A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

In the alchemical workshop of the Hydral estate, a vast swarm of alchemical insects, like a dark cloud, covered the entire ceiling.

Ansel, upon entering, looked at the scene before him with a hint of surprise: "Your efficiency... is indeed remarkable."

"It’s because she’s too weak."

Ravenna, adjusting the Nidhoggur without turning back, stated, "Resources, background, strength... she has everything, yet she only produced this... a half-finished product. From strength to functionality, not a single aspect meets the standards. It’s laughable."

"Hmm... These three years of intensive study seem to have given you a slight misunderstanding of the situation between ’you’ and ’her’."

Ansel waved his hand, summoning a group of Nidhoggur, and leisurely said, "There’s no fundamental difference between you and my dear Helen. If it were you who had gone through what she has, you would end up just another Helen, or Alice, or whatever other affectionately named daughter I like, wouldn’t you?"

Ravenna, who usually showed a strong desire to counter Ansel, unusually did not retort, evidently conceding to his point.

"So, your high-and-mighty criticism of ’yourself’ is somewhat biased, but..."

Ansel, turning the Nidhoggur into a hand cannon that looked almost identical to Gleipnir, tilted his head and smiled, "This also shows that you are indeed quite... frustrated. Right, Ravenna?"

"No, not just frustrated."

He slowly walked up to Ravenna, using the scepter to lift her cold, delicate face, and said softly, "You’re afraid. The thought of being in the hell I’ve meticulously shown you makes you realize you have no escape.

You fear I might be plotting something else, afraid that even if you defeat that contemptible, weak, and degenerate wretch in your eyes, you might still fall into the same despair as her and then..."

The devil whispered in her ear with a light laugh, "And then, like her, you would have to give up everything and rely on me to find a reason to live."

"..."

Ravenna did not speak, but her hand holding the carving knife trembled—she was no longer the naive Ravenna who would have hesitated to show her negative emotions to Ansel. If it had been the old her, she would have already pushed Ansel away, moved aside, and angrily denounced him, but now... she did not do so.

Instead, she spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "But at least you are a man who honors a wager."

"Of course," Ansel stepped back two steps, grinning as he casually manipulated the Nidhoggur, "As long as you can defeat Helen, from now on, our relationship will be that of equal partners—you create what I need, and I provide you with equivalent things, alchemical resources, clearing obstacles, it’s all straightforward."

Ravenna tugged at the corner of her mouth, her stiff smile laden with irony, "You would really allow me to kill your ’daughter’."

"Only after defeating you can she truly be considered my daughter," Ansel nonchalantly transformed the Nidhoggur into a hand cannon form of Gleipnir, and after pulling the trigger, the effect of the bullet even made him laugh.

"If she can’t defeat you," he said with a smile and a gentle tone, "then she is something of no value, isn’t she?"

"... Indeed, she is something of no value," Ravenna’s expression was cold, and for a moment, she avoided Ansel’s gaze, "And she has no chance of victory."

Above her head, the Nidhoggur suddenly disappeared, the vast swathes of black clouds instantly vanished, but in reality... they were still there, omnipresent.

"Compress Nidhoggur from its visibly discernible size to a unit nearly indistinguishable from ether…"

Why was Hendrik utterly unaware of how Ravenna attacked Helen? Because Nidhoggur, having been modified and upgraded by Ravenna, had been reduced to a size close to that of an ether unit. Its movements, akin to the natural flow of ether, were traceable by a fifth-stage extraordinary being, yet utterly deceptive to those unfamiliar with such tactics, ensuring their inevitable ensnarement.

Ansel applauded softly, "The knowledge you have absorbed over these three years has truly exceeded my expectations."

"The archives and secret techniques preserved by Hydral are of similar caliber... Merely leaking one could elevate someone to mastery, yet you discard them like trash in the basement," Ravenna replied coldly.

"We did, after all, place them on shelves... though no one bothers to dust them regularly."

Ansel shrugged, "It must be said, the truly valuable items are not kept in the basement; this is merely Hydral’s estate in the imperial capital."

"Ha... I was once naive enough to think you would help me, naive enough to believe you shared my aspirations for the future."

Ravenna raised her hand, storing most of Nidhoggur into her bracelet, leaving only a small part for Ansel. She looked at him, his expression soft and smiling, and spoke mockingly, "The true culprit binding everything is right before me, yet I knew nothing, played for a fool by a thirteen-year-old child... How pitiful."

"Are you out of your mind?" Ansel tilted his head slightly, "Why do you always berate yourself?"

"Because the person I was in the past was indeed foolish enough to deserve scorn."

Young Hydral gazed at Ravenna for a long time, then, as if understanding something, sighed softly and said gently, "It seems, then, that you also feel reborn."

"Thanks to you."

Ravenna responded, then looked up, her gaze seemingly piercing through barriers, landing on the entrance of the Hydral estate.

There, a person indistinguishable from her in appearance appeared.

Ansel also looked up, his smile deepening, "I didn’t expect it to be my dear Helen who came to find you first... It seems this confrontation will be quite interesting."

As he turned to leave, he said leisurely, "Make a proper end of it, Ravenna. Let’s see... who will be the ultimate winner of this wager."

After reuniting with "Ravenna" not long ago, Ansel had told her that three years ago, when he left the imperial capital, he had made a bet with a mysterious figure.

Ansel wagered that Ravenna, due to her obsessive thinking, would lead the Tower of Babel to destruction; while the mysterious figure bet that Ravenna would guide the Tower of Babel towards a... brilliantly bright future.

Now, the current Helen has decided to abandon the Tower of Babel, seeing no value in its existence, indifferent to its survival or demise.

Thus, the so-called mysterious figure had to become part of the wager, deciding the outcome of the bet.

Indeed, the one who made this bet with Ansel was not a significant figure capable of challenging Hydral, nor a fictitious entity designed to deceive Ravenna and disrupt her mind. It was none other than… Ravenna Ziegler herself. Continue reading at NovelBin.Côm

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