Torture the hero, why has the Demon King's castle collapsed again?

Page 121

Whether it's the herbal ritual mentioned by Altotai or the restoration of the artifact source, both can break the seal on the Heart of Ice in a short time, which means their remaining time is quite tight.

It is very likely that necessary action will have to be taken tonight.

But how do we do it?

Although Saintess Lena suffered a backlash, she is now located in the heart of humanity, in the capital city of Kur.

Furthermore, it is located in the most secret basement of the Holy Church, which possesses the kingdom's top power and is now under the command of the most sacred artifact saint, the Iron-Blooded Pope Brad.

Apophis and his demon horde originally thought that even if Brad returned, it would take a considerable amount of time to revive Saintess Lena.

But now it seems that the other party's actions are almost unstoppable, hehe... No wonder Altottai revealed the information so easily, the cunning boy, he even dared to deceive its beeswax.

Only a veteran holy sword like Apophis could address the mighty Altotai, a mainstay of the Holy Church, as a "junior."

Despite this, Apophis wasn't too angry. First, beeswax wasn't really suitable for it and wasn't particularly valuable to it. Second, if the intelligence was really that easy to use, it would doubt the authenticity of Altotai's free gift.

This time, however, it seems that the other side has truly won. Judging from the current situation, even if Krytina personally goes to the capital, she may not be able to successfully prevent Lena from waking up.

With the thought of giving up already in mind, Apophis was organizing his thoughts for his report at the upcoming Demon Alliance meeting.

A faint yet familiar aura rippled through the air, spreading outwards until it reached Apophis on the top floor, at which point it stopped. Non-narrative words, spoken directly as if read aloud, flooded into Apophis's mind from another dimension.

"Apophis?"

Sensing that almost ethereal yet mesmerizing aura, Apophis's expression shifted:

"Nightmare Mirror? You've finally woken up?"

Chapter 163 You sword, all you think about is yourself!

My vision gradually blurred, as if space itself was distorted. In a short while, a smooth, ancient-looking rectangular mirror appeared before my eyes, its phantom image, the Nightmare Mirror of the Seventh Demon, floating up and down.

Apophis knew that this was not a clone or projection of the other person, but rather that he had been pulled into a "dream," which was why he saw the other person.

"Such a wondrous power as ever, Nightmare." Apophis sighed, then looked at the other:

"This seems to be our first meeting since the Battle of Mino?"

“In fact, I had already woken up before you recovered.” The bronze-framed mirror, engraved with intricate patterns, shimmered with light. After a moment's thought, it added:

"twice."

“I’ve heard Swell and the others mention it.” Apophis nodded knowingly.

It is said that before it returned from recuperating at the bottom of the lava volcano, the Nightmare Mirror participated in two important operations: the destruction of the Round Tower Notes and the awakening ceremony of the hero. However, something went wrong, and it was eroded by the corrupting power twice in a row, suffering severe damage and only now awakening, just missing the time for its recovery.

"What exactly did you see that could severely damage your ability to peer into the dream dimension?" Apophis asked curiously.

The Nightmare Mirror trembled slightly, and said with some apprehension, "I don't know, I really don't know... That's a power even darker and more chaotic than the demons themselves. It's because it's in the dream dimension that that evil filth can directly erode my power. It's too, too terrifying... It's as if those things are our natural enemies!!!"

"Such a thing actually exists?" Apophis frowned. After all, it was just a sacred artifact, and it had no way of delving into things outside its own domain.

In terms of breadth of knowledge, one has to look to Swell, the Book Demon, but he seems to know very little about that kind of filth, which is something to ponder...

"Let's not talk about that, Apophis." The Nightmare Mirror had just woken up and was looking for someone to chat with, so it asked in a relaxed tone, "Has anything happened lately?"

"Yes, it's out."

Apophis answered instinctively without thinking, glancing at the Nightmare Mirror, his tone becoming somewhat heavy:

"The goddess's will has descended upon Princess Kalia of the royal family; the sixth demon, the Corruptor, is already under suspicion in the capital; the Ice and Fire Dragon Clan has sent dragons to assist humanity, bringing the first line of defense to the brink of collapse; and the Pope of the Holy Church is about to return and awaken Saintess Lena..."

The dream in the Nightmare Mirror froze slightly.

After a while, the Nightmare Mirror trembled a few times in disbelief and asked, "This... all of this happened during the twenty days I was asleep???"

"Did I really only sleep for twenty days, and not twenty years?"

"Yes," Apophis replied helplessly, then felt something was off. This scene... felt somewhat familiar?

"In short, you'll understand in the next Demon Alliance meeting."

Apophis sighed softly. In any case, the awakening of the Nightmare Mirror was ultimately a good thing.

“I think Kletina and Migo will be very happy to see you awaken…”

……

Inside the cell.

As Apophis left, Mino immediately threw his head back and laughed three times: "Hahaha, I won the bet!"

"Altotai, you certainly didn't disappoint me!"

After sending the two demons away, Mino carried the heavy gold coins and found that he had a huge sum of 290 coins. Although they were of no use in the Demon King's castle, he could still use the Contract Spell to change the weather and change his mood when he had nothing to do!

The next moment, he focused his attention on Altottai.

"So, Altottai, how are you feeling right now?"

Mino suppressed his anticipation and approached Altottai with an air of knowing he had accomplished something great.

Only he knew that during this interrogation, Altothai had initiated the advancement of his artifact! It's possible that soon, a fully offensive artifact will appear in the human camp!

"My lord, I feel like I have everything I need now!!" Sure enough, even after giving away everything, Altottai was not discouraged at all. Instead, he was extremely excited and radiant, showing his characteristic self-sacrificing style.

"This feeling is truly indescribable. I feel... as if my entire life form is transforming into a higher level. Once the transformation is complete, I'm afraid that a single sword of mine will be worth all the sacred artifacts of the entire Holy Church!!!"

The blade of the Altotai sword trembled uncontrollably. Even he couldn't understand why it would act so violently, as if it had been given an aphrodisiac, simply because it had been waxed.

"Nice!" Mino clenched his fist excitedly.

Finally, after countless lackluster rewards, I drew the most exciting upgrade reward.

Now, who would dare call him a traitor to humanity? This one contribution alone... is enough to make up for a thousand of his previous acts of self-sacrifice!

"Altotai, tell me, when will you be able to complete the transformation?!" Mino asked proudly, waving his arm.

"Yes! I know that very well, three thousand years is enough!"

"Hahaha, that's great! Now we just have to wait three thousand years, and you..." Mino laughed loudly, hands on his hips, about to make a bold statement, when he suddenly paused.

Mino lowered his head stiffly, staring at the ramrod straight blade of Altotai before him, wondering if he had misheard something:

"what did you just say?"

"I said, three thousand years is enough!" Altothai exclaimed excitedly. "For a sacred artifact, that's no big deal at all. It's just a matter of taking a nap in the Holy Church. I'm getting a great deal!"

"I can't wait to see that day! My lord, are you too?"

"I'm your grandpa too!!!" Mino's eyes widened in anger. "I can't wait to be reincarnated, do you think I'll live to see that day?! Humanity is in such a precarious state right now, it's not even certain they can survive three thousand years! I'll wait for you for three thousand years!!!"

"For his own selfish gain, he actually sold out the most important secret of the Pure Heart."

Looking at Altottai, Mino was filled with heartache:

"Altotai, you've disappointed me so much!!!"

Altote: "??? That's not what you just said! And what right do you have to say such things? You're holding a heavy bag of gold, and I'm covered in sweet beeswax—we both have a future that's practically free!"

"And I did this not just to hide the third method, but also to conceal top-secret information about the Holy Church. I'm using a strategic retreat to advance!!!"

"Shut up! I don't recognize a holy sword like yours covered in beeswax!!!" Mino said righteously.

"Do you even realize the extent of harm your leaked information will cause to the Holy Church? To Lena and Iceheart? To the human kingdom? You haven't even considered that!"

Speaking a little too fast, and with a slightly dry mouth, Mino paused for a moment, picked up the newly served milk tea, took a sip, and then said with a disappointed look:

"You sword, all you think about is yourself."

"???"

A whole bunch of question marks popped up above Altottai's head.

—Should I just explode at you now?

Chapter 164 Mino: What do I have to do with this?

"Even if we take a step back and say that, my lord..."

Taking a deep breath, Altottai decided to explain, "This time, my freebie is a mechanic-driven freebie, a time-limited freebie, one that the demons absolutely cannot exploit!"

"So you can rest assured, the demons... will absolutely not be able to stop Saintess Lena's resurrection!" Artotai raised his sword hilt with a confident expression.

"Oh? How so?" Mino asked curiously.

"Of course, it's because of the most ingenious design in the Ice Heart's defense: Dreams!" Altottai said with certainty. "The Ice Heart's self-protection is a matter of utmost importance, concerning the very foundation of the Holy Church. Therefore, countless sacred artifacts and human scholars, through long-term research, have chosen the most perfect protection for it—a lucid dream!"

"This will allow the owner of the Ice Heart to quickly soothe their emotional state in the dream, while also preventing the Ice Heart and the Saintess from suffering further physical damage!"

"Their souls have already penetrated into the ethereal dimension of dreams, where no one can directly harm them. This is the most powerful guarantee!"

“Besides,” Altottai smiled slightly, “when Apophis came to interrogate me, I knew they were already too late.”

"Whether it's the herbal ritual or the nourishing of the artifact, it only takes one night to achieve most of the effect. At that time... Saintess Lena can wake up directly by her own will!"

"No matter how powerful the demons are, they cannot reach the capital overnight, let alone break through the Holy Church's guards and cause any harm to Saintess Lena in the real world!"

"Since there's neither a practical way to break through nor enough time, then this ordeal will be our victory!!!"

Altothai was overjoyed, thrilled to have won his first victory against Apophis.

“That makes some sense…” Mino pondered for a moment, then looked down at his own holy sword with some curiosity:

"But what if the demons have already mastered a method to interfere directly from the dream dimension, regardless of distance—"

"Then Ice Heart and Lena...didn't we send them?"

"Eh?"

Suddenly, Altottai froze on the spot.

……

"This is the information I obtained from Altottai through torture—"

The Demon King's Castle, bottom level.

The Demon Conference.

Sitting in the seat of the eighth demon, Apophis spoke patiently and meticulously.

"Humans have actually developed such a crucial method. This is really... quite troublesome."