Overturned Tower

The orange-red flames dancing in the white lion's pupils looked like bloodstains dried on the bandages.

He took a deep breath.

In a blizzard, it turns into white mist.

Hang declared: "I probably don't want to do what you want, barber. You want to get us out of here and make us obey you... I'm fine with that.

"I can obey you, and I can obey your orders. But that's not because I'm your pet cat, nor is it because of loyalty. It's because the lions will develop better under your leadership than me. I have to do a lot better.

"Lions are pack animals, they always live together. I will always be a lion, and you are now the leader of the pride.

"As long as you dare to control me, I will obey you - but if one day I see your timidity, cowardice and compromise... don't blame me for taking the rope from your hand and making myself king .”

The lion roared, making such a threat.

But in the eyes of the barber, this is an attitude of sincerity.

He just smiled, accepting the "I can't be faithful forever" statement.

——Ultramarine is a hero, but the others in the container are not.

The godfather is a mentor, a commander, a monarch... Other identities also have different identities and positions.

If it was Qunqing, he might be angry at his injustice when he heard such words.

But the words of the godfather only give a happy nod.

Because he has the measure of a monarch.

The original loyalty is not absolute.

Can those couples who swear that the sea will die at the wedding can really maintain a lifetime of loyalty?

It is naive to believe in such so-called "promises" made in empty words.

Even those who swear allegiance will betray very smoothly when encountering bad situations and huge benefits.Compared with them, it is very honest to be able to bluntly say that one's loyalty is a strangulation of "depending on the situation".

As long as the strangulation can't afford the idea of ​​betrayal.

That doesn't matter.

"Then it seems that you can only work for me for the rest of your life."

The barber said slowly, "You'd better remember what you said today."

"Ah. I'll keep it in mind until I decide to forget it."

Hang Sha sneered and said in a low voice, "My... leader."

"—You know what, strangle."

The barber walked past Hang, who was standing still, and stepped in front of him.

He also didn't turn his head, but his voice was very loud: "A circus lion is usually as docile as a dog.

"Lion trainers like to play some tricks of opening the lion's mouth and counting the lion's teeth. If they are more adventurous, they also like to stick their head in, so as to prove to the audience that they have completely tamed the lion."

"...What the hell are you trying to say?"

A low grunt came from the depths of Strangled's throat.

"But there are always some lions whose ferocity is hard to get rid of. No matter how docile they usually look, they will suddenly shut their mouths and kill their lion trainers.

"It's not that the lion trainers are ignorant of the danger, they just get away with it. Think at least this time it won't happen.

"But this time is gone, and there will be a next time. As long as we continue to engage in this business, there will always be times when we miss. Because a lion is a beast after all, a beast that cannot communicate."

"so what?"

Strangler sneered and said, "Are you going to strike first just in case? Are you going to pull out my sharp teeth, or grind off my claws? Or feed me poison to make me exhausted ? Or are you trying to curry favor with me and become my lion trainer?"

The barber shook his head, "No.

"—I'm going to make you a human."

He said calmly and rationally: "I want you to tame yourself. Let you become a person wearing a lion puppet, a person pretending to be a lion...

"I want you beasts to know from the bottom of your heart...how good it is to be human.

"That is a world where happiness and freedom can be obtained without biting off the head of the lion trainer."

He took a step forward, and the world around him suddenly distorted.

The strangulation behind him, and the blizzard in front of him disappeared at the same time.

His surroundings fell into darkness again, and in front of him were circles of illusory and transparent circles of light.

Looking at the eight circles of light, a thought came to the barber's mind.

【Needed path: anger＊4】

Only after passing through four areas belonging to the Path of Wrath can the door to the next area be opened.

The barber stepped forward without hesitation.

[Verified: Raging Volcano]

When he passed through the first circle of light, the circle of light seemed to be injected with power suddenly, turning into a bright fiery red, and then rotated and expanded to a larger size.

As if a charging sound sounded, a color suddenly appeared in the pitch-black world.

But those colors are like color blocks, which look extremely abstract.

And the barber went forward again, stepped through the second circle of light, then the third circle, and then the fourth circle.

[Verified: Raging Tide]

[Verified: Ancient Battlefield]

【Verified: Boiling soup】

The circles of light were activated by the barber when he passed by, bursting out with bright red brilliance, rotating and unfolding, and making a buzzing activation sound.

When this world is filled with four colors, I can vaguely see something, but it is still not clear enough.

At this time, a looming door appeared on the left and right sides of the barber.

On his left is [Mountain of Madness], and on his right is [Sea of ​​Despair].

These words were written on the door.

And the barber walked towards the remaining four circles of light without hesitation.

[Needed path: Contemplation＊2, Temperance＊2】

The barber went straight through.

The first two halos were activated, emitting a dark blue halo.

[Verified: Fossil Sea]

[Verified: Heart Lake]

The remaining two spun and unfolded, emitting a metallic silver-gray halo:

[Verified: Blade Cliff]

[Verified: Slow Walking Snow Mountain]

【Complete Verification——】

With the remaining four colors filled in, this has become a very close to real, stagnant world.

Here and there flowed bright red, semi-solidified lava-like rivers.They look like bursting blood vessels, and the sky of the whole world is a steaming white mist.

A deep, growling voice sounded in the barber's heart.

That's exactly the same sound as a barber.

[For you, grand anger will make you stronger, crazy, or desperate? 】

"Of course, become stronger."

The barber was still smiling.

He replied without hesitation.

The next moment, the whole world cracked and shattered.

The cover in the stagnant world is removed, and the more colorful and moving world suddenly surges with the steaming sulfur heat.

In the distance, there were continuous sounds of tinkling iron, as well as the clatter of pouring molten iron.

"Welcome to the Furnace of Pain."

Following the barber, Hang Hang who appeared behind him said slowly, "This is my 'home'."

Chapter 25 The River of Rage

The barber narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked up at the sky above the furnace of pain.

...He had never seen a world where the "sky" was so low.

Those steaming white mist with a smell of sulfur have completely covered the true color of the sky, just like thick clouds.

The edge of the lowest point is no more than four or five meters away from the ground.

The space between the sky and the ground is so small that it gives people a feeling of breathlessness and depression.

And because the sky is too close to the ground, it also restricts the barber's vision.It can't be seen clearly from a little farther away... Compared to an open-air crater, it looks more like a cave with a "cloud" as the top layer.

The extremely skilled strangulation led the barber towards a certain direction.

The white lion said casually: "This is considered a safe zone, so you can rest assured."

"Why, won't there be shadows here?"

"Of course not. The shadow rule and the change rule are iron laws that have never changed. But because there is a mentor stationed here... If there is a shadow anywhere, it will be directly killed by him."

Strangling's deep voice gave people a sense of peace of mind: "His power can radiate the entire area. It's like a god in the dream world. Because of this, this can become the base of the 'Melting Pot School'."

"Since the changing rules are still in effect," the barber asked while following Hangsha, "what if we accidentally walk into other areas?"

"Just come back again. After consuming those eight certifications, the permission to 'open the door to the furnace of pain' is permanent."

"That is not bad."

The barber let out a sigh of relief: "I only have nine spells in total now. Although the power is very weak, not too far behind the trick...but it still hurts to knock on the door with eight. If you accidentally fall out If I do, I won’t be able to get the resources to open the door again.”

Except for the spell of "despair aura" that can pour "despair" into the hearts of others, the barber turned all his remaining "spells", that is, the "certification" obtained in the clearance area into keys, injected Through the door to the furnace of pain.

"The spells obtained in the normal area are the same. If you really want to, you can go back and go again to recall the spells you want."

Hang Sha shook his head: "This kind of door that needs to be authenticated before it can be opened is at least a rare area.

"The 'territory' occupied by mages is also a rare area. Although ordinary areas can also be occupied, they are really useless.

"And in rare areas, you can get really useful spells."

"What if I answered the question wrong then?"

The barber asked back: "I handed over four keys first, but I didn't enter the [Mountain of Madness] and [Sea of ​​Despair], and I handed in four more keys to advance.

"If I didn't get it right, would I have been kicked into the Mountains of Madness and the Sea of ​​Despair?"

"[Mountain of Madness] and [Sea of ​​Despair] are also rare areas, but there are no mages stationed there. In fact, it is not a loss to go...you can also get powerful spells."

"So, what's the difference?"

"The difference is that in the area where there is a 'mentor'... the spells will be more systematic."

Hang Hang looked back at the barber: "Just like me."

It can turn itself into a flame and move at high speed, and it can also release a strange flame that ignores some physical parameters and burns heat-resistant metals to ashes. It can even be attached to the body to complete "enchantment".

"Although I can use a lot of special powers, this is really just 'one' spell. I don't have such a strong mind, so I don't plan to move on until I have tempered my heart... The mentor taught me The power is enough for me to dig for a long time."

From the "shore", they bypassed the thick liquid that was flowing on the ground, like blood and bright red like lava.

Although close to them, the barber did not feel any inaccessible heat from his ankles.

Seeing his somewhat curious expression, Hang Sha immediately grabbed him and pulled him back two steps.

"Be careful... If you are in the furnace of pain, although you don't have to worry about the existence of shadows, you must be careful not to fall into the 'river of anger'. There is no hammer of pain to knock the anger that has stained you If you drop it, you'll go crazy."

Strangling cast his eyes on the bright red rivers on the ground: "This is already very close to the essence of 'anger'... Although it seems to be very close to the entrance, it is at least halfway through the road of anger.