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

Page 5

"must!"

Chapter 6: To defeat the hero, start with building bonds.

"Achoo!" Mino sneezed on the soft bed in the Demon King's castle.

Rubbing his nose, Mino sat up slowly, looking puzzled.

"What's going on? I feel inexplicably cold all over... Will I become more prone to illness after my powers are sealed?"

As he murmured, Mino shuddered: "Could it be that the people of the kingdom, and my dearest friends and family, are missing me?!"

Only the most intense emotions could transcend this distant land and resonate with Mino's heart.

For a moment, Mino's eyes welled up with tears.

"They must miss me terribly right now, right?"

Mino walked to the window of the cell, gazing at the tiny night sky framed by the small window, and was about to express her homesickness.

However, the words went unspoken.

The sky was dotted with countless stars against the deep blue night sky, their shimmering light flowing into a beautiful galaxy, framed in the small window frame, like a moving painting.

"So beautiful..." Mino sniffed.

He thought of the kingdom's perpetually gray sky, and for some reason, even during the day, the dome was never so clear.

For a moment, Mino was enjoying herself... completely forgetting the "Quiet Night Thoughts" that was welling up inside her.

A silent shadow seeped from the ground, coalescing into a terrifying black shape, and Kletina's figure quietly materialized outside the cell.

She gave a perfectly timed smile, just about to greet Mino.

A deep, somber figure came into view.

The brave Mino gazed at the starry sky, remaining silent.

He was homesick… Kletina lowered her eyes, concealing the complex emotions within them.

After a while, she, as the first secretary, shook her head, breaking the silence:

"How was it, Hero? Life in the prison wasn't easy, was it?"

Mino turned his head and saw Kletina in a light pink rose dress, smiling at him.

Mino thought for a moment and said, "It's alright."

Kleidina ignored her feigned strength and revealed a mocking smile: "I came to tell you that this morning, all the dolls in King Kur II's study were destroyed by us."

She stared intently at Mino's expression, hoping to see some guilt or remorse on his face.

"Oh." Mino replied expressionlessly.

Kleidina blinked, looking at Mino's unchanging face, her voice gradually rising: "Oh?"

The psychological weakness of Prince Ota, which Mino himself revealed, and the horrific act of swiftly destroying him, only elicited an "Oh?" from the instigator.

Could Mino Lake be such a cold-blooded and selfish person? Impossible.

“That won’t work. I trust Prince Ota.”

Mino raised his head and declared confidently.

Kleidina returned to the meeting hall in a daze, a sense of doubt creeping into her heart... Could it be that the heart of that King Kur II was made of iron, possessing a will as resilient as Mino's?!

Kleidina initiated the joint meeting, and Will-o'-the-Wisp, representing the demon strategist Swell, was already waiting at the side of the table.

"Svir, did our operation against Prince Ota fail?"

Kleidina looked at the seats opposite her and asked.

"No, the operation was very effective." The will-o'-the-wisp flickered slowly.

"Prince Ota cried in his study all day."

Kleidina paused for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "So the Kingdom of Kur is probably in chaos now."

“No…I’m sorry.” Swell’s voice turned serious.

"The prince's approach to handling state affairs has not changed in the slightest. He is dealing with them while crying, and his concentration and efficiency are even higher than before!"

"What? Why is this happening?" Kletina's eyes widened.

Swell shook his head: "We only heard one thing: Prince Ota claimed he wanted to revitalize the kingdom's finances and replenish the treasury!"

At this crucial juncture, King Kur II actually wants to make money?! And why...? Kleidina felt a chill run down her spine.

"It seems you share the same thought as me." A flicker of the will-o'-the-wisp drifted by.

"I'm absolutely certain that Prince Ota's target is now us, and the Demon King's castle!"

"He didn't succumb to the heavy blow, but instead wanted to allocate more of the budget to training soldiers and eliminating demons!"

"Therefore, he must replenish the kingdom's treasury!"

Kleitina nodded seriously. As the heir to the kingdom, Prince Ota could only be referring to the kingdom's treasury.

Mino's declaration flashed through her mind: "That won't work, I believe in Prince Ota."

Indeed—

“Your Excellency, we must admit that King Kur II is an extremely ruthless and wise monarch. Even if he has some weaknesses, they are unlikely to shake his will in the short term.”

"Regarding the interrogation of the brave Mino, I suggest we approach it from a different angle."

"What's your suggestion?" Kleinna nodded, knowing that Swell must have some direction.

“The brave Mino is a formidable opponent. On one hand, he displays a firm will to resist our interrogation, while on the other hand, he easily reveals true and important information, leaving him in a limbo of whether to confess or not…”

“I think we should try to persecute someone he is closer to and trusts more, in an attempt to shake both the human camp and the hero Mino, so that he can’t take the initiative.”

Is she a candidate who is both an important force in the Kingdom of Kur and holds a significant place in the hero's heart...? Kletina was somewhat hesitant. Was it Princess Kalia, who was rumored to admire the hero, or Saintess Lena, who shared deep memories with the hero from the same village?

"Let me... take a look..."

A faint sound came from the will-o'-the-wisp, and a somewhat distorted sound wafted out from one end of the long table.

Kleidina turned her head, somewhat worried and surprised: "Magic Mirror, are you still not feeling well?"

The one who spoke was the Seventh Demon Official, the Nightmare Mirror who possessed the ability to manipulate dreams.

"I heard everything. Since you two are working so hard, Nightmare can't fall behind. Anyway... all we need to do is know who has the deepest bond with the hero, right?"

“Magic Mirror, Mino’s willpower is extremely strong. Don’t be reckless,” the demon strategist Swell warned.

The Nightmare Mirror chuckled: "Don't worry, Svir, I only need to make the hero 'dream' of the person deeply imprinted in his heart, and we only need to take a look at the hero's dream... This does not involve mental torture."

After he finished speaking, the will-o'-the-wisp of the magic mirror twitched and then twisted and transformed into a screen with a flame frame, rippling deeply.

The magic mirror's power enveloped Mino, who was sleeping in the cell, and then displayed the guided dream content before her eyes.

"The person I'm most deeply connected with?"

Mino, clad in silver armor, his holy sword planted in the ground, laughed heartily in his dream.

"Of course it is—the chief mage of the Round Tower, and the elder who is both my teacher and friend."

"Ang Lac!"

Chapter 7 Mino, don't come any closer!

Scenes from the dream unfold before the three demons.

"It was he who bestowed upon me the steel body tempered by the Dragon Blood Potion!"

In the pitch-black room, an elderly man wearing round glasses coldly poured a vial of boiling black medicine into young Mino's mouth: "Mino, if you can survive... give it a try."

"It was he who constantly honed my skills through perilous situations and trials!"

On the battlefield surrounded by demons, the mage squad suddenly withdrew, allowing the demons to surge towards Mino, who was all alone.

They gathered in the distance, seemingly premeditated, towards the center. The old man in the robes laughed, a laugh that was both cold and warm: "Mino, the strong never complain about their environment. If you must blame someone, blame..."

The dream dissipated in the wind, transforming into a towering spire, heavy with magical power. The spire was inscribed with strange and intricate magical runes, bearing sharp spiritual imprints, falling like a butcher's knife towards Mino, who stood at its center.

"It was he who bestowed upon me thirty-seven layers of powerful protection atop the round tower!!!"

At the foot of the round tower, the old man fell off his glasses, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion.

"Thirty-seven floors?! He's still alive!!"

The dream gradually faded away.

No need for further dreams; the high demons, being demon officials, could recognize at a glance that the man was Ang Lac, the most powerful mage in the human camp and the chief of the Mage Tower.

Within the fragments of the dream, the laughter of the Mino Warrior still echoed.

"Don't underestimate the bond between me and Chief Lark!!!"

"—The bonds we share!!"

"Trip—!"

The air vibrated slightly.

Kletina stretched her waist, removed the fiery red rose from her hair, and her bare, fair skin beneath her dress blushed with a fiery red, almost bewitching.

Wells's will-o'-the-wisp immediately lowered its head, clearly indicating that the scribe had already decided to kill.

"I never imagined that Chief Lak of the Round Tower was the one who created this most powerful hero in human history. No wonder, no wonder—"

Kleitina said coldly, "That old man really knows how to cause us trouble... I can see that Mino's strength is not accidental, but born from countless legendary life-and-death adventures."

"In this respect, it is Lak, who orchestrated this, who is the most dangerous. For a moment, I even thought he really wanted to kill Mino... Humans are truly terrifying. They can be just as ruthless to each other's own kind."

"Is...like this...?"

Wells recalled those scenes, feeling a strange sensation that he couldn't quite put his finger on, yet he couldn't explain it.

He is a demon, incapable of understanding human emotions, but one thing is certain.

The chief of the Round Tower and the hero Mino truly share a strong bond!

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