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

Page 25

"Healed..."

Fim looked at the other parts of his body, but the bloody wounds had long since disappeared, as if they had never existed.

With a sigh of relief, Mino clapped his hands, looking satisfied, and said, "Although, demons really don't need to act like humans."

Then he gave a thumbs up.

"But it's okay if Fim becomes a little more girly!"

Fim stared blankly at Mino, as if he didn't understand anything.

"No need to thank me. After all, Fim's cooking is pretty good. Consider it paying off a debt!" Mino thought Fim wanted to ask why she was helping her so much, so she immediately gave a thumbs up, secretly feeling smug.

Call me Mino Lei Feng!

With an air of indifference, Mino tossed out a "goodnight" and floated away from Fim's room.

Fim stared at Mino's retreating figure for a long time, still somewhat puzzled:

That pure healing power healed parts of her demonic body structure... With such a powerful healing spell, wouldn't Mino be able to purify the seal and restore her power by using it on herself?

Fim sat there for a long time, and finally, his eyes lit up, as if he had found the answer.

"Mino is a good person."

……

"Hehehe~ A useless healing session, but I got to show off in style. I've hit the jackpot!" Mino happily headed to the next room:

"Next stop! Oh!"

"Oh~!" Mia excitedly hugged Mino's head and sat on her shoulders, echoing her.

Arriving at the next gate, Mino, without further hesitation, pushed the gate open with a snap!

"New world, here I come!"

A torrent of water vapor billowed out.

Kletina, fresh from her bath, had dewdrops glistening on her skin and her still-wet hair was mostly dried. Her complaining, carried through the steam, came through the steam: "Why did you run out halfway through your bath? Later, I'll definitely give that demon a good talking to..."

The chilly wind brought the conversation to a halt. Kletina's curvaceous figure turned around in the mist, staring blankly at the suddenly wide-open door.

And in front of the door, a stunned figure stood there.

Mino's eyes were glazed over, and her lips twitched. It really was a door-opening incident...

Hello, New World—

boom! ! !

A violent energy surge erupted, and after a while, Kletina, her face flushed with anger, carried away the reluctant Mia, leaving the bruised and battered hero Mino standing there, on the verge of tears.

"Hero...shall we continue exploring the Demon King's castle today?"

"What do you say?"

Mino put the key away, his face ashen: "Are you risking your life to investigate here?"

……

The Demon King's Castle, bottom level.

The Demon Conference.

The lights of the will-o'-the-wisps lit up one after another. As soon as the meeting started, Swell couldn't wait to report the latest findings: "This plan was a great success. Prince Ota, he... eh."

Swail quickly realized something was wrong:

"Lady Kletina, Lord Fim, what... has happened?"

For some reason, the two adults looked much stranger than usual, and the atmosphere around them was also different.

"It's nothing." Kleinna blushed slightly, tapped the table lightly with her fingers, and changed the subject, saying, "Continue with the report, Swell."

"In short... Prince Ota suffered a greater blow than we expected. He is now lying in a hospital bed and is probably unable to handle the kingdom's affairs for the time being, let alone have the energy to handle the details of the hero's awakening ceremony."

Kleidina smiled with satisfaction: "It seems that the awakening ceremony of the hero has many loopholes and opportunities."

“That’s right, next… um? Wait.” Swir’s will-o’-the-wisp suddenly stopped, as if it had received some information. “It actually happened like this.”

Swell's voice was somewhat complicated, and Kletina immediately realized that he had received new intelligence, and it didn't sound like anything good.

"What's wrong, Swell?"

"You've lost your composure, Your Excellency." Swirl's will-o'-the-wisp tightened abruptly, his expression turning serious.

"I didn't expect the human side to react so quickly."

"Just now, an important figure capable of taking over the Awakening Ceremony stepped forward and took over the job of presiding over the Hero Awakening Ceremony for Prince Ota."

"What? That's impossible." Kleinna was slightly surprised.

Few people have enough prestige and legitimate reason to get involved in this matter. Even Princess Kalia, as a member of the royal family, would not be able to take on the crucial task of the Hero Awakening Ceremony without the expertise and power to do so.

In the entire capital city, and even across the entire kingdom, there are only two suitable candidates who meet the criteria.

One is Saint Lena of the Holy Church, but during this time she has been replacing Mino in defending the border against the demons' attacks, waiting for an opportunity to severely damage the demons' guards.

That leaves only one candidate—

“The chief mage of the Round Tower, Ang Lac? But haven’t the Round Tower and the Kingdom always been clearly separate, never interfering with the work of the royal family?” Kletina never expected such a turn of events.

The Mage's Round Tower is similar in nature to the Adventurers' Guild or the Royal Academy. Although it has close ties with royalty, it also has its own set of principles.

Giving political stances to people outside the kingdom's system could actually cause instability within the kingdom.

Moreover, it's quite unbelievable that Archmage Ang Lac, who has always been gloomy and prefers to stay in the Round Tower doing magical research, would bother with such trivial matters.

Swell was also puzzled. After a moment of silence, he said, "It seems that the capture of the hero Mino has changed the people around him."

With the holy archmage Lak, known as the "Kingdom's Morning Star," taking over the reins in Ota, in some ways things are even getting worse.

"Perhaps, under Chief Lak's command, an even more powerful new hero will emerge."

Chapter 34 Finally, someone smelled the darkness?

The pitch-black sky continued to spread towards the capital.

Rumbling dark clouds drifted seemingly around the capital, encircling an invisible round tower made of black stone. The tower's surface was covered with cracks resembling venomous snakes, and as lightning flashed and disappeared, countless eerie runes were reflected on its surface.

On the top floor of the round tower, in a dimly lit room, strange objects were scattered haphazardly across the table: a crystal bottle bubbling with an unknown liquid, white bones inscribed with evil magic, and a parchment scroll stained with dried blood...

In the heart of the darkness, the sinister sorcerer with a receding hairline stopped what he was doing. The air in the room suddenly stopped distorting, leaving only a faint chill.

Lak stopped chanting, raised his head, and looked through the wall toward the palace. A cruel and sinister smile appeared on his lips.

"Finally... we succeeded."

"Prince Ota's fall was just in time; this interference magic was successfully developed before the Hero Ceremony could take place."

In the shadows, darkness once again coalesced from Lak's body, emitting a sinister laugh:

"Now that you've taken over the awakening ceremony, this interference magic will come in handy... We can then secretly seize control of the hero's choice!!!"

Although three days wasn't enough time to replicate the mind control magic, Lak devised another dark and feasible plan during that period:

Choose a hero candidate with darkness within, and then slowly lure him into corruption!

This plan was originally difficult because the Awakening Array for Heroes mainly selects those who are favored by the Goddess. Those with dark hearts and mental illnesses would be eliminated first. However, Lak developed "interference magic"!

Once used, he can completely decide who will be chosen by the goddess to become the hero!

“The only drawback of this spell is that it won’t work if the distance is too far, but now…” Lak smiled, as if even luck was on his side.

First, because Mino was captured, the equally qualified Saint Lena was left behind at the border.

Then Prince Ota fainted at this crucial moment.

Ultimately, due to the prophecy of the Round Table causing mutual suspicion among the nobles, no one objected to him taking over the Awakening Ceremony.

As the ritual master, Lak can cast interference magic at the closest point, and he can choose the person with the greatest chance of falling into darkness at any time to become a hero!

"Although we don't know what brought all this to fruition, it seems we should thank the mastermind behind it all..." Lak chuckled, not too wary. At least, in this ceremony, he was the biggest winner.

Inside the pitch-black round tower, Lark's voice was gradually swallowed by the darkness.

"Next, we need to find the right person..."

……

royal palace.

The head maid stepped in as the knock sounded, and a small stack of papers landed on the table.

"Princess Kalia, the list of candidates for hero has been sent over," the head maid said softly.

Kalia gently turned a few pages and sighed, "The capital has been in such turmoil lately, even my brother Ota... I hope the Hero Ceremony tomorrow will be a success and that a hero who can shoulder the hopes of the people will emerge."

The head maid stood to one side, knowing that Princess Kalia needed comforting words at this moment: "Fortunately, thankfully Chief Lak is still here."

"Even the demons cannot stop the birth of a new hero."

"The new hero..." Kalia flipped through the files, her eyes flashing with faces.

In her heart, the only one worthy of the title of hero is Mino.

But as royalty, she must also have faith in the heroes of the future.

only……

“The faces this time are all too young,” Kalia sighed. “The intervals are still too short.”

Even among the candidates for hero, there are those who have shown their talent. Mino was chosen by the goddess without any doubt, right under everyone's noses.

However, only a few years have passed, and among these brave candidates, very few can compare to Mino.

"Huh." Suddenly, Kalia's slender fingers stopped on one of the pages.

"It's Shana? She's become a hero candidate so quickly?!" Kalia looked at the list in her hand in surprise, then murmured:

"If she can become a hero, then Brother Mino will be very happy..."

But soon, Kalia remembered something, and a hint of annoyance appeared on her face.

She thought of a condition: if that were the case, then Shana might have no chance of becoming a hero at all.