A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Red Valley City, a settlement on the border of the Bloodust domain.

The fierce battle between the Duke of Bloodust and the Duke of Firmament had scorched the boundaries of their territories. Recent intelligence from Shadewellindicated that an intense war had been raging here.

Now, with both sides withdrawn, only a desolate wasteland and an empty city remained.

However, with the imminent opening of the Enigma Gate, adventurers flocked to the area. The gate’s impending arrival was heralded by potent omens — colossal ethereal fluctuations and a surge of fiery elemental energy — drawing numerous established adventurers’ guilds to the site.

Due to the unique nature of the Dukes of Bloodust and Firmament, their domains had never hosted many adventurers’ guilds, and the recent war had decimated their ranks. Consequently, as per the Zero Explorers’ Covenant, no guild held priority exploration rights, sparking preemptive competition for access.

The influx of people breathed new life into Red Valley City, which had lost nearly a quarter of its structure during the war and lay abandoned, strewn with corpses.

“Damn it, couldn’t anyone be bothered to clean up?”

Grumbled adventurers astride giant eagles as they alighted on the city walls. Surveying the corpse-littered rubble below and the devastated cityscape within, one turned to his companions. “Are we really meant to lodge here?”

“Just find a place to sleep and bear with it… We’ve endured worse conditions in the Enigma.”

“You’re welcome to clean up if you want, but I’d advise against touching the bodies. Two necromancers from Valrhona’s group are here, and those are their spell components.”

“Valrhona? That neither-human-nor-ghost guy sent people too?”

“Have you seen how extreme the fire element is? It’s practically reaching the sky. There are rumors it might be the manifestation of the Sky Conquering Ruins. Of course they’d send people.”

The adventurers clamored as they descended from the walls into the ruined city. Nearby, a black-haired youth observed them briefly before returning his gaze to the crimson-tinted horizon.

“The Sky Conquering Ruins…”

As the first vast dynasty in human history, established by the Flamefeast progenitor, much of the Sky Conquering Dynasty’s lore had been lost to time or deliberately erased by subsequent emperors.

Even the Hydrals couldn’t easily uncover its secrets; the empire’s founding and the Sky Conquering Dynasty’s fall were taboo subjects for the Flame Devourer clan.

Contemporary understanding of the Sky Conquering Dynasty was largely speculative. The existence of its ruins… was primarily identified by an overwhelming abundance of fire elements, though this wasn’t always a reliable indicator.

Despite this uncertainty, adventurers flocked eagerly to the site, drawn by even the slightest possibility of discovery.

Due to the peculiar “stasis” of the extraordinary, with its inherent upper limits, contemporary spells and artifacts were not necessarily superior to those of antiquity. Unearthing useful relics from the Sky Conquering Dynasty’s ruins would render the expedition worthwhile, even if Evora remained elusive.

Ansel leaned against the city wall, musing softly, “Alas, none of the four rely on such artifacts.”

Among the four heroines, the Sky Wolf Emperor, who depended solely on his own formidable might, and the seeker of revolutionary truths would naturally eschew the power of the bygone dynasty. The remaining two likewise refrained from utilizing the divine power that had dominated this land for millennia; their abilities and talents were unequivocally genuine and pure.

Had any of their powers stemmed from some fortuitous encounter, Ansel would have long since nullified their trump cards. Unfortunately, fate had not afforded him such an opportunity.

The struggle on the chessboard grew increasingly apparent. As Ansel’s influence became increasingly irresistible, fate’s options for reasonably deployable pieces dwindled. He was no longer the child of six years ago, easily manipulated by fate into inadvertently causing his mother’s demise. Given two to three more years, Ansel was confident he could stand as an equal adversary to fate itself.

Yet this process was destined to be arduous. Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire

“How will you make your move?” the young Hydral questioned, gazing into the distance.

The violent, scorching ether materialized as tangible waves before his eyes. The Enigma Gate’s arrival time was crystal clear to him, and while other adventurers schemed for exploration rights, Ansel had already prepared to utterly upend the world within the gate.

The Regent’s selection had blinded the Dukes with ambition. Until the candidate was chosen, Ansel need not fear a united assault against him. With all the Dukes’ attention fixed on the Western Lands, Evora’s chances of survival upon emergence were effectively nullified.

Ansel had temporarily subverted the positions of all Dukes, placing them on his own chessboard. If fate sought to disrupt this game, it would need to either reclaim the Dukes or deploy pieces from beyond the board…

— The shadowy force that had orchestrated his mother’s death and elevated Suellen to the throne.

Ansel’s eyes narrowed slightly, a fleeting glimmer of the abyss passing through them.

Capturing this elusive entity was imperative, not merely for vengeance, but to uncover… further means of shattering fate’s design.

The youth withdrew his gaze, preparing to descend from the wall. By his calculations, the gate would open tomorrow at noon, revealing whether fate would seize this opportunity to make its move or bide its time.

However, he had scarcely taken two steps when a hand, its bare bones exposed, suddenly grasped the edge of the wall at his feet.

“Fau…st…”

A hoarse, unnatural voice rasped from below. Slowly, a corpse with scant flesh and an incomplete skeleton clambered onto the wall, addressing Ansel, “I bring… greetings… from Valr…hona.”

The black-haired youth, making no effort to conceal his appearance or aura, furrowed his brow slightly. “Is this your way of greeting?”

“My true form… is even more unseemly… than this vessel. Forgive… me,” the necromancer from Crow’s Nest apologized through the corpse. “She intended… to come herself…

but refused to set foot… on Bloodust’s domain.”

“This warrants her personal attention?”

“The Sky Conquering Ruins… highly probable,” the corpse explained. “The fire element… is unusually active. No gate… in the past decade…

has been this intense.”

— Naturally, otherwise Shadewell wouldn’t have prioritized this location.

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