A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Shadows transmuted into living entities and lethal blades darting through the gloom harvested lives in Sodom, now transformed into a purgatorial inferno.

The massacre was not solely orchestrated by Marlina, who manipulated the shadows. All members of Shadewell had converged here, employing diverse methods to execute indiscriminate and pure slaughter in this domain teeming with extraordinary beings.

The vast majority of fifth-stage extraordinary beings had no need for markets to procure or peddle dragon materials. Most were engaged in slaying dragonkin at the frontlines or had not ventured to the Western Lands at all.

This domain, bereft of fifth-stage extraordinary beings, was thus relegated to a killing field under Shadewell's merciless blades.

Some, consumed by rage, decapitated those nearby. ome assassinated merchants in the shadows, pilfering wealth before fleeing. Some attempted to escape the demented city forthwith, while others endeavored to unite with fellow extraordinary beings to combat the omnipresent shadows and blades.

Yet, regardless of their actions—be it descending into bloodshed due to suspicion and avarice, or attempting escape out of terror and panic, or even mustering the courage to confront the enemy directly—the ultimate outcome was invariably to become sustenance, to become... fodder.

Under the witch's ostensibly compassionate yet truly merciless gaze, everything progressed towards her desired annihilation and demise.

"... Lady Marlina," an unnaturally mature female voice resonated behind Marlina. "Thus far, the entire alchemical array is functioning flawlessly."

"I'm not interested in 'thus far,' dear Lady Rhine," the woman turned to face the obediently crouching ragdoll cat, her obsidian eyes flashing with a perilous coldness that made the feline's fur stand on end. "What I require is from beginning to end."

"There's no rush to claim credit until all is said and done, is there?"

"...Indeed."

Confronted with Marlina's impassive gaze, Rhine, who not long ago had been issuing orders to Marlina from a position of superiority, now bowed her proud head deeply. Her gem-like cat eyes concealed intense... bewilderment.

Bewilderment at how this woman, enveloped by the abyss, had managed such a feat.

How had she become Ansel's vessel? How had she avoided being discarded by Ansel? More crucially... how had she seized this opportunity to acquire that ring?

By what means did she know Ansel would face this dilemma, and prepare such a perfect response in advance?

Was this reasonable? Even the most preposterous dream couldn't have evolved into the current spectacle.

Yet, the reality was undeniable. The woman before her, overlooking the hellish killing field as if admiring her masterpiece, had transmuted the impossible into the possible through sheer madness.

— The madness of sacrificing a full tenth of the empire's extraordinary beings, along with countless magic crystals.

Aether crystals and gold coins were the empire's two main hard currencies. As the largest market for dragon materials, Sodom circulated an unfathomably vast quantity of aether crystals. Moreover, the domain's population comprised nearly a tenth of the empire's extraordinary beings... all now viewed as mere fodder.

Transcending frail flesh and soul, surpassing ordinary talent and aptitude, this inferno beyond all imagination was forged through pure, unadulterated madness.

Thus, Rhine's heart harbored only bewilderment, not resentment.

She clearly understood that she could never possess a resolve comparable to this obsession and lunacy. If the price of becoming the Head of Devouring was to be entwined with madness and the abyss like Marlina, Rhine would gladly relinquish this opportunity.

"I shall continue to maintain the array's operation, all as you and Lord Ansel desire."

— Even now, Rhine remained perplexed and dazed that her rivalry with Crow had concluded thus.

Crow was the ultimate masterpiece born from biological alchemy personally modified by Flamelel, while she was an exceedingly rare, self-awakened magical beast of this land... They had vied openly and covertly under Ansel for over three years, striving for that position, that ring, making countless contributions and achievements for Ansel. Yet now... they had been bested by a country bumpkin?

More importantly, Marlina Marlowe... this woman was utterly worthless compared to her sister! She lacked talent, ability, aptitude, and was laughably weak in the path of the extraordinary. The last shadow crow of Shadewell had barely elevated her to the third stage.

Yet such an... ordinary person had become Hydral's right hand and an indispensable [Beast] among the many heads of abyssal creatures.

Apart from that terrifying madness, where had this woman attained a victory unattainable by all others in the world, comparable to the transcendent talents of those two ladies?

"...Has it begun?"

Marlina suddenly whispered, as if sensing something, then glanced at the obediently seated Rhine.

"Go collect the cores, Lady Rhine. And... Lord Crow, please accelerate and bring all the currently collected magic crystals." Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

The shadows rampaging through the domain temporarily halted their harvesting blades. The storage devices of deceased extraordinary beings, vast inventories locked in vaults... seemingly perfectly hidden in various locations, but in fact already locked onto for crystal storage, were now being rapidly seized and transported to the deepest part of this city of slaughter and sin.

In the long copper-hued corridor, the woman clad in an elegant black gown advanced unhurriedly. The dim light cast upon her profile, adorned with alluring black patterns, created an illusion that these markings were twisting and growing.

At the corridor's end lay a vast, open area. At its center stood an enormous circular transparent vessel, crafted by special means to contain all the condensed aether. The contained aether had become so concentrated it was nearly liquefied, visibly accumulating and growing with each passing moment.

Shadewell's efficiency in slaughter was commendable, inextricably linked to Marlina's strategies.

It wasn't mere indiscriminate butchery. Spells incited extraordinary beings into frenzies of mutual slaughter, infiltrators sowed discord, and lethal alchemical devices were planted throughout the domain...

Dangerous alchemical explosives, deadly noxious gases, various aether firearms, and forbidden cruel spells... As long as it killed, as long as it could destroy, as long as it could transform these lives—insignificant in her eyes—into aether to support Ansel in the shortest time possible, Marlina would employ it.

Shadewell, being a dangerous department, had ample stocks of such items.

As this woman, who had callously consigned a full tenth of the empire's extraordinary beings to this arena of carnage, approached the vessel, a shadow materialized beside her, transforming into an ink-black crow.

Swift —

With a mere flutter of its wing, Crow unleashed a torrent of magic crystals from the shadows, forming a mountain in mere seconds.

"We've collected nearly a third of the city's crystals thus far," Crow's deep voice echoed in the vast space. "This is the optimal efficiency while prioritizing the elimination of extraordinary beings, Miss Marlina."@@novelbin@@

Marlina, fixated on the surging aether within the vessel, didn't glance at Crow. She merely eyed the wealth that would drive any extraordinary being to madness—even tempting those of the fifth stage—and smiled with soft satisfaction.

"Excellent, faster than I anticipated. This suffices for now, but we must continue harvesting. Go, Lord Crow."

"As you wish."

Crow, seemingly unbothered unlike Rhine, readily accepted this woman who had been under his command mere days ago and now thoroughly outranked him. It swiftly dissolved into shadows and vanished.

"Open it, Lady Rhine."

Rhine, accustomed to commanding others, almost instinctively obeyed Marlina's order. It reflexively glanced at Marlina, unable to comprehend the source of this woman's composure and confidence.

At some point, Marlina Marlowe had acquired this unique self-assurance.

A confidence... in her absolute and singular nature.

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