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

Page 201

He suddenly looked towards the north side of the capital, a feeling of unprecedented unease rising in his heart:

"The Ice Heart has been injured, which means that Saintess Lena is now powerless... Has the Great Demon of the North Gate become this powerful?"

"Sister Lena lost? How could this be..." Kalia's eyes widened as she knelt beneath the goddess statue, her hands clenching tightly, her eyes filled with concern and worry.

Even though she and Lena never saw each other again after that day, Kalia always believed that Lena's will to protect humanity could never be easily broken. But the changes in the Holy Church and Archbishop Hope's anxious expression seemed to confirm this fact.

What exactly happened...?

Hope stood there, his expression changing repeatedly. If Lena had already been defeated, then in the worst-case scenario, the north gate might have already been breached by the demons!

At this critical juncture of the hero's blessing ceremony, it was nothing short of a disaster.

Hope felt an unprecedented unease, and then he heard several urgent and panicked shouts echoing along the street leading from the west gate—

"Pope Tonk has been severely injured by the demon!"

"A second great demon has appeared at the West Gate! The treacherous demon sword—Apophis!"

"What?!" Hope's pupils widened. The heavy news hit him almost simultaneously, leaving the archbishop, who was in charge of the Holy Church, unable to recover for a moment.

The next moment, he suddenly looked in another direction from the capital, his hands trembling like never before.

Just now, through the priests' communication link, a warrior who is said to be at the core of the Knights' Circle, and who is said to be on the verge of death, sent a distress call.

Could it be that—aside from the east gate where the mage's round tower is located, the human forces at the other three city gates have already been defeated?!

If that's the case, if that's the case...

Thinking of this, Hope raised his head in fear, a deep despair appearing in his eyes for the first time: the entire Kingdom of Kur might very well fall completely in this war!

"Humanity has only one last hope left!"

Hope looked towards the east side of the capital, where the dark round tower stood under the goddess's radiance, as if isolating it from all outside sounds.

The somewhat lengthy blessing ceremony caused the resonance descending from the heavens to become richer, more brilliant, and more substantial, flowing into the round tower, as if the power of the goddess was constantly descending to the ground, breaking through the shackles of the void, and revealing her unique miracle.

Inside that round tower lies humanity's last trump card—

The kingdom's guiding star, the hero's mentor, the holy archmage who has reached the pinnacle of magic, the battle partner of the strongest hero in human history, and the chief of the Magic Tower, Lak.

And, soon to be born within the kingdom, the true hero after Mino.

"Shana Lake".

Hope murmured softly, recalling that once bright and majestic figure. Only when it was lost did she realize that the unparalleled sense of security represented the stability of the kingdom, the cessation of disasters, and the end of suffering.

But as Hope murmured Shana's name, what came to mind was the true "Kingdom's Morning Star," the one who bore the name of a hero and single-handedly gave birth to Mino, the strongest hero in human history!

Looking towards the direction of the magician's round tower, Hope's voice carried a hint of hope:

"Chief Lark, you will create another miracle, won't you?"

Chapter 290 What's your relationship with Mino? It seems a little inappropriate to me—

The Magician's Round Tower.

A scene that could plunge humanity into despair is etched into the darkness of the Round Tower.

Following the fall of Pope Brad, the oldest and most powerful warrior in human history, a god in the eyes of countless kingdom mages, Chief Lark of the Mage Tower, knelt heavily wounded beneath the protective altar, his aura so faint as to be almost nonexistent...

Even so, he still firmly protected the red-haired girl behind him, who was receiving the goddess's blessing and whose body was trembling slightly.

"Gulp! Don't even think about hurting Shana!"

The usually taciturn chief of the Round Tower gritted his teeth, his aged face etched with resentment and anger.

"I am powerless to stop your Shadow Demon's attacks, but even so, you absolutely cannot harm the sister of the hero Mino, who is right behind me, without any defensive magic array, whose life can be taken by a single attack, and who will become your number one enemy in the future if not eliminated—Sana Rek!"

The Shadow Fiend, Krytina, stared silently at Lak's flawless face, lost in thought...

Although she had long anticipated that the most successful outcome of the plan would be to render Chief Lark and Warrior Shana completely useless, the sudden turn of events was truly unexpected.

The shadow magic of perception enveloped Lak's body, and the result was accurate: the opponent seemed to be seriously injured and unable to recover.

That gave her an irresistible opportunity, which she had been planning to withdraw from.

Her instinctive caution prevented her from letting her guard down, and she resolved to probe again: "This is truly unexpected, Chief Lark."

"There's something I don't understand. Didn't you say at the beginning that you and Mino were never close friends? So why..."

"Now, are you going to give up your chance to escape for Mino's sister's sake?"

Lak's pupils dilated slightly, not expecting Kleidina to ask such a question.

“Yes, that’s right, Mino and I aren’t close friends…” Following Kleinna’s question, Lark could only bite the bullet and continue.

The next moment, he abruptly changed his tune: "After all!"

Raising his head, Lak's eyes were filled with deep emotion, and he spoke with great feeling:

"Given the deep bond between Mino and me, describing our relationship as merely 'close friends' is hardly an apt description! If I had to put it another way, it would be... Mino and I..."

Lowering his head, suppressing a feeling of nausea and like eating excrement, Lak bit his tongue until it bled, and then passionately declared:

"He and I are soulmates, true friends, bound by countless unwavering bonds—!!!"

"A true soulmate—!!"

"I am here!"

"what--!"

The sound echoed inside the round tower.

"Chief La-Lak..."

On the intensive care unit, Shana struggled to lift her eyelids and looked at the severely injured old man before her, a deep sense of emotion welling up in her heart.

Chief Lac was risking his life to protect himself.

Even with Prince Otta, who was supposedly her brother's best friend, she had never felt such intense and unforgettable emotion!

Is this the bond between a legendary hero and his closest companion? If Mino and Chief Lak had teamed up in their prime, they probably could have even killed the Demon King.

For a moment... Shana thought of her buddy, the first friend she had sworn brotherhood with in front of the trash can that night, the one she fought alongside.

"After we parted ways at Dragon Mountain, I was thrown into solitary confinement. I wonder how Fim is doing..."

"However, with the capital facing such a huge crisis, given her seemingly cold but warm-hearted personality, she certainly won't stand idly by..."

"At this point, they've probably already easily defeated the enemy on a major battlefield somewhere in the capital..."

Her eyelids grew heavy, and the power within her body was nearing its limit as the power of resonance subsided. Looking at Chief Lark, who was resolute in the face of death, Shana took a deep breath.

At that moment, she made a certain decision—

"I see."

In the void, Kleinna nodded slightly, showing no surprise: "I had long heard that you and the hero Mino had a deep bond that was beyond the imagination of the outside world. Now it seems that I was right... No wonder, no wonder you have always been dedicated to cultivating powerful heroes."

"Now it seems, Mino the Warrior, is the eternal holy light in your heart..."

His face twitched violently, and Lark cursed inwardly. It took a lot of effort to suppress the urge to get goosebumps all over his body.

Kleidina looked at the archmage and hero who were in imminent danger, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes.

At this moment, she was unaware that Prince Ota outside had already noticed her infiltration, but she also knew that she had to make a decision as soon as possible. In the worst-case scenario, the great demons at the three city gates outside were already engaged in a fierce battle.

Soon, a hint of determination flashed in Kletina's cherry-pink eyes.

She decided to take action.

"In that case, farewell, human mage... You are the second human I can respect after Mino."

Kleidina gathered dark and terrifying magical power in her hands, and all the darkness inside the round tower seemed to be sucked out, making the surroundings incredibly bright, but the air was filled with an inescapable chill.

A violent, chilling, and chaotic magical power compressed continuously in his palm, vibrating with an aura powerful enough to collapse the void—

Beneath the dark, almost despairing magic, the holy archmage Lak, adorned with "Oscar Abyss," finally revealed a barely perceptible smile at the corner of his mouth.

He was seriously injured; he was faking it.

With the will of the Abyss upon him, even the First Secretary, whose status is second only to the Demon King and who has lived for thousands of years, is nothing more than a slightly passable Darkin in the mouth of the Darkness. In this respect, Lak absolutely believes in the Abyss's status and power.

As expected, even though the Shadow Demon examined his body several times, it couldn't discern his true nature.

Now, it's finally coming to an end.

"No matter how terrifying her attack is, it can't cover the entire round tower. Once her attack lands, I can easily activate my blink magic to dodge it... The one who will withstand this attack, which is concentrated with the demon's killing intent, will be the greatest scourge behind me—Shana Rek!"

Lak trembled with excitement. Finally, he had achieved his goal: to kill Shana on the healing platform without implicating him at all, using the demon's blood-stained hands!

For this, he even went so far as to unleash the power of the abyss's will, and even abandoned his dignity to do the most humiliating thing—

Clenching his fists, tears of shame welled up in Lak's eyes:

“I even…officially announced my close relationship with Mino!”

"I've given so much—"

Chapter 291 Shana Explodes!

Fortunately, it's finally coming to an end here.

Thinking this through, Lark finally regained his composure and looked expectantly at the terrifying attack that Shadow Fiend had already formed in his hand, about to engulf the two of them. His eyes were filled with eager anticipation.

"Come on! Bomb me head-on!"

Lak was completely focused on the Shadow Fiend in front of him, unaware that on the healing altar behind him, the red-haired girl, clutching her body in pain, had her head bowed, and the pure red eyes hidden deep in her hair were gradually... flashing with a strange red light.

No, you can't...

Shana tried to murmur in pain, but the surging power within her body had almost separated her reason from her body. It wasn't until Lark and Shadow Fiend's words reached her ears that she managed to regain some clarity.

But Shana knew she had reached her limit.

Both holy power and magical power within his body were compressed to the extreme, like an extremely unstable powder keg about to unleash all its energy in the next moment: terrifying energy that concentrated all the power of the goddess's blessing, enough to shake the entire magician's round tower.

To suppress this power, Shana has been working hard since the beginning, refining, tempering, and condensing the countless surging holy light and demonic energy particles within her body... using every means possible, just to forcibly control these powers.

The result was that the holy and magical power within his body became incredibly solid and violent—

"In the end, it was still a failure..."