A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

"And what about you?"

Ravenna retorted coldly, "How complete are you, and to what realms can you reach?"

"I cannot achieve it either, but the difference between you and me lies in..."

Helen's carving knife paused slightly as she tilted her head to look at Ravenna, her eyes devoid of light, filled with "self"-loathing.

"I have come to recognize and accept this fact."

She continued her work, adding, "I have realized and accepted that with Father's guidance, I was able to continuously improve the universal synthesizer to the sixth model in such a short time. But after my father left... for three whole years, I have struggled to make any progress."
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As Helen spoke, her usually indifferent face softened.

"You are right, Ravenna. Even without those fifteen years of scheme, my heart still yearns to change the world, and even now... I have not completely given it up."

"But this... signifies that Father is the most important presence in my life."

"He is..."Helen's voice trembled with uncontrollable excitement and joy.

"He is the only one who can lead me towards that future."

Ravenna did not look at Helen; under her control, Nidhoggur either subdivided, disassembled, or processed the materials. In the use of this special alchemical tool, she was clearly several levels above Helen.

"I thought... you were going to say something else."

Ravenna, alone for three years, spoke without any change in tone, unmoved by Helen's words.

After Nidhoggur completed a batch of material processing, it quickly divided a large portion, solidifying into a faceless puppet to assist Ravenna in creating an additional production line.

"Much more formidable than I imagined..."

Ansel slightly raised his eyebrows as he leaned forward, peering through the light screen at the faceless puppet.

"It seems you have also incorporated some mechanical armor construction logic... Have you also considered the pursuit of power during these three years?"

Ansel had given Ravenna ample freedom; she could consult any book in the underground library at will. How much Ravenna had grown in these three years, Ansel had no clear idea.

What she had been thinking about these years, Ansel was equally unaware. However, seeing her performance now... it was obviously no different from three years ago.

If there was any difference, it was that the current Ravenna was perhaps ten times, a hundred times more resolute than before.

However, although the object of her pursuit had not changed, the current Ravenna, obviously more thoughtful… than that normally developing Ravenna in the destined future.

If she hadn't studied mechanical armor, she could not possibly have created a puppet mixed with mechanical armor construction concepts so effortlessly.

Ravenna... if you could defeat Helen, what would you want to do? Arm the Tower of Babel?

That's really... You are not at all reassured about me.

The caution and indifference displayed by the former friend did not sadden Ansel much—he had already experienced opportunities given and betrayals faced.

Rather, it was Ravenna's current coldness, aloofness, defensiveness, and even... hostility that proved the preciousness of Helen's… undying loyalty.

Ravenna's nearly extreme confrontational intent made Helen's loyalty appear so close to the perfection Ansel needed.

"Early breakthroughs are common in the initial stages of research."

Ravenna, while manipulating Nidhoggur and the puppet, and simultaneously processing on her own, already displayed the poise of an alchemist master.

"As for the research on the seventh model, it has reached its final stage. It's not that there's no possibility of further progress without him; rather, both he and I have hit a bottleneck."

The detached idealist glanced at her despised self: "You even use this to proclaim his importance to you, which clearly shows... you are indeed beyond help, and my having any hope for you was foolish."

During their conversation, Ravenna had already set up an entire massive platform framework on her workbench, while Helen only held a small component in her hands.

This terrifying disparity, almost not of the same dimension, made Helen's chance of victory seem impossible.

Meanwhile, Ravenna continued:

"Since you want to prove to me how important Ansel is to you... let me also make you realize something." She even had spare energy to use Nidhoggur to create a hydra, which floated in mid-air, and then she said indifferently:

"The reason he uses to crush your beliefs—it's you, me, we have never walked among the mortals, and naturally, there's no reason to have such a strong desire to change the lives of the ordinary."

"I admit it. I admit that, as he said, I desire to change the world more than... wanting to bring them a better life."

"But," Ravenna's expression turned cold, and the hydra shaped by Nidhoggur roared silently.

"You say, everything he ever told me was not a lie. Then please tell me..."

"Ansel of Hydral, born a divine species, a being truly superior to all creatures, where does his belief in changing the world come from, and where does his zeal to free the mortals from their shackles originate?"

The dark hydra disintegrated into nothingness, and Ravenna, with a distant and indifferent voice, told her other self:

"Listen well... this is the proof that everything he said was a lie—Ansel of Hydral is even less likely than you or me to empathize with the people, even less likely to genuinely hope for the world to change."

"As a divine species, he is the heaviest shackle on this world!"

In the alchemy workshop, only the mechanical operations and the sound of the furnace burning could be heard.

And in the sealed study within the manor, Ansel's laughter rang out.

He leaned back in his chair, head tilted back, arms covering his eyes, as if he had heard some marvelous words, laughing so freely, so joyfully, so... liberated.

"Right... you are absolutely correct, Ravenna, you truly are... the smartest."

His arms slowly fell as the laughter subsided, and Ansel once again gazed at the screen, looking at the determined petite sorceress.

As long as the divine species exists, the world remains incapable of true transformation.

To illustrate with a simple example—Eileen spent her entire life, sparing no sacrifice, even that of his descendants, in pursuit of what might be possible with a device known as the Universal Ether Furnace...

For Flamelle, however, it was merely a toy that could be easily crafted.

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