Taming the Protagonist

Volume 3

Chapter 4 · “All Nations Coming to Court”

The Hydra Mansion in Hydra’s Domain was actually far less luxurious than the mansion in the Imperial Capital.

Everything stemmed from the slightly willful Madam Elnilisa feeling that the original Hydra Mansion was too big, too empty, so Flamel casually renovated the ancestral house a little.

And now, the mansion temporarily without Elnilisa and Flamel did not appear empty, on the contrary, it rarely... became lively.

Boom boom boom boom—

On the open lawn, the roar of guns and cannons was incessant.

Mingfuluo, sitting under a parasol flipping through a book, looked up at that tall figure running wildly towards her while enduring the bombardment of dozens of floating cannons, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“This is really... completely unreasonable spiritual essence.”

The Scholar Miss murmured like this, amidst the increasingly close excited roars, she raised her arm forward.

The fierce wolf beast with wolf ears and a wolf tail, fully 2.2 meters tall, laughed loudly as she rushed out of the continuous endless explosive bombardment, she leaped into the sky, the red-black cyclone condensed on her fist front, like a wolf head roaring with its head held high, following Hitana’s punch falling, crushing towards Mingfuluo below with an unmatched momentum of shattering everything.

Only infinite iron-gray particles instantly propped up nine shield walls above Mingfuluo, that seemingly unmatched red-black death ray after shattering six layers of barriers, had no succeeding force, dissipating without a trace.

Hitana, who landed on the ground, had her forehead pressed against by a floating cannon turret, the muzzle blasted out a blazing white light spreading over a hundred meters, and Hitana whose entire head was enveloped by the white light, even raised her hand to scratch her face, just moving forward all the way with her head pushing against the turret’s overload bombardment.

“You definitely don’t only have this little means, right.”

Hitana, whose head was still in the blazing laser, said unhappily: “Didn’t they say that last slash of yours cut a bottomless abyss into the ground?”

“That was an effect only achieved with Anselm’s help and blessing.”

Mingfuluo pushed the sea-blue glasses on the bridge of her nose, looking up at Hitana:

“You wouldn’t really think, Anselm sitting there just pushing the control stick was the end of it, right? Without the blessing of Hydra’s power, the intensity of Deus Ex Machina cannot reach that extent.”

“Whether it is the massive amount of ether required, or the abyss that even I, already as the Head of Abyss, cannot easily touch, all must have Anselm’s help... moreover, it is just sparring, are you sure you want to go to that extent?”

“This kind of sparring is no use to me... annoying! What are you still blasting for!”

Hitana impatiently raised her hand to crush the floating cannon pressing against her head, threw it aside, and slammed her hands heavily on the round coffee table: “Little dwa... cough hmm! Mingfuluo!”

Miss Mingfuluo, resting her chin on one hand, let out a casual nasal sound: “Hmm?”

Hitana’s body gradually shrank back to her usual state, the fluffy wolf ears and wolf tail also retracted, she coughed lightly, somewhat bashfully saying:

“You are Anselm’s Contract Head, right.”

“Mm.”

“So you definitely also want Anselm to become more amazing, right?”

“Mm.”

“Then that is equivalent to, letting me become more amazing, right!”

“...”

After a brief silence, the petite Ms. Mingfuluo rubbed her temples.

“Why would you think I can help you become stronger?” She closed the book with a “bang”, looking at Hitana expressionlessly.

“What are you thinking, self-righteous woman!” Hitana was also made unhappy by her stinky face—although Mingfuluo had this expression most of the time, in Hitana’s view it was still an unpleasant stinky face, “I wanted to ask you, do you think—”

A familiar scent coming from not far away made Hitana interrupt her own words, she turned her head in extreme surprise and joy, finding Anselm leading a young man walking towards her side.

“Anselm!”

The young girl waved her hand excitedly at Anselm, just about to run towards him, but the step just taken paused because of that young man behind Anselm.

...Fighting intent.

Hitana’s wild dark red eyes widened slightly, her expression slightly incredulous.

The power of the Head of Wind swept over the young man, transmitting faint hostility and intense fighting intent.

“You would actually take the initiative to spar with Hit, Aluo.”

Anselm walking over here looked at Mingfuluo’s back, chuckling: “I thought you would stay in the library all the time during this period, Hydra’s Domain’s book collection far exceeds the Imperial Capital.”

Hearing this sentence, Hitana was stunned again, she turned to look at Mingfuluo, her face full of doubt: “Didn’t you say, it was Anselm who let you spar with me?”

“...”

Miss Mingfuluo seemed not to have heard Hitana’s question, turning to look at Anselm who suddenly came to find them, a bit of dissatisfied resentment emerged between her delicate eyebrows, if not for a stranger behind Anselm, the three words “damn brat” probably would have blurted out.

“I also wanted to ask you.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly: “Not continuing your busy work, what are you doing finding us? And brought such a...”

The petite Scholar Miss sneered: “Young and promising Lord Warlock.”

Hitana tilted her head, somewhat baffled.

Meeting Mingfuluo’s unhappy gaze and Hitana’s confused gaze, Anselm brought that young man to the front of the two girls, tilted his head slightly, looking at the young warlock behind him: “Do a simple self-introduction, Gerard.”

The young warlock first performed an impeccable noble salute, then raised his chin slightly, saying with extreme confidence: “Good morning, two Contract Head ladies. I am Gerard Star-Silver, a fourth-tier Arcane Warlock, currently Anselm’s... Chief Warlock.”

His self-introduction was concise and clear—name, strength, status, that was all.

Such a straightforward and concise introduction displayed his sharp confidence completely.

Hitana leaned close to Mingfuluo with small steps, gently bumped her, whispering: “What is an Arcane Warlock?”

“There are so many branches of warlocks that warlocks themselves can’t recognize them all, just learning some weird spells casually can allow one to claim a new branch.”

Mingfuluo was rather scrutinizing this “Chief Warlock” than answering Hitana’s question.

“But Arcane Warlock is the most orthodox warlock, mainstream, classical, traditional... heh.”

Miss Mingfuluo, who inherited her grandfather’s wild ideal and could be said to be deviant in the entire warlock world, let out a disdainful and contemptuous sneer.

“Anselm.” She no longer looked at Gerard, but turned to look at Anselm, “I didn’t know you still had this kind of inexplicable... ‘Chief Warlock’.”

The woman raised her chin slightly: “Where do you put me?”

Her words made Gerard raise his eyebrows slightly, this warlock who reached the fourth tier at a young age and was already looking forward to the fifth tier seemed to have something to say, but Anselm already said smilingly:

“Why do you need to compete for a position with Gerard?”

The implied meaning indicated that Mingfuluo and Gerard were not on the same level.

“I am not competing, I am asking.”

Mingfuluo put the book on the coffee table, expressionlessly saying: “Are you giving or not?”

She stared at Anselm without even glancing at Gerard. The clever Miss Mingfuluo of course had other thoughts, but it did not hinder this somewhat childish behavior, making her appear very cute.

Gerard was obviously somewhat unable to hold his temper, while the young Hydra laughed even more happily:

“Alright alright... Gerard, what do you think?”

Mr. Warlock who could finally express his opinion looked at that Head of Abyss renowned throughout the Empire, although the other party was not looking at him, he did not have any dissatisfaction, but said politely:

“I naturally cannot possibly be an opponent for Miss Zege’s Deus Ex Machina power, but if it is just a clash and contest of warlock foundations...”

He lowered his head slightly, but the fervent ambition in his words was revealed undoubtedly: “I should still have the ability to compete a bit with Miss Zege.”

“Pfft—”

Hitana who accidentally let out a laugh immediately covered her mouth, after meeting Anselm’s half-smiling eyes, she coughed slightly somewhat embarrassedly: “That, I just now, hmm... thought of something happy.”

While Mingfuluo held her forehead, sighing: “Anselm, you really...”

“Relax, this time it is not you.”

Anselm said so, reaching out to pat Gerard’s shoulder, casting an extremely encouraging look at this young man:

“Gerard, your opponent is not Aluo.”

He pointed to Hitana who was rubbing her cheeks, saying with a smile full of interest:

“Survive ten rounds under Hit’s hands, and you are my Head of Magic.”

“...Lord Anselm, is this not—”

Gerard, who obviously thought he was being slighted, seemed somewhat resistant, but stopped himself halfway through his words.

He looked at that white-haired girl whose fame was far higher than Mingfuluo, truly known to everyone in the Empire, that madman, monster who could punch the Emperor, and took a slight deep breath.

“I understand, Lord Anselm.”

Gerard bowed his head to Anselm, respectfully and devoutly saying: “If this is your request, then I will exhaust everything... to achieve your expectations!”

When the young man raised his head, his eyes were full of blazing high fighting spirit and intent.

“Please, Miss Lansmarlos.”

The ring on his hand bloomed with the brilliance of stars, invisible and powerful energy fluctuations swept across, making Hitana’s expression change slightly.

“You...” She asked in a cautious and deliberative tone, “Are you sure you want to fight with me?”

“You are the spear and shield trusted by Lord Anselm, I believe even if you are only third-tier, you possess the power to sweep most fourth-tiers in this world, so I will give my all, however... Please also be careful.”

Gerard held the light of stars, declaring thus:

“I am also by no means among that ‘majority’.”

“Uh... alright, then do your best.”

Hitana scratched her head, turning to walk towards the large empty ground that was bombarded repeatedly by Mingfuluo just now but was not damaged.

At this time Anselm had already come behind Mingfuluo, reaching out to knead her smooth and tender cheeks.

“...Let go, boring.”

Mingfuluo slapped the back of Anselm’s hand dissatisfied, but the latter had absolutely no intention of letting go.

After slapping a few more times without making Anselm give up, the Scholar Miss could only keep a straight face, letting Anselm knead.

“Tell the truth.” She said indistinctly, “How many rounds do you think this guy can last under your wolf dog’s hands?”

Anselm smiled without speaking, extending five fingers, waving in front of Mingfuluo.

“Five rounds... about what I thought.”

“No.”

The young Hydra bent down, his face pressed against Mingfuluo’s face, looking at Hitana who was moving her wrists together with her.

“It is five seconds.”

Four seconds later, Hitana ran towards Anselm with a face full of horror.

“Anselm Anselm! I didn’t mean to beat him to death! How would I know he talked himself up so amazingly, but resulted—”

“How did you just directly declare death?” Anselm looked somewhat amusedly at the anxious Hitana, “Just injured relatively heavily, recuperating for a week or so will be fine.”

“I... I was afraid you thought I went for the kill.”

Hitana shrank her neck somewhat guiltily: “That guy really, don’t say you are so amazing if you don’t have the ability.”

“But Gerard is indeed my Chief Warlock, he is indeed very strong.”

Anselm rubbed Hitana’s head: “It is you who became stronger, Hitana. You are only one line away from breaking through to the fourth tier.”

Hitana who felt relieved laughed hehe, but while laughing, she became not so happy again.

“But I can’t find where that key point is.”

The young girl said somewhat disappointedly: “I clearly always feel I can break that barrier with a punch anytime, yet also seem very far from that barrier.”

Hitana who always disliked reading even specially went to consult books, the promotion transformation after the third tier, all came from the transcendent’s further mastery of their own elements.

From the incredibly immature prince who just ascended the Throne, transforming into the young Crown Prince holding the scepter... Hitana had to knock open that door, allowing her to understand the Beast element more profoundly.

Ambition for power, desire for slaughter... Hitana felt she clearly did not lack these qualities, but she was never able to push open the door of the fourth tier.

Exactly where was the difference? Hitana didn’t know, she could only attribute the reason to, she still lacked true life-and-death combat.

Anselm looked at the somewhat downcast Hitana, just gently stroking her head, not speaking.

Mingfuluo looked up at Anselm, her expression thoughtful.

“So, is he really your Chief Warlock?” Mingfuluo looked at Gerard lying dead on the ground, changing the topic for Anselm.

“Does he not look like it?”

“How could your Chief Warlock be only fourth-tier?”

Anselm smiled: “The key point is ‘my’, not ‘Chief’.”

Once he said this, Mingfuluo had an idea in her heart, she snorted coldly: “Sure enough, a cautious brat with absolutely no sense of security.”

Although saying so, Mingfuluo still quietly held Anselm’s other hand.

Hydra’s foundation and power could of course attract many fifth-tier powerhouses to join.

It was just that Flamel was almost the most unambitious Hydra among the many Hydras in thousands of years, the forces under him could not be considered huge.

Even so, as long as Anselm wanted, it was not difficult to really find fifth-tier powerhouses to work for him.

But for this kind of person, Anselm would just use them, never considering truly placing them under his command.

“In the originally destined future...”

Anselm looked at Gerard being carried away, saying words that neither girl expected:

“Gerard, was indeed my Head of Magic.”

“Ah?!” Hitana was greatly shocked, “Really?! Just him? So... so Anselm when did you—”

“I said, he is not that bad, it is you who are too strong.”

Anselm pinched Hitana’s nose helplessly: “He is twenty-five years old this year, will become fifth-tier in seven years, and achieved without my help... a thirty-two-year-old fifth-tier transcendent, is countable on one’s fingers in the Empire’s history.”

The heroes’ inconceivable talents gave themselves an illusion—the illusion that Anselm’s current subordinates were very weak.

In fact, it was never like this, it was just because they, whose talents were strong enough to make fate favor them, were simply too... unreasonable.

“Not just Gerard, Rhine was also my future Head of Devouring.” Anselm casually threw out another matter that stunned the two girls.

“...So that’s how it is, so you definitely treated it quite well before, giving it the illusion of ‘I will definitely be a Contract Head’, so it had the confidence to be that arrogant.”

Mingfuluo said thoughtfully: “Then what about others? In that future, were all your original Contract Heads... recruited under your command by you in advance?”

“No need for that.”

Anselm said with a relaxed face: “To me, their greatest advantage lies in... I have two hundred percent understanding of them and can easily dominate and control them. The me in that future, due to mother’s matter, was not reasonable in the choice of Contract Heads, among those Contract Heads, some were not suitable for me.”

Elnilisa’s death brought a devastating impact to the Anselm of the originally destined future, after awakening the spiritual essence named [Hunting], the Contract Heads he collected were all to serve the investigation of the murderer, that Anselm did not care about the Contract Head’s character or even conduct, only needing power that matched his disposition.

This also laid the groundwork for why Anselm Hydra, clearly already a complete ultimate Divine Species, was eventually defeated by the four heroes joining hands.

“This world does not lack outstanding talents.” Anselm said leisurely, “Since I can see so much, why limit myself to what that future me possesses? Don’t forget, he was a loser.”

“So, you already have a target?” Mingfuluo immediately understood, she raised her eyebrows slightly, “Can be mentioned in the same breath as us?”

“That is of course impossible.”

Anselm smiled: “If measured by your standards, then I can only have four... oh, it is five Contract Heads.”

Hitana blinked: “So I am the most amazing one, right?”

“Hit is of course the most amazing one.”

“Yay!”

Mingfuluo felt the two soft mounds shaking on Hitana’s chest when she jumped were somewhat annoying, she looked away, resting her chin on one hand: “You better find a new Contract Head quickly, judging from this Gerard and that domestic cat, your subordinates are already somewhat restless.”

“It is better to let them break this unrealistic thought as early as possible, otherwise it is easy to affect people’s hearts.”

These fellows who presumably followed Anselm for a long time would definitely not give up because of temporary failure, unless the position of Contract Head had fallen into another’s hands, otherwise they absolutely could not give up hope, even if encountering more setbacks they would continue to try, and once this kind of attempt became too much... it would be, as Mingfuluo said, bad for people’s hearts.

And the “strongest” Miss who received Anselm’s affirmative answer already had no rejection towards the new Contract Head, she was instead quite looking forward to her new friend, wondering what kind of person he or she would be.

...Hope it’s not a gloomy woman who keeps a straight face all day like the little dwarf.

“If nothing else, I will leave first.”

Mingfuluo put away the book, stood up, and said lightly: “Don’t ask me to spar with her in the future, I am very busy.”

Anselm blinked: “But I didn’t ask Aluo to spar with Hit, wasn’t I still surprised before? It was you who took the initiative.”

Mingfuluo, who had clearly walked out several steps, paused, she turned around, walked back a few steps, lowered her head and stepped directly on Anselm’s foot, then dissipated into iron-gray particles without a trace.

“Little dwarf really likes being stubborn, not honest at all.”

Hitana hmphed: “If not for giving her face, I would have exposed her long ago!”

The young girl saying this hugged Anselm with a grin: “So Anselm definitely still likes a direct girl like me, right!”

Anselm looked at Hitana pressing that soft body entirely towards him, smiling helplessly: “You are too direct, Hit.”

Because feeling Anselm’s hand encircling her waist, although the days since officially starting war with Anselm were not long, Miss Hitana with extremely high frequency and duration could be considered a veteran of the battlefield, Hitana who understood Anselm’s overtones at once blushed slightly, but still grunted softly and coquettishly:

“Just asking if you like it...”

Just when the young girl was acting spoiled clingily, a black feather suddenly drifted down from the sky.

Anselm reached out to catch that feather, his eyebrows raised slightly.

Hitana hugging him let out an “Eh”, she leaned forward slightly, sniffing at that feather.

“This smell, why is it like last time...”

“Alright, I also have things to do, Hit.”

Anselm casually threw the feather down, when the black feather touched the ground, it instantly dissipated like a bubble without a trace.

Miss Hitana, who still wanted to be intimate with Anselm for a while, was somewhat unhappy: “Anselm has been so busy recently...”

“Can’t be helped.”

The young Hydra pulled out the hideous pitch-black hand cannon from his waist, instantly holding the cane, that pitch-black snake head emitted a solemn and majestic matte light under the sun’s illumination.

He chuckled and said:

“I am now at any rate considered... ‘All Nations Coming to Court’, right.”

In this incredibly chaotic situation, who was the most unprovokable?

Among the many opponents harboring ulterior motives, who was the most worth roping in?

On the map of the Empire already split apart, who again... possessed the only power sufficient to make the final decision?

Anselm Hydra, was a Hydra only sixteen years old, not inheriting the power of the Divine Species, so young and immature.

But at this moment, he was the most solid and reliable power within the Empire, and...

And everyone thought he would be the most solid and reliable power on their side.

Because everything he performed in these past few years was so perfect—Anselm Hydra was the most perfect ally, everyone thought so.

Although in Anselm’s original plan, the Empire simply would not fall into division, even so, the situation still developed in a direction favorable to Anselm.

This was a rationality that even fate could not influence.

It was an inevitability created in this long effort by a villain who resolved to oppose fate at such an immature time.