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

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"That's the Path of the Hero! That's the Demon King's Castle!! That's where the Nine Great Demons and the Demon King of Time are located!!!"

Darkfrey's tense and frightened voice rose higher and higher, trying to make Shana realize the impossibility of the plan.

"At the other end of the road lie the most terrifying and absolutely invincible opponents!"

“I know, Darkfrey.” An inexplicable force suddenly tightened its grip on the hilt of the knife, and Darkfrey stopped speaking in surprise. It noticed that the girl’s hands were also trembling slightly and covered with sweat.

"But..." Her gaze remained fixed on the dark, treacherous canyon, her clear eyes unwavering.

"My brother is at the other end of the road..."

"Silly brother, it's right there." Her crimson eyes seemed to gaze upon the outline of the Demon King's castle deep within the Demon Realm. Her hand, gripping the black holy sword, gradually steadied, as if Shana had made up her mind:

"What the kingdom cannot save, I will save—"

Chapter 322 The Path of the Hero, The Scars of the World

Dacfrey was stunned.

The blade was slightly taut as it stared at the girl's profile.

At this moment, it was as if endless loneliness enveloped her from all directions, making her figure appear incredibly small in the raging demonic wind, her tone deep and solitary... but that upright figure was deeply reflected in its eyes.

Darkfrey's emotions were churning as he watched in shock as Shana uttered those words—and then swiftly and smoothly shifted into several cool poses!

Darkfrey finally couldn't hold back any longer:

"—You just think it looks cool to say that, right?! That's absolutely right!!! Give me back the emotion I felt a second ago!"

It greeted Shana intensely in her mind.

Shana turned her head away and whistled, pretending not to notice.

"My lord, please stop your suicidal behavior!" Like a loyal subject who would rather die than submit, Darkfrey continued his earnest protest.

After all, Shana was courting death, and she was dragging herself down with her... She absolutely didn't want to be cellmates with Altottai!

“Darkfrey, you need to understand, if we stay in the capital, we'll probably be locked up in solitary confinement for life! Can you accept that?!” Shana gripped her sword tightly, her tone righteous.

"As the most glorious and powerful heroes of mankind, what we must do is leave an indelible scar on the demon race and shake the entire continent with the feat of destroying the Demon King!"

"While the Hero's Mark is still healing, now is the time when I am at my strongest. If I don't take this opportunity to defeat the Demon King... wouldn't that be a huge loss?!"

"Don't talk about it like it's some casual supermarket sale!"

Darkfrey was still struggling violently, but in the battle of wills, Shana clearly had the upper hand, and she began to chant in a strong, low voice:

"Hero, you should be fighting the Demon King! Great Blade of Emperor Slayer, once again display your power to annihilate gods!"

"It's a reckless hero! Help!!!"

Dragging the groaning, jet-black holy sword, Shana's eyes gleamed with fighting spirit as she walked step by step toward the dark rift before her...

……

The Path of the Warrior.

Also known as, "the scars of the world".

It was a straight and bottomless chasm, starting from the edge wasteland between the first and second lines of defense, crossing the second line of defense, and stretching all the way to the heart of the Demon Realm, leading directly to the Death Forest less than a hundred miles from the Demon King's City.

To ordinary demons, this is merely a path nearly impossible to traverse, but to the book demons of all ages and human scholars alike, this path of the brave is considered one of the world's unsolved mysteries:

No one knows when or how it came into being, but the only thing that can be confirmed is that this road was definitely not formed naturally.

That straight ravine cuts across canyons, valleys, waterfalls, and dense forests. Geographically speaking, it is an absolutely impossible passage, as if it had been cleaved by a sword. But such a huge and terrifying mark is almost divine power.

The path of the hero, beyond the comprehension of both humans and demons, has given rise to many legends.

Some say this path was left by a mysterious black-clad, black-haired swordsman from another world who possessed god-level swordsmanship, but no one can find any related records or the name of that black-haired swordsman in any ancient history book; some say this path was suddenly created in recent years, but this path of the hero has clearly existed since ancient times...

From the demons' perspective, this road, which leads directly from the second line of defense to the Demon King's castle, should have been blocked no matter what. But this path of heroes truly resembles a painful scar left on the demons:

—The entire Path of the Warrior is filled with strange energy, sealing off all magic and holy power.

The Path of the Warrior cannot be destroyed and is only large enough for creatures of human size to pass through. Therefore, it means that any creature that enters it can only rely on its human-sized body and its relatively weak physical attributes without any power enhancement to overcome those perilous and rugged obstacles. One wrong step and it will fall into the bottomless abyss and lose its life.

The shortest route is often the longest.

Even the strongest warrior who enters will become an ordinary person unable to use his power.

It's hard to accept that humanity's top fighters would abandon their greatest asset and gamble with their luck and lives.

Therefore, in the eyes of humankind, only warriors truly favored by the goddess can traverse that perilous path.

That is, a brave person.

Throughout history, many heroes have challenged the path of heroism in various eras.

Whether it was a failure or a success, the most sensational event was the feat of the Sword Hero a thousand years ago when he broke through the first line of defense during the Demon Clan's heyday, entered the Path of the Hero, and finally killed the Demon King—thus establishing the "Path of the Hero" as a title recognized by both humans and demons.

Of course, there are also many rumors, such as that the Sword Hero did not actually kill the Demon King, but was killed by other humans.

The Sword Hero's Mark didn't disappear after defeating the Demon King, but was stolen by other humans... However, these rumors are also unfounded.

In any case, the Sword Hero conveyed a clear message to all future generations of humanity, especially to heroes:

"Want to slay the Demon King? Come to the Path of the Hero! Everything is possible here!"

—A hero who doesn't traverse the Path of the Hero to slay the Demon King before his castle is destined for a relatively unsuccessful life!

Thanks to the brave swordsman.

The death rate of heroes increased exponentially in subsequent generations.

The hero awakening and blessing rituals of the Magician's Round Tower were repeatedly improved and optimized, allowing Lak to find a way to interfere with the two rituals in the research notes of the successive chiefs of the Round Tower.

finally.

The monsters that arose from this.

Shana Lake, the heroine of sin and evil, appeared before the Path of the Hero.

Standing before the warning perimeter of the Hero's Path, kindly set up by the demons, Shana took a deep breath. She too recalled the legend of the Sword Hero. After all, as the most renowned hero before Mino, Shana had grown up hearing the legend of the Sword Hero, and was a devoted imitator and admirer!

"So you actually walked such a treacherous and difficult road all by yourself..." Standing at the crossroads, Shana slowly raised her proud head:

"It seems that the strength of that swordsman is no less than mine."

“My lord, anyone who didn’t know better would think you had already traversed the path of the hero, and that’s why you’re saying these words at the exit…” Darkfrey resignedly muttered from his waist.

"To be honest, if you truly respected that swordsman and had any self-awareness, you should have turned around and left. After all, there are differences between heroes."

"I'm avoiding his attacks?! What a joke!!!"

Shana flung her cape aside, her inner chuunibyou burning brightly, and crossed her arms, her tone brimming with unprecedented arrogance and confidence:

"—A thousand years later, it's time for me to rewrite the legend!"

Chapter 323 The Path of the Hero (Cracked Version), The Power of Killing Rice

Standing before the path of the brave.

Although she spoke very formally, Shana couldn't help but reveal a hint of nervousness in her expression. This was the place where countless heroes had perished, a perilous path that could be called the abyss of death. As dramatic as she was, Shana knew that this was a huge challenge for her.

But she would never back down.

On the day the Hero Awakening Array was activated, Shana secretly made a vow in her heart:

If she really had the chance to become a hero, she would no longer accept the fact that Mino could only go to the Demon King's castle and never return. She would rely on her own strength, no matter how slim or impossible it was, to go to the Demon King's castle and rescue her brother, Mino Rek!

And then, the wish came true.

At that moment, Shana understood that she would eventually embark on this path, which might be a one-way street, yet it was also the only path to salvation.

There were many twists and turns: the power of two sides, the physique of Yidao, the broken marks and the hidden reserve energy in her body. In any case, she is now able to exert her power to the maximum extent.

Such an opportunity may never come again in this lifetime.

The gears of clarity propelled the gears of chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) in an unstoppable turn. Countless thoughts swirled in her mind, and finally, Mino's warm and kind face flashed through her mind... Gritting her teeth, Shana stopped thinking, lifted her foot, and stepped into the interior of the Path of the Hero!

The footsteps left a deep footprint on the gravel ground.

"Ah."

With her first step, Shana's body seemed to lose its balance, and the inertia caused her to stagger forward several steps.

A look of disbelief flashed in Shana's eyes. She looked down at her hands and feet and sensed something was wrong.

The moment she entered the Path of the Hero, it was as if she had passed through a membrane woven from new rules and powers, her entire body permeated by that power, making her realize that she was in a world outside of her own, and that she had to follow its laws.

However—looking at the footprints left behind from her momentary loss of control over her strength, Shana's bloodshot eyes gradually filled with confusion:

"Darkfrey, the Path of the Hero forbids magic and holy power... that's right, isn't it?"

The jet-black holy sword at his waist hummed.

“Yes, the power within me is suppressed within the mineral, it’s a really uncomfortable feeling, what’s wrong, my lord?” Darkfrey asked, puzzled.

The wind whistled in my ears, and the straight road in front of me stretched as far as the eye could see.

Even the shortest route requires ordinary people to overcome numerous natural barriers: canyons that require clinging tightly to the rock walls and carefully maintaining balance to cross, navigating the heavy waterfalls cascading from the sky, navigating countless sharp plants that pierce the skin and entangle the ankles, and constantly being on guard against falling into the abyss...

The sensations in her limbs and body remained the same as always. Looking at the easily accessible path that seemed to have been cleaved open by a sword, Shana's expression gradually became strange:

"Then why is my power still surging—?"

……

"So, your plan is to use the aura of the abyss to cover those lowly Darkborn who bypass the second line of defense, infiltrate the area around the Demon King's castle, and then activate your Light Leap Array to bring that hero out?"

"What, you can't do it?" Lark asked.

The isolation zone, the central area.

The conversation between Lak and "Darkness" echoed in their minds, a sound only the two of them could hear, and "Darkness," as the will of the Abyss Lord, immediately became restless:

"What a joke! For the great Abyss, disguising you as a lower-level Darkin is indeed no problem, but... after teleporting that hero out, how are you going to kill him?"

The Will of the Abyss reminded it that ever since Lak told it about Mino's bizarre characteristics, it had clearly become much more concerned about eliminating Mino:

"Although your 'Super Cube Array' has indeed surpassed the limits of human magic, as a condition for its use, you must be located thousands of miles away in the Demon King's Castle. Let me make it clear beforehand, I can't leave you for too long right now, much less exert my full power without you..."

“This is nothing to worry about.” Lak said expressionlessly, naturally not going to make a mistake on this plan, which was second only to the destruction of humanity in his life.