A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Hiss—!

The next second, an intensely fierce column of light rose from the already tottering, completely deformed armor below, engulfing Seraphina's forearm in an instant. She felt the intense impact of that pure energy but did not withdraw her hand, instead laughing and saying:

"This is how it should be!"

The momentum of that arm did not decrease, but in an instant, it was almost entirely carbonized, and because it was not withdrawn, it continued to be scorched by the light column, the carbon on the arm being eroded away in a very short time. Her arm was almost completely destroyed, but Seraphina still resolutely delivered that punch.

Crack—!

Under that torrential barrage, a piece of armor was finally split open by Seraphina, who then contentedly withdrew her hand, symbolically stepping back a few paces and looking down at her "barely remaining" forearm.

"It's going to be a bit troublesome to grow this back... I don't really want to drink Ansel's potion, it's a waste."

She shook her arm frustratedly, now only charred bones and a few strands of charred flesh hanging from the bones, and after a couple of shakes, she flung the remaining piece to the ground.

At the carbonized break, the carbon was peeling away rapidly, fresh, wriggling flesh buds and visibly growing white bones appeared, which looked quite unsettling.

"... I didn't want to use my last resort here, Miss Marlowe."

The steel armor, now battered and deformed by Seraphina, radiated light: "This was a spell I intended to activate only when facing someone trying to save Ziegler."

"You are indeed persistent." Seraphina raised an eyebrow slightly, "The little one has no grievance with you, right?"

"Because the only one I can kill, who also has value as an object of revenge, is her."

The girl paused for two seconds, then couldn't help but laugh: "To articulate bullying the weak and fearing the strong with such righteousness, you are quite a character—"

Boom!

What was originally a silent beam of light suddenly erupted with a tremendous noise. Seraphina, who had twisted her body to dodge, slowly turned her head to see a sword mark over ten meters long, likely having pierced through two floors and still penetrating four or five rooms, symbolizing the lethal power of that strike.

And Conrad's longsword was already full of light, swelling to over six meters in length, terrifying to behold.

"The Luminaris family's ancestral core spell, 'Glorious Armament,' has been passed down for three centuries."

Its radiance enveloped the wearer, resembling the armor of an angelic being from a minstrel's ballad. Brandishing a longsword, step by step, it advanced towards Seraphina.

"Oh, the pact head of Hydral, witness... the Luminaris family's final splendor!"

This overwhelming surge of power did not instill fear in Seraphina; instead, it awakened the most primal and voracious desires within the heart of the nascent beast sovereign.

To devour... to consume!

She rushed towards the glowing, shattered armor with utmost excitement, capturing every floating ether, the transformation of light essence, its condensation and gathering—all perceived and devoured by her senses, by her…bestial nature!

Conrad swung his sword in a wide arc, the explosive force of the blade's aura capable of bisecting Seraphina. Yet, the girl did not leap high; instead, she performed an extremely agile, ground-hugging spin, deftly avoiding the fierce sword light.

Conrad's next strike fell with hair's breadth precision, but Seraphina evaded with agility, guided by an otherworldly intuition that leaves no room for error.

Boom,boom,bomm —

The tremors felt across at least three floors from this point were testament to the destructive power of a top-tier fourth-stage spell, even when diminished by the dual constraints of the empress and the Etheric Academy.

Yet, each of Conrad's strikes surpasses this!

"Too slow... far too slow!"

Seraphina, laughing, sprinted towards the armor and struck without hesitation!

The sound of hard materials colliding echoed once more, but Seraphina's smile froze slightly—not due to a lack of destructive power, but...

Seraphina quickly dodged to the side, just as a fierce column of light burst forth from the radiant armor. Had she been a moment later, the consequences would have been dire.

"Miss Marlowe, though you are formidable, your foundation is lacking, and your methods... overly simplistic," Conrad's voice emanates from the burning blaze of the armor.

"Limited to close combat, your options are too restricted."

Seraphina glanced at her hand, nearly consumed by the armor's fiery glow from her punch, and her arm, now only partially recovered, then licked her rosy lips.

"No matter, I'll take it slow."

Though recklessness is not an option, as long as she maneuvers carefully and becomes accustomed to the burn of the light flames, victory will be hers.

"... Take it slow, you say?" Conrad mused, then suddenly bursts into laughter.

"Ha..hahahahaha! Take it slow, indeed, take it slow!"

With a roar, Conrad unleashed a devastating sword light, which Seraphina nimbly avoided. Conrad then bellowed, "In your eyes... Am I merely a sparring partner for you to take your time with? Just as my father was to that damned empress, a disposable nobody, right?"

Seraphina was startled by his outburst: "What are you ranting about? It wasn't me who killed your father."

"Hydral... Empress... all those Divine beings!"

"Those monsters should never have existed in this world! They are the ones who destroyed the empire, who ruined the entire world! This world... was never meant to be like this, destroyed by these monsters!"

Conrad had completely lost his sanity, his blasphemous words frightening some fifth-stage observers into cutting off their viewing, fearing the empress's wrath might fall upon those who heard these words.

The armor's light intensified, and Conrad's roar grew louder: "Without these monsters, how wonderful the empire would be, my father, I... our family... how great our family would have become! All because of... merely because of a mistake, a mistake that wasn't even my father's! A mistake, for not pleasing that madwoman!"

"The three-hundred-year glory of our family, to be destroyed like this?"

"You, the Tower of Babel, Ziegler, the empress... and Hydral!"

Conrad, roaring, raised his longsword high, its light intensifying, the energy seeming to level the entire floor: "A bunch of scum, beasts... die, all of you!"

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