Chapter 42: Warden
Soren hung back at a distance.
The opponent’s strength had vastly improved, and being too close could get him discovered.
As soon as the Paladin left the city, Soren noticed someone galloping out. This person had openly taken down a skeleton sand thief in the city, and it looked like he was a leader-level threat. It was almost impossible to leave the city without facing retaliation. Desert bandits ranked first among mountain robbers everywhere, and their ferocity was not much different from that of pirates. The desire for revenge among pirates is strong, and since this city had sheltered sand thieves in selling their loot here, there could not possibly be only one member present.
The Paladin went away alone.
The possibility of being pursued and retaliated against outside the city was over eighty percent!
Thus, Soren quietly followed.
He did not particularly enjoy helping others, but he also did not want to see this Paladin d*e here, so he decided to keep an eye on things. If the Paladin turned out not to be a match for those sand thieves, then he would intervene.
However.
Looking at the Paladin leaving with such composure, it seemed he had some confidence.
The wind and sand picked up slightly.
The Paladin’s pace was not fast, which made Soren a bit suspicious that he was deliberately slowing down to wait for the sand thieves to catch up.
Sure enough!
About an hour later.
The sound of hooves echoed from the distance, followed closely by dozens of masked sand thieves gradually approaching from the side dunes, dividing into two teams to surround and block the Paladin’s escape route.
“k*ll!”
The cold-blooded, ruthless bandits had no extra words; there was practically no chance for negotiation with the Lawful Good Paladin. Under the command of what appeared to be a leader among the sand thieves, the rest charged forward, some speeding up with knives drawn, while others readied bows to aim at their targets. There were nearly forty sand thieves, resembling a bandit group. With such numbers, even a legend would find it somewhat tricky.
“It seems he’s in trouble,” Soren squinted slightly but made no movement.
He had to ascertain whether the Paladin was walking to his d*ath.
If he did not even foresee the imminent danger, then he was indeed walking to his d*ath. Such a person was not worth his effort to save.
Because he would ultimately d*e anyway.
—”Charge!”
With a clang, the young Paladin threw away the skeleton of a sand thief he had been carrying and gripped his great sword with both hands, rushing forward. He roared, “You are guilty! Exterminate evil!!!”
A tangible holy radiance shimmered.
The Paladin’s entire being seemed to be cloaked in some energy as he swung his great sword and swiftly delivered a horizontal strike, accompanied by the mournful whinny of a horse, cleaving one sand thief and his mount in two.
—”Justice is with me!”
—”Tyr’s Hand!”
The Paladin pressed his palm onto the great sword, and suddenly this seemingly ordinary weapon split in half, transforming into two one-handed great swords. He gripped the sword handles and soared into the air. In an instant, two sand thieves were slain on the spot.
—”Dance of d*ath!”
The whirlwind created by the one-handed great swords was more astonishing than Soren’s sword intent Move [Revolving Dance], directly slicing every foe caught within in half.
bl**d, corpses, severed limbs.
In this moment, the young Paladin displayed a kind of violence, emanating an aura akin to sheer brutality!
This was the ‘Holy Avenger’ Soren remembered.
clang clang clang!
Arrows struck the Paladin’s body but failed to penetrate his silvery, battle-worn armor. He used his scale-mail gauntlet to deflect an incoming arrow and suddenly accelerated toward the archers ahead.
“Justice! Holiness! Courage!”
The young Paladin pressed his hands on the sand, and the cunning sand thieves immediately turned their horses to retreat upon realizing he was approaching. It would have been difficult to chase down these foes relying solely on legwork. However, in the next moment, it seemed the Paladin activated some special ability, as a holy white light formed into a summoning circle. A large white steed surged forth from within.
—”Greater Summon Mount!”
—”Celestial Steed!”
The white steed charged out from the summoning circle, and the Paladin leaped onto its back. No guidance was needed; the celestial steed, responding telepathically, automatically chased after the enemies. This war horse came from the upper planes. Only a select few professionists could summon such a creature, and the Paladin happened to be one of them. They were stronger and smarter than war horses from the material plane and classified as biological level 10 creatures.
bl**d flew!
The Paladin charged into the midst of the sand thieves like a raging storm, quickly causing one enemy after another to be thrown off their mounts.
Clang clang clang.
The young Paladin resembled a merciless reaper, showing no mercy like other Paladins. His techniques were brutal and ruthless, even more so than Soren’s when harvesting enemies.
Almost none of the foes who died under his great sword were left alive!
Even if one or two sand thieves fell to the ground terrified, begging for mercy, he showed no hesitation and directly swung his sword to behead them.
The fierce battle continued.
The Paladin gradually accumulated more wounds under the assault of the sand thieves. Even the immensely strong celestial steed was panting slightly at this moment due to an arrow wound in its abdomen.
—”Healing Hand!”
A holy light emerged. After channeling divine energy, the Paladin could utilize it to heal wounds, but its healing effects could not compare to a priest’s. This ability could only be used once a day but could be split among healings. The Paladin chose to heal his celestial steed rather than himself, letting out a low roar as he suddenly leaped off his mount and swung his sword in a horizontal strike.
His strength was waning.
Without advancing into the Legendary Domain, he could not master powerful legendary specialties like Armored Skin, Legendary Robustness, Legendary Combat Skills, and Perfect Physique, which constrained his explosive power.
The sand thieves suffered heavy casualties, but upon noticing the Paladin was weakening, they charged in again.
—”Sacrifice, Glory, Indomitable!”
The young Paladin still bore a steadfast expression. He brought the two one-handed great swords back together, then took a deep breath and roared, “Judgment!”
—”Sword Intent [Cross Slash]!”
Ruthless and domineering sword light appeared, and the enemies rushing at him were cut into four neat pieces instantaneously.
Soren’s pupils constricted slightly, his expression turning somewhat surprised.
Advanced Swordsmanship!
Few abilities in this world could be called advanced swordsmanship. The complete White Crow Tactics was one, yet Soren had never managed to master it fully, having not acquired its complete learning program. Sword Intent [Cross Slash] was another form of advanced swordsmanship, originating from the crusade against heretics; its complete version was supposed to be called [Silver Cross Swordsmanship]. Such sword intent surpassed ordinary mortals and could even reach the domain of Qi, akin to that of a Sword Saint.
This ‘Qi’ is hard to put into words, but it can roughly be illustrated with examples.
Sword Saints nearing the legendary level, while executing the Qi Slash, can strike a wooden post five meters away with their sword and, although it might not hit the target directly, split the post in two.
If something must be said about it, perhaps it could be understood as ‘Sword Qi.’
This ability is difficult to cultivate; any person mastering it has undergone long periods of arduous training. The difficulty is on par with an encounter Soren once witnessed where a Sword Saint cut through flowing water with a blade. The young Paladin’s execution of not the full version of [Silver Cross Swordsmanship], yet each strike’s power was as fierce as that of the activated Qi Slash of a Sword Saint.
The more powerful the technique, the greater the consumption on the body!
Soren could tell he was nearing his limits, but just as he prepared to secretly assist this Paladin, suddenly, he sensed something and slipped back into the shadows.
—”Judgment!”
Another incredibly stout figure appeared—a man towering almost two meters and four centimeters tall, resembling a small giant.
He grasped a war hammer in one hand and charged into the fray like a tiger among sheep, instantly leaving a sea of corpses in his wake, with more than ten sand thieves dead under his hand in mere moments. This incredibly large man wielded the heavy war hammer, while in his other hand he held a hefty tome glinting with a metallic sheen, expressionless yet brutally slaughtering the sand thieves before him. Almost no thief there could withstand a single strike from him; every hit was fatal, leaving no survivors.
Soren shuddered.
His gaze was fixed on the muscular man ahead, murmuring in his heart, “Warden?!”
—[Warden]!
A legendary-level Paladin, the mentor of the Holy Avengers, also their training officer.
“Very good.”
The Warden glanced over the sea of corpses, then focused his gaze on the young Paladin, slowly saying, “Although you fell slightly short of my expectations, it is still impressive that you managed this with your strength.”
“Young man.”
“You have passed my test here.”
A Paladin of around profession level sixteen, single-handedly dealing with a band of desert bandits and killing two-thirds of the foes was an exceptional achievement.
The young Paladin knelt on one knee, speaking in a low voice, “Your Excellency, Warden.”
The towering man looked at him, suddenly changing his expression slightly, and spoke gravely, “That esteemed Wanderer is nearby? Let him come forward to meet us!”
Discovered?
What a powerful sense of perception.
Soren withdrew his previously prepared retreating step and slowly walked out from behind the sand dune.
The Holy Avengers had long hidden in the Gobi area; they often operated in the desert, being aligned with the Lawful faction, and this organization’s Paladins even incorporated some training techniques of Eastern monks.
This might be the reason he could detect Soren! (Wind Listening and Positioning.)
………………(To Be Continued ~^~)
