Chapter 1183: Holy Warrior

A bald, burly man stepped down from the stairs. His muscles bulged all over his body, and judging by his appearance, his close-quarters combat ability was not weak. However, he did not wear armor; instead, he wore a brown leather vest that looked very lightweight.

The burly man clenched his fists, producing a crisp "crack, crack" sound. He wore a pair of black gloves, and metal plates were embedded on the knuckles, wrapping around his fists like a layer of metallic scales.

"I am Joseph Ke. In the words of you nobles, I am just a mud-legged mercenary, a hyena who will do anything for money."

A smile appeared on Joseph Ke's face, which, combined with the lizard tattoo on his bald head, gave him a fierce and brutal air. Yet, deep within his pupils, there was a trace of loneliness, though he deliberately concealed it.

"I heard that Iron Hand is skilled in blade arts. I don't know if my fists are harder or your blade is sharper. Let's have a fair duel, using the unique etiquette of you nobles."

Joseph narrowed his green eyes, and a green light began to emanate from them.

Just at this moment, Su Xiao suddenly turned sideways.

A faint sound of air being torn passed by his face. Just 0.2 seconds ago, something had headed straight for Su Xiao's head. It was an invisible weapon, extremely fast and small in volume.

While Joseph spoke of a duel, he had actually been prepared for a sneak attack all along.

"Oh? You actually dodged it."

Joseph was somewhat surprised. His muscular body and the special gloves on his hands were all meant to deceive the enemy; in reality, his close-quarters combat ability was not strong.

Just as Joseph spoke, Su Xiao suddenly leaped backward. While in mid-air, he blocked with his left arm.

With a 'pop', gravel flew where Su Xiao had been standing, and the ground sank without warning, revealing a huge fist print.

Su Xiao looked up. Above him was a mass of invisible energy, currently condensing into the shape of a fist.

"You can... see it?"

Joseph looked Su Xiao up and down, his gaze filled with disbelief.

"You have no aura fluctuations of a Holy Warrior, nor are you of the Undead race. A 'mortal' without talent can actually see the Holy Power..."

The green light in Joseph's eyes became more pronounced; at this moment, his pupils looked like two green gemstones.

"Talent? Is that the thing you're controlling?"

Su Xiao did not strike immediately; he wanted to know what kind of power system the Holy Warriors of this world possessed.

"This... thing? You actually dare to call the Holy Power that. If that old lion heard you, your position as Iron Hand would be forfeit, just like mine once was..."

Joseph's expression gradually turned serious. He hadn't cared much for Su Xiao originally because he hadn't sensed the unique fluctuations of a Holy Warrior from him.

There was a saying in the kingdom that only a Holy Warrior could contend with a Holy Warrior. Of course, this also included a small number of the Undead race. In the eyes of Holy Warriors, humans without 'Holy Power' were all mortals without talent; they couldn't even see the existence of 'Holy Power'.

Joseph had once thought the same, until he met a down-and-out knight. That knight used the longsword in his hand to tell him that even without Holy Power, one could still become strong.

Su Xiao was, of course, not a so-called Holy Warrior. Because he had no Holy Power within him, he could not see the existence of Holy Power either.

The reason he was able to dodge the bald, burly man's attack was entirely due to the early warning from his Intuition ability.

The range of his Intuition ability was about seven meters. Although Su Xiao couldn't see that mass of energy, the moment it attacked him, his Intuition would immediately send a warning, and his body would instinctively dodge.

After dodging two attacks, Su Xiao had a rough idea of what the Holy Power the burly man spoke of was.

The invisible mass of energy in mid-air was actually similar in nature to mental power, except this mass of mental power had left the burly man's body. Judging from the previous two attacks, the burly man could freely manipulate the shape, attack angle, and so on of this Holy Power.

Su Xiao held his longsword horizontally in front of him, looked at the bald burly man, and released his pale red aura.

"This... is this really an aura a human can possess?"

Joseph, being stared at by Su Xiao, felt his hair stand on end. He subconsciously took a step back. At this moment, he felt as if the longsword in Su Xiao's hand would sever his neck at any second.

Joseph began to retreat slowly. He didn't care about losing face; to him, as long as he could defeat the enemy, any means were acceptable. So-called honor was merely a tool for those in high positions to control the strong.

A blue crystal slid out from Joseph's sleeve. Before this crystal could fall into his palm, a loud explosion came from over ten meters away.

The stone slabs on the ground shattered, and Su Xiao disappeared from Joseph's line of sight.

Joseph's green eyes widened. The mass of Holy Power above him rapidly deformed, turning into needles as thin as ox hair. There were at least hundreds of thousands of them, scattered within ten meters around Joseph.

Su Xiao, who had just rushed out a few steps, stopped abruptly. He felt a dense sense of crisis appear before him; there were many needles there that were invisible to the naked eye.

Su Xiao waved the longsword in his hand, and Qing Gang Ying energy surged upon it.

With a 'zila' sound, a blinding white light appeared. The longsword in Su Xiao's hand shattered at least a thousand 'fine needles'. These 'fine needles' were extremely sharp and invisible.

A small amount of Holy Power was devoured and extinguished by the Qing Gang Ying energy. Joseph, who was slowly retreating, stopped in his tracks, veins bulging on his forehead.

After Su Xiao shattered a large area of fine needles, a strange smell appeared in the air.

Was Joseph just an ordinary Holy Warrior? Of course not. He was a Holy Warrior with a kingdom title, having performed great military exploits, before rebelling against the 'Holy Sodin Kingdom' for unknown reasons.

After smelling the strange odor in the air, Su Xiao immediately leaped backward, slashing out a blade aura mid-leap.

The blade aura slashed into the dense mass of fine needles. Crisp sounds followed one after another. Many fine needles were shattered, but the Holy Power forming the needles was not extinguished; instead, it re-condensed into a mass.

The blade aura shattered after flying about five meters. Those fine needles that had been slashed into Holy Power quickly recovered to their original state, forming ox-hair-thin needles, protecting Joseph within.

A Counter-Attack Shield appeared around Su Xiao. Intuition told him that he must not be injured by those fine needles, otherwise the consequences would be very serious.

The Apostle's Eye floated above Su Xiao, beginning to detect the bald burly man's information.

【Comparing both parties' Intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. Our side's Intelligence attribute is 0.92 times that of the enemy. Obtained 80% of the enemy's data.】

Data as follows:

Name: Joseph Ke

Category: Human (Holy Warrior)

Health: 99.8%

Mana: 120 points

Strength: 53

Agility: 75

Stamina: 88

Intelligence: 90

Charisma: 65

Skill 1, Holy Warrior (Passive lv. 47): Humans become Holy Warriors after special modification. This modification significantly increases Stamina and Intelligence attributes and converts the Mana derived from the Intelligence attribute into Health.

Skill 2, Holy Power · Poison (Passive lv. 45): Joseph Ke's Holy Power carries poisonous and paralyzing properties.

Skill 3, Undead Monarch (Special Skill · Not fully activated): A Holy Warrior's body will be gradually eroded when using Holy Power to fight. Joseph Ke has been eroded by 63%.

Skill 4, Conviction Aura (Passive lv. 51): Joseph Ke was once a Holy Warrior deeply trusted by the kingdom's soldiers. Friendly units within 50 meters of Joseph Ke have their Willpower increased by 10 points.

Tip: Because his conviction is shaken, this skill is currently ineffective.

Skill 5: Courage (Active lv. 55): Joseph Ke roars, dispelling the fear of friendly units within 400 meters and granting them the courage to continue fighting.

Skill 6: Battle Formation Charge (Active lv. 50): Joseph Ke charges forward at full speed. All friendly units within 200 meters behind him gain +60% movement speed, +5 Strength, +5 Stamina, +20 Willpower, and ignore pain for a short time.

Skill 7:???

Skill 8, Victory and Poison (Ultimate Skill):???

Seeing Joseph Ke's data, Su Xiao could confirm one thing: if this guy were on a battlefield with a large number of soldiers nearby, his combat power would increase by at least several times.

Would such a person come to protect Chief Justice Elvi for a commission? The possibility is not high.

There must be some hidden story here, but Su Xiao was not curious about this hidden story. Now, the task he needed to do was simple: slaughter this guy, then ferret out Chief Justice Elvi and slaughter him as well. ===== CHAPTER 1184 =====