A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Ansel looked down at the girl tightly gripping his hand, seeing unprecedented anxiety, worry, and frustration on her face.

Instinctively, he raised his hand to gently smooth her furrowed brow, saying softly, “It’s alright. I have a plan.”

In truth, he had no plan at all.

He needed help more than anyone else right now, yet he instinctively chose to comfort the girl by his side first.

Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

If Ansel of Hydral wasn’t this kind of person, if he were still as cruel as before, how could he possibly do such a thing? How could he… find himself in such a predicament?

Seri and Venna… they wouldn’t accept me abandoning the Western Lands.

They would try to help me solve both problems simultaneously, but I can’t let them do that.

Neither Seraphina nor Ravenna would be selfish enough to let Ansel protect the Western Kingdom’s civilians while giving up on seizing Evora.

They would risk everything to help Ansel solve both problems at once, even at the cost of their lives.

After all, they had already staked their lives for Ansel before. Once more, twice more, countless times – as long as it was necessary, they wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.

“…. Indeed, it’s alright, Ansel,” Ravenna whispered, just as he had anticipated. A glimmer of near-manic resolve flashed in her exquisite violet eyes.

“I can help you resolve this dilemma. Evora… whatever force is constraining her, we need only rescue her swiftly, correct?”

She raised her gaze to meet Ansel’s, her typically cool countenance softening into a serene, gentle smile.

“Fear not. Be it triumphing over Fate or achieving the salvation you yearn for, I shall… secure everything you desire on your behalf.”

“Trust in me, Ansel.”

Ansel’s affinity with the Abyss, coupled with his mastery over countless elements post-sermon, rendered the upper limits of the God from the Machine terrifyingly high. The caveat being… Ravenna’s ability to withstand the Abyss’s corrosion.

None could fathom the impending dragon tide’s ferocity, nor the obstacles in rescuing Evora. Yet undeniably… since Fate had set this stage, for Ansel to emerge victorious, a price must be paid.

He could have circumvented all this.

Had he followed Nine’s plan, allowing the dragon calamity to spread unchecked, leaving the Western Land’s native adventurers to resist, permitting this land to endure suffering as before, rather than introducing numerous extraordinary beings to hunt dragons and hastily slaying high-stage dragons himself, he wouldn’t have provoked a more colossal dragon calamity, nor found himself in this inescapable predicament.

He should have foreseen this. Even without precedent, had he remained the devil of old, he would have surely sensed Fate’s trap from his shifted mindset, further deducing the dragon calamity’s hidden nature.

…How could dragons, who had roamed this continent for hundreds of thousands of years, fail to breach even the Western Lands if truly intent on unleashing calamity? Such a catastrophe would, at minimum, impact the entire Empire.

They possessed the capacity for far more terrifying destruction, yet the Dragon King’s arrogance remained undiminished even by the Abyss’s corruption. Only truly formidable prey could summon more dangerous dragon hordes.

Ansel of Hydral should have realized this evident truth. Yet at that time, his thoughts were on protecting the Western Kingdom’s civilians. At that time, he had yielded to Fate.

From disregard, to harmless concessions, to manageable inconveniences, to inconsequential compromises, and now… to directly yielding to Fate without hesitation.

Thus, he lost, so inevitably. He willingly donned shackles, once more becoming Fate’s prisoner.

Ansel’s discontent lay not in being cornered again, left without choices, but in why he had yielded so readily.

So easily, without anger, so calmly… he had yielded.

Was it because of Seri and Venna? Because of them? If from the start, I hadn’t chosen to accept—

“…Ansel?”

Ravenna felt the hand holding hers suddenly tighten, almost painfully so.

After a brief silence, Ansel smiled anew, gently caressing Ravenna’s hand. “Forgive me, I spoke strangely just now.”

“But you—”

“Don’t overthink it, Venna,” Ansel interrupted, gazing into her eyes with utmost seriousness. “And don’t contemplate anything as reckless and ill-conceived as last time. I won’t allow it.”

“There’s always a way…” he murmured.

“Did we not triumph over the Empress? This trifle cannot defeat us.”

Now wasn’t the time to concede. Even without choices… he could win.

No… he must win.

If this time, Ansel lost the chance to defeat Fate due to this concession, how could he face the countless potential future concessions?

How could he face Seraphina and Ravenna, who compelled him to keep yielding?

*

Subsequently, Ansel urgently convened the powerful adventurers active in the Western Lands, briefly elucidating the situation to them.

Regarding the “more perilous dragon calamity” Ansel spoke of, most showed no fear. Instead, they grew more excited.

With the God from the Machine handling high-stage dragons, the extraordinary beings flooding into the Western Lands were reveling unbridled. They harbored no concerns about mishaps during dragon slaying, given their overwhelming numbers.

Third and fourth-stage dragons were no match for them. It wasn’t that the dragons lacked strength, but rather that no creature, regardless of might, could survive such disproportionate encirclement.

Had they not slain dragons swiftly enough, it would’ve been impossible to trigger a second, more dangerous dragon calamity in such a brief span.

Having tasted success and reaped bountiful dragon materials, these extraordinary beings viewed the second wave as an even greater opportunity.

The meeting concluded shortly. Ansel quickly dismissed the extraordinary beings, who fancied another windfall, and remained alone in the conference room.

“Dragon calamity, Evora…”

In the vast, empty room, the young man on the main seat sat with fingers steepled, eyes closed in contemplation.

“The most likely scenario: while I’m resisting the dragon calamity, that rift suddenly opens. Evora can’t maintain her position long, requiring my immediate rescue.”

“At that moment, ideally for It, I should be utterly exhausted. Venna unable to sustain the God from the Machine. Forcing her to continue while having strength to rescue Evora would surely… This mustn’t happen.”

He supported his forehead, murmuring, “But without relying on the God from the Machine, to break through while exhausted and rescue Evora, I’d have to…”

Hydral looked down at his palm, fingertips twitching slightly. That unforgettable pain and despair resurfaced.

“There must be another way. What’s needed now is pure power, something to augment my raw strength.”

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