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

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"Although I am confident that nothing will go wrong on the Holy Church's home turf, it's always good to be cautious."

Brad sighed, seemingly expressing genuine emotion, and said, "After all, my time is running out..."

Hope was shocked. This was the first time he had heard such words from Pope Brad: Yes, he had almost forgotten that he could wait, but His Holiness the Pope could not wait any longer!

If we wait any longer, it will be shipped!

In these final moments, His Holiness the Pope still longed to burn one last light for humanity. As the Archbishop of the Holy Church, what reason did he have not to cooperate?!

“I understand, Your Holiness!” Hope said with some admiration.

"You can rest assured and preside over the ceremony. I will fully cooperate with you!"

idiot--

Brad chuckled inwardly.

These single, brain-dead guys in the Holy Church who are obsessed with the Saintess's favorite character are hopeless. Even he managed to become the Pope of the Holy Church, and now he's being driven to this point by himself: Hmm, but becoming the Pope of the Holy Church doesn't seem like something to be proud of.

Recalling the bizarre things he had done over the past hundred years in order to reach the top of the Holy Church, Brad couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. Over a hundred years of dark history was undoubtedly extremely significant.

In any case... this has little to do with him, who is about to transcend the human body.

Turning his head, Brad looked at the ice ball at the center of the ritual magic circle, gazing at the icy heart within it that shimmered slightly. With his back to Hope, a deep greed welled up in his eyes.

His time is running out. Only by devouring the Ice Heart and using the "immortal" origin he obtained ten years ago... can he truly achieve the legendary realm of mechanical godhood and stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods with a body of steel!

"let's start."

Brad suddenly unleashed the purest power of his weapon, a special power unique to him as a weapon-wielding saint.

Through the cultivation of the power of the sacred system and the tempering of the sacred body of the artifact, the original sacred power will be transformed into the artifact power that is extremely compatible with the sacred artifact. This is also the reason why he was able to activate a large number of sacred artifacts of the Holy Church by himself during that great battle.

Only he could personally oversee the process and break through the defenses of the powerful relic, the Heart of Ice, allowing the power of these herbs to fully penetrate Lena's...dream!

Beside him, watching the back of Pope Brad, who was shrouded in a terrifying aura, Hope was shaken: He hadn't expected that even in his twilight years, Pope Brad, as a Saint of Artifacts, would still possess such terrifying power!

Is this the deity within the borders of this land?! At this moment, Brad's aura is like most of the sacred artifacts of the Holy Church condensed into one, making one feel that he is unshakeable, cold and unfathomable!

The scent of herbs rose as the ritual was initiated, and just as it was about to dissipate, it was transformed into a dense, pale pink mist by the power of the magic circle, which was continuously injected into the ice sphere. The presence of Saintess Lena seemed to gradually tint her fair cheeks with the same color.

The intricate magic circle patterns lit up simultaneously, and Brad's mechanical eyes seemed to come alive, staring excitedly at the center of the ice puck, flashing with an evil light:

"The source of immortality, rest assured, this time... I will feed you well."

Chapter 155 The Nine Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Blind Date

Suddenly, countless concentrated and purified "emotional powers" erupted in the small magic array space!

Although, under Brad's skillful control, the purest emotional energy has already connected with Lena's dream within the Ice Heart.

However, some emotional energy still enveloped Brad at the edge of the magic circle, but the slight metallic luster on Brad's body repelled it.

In a situation where no one knows.

An unexpected surge of "sexual power" flooded Lena's dreams...

Dream space.

"Holy Maiden, although I really don't want to expose you, actually... you're just a very easy woman to please, aren't you?"

Hearing Saint Lena's familiar declaration, Ice-Pure Mind's rationality flickered with doubt.

"How could that be?!" Lena retorted instinctively.

"You know, I hold the world record for rejecting a thousand outstanding men in a row! I'm the only one in the Royal Capital Matchmaking Agency to have reached level 5! The only woman to be given the legendary title of 'The Rejector'!"

"Wait a minute, I remember that legendary title was something like 'The Rejected', right?" Iceheart complained, somewhat annoyed. "Besides, what's so great about all that you're talking about?"

"Of course." Gradually returning from her lovestruck state, Lena's eyes became clear as water, revealing a calm and confident demeanor.

"Pure Heart, you must know that my thousand failed blind dates left me with more than just emotional scars! In the process, I also gained something most precious. Do you know what it is?"

"Is it... the ultimate ability to see through lies and manipulate dreams?" Iceheart asked hesitantly after thinking for a moment.

"Wrong!" Lena clenched her fists and confidently gave the answer: "It's an extraordinary resistance to men!"

"what?"

Ice Heart flickered somewhat erratically. Male, resistance? Do these two words even apply to you? You're just making up sentences like that?

“You wouldn’t understand.” Lena shook her head, a sorrowful smile appearing on her mature face.

"After encountering countless lazy, unprincipled, and vulgar men, I have become completely disillusioned with relationships between men and women... This is why I kept failing in my subsequent blind dates."

"I'm not a failed blind dater, I'm just... still on the road to finding 'true love'!!!"

"I was distracted by Mino at the time, but it was really just because of the way she showed what seemed like true love. I was a little infatuated for a moment. But even so... I still could never consider her a romantic partner." Lena shook her head and said with great certainty.

"Because, is the brave Mino also a lazy, unprincipled, despicable man?" Ice Heart asked curiously, as if she understood the answer.

Then Lena frowned and said unhappily, "I won't allow you to talk about him like that!!!"

Pure Heart: ? ? ?

"Anyone else is possible, but there's no way I could fall for Mino, because: we grew up together since we were little! You could barely call us childhood sweethearts."

Lena gave a soft hum:

"Although in many stories, childhood sweethearts naturally fall in love with each other after growing up, and then get married and have children together."

"But in reality, childhood sweethearts can never fall in love with each other!"

"Think about it, two people who have been teasing and joking with each other since childhood, and who have lived together like family, after clearly seeing each other's dark past and ugly behavior, would they still have any thoughts of falling in love? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"That makes sense..." After hesitating for a moment, Iceheart began to agree with Lena's theory.

"Would you like a fool who carried around a chuunibyou greatsword every day when he was little and shouted 'With one sword, I can shatter the mountain peak'? Would you like a pervert who stole women's panties every day and offered them up in a shrine? Would you feel any attraction to a snotty little brat you watched grow up?" Lena smugly raised her little nose.

"Uh, are you really talking about that hero of light, the human legend... Mino?"

"This is the curse of childhood sweethearts... Hehehe, hehehehe." Lena's lips twitched, and she suddenly let out a dark and cruel laugh, the cold and sinister voice echoing quietly in the dream space:

"No childhood sweetheart couple should ever be happy, not even in fictional stories—how could love exist without any blind dates, being dumped, or late-night emotional outbursts? They should all die! Die!!!"

"Hey!!!"

Iceheart was truly shocked: "You've been subtly pushing your own agenda since the very beginning! Are you trying to wish lovers would end up as siblings?! That's a bit too much!"

"Humph."

With a haughty snort, Lena muttered to herself, ignoring Iceheart's complaints.

Looking at the dreams gathering around her, she casually pointed to one of them, and the dream instantly unfolded in the space. The incredibly realistic scene enveloped Lena in the center, as if she had been projected into the materialized dream.

"If you don't believe me, just look. In the memories of my dream, I absolutely—could not possibly have any feelings for Mino!"

Lena said confidently that she had chosen the memory she remembered most clearly. Now, as the dream unfolded, every detail of that time was brought to life, exactly as she remembered it.

In the tavern, Lena, who had failed her 937th blind date, was drinking beer.

At the wooden table where she sat alone, empty beer glasses were piled up like a mountain. Lena boldly picked up another beer and gulped it down.

Thud!

The next moment, Lena, as if drunk, slammed her beer mug on the table with a loud bang: "Boss, another one!"

Lena, in her near-complete Saintess form, spoke with a cold tone, showing no signs of being drunk.

She also wanted to get herself drunk, but so many failed blind dates had given her the ability to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk—which would also be converted into a full-level "toxin resistance" when she became a saint in the future.

"Len, Lena-chan... we're almost out of drinks, and you haven't paid the bill yet..." A middle-aged man with a large beard, who was watching with some trepidation, stepped forward timidly and said, "How about... we call it a day—"

"No way!" Lena grumbled, dissatisfied. "Who said I can't afford to pay the bill? Anyone who didn't know better would think I can't afford to drink!"

Lena looked up and suddenly let out a silly laugh, saying quite cheerfully:

"Same as before, put all the drinks you have tonight on Mino's tab!!!"

"See? That way you didn't ask any questions..."

The next moment, the tavern door was pushed open with a loud bang.

"I object—!"

A tall, blond man walked in, grumbling and cursing...

Chapter 156 The Filter of Childhood Sweethearts

Iceheart quickly recognized the newcomer. Lena had clearly shown a recent memory, so she recognized the hero Mino, whose appearance hadn't changed much in just a few years, at a glance.

However, the other party had not yet become a hero, and did not possess the radiant and majestic aura bestowed by the title and the goddess's blessing. Instead, he seemed somewhat indignant.

"I knew it, Lena, you're going to throw the bill in my face again! Do you know how many rye breads I'll have to eat to pay it off?!"

Looking at Lena drinking beer like it was a beverage at the table, Mino said with a pained expression.

"Look!"

Within the dream, Lena, who was observing from the sidelines, suddenly clapped her hands, a knowing look on her face, and said smugly:

"Mino isn't kind or gentle to me at all, she always looks so angry and upset—she only lets her guard down like this in front of me, the older sister from the same village!"

"Wait, what are you so smug about?!" Even Iceheart was somewhat shocked:

"Leaving aside how Mino treated you, your behavior was a bit too much of a jerk! If you can't pay the bill, don't drink so much!!! -- If it were me, I'd be lucky not to beat you up!!!"

"Hmph, I was just drunk!"

Seemingly realizing only now that the materialized dream fragments were somewhat inappropriate, Lena glanced guiltily at her pitiful self in the dream, then changed the subject as if to defend her:

"Even so, Mino is so inconsiderate... I remember clearly, he scolded me so badly this time! In the end, he carried me home crying all the way!!! Humph, he only got what he deserved!"

"You're the one who brought this on yourself!"

"Look!" As if to confirm her words, Lena pointed excitedly, like a little girl, at Mino standing in front of her in the dream, her face ashen as if about to erupt like a volcano, and exclaimed:

"He's going to yell at me! He's about to yell at me!!!"

"??? Are you some new breed of masochist?!"

A headache flickered with light, and Iceheart could only helplessly look at the dream memories that Lena was currently manifesting.

It was at this time.