Is that a Wisp?

The Demon didn't even feel anything odd as the Mental Energy gushed into its head, beginning to do something as Krune concentrated.

At present, he was harnessing the true potential of Mental Energy, the energy of the mind. The Mental Energy pervaded the Demon's mind, allowing Krune to scan through its memories, thoughts, and everything else mind-related.

He then spent an entire week processing all the information in the Demon's mind. Upon informing him of his ability, the Emperor stayed beside him, protecting him, relegating all duties to the first prince for the time being.

"Staying in this seal would turn even the sanest of people insane. So, the Demon has been in slumber for all this time, never once waking up. Its plan is to wake up on the day this seal is broken. Until then, it plans to hibernate and churn its abilities, slowly growing stronger through natural growth. This is the reason it's continuing to grow strong with every passing day," Krune spoke.

"Well, that's troubling." The Emperor sighed, asking, "Can your mysterious power do anything to it?"

"I'm trying that. I'm still getting a feel for things," Krune replied, shaping the Mental Energy into sharp blades that slowly began to spin within the Demon's mind, flying across a bunch of memories, grinding them into dust.

The Demon was asleep, unaware that its memories were being ground into dust little by little.

Krune's face was full of sweat at this moment. Surprisingly, his Mental Energy reserves were being drained alarmingly fast. His face turned pale when he stopped, eating the rations that the Emperor had instructed one of the princes to bring.

He then rested, healing his mind, waking up to see that some of his Mental Energy had recovered. However, his head still hurt when he tried to think about anything. Thus, he continued to rest, meditating in the meantime as he spoke his findings to the Emperor.

In such a manner, he spent a month, staying at the palace for three days before returning to the Imperial Academy for a day of rest. With this process, he managed to also take care of his task of training the first generation of County Arms users.

Honestly, he was so busy that it felt like even sleeping was a waste.

At the end of the month, Krune nodded in relief, telling the Emperor, "It's done. The Demon's mind had been destroyed. Right now, it's just an empty husk."

"Thank goodness." The Emperor slumped to the ground, relieved. Honestly, he would be lying if he said he wasn't tensed these days. Not only were the number of Demons increasing in his Empire, the one sealed within was so scary that even he had zero confidence in defeating.

And now that he looked at the Demon's figure, even though it was still sleeping, there were no other subtle movements from before. It was proof that it was now in a vegetative state.

He was then surprised when Krune summoned a needle in his hands, "What's that?"

"A priceless treasure that points and absorbs treasures," Krune replied, seeping his Mental Energy into it, wrapping it around the Soul Needle as he slowly passed it through the barrier.

Eventually, he made it enter the sealed space, bringing it before the Demon as the Soul Needle tried to drill into it. However, no matter how much it tried, it failed to do so.

The skin of the Demon was frighteningly tough. 'It's almost on the level of a Red Demon from the Sub-Realm.'

Such a frightening level of flesh was beyond what a low-leveled world like this could handle.

"Hmph!" Snorting once, Krune poured more Mental Energy into the Soul Needle, causing it to spin violently as the heat emanating from its tip increased. Slowly, the Soul Needle touched the Demon's forehead, beginning to drill little by little before it managed to reach the brain.

'A Nightmare is able to absorb all negative emotions. It's the same for a demon as well. Since Mental Energy is related to the mind, based on my hypothesis, this should be possible,' he thought, willing his Soul Needle to act up as everything within the Demon's mind that had been shredded into powder began to flow into the Soul Needle.

Even though they were shredded, they were still there. If left alone, they would eventually rearrange themselves back to normalcy. Then again, it might take thousands of years. Of course, this wasn't a proper solution.

As the Soul Needle whirred into life, being powered by Mental Energy, everything in the Demon's mind was absorbed by it. Following it was the destruction of the Demon's mind.

The Demon had zero hopes of gaining consciousness ever again. But of course, Krune didn't stop at this point, increasing the power of the Soul Needle as it began to slowly absorb the Demon's essence.

It had already done the same to the Sun Stone once. So, Krune used the same experience. Thanks to his Mental Energy, he was able to replicate the same effect, causing the Soul Needle to absorb the Demon's essence.

Essence, abilities, life force, and so on. Everything it possessed was absorbed by the Soul Needle until its body vanished, leaving nothing behind.

The Emperor gawked at such a scene, stuttering as he asked, "W-What happened to it?"

"Destroyed, with nothing left." Krune let out a long sigh, wiping off his sweat. However, he didn't retract his Mental Energy yet, laying down a small formation within the sealed space.

He made the formation harness a bit of the seal's power and erect a projection. It was of the Demon chained to a rusty old pillar that had been covered with blood for enough time to fuse with it.

There, the Demon was, still powerful, but unable to escape. "Now, the illusion has been laid."

Krune laughed as he could not help but say, "If the other Demons manage to make it here, they would be expending a lot of effort just to be fooled in the end."

"That should mess up their mind a lot." He could not help but laugh a bit harder after that.

"You're… one cunning little rascal," The Emperor could not help but say, laughing as well soon after.

"Of course." Krune smiled as the both of them returned to the palace. To celebrate the joyous occasion, the Emperor hosted a grand banquet, making an excuse that the banquet was thanks to the County Arms.

They didn't say anything about the Demon, controlling their urges to laugh aloud, wishing to see the expressions of the Demons one day in their futile struggle.