Chapter 7: Mino, Stay Away!
Scenes from the dream unfolded before the three demons.
“It is him, the one who bestowed upon me the steel body tempered by the Dragonblood Elixir!”
In the pitch-black room, an elderly man wearing round spectacles wore an indifferent expression as he poured a vial of boiling black potion into the mouth of a young Mino. “Mino, if you survive... then try it.”
“He is the one who relentlessly honed my skills through peril and trial!”
On a battlefield swarming with demons, the mage squad suddenly withdrew, leaving Mino alone as the demon horde surged toward him like a tidal wave.
They had seemingly conspired to gather at a distance, while the robed elder’s laughter was both cold and warm: “Mino, the strong never complain about their surroundings. If you blame anyone...”
The dream scattered like the wind, transforming into a towering spire that pierced the clouds, heavy with condensed magical power. Intricate and strange runes were etched upon its peak, bearing sharp spiritual imprints, descending like a butcher’s blade upon Mino, standing resolute at the center.
“He is the one who granted me the mighty Thirty-Seven Layers of Protection atop the Tower!”
Beneath the tower, the old man’s spectacles slipped down his nose, as if overwhelmed with emotion.
“Thirty-seven layers?! He’s still alive!!”
The dream gradually faded.
No more dreams were needed. As demons of the magical court, the three great demons immediately recognized that man as the most powerful mage of the human faction—the chief of the Mage Tower, Ang Lak.
Within the fragments of the dream, the laughter of the brave Mino still echoed, chasing after them.
“Don’t underestimate the bond between me and Chief Lak!!!”
“—The bond!!”
“The bond—!”
The air trembled faintly.
Kletina stretched her waist, removing the fiery red rose from her hair. The exposed pale skin between the folds of her dress flushed with a scorching heat, vivid and almost otherworldly.
Wills’s ghostly flames bowed their heads hastily—clearly, the secretary had already harbored murderous intent.
“Unexpectedly, it was Chief Lak from the Mage Tower who single-handedly forged this strongest hero in human history. No wonder, no wonder—”
Kletina said coldly, “That old bastard sure knows how to cause us trouble... I can tell that Mino’s strength is no accident but born from countless legendary life-or-death adventures.”
“In this regard, the one behind it all, Lak, is the most dangerous. For a moment, I even thought he might truly want to kill Mino... Humans are terrifying. They can be cruel even to their own kind.”
“Is... that so?”
Wills recalled those scenes, feeling a strange unease he couldn’t explain.
As a demon, he could not comprehend human emotions, but one thing was certain:
The Mage Tower’s chief and the hero Mino indeed shared an unbreakable bond!
* * *
A faint hissing sound emerged from the ghostly flames within the magical mirror, the fire flickering weakly and despondently.
“Mirror, are you alright?” Wills was startled. As a demon strategist, he sensed something wrong: “You seem to have suffered backlash, and it’s severe.”
* * *
“I don’t know... It feels like I touched... an extremely filthy power in the dream... I need to sleep...” The mirror’s voice was intermittent.
With Kletina’s permission, it severed contact and fell into a deeper slumber.
“Filthy...” Kletina murmured. “Could it be that the place in the dream somehow involves some sort of corruption?”
Was it coincidental, or was someone carrying it?
Putting aside the hero Mino for the moment, neither his power nor his Holy Sword would ever be tainted by such forces.
As for Chief Lak, the one who forged Mino—he was even less likely, a paragon of earthly justice.
Enough of such thoughts... Setting aside her worries, just as Kletina began to fret over how to conduct the next interrogation,
Wills’s sinister voice whispered:
“Secretary, the Ninth Demon has awakened...”
* * *
The royal capital.
The Kul Palace stood at the heart of the bustling city, flanked by the Adventurers’ Guild and the Holy Cathedral on either end, while to the south of the capital rose a tall, dark round tower, growing silently like an ancient cedar.
The Mage Tower, a long-standing institution, had nurtured numerous royal mages and many renowned adventurers.
At dusk, a flock of crows fluttered from the desolate graveyard, circling and lingering over the tower. Eventually, they merged into a shadow that fell straight down, revealing an old man cloaked in black.
“Chief.”
Two expressionless senior mages approached, replacing the elder’s staff and robes.
A pale violet robe, inscribed with complex magical runes, draped over him. His gaunt fingers adorned with numerous magic stone rings slowly emerged. His bark-like pale face was revealed by the flickering torchlight, and his deep eyes continuously churned with magical energy.
The Mage Tower’s chief, the great archmage Ang Lak.
“The hero Mino is a thing of the past.”
Lak’s first words after landing caused the two senior mages’ eyes to flicker slightly. They nodded and swiftly withdrew.
In the shadows, a voice stirred.
The first words were:
“That thing is finally gone?”
“Unless the Demon King’s Castle falls to ruin...” Lak’s aged face twisted into a cold smile. “But before that, the Kul Kingdom shall fall into silent death.”
“Darkness” twitched with excitement, then cautiously whispered:
“Is that certain?”
Suddenly, Lak bent over and coughed violently.
“Cough, cough... Ten years, ten years! Do you know how I’ve spent these ten years... I only regret not thinking earlier that I could have just pushed Mino to the demons’ side, let him be captured.”
“Even if he didn’t want it, I could have helped him!”
* * *
“Darkness” was momentarily silent. This noble archmage, once a servant of evil, now spoke with a hint of bitterness.
“In any case, the plan can now be set in motion.”
“Yes.” Lak bowed slightly, gazing toward the peak of the Mage Tower.
A smile long suppressed crept onto his lips.
* * *
“Mino.”
“Mino...”
Faint voices drifted through the dream.
“...Mino... you...”
“...Mino... you... no...”
Eyelids fluttered. Between waking and sleeping, the murmurs grew clearer until they became a scream.
“Mino, don’t come any closer!!!”
Whoosh—
Mino’s eyes snapped open.
“Huh, feels like I dreamed of someone familiar.” He rubbed his eyes, feeling as if he had slept for a long time—his first time ever sleeping so soundly.
“Alto Tai, how long have I been asleep? Is it almost mealtime?”
The Holy Sword’s faint voice came through: “I don’t know. I just woke up too.”
“You... you just awoke from slumber, and you can still sleep?”
“At my age, of course I can sleep well.” Alto Tai answered confidently.
A familiar scent of roses suddenly pierced his nose.
A slender, elegant figure opened the prison door. Kletina stood by the entrance, thin thorny vines wrapped around her wrists and ankles, blooming with sky-blue roses that gave off a fresh fragrance.
She glanced behind her, confidence shining on her face, before speaking to Mino:
“Are you ready, brave one?”
“Yeah.” Mino nodded seriously.
“I’m ready for lunch.”