The villain's way to tame the protagonist

——Because Xin really didn’t need it. After all, she didn’t feel anything at all, not to mention that this was a dream.

Xin's neck turned slightly, and she tilted her head, staring at the female warrior who stopped her movements very gentlemanly, without any intention of chasing, and replied calmly: "It's okay, Mr. Devil."

"I have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear?"

"I know both pieces of information, Mr. Devil."

Xin disintegrated into tiny dots of light, and then re-condensed into an unharmed body in an instant. She clenched her fists, then turned to look at Anser and said seriously: "The good news is that my opponent seems to be very polite; the bad news is... I can't 'defeat' her like Mr. Devil did."

Xin is an invader of dreams. She uses the divine magic system and dangerous spiritual essence to forcibly intervene in Anser's dreams, thus wandering outside the rules that Anser's soul unconsciously set for this dream.

In other words, this dream was just a formal test and tempering for Anther. These enemies could be defeated as long as Anther overcame his fear and despair. But for Xin, who could not apply such rules... he could only be defeated by a complete victory.

She couldn't use any tricks. She had to defeat this unreasonable monster and Anser's fear in an upright manner in order to fulfill her promise.

And this...is even just one of the enemies.

"If you want to give up now, I can understand."

The cruel devil still looked like a bystander. He didn't care about the enemy he had defeated, nor did he care about Xin who was willing to sacrifice herself for him, nor did he care about that... dark figure who was retreating step by step and was crumbling.

Xin didn't look at Anser, but just stared at the female warrior in front of him who was waiting for him to recover before taking a fighting stance, and responded softly: "I won't give up, Mr. Devil, this is the agreement between us."

Ansher burst out laughing. One-sided demand...also called an agreement?

But since the Saint Lady insisted on thinking so, Ansher certainly didn't mind fulfilling her wish gently and generously, just to make some small changes to such a request.

If you really want to save me and really love me, then don't try to escape from reality, Miss Saint.

Talk about the agreement after your faith has collapsed and shattered.

While the saint voluntarily faced the invincible enemy for him, the devil was still thinking about how to destroy her heart and did not hide the malice in his eyes at all.

I don’t know if Xin felt this malice, but now she is fully focused on fighting the hero’s shadow, so she probably doesn’t have the time to spare.

The Brave Shadow's current posture is a standard defensive stance, with shield in front and sword behind, with knees slightly bent. She is too simple to look like a superhuman. She even knocks on the shield with her sword, signaling Xin to attack first.

Xin once again condensed a greatsword of light and slowly walked towards the Shadow of the Brave, but the other party just waited patiently without any intention of a sneak attack.

Isa Zili... Even in my dreams, you look so disgusting.

Although the dream was controlled by Anser, as long as he did not deliberately interfere, the dream would continue to operate according to the original logic. Staring at this phantom, which was pieced together from his broken cognition and memory of the hero, that cold memory resurfaced in his heart.

Collapse of sanity, out-of-control rage, pure madness, deep despair, and... everything that was trampled upon.

All this made Anser feel more sober than ever before.

Staring at Xin's back, and then his eyes swept over her shoulder and stared at the four blurry shadows, Hydra, who had been calm and cheerful before, had no expression on her face.

But it’s okay this way, this is the best. You, who make me disgusted and hate you, have such an ending, such... fate!

It was all this that filled him with hatred, and that was why he was so clear-headed.

Xin had already arrived in front of the hero's shadow, raising the greatsword above his head, ready to chop him off on the head, but suddenly paused.

At the same time, the brave shadow who was about to raise her shield to counterattack also forcibly stopped the action. She tilted her head slightly, as if wondering why Xin didn't attack, but the next moment, the surging light swallowed up her entire figure.

Instead of bringing the sword down, Xin thrust it into the ground, sending a beam of blinding light shooting up into the sky.

But... nothing happened.

After the light faded, the Warrior's Shadow was unharmed, but seeing her confused look as she looked down at her palms, it was obvious that she was not so strong that she completely ignored Xin's attack, but something went wrong on Xin's side.

There was indeed a big problem with Miss Saint's attack.

"You stopped?" Anser, who had been observing Xin carefully, frowned subconsciously. "Why did you stop? If that attack had hit him, it might have caused effective damage."

The attack just now was more of a pure soul shock than a killing blow manifested by divine power.

The spiritual essence called [Awareness] makes Xin extremely powerful in the realm of the soul, as can be seen from the fact that she can invade Anser's dreams. The consciousness barrier built by the church has prevented her from using this power to attack on a subjective level, but even if she just tries, the effect will definitely be amazing.

But Xin stopped at the last moment, turning the torrent of light into an empty shell without any harm.

And because Xin didn't make any real attack, the hero's shadow didn't fight back.

"She is Mr. Devil's enemy, but she is also... a part of Mr. Devil after all."

Xin stared at the brave shadow who seemed to have no hostility towards her, and seemed to understand something.

She turned to look at Anser: "This is Mr. Devil's pain, and also Mr. Devil's fear, right?"

Anser shrugged slightly without any concern: "To be precise, it was... in the past."

"Since she originated from Mr. Devil, then my power will ultimately harm... Mr. Devil."

"So, I can't hurt her." Xin placed his hand on the blade of the Brave Shadow, and his palm gently stroked it, leaving a cut.

"I can't... hurt Mr. Devil."

Because he was not sure whether he could use that power correctly and stably for attacking, Xin was worried that attacking this dream character, which was essentially still created by Anser, would hurt Anser himself, so he chose to give up at the last minute.

Some are ridiculous, some are... funny.

"So, you're not going to help me?" Anser looked at her with interest, "Or do you think that being beaten and abused by her over and over again is also...helping me?"

Xin looked down at the wound on his hand that was healing automatically but not bleeding. He was silent for two seconds and finally nodded slightly.

"Maybe... yes."

She looked at the shadow of the brave man who showed no desire to attack, and took the initiative to grasp the sharp sword blade, pointed it at her throat, and pierced it slowly and firmly.

The Shadow of the Brave was puzzled by her behavior, but did not stop her. After all, in the dream, her "intelligence" was limited to this extent.

Xin continued to hold the blade, unconsciously letting it cut and dissect his body.

"……what you up to?"

Ansel narrowed his eyes slightly. He had already sensed Xin's little movements—the Saint Lady did not try to attack, but she was now doing something even crazier.

She was trying to touch the essence of this phantom, which was... Anser's soul.

It is not a simple contact, but letting go of oneself, completely allowing and accepting this part of the reverse erosion.

Dreams are just projections of a part of the soul, which are too weak compared to the real soul. But no matter how weak it is, it is still inextricably linked to the soul. For Anser, he can directly and forcibly invade Xin's soul through this connection.

Xin couldn't have been unaware of this, but she did it anyway, as if with some kind of martyrdom-like determination.

Seeing that Xin did not answer, Anser suddenly sneered: "Are you trying to impress me with this behavior, Miss Xin? Why do you think... I would be moved by the self-mutilation of a martyr?"

Xin paused for a moment as she held the sword. She turned to look at Anser and asked softly:

"Mr. Devil... do you despise the act of hurting yourself?"

"Only those who are at the end of their rope will hurt themselves." Anser's face was expressionless, "And being at the end of your rope itself... is a kind of failure."

"I see..." Xin nodded gently, "But I didn't hurt myself, Mr. Devil."

"I don't feel any pain, so how can this be considered an injury to me? I am just using this method to achieve my goal."

Xin did not hurt herself. Even if she switched her phantom to the most aggressive Xitana, she could not cause any substantial damage to Xin. Xin just couldn't win, but she also couldn't lose.

But... Anser doesn't think so.

"You are accepting her with your soul... accepting what she represents, a part of my soul."

The devil raised a cruel smile on his face: "You think this is not hurting yourself, but you think I won't do something to your soul?"

Ke Xin asked in great confusion: "Is this also a harm?"

"..."

"Hasn't Mr. Devil's change towards me always existed? Why does Mr. Devil feel that this is hurting me?"

Those ruthless words and the possible cruel erosion seemed to pose no threat at all in Xin's eyes, as if they had no negative meaning at all.

Whether it's good or bad, she's willing to accept it...Hasn't she always been like this?

"I want to feel Mr. Devil's pain."

She let the sword pierce her chest, silently letting the sword leave countless scars on her hands and arms.

As long as it was brought by Mr. Devil, whether it was a blessing or a curse, she would choose to accept it.

"So, even if I have the sense of touch..."

She actually snatched the sword from the Hero's Shadow, maintained the pierced state, and walked towards the dying dark figure.

This is not a good thing, because Xin is likely to be aware of the sense of déjà vu brought by the other three shadows. Anser wanted to intervene, but suddenly discovered... only in this part, the three shadows were actually somewhat out of his control.

Xin was not simply embracing the sword that could cut through her body and stomach, her soul power was also interfering in the process of accepting the despair and pain.

Although it is impossible to touch Anser's soul, it is not impossible to slightly affect the scene of soul projection and affect this dream.

"Two-way penetration..."

Anser, who was muttering like this, suddenly laughed softly: "You really have other purposes, Xin——"

The saint embraced the dark shadow, the weak, helpless, dying again and again in this nightmare... Hydra.

The heroic phantoms that were not controlled by Anther launched a brutal attack on her without hesitation. Xin's body was ravaged, twisted, and shattered countless times in an instant, but recovered again and again. Later, she almost abandoned her body and turned herself into the best barrier to block the attacks on the dying dark figure.

"If only this way can I empathize with Mr. Devil's pain and despair."

It hurts.

Xin clearly had no sense of pain, but she miraculously felt "pain"... no, it should be "suffering", and above that... "despair".

Her illusory body still couldn't feel anything, so this feeling was transmitted directly through her soul. It was the success she gained through this kind of self-harm.

However, Xin had just felt the emotion called pain and had not even touched the layer of despair when everything around him collapsed.

Wind, rain, thunder, darkness, false illusions... everything completely collapsed with the will of the dream master, like a shattered mirror, falling into endless darkness.

Xin looked down at his arms, but there was nothing there.

After a long time, she asked softly, "Is it over, Mr. Devil?"

"It's over. You performed...very well, Miss Xin."

Hydra clapped his hands. "Two-way infiltration. You have seized partial control over the dream without my knowledge. To what extent you have done this is enough to be considered a success."

Xin looked at Anser, who was smiling brightly, as if she wanted to find something that was the opposite of "happy" on his face, but she didn't.

"Mr. Devil...are you only concerned with what this dream symbolizes, and not the dream itself?"

Anser raised his eyebrows slightly: "So what?"

The content of this dream and the process that took place in it are no longer meaningful to Anser. Its value now lies only in the fact that it symbolizes the illusory ending that he will never accept.

Then, let him move forward in the real world without stopping or looking back.

Chapter 5: The Chosen One (K)

Don’t you care…?

In the darkness where the dream ended, Xin stared at Anser, who seemed to take it for granted, in silence.

This is not a lie, it is the truth. Her Mr. Devil no longer cares about the suffering and pain that this dream has brought him, because he has overcome the fear and despair at the end of the dream.

But... can I just not care about it like this?

"Mr. Devil, before you wake up, I want to make a bet with you."

Xin said suddenly.

After everything was sunk into darkness and preparing to let his consciousness float up and return to reality, Anser was a little surprised at first, and then he showed an excited and happy smile: "Bet? Miss Xin, what are you thinking of? This method is not suitable for you, and... I haven't taught you."

Nowadays, Anser rarely plays games with others on an equal footing. The absolute crushing of both information and power has made those plans that seem to be games and calculations become inevitable.

He is the banker, and as long as someone joins the game, he will win everything in the end.

What a coincidence, one of the few people in the world who could barely compete with him in a bet is standing right here.

"You didn't teach me, but you made me who I am now, Mr. Devil."

——Because Xin is no longer the ignorant saint she once was.

She looked at Anser, who was slightly restraining his smile, and said very seriously: "Even if I haven't received your teachings, I am now qualified to do this."

"Just being qualified is not enough, Miss Xin."

Anser walked forward and brushed away the soft hair by Xin's ear. His tone was gentle, but the greed in his eyes was not concealed at all.

"The conditions for going to the gambling table are simple, but no matter how simple it is, you still have to meet these conditions to find someone willing to gamble with you, right?"

He moved closer, their noses almost touching, Xin's beautiful face was so clear in the devil's sea-blue eyes.