radicalducati Page 147
Page 147
Chapter 204 The Third Way to Awaken Saintess Lena
"That's not necessarily true."
Suddenly, the jet-black sword surface transformed into an aura of pure holy energy, and Apophis spoke calmly.
Driven by the desire for "balance," it remained remarkably calm upon learning of humanity's impending assault on the first line of defense, seemingly possessing a countermeasure.
"Heh, Swell, as the Book Demon, you rely too much on the calculation of knowledge, but you still lack sufficient understanding of the variable of humanity... This is why Kletina is the First Scribe; you have somewhat overlooked the richest and weakest part of humanity."
"Oh? What's that?" The instinct to find the answer made Swell immediately ask this question.
Apophis's answer, however, was more decisive:
"human nature!"
"human nature?"
“That’s right. According to the information provided by Astrid, the ultimate weapon, God of Weapons, can only be controlled by Pope Brad, who possesses the Holy Body of Weapons. In other words, apart from Brad, the Kur royal family has no other ability to firmly grasp that ultimate weapon.”
"Given such risks, do you really think that aloof and profound king...wouldn't do something?"
"You mean..." Swell slowly flipped through all the knowledge about the checks and balances of royal power, and his thoughts suddenly became clear:
"To prevent the Holy Church from spiraling out of control, Prince Ota will inevitably demand that the Holy Church leave a contingency plan within that ultimate weapon, one that will allow them to control it!!!"
“That’s right, that’s the wonder of human nature.” Apophis nodded with a smile: “We could have made that God of All Weapons flawless, but humans just had to leave a flaw on it. That… is our chance to turn the tide.”
"Then how do we find that flaw? In order to keep the Holy Church in check, the weakness of the God of All Weapons must not be known to Pope Brad, and Archbishop Hope, who is in charge of a lot of affairs, must also be excluded."
To ensure the safety of the Holy Body Brad, the most important artifact of the Holy Church, the Holy Church could not allow Prince Ota's lineage to know the weakness of the God of All Artifacts.
"Only a truly indomitable force can gain the full trust of both sides, establish a deep relationship with both the Holy Church and the royal family, and possess the ability to paralyze the God of All Weapons by exploiting that flaw when it goes out of control..."
Swell's book suddenly stopped, and the cover flashed with light, revealing the answer:
"Hero, and the Holy Sword!"
It finally understood... Astrid's transmission of the information was clearly an implication that the weakness of the God of All Weapons could be extracted from Mino and the Holy Sword Altair!
It hadn't even considered this before!
“Whether it’s Mino, the hero who has a good relationship with Prince Ota and the Ice Saintess, or Altotai, the Holy Sword of the Holy Church who has detached himself from humanity, they can all preserve and perpetuate that secret well—and now, they have fallen into our hands.” Apophis’s tone softened slightly:
“Svir, our action of capturing the Warrior of Light alive may be the wisest move we’ve made in the last thousand years.”
"The key now is how to extract the secret of humanity's ultimate weapon from the Holy Sword Altair and the Hero Mino..." With a light sigh, Swell's pages did not flutter.
"Hehe, this time, let this old man give it a try."
The sacred runes on the Apophis sword shimmered with a deep, dark light, and spoke slowly.
"Oh? Apophis, are you confident? The secret may not be with Altottai; it could be with Mino."
“There’s no difference.” Apophis didn’t seem to mind, and floated slowly in the void: “Perfect timing… I’ve figured out an interesting method of torture.”
“Svir, do not underestimate an ancient sacred artifact that has followed the most heroes.”
Apophis's "Balance" authority seemed to be warming up, with half pure holy energy and half chaotic demonic energy separated by the sword's blade, constantly overflowing outwards, exuding an ancient yet dangerous aura:
"Its research in its field extends far beyond the sacred artifact itself..."
……
Demon King's Castle, Prison.
Lying on the ground, Altothai suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He jerked to his feet, his sword tip wedged between the cracks in the floor, and instinctively looked around.
"My lord, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Several days have passed since the last interrogation, and the demons seem much more composed. Could their plan... have succeeded?"
A sneer came from the soft, large bed: "How could that be? You're not having a delusional episode, Artotai."
Mino stretched and slowly sat up from the bed, looking very confident: "The demons tortured me with memories of Chief Lak. It's completely impossible to interfere with Lena's revival using those memories!"
"Right now, I bet Lena is freed from the shackles of the Ice Heart and is sleeping soundly somewhere, right?" Mino yawned and said lazily.
“That’s you, my lord…” Artotai squinted and retorted.
Turning his head to look at the wall covered with white-collar calendars, Altotai still felt uneasy: "The demons have been focusing their interrogations on the capital lately. I feel that once our lord's intelligence comes to fruition, countless people in the capital will face an unprecedented catastrophe..."
“Hahaha!” Mino suddenly laughed three times, raising his head: “Then you are worrying even more, Altottai! You’ve been away from home for so long, have you forgotten… that’s the heart of the human kingdom, the capital of Kur where countless powerful people gather.”
"Leaving aside the meticulous and watertight Prince Ota's command over the entire capital of Kur, the two wings guarding the capital alone—Chief Lak of the Mage Tower and Pope Brad of the Holy Church—are enough to deter all undercurrents within the capital! No one will dare to cross them and infringe upon the sacred human capital!!!"
"Even if I'm lost, even if Lena's backlash hasn't healed yet... the ultimate weapon of humanity suppressed at the bottom of the Holy Church, once activated, would be enough to erase any disparity in power!"
Thinking of the powerful weapon that he had personally helped to customize, Mino's eyes shone with confidence!
"Even a dangerous force that could threaten the entire capital is nothing compared to humanity's ultimate weapon!"
"Is it because you and I knew the importance of that trump card that you concealed that top secret during the interrogation, guarding it closely and not giving the demons any chance to find out?"
“That’s true.” Altotai thought back to the perilous interrogation last time and racked its brains to painstakingly conceal the part about the God of All Weapons that involved the third way to awaken Saintess Lena.
"The secret of the God of All Weapons is known only to you and me, as well as to Prince Ota's lineage and Pope Brad and others..."
A series of extremely reliable faces flashed through his mind, and Mino's upturned lips gradually became arrogant:
"No one will know..."
A pitch-black spatial rift ripped open in the cell.
The jet-black magic sword Apophis landed between the cracks in the floor, looked at the two people talking, and greeted them like old friends: "Altotai, Mino Warrior."
"You should remember the name 'God of All Weapons', right?"
"..." "..."
Chapter 205 The Inescapable Torture of One Man and One Weapon
An awkward silence spread through the room.
Mino looked up and met Altoté's gaze. They looked at each other.
"The secret of the God of All Weapons is known only to you and me, as well as Prince Ota's lineage and Pope Brad and others..." The previous words came to mind, and a series of extremely reliable faces appeared in his mind. The eyes of the man and the weapon suddenly became sharp.
Prince Ota couldn't possibly be that talkative, and Pope Brad isn't one to gossip, so there's only one truth...
"Altotai, you really have betrayed us! You heartless traitor!!!" Mino said, his eyes wide with resentment.
"My lord, what exactly has bribed you! A sweet and soft maid, a loli, a shadow demon, twin tails?! Or all of them?!" Altothai cried out in anguish.
"I've been suspicious of you for a long time—!!!"
The next moment, the man and his weapon spoke in unison, their emotions running high.
"Ahem, let me explain briefly." Apophis coughed lightly in the room, "Our intelligence comes from another source..."
An awkward silence fell over the air once again.
"Despicable demons, how dare they resort to such insidious provocation!!!" Mino spat on the ground, looking utterly disdainful.
"Apophis, do you think you can sever my relationship with my lord with such vulgar means? How naive!!!" Artotai proudly raised the hilt of his sword.
"Heh." Apophis didn't take it seriously, already having a general idea of what was going on, and asked:
"So... the God of All Weapons really exists?"
"Huh? I don't understand... What is the God of All Weapons? I don't know anything about it." Mino stubbornly insisted.
"Is that so?" Apophis seemed thoughtful, then asked:
"It seems that the human kingdom has other names for it, such as 'Mino Machine' or something like that."
"What kind of lousy names did those idiots come up with?!" Mino suddenly burst out cursing, "Whether it's 'Divine Weapon Vajra' or 'Giant of Weapons,' they're clearly better than those other crappy names!"
"Is this the time to be agonizing over this?!" Altotai, startled from the corner, exclaimed, "You've just blatantly self-destructed, haven't you?!"
“Very good.” Inside the cell, Apophis nodded with some satisfaction: “Swell and I were right. You all possess the core secrets of the God of All Weapons, so the problem is simple.”
"Altotai, Mino, why don't we skip the formalities and just tell me... what weaknesses does the God of All Weapons have that we can overcome?"
"Apophis, do you know what you're saying?!" Seeing that torture was inevitable, Altothai's tone became impassioned:
"You, a relic from the Holy Church, are now actually planning to target the Holy Church's ultimate trump card?! You shameful traitor!!!"
“There’s no other way. This time, both humans and demons have to get serious.” Apophis shook his head, unmoved, and simply sighed.
"The first person to come up with the idea of the God of All Weapons was a genius. That weapon is already a forbidden existence... It is the greatest disruption to 'balance'."
"Praise me more, I love to hear it." Mino's expression immediately relaxed.
“Before that, I have to pry something out of you.” The spatial rift beside Apophis had not yet fully healed. The next moment, a purplish-black thorn whip was taken out of the rift, with terrifying and painful mental energy flowing over it.
"The Whip of Pain?" Altotai asked in surprise, though he was not unfamiliar with what he was looking at.
This is a tool frequently used by ascetics inside the Holy Church. The Whip of Pain can ignore the strength of the body and directly lash out at a person's mental strength, so that even the most powerful clergy will not suffer any less pain... Therefore, it is also often used as an instrument of torture.
What surprised Altotai was that the Whip of Pain had a negligible effect on the sacred artifact. Even without any power within the body, the layers of minerals in the sacred artifact, unlike those in the human body, could still effectively block the penetration of spiritual power.
Could it be that Apophis has given up interrogating him this time and has instead set its sights on its master?
However, what surprised Altottai even more was Apophis's next words:
"Altotai, Mino Warriors, I am about to subject you to joint torture..."
"Joint torture?" Altothai was taken aback, his gaze fixed on the gradually healing spatial rift beside Apophis, confirming that the other party had no intention of bringing out anything else.
Faced with what was before him, merely an ordinary, unremarkable whip of agony, Altothai first held the sword upright.
Then, an unprecedented burst of laughter erupted:
"Hahaha! Apophis, have you made a mistake? A single whip of torment? You think you can use it to torture us?"
"My lord is a spineless coward, he may not be able to withstand the whipping of the Pain Whip, but I am different... My excellent mineral body is not something that the mere Pain Whip can penetrate!"
Looking at Apophis with a satisfied expression, Altochet said with a mocking tone:
"Apophis, are you getting senile?!"
"Hey! This isn't fair!" Having understood Apophis's torture methods, Mino's eyes widened immediately.
"I knew you guys had some kind of shady deal! You're so blatantly going easy on Altotai! I'm going to file a complaint against you—and also: I'm not a spineless coward!!!"
Raising his stiff spine, Mino said resolutely, "At the very least, I want to go and get that Megu or Kletina to whip me!!!"