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

Page 38

"The relic, Heart of Ice, can provide the wearer with extremely strong protection, but it also has a drawback: the wearer must maintain a frozen and calm state of mind."

"Once emotions exceed a certain threshold, the Ice Heart will become completely ineffective, and at the same time, the wearer's power will be suppressed for a long period of time."

"However, thanks to the Holy Church's handling, the Ice Heart will generate an indestructible protective barrier the moment it fails, teleporting the wearer back to the Holy Church."

Kleidina nodded slightly: "That's enough."

As long as Lena can be rendered incapacitated for a period of time, the Demon King's army will not be so passive. At least, once Migo and the others have fully recovered their strength, they will have enough ability to deal with the situation.

"But the wearer is that Ice Saintess, Lena... The Holy Church has truly found a troublesome saintess."

Kleidina shook her head and said nothing more, then slowly left the cell with Apophis.

"Phew, those troublesome demons are finally gone."

Emerging from the ice bucket, the Holy Sword Artotai, its luster more vibrant than ever before, spat at the retreating figures of the two demons: "They actually dared to lay a hand on Saintess Lena. These demons are truly despicable."

"Damn it, it's you, Holy Sword, you traitor..." A cold voice came from behind.

Altottai's sword stiffened.

Slowly turning his head, he saw Mino looking at him with a smile, but for some reason, Altottai felt a chill.

"My...my lord. Um, let me explain!" Altottai chuckled dryly, his survival instincts kicking in: "This is called strategic, strategic confession, yes! That's it!"

"Oh?"

"Think about it, at this crucial juncture, right after the hero's birth, in order to continuously undermine the kingdom's power, the demons will definitely do everything they can to eliminate the huge problem of Saintess Lena on the front lines! ...If I don't confess, they might mobilize several major demons together and directly surround and kill Saintess Lena!!!"

Artotai looked confident: "Once I expose the weakness of the Ice Heart, the demons will settle for an easier method. That way, Saintess Lena will be safe!"

"Right, that is it!"

“What you said does make some sense.” Mino thought for a moment and gave a faint smile.

Altottai nodded excitedly: "That's right, that's right."

Then, a fist the size of a minotaur sandbag came crashing down.

"You're a ghost! You were just talking about me like that!!!" Mino cursed as she repeatedly poked at the hilt of Altottai's sword with her fingers like a machine gun.

"What kind of Holy Sword of Light and Iron Soul is this? You got wiped out in the first round?!"

"What happened to the promise that no one could make you submit?"

In the corner, Altote said with a pitiful expression, "That's not a person...it's a demon sword."

"Go to hell you!"

"My lord, calm down!" Altothai coughed, realizing he was in the wrong, and quickly explained, "Didn't you notice? The information I confessed was based entirely on your 'giving away' techniques; it's definitely not that easy to achieve!"

"There are actually three weaknesses to the Ice Heart, but I've only mentioned the most difficult to exploit and the most flawless one!"

"Think about it, the Heart of Ice is worn by the Ice Saintess Lena. What methods could the demons possibly have to make that iceberg-like Saintess Lena show any emotional fluctuations?!"

"Altotai said confidently."

“What you said is indeed true.” This time, Mino nodded seriously.

Immediately afterwards, he tilted his head and looked at Altottai.

"But... if they extract any more information from me that could affect Lena's emotions, wouldn't Lena be in trouble?"

Altottai stood there, frozen in place.

Chapter 51 The Third Element of Childhood Sweethearts

"I, I forgot..."

A look of horror crossed Altottai's face:

"Damn it! Because our lord has been constantly giving away free kills, I subconsciously assumed he was on the demon side, ignoring the human camp's biggest weakness!!!"

Altottai slammed the tip of his sword into the ground, howling in resentment and despair:

"It's over! It's over!!!"

"Hey! Don't act like I've already given it all away!!!" Mino roared in fury.

Mino trembled with anger, feeling cold sweat and icy hands and feet despite the sweltering heat. With a pained expression, she said, "Is this all the trust you have in me?"

"Then can you recruit them, my lord?" Artotai looked up and asked with hope in his eyes.

"Hmm..." Mino muttered to himself with a serious expression, "I might give Lena the information for nothing."

"However, it's unlikely that I'll give Lena the information for free."

"My lord, let's not repeat the same trick twice..."

……

The ghostly white flames dispelled the darkness of the Demon King's castle.

Four of the five great demons were seated in their true forms around the long table. Apart from Svir, the third demon, Migo, had recovered somewhat from his injuries and had been allowed by Kletina to move around the Demon King's castle.

She sat on a high chair, dressed in a blue and white court dress, her legs, as white as snow on a pure white ice peak, bare in the air, swaying slightly.

"A backlash from any emotional fluctuation? The Heart of Ice isn't all that impressive after all." Migo wrinkled her nose, displeased.

"Is that holy sword just a way to fool us?"

Apophis sat in the seat of the eighth demon, his posture rising and falling slightly for a moment:

"Based on my understanding of Sacred Relics and Artifacts, there shouldn't be too much of a mistake. Just like the name Ice Heart, powerful Sacred Relics often have many limitations. It's just that... we were completely unaware of their mechanics back then."

"Lord Apophis, your interrogation this time was truly brilliant."

Sensing Apophis's boastful tone, Svir smiled gently: "Following the hero, defeating the saintess might be an even greater contribution to us."

Turning his head, the demon strategist Swell explained to Migo simply: "If the Heart of Ice fell into the hands of an ordinary person, it might not be of much use, but Lord Migo, don't forget... the user is the Ice Saintess, Lena."

"It's like if you use the Heart of Ice, it might not be very effective, but if you use it on Lord Fim, whose emotions are suppressed by his demonic constitution, hehe... it might be the perfect match."

Fim sat at the end of the long table, his empty eyes blinking slightly without speaking, the large bow on his back swaying gently.

Migo gradually understood the importance that Swell placed on him.

"The wearer of the Heart of Ice is Lena, who comes from the same village as Mino, the strongest hero in human history—I can't imagine the panic and helplessness in the heart of that holy and noble senior saintess... It's quite tricky to break the protection of the Heart of Ice."

"Is that so? Swell, you know quite a lot."

Migo nodded, then her gaze drifted away, as if she was thinking about something else.

"In any case, exploiting Iceheart's weakness is much less risky than a direct assault."

At the head of the long table, Kleinna let out a soft breath.

"In that case, we only have one choice left, don't we... to extract information from Mino again to deal with Saintess Lena."

"Based on the rumors and my observations, Mino's feelings for Lena are definitely not ordinary!"

"Then he must know Saintess Lena very well, which is precisely our breakthrough point!"

Swell nodded in agreement, then hesitated for a moment: "But Mino probably already knows we want to deal with Saintess Lena, so the difficulty of this interrogation... might be unprecedented, wouldn't it?"

"Who should be the one to conduct this interrogation..."

“I’ll do it!” Kleinna seemed to have made up her mind at the long table.

"I will take on the challenge... the deep bond between the hero Mino and the saint Lena!"

……

"I'm not kidding."

In the cell, facing Altottai's questioning, Mino scratched his head: "Although Lena certainly knows me very well, many of my memories of Lena have become blurred as I've grown up."

“You flatter me, my lord,” Artotai nodded.

"As good friends from the same village as Saint Lena, and heroes and saintesses who appeared in the same era, you are like the sun and the moon in the eyes of the people, with a strong and inseparable relationship."

"And as far as I know, the Holy Maiden knows you very well; the book 'The Rise of the Hero' circulating in the capital was written by Lady Lena—"

"Given your childhood friendship, and since the Holy Maiden's memory of you is so clear, then you, Hero, must be just as good!"

Mino lowered his head with a strange expression, finally realizing that the Holy Sword and the Demon Clan, these two beings with lifespans far exceeding that of humans, seemed to have overlooked something in their thought processes.

"Childhood sweethearts... Have you forgotten that besides 'living close' and 'having a close relationship', there is one more crucial element for the so-called childhood sweethearts to be valid?"

"What is it?" Altottai still didn't understand.

Mino took a deep breath and shrugged.

"Of course, it's 'age'..."

……

On the edge of the border, in a dilapidated human village.

The cool moonlight gently shone down, like a veil, falling on the beautiful body draped in a sacred robe on the haystack, and coating the gently trembling eyelashes in deep sleep with a layer of holy frost.

Long-ago memories rise and fall, settling in my dreams.

"Lena!"

"Lena!!"

"Lian-na!!!"

A lively chirping sound filled the air. Outside the simple wooden house, a tall woman dressed in a light-colored cloth was hanging out the washed clothes to dry. She puffed out her cheeks and looked at a blond boy outside the fence with dissatisfaction.

"You have no manners! Xiao Nuo, how many times have I told you to call me Aunt Lena!"

Lena touched her still somewhat childish face, but said with a hint of worry, "I'm only four years younger than your mother, Miss Eunice!"

"But Lena looks so young!" the little boy chuckled.

"And Lena's blind date yesterday failed again, didn't it?"

"Those men were just so rude!!!"

Lena blushed and said angrily, "Women who say they're over sixteen and still not married probably have serious psychological problems!"

"Go to hell! I also want to be like your mother, getting married to the person I love as soon as I come of age!"

"Lena is surprisingly innocent." Outside the fence, Mino blinked and quickly gave a thumbs up.