The villain's way to tame the protagonist

The young man was still too excited to control himself: "If we keep going like this, maybe... maybe in less than half a year, we can defeat the Evil Fire Tribe and put an end to the war on the continent! Ah... I also want to go to the battlefield like Bam and the others and make great achievements... Teacher, am I only able to--"

"War is just a means. Everything that comes after it is countless times more important than war."

The man interrupted Ze Rui's words. His expression was extremely serious, but the young man could not see the sadness and sentimentality in his seriousness.

"The wars between extraordinary beings will destroy everything except the extraordinary beings. The creations brought by the extraordinary beings can also benefit the whole world... Between destruction and creation, I hope you can choose the right thing, Zerui."

"You... possess such talent."

The young man stared at his teacher for a long time, and then answered in a solemn and resolute voice: "I will, teacher."

*

"The war has entered its sixth year. I have not taken any action from the beginning to the end. I need to observe how this originally turbulent and chaotic society gradually forms a new order, and then find a way to change that trend..."

As usual, the man recorded the important moments and thoughts he had experienced since arriving on this continent, and used the most original notes, because this notebook was not written for himself.

When writing about "that trend", the man's pen paused for half a second, and then continued: "The empire ruled by the emperor no longer has any hope. It will forever and ever, sinking into the near reincarnation of playing tricks for thousands of years... In other words, even if I find that hope here, I still need another more slim, no, impossible miracle - the end of Feast of Flames."

His handwriting became a little messy, and his fingertips even trembled slightly when he wrote the word "end".

The man had been avoiding this issue. In fact, he had always been very clear that even if he opened up a brand new future, any generation of Feast Flame could destroy everything he had built in a moment as long as they cast their sights.

“Unless…” He panted and clenched the pen tightly, the tip of the pen piercing through the paper, “You have someone who can fight against the Old Gods…”

"teacher!"

This was already the nth time that Ze Rui had barged into a man's workshop without saying hello, but judging from his panicked and anxious expression, something very serious must have happened.

The man looked up at the first student he had accepted on this continent, and the latter said anxiously, "The negotiations between Bam and the Hellfire broke down! He...he killed the other party's messenger!"

"Didn't you try to stop him?"

"I..." Ze Rui opened his mouth, then lowered his head in guilt and powerlessness, "I can't stop him, teacher. I'm much weaker than him, and there's no reason... to stop him."

"Why?" The man remained calm from beginning to end. "Why don't you have any reason to stop him? Do you want to start a meaningless war?"

"No! It's..."

Ze Rui thought of the arrogant and brutal appearance of his friend and his subordinates at that time, and his expression was a little dazed.

"They said... since I've never been to a battlefield, I have no right to comment on their decisions."

The man stared at his student for a long time: "Do you think so too?"

"I……"

"You think that you, who have been doing your best to maintain peace and tranquility in such a vast land where only three rebellions have occurred in six years, have no right to question Bam's decision?"

Without waiting for Ze Rui to speak, the man waved his hand and said, "Go out, Ze Rui. Come back to me after you think it over. I hope I can hear your decision by then."

The young man retreated somewhat dejectedly, but just as he left the workshop, the man's voice came again:

"Moreover, you are not weaker than Bam. There is a power dormant in your soul that even I cannot imagine. It is waiting for... your awakening."

The man closed the door of the workshop again after the student had completely left. He stared at the last sentence of the notebook for a long time, and his pen was about to fall on the handwriting as if he wanted to cross it out, but in the end he put it on the blank space and started a new paragraph.

"The war is about to come to an end. In the end... as I expected, it has returned to the old path of violence and power. The rulers have concentrated all power in their hands through irresistible force. The rise and fall of society depends entirely on the strength of violence. The mortals living in it are just livestock that can be preyed on by others... If no changes are made, the order born on this land will definitely be more despairing than the empire."

The gap between extraordinary beings and mortals is greater than the gap between humans and animals. The former soon realize that the existence of mortals means little to them.

Because of this, the man put all his efforts into creating the road to heaven. He hoped that everyone in the world could bridge the gap through this road, but the man soon found out that he was wrong, extremely wrong.

Everyone has the possibility to achieve extraordinary results on the road to heaven... This has always been a false proposition. The road to heaven, which requires huge investments that are completely disproportionate to the returns in order to seize the opportunity for extraordinary results, is essentially the same as the completely random extraordinary results brought by the abyss. It has no universality at all.

So he needs to create a new path, or build a completely new...social system.

"No one can... override everything with absolute violence."

The man frowned and thought: "But how to stop... restraint? Balance? Or..."

The empire should have originally taken that extreme path, but the emperor, as a supreme being who was thorough and absolute yet constrained by the abyss, managed to maintain the lower limit. However, there was no emperor on this continent, and men did not want a figure like the emperor to appear. After all, it was not anyone who bound the emperor, but the world itself.

...But what if there is a supreme being that can be controlled?

The man suddenly thought of the totems created by many tribes or kingdoms in this backward land full of chaos and disputes in order to consolidate their beliefs, and the beliefs created to strengthen their rule.

"Maybe they just need a...god?"

*

dong dong dong-

"come in."

The moment he stepped into the workshop, Ze Rui, who was wearing a white robe, suddenly changed his expression.

"Teacher, why does your workshop..."

"Has the ether become so thin?"

A man standing behind a large piece of equipment, tinkering with something without showing his head, said: "I suddenly had some new ideas, let's try something."

Hearing this, Ze Rui quickly felt relieved, after all, his teacher was just that kind of person.

"I have completed your concept... but there may be some areas that need improvement, Sensei."

Ze Rui was extremely sincere, and bowed respectfully to the man as always: "Perhaps you can come out and see if the world is as beautiful as you hope it is now."

The man felt the ether flowing through his fingertips, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. "I'm watching all the time. You don't need to go out."

"But...but you have been in the workshop for twenty-seven years!" A pleading look appeared on Zerri's face. "Consider it as me begging you. You have contributed so much to this world. Why can't you enjoy the glory and honor of being a savior?"

The ether in the workshop, which was originally quite thin, completely solidified.

"enjoy."

The man walked out from behind the machine and stared at Ze Rui, whose face was gradually turning pale.

"So in your opinion, now is the time to enjoy yourself?"

"No, teacher, I, I just want to--"

The next moment, a dense screen of light appeared in front of Ze Rui's eyes.

Physical torture, mental humiliation, conflicting contradictions, secret conspiracies... these are the contradictions between countless people that have never been reconciled from the beginning to the end, and are truly impossible to reconcile...

"I can show you more if you want, Zerri."

The man calmly continued to work: "But I won't take the initiative to do this. Do you know why?"

“Because it makes you feel like these are the only problems in the world, like you feel like now is the time to enjoy yourself.”

All the light screens disappeared, and were replaced by a very clear and huge light screen. When Ze Rui saw the scene reflected on the light screen, his pupils suddenly shrank to the extreme.

"Bam...Bam!"

He looked at the scarred man on the screen, standing in the open space swinging his sword and practicing, and screamed in disbelief: "How could it be him... He clearly, clearly has--"

"Dead in your hands?"

The man's tone remained unchanged: "You know he didn't die in your hands, Zerui. You know you just destroyed his soul."

"Don't worry so much. He really has no chance of causing any trouble. His qualifications as a transcendent have been almost completely destroyed by you. No matter how hard he tries, he can only recover to the level of the second level. However..."

As the picture gradually zoomed out, Ze Rui saw a huge valley and a group of...troops training in the valley?

"However, being only at the second level is enough for him to hide in a remote corner and use violence to gain irresistible control, allowing him to continue dreaming of a comeback."

The man pushed up his glasses and said calmly, "It's no problem for Bam to live a life of dominance in a small town, and no one will bother him...even if you don't know, you won't."

"Because you only condemn his inhumanity and cruelty, but you don't realize that he can maintain this inhumanity and cruelty without any scruples in that remote place."

"Have you ever paid attention to this essence, Zerri? Do you think those people are cheering your kindness or your...power?"

The man who finished his work finally walked out from behind the machine and talked to Ze Rui face to face:

"I... don't have the intention of being a savior, Zerri. I just can't bear to see that kind of collapse and loss."

"I told you before," he said word by word, "the war between extraordinary people will destroy everything except them, and they...will always fight each other."

"But the war is over, and now everything is back on track. We are also creating a new order according to your ideas..."

Ze Rui tried hard to convince his teacher: "Everything is getting better, everything will be..."

But as he spoke, he could no longer go on.

Because he couldn't convince himself.

Everything will get better. There will be a new system, a new order. Even if we create a fertile land full of nutrients and a world full of spring flowers forever, will everything really get better?

Ze Rui knew this was impossible, because that was what he was doing, and he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to "make everything better."

"So the teacher... is still looking for the answer, right?"

Before he knew it, Ze Rui, who had become a mature and steady man, looked at his teacher, whose appearance had never changed, and whispered bitterly and guiltily.

"Yes, I have some ideas, but it's still... not enough."

The man looked at the huge machine and replied softly, "It's still a long way from perfection."

This heavy topic made Ze Rui at a loss for words. After a long time, he asked feebly, "Is it really impossible for the extraordinary and the mortal to blend with each other?"

"There must be one, I'm just looking for—"

The man suddenly paused.

Searching, has he found it now?

Three years ago, the man came up with a solution that he thought could really solve the problem, but now he gradually realized that it was not perfect either.

- Place mortals in an environment without any ether, stripping the entire mortal world of the possibility of giving birth to the extraordinary, and keeping their individual differences within the same limits.

It sounds nice, but it is obviously wrong and is creating another hell.

An environment without ether is a fantasy in itself and cannot be separated from the control of supernatural beings. So in essence... this is no different from captivity.

The man who realized this fell into a long period of pain and depression. During this period, Ze Rui came to him many times, but was rejected by him. This is why Ze Rui hoped that he could come out of the workshop so much.

The man actually already vaguely understood that he might not be able to find that possibility.

But at this moment, he suddenly had an epiphany that seemed like a gift from God.

Why do they have to merge? Why can't they be...separated?

A more effective and absolute method than isolating the ether, completely and thoroughly separating the extraordinary from the mortals.

"I see……"

The man's voice was trembling. Ze Rui had never seen him so out of control.

"Teacher, you——"

"I know, I know! That's not wrong, it's just... too one-sided and needs to be improved, but it's indeed the right direction."

He grabbed the staff like a madman, and countless ethers surged up around him:

"We need another direction, the direction of the extraordinary people... let the extraordinary people voluntarily leave the mortal world forever..."

"Only... extraordinary people will be born among them."

*

This was the first time the man had stepped out of his workshop in sixty-nine years.

Although he had always been aware of the changes in the outside world, when he stepped through the heavy door, a strong trance still enveloped him.

"pioneer."

The person standing outside the door was not his student Zerui, but a young man in a white robe. He saluted the man respectfully and reverently, and put his ring finger and middle finger together on his forehead. "The bishops are holding the final assembly and prayer. They are all waiting for your arrival."

"..."

The man didn't say anything. He stared at the deep and long passage ahead. After a long time, he walked forward.

He walked very slowly, as if recalling everything that had happened in the past sixty-nine years.

"How is the church now?" the man asked softly.

"Everything is fine! Everyone is bathed in the glory of God, and everything in the world is so beautiful because of the greatness of God's will and counsel."

The enthusiasm and piety on the young man's face reminded the man of his student, that remarkable young man.

Not just Ze Rui, there are more students.

The man walked through the long corridor, came out of the secret door, and came to the empty but magnificent and sacred temple.

He looked at the Ouroboros statue standing on the altar, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously rose slightly.