Chapter 3: Oath Knight

"This is not a peaceful world."

No manual was needed; the bones along the road and the unmarked graves on either side were enough to tell the whole story.

When entering the city and being asked for a bribe, Li En wore a smile, though he was far from comfortable with it.

While being mocked as a "degenerate mongrel," the guard casually scooped a handful from the cargo wagon ahead, his greedy grin on full display. What troubled him even more was that the onlookers wore perfectly ordinary expressions, as if this were exactly how things should be.

"Just because something is as it has always been, does that make it right?"

But he knew a single arm could not twist against a great mouth,

so once again he became a "chameleon," trying to fit into the rules of this new world.

It was easy enough — just play blind, use a keen sense of smell to steer clear of trouble, and keep himself safe.

And so, he bore witness to the city's sorrow: cheap whores, a beggar with a severed foot, and an assassin walking past dragging a sack of bloodied tails.

He had lied. He had seen the serial killer the officer spoke of — yet he had only trembled in the shadows.

"No. This is not right."

Only when he was alone, facing Li Ensu in the mirror, would he speak the truth.

"Yes, this is wrong. Black is black, white is white. To let evil run rampant is itself an evil!"

At that moment, the same voice echoed within his body, and his murmur was answered by an unknown presence.

"Sin-Severing Slash!"

Silver blade-light tore through the sky; the silver edge of judgment split open space itself.

What roared out was not only the ancient heroic spirit, but also the young man who had been forced to keep smiling all along!

"Justice — never to be compromised!"

The ancient Oath Knight's blade directly shattered that cramped space. The original Hero's Sword, in his hands, blazed with a dazzling silver radiance — even surpassing its original wielder.

"Aaaargh!"

Outside, however, a scream rang out.

Beyond the shattered door stood a hotel attendant, his face full of terror, the very picture of innocence.

"I see. So it was you who led them here?"

Above "Li En's" eyes, the emblem of a scale appeared — yet he merely raised his right hand.

"Before the Scales of Judgment, evil shall find no refuge — Sin Domain."

A dazzling crimson light flared upon the attendant; the power of the Goddess of Law passed sentence, and the sinner was marked in color within the domain.

A sin-light of that intensity had, within the two weeks the ability had been active, claimed at least three lives.

"Crack."

A head flew through the air; blood splashed across "Li En's" face, yet he was utterly unmoved.

Sword in his left hand, right hand still sustaining the Sin Domain — within the holy gaze of the scales, this inn was stained red to the point of purple.

This was clearly a den of vice, and so—

"Sin-Severing Slash!"

The criminals in the middle of a drug deal were suddenly cleaved in two.

Those stained crimson by the light of sin's punishment were all evildoers deserving death.

"Evil-Severing Slash!"

The shopkeeper waiting for his cut was sliced clean in half on the spot.

"Wench-Severing Slash!"

A silver arc swept out, and the bewildered thugs were all made headless.

At that moment, hurried footsteps came from beyond the hall — some powerful figure seemed to be rushing over in urgency.

"Sin-Severing—"

But this time, the silver blade came to a halt.

It stopped just short of the nose of the leopard-woman officer, who was still shaken to her core.

What stayed his hand was not her badge, but the fact that within the Sin Domain she still shone with the silver light of innocence.

"P-put down your weapon." Though her whole body trembled, she still held her ground.

"The law enforcers of this era are a bit slow, but passable, I suppose."

"Li En" looked left, right, up, down — the eleven sinners in the den had all been split in two, and no sinners remained within the Sin Domain. He casually tossed aside the silver Hero's Sword.

Then he was tackled to the ground by a swarm of officers.

And so, he was arrested.

Yet just one hour later, he was released.

"I never imagined there were still ancient Oath Knights in this day and age — and such powerful ones at that."

Inside the police station, watching the young figure walk away, Officer Talia was deeply moved. She lamented her own shallowness, for she had mistaken this devout soul for a helpless lamb.

An ordinary person single-handedly butchering an inn, killing eleven, and being taken down at the crime scene — that would clearly be a grave crime. But if the executioner is a classical Holy Oath Knight, and the target a den of vice in the dock district, then it counts as lawful enforcement.

The Holy Oath Knight is a rare advanced form of the Holy Knight, a warrior-class nearly extinct in recent times — a devout soul who must swear to uphold every virtue. Until their holy protection fails, they can become the embodiment of absolute justice.

Humility, honesty, compassion, bravery, sacrifice, honor. Even at the lowest tier of oath-guard, they are ascetics on a superhuman level.

And this oath-taker was even more outrageous.

"Never let the evil before my eyes escape!"

"Never abandon the sheltering of the innocent and weak!"

"Justice — never to be compromised."

These absurdly extreme vows make one wonder how he has survived until today.

Heavy shackles bring even more extraordinary power. Such a devout soul, wielding his Sin Domain to pass judgment — if he says one is guilty, then one is guilty, unless you can first prove he has broken his oath and lost his holy power.

"Lizardman half-breed Li En Sudar, a degenerate."

Talia vaguely felt the name sounded familiar, as though she had heard it just a few days ago.

She rifled through her memory and actually found that name.

"A distant relative of the local Count Sudar's house, the fiancé of that brilliant Radiant Pearl? Huh, wasn't the rumor that he was a useless coward? As expected, rumors really can't be trusted at all." Recalling the evaluation she had heard before, Talia felt all the more uneasy.

This person was probably a master of disguise; she herself hadn't seen through it at all at first meeting, and had assumed he was just another pedantic noble son.

And for her, this was merely a small interlude; the main matter at hand was still that tail-hunter suspected of being a cultist of an evil god.

Within the past half year, the known victims numbered at least thirty, most of them young children.

The case itself wasn't the most troublesome part; what was troublesome was the investigation itself, which seemed to be interfered with by an invisible hand.

"Trouble, I have to write another report again."

She thought it was just a chance encounter, but on her way home after work, she ran into that Oathbound Holy Knight once again.

He, stood blocking the middle of the main road.

Behind him was a pair of injured commoner mother and daughter.

And the splendid carriage he had stopped bore the spider-web crest of the noble Labor!

"Stop the carriage!"

That furious roar echoed through the entire street, shocking everyone.

This is a noble with real power, and you just play it like this?!

And this was only the beginning. He raised his right hand and, right there in the street, summoned the Domain of Judgment of Sin.

"No way!"

The female police officer was stunned for a moment, but the next instant, she came to her senses.

Given this lord's oath, what would he do, what could he do?!

"Stop, absolutely not, that is a noble with real power."

But it was already too late. The moment the baron son with a complexion darkening to red appeared, deadly silver light swallowed the entire street.

"Aaaaaah!"

The screams of murder in the street, chaos was spreading.

But this, was still only the beginning.

The blade directly cleaved open the carriage, and the Oathbound Knight dragged out a sack from beneath the carriage seat.

The sack thrown onto the street burst open, revealing, one after another, blood-drenched tails!

"It's over, completely over."

Thus, "Li En" once again returned to the police station, and this time even spent the night inside.

"It's over, completely over."

The next morning, staring at the completely unfamiliar police station ceiling, Li En was a bit dazed.

He stared at the "book page" in his hand and fell completely into bewilderment.

It wasn't because he had committed a great crime—at that time he was actually quite clear-headed—but rather

"Never abandon any weakling in need of help. Is this why you squatted at the crossroads for three hours, helping a dozen old folks cross the road? The old ladies all recognize you now!!"

"When others make solemn vows of love to propose, you used longan to directly tear apart the lie that the other guy still had a wife and three kids back home—what business is it of yours! That woman playing the fool and that man jumping ship, what's it to you, they're a match made in heaven, a turtle paired with a whore! Why do you care about them!!"

"The most outrageous part is, you finding fallen women to talk them into starting over is one thing, but you also chased after those selling smut films—they all think you're a lunatic, is this something a great knight should be meddling in?"

The overly shameful experience made him roll around on the bed in the detention cell, clutching his head.

But as he felt ashamed, and kept feeling ashamed, he began to laugh.

A smile, a chuckle, wild laughter, and finally two tears of laughter squeezed out. At the very least, this was far more comfortable than clamping down his tail and suffering as a dog.

"Foolishly upright justice, the power of the Heroic Spirit."

A card appeared in Li En's hand, upon which was a two-handed sword knight clad in century-old heavy armor; his gaze was like lightning, and behind him was a silver scale symbolizing justice and judgment.

Possibly due to the fusion, beneath that steel helm was Li En's own face, only looking more mature.

"This is the feeling of the Heroic Spirit possessing the body."

Li En knew that the one possessing the body was still himself, only with a different mode of thinking and a different behavioral logic.

Evil should be punished; justice does not need to be delayed, let alone compromised.

And that book also revealed his change.

【Li En (Heroic Spirit in constant possession)】

【Sync Rate: 14% (Warning: if sync rate falls below 10%, Heroic Spirit possession will end prematurely)】

【Satisfaction: 7% (Warning: when Heroic Spirit possession ends, if satisfaction is below 10% no rewards will remain; the higher the satisfaction, the greater the rewards)】

At this moment, he was still within the Heroic Spirit possession, only the sync rate was far lower than the 30% at the moment of summoning.

The previous him, upon seeing petty theft, wished he could cut the culprit down with one slash, but the current him would probably call the police to solve the problem.

That transmission from the depths of the soul still existed, only it could be somewhat suppressed.

But along with it, this power from the Heroic Spirit also clearly declined as the sync rate dropped.

【Species Grade: Inferior Stone, Temporary Class Levels: 2nd-tier Classical Oathbound Knight, 1st-tier Holy Knight, 1st-tier Warrior (such temporary classes will disappear in 14 days and 2 hours)】

【Possesses Temporary Class Abilities: Evil-Slaying Slash (degraded), Sin Domain Judgment (degraded), Holy Healing (unavailable), Holy Flame (unavailable)】

Of the originally long list of class abilities, only the first two could be used, and both were weakened versions.

"How should the sync rate and satisfaction be raised." Li En realized that, in this Supernatural world, the Heroic Spirit power attached to this ancient book would be the foundation of his survival.

The initial peak might have just been the burst period and trial period; now it had stabilized, and the book seemed to hint that it could be raised again.

He looked at the others in the cell. The biggest bed here had already been taken by him; the Holy Oath Knight hadn't indulged the other prisoners, and with a single Sin Punishment Judgment, he "educated" his fellow inmates along the way.

"Isn't the answer right there—Sin Domain Judgment."

A faint red light emerged, and Li En smiled with great joy.

"Evil-Breaking Fist!!"

Thus, Li En, who had started the morning with fist-based heart-to-hearts, began his morning practice.

"It rose, it really rose! Synchronization rate increased by 0.5%, satisfaction increased by 1%!"

Well then, the new book will be written steadily from now on: one big chapter (three to four thousand words) updated daily; after going on sale, a minimum of four thousand words per day (split into chapters according to circumstances). Currently striving for updates every morning.

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(End of this chapter)