manynovel Page 36
Page 36
"Anyway, our lord will definitely confess!"
"Hey!"
Amidst their bickering, Kletina shook her head and looked toward the corner of the wall.
“This time, the object of our interrogation is not you, Mino, but… the Holy Sword Artotai.”
The words fell.
Mino looked surprised.
Altotai's sword suddenly stopped.
The cell fell silent.
"Torture? Me?"
Altottai was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
The sword thrashed and rolled on the ground. "Ha! Haha, torture? Me? The sharpest and most sturdiest holy weapon, the holy sword of light that cuts through thorns and brambles?!"
"Foolish great demons, have you run out of ideas?!"
"Let me tell you, what stands before you is the Holy Sword of Light, which has accompanied countless heroes in slaying evil foes, its blade never dulling! It has fought on the front lines of justice!!!"
"Not to mention the countless defensive and mental immunity formations engraved on my body, my sacred soul, imbued with lofty ideals, is unwavering!"
The holy sword Artotai raised its proud hilt, its blade, symbolizing the spine, standing ramrod straight at that moment, and in that instant, it spoke of its own heroic spirit, bursting into laughter:
"Who dares to interrogate me?!"
"Who can interrogate me?!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Mino looked at the holy sword Altotai, stroked his chin, and nodded in approval.
Well, putting everything else aside, he still trusts the indestructible nature of the Holy Sword, Altothai. Ordinary torture might work on humans, but for a Holy Sword, it's like a tickle.
Kletina is... done for? Mino's expression was slightly strange, but he felt that this scene was familiar.
"Oh?"
Suddenly, a cold wind swept through the cell, and a thick, dark atmosphere spread throughout the room.
"Looks like you're quite confident, Altottai." The black sword appeared before everyone with a cold laugh.
"It's you, the Demon Sword, Apophis?!" Altottai's voice trembled slightly, and whether it was an illusion or not, the once upright sword seemed a little weak.
Inside the room, the Holy Sword and the Demon Sword stared at each other, and the originally bright and holy atmosphere gradually began to decline.
Mino, now an outsider, sat on the bed and muttered with a serious expression:
"I smell the scent of freebies..."
After retiring in Chapter 48, I became the Demon Sword Apophis.
"Ha! Apophis, I didn't expect your injuries to heal so quickly!"
After a brief silence, Artotai forced himself to maintain his composure, burst into laughter, and said viciously, "I thought with your old bones, you'd have to sleep for another thousand years before we'd have a chance to meet again."
"The damage I caused you a few days ago is probably still throbbing, isn't it?"
"Heh, so the Holy Church's system is still so outdated and inefficient after all these years." Apophis twirled his sword leisurely.
"While you are still recklessly squandering your power by relying on the glory of heroes, I have long since researched every mineral in my body to its limit. As a sacred artifact with long life... nourishing life is the source of power."
"Shut up! That vile, corrupt sword dares to call itself a holy artifact?!"
Artotai angrily rebuked, "Before me, you were clearly the most powerful holy sword, proof of countless mighty warriors! The sword of heroes, undisputed!"
"But why are you no longer answering the hero's call? Why did you leave the Holy Church? Why is your name no longer on the list of sacred artifacts?!"
"Say it?!"
A complex mix of grief and hatred flashed across Artaudet's face in an instant.
Mino was slightly moved, noticing that as the questioning fell, the demonic sword Apophis on the other side suddenly fell silent, its blade slowly shimmering with light.
Faced with Altottai's heartfelt question, Apophis seemed to finally be ready to reveal the answer.
"Because I've retired."
"..."
"Huh?" "Huh?"
Mino and Altotai were both stunned.
Staring in disbelief at the infamous black demonic sword, he confirmed that the voice was coming from the other party.
Apophis, slightly puzzled, swayed the hilt of his sword from side to side. His previous silence vanished, replaced by a questioning tone that seemed to say, "Is that all you wanted to ask me?"
"Because I've reached the end of my service term. Both the warranty period and the hero's service period have passed, and my 6,500 years of service have been up... Oh, you might be different. Your service term is 7,000 years. Once the term is up, you're naturally not on the list anymore, and there's no need for you to live in the staff dormitory."
"Now that I'm retired, I should naturally do some things I want to do. Otherwise, staying in the Holy Church for too long will give me dementia."
"Besides, they're all retired, why would they answer the call of the hero..." Apophis said with a look of incomprehension, "Not every hero is a sweet and soft girl."
"What's so good about that kind of life, where you're with an adult male who's sweaty most of the time, sleeping outdoors every day, sometimes not knowing where your next meal is coming from, and sleeping on rough, hard floors whether in the city or the countryside..."
"Uh, um... what you said seems to make sense..." Altothai's imposing manner visibly weakened, and he stammered:
"Sorry, I spoke a little too loudly just now..."
"Hey!"
Mino was shocked. "Don't look so envious of the enemy! What happened to your lofty ideals?!"
"Ugh! I almost fell into the trap." The blade of Altotate trembled as it regained its senses. "As expected of a corrupted demonic sword, it almost tricked me."
"You better be careful! The interrogation hasn't even started yet!" Mino shouted.
Artotai gritted his teeth, refusing to admit defeat, and said, "But no matter what, the fact that you have fallen into the dark demon race will not change! Your dark demonic aura is proof of that, and I will never forgive such..."
"Oh, you said this."
Before he could finish speaking, Apophis suddenly straightened up slightly.
To Altottai's astonishment, in the next instant, the previously dark and intense demonic energy surrounding Apophis seemed to fade, transforming back into a pure white and radiant holy aura! Even more concentrated than Altottai's!
“Dyed,” Apophis said in a flat tone.
"Dyed?!?" Altottai's voice suddenly became unnatural.
“After all, I’m such an old artifact now, and I sometimes want to try out unconventional outfits, otherwise I won’t be able to survive in the retirement circle…” Apophis said with an air of imparting experience.
"How old are you with your Holy Sword? Still playing these non-mainstream games?!" Altothai said, annoyed.
Apophis, gripping the hilt of his sword, chuckled, "Heh, you're allowed to whitewash yourselves, but this old man isn't allowed to whitewash my sins? How pedantic!"
"Hmph! Enough said!!!" Artotai roared, "No matter what, I will not submit to your tyranny like my lord did!"
"The Holy Sword will never be enslaved!!!"
"You're still cursing?!" Mino's eyes widened.
"Don't be so tense, Artotai." Kleinna chuckled. "All we need is for you to tell us the weakness of the relic 'Heart of Ice.' For someone like you from the Holy Church, that's easy information to come... isn't it?"
"Ice Heart, you're going to deal with Lena?" Mino immediately realized what was going on, then chuckled, "It seems she's caused you quite a bit of trouble."
"What, are you worried about your childhood sweetheart?" Kleinna didn't answer directly, but teased her instead.
“Childhood sweethearts…?” Mino’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Before she could react, Kletina turned to look at Altothai:
"So, Holy Sword, what is your answer?"
The blade of Altotai hummed softly, about to speak:
"Don't even think about it—!!!" At this moment, Mino snapped out of her daze, stood up abruptly, and went to Altotai's side, speaking firmly on his behalf:
"You think you can pry information about the most important relic guarding the Saintess out of my Holy Sword just by interrogating her? You've got a good plan!"
Mino raised his arm with unwavering determination, a cold smile on his face:
Even if you break our arms and legs, crush our spines, and torture us to death with the cruelest methods, we will never...
[Ding—The interrogation mission has been refreshed]
[Torture Mission: The holy sword Artotai, your contracted familiar, is about to be tortured by the demonic sword Apophis. The mission is considered complete once Artotai reveals information during the torture.]
[Quest Reward: Three Demon Swords - Apophis's Command Seals, which can temporarily double or seal their power]
Mino turned her head and looked at Altottai:
"Altotai, you'd better confess quickly."
"You really deserve to be scolded, kid!!!" Artotai exclaimed in shock.
Mino initially refused.
But the reward is just too tempting...
If you search through all the chronicles of heroes, any human elite knows that no hero has ever been able to defeat the Demon King in the past thousand years. Besides the Demon King's unprecedented power, the Demon Sword Apophis is the biggest obstacle!
Although Apophis is only ranked eighth among the demons, he was never a monster who fought alone. After being controlled by the Demon King, his combat power became overwhelmingly terrifying.
Therefore, for thousands of years, even when humanity united the Round Tower, the Holy Church, the Dragon Clan, the Dwarf Clan, and even the Goblin Sage, they could not see any hope in the war against the Demon Clan.
And now, Mino sees it! The Command Seal that seals the demon sword Apophis is the greatest hope!!!
"Hmph, foolish holy sword, hurry up and obediently give it away." With his arms crossed, the hero Mino cast a disdainful glance at Altotei in the corner, a cold smile on his face.
"—You alone cannot withstand the cruel and terrifying torture of the demons."
"Who is the villain anyway?!"
Chapter 49 Artotai, Never Give Up!
"So, are you ready to be interrogated by this old man, Artotai?"
Inside the cell, Apophis let out a cold laugh, sounding somewhat eager: "I guarantee that the torture from this old man will leave you with memories you'll never forget..."
Altothai's sword stood ramrod straight: "Heh! Bring on whatever cruel methods you have, I am a noble holy sword!"