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

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"baffling."

Brad frowned slightly. The other party had deliberately bumped into him, but then ran away even more aggressively than before. What was this? Was it a hit-and-run scam?

This confusing action caused Brad to pause briefly, allowing Thanaus to escape the attack range of the God of Weapons.

Before I could even figure out what was going on, a thunderous cheer suddenly erupted from beneath me, surging and roaring like a tidal wave at my feet:

"Pope Brad was actually fighting this terrifying monster!!!"

"There's such a terrifying black market industry beneath the capital! This is outrageous!"

“These children have suffered! If it weren’t for Pope Brad…”

"Pope Brad is the light of humanity; he is the hope of all of us!"

Bright gazes formed a sea of ​​stars on the ground, shimmering as they were directed at Brad, as if he were looking at a savior god—this was not what he wanted.

"A bunch of ignorant fools!" Brad's eyes flashed with anger. His magnificent appearance today was not meant to earn their gratitude, but to make them grovel before him in fear!

"Since that's the case, then watch closely as I destroy the true light of humanity!"

Brad's gaze suddenly shifted, quickly settling on a building that encapsulated all the spiritual sustenance of the working-class neighborhood.

The head of the God of All Weapons slightly opened, condensing into a terrifying sphere of elemental light. A violent current of energy raged around it, causing the onlookers to cry out in alarm.

Even more terrifying, the next moment, extremely dangerous and unstable energy condensed into a laser beam and slammed into a very prominent memorial hall!

……

The Mino the Brave Memorial Hall.

In the pitch-black night, deep within the memorial hall, a hidden room rippled with a rich yet eerie magical energy.

Several dark mages, clad in black robes, sat within a magic circle on the floor, emanating a dark aura… To one side, the lead dark mage stood outside the magic circle, manipulating its changes, and spoke indistinctly:

"Almost there. In a few more days, we'll be able to fulfill the Chief's request and collect enough Dark Soul Essence of the Undead... At that time, we'll be able to pass through this magic circle and teleport it directly to the Chief."

Inside the magic circle, a dark mage's face twitched slightly. Finally, unable to contain himself, he turned around and looked at the squad leader's bruised and swollen face, muttering:

"Boss, what happened to your face?"

"Mind your own business!" The dark mage and administrator was somewhat embarrassed and angry. "I got dragged into this by a shameless bastard. Luckily, I was quick-witted, or I would have almost ruined the chief's important mission!!!"

"Focus on sensing the remaining undead within the capital. Only the essence of the souls of truly dark and corrupt humans can meet the requirements of the chief ritual."

The group of dark mages nodded. To them, serving the chief lord, who possessed the most terrifying and profound dark power, was an extremely honorable act.

But working overtime for so many days can be quite tedious.

The dark mage who had previously been criticizing the undead continued to joke with his companions while sensing the necromancers: "If that's the case, then including all of our souls, it would definitely be enough to satisfy the Chief's requirements! Hahahaha!!!"

The others couldn't help but chuckle at the joke, their laughter lightening the mood. Outside the magic circle, the magic administrator smiled wryly, shook his head, and then gave instructions:

"Alright, alright, keep pushing forward. Stop talking nonsense. Remember, this is a task personally assigned to us by Chief Lark."

"As his most valued elite force, we must fight to the death..." Before the mage administrator could finish speaking, he suddenly sensed an incredibly dense wave of magical energy approaching them at an alarming speed.

"Ah?"

boom--! ! ! !

The entire Hero's Memorial Hall was completely engulfed in flames, billowing thick smoke that rose into the sky! A deafening roar echoed through the royal capital!

The Black Mage squad is dead.

far away.

"I've destroyed the memorial to the Mino Hero you all remember most. Now you should know what I am, right?"

Within the body of the God of All Weapons, sensing the renewed fear and unease in the eyes of the common people, Brad finally felt relieved: This was the look in his eyes, the look of a faith completely collapsing—this was what he wanted…

"wrong!!!"

A bard's horrified voice suddenly echoed in the deathly silent night:

"This is... the lingering echoes of dark magic... The memorial hall of the Mino Hero... there are traces of those infamous dark magicians!!!"

"Pope Brad has destroyed another hidden hideout of a dark sorcerer in the capital!"

Brad, within the God of All Weapons, suddenly froze, his expression as stiff as scrap metal—

……

The outskirts of the royal capital.

A magical chamber near Akarin Village.

The dark magic, no longer concealed, spread throughout the room. Lark, the chief mage of the Round Tower, cleaned the long-unused secret chamber and nodded in satisfaction.

"The last time I used this secret room was ten years ago. Many of the magical instruments are outdated... However, it's a good hiding place."

"Indeed, this is where I first encountered you. Heh, be thankful, your alliance with the will of the abyss... is the most brilliant turning point in your life." From the shadows of the secret chamber, "darkness" materialized and responded, followed by a sneer:

"To avoid that pope, you used the excuse of touring the countryside to hide in a place like this. You're such a coward..."

Lak scoffed, "Only a fool would stand under a crumbling wall!"

"If it weren't for Ota's message, I wouldn't have imagined that the Holy Church was hiding such a terrifying weapon. Even if the target isn't us, it's better to avoid it if possible. The materials for the corrupted blessing ritual are almost ready, and I don't want any trouble."

As they were talking, a miniature magic circle was projected from inside Lark's robes, and spatial power rippled outwards. Soon, several deep black crystals imbued with the aura of souls were transmitted over.

It was he who had the dark magic squad collect the dark necromantic essence, which surprised Lak. The quality of this necromantic essence was very high, almost like it had just been produced.

"And the progress is a few days faster than I expected."

Lak collected the dark soul essences, his eyes filled with admiration: "As expected of the dark mage squad I've carefully trained!"

"They really worked hard; they completed this task so efficiently—"

Thinking of his loyal subordinates, Lak felt a sense of relief:

"They can finally get some rest tonight..."

Chapter 221 The Origin of "Rotten Artifacts"! The Pope Who Destroys Everything!!!

"As expected of Pope Brad, in such a short time, he has uncovered two dark forces that are threatening the capital!"

"I don't even want to think about what he'll do next!"

"I almost mistook Pope Brad for someone else!!!"

In the darkness, ignoring the God of All Weapons who was disheveled in the wind, the common people chattered excitedly, looking at the tall mechanical giant with reverence and love in their eyes.

Brad, piloting the God of All Weapons, turned his gaze blankly towards the ruins of the Hero Memorial Hall not far away, where he could indeed sense extremely strong dark magic fluctuations...

"Are you kidding me?" Brad muttered three words.

Is the capital now so chaotic that you could uncover a dark force anywhere you step in?! What kind of chaotic capital is this?!

After a brief moment of shock, Brad looked down at the entire civilian district, and a surge of anger rose within him.

He was a god, and nothing should be outside his control! He disliked this feeling! His anger towards the masked man who had escaped and the black magician who had been reduced to ashes had nowhere to go... so he could only transfer it to the ignorant ants beneath him.

"Pope Brad!!!"

A clear sound suddenly exploded in the sky, and a group of well-dressed paladins rushed from the direction of the palace. The leader was none other than Elwin, the commander of the knights. Looking at the tall mechanical giant, his unease grew stronger.

He came after receiving a distress message from Archbishop Hope. Looking at Pope Brad, who was said to have gone "mad," Erwin was somewhat wary: tonight's commotion was completely unexpected. The thought of the damage a terrifying steel weapon could cause to the capital made his heart tremble.

But a sliver of hope remained in his heart. Looking at Brad, he shouted loudly:

"Pope Brad, the God of All Weapons has been successfully activated. It's easy for it to accidentally harm the people within the capital. Please... immediately head to the border to fight the demons!"

"You probably don't have anything else to do, right...?"

Erwin nervously looked up at Pope Brad inside the God of All Weapons, cautiously probing, hoping to discern the other's current stance.

The next moment, Brad looked at him, and Erwin felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He saw clearly.

Those were cold, indifferent eyes that completely disregarded everything, looked down upon all living beings, and cared nothing for the existence of anyone... Even the most vicious criminal could not possess such a gaze.

That kind of utterly inhuman... terrifying gaze!

"Unnecessary stuff? You've reminded me."

Brad's voice, suppressing his emotions, resounded throughout the arena. The God of All Weapons' body was brewing extremely dangerous energy fluctuations, and countless scorching steams emanated from its surface: "It's time to get down to business."

Elwin's pupils widened, and he quickly and discreetly gave all the paladins a warning signal from behind, the atmosphere instantly freezing.

"But before that, it's time to let you and these noisy ants witness my true power."

Looking down at Erwin and the countless ordinary mortals in the civilian district, Brad smiled at that moment.

Swish-! ! !

Without any warning, the blinding light made the God of All Weapons appear like a miniature sun, smoothing out the entire night. Waves of cold, desolate light emanated from it, transforming into a surging, sky-covering tide that crashed down upon the commoners' district, which was a quarter the size of the capital!

"Stop them!!!" Erwin's eyes were bloodshot, and he instinctively wanted to take the paladins behind him and stand in front of the civilians.

It was as pointless as a mantis trying to stop a car; the mysterious force formed a wave that pierced through their tiny bodies and surged through the entire civilian district in a strange and turbulent manner.

Erwin blinked in confusion, because the civilians had not suffered any harm, and the Holy Church, inscribed with the Holy Defense rune, had completely isolated those ripples and waves from the outside.

The most terrifying scene hadn't happened, and Elwen should have been relieved, but what he saw before him quickly made his eyes widen in horror—

"Captain! The armor?! And the sword! They're melting!!!"

The paladins were thrown into disarray, watching in panic as their mithril longswords and armor turned into wisps of steam and dissipated into the air, as if they had been dissolved into nothingness... The well-dressed paladins were suddenly transformed into weak beasts with their claws and fur stripped off, losing all their aggression.

"This is the corruption from the abyss." Brad's words floated in the air, his eyes glazed over.

"Despite being the weakest of humans, you have managed to develop tools in the course of civilization for hunting, arming, fighting, and infrastructure... This has allowed you to occupy the largest part of the continent and multiply your power."

"But what do you have left after losing all of that?" The enormous head, like a heavy sky, pressed down, its crimson mechanical eyes fixed on the knights' back.

"The answer is disaster, endless disaster."

A chill ran through Erwin, a powerful sense of fear warning him not to turn back. But the panicked cries of the civilians behind him, and the deafening sound of some kind of collapse, forced him to stiffly turn and look at the civilian area behind him, completely unprotected by any magical array.

The house seemed to groan in pain.

As if the supports and fixtures had vanished, and after a century of weathering or termite erosion, terrifying sounds emanated from every crack. Then, with the collapse of one house, the slight tremors triggered a terrifying domino effect, sending up a terrifying cloud of dust that covered the collapsing buildings in the civilian area!

“This, this is impossible…” Erwin’s pale lips moved, and a deep despair appeared in his eyes.