia told me your reaction. Ah, please don't blame her. According to her, Lord Lance, you were a little... scary at the time. She was worried that you would do something bad to yourself, so she warned me in advance."

Facing the pair of dark red eyes that vaguely turned into animal pupils, the Grand Duke of Gray Tower bowed slightly and said, "I cannot bear such a great sin, so I feel it is necessary to clarify the facts to you. And nothing is more convincing than letting you see it with your own eyes. Therefore, please allow me to explain from the basic level, that is, the church's magic."

"..."

At this point, Hitana no longer had any reason to refuse, but as long as Ansor asked her to refuse, she would tell the Grand Duke of the Grey Tower to get out of the way without hesitation.

[Promise her, Xier]

[But is he targeting Xin...?]

Leave it to me

Hearing this calm response, Xitana was stunned for a moment, and then a confident smile appeared on her face.

"Okay, let's go."

Dormer noticed the change in Sitana's mood and was slightly puzzled: "Lord Lance seems to be in a better mood all of a sudden. Did you think of something?"

"Yes." Xitana answered cheerfully, "I'm so happy to think that I will be able to tear your head off and kick it like a ball in the near future."

"Haha, it's really my honor."

...This perverted old man is so disgusting!

Thinking of this, Shitana casually looked back at Ansher, and in an instant seemed to see through his disguise and looked into his sea-blue eyes.

After catching the reassuring tenderness and calmness, Xitana stopped thinking and strode in the direction indicated by the Grand Duke of the Grey Tower.

I originally thought I would have to do it myself, but now... you should thank Ansir for your generosity if you can keep your body intact, old man!

The girl hummed a strange tune proudly and walked lightly.

"Ms. Xin? Are you okay?"

Anser, who was following behind, asked softly, "Do you care about what the Grand Duke of Gray Tower said?"

"……Yes."

Xin came to her senses and clung to Anser. She didn't want to lie to Anser now.

"I shouldn't have been shaken by such absurd words... This is a blasphemy against God, but Mr. Devil, I..."

If everything God does is for man, and if the world maintained by the Great Co-ordinator is also for the society composed of man... then what is the purpose of their existence?

In other words, what exactly is it that exists only for the sake of individuals and a society of individuals?

The answer can only be things created by humans.

And now, the Grand Duke of Gray Tower even said that he had set up an area specifically for studying divine arts... If divine arts can really be studied by people, or even mastered by non-believers...

Xin, who used to be a fanatic, would not be affected by such words at all, but the barriers and high walls that tightly blocked her had been torn down bit by bit by Anser.

Then, you will use her current vulnerability to deal with me?

"It's okay, Xin."

Anser gently held the saint's trembling hand: "Whether it is doubt or fear, it is proof of your transformation and growth. If you still believe in God, then please regard everything you are going through now as a test. If God can no longer give you glory, pride, satisfaction, and happiness..."

The devil paused, and those words, which were clearly vicious but very rare and not lies, penetrated into Xin's mind and lingered in her soul.

"Aren't you the one who needs to be saved?"

Gradually, Anser felt that Xin's hands were no longer shaking.

"Yes... This is a test from God, a test for me."

As he said this, Xin held Ansel's hand tightly, like a puppy afraid of being abandoned or a lamb afraid of losing its shepherd, and was unwilling to let go.

Dormer Grey Tower, how did fate push you to accelerate the dismantling of Xin's mind? What was your reason for doing this?

Anser, who was holding Xin tightly, was very curious about this, but what was more important at the moment was the next response.

Familiar acceleration, familiar fueling the flames... Fate, how many times do you have to use it before you get tired of it? How many times do you have to use it before I understand that I will no longer be defeated by this kind of means?

In order to keep Xin's mentality stable, the depth of her emotions for Anther must be balanced with the degree of collapse of her cognition of the church and God. Fate begins to accelerate madly and forces Xin to face the truth of the church. Then Anther must give the panicked Xin a solid enough support.

This would have been a good thing for Anser as it would have accelerated the progress of his conquest, but obviously... this was exactly the same method that fate had used on Xitana and Ming Furo.

But Ansel would never fall into the same trap again this time, because he had firmly grasped his emotions towards Xin from the very beginning. From the beginning to the end, he had been educating, playing with, and dominating the poor Saint Lady from a superior position... Although he didn't know where Xin's love for him came from, it was impossible for him to have the same feelings towards Xin as he had only pure desire for her so far.

Even if Xin is turned into a prop in the end, Anser doesn't care at all. What he didn't do to Xitana and Ming Furo, he will make up for it to Xin.

Could it be that fate made him fall in love with Xin at first sight? After spending so much time together, it was almost like a relationship between a master and a pet, love at first sight?

Also, He couldn't just be targeting Sin, because if He failed to deal with Shetana, it would also be an unacceptable failure in His eyes.

Are you so impatient before the final round? In your eyes, how shaky is the situation that you have pushed countless coincidences and turned Dormer into a weapon to attack me? Do you also have times when you are... so impatient?

Then let's fight, fate. You and I will not rely on force and killing, but only on... the authority to rule!

There was an increasingly dark darkness in Hydra's eyes, but he seemed immersed in it and didn't notice it. Xin, who should have been immersed in that sweet comfort... was seeing the surging evil.

Chapter 5: The Devil's Heart (K)

As the foundation of the church's rule over another continent, the origin and essence of divine magic may only be known by successive emperors and Hydra.

However, these two great beings seemed to have no interest in this extraordinary system which was obviously more advanced than the Road to Heaven. In the past few hundred years, no emperor or Hydra had mobilized a large number of troops to study divine arts, and they even let the priests rooted in the empire do what they wanted without imposing any restrictions.

"Both great gods look down on this method, which shows one thing."

The Duke of Gray Tower led Xitana and Hercules through the heavy doors and came to the closed area. He stopped and turned to look at the two of them:

"Divine arts cannot lead to the sixth level of supremacy... At least according to their current development, there is no such possibility - normal people should think so, right?"

The old man, who was already over a hundred years old, tapped the ground lightly with his cane, his aged face full of a confident smile: "But when I reached the threshold of the fourth level at the age of twenty, I had different ideas."

"We have been inferring that there is a possibility that the Path to Heaven can lead to the sixth level, but both the Emperor and Hydra have remained noncommittal about this, with the same attitude towards divine arts... Do they also think that the Path to Heaven has no such possibility? No, the fact is quite the opposite."

"It is precisely because the Path to Heaven and divine arts have the potential to lead to the sixth level or even higher that the Emperor and Hydra allow it... to exist."

“I think this is not hard to understand.”

He led Xitana to the nearest workshop and continued, "Things that the gods allow to exist must be valuable to them. If the upper limit of divine arts and the road to heaven is only level five, how could the Emperor and Hydra, who were gradually going crazy at the end of their lives, allow something that was not only meaningless to them but also made them jealous to the point of madness, to exist?"

As a plaything in the hands of the emperor, the empire does not need additional, stable extraordinary people to develop. The Road to Heaven, as a miracle road opened up by the pioneer, has brought great changes to the entire extraordinary field, but if the end can only reach the fifth level, then it is meaningless to the emperor.

The extraordinary people believed that the Emperor and Hydra's indifference to the Road to Heaven meant that the end of this road was Level Five, but in the opinion of the Grand Duke of the Grey Tower, the opposite was true - this kind of laissez-faire indifference was already a great importance to the God Race.

"There is also a more convincing proof - no emperor in history has ever launched an expedition to the other side of the continent. Even though the route to that end was opened up by the first Triumphant Duke, for the emperor, crossing the Tiantu Mountains and ruling another land is just a piece of cake."

"Then why didn't they do this?"

After leaving behind such a meaningful question, the door of the workshop slowly opened, and a series of strangely shaped machines came into view. There were also many sorcerers around who were busy calculating and recording something.

The first thing they wanted to do when they saw the Grand Duke of Gray Tower was to salute him, but he waved his hand to interrupt them. The old man smiled and waved to a warlock: "Millerfa, come here."

"Oh, oh! Okay, Your Excellency the Principal!"

The warlock he called over quickly put down his work and came over immediately: "Are you here to inspect the recent research progress? And who are these people..."

This warlock named Miller didn't even know Xitana. Not only that, other warlocks seemed to be the same.

Logically speaking, the Scourge Wolf's vicious reputation and appearance had spread throughout the empire long before, not to mention that the Skyfrost Tower was severely damaged by it a few years ago. Even if Miss Wolf's physical appearance had changed drastically because of the Lord of Strength, it is impossible that no one, from students to researchers, knew Shitana.

This increased her vigilance once again. Dormer seemed to be deliberately targeting the church and teasing Ansel and Xin. This was enough to explain the problem. Shitana would no longer treat this visit simply for the sake of venting her feelings.

Sitana, very sharp!

"Just treat them as visitors and introduce your research direction to them, Miller Method."

"Okay, Your Excellency the Principal."

The warlock named Miller pushed up his glasses and was about to speak when the young man's cold and sharp voice spoke first.

"What's that thing soaking in that jar?"

There was already light gathering in Hercules' hands, vaguely condensing into the shape of a big sword. After a brief moment of daze, Milefa was not threatened by his hostile attitude. Instead, his eyes under the lenses were burning with an extremely fanatical fire.

He walked to Hercules in two or three steps, tried to touch the shining sword, and murmured in a trembling voice: "This is divine magic... No, but how can you, you have no qualifications at all, and you can't touch the ether at all, what on earth is this-"

"Millerfa," the Grand Duke of the Grey Tower interrupted the warlock's frantic whispers, "Mr. Hercules is a guest."

"…Hercules? Are you Hercules? The righteous man chosen by the Saint of the Church!?"

The man then realized who the boy in front of him was. The ecstasy in his eyes was so great that Shitana almost couldn't help but punch him on the head.

"I... uh, sorry, please forgive my gaffe." Miller reacted and suppressed his creepy research desire and managed to calm down.

Hercules' expression did not soften at all. With the blessing of the holy light, his pure solemnity made him look stern and courageous, just like a hero in a story.

He repeated the question word by word: "I ask you, what is in that jar?"

"Jar...Oh, you mean sample number seven?" Miller looked in the direction of the sword's tip, with a look of realization.

"In order to prevent certain accidents, we deliberately set up multiple isolation spells outside the nutrient tank... I didn't expect you to be able to see through it at a glance."

He turned back to Hercules with a very natural look:

"As you can see, that is the brain and spine of a fourth-level priest."

"We used the highest level of magic to keep it highly active. It is one of the most precious samples in the entire research area."

Hercules slowly fixed his gaze on Dormer Grey Tower. His murderous intent, which showed no fear at all when facing a fifth-level transcendent, forced the other researchers in the workshop to break away from their work and focus their attention here.

"Is this what you want us to see?"

The glow behind him, which was as glittering as wings, made all the researchers present breathe faster, as if they were facing some natural treasure or a masterpiece bestowed by God.

At this moment, Hercules seemed to have stolen all the limelight from Sitana, who should have been the protagonist, and this scene... Xin always felt that it was familiar.