Chapter 219: The Axe King Takes Shape (Third Watch)

What's the caliber of being the World's Enemy?

Roughly, after you're utterly crushed, the Pure Good Dao grants you a Jin Guang special effect and forcibly propels you a major step forward on the Path of Lawful Pure Good.

"Why do I see you here again?"

Talia, whom he hadn't seen in ages, appeared before Li En once more, and he was naturally escorted into the local police station.

Regardless of the reason, it was true that he had attacked the sheriff.

Actually, asking Miss Shaliman or Dai Niya would have made getting him out much simpler.

But since he happened to need a bit of extra help, he simply gave Talia's name and asked her to come assist in getting him released.

"Can you track it?"

Li En casually pulled out a scroll covered in bloodstains and blood trails.

Talia took it and gently sniffed.

"Uh, where did this come from? It's disgusting. It's a mixture of at least a hundred different types of fresh blood. It's too chaotic; I don't even know who you want me to track. It's impossible to follow."

"A very dangerous opponent. Extremely dangerous."

Li En emphasized this to prevent the female detective before him from being foolish enough to track the target alone.

"I understand. Do you need my help?"

"Yes. I'm short on local support here. Help me find more people, spread out the net, but at the critical moment, I'll need you to come."

Towards his partner, Li En didn't stand on ceremony; if they were truly tracking a possible "accomplice," he indeed needed professional assistance.

Talia communicated with the local police station. With her considerable reputation in the system, she flashed her badge and easily secured Li En's release. In fact, the local police station was eager for Li En to leave quickly.

On one hand, his identity was truly special; once he entered the station, they immediately discovered he was the "husband of the Sudar family" and the "raised knight of Princess Dai Niya." On the other hand,

"Please resolve those cultists as soon as possible. It's too terrifying; merchants dare not do business here anymore." This portly Baron, who seemed to be the administrator behind the local sheriff, personally escorted Li En out and privately entrusted him with the task.

To express his sincerity and gratitude, he even stuffed a money bag full of coins directly into Li En's hands.

Many Paladins wouldn't accept it. Li En cast Detect Evil, confirmed the other party was fine, and then, under the Baron's iron-faced gaze, accepted the money bag.

But this reward and gesture of gratitude were, in fact, entirely justified.

Cults and villains of this caliber are beyond what a regional police station can handle; one might as well rely on the "omnipotent adventurers."

Finding a room, Li En and Talia chatted briefly, privately entrusting her with certain matters. Professional matters should be left to professionals; Li En himself was not skilled at searching for a needle in a haystack.

Returning to his house, it was nearly dawn. After some thought, Li En decided to go back and get a solid sleep.

His whole body ached; whatever happened could wait until he woke up.

But as soon as he entered the door, the quilt on the bed was puffed up, as if someone was sleeping soundly.

Li En didn't really care; nowadays, whatever he pulled out from under the covers, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Uh? This is... Miss Lana?"

But this time, he was truly a bit surprised.

Li En's voice woke the little one.

"Miss Lana came to practice sword with you! You weren't here! I lay down and fell asleep!"

So she lay down and fell into a nap? Looking at the sleepy-eyed girl, Li En sighed. Sleep a bit more later; first, take the little one to practice sword.

"No, Miss Lana is sleepy. Let's sleep together!"

But the sensible little one was actually acting spoiled? Did she see his exhaustion?

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

This time he was truly exhausted and fell into dreamland within moments.

By breakfast time, when Miss Shaliman arrived, she saw Li En sleeping soundly, a rare sight.

And the little one, curled up like a cat, lay upon his stomach.

"Li... never mind, let him sleep a bit more."

What surprised Miss Shaliman was that the usually diligent little one and Li En still hadn't risen even after breakfast had gone cold.

In fact, it was nearly noon... and Li En was still sleeping.

"Head of the family, last night..."

At this moment, intelligence personnel delivered new intelligence, which was actually the result of the local police station proactively reporting it.

Then, when Li En got up at noon, he saw Miss Shaliman pouting and ignoring him. Li En pondered for a moment and roughly guessed that last night's events had been discovered.

"Sorry, the situation came up urgently; I didn't have time to notify you."

"Was it hard to deal with?"

"Not too bad... well, quite difficult to deal with. Not that they were extremely strong, but rather that opponents like this... anyway, I don't want to encounter them again."

Sleep restored Li En's energy, yet he felt a bit dazed. After some thought, he could only make such a judgment.

Noticing that the girl's original resentment was gone, replaced by a face full of worry and unease, Li En smiled helplessly and patted her head.

"Don't worry. It was just the first time encountering such a special opponent. Knowing how to deal with it will make things much better."

These words were half true but also somewhat exaggerated. Li En asked himself honestly; if he encountered the "Whisperers" again, it seemed there would be no change.

He still lacked confidence in maintaining his self in that suspected Divine Realm.

He had already realized that the monster was likely a forged "Divine Statue."

It probably utilized the characteristics of the Whisperers and the power of the Outer Gods to "exchange life for knowledge," creating a special "altar."

By a stroke of luck, Li En shattered its special domain; otherwise, in the end, he might have lost limbs. Those lost limbs, having already been offered to "Truth," probably could not be reattached by conventional means. "Indeed, I almost crashed." Perhaps he wouldn't necessarily die, but losing limbs was unacceptable.

Li En sighed, doubting whether he was even a transmigrator and whether he possessed the treatment a transmigrator protagonist should have.

Snake venom, mental suggestion, and that bizarre domain before... why was he always being controlled? Other protagonists have no abilities but maxed-out resistances, always breaking free at critical moments.

And he, isn't he a Paladin known for resistance? Why does he fall for every kind of control?

Li En also knew this wasn't really his fault. Ultimately, the opponent was too overpowered. Magic Girls, Outer Gods, Great Telepaths (suspected), such powerful beings easily crushing a maximum Tier-2 Paladin like him, wasn't that a piece of cake?

"By the way, I've advanced a tier."

Pondering this, Li En touched the Heroic Spirit Codex at his waist; this thing was at least somewhat useful in this regard.

Li En glanced at the changes and was genuinely a bit surprised.

Generally, when a profession reaches the third tier, one can basically obtain a core ability, such as the Fireball of Sorcerers and Mages—ahem—the specialized branches of spellcasters.

The Paladin side is slightly more subtle; divine arts professions often come from "Divine Bestowal," carrying a bit of a "leave it to fate" feeling.

【Awakened Second-Tier Divine Art: Lesser Restoration.】

For a Third-Tier Paladin, awakening a Second-Tier Divine Art is already quite rare; however, this low-tier divine art that removes negative states has very weak effects (low-level diseases, poisons, paralysis/stun), so it doesn't seem very useful for Li En (mainly because Li En fears paralysis and stun the most, but how does one cast a spell to remove a stun after being stunned?).

Second-Tier Divine Arts are indeed not strong; for the negative states this divine art can remove, Li En seems confident he could endure them anyway.

Compared to this, what Li En wanted more was a buffing divine art that could enhance combat power.

"My pitiful reserve of divine arts... well, never mind. It's better than nothing; no need to complain about a free gift."

Let alone comparing him to Clerics of the same tier, even compared to ordinary Paladins, due to the lack of a deity's protection, the two sides' divine art reserves are not on the same level; but considering Li En's Holy Power is basically all used for Evil-Cleaving Slash, it seems acceptable.

What truly made Li En satisfied were actually several class abilities.

【Awakened Transcendent Abilities: Holy Weapon, Oath of the Foe, Holy Armor, Divine Blessing.】

These abilities, whether active or passive, are the source of the Paladin profession's strength.

【Holy Weapon: Channel the power of pure good, infusing a weapon with celestial positive energy. The weapon will glow faintly while its power is greatly enhanced, and it will be regarded as a magical weapon.】

This is a quite useful ability, basically standard equipment for combat-oriented Paladins, capable of imbuing the Paladin's Holy Power onto the blade.

And unlike Evil-Cleaving Slash, this is a constant buff, which also allows Paladins to be called "everyone has a magical weapon."

But from here on, problems begin to arise.

【Oath of the Foe: Lock onto a target, openly declare it will be your mortal enemy; within a certain distance, you will instinctively perceive its location, and gain a certain degree of enhancement to various abilities when fighting it (including resistance, destructive power, willpower, etc.).】

【Special Lock Confirmed: Targets are limited to: Humanity, Enemies of Mankind; and upon entering the detection range, the declaration is automatically made.】

Alright, an active ability became passive, and it directly locked onto this category of targets... it seems to have turned into a trait that can only target powerful enemies?!

But it seems it could be used as an automatic detection radar?

Li En knew of other Paladins' Oaths of the Foe; they had no such troublesome restrictions, but they also didn't have such strong enhancements.

But being able to advance tiers is a pure gift of good; for a Paladin like himself with no divine backing, there doesn't seem to be much to complain about.

Yet this also seems to imply that He hopes Li En will kill more of these things, to hunt down more of these things lurking in the darkness.

【Divine Blessing (Passive): You possess strong resistance to diseases; you do not easily fall ill, and can maintain a good physical and mental state for a long time.】

This ability is subtle in actual combat; perhaps the main effect lies in the latter half regarding daily life, but who would refuse the gift of being free from illness and disaster?

And the last one is what Li En has been looking forward to.

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

This is the core trait ability of the Paladin, the starting point as an anti-magic tank, and the divergence point between Paladins and conventional Knights and Warriors.

It must be said that whether it is Su Er's gift or the reward of Pure Good, it is quite generous, providing Li En, this classical knight, with a very complete set of abilities.

However, when these abilities are combined, no matter how you look at it, it seems like stacking defense and offense for you, then giving you a target-seeking radar, urging him to just take up his sword and keep slashing.

What Divine Art Knight, what Shield of Protection, none of that exists; just rush in, just slash.

Of course, although the increase in "Magic Resistance" made Li En feel a bit more at ease... but encountering a Whisperer or a Purple Rose, it would probably still be useless.

What made Li En most joyful, even to the point of ecstatic delight, was actually an unexpected surprise discovery.

【Soul: Su Er's Wall-Breaker (Bai Yin)】

Accompanied by the massive enhancement of Paladin class abilities and the evolution of his body, the Soul ability from Su Er finally began its normal evolution!

This evolution went directly from the primitive level of the primitive state to the Bai Yin standard that a Third-Tier professional should have.

But adding Li En's own "Thousand-Faced Dragon" trait that allows Soul abilities to sublimate, it means Li En has finally retrieved what he had been looking forward to.

【Soul: Su Er's Wall-Breaker (Gold): Your will is your heavy hammer. This transcendent ability, infused with your will and anger, can to a certain degree ignore the opponent's defenses.】

Li En has obtained a Soul ability on the same tier as when Su Er possessed him!

Holy Weapon, Gold-Tier Wall-Breaker, Evil-Cleaving Slash, Dragon Flame, Su Er's Sword Art Secrets... after multiple buffs, Li En's sword will not be as powerless as before.

And Holy Armor and Lesser Restoration can also enhance the magic resistance defense side to a certain degree, but don't expect too much; for the opponents Li En might encounter, the magic resistance a Third-Tier Paladin can provide is simply too inadequate.

He is still the Sword of Judgment, where the sword far outweighs the shield, and offense is far stronger than defense.

Perhaps this is a change brought by advancement, but more so, it is Li En, whose body and class abilities are gradually catching up, receiving the gift that the Heroic Spirit had originally bestowed; it's just...

"Uh, am I not a Paladin? Why does it look more and more like a brute berserker king the higher I advance?"

(End of Chapter)