A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

In the expansive backyard, the rumble of deep thunder echoed intermittently.

Of course, it wasn't real thunder striking the lower district, but rather the sonic booms created by Seraphina's punches.

Even though there was no opponent in front of her, no visible destruction, and not even a hint of a shockwave, the delicate and seemingly harmless punches produced a deep, resonant sound that reverberated through the courtyard.

"Hoo..."

Wiping the sweat off her brow, Seraphina exhaled a hot breath. She had been using a new method she had devised to temper her body—compressing the immense strength of the head of strength within herself instead of unleashing it outward. This method, which could be described as suicidal, allowed the force to rampage internally, refining her body.

How she came up with this method, managed to implement it, and even saw significant results … is best left unexplored for the sake of safety.

"I can spar with Ansel... I can spar with Ansel!"

The moment the young girl calmed her excitement, she immediately started bouncing up and down in glee, swinging her limbs with exuberance.

Stretching her body and arching her back, a visible, dark red aura formed into the menacing silhouette of a werewolf behind her.

Seraphina crossed her arms and closed her eyes, while the demonic shadow behind her continuously twisted and morphed, sometimes shrinking into bizarre shapes, other times being swallowed by darkness and transforming into a larger serpent form. As the girl struggled to control this power, her breathing grew heavier.

The twisting shadow gradually returned to its fierce werewolf form, seemingly expanding ever so slightly.

A few minutes later, Seraphina let out a sigh and slumped her shoulders in frustration, muttering:
Continue reading at empire

"Still far from enough... Is this my limit?"

"In a fight, I can't reveal Hydral's aura... But if I don't, I can't use my full strength, grr..."

Biting her nails and pacing back and forth in the courtyard, Seraphina pondered deeply, "Is there a way to not reveal my identity and still have a fantastic fight?"

"Should I ask Marli—ah, but she's not a extraordinary, asking her won't help..."

Ever since Marlina arrived, Seraphina no longer had to worry about anything. This sometimes gave her the illusion that Marlina was omnipotent. Although Marlina occasionally insisted on forcibly imparting knowledge, it was still infinitely better than when Seraphina had first been forced to take over the lower district.

After all, she had always intended to find someone to manage the place—who better than Marlina, who did the job better than anyone?

Now, she just needed to find someone trustworthy who could take over from Marlina. Then, she could have her long-awaited fight with Ansel and set off on her journey!

The anticipation of the duel with Ansel and the prospect of the upcoming journey filled Seraphina with renewed excitement. Her previously tired body was once again brimming with energy. She jumped lightly on the spot, ready to train some more.

At that moment, someone knocked on the back gate of the courtyard.

Before Seraphina could ask, the person outside spoke: "Miss Fenrir, it's me."

"Oh, Marli!" Seraphina's eyes lit up. "Come on in, why are you knocking?"

Marlina pushed the door open and entered, giving Seraphina a slight bow. Before she could speak, the sweat-soaked Miss Wolf enveloped her in a bear hug, laughing as she did so.

"Marli, what brings you here?"

"... There are some matters that need to be reported to you."

Marlina pushed lightly against her sister's full, firm chest a couple of times without success and eventually resigned to being held, letting out a silent sigh.

"Report to me? Why would you need to report to me?"

Seraphina blinked. "Marli, if you want to do something, just go ahead and do it."

Marlina sighed. "Miss Fenrir, we agreed that you need to learn to handle certain things independently."

"Uh… well… we'll talk about that… later!" Seraphina's eyes darted around, trying to brush off the subject. "As long as you're here to handle things, I'm not in a hurry."

"So," Marlina lowered her gaze and spoke in a soft voice, "you don't really care, do you?"

"…Huh?"

"What I mean is, you don't really care about the people of the lower district, do you?"

The girl lifted her head as she spoke, her gaze causing an inexplicable sense of fear to rise within Seraphina.

"How could I not care!"

Though inexplicably flustered, Seraphina responded loudly, "If I didn't care about them, I would have left a long time ago!"

As she spoke, she gritted her teeth in frustration. "That damn Milo, he'd better not let me catch him, or I'll break his bones and hang him in the lower district!"

Marlina, however, continued to look at her silently. "Then why are you unwilling to learn the knowledge that could help them?"

"It's just... I can't learn it."

If anyone else had asked her this question, Seraphina would have shouted them down. But because it was her sister asking, she could only respond in a low voice, like a big, aggrieved dog.

"All that complicated stuff, the guessing, the thinking, the control, and balance…I just can't learn it."

"Is it really that difficult?" Marlina held Seraphina's hand, her voice gentle but her grip steadily tightening. "Miss Fenrir, is it really that hard?"

"…It is for me!"

Feeling extremely hurt, Seraphina couldn't help but shout, "I'm not like you, Marli! If I can't do it, then I can't!"

At this point, Seraphina couldn't stop herself from continuing. "You're so smart, Marli. You learn everything quickly, you understand everything Ansel says, and you can help him with many complicated things... I'm nothing like you. I can't do anything but fight, and Ansel hardly ever needs me to fight."

She looked at her sister with a deeply envious expression.

"I really envy you, Marli... Marli?"

Seraphina noticed that Marlina seemed distracted and instinctively called out to her.

Marlina snapped out of her reverie and quickly smiled at Seraphina. "I was just thinking about something, sorry, Miss Fenrir."

Before Seraphina could respond, Marlina continued, "So, do you still want to hear the report, or should I just… handle it myself?"

Her voice was gentle and her tone calm, but there was something ineffable about it. It was as if … this entire sentence was giving Seraphina one last chance.

-->