A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Ansel had not intentionally sent Ravenna and Seraphina away, nor had he deliberately chosen not to assist them in rescuing civilians from the celestial inferno. The truth was, this predicament was indeed insurmountable for the two of them.

— Even Ansel himself would find it impossible to extinguish such feasting flames.

Soaring through the sky, Hydral gazed at the distant crimson rift, which appeared as if it had been forcibly torn open. This sight plunged Ansel into deep contemplation.

“Given Evora’s mastery over space, her methods shouldn’t be this crude and unrefined.”

His gaze wandered further, and at the very edge of his vision, he discerned another jagged fissure, as if mauled open by some beast—another gateway to another Enigma.

This forceful rending of planar barriers didn’t align with Evora’s abilities or aesthetics. Yet, the feat of simultaneously tearing open thirty-five—no, now thirty-six—portals in this plane was so inconceivable that only she could accomplish it.

In a flash, Ansel appeared before the rift. A scorching wave of heat, capable of searing airways and viscera, assailed him. Yet, far from flinching at this ferocious temperature, Ansel’s expression was one of surprise.

“This intensity…”

The youth extended his hand towards the crimson feasting flames, this time without the preemptive shield of abyssal breath he had used earlier to intimidate the Dukes.

The voracious blood-flames instantly engulfed Ansel’s hand, but as the enigmatic black substance coated it, the fire that had dominated humanity for millennia was instantly annihilated.

“No need for prior protection to easily overpower it… The intensity is significantly lower than before.”

This seemed to be a reasonable manifestation of fate’s machinations. At this level of intensity, even ordinary fifth-stage extraordinary beings wouldn’t perish in these flames; there were myriad ways to manage it.

However, for lower-stage extraordinary beings and civilians alike… it remained an unmitigated catastrophe.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Ansel murmured, “Let’s venture in and see.”

If he could directly breach and emerge unscathed from the previous endless blood-flames, flames of this intensity posed no challenge whatsoever.

Wreathed in a subtle aura of abyssal breath, Hydral disregarded the raging inferno and strode directly into the portal.

The moment he entered the Realm gateway, his expression shifted.

For as soon as he entered, he emerged again.

From a different portal.

Outside, a towering, muscular man astride a colossal dragon regarded him with bewilderment.

“Lord Hydral?” Clement inquired tentatively, his mind a maelstrom of shock and confusion.

Why had Hydral suddenly materialized here? Could it be that he had discovered…

Regaining his composure, Ansel turned his gaze to the Enigma Realm portal, a slow smile playing across his lips.

“Now this is… intriguing,” he chuckled softly before addressing the Duke of Wyvern with gentle courtesy. “What a fortuitous encounter, Lord Wyvern.”

“… Indeed,” the Duke inclined his head slightly. “I never anticipated your emergence from this portal. Pray tell, what exactly has transpired?” Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire

“I had intended to investigate the Realm portal above the Silent City of the Duke of Bloodust, but to my surprise…”

The youthful Hydral tilted his head towards the portal before him. “I was instantaneously transported here.”

“This—”

The Duke’s expression froze, bewildered by this inexplicable account and astounded by Ansel’s audacity in venturing directly into a portal potentially teeming with feasting flames.

He too had probed and confirmed that these apocalyptic sacrificial flames, while less intense than those that first appeared in Red Valley City, were still formidable enough to inspire utmost caution.

“A labyrinth,” Ansel stated calmly, hands clasped behind his back.

“Beyond the portals lies a labyrinth, a maze of space itself.”

The word ‘space’ immediately triggered alarms in the Duke’s mind. He stared intently at the portal gushing endless blood-flames, while keeping Ansel in his peripheral vision.

“You imply Lady Evora’s involvement?”

“Indeed,” Ansel’s tone remained light, even amused. “I can think of no other capable of simultaneously opening thirty-six Realm portals and employing such exquisite techniques to interconnect the worlds within, transforming them into a vast labyrinth.”

“Used for…”

In that instant, the terrifying aura unique to Hydral erupted from Ansel’s tall, straight form. The perfectly controlled, frenzied black mist sketched the enormous shadow of a nine-headed serpent across the sky.

This creature of ultimate destruction seemed poised to devour even the sun itself. Despite still lacking five heads, it exuded an inviolable divine majesty.

The Duke’s mount, a colossal dragon, immediately lost control. Its dark golden vertical pupils filled with terror as it frantically beat its enormous wings. This panicked, helpless display more closely resembled a lizard with its tail pinned than a continental overlord. If not for the Duke’s efforts to soothe it, the beast would likely have plummeted from the sky.

“… Shielding herself,” Ansel whispered, raising his hand and gently lowering it.

The ebony monstrosity perched at the zenith roared, plunging into the fissure—too narrow for its immense form. An endless tide of darkness surged forth, rending, devouring, and obscuring the blinding crimson, mercilessly subjugating it with absolute power.

The young Hydral narrowed his eyes slightly. Within the portal, perceptible only to him, chaotic ether currents flowed, and spatial elements underwent ceaseless, intricate transformations. This seemingly sentient, invisible spatial maze—rather than the perpetually gushing feasting flames—truly exemplified the techniques wielded by those at the apex of extraordinary beings.

With the endless feasting flames as an outer layer and the labyrinthine maze as an inner sanctum, Evora, concealed at the very core, had ensconced herself in a position of considerable security.

However, Hydral of the Abyss was the entity most capable of countering the feasting flames. More unfortunate still, Ansel had previously made a daring move, personally venturing into her central position. Although his control over spatial elements paled in comparison to Evora’s, Ansel had never intended to confront her directly.

Ansel sought but a single moment.

The feasting flames fervently scorched the abyssal aura enveloping Hydral’s essence projection. Merely an extension of power, it gleaned insufficient information, its effect quite limited. Ansel’s will and senses were greatly restricted, but his aim was not reconnaissance. Instead, he sought to gradually… crush and destroy the layered labyrinth!

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