A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

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“Ansel, will those extraordinary beings truly engage in this battle?” Ravenna whispered to Ansel.

“They won’t,” Ansel replied without hesitation. “Their primary motivation is profit, never salvation. The fate of the Western Lands holds no significance for them.”

“Should the risks outweigh the potential gains, they’ll undoubtedly abandon the cause. Those with no vested interests in the Western Lands… will undeniably turn tail and flee.”

“… Did you harbor such sentiments during the previous council?”

“Persuading the fifth-stage extraordinary beings to the best of our ability suffices. As for the lower-stage dragons or subspecies… let the native adventurers of the Western Lands and the few extraordinary beings who choose to remain handle them.”

Ansel narrowed his eyes, gazing at the endless dragon horde in the distance. “Their numbers appear terrifying, but that’s truly their only frightening aspect… Where could the dragon race possibly acquire so many individuals? At least eighty percent of this dragon tide must be subspecies. They should be able to withstand it.”

Seated in Ansel’s embrace, Ravenna placed her hand atop his, her tone resolute: “Then what we must do… remains unchanged from before.”

The steel serpent entwined with the God from the Machine transformed into a colossal blade that could cleave the heavens. The steel demon god, spewing azure flames, streaked alone towards the dragon horde that obscured the sky. As he drew nearer, it became increasingly clear… just how terrifyingly grand the scale of this dragon calamity truly was!

No fewer than ten fifth-stage dragons, among them several incredibly powerful, ancient dragons of unknown longevity. Any single one could wreak devastating havoc across the entire empire. Without the Empress, the cost of subduing even one would be unfathomable.

In any other dragon calamity, these dragons would be the ultimate monsters, nearly impossible to deal with. But this time… they had emerged en masse!

“Fifteen minutes, Ravenna,” Ansel said calmly. “We retreat after fifteen minutes.”

“…No, Ansel.”

Ravenna responded softly: “We can extend it to twenty minutes. It’s no problem, trust me.”

Ansel paused briefly, then after a moment of silence, he said earnestly: “We didn’t come here intending to slay any high-tier dragons. This sortie is merely to gauge their level of danger. There’s no need to…”

As the God from the Machine couldn’t be maintained for extended periods, each battle would last only ten to fifteen minutes before Ansel would proactively withdraw, allowing Ravenna to rest for half a day before striking out again. In other words, the God from the Machine could only be deployed twice a day, which was already Ravenna’s limit.

“But the necessity will arise, won’t it, Ansel?”

Ravenna tilted her head up, meeting Ansel’s gaze directly. “Even five minutes could provide you with an opportunity to resolve another issue.”

“You can’t endure any longer—”

“I can, Ansel. Don’t forget… you promised me.” The petite woman gripped Ansel’s hand tightly, her whisper unwavering. “You must use me whenever necessary.”

“Now is that necessary moment.”

While Seraphina and Ravenna had yet to devise a solution to their predicament, they both concluded that their duty was to fulfill whatever Ansel required of them to the utmost of their abilities.

Since Ansel needed a power capable of both battling the dragon horde and protecting the West, while also being sufficient to rescue Evora, Ravenna would provide it. No matter how arduous, regardless of the cost.

“…Very well.”

Ansel, feeling the warmth and strength transmitted through his hand, said nothing more.

This time, Ansel and Ravenna together charged into the dragon tide, confirming the presence of twelve fifth-tier dragons and three ancient dragon species in this calamity. Facing the onslaught of these twelve behemoths, they not only managed to grievously wound one but also escaped unscathed. Twenty minutes… not a second more.

*

The next day, after resting, Ravenna once again entered the fray with Ansel. By now, Ansel had gathered numerous powerful fifth-stage extraordinary beings and motivated lower-stage ones through various means. They clashed head-on with the dragon race on the vast plains, where death spread endlessly.

This time, the God from the Machine faced the siege of eight colossal dragons, inflicting considerable damage on three high-tier behemoths. At nineteen minutes and twenty-six seconds, Ansel forcibly withdrew the God from the Machine.

On the third day, with no sign of the dragon calamity abating, the assembled extraordinary beings began to exhibit the fear Ansel had anticipated. Some started to abandon the fight and attempt to flee. Once this trend began, the number of deserters would only increase.

To stabilize morale, Ravenna forcibly activated the God from the Machine thrice that day, with the total duration exceeding fifty minutes. This enabled Ansel to successfully decapitate an ancient dragon species, greatly boosting the morale of the extraordinary beings and temporarily stemming the possibility of widespread desertion.

The cost, however, was steep… Until Ansel appeared on the battlefield on the fourth day, Ravenna hadn’t responded to him even once.

By the fourth day, more than half of the twelve behemoths had been gravely injured, significantly reducing the pressure on the Western Lands in terms of high-tier combat power. However, Ravenna’s condition had worsened considerably. Her speech became disjointed, her thoughts sluggish, and she even experienced moments of mental disorientation.

Thus, Ansel finally resolved to prohibit Ravenna from forcibly enhancing the God from the Machine’s performance. Yet, this grueling battle… was far from over.

*

In the wake of an ear-shattering roar, an enormous dragon’s head slid from its neck, plummeting from a thousand meters high towards the ground strewn with corpses and blood.

Around the God from the Machine, flickering points of light danced. The ceaselessly firing floating cannons lit up the sky with an unbroken chain of luminous explosions, only to be instantly extinguished by dragon breaths of various hues.

On the ground, mages at anchor points brandished their staves. Light and darkness, raging fire and biting frost, tempests and thunderbolts… surging energies intertwined and merged, accompanied by the warriors’ battle cries, creating a seemingly endless reverberation across the land.

To prevent triggering a third dragon calamity or prolonging this disaster indefinitely, Ansel refrained from outright slaying high-stage dragons in each battle. Instead, he aimed to incapacitate them to the point of combat ineffectiveness. Consequently, maintaining the God from the Machine consumed far more energy than usual.

The dragons, driven by the Dragon King’s frenzied will and their own insatiable hunger, were not honorable warriors. On the contrary, faced with such formidable prey as the God from the Machine, they even abandoned their powerful desire for solitary hunts.

Each time Ansel appeared, he had to confront at least four to five fifth-stage dragons simultaneously, all of which were ancient beings that would have been considered ultimate adversaries by the Western Land’s dukes in previous calamities.

Their battles could only take place thousands of meters in the air; otherwise, they would be indistinguishable from destruction itself. Even so, the aftershocks of their clashes easily whipped up howling hurricanes and rent the solid earth asunder. Mere ripples in the aether instantly shattered spells woven by extraordinary beings below the fourth stage.

“Is it… over already?”

“Well done, Venna.”

Ansel watched the severely wounded behemoths, their white bones visible through countless gashes and burns, as they flapped away. He reassured the exhausted Ravenna: “After this great battle, the high-stage dragons should need a long time to recover. The Celestial Path mountains likely don’t have any more dragons capable of fighting us to this extent.”

“Is that… so?” Ravenna responded, somewhat dazed.

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