A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

The portal to the enigma realm… has opened in reverse?!

Ansel gazed skyward at the fissure blazing with crimson flames, resembling a second fierce sun in the heavens. An endless inferno cascaded forth like a waterfall, a sea of fire surging from the rift. Within mere moments, the blood-hued conflagration had blanketed the earth, sweeping across all directions like a rampaging herd of beasts!

“It’s the Source Flame!!!”

A terror-stricken voice shrieked. This appellation, symbolic of the essence of the Flamefeast and divine might, prompted the observing adventurers to flee in panic, dreading even the slightest spark’s touch.

The blood-red flames, capable of incinerating all and never extinguishing until reducing everything to its fundamental elements, meant certain death upon contact.

… Yet, it paled in comparison to the true Source Flame.

Hovering midair, Ansel could discern the potency of this force at a glance. Since the inception of the Sky Conquering Dynasty, the Hydral had accompanied the Flamefeast clan for tens of thousands of years. The power of the Source Flame was etched into the bloodline of the abyssal fiends of terminus. Though impressive in its spectacle, this rolling sea of fire was far from the genuine Source Flame.

The force wielded solely by the current emperor could not manifest elsewhere in this world. Nevertheless, the apocalyptic scene wrought by this sea of blood-flames was no illusion…

However, this was not the crux of the matter.

If the realm of confusion truly harbored the legacy of the Sky Conquering Dynasty, the existence of a destructive fire akin to the Source Flame would not be surprising. The question was… why did this boundless, raging inferno pour forth from within the portal?

The prime material plane, home to four divine species, reigned supreme among the vast Zero Realm Enigma. Until now, all naturally occurring portals, whether random or predetermined, perilous or stable, had invariably been unidirectional.

My Virtual Library Empire

Only beings from the prime material plane could traverse these portals into the realm; never had entities or phenomena from the enigma realms crossed over to the prime material plane.

Unless this portal had been opened artificially.

In the present continent, extraordinary beings capable of comprehending spatial elements sufficiently to open a portal to the realm of confusion numbered no more than five. Of those, only one had connections to the Flamefeast.

“Evora…”

Ansel’s eyes narrowed slightly. Beneath the illusory visage, his true countenance’s sea-blue eyes reflected the blood-colored flames.

If it truly was Evora, why go to such lengths to force open a portal to the enigma instead of returning directly to the prime material plane? If she sought a place to recuperate, why create such a commotion certain to shake the empire?

The intrusion of entities from the realm of enigma into the prime material plane might not concern ordinary extraordinary beings, who largely viewed the realm of engima as an inexhaustible treasury at their disposal.

However, the upper echelons of extraordinary beings understood well the catastrophic implications should this become commonplace.

But if not Evora, what precipitated this shocking turn of events? That mysterious force lurking in the shadows?

In the original timeline, they had scarcely surfaced. To Ansel’s knowledge, their only actions had been the assassination of Annelisa and maneuvering Suellen onto the throne. What motive could they have for such an act?

“Indeed… you wouldn’t let this opportunity slip,” Ansel exhaled softly.

Astonishingly, he ascended towards the portal in the sky, flying against the descending sea of calamitous fire while all other adventurers frantically fled.

“Capturing my attention with crucial information, swaying my judgment with asymmetrical intelligence… trite, yet effective, isn’t it?”

By presenting Ansel with a multitude of problems, he would be compelled to confront an endless cycle of uncertainty and unverifiable hypotheses. The scarcity of information meant that solving one problem would only breed another, each interlinked yet impossible to form a cohesive chain of proof. A single misstep could lead to irredeemable consequences.

On the other side of the portal, Ansel couldn’t discern whether this was a natural anomaly or if someone had forcibly opened it. If artificial, he couldn’t determine whether it was Evora’s doing or that of the clandestine force, let alone analyze their motives and objectives.

Possessing vital information yet unable to glean more critical intelligence, further contemplation would only lead him into an unsolvable labyrinth. But to refrain from thought and action would be to squander an opportunity that fate would surely not overlook.

Its counterattack had come swiftly.

Yet, as Ansel soared against the sea of flames, he harbored neither resentment nor anxiety. His breath was even hotter than the surrounding air.

Reaching the portal’s altitude, Ansel’s gaze seemed to penetrate the endless surge of blood-flames, though he still couldn’t discern what lay beyond. However, he felt no disappointment, not even a hint of apprehension.

“Swift… is right,” the young Hydral murmured.

Such a swift and fierce response, likely the closest to unreasonable that It could muster, signified that… Ansel’s machinations had struck at fate’s very core.

Just as It had laid the groundwork three years ago for Ravenna to shatter Ansel’s plans to devour Flamelle and reign over the empire… fate would never allow an entity aware of the future to possess absolute supreme power.

It had intervened once, but Ansel had countered forcefully with the regency dispute, securing a full year for growth… a fleeting moment for extraordinary beings, yet pivotal for Ansel to alter everything.

Fate’s vehement retaliation proved this point.

— If Ansel were left to develop unimpeded, the scales of victory might truly tip in his favor.

Thus, It had brought forth this unexpected turn of events, both unpredictable yet traceable…

An unforeseen development certain to disrupt Ansel’s stable progression.

That great entity, perched above the world, had once again magnanimously revealed Its intentions to Ansel, silently awaiting his response.

Would he act rashly with severely limited information, potentially compounding his errors, or would he stand by and watch as It… calmly made Its consecutive moves?

From the inception of his plan to tame Seraphina until now, despite stumbles and frequent setbacks, Ansel had steadily grown stronger. He rarely faced such moments of indecision—for he never allowed himself to be caught in such predicaments.

He had even found time to travel leisurely in the western country, merely awaiting intelligence from Shadewell.

Now, Ansel once again felt that sense of inescapable despair. This match… would be the most unfair of all inherently unfair games.

By this reckoning, fate must have prepared when Ansel allied with Evora to attempt Ephesande’s assassination. After all, Ephesande’s first instinct to kill her own daughter as she perished was abnormal—merely consistent with her character, unsurprising but peculiar.

If this was to compel Evora to instinctively use manipulation to escape, subsequently losing control under the Source Flame’s incineration, drifting through the endless realm of enigmas, awaiting the moment to play a crucial move…

No, not if—it was fact.

While Ansel plotted for the future, It had long prepared Its countermeasures.

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