Chapter 178 【Silver Hand】
“Big trouble is coming!”
Soren stood in the distance, near a dimly lit attic in a gathering place of courtesans. He silently watched the paladins in the distance and the poor kneeling before them, instantly sensing an air of impending disaster. Whenever paladins showed up, it meant the start of a massacre, which could ultimately evolve into a widespread disaster, turning the entire city into a river of bl**d!
Because paladins could not tolerate evil, yet evil was a part of the world.
Paladins were the most unique group among the professionists. Firmly believing in lawful good, they possessed a strong will and faith. Becoming a paladin was far more difficult than becoming a wizard; it was not just a matter of talent but rather if you truly believed in justice and goodness. Without faith and justice, a paladin would quickly fall; their power could vanish, and they might turn into an ordinary warrior or even fall to become a dark knight.
“Pursue goodness, protect justice, eliminate evil.”
These are the three tenets of the paladin. Few people could meet the faith, courage, and goodness required to become a paladin, so their numbers in this world might be even fewer than that of wizards. The vast majority were knights leaning towards the good faction, at most advancing to the domain of temple guardians. These temple knights might be good, brave, and firmly believe in justice, but they are not as extreme as paladins and do not have a rigid intolerance toward any evil.
They are a group of great people, but also a group of pitiful ones!
Soren respected all paladins, even if these people could be his enemies. Because he too had nearly entered the paladin’s camp at one point.
Unfortunately, he ultimately chose a different dark path.
The first belief of a paladin is justice and goodness; the second belief is in the deity. So when the Silver Hand said the phrase, “As long as paladins do not d*e, justice will endure,” Soren realized that a great purge was about to begin. The Silver Hand probably had already planned to turn against the Goddess of Wealth’s church; anyone who obstructed their pursuit of justice and goodness would be ruthlessly killed!
Paladins k*ll many, in fact.
This profession is incredibly powerful, possessing the abilities of warriors. They can cast divine techniques, are protected by holy energy, are immune to diseases forever, and can ignore any fear.
Paladins are naturally immune to fear-based spells and disease-related spells, and they can cast healing divine techniques.
They are the only ones who can summon mounts from the outer planes and are likely able to summon pegasi (male) and unicorns (female), riding them with ease.
There are always criminals in every city.
Dark organizations, gangsters, gray areas, corrupt officials, nobles, and so on. It is not just this world; even in the era when Soren lived in his previous life, if paladins were unleashed to cleanse evil, a large number of people would be sentenced to d*ath. Corrupt officials, ruthless judges, fraudulent merchants, black-hearted fake medicines, toxic foods, and more. These people would merely face sentencing in the eyes of the law, but to paladins, they are the most heinous offenders harming countless lives, worthy of being executed without mercy.
Here is the City of Wealth.
Few of the rulers of the City of Wealth are clean, and in its sewers, bodies can be seen every day. The scent of bl**d and filth can even be smelled from Gind.
Paladins rarely mobilize, but their appearance signifies a great purge.
Because among the tenets of paladins, one says, “Evil, chaos, and sin cannot be ignored; even if it costs lives, one must guard the side of justice and goodness.”
If they d*e, their souls will return to the upper planes, whether it be 【Mount Heaven of the Seven Hills】 or 【Twin Paradise of Twin Eden】. These exalted souls will be welcomed. In other words, paladins are generally not afraid of d*ath; these guys are destined to ascend to Mount Heaven after d*ath. Even if they d*e in some evil ritual or their souls are desecrated, as long as their faith remains firm and they have not committed any sins, the legendary holy spirits of the celestial realm will personally come to guide their souls.
People find it difficult to evaluate paladins.
Some adore them and view them as a beacon of hope, an embodiment of justice, while others hate them and wish for their permanent disappearance!
For every person that loves them, there is another that resents them.
The depth of love is matched by the depth of hate.
Soren held a neutral attitude towards paladins and would not harbor the same hatred as others in the evil faction; he believed that the world needed such people as long as paladins did not recklessly cast ‘detect evil’. In fact, he could slightly bow his head in respect upon seeing them.
But if they arbitrarily cast ‘detect evil’, Soren would draw his sword in an instant!
Once upon a time, there was a story where a paladin entered an adventurer’s tavern, and it immediately fell silent. This young paladin suddenly cast a ‘detect evil’, and in an instant, one-third of the patrons drew their swords, one-third prepared to flee, and one-third appeared astonished and uneasy.
In the eyes of noble ladies, paladins rank first as the best suitors!
However.
In terms of husband candidates, paladins rank last, even lower than barbarians. Noble ladies desire a lover like that, trustworthy, brave, steadfast, and loyal; they might even consider seducing a paladin as a testament to their charm. Yet, very few women are willing to marry a paladin, and they certainly do not wish for their husbands to be paladins.
It is a rather ironic thing.
A significant portion of paladins will remain unmarried for life and will not be easily tempted by women, as temptation leads to downfall. They enjoy adopting orphans, teaching them justice and goodness, raising them to become paladins.
To corrupt a paladin is a topic of great interest among noble ladies.
Therefore, paladins rarely appear.
………………
City Hall.
An angry roar echoed, causing the ceiling to tremble slightly. Inside stood a very robust man covered in golden light, adorned with ample golden jewelry, a necklace of incredibly expensive gems around his neck, and six rings with astonishing value on ten fingers. At this moment, he was roaring at a line of people standing before him, angrily shouting, “Bastards! Idiots!”
“You idiots, why didn’t you stop them?!”
“I really want to twist off your heads!… You pigs!… to so easily believe that those paladins are just here to investigate the Demon Son of Fear!… Don’t you know that wherever paladins appear, there is disaster?!…”
“What do we do now?”
“That group of poor folks have all run off to report!… Soon, the paladins will detect evil on a massive scale!… You idiots are all going to be killed!…”
A group of officials and nobles stood in cold sweat in the hall. Among them, a portly man hesitated, then whispered, “Lord Mayor! We can’t stop them! This time, it’s the Silver Hand!…”
Crash.
The robust man directly smashed a chair at the portly official, causing bl**d to spatter from his head; he had lost more than half his life.
“b*stard!”
He let out an angry roar, shouting, “So what should we do now? If those thickheaded idiots are determined to purify evil, the City of Wealth will become a city of d*ath!”
“You! Sir Carlos. Your fleet hasn’t been involved in piracy, right?”
“And you! Baron Mosley. Haven’t you taken in tens of thousands of Gind from the gray earnings of the City of Wealth each year? Didn’t your son recently drive a poor woman and her daughter to their deaths? And you, you, you! Which one of you doesn’t carry bl**d debts? Which of your juniors hasn’t taken a life? With one detect evil, bloodlight will shine from all of you!…”
“d*mn it, this is the City of Wealth! Not a d*mn City of Holy Light!”
“Every single Gind here is stained with bl**d; you idiots actually let paladins into the city!… Don’t you know they are all lunatics?…”
A middle-aged man dressed like a noble hesitated for a moment, then with a cold expression, quietly said, “What if we just…”
At this point, he made a throat-cutting gesture.
Crash!
The robust man grabbed another chair and smashed it, roaring, “Stupid pig! Do you think the Silver Knights are just pigs to be slaughtered? That last squad of paladins didn’t even have less than three hundred elite troops! Are you trying to start a war in the City of Wealth? Not to mention we have the Silver Hand here!”
“Do you want to provoke a legendary war?”
“Do you think the reputation of the Silver Hand came from nowhere?!… In the southern kingdom, this guy even chopped the king up!… You’re just a lowly baron!… Unless the Temple of Wealth intervenes, he alone could wipe us all out!%…”
Southern Duchy.
Since the destruction of the Arcane Empire, no powerful empire has emerged in the south for thousands of years. It resembles a city-state system, only under the name of a kingdom, with many smaller duchies. The internal royal members among humans are quite numerous, but their control within the kingdom is limited to their own territories, and they are also granted to their subordinates. More than half of the cities in the entire southern region are governed by various nobles, councils, and temples, with intricate relations between them.
The famous battle of the Silver Hand.
Was him single-handedly challenging a kingdom, almost killing a cruel tyrant of lawful evil, forcing him to abdicate in favor of his youngest and most benevolent son.
After this battle, [Silver Hand] became a name known to all!
………………… (To be continued ~^~)
