The villain's way to tame the protagonist

How much does a person have to go through before he can grow?

Because there are so many different kinds of people, the answers are naturally different.

For Xitana Lancemalos, this answer was... extremely cruel.

Where is the cruelty? It is not just cruel in that she lost everything, but cruel in that… at least 80% of all the suffering she encountered came from herself.

Otherwise, Hitana would not have gradually indulged in fighting and killing during her long wandering. She realized her mistakes as she grew up, and because of this cognition, she chose to numb herself, and then grew again because of this numbness.

Finally, after killing the person she felt most sorry for in the world with her own hands, she was reborn after receiving that advice and restraint.

Fate used such cruelty to cut her flesh and blood, cut her bones, and finally reshaped her into the prototype of an emperor and the body of a hegemon.

"This is... my future?"

Anther's face reappeared in Xitana's vision. The expression on her face was not one of collapse or fear, but... incomprehensible absurdity.

She was not escaping from reality, but simply felt that everything she saw was incomprehensible and absurd.

She couldn't believe why she was so stupid, couldn't believe why she was so cruel, couldn't believe... that she abandoned her sister and fled from hell, stood on the ruins of the village and wailed helplessly, wandered aimlessly and numbly, squandered her strength to create massacres, and even in the end... killed Marina who sacrificed everything for her with her own hands.

It's not that Xitana doesn't believe in the future that Ansor showed her.

But she couldn't believe... that pitiful and hateful person was actually herself.

"Anser..." Xitana lowered her head, her voice distorted and trembling, "Is that person really me?"

"I was the one who was self-righteous, blindly arrogant, always talking about how powerful I was, but never supported Lina, never sympathized with Lina, never stood by her when she needed that power, and instead used that power to kill her."

"That's you, Xitana." Ansher caressed the girl in his arms who was trembling with anger and sorrow with pity. There was no extra emotion in his sea-blue eyes.

Only... the pitiful people share the same suffering.

"Fate's purpose is the same as what I did to you - He needs you to grow, and the pain you've experienced, the destruction of the village, and all the despair that Marina has encountered are the nutrients for your transformation."

He held Xitana's hand and said softly: "Perhaps you can't understand my words intuitively, so take a look at these again."

The picture in Xitana's eyes changed again, and now she saw Marina and her being captured by Count Red Frost's men.

"Shitana, you should have realized that you have caused so much trouble before, but the village has not suffered any retaliation. It must be because someone protected you, right?"

Anser's voice rang in Xitana's ears: "The person who protected you was the mentor who brought you into the Sky Frost Tower. She actually had a very high status in the Sky Frost Tower, so she protected you from countless disasters."

"Then the question is, at this time, when you were captured by Earl Chishuang and imprisoned in Chishuang Manor, why did she not make any move?"

The scene changed, and a mature woman with ordinary appearance appeared in front of Xitana.

She looked at the words on the parchment with a sad and painful expression.

"Is this...teacher?" Sitana murmured to herself.

"To be precise, it was Polynya who found out about your experience. By the time she found out about you and Marina, it was already two years after you were captured."

As Anser said this, the scene changed again.

"Why did I study that damn Eternal Silence ritual! If it had been earlier...if I hadn't been so immersed in the research, Xi'er..."

The scene froze, and Anser's explanation sounded at the same time: "This is the memory that Polynya confessed when she was talking to you. She entered a very significant research one week before you and Marina were captured. Do you know... why she suddenly started the research?"

In the scene that was played again, Polynya murmured to herself in a trembling voice: "If I didn't have that inspiration... If that inspiration never appeared——"

As Xitana's rage gradually boiled over, Anser curled his lips and said sarcastically:

"Yes, inspiration."

"God-given...inspiration."

"But now that I have changed everything, Polynya has not received that inspiration. I can easily invite her to Red Frost City. She is not immersed in research that ignores all external things."

Xitana stared at her teacher, who was in tears after not seeing her for a long time, and almost squeezed out words from between her teeth: "And this is because... Anser, you are here. Even if the teacher enters the research, you will change the fate of Marina and me."

"That's right. So Polynia didn't get that kind of inspiration again. Fate judged that it was meaningless to do so. Do you think it's ridiculous? An inspiration that can subvert the etheric world is just to make you and Marina... fall into an abyss of no return."

Xitana could only remain silent.

In this spiritual world, Anser removed the image in his mind and projected something else instead.

It’s not the time traveler’s understanding of the world, but his... own memory.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg of how it manipulates your life.”

As Anser said this, a young boy appeared on the screen.

Blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, there was no doubt that this was the young Ansir Hydra.

However, his eyes at this moment were frighteningly gloomy and cold, not at all like the expression of an eleven-year-old child. Instead, he looked more like... an inhuman and crazy monster.

"I only have one request, kill her."

The boy in the picture issued such a cruel and ruthless order without any fluctuation in his tone.

"Xitana, when you were eleven years old, you were assassinated unexpectedly."

Anser said: "I did it."

Xitana was not angry, but responded calmly: "But... I didn't die. I remember it very clearly. I killed that guy."

"Well, logically speaking, you had not yet entered the supernatural realm at that time, so it was impossible for you to kill the other party. Do you know... what rank the assassin I hired was?"

Anser sneered: "Superb level three, a killer who has been in the industry for ten years."

"...But, that guy isn't that powerful at all."

"Yes, because the person who came to assassinate you was not the guy I originally hired."

"..."

"The 'assassin' I hired looked down on you as a target and didn't want to go to the desolate north, so he subcontracted the job to a second-level assassin. This assassin also felt that killing a child was a disgrace to his reputation, so he subcontracted it again. After many rounds of transfers, only a crappy and weak assassin who had just entered the first level took over the job."

Anser looked at Xitana, his tone calm, "Then, he was killed by you who forcibly drove the spiritual essence."

"How much do you think fate has done to promote this?"

"At that time, I hoped to kill you without alerting anyone. After all, you were just a child from a remote village. If I made a big move, your father might find out that something was wrong with you, and that was something I didn't want to see. So I planned this ridiculous assassination."

Xitana also sneered bitterly: "This is really... interesting."

"Yeah, it's really interesting."

Hydra sighed and changed the scene to something else.

"It only took me this one time to realize that you are absolutely impossible to be killed. No matter what means I use, fate will always allow you to escape danger and even grow. If this is the case, I will become its tool. So I choose to give up killing you and start planning a new plan."

This time, Sitana saw...young Marina.

"My thought at that time was that the source of your fall into the abyss and your rebirth was not Earl Red Frost, or the Red Frost Territory, not those who caused you pain, but... the people you cherish."

"So, I started to try to protect Marina and keep her away from tragedy as much as possible. You can't grow up sufficiently if you are bound by Marina."

“But I failed.”

From Anser's perspective, Hitana watched Marina chatting with a noble.

"I have pushed Marina to meet people from all walks of life more than ten times."

Anser said: "I have screened these people. They are either conscientious, have great vision, or nobles, extraordinary people, or businessmen who protect their own interests."

"These people have no shortage of thugs, but they lack a talent who can manage wealth and career well. And this kind of talent... is naturally cultivated from childhood and is the most trustworthy."

"So, even if Marina accepts the invitation of any one of them, your family's fate may change."

"But Marina didn't accept any of them." The young Hydra sighed with a complex and compassionate expression, "I don't know what Marina was thinking, or how fate interfered with her, but the fact is... she gave up more than a dozen opportunities and still stayed in the Red Frost Territory, waiting for her fate to come."

"And then, I suddenly realized that even if she, you, and your family left the Scarlet Frost Territory, the tragedy would still happen, just in a different way."

In the vast spiritual world, Anser said to Xitana who lowered her head: "So, I started a long preparation and plan, and now it has come true."

"Anser..."

Xitana looked at the boy in front of her and murmured in confusion: "Who are you? Why... why do you know all this? And why... did you choose me?"

Anser laughed: "This is the end."

He held Xitana's hand in the spiritual world, held her in his arms, and whispered:

"It's your turn to bear witness to me, Sitana."

Then, Sitana saw it.

The confusion at the birth of the embryo, the soul from another world, the huge memory library, the vast knowledge, and... the future of Hydra.

"Like you, I am also a tool in His hands, a tool to push the world to the next stage."

Anser smiled calmly: "It's just that you are the cornerstone of everything, and you are revered as great by people and future generations; and I, as the greatest sacrifice under this cornerstone, deserve only eternal contempt and scorn."

Shitana trembled as she read Anser's original life. She only felt sadness and anger when reading about her own life, but at this moment... she felt fear.

Yes, Ansel's life was so hopeless that even she, who had witnessed how miserable her own life was, felt terrified.

"The memories of this time traveler friend are so vast that I didn't find any memories of this world until I was ten years old."

The scene in front of the two people changed. Anser stared at the scene that was no different from reality and lowered his eyes slightly.

"This is the starting point of everything. This is also my...final proof."

*

When the two returned to reality, Shitana found that she had burst into tears without realizing it.

Because at that time, she put herself in Anser's perspective and experienced the despair that Anser experienced completely.

"An…ser."

The girl, who did not even cry for her own misery, trembled and said, "That day, you..."

Anser just smiled and wiped away Xitana's tears: "It's over, Xitana. I have been freed from the despair of that day. What remains... is only hatred."

He put his forehead against Xitana's and whispered:

"This is all I can give you. It's up to you which side you choose to stand on."

Hitana quickly calmed down. She felt the warmth on her forehead. As the peace spread throughout her body, she felt some different emotions in her heart.

"So...what you did to me, and you deliberately told me that it was all arranged by you, just to make me...hate fate?"

"That is the main purpose," Anser replied, "Of course, there are two other purposes."

"First, it is to replace the cruel design of fate in order to make you grow. Although everything you are going through now is not enough for you to grow to that height in the future, it is enough at this stage. In the future, just let it go naturally. I will stand by your side, so you don't have to worry."

These words made Hitana feel warm... Compared to the means of fate, Anser's "way of growth" was already quite gentle.

"As for the other purpose..." Ansher paused and looked at Xitana with a smile. Her sea-blue eyes made the latter's heart beat faster and she dared not look at him.

"Of course, it's to make sure you can't leave me, Sitana."

"you!"

Xitana punched Ansher in shame and anger. She felt her heart pounding wildly and couldn't hide it no matter what she did, so she could only quickly change the subject: "Then, why didn't you say it earlier! You had to say it at this time... You deliberately said those infuriating words at that time, and I almost beat you to death..."

"If I told you then, would you have believed it?" Ansel asked.

"..." Miss Wolf was speechless for a moment. These extremely convincing words made her move her lips uneasily, and finally she buried her head in Ansel's chest in shame.

"At the same time, it is also important to let you return to the village and meet the Wendigo again. Xitana, you have realized your own ability and weight through this, right?"

Anser stroked Xitana's soft and smooth short hair, put his face against her cheek, and said softly:

"From today on, suffering will be gone from you, Sitana."

He gently pushed Sitana away, stretched out his hand towards the girl, his eyes burning.

"Shitana, are you willing to fight for our freedom and future?"

The madman who had turned his back on fate issued an unacceptable invitation to the prisoner who had finally been freed from the cage:

"Will you become my brother, become my strength, and from now on, fight against fate together with me?"

"…So, so it's all because of this?"

Shitana's body trembled slightly because of the heartfelt touch, warmth, ecstasy, and...happiness.

She stared closely at the face so close to her, and asked with joy and anxiety: "It's not to make me completely become yours, it's not to make me give up myself, but to... let me fight against fate with you, right?"

"Of course." Anser laughed happily. "Xitana, what on earth are you thinking about? Those weird thoughts were just your own random guesses from the beginning, right?"