The villain's way to tame the protagonist

"...Yota? What's wrong?"

"Aunt Yalana, is Xi'er okay?"

"She...she is very tired. I wanted to persuade her to rest the day before yesterday, but she didn't listen to me."

"Xi'er... hasn't gotten over it yet? Is she lying to us so that we don't worry?"

The mother said sadly: "Maybe it is like this... Maybe she still feels guilty towards Master Hydra, so she has never wanted to contact him."

"Xi'er is really...why doesn't she want to tell us? Aunt Yalana, you and Uncle Orlan should persuade her to contact Lord Hydra. If she doesn't say anything, who knows what Lord Hydra thinks?"

"I...but Xi'er seems..."

"Lana, Yota is right."

Her father's calm and sad voice reached Hitana's ears through the floor.

"Xier's condition is already very bad. She's not just tired, she's already doubting herself. At that time... when she dropped out of the academy, she had the same expression when she saw us sad. The child even wanted to die... We can't let the child continue to torture herself like this, absolutely not."

"All of us may not be able to help her, but Lord Hydra, who is willing to let Xi'er sacrifice herself like this and is also willing to sacrifice herself for Xi'er, can definitely do it."

"In this world, only Lord Hydra can save Xi'er."

Dad, Mom, Yota...

You...why can't you help me? You are obviously the only ones who can help me.

You are obviously the only ones I have left.

So in your eyes... am I so unbearable after leaving Hydra?

"Isn't this the truth?" Hydra sat next to Hitana and said with a chuckle, as if he knew what she was thinking.

The discussion downstairs gradually died down, and the sound of footsteps coming upstairs gradually came, stopping in front of Xitana's closed door.

After three or four seconds, there was a knock on the door, and father Orlan said softly, "Xi'er, mom and dad have something to tell you, can you let mom and dad in?"

No response.

"…Xi'er? Xi'er?"

Outside the door, Orlan's voice became increasingly anxious. When he still didn't hear a response, he didn't care about anything else and pushed the door open suddenly, only to find... the room was empty.

Only the windows were open, and the merciless, icy snow drifted across the floor.

*

In the dark night, Xitana wandered aimlessly outside the village.

With her empty eyes, she looked like a corpse without a soul. The dead silence and emptiness were even more lonely than when she was trudging through the snow in Red Frost City.

Because at that moment, she was suffering from moral torture, torment of beliefs, and slaughter of ideals.

But at this moment, everything that Xitana had experienced in so many days was... even more cruel to her, so cruel that it could not be any more cruel.

It is the root cause of self-destruction.

The me in Hitana's eyes and the Hitana in everyone else's eyes in this world are no longer the same person.

In the eyes of the people she loved most, she was not the best hunter in the village, she was not a bad-tempered child, she was not a genius who might have had a bright future but ruined her own future, causing people to sigh.

In this village, in the eyes of all the people she loved, everything that Xitana Lansmalos had experienced before was... no longer of any value.

Because she only has one attribute left - a vassal of Hydra.

What remained for Xitana was not the person she loved, nor the love that the person she loved had for her. In that endless love, they regarded her efforts as atonement for Hydra, begging for Hydra's favor, and tied her sorrow, joy, anger, and numbness to Hydra.

She became someone born for Hydra, the parasite she despised the most - in the eyes of the people she loved, that is.

What’s even more ridiculous is that, without realizing it... the facts have become like this.

Just as the Hydra phantom said to himself -

【Isn’t this the truth? 】

Hitana Lancemalos is dead.

That proud, confident fool who dared to challenge any authority, that wild beast, was killed by everything she loved.

Nothing makes sense anymore.

Her value, her existence, from now on, in the eyes of everything she cherished... she would live only for Hydra.

When Hitana's soul was already dead, a deep and hoarse voice suddenly came from the front.

“Has it come to this?”

In the darkness, a figure as strong as a beast and tall enough to be intimidating slowly emerged.

Xitana looked at him numbly, said nothing, and continued walking forward.

"This is... Hydra's means and courage. It's amazing."

The man crossed his arms and said in a deep voice, "When your name spread out of the Red Frost Territory, we have already started studying you, Xitana Lancemalos."

"It took twenty-six people seven days and seven nights of sleepless nights to get all the information about you from the time you were born until now."

"At the same time, we are also paying attention to all of Hydra's movements. We have not missed a single piece of information since the moment we entered the Scarlet Frost Territory."

"Finally, we came to an incredible conclusion."

Hitana, who was bound by an invisible force, heard this strong man, the "snow monster" taken in by the village, say:

"All of Hydra's high-profile actions from the beginning until now are to maximize public opinion. These public opinions have no effect on him, but... they are very useful to you, Lance."

"Under his command, you are reckless, arrogant, and restless. With his connivance, you will undoubtedly make countless mistakes. Are these mistakes related to Hydra?"

"——Of course not. When Hydra's reputation becomes higher and higher, to the point where almost no one would think he is wrong no matter what he does, all his actions are correct. As for you who go against him, no matter what you think or do, you will only get mistakes and denials."

The "Snow Monster" walked towards Xitana step by step, looking down at her expressionlessly:

"Hydra spent more than a month, and everything he did was to turn the entire Red Frost Territory into a cage that only holds you."

"To achieve this, the connection of various events, the control of your mentality, the foresight of the current situation, and the insight into the entire Red Frost Territory..."

The snow monster closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, his pupils flashing with fiery enthusiasm:

"This is... Ansir Hydra! What we need is a true regulator and... ruler who can perfectly establish a new country after overthrowing the empire!"

"...What do you want to say?" Xitana's voice was extremely empty. "Do you want to emphasize to me the greatness of Hydra? I probably know more about it than you, than anyone else in the world."

"No, I just want you to understand the cause and effect before making a request."

The snow monster said calmly: "Well, let me introduce myself. I am from the [New World], that is, the Revolutionary Army. You can continue to call me snow monster, or..."

"Wendigo."

"We are currently lacking a visionary, knowledgeable person who has insights that transcend the times for the empire and even the entire human social system."

Although Wendigo is muscular, his tone of voice is very calm, not giving people a strong sense of oppression: "Destruction alone is not enough. And the new country built by the knowledge of this era is destined to repeat the mistakes of the past."

"We need a genius who can envision a society that transcends this rotten structure of the Empire and ends this cycle of stupidity."

"Hydra's territory is undoubtedly the most undisputed paradise on earth in the entire empire. From the time he took over Flamel's management of the territory until now, we have infiltrated sixteen people, thirteen of whom rebelled, and three even went undercover against us."

"There is no doubt about it." Wendigo said word by word, "Anser Hydra is the genius we need."

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Xitana still looked at Wendigo with those empty eyes, "Do you want to prove his greatness to me so that I will submit to him?"

"No, on the contrary." Wendigo took another step forward, and in the moonlight, the shadow of his huge body almost completely covered Hitana.

"You must not become his covenant leader. We will do everything we can to prevent Hydra from having a covenant leader."

Wendigo's voice was as cold as iron at this moment: "The fully formed Hydra is no less of a disaster to the world than the Feasting Flame. The Feasting Flame needs to be destroyed, and so does Hydra."

"But it just so happens that... this generation of Hydra, Anser Hydra, still has no covenant leader, and Flamel's life has come to an end. As long as we can ensure that Anser still has no covenant leader when Flamel dies, then we can rest assured to cooperate with him, overthrow the empire, and create a new world."

"Xitana Lancemalos, Hydra's intentions towards you undoubtedly show that he regards you as his heir."

The man raised his hand and said expressionlessly:

"So now, I give you two choices."

"First, watch me destroy your village and kill everyone in it."

"Second, you commit suicide right now."

As Hitana looked at the humanoid monster in front of her, her completely dead and empty heart began to ripple slightly.

But not because of anger, not because of fear, but because... absurdity.

"Haha...hahaha..."

Sitana didn't laugh out loud, but she was completely broken down and was laughing convulsively without any reason.

What’s wrong with this world?

Nobles, Hydra, Revolutionary Army.

The revolutionary army, claiming to overthrow the corrupt rule of the empire, wants to kill everything she loves and force her to commit suicide.

Is it just to make Hydra without that so-called "concubine", to make him not strong enough, so that he can... join the revolutionary army?

And the nobles... have been helping their own villages, providing them with extremely luxurious resources without asking for anything in return. Even for the sake of Hydra, they have made the village a better place.

Hydra... Where is Hydra? Hydra is the one they both want to please. The nobles flatter him, and the revolutionary army boasts about him.

"You may not believe that Hydra is willing to join the Revolutionary Army, but I can tell you that Hydra has never stood on the side of the Empire, let alone been tied to the Emperor."

"He only stands on the side of those who can give him reason, that's all."

Wendigo raised his head slightly, and the confidence and calmness in his words were unquestionable: "And we are confident that we can give him what he needs."

"So... you want me to die?" Xitana laughed, "Haha, am I going to die because of this?"

She no longer knew what words to use to describe the absurdity of what he had heard, or, as a girl who had already lost her mind, she had almost no mind to think about these things.

"...There are indeed some disagreements among us, because someone suggested that you can fight for it, so that Hydra can have another leader, and we can also have more help."

Wendigo stared at Xitana: "But we, we think, there is no need. Those people are also troublesome, so we took action first, so... I have been lurking in your village for so long, just to wait for you to come back."

"Having one more leader in Hydra doesn't mean one more helper, but... one more level of instability."

"What's more," the man paused and said expressionlessly, "You are not worth it."

You don't have this value.

This is what the people who were oppressed with him, who wanted to kill all those damn nobles and even overthrow the empire and who should have stood on his side said.

"Compared to Hydra, you are nothing, Lance. We have studied your talent, and it is indeed worth boasting about, but that's all... Go back ten years and we will find someone with the same talent as you, or even stronger than you."

Wendigo declared: "Compared to your own value, I think it is more meaningful to keep Hydra in the least threatening state."

There is no... value.

My enemies, my kind.

My own kind say I am worthless and boast to my enemies.

He said that my value lies only in making my enemies...non-threatening.

Hehe…hehe…hahahahaha…

Wendigo looked at Hitana, whose expression was getting more and more broken and close to a complete mental breakdown, and frowned slightly: "I didn't give you time to hesitate... I thought that after explaining Hydra's calculations against you, you would not have any attachment to him. It seems that we should hurry up."

Haha, he even thought I had reservations about Hydra—

Xitana's crazy mental activities stopped at this moment.

Because, a person appeared out of nowhere on the Wendigo's hand, which was almost bigger than a human head.

Her name is Reyota Nalinga and she is Sitana's best friend.

"Hey, what am I doing...ah! Sitana, you are--"

Click.

With a slight twist of two fingers, the face with a happy smile drooped to one side with a crisp sound.

"One." Wendigo said expressionlessly, "Ten seconds. If you don't commit suicide immediately, I'll be the next one."

A shrill scream exploded in the darkness.

The completely insane Hitana punched the Wendigo, and was then slapped by the latter and flew more than ten meters away.