Chapter 219: The Making of the Axe King (Third Chapter)

What's the value of being an enemy of the world?

It's roughly like dying and then getting a golden light effect from the Path of Pure Goodness, forcibly pushing you further along the Lawful Pure Good Path.

"Why do I keep running into you here?"

Talia S Dar appeared before Li En again, as if by habit, and he was promptly taken to the local police station.

Regardless of the reason, he did indeed attack a peace officer.

Actually, if he had contacted Sallyman or Dainya, getting him released would've been simple.

But he just needed some extra help, so he directly named Talia S Dar, asking her to come and pull him out.

"Can you track it?"

Li En casually pulled out a scroll, covered in bloodstains and bloody smears.

Talia S Dar took it, sniffed lightly.

"Ugh, where did this come from? So disgusting—it's a mix of at least a hundred different kinds of blood. Too chaotic. I have no idea who you're looking for; impossible to track."

"A very dangerous opponent. Extremely dangerous."

Li En emphasized it, to prevent the female detective from foolishly chasing it alone.

"I understand. Need my help?"

"Yes. I'm short on local support—get me more people, lay out the nets. But I'll need you at the critical moment."

With a partner, Li En didn't bother with politeness—if he truly needed to track possible accomplices, he absolutely required professional aid.

Talia S Dar communicated with the local police station; with her reputation in the system, she simply showed her credentials and easily secured Li En's release—in truth, the local police were desperate for him to leave.

On one hand, his identity was unusually special—once inside the station, they immediately confirmed he was "the husband of the Sudar family" and "Dainya Princess's High-Rider." On the other hand,

"Please resolve those cultists quickly—they're terrifying. Merchants won't dare do business here anymore." The chubby baron, seemingly the superior behind the local peace officer, personally escorted Li En out, privately entrusting him with the task.

To show sincerity and gratitude, he shoved a full money pouch into Li En's hands.

Many paladins wouldn't accept it—but Li En cast a Detect Evil, confirmed the man was harmless, and accepted the pouch under the baron's grim stare.

But this reward and gratitude were entirely justified.

A cult and villains of this caliber couldn't be handled by a regional police force—better to rely on the "all-purpose adventurers."

Finding a room, Li En spoke with Talia S Dar, privately entrusting her with certain matters—professional tasks belong to professionals; Li En himself wasn't skilled at needle-in-a-haystack searches.

Returning to his lodging, dawn was nearly breaking. After some thought, Li En decided to go back to sleep.

His whole body ached—anything urgent could wait until he woke up.

But as he stepped inside, the bedcovers were bulging—as if someone was sleeping soundly.

Li En didn't mind at all; by now, anything emerging from the blankets wouldn't surprise him.

"Huh? Is this… Laina?"

But this time, he was genuinely startled.

Li En's voice woke the little one.

"Laina came to practice swordplay with you! You weren't here! I lay down for a moment and fell asleep!"

So she'd just lain down and taken a nap? Looking at the sleepy girl, Li En sighed—fine, sleep later; first, take the little one to train.

"No, Laina's tired. Let's sleep together!"

But this sensible little girl was suddenly being clingy? Had she sensed his exhaustion?

Li En smiled, stripped off his armor, and lay back down.

This time, he was truly exhausted—two breaths later, he sank into deep sleep.

When Sallyman arrived at breakfast time, she saw Li En sleeping soundly—an uncommon sight.

And the little one curled up like a cat, resting atop his stomach.

"Li… never mind. Let him sleep more."

What surprised Sallyman was that the usually diligent little one and Li En still hadn't risen, even as breakfast grew cold.

Even as it neared noon, Li En was still asleep.

"Master, last night—"

At this moment, the intelligence officer delivered new information—reportedly submitted voluntarily by the local police.

Then, when Li En woke at noon, he saw Sallyman pouting and ignoring him—he thought for a moment and guessed his actions from last night had been discovered.

"Sorry, things came up suddenly—I didn't have time to notify you."

"Hard to deal with?"

"Not too bad… well, quite hard. Not because it's strong, but because this kind of opponent—basically, I never want to meet one again."

Sleep restored Li En's energy, but left him slightly foggy; after thinking it over, he could only make this judgment.

Noticing the girl's resentment had vanished, replaced entirely by worry and unease, Li En chuckled softly and patted her head.

"Don't worry—it was just my first encounter with a uniquely strange opponent. Knowing how to handle it will make things much easier next time."

This statement was half-truth, half-exaggeration; Li En asked himself—if he met the "Whisperer" again, would anything truly change?

He still had no confidence he could preserve his self in that suspected divine realm.

He had realized—the monster was likely just a fabricated "divine statue."

It was probably a special "altar" created by exploiting the Whisperer's trait—the external god's power of exchanging life for knowledge.

By sheer chance, Li En shattered its special domain; otherwise, he might have lost a limb—and since that limb had already been offered to "Truth," it couldn't be reattached by ordinary means. "Indeed, I nearly died." He might not have perished, but losing a limb was unacceptable.

Li En sighed, wondering if he was even a transmigrator—did transmigrator protagonists even get this kind of treatment?

Snake venom, mind suggestion, that weird domain before—why does he always get controlled? Other protagonists have no abilities but max resistance, always breaking free at the critical moment.

And he's a paladin, isn't he? Renowned for resistance—why does he take every control effect?

Li En knew it wasn't his fault—it was simply that the opponents were overpowered. A magic girl, an external god, a suspected great mind mage—crushing a level-two paladin was effortless.

"By the way, I leveled up."

Thinking, Li En touched the Spirit Codex at his waist—this thing was still somewhat useful in this regard.

Li En glanced at the changes—genuinely surprised.

Usually, when a class reaches third tier, it gains a core ability—like a sorcerer or wizard's fireball—ahem, the caster's specialization branch.

Paladins are slightly more subtle; divine magic comes from "divine gift," so it feels a bit like leaving it to fate.

【Awakened Second-Ring Divine Spell: Minor Restoration.】

A third-tier paladin awakening a second-ring spell is already rare—but this low-tier spell to remove negative states has weak effects (minor diseases, toxins, paralysis/stun), and seems useless to Li En (mainly because he fears paralysis/stun most, yet how do you cast to remove it after being stunned?).

Second-ring divine spells are indeed weak; the negative states they remove, Li En could probably tank outright.

What Li En truly wanted was a buff spell to enhance combat power.

"My poor divine spell reserves… oh well, better than nothing. A free gift, no complaints."

Compared to priests of the same tier—or even ordinary paladins—without divine patronage, his divine spell reserves were nowhere near equal; but considering Li En's holy power was mostly used for Break Evil Slash, he could accept it.

What truly pleased Li En were several class abilities.

【Awakened Supernatural Abilities: Sacred Weapon, Oath of Enmity, Sacred Armor, Divine Protection.】

These active or passive abilities were the true source of the paladin's strength.

【Sacred Weapon: Channel the power of Pure Goodness to infuse a weapon with celestial positive energy. The weapon glows faintly, its power greatly enhanced, and is treated as a magical weapon.】

A very useful ability—standard for combat paladins—allowing them to channel holy power into their blades.

Unlike Break Evil Slash, this is a constant buff, making paladins effectively "equipped with magical weapons."

But then came the problem.

【Oath of Enmity: Lock onto a target, publicly declare it your mortal enemy. Within a certain range, you instinctively sense its location and gain partial bonuses against it (including resistance, destructive power, willpower, etc.).】

【Special Lock Already Confirmed: Target limited to: Human, Enemy of Humanity. Automatically declared upon entering detection range.】

So the active ability became passive—and locked onto this entire category? It seemed to have turned into a trait usable only against powerful foes?!

But perhaps it could function as an automatic detection radar?

Li En knew other paladins' Oath of Enmity had no such complicated restrictions—but also no such strong bonuses.

But leveling up was Pure Goodness's blessing; as a paladin without a divine patron, he had no right to complain.

Yet this also seemed to imply that It wanted Li En to kill more of these things—to hunt down the hidden creatures lurking in darkness.

【Divine Protection (Passive): You possess strong resistance to disease. You rarely fall ill and maintain excellent physical and mental condition for extended periods.】

This ability was subtly useful in combat, but its main effect lay in daily life—but who would refuse a blessing of no illness, no disaster?

And the final one—what Li En had long awaited.

【Sacred Armor (Passive): Your will, your holy power, your divine power merge into your flesh, enhancing your spell resistance and elemental resistance to a certain degree.】

This was the paladin's core trait—the starting point of being a magic-resistant tank, the divergence between paladins and regular knights or warriors.

Undeniably, whether from Sul's gift or Pure Goodness's reward, both were generous—equipping this classical knight with a full set of abilities.

Yet when combined, these abilities seemed to stack offense and defense, add a targeting radar, and urge him to just grab his sword and keep slashing.

No "divine spell knight," no "shield of protection"—none of that. Just charge. Just slash.

Of course, the increased magic resistance eased Li En's mind—but against the Whisperer or the Purple Rose, it would still be useless.

What delighted Li En most—even brought him ecstatic joy—was an unexpected discovery.

【Soul. Sul's Wall-Breaker (Silver）】

Alongside the paladin class abilities' massive enhancement and his body's evolution, Sul's soul ability finally began its normal evolution!

This evolution instantly lifted it from its original state to the Silver level expected of a third-tier practitioner.

But combined with Li En's own Thousand-Faced Dragon trait, which elevates soul abilities, it meant Li En had finally reclaimed what he had long desired.

【Soul. Sul's Wall-Breaker (Gold）: Your will is your warhammer. This supernatural ability, infused with your will and fury, can partially ignore the target's defenses.】

Li En obtained a soul ability on par with when he was fused with Su Er!

With the holy weapon, Golden-Class Wall-Breaker, Exorcism Slash, Dragon Flame, and Su Er's Sword Art Secrets, Li En's sword would no longer be as feeble as before.

The holy armor and lesser restoration spell could somewhat enhance his magic resistance, but don't expect much—against the opponents Li En might face, a third-rank paladin's magic resistance was simply inadequate.

He remained a Sword of Judgment, where offense vastly outweighed defense.

Perhaps this was a change brought by advancement, but more so, Li En, whose body and class abilities had gradually caught up, finally received the gift the heroic soul had always intended to bestow—

"Uh, aren't I a paladin? Why does advancing make me look more like a brute smashing kings?"

(End of Chapter)