"... I see, so you must have favored it before, making it mistakenly believe 'I will definitely be the pact head,' which gave it the confidence to be so arrogant."
Ravenna mused, "What about the others? In that future, did you recruit all your original pact heads in advance?"
"No need for that."
Ansel said casually, "For , their greatest advantage is that… I have a complete understanding of them and can easily control them. In that future, due to my mother's influence, my choices for pact heads were not reasonable. So of those pact heads were not suitable for ."
Annelisa's death dealt a devastating blow to Ansel's previously envisioned future. After awakening the spirit essence known as [Pursuit], he gathered pact heads solely to track down the murderer, caring little for their personalities or morals, as long as their powers aligned with his own.
This set the stage for the ultimate divine species, Ansel of Hydral, to be defeated by the combined efforts of four heroines.
On that day, he was disdainfully trampled underfoot by four heroines — he was hailed as the original sin that caused the Empire's stagnation for nearly ten thousand years, the root of all suffering in this world, the chief culprit of humanity's collapse and distortion... In short, on that day, he finally realized that his existence was the greatest sha of this old era.
…
"There is no shortage of outstanding talent in this world," Ansel remarked leisurely. "Since I can see so many, why limit myself to what my future self possessed? Don't forget, he was a failure."
"So, you already have a target?" Ravenna imdiately understood, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Soone who can compare to us?"
"That is, of course, impossible."
Ansel chuckled, "If I were to asure by your standards, I would only have four... oh, five pact heads."
Seraphina blinked, "So, I'm the most powerful one, right?"
"Hehe, Seri is certainly the most powerful."
"Yay!"
Ravenna found Seraphina's bouncing chests sowhat annoying and averted her gaze, resting her chin on her hand. "Ansel, you'd better find so new pact heads quickly. From the looks of Gerald and that house cat, your subordinates are already getting restless."
"It's best to quash such unrealistic notions as soon as possible, or it will affect morale."
These followers of Ansel, who had been with him for a long ti, would not give up easily due to a single failure. Unless the position of pact head was taken by soone else, they would never be disheartened. No matter how many setbacks they faced, they would continue to try, and if such attempts beca too frequent... it would indeed affect morale, as Ravenna had said.
The "strongest" wolf lady, who had received Ansel's affirmation, no longer had any objections to new pact heads. Instead, she was quite looking forward to her new friends, wondering what kind of people they would be.
...Hopefully not a gloomy woman with a perpetually stern face.
… And it's best not to be so kind of maniac who can control their own body, growing bigger, shrinking smaller, and disappearing at will.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Ravenna put away her book, stood up, and said indifferently, "Don't ask to spar with her again. I'm very busy."
Ansel blinked, "But I didn't ask you to spar with Seri. Wasn't I surprised before? You volunteered."
Ravenna, who had already taken several steps, paused, turned around, walked back a few steps, and stomped on Ansel's foot before dissipating into iron-gray particles.
"That little dwarf is so stubborn, never honest."
Seraphina humd, "If I gave her face, I would have exposed her long ago!"
The girl, saying this with a cheerful smile, hugged Ansel, "So Ansel must still prefer straightforward girls like , right?"
Ansel looked at Seraphina, who was pressing her soft body against him, and smiled helplessly, "You are too straightforward, Seri."
Feeling Ansel's hand encircle her waist, Seraphina, though not long acquainted with the days of formal battle with Ansel, had experienced enough frequent and prolonged encounters to be considered a seasoned "warrior". Understanding the unspoken implication in Ansel's words, her face flushed slightly, but she still cooed softly:
"Just tell if you like ~..."
As the girl clung to him, a black feather suddenly drifted down from the sky.
Ansel reached out and caught the feather, raising an eyebrow.
Seraphina, holding him, let out a soft "huh" and leaned forward slightly to sniff the feather.
"This scent, it's just like last ti..."
"Alright, I have things to attend to, Seri."
Ansel casually let the feather fall, and as it touched the ground, it vanished like a bubble.
Seraphina, who wanted to linger with Ansel a bit longer, pouted, "Ansel has been so busy lately..."
"No choice."
The young Hydral drew a nacing black hand cannon from his waist, swiftly gripping his scepter. The black serpent head glead with a solemn and majestic matte under the sun.
He chuckled lightly and said:
"After all, I am now... 'the one to whom all nations bow.'"
In this chaotic situation, who is the most untouchable?
Among the many opponents with ulterior motives, who is the most worth allying with?
On the already fragnted imperial map, who possesses the… singular decisive power?
Ansel of Hydral, at the tender age of sixteen, had not inherited the power of the divine species… — Yet, he was the most solid and reliable force within the empire at this mont.
And...
And everyone believed he would be the most solid and reliable force on their side.
Because everything he had done in recent years was so perfect—Ansel of Hydral was the perfect ally, everyone thought so.
Although Ansel's original plan did not foresee the empire falling into division, the situation still developed in a way that was advantageous to him.
This was a rationality that even fate could not alter.
It was the inevitability created by a villain who, in his youth, had resolved to defy fate, through long and arduous efforts.
*
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