Chapter 34: Dismantling the Door

"I never expected to have the chance to storm their door so soon."

Seeing again that magnificent architectural complex, as grand as a palace, standing before the golden gate that shimmered with light, Li En had originally thought he would be very agitated.

Instead, his mood was calm, so calm that even he was a bit surprised.

"Truly unexpected, here, my state of mind is so calm."

Just less than a week ago, he had passed by here, gritting his teeth.

But now, watching the three-meter-high golden gate close while slaves entered and exited through the small doors on either side, could he possibly watch calmly?!

"Bullshit!" How could he just watch like that!

"Bang!" Li En leaped up and kicked it directly, making the metal gate boom loudly.

Everyone's gaze turned over, astonished at who was so bold.

I not only want to kick the door, I want to dismantle it.

Standing before the great gate opened specifically for nobles, Li En raised the Sword of Courage directly.

"Gate-Dismantler." The power of soul and spirit gathered upon it; power with little time remaining must naturally be used to its fullest.

"Clang."

He leaped, struck down with a slash, then slashed upward diagonally.

Under his exquisite fundamentals lay a perfect V-shaped split; Li En swung out his most satisfying strike once more.

But this was a diamond-hard gate, not tofu.

"Clang!"

Yet, amidst the incredulous eyes of all the slaves and customers, the diamond-made gate, the main gate opened only for distinguished guests, simply fell down directly!

On the other side of the gate, the people in the slave market hall watched even more incredulously as chunks of iron fell from the shattered doorframe.

That was more than just a gate?! That was the face of the slave market, its prestige, its authority, its dignity...

"Damn it, you actually dared to swallow my goods!" A roar came from outside the gate.

The sword-wielding knight walked in boldly and arrogantly through the dismantled gate.

Good heavens, how dare he?! More than one person thought this thought simultaneously.

Is this guy really looking for death? Or is he the legendary demigod?

The entire hall of transcendent beings stared intently; he was somewhat strong, but not that strong, probably just a first or second-tier level that could be found by the hundreds.

"Untrustworthy bastards, hand over my pension, hand over my Hero's Blood! You run a business, yet you dare to swallow my goods!"

Hero's Blood? Alright, things have gotten serious; now who doesn't know about the matter of Hero's Blood?

But what do you mean, accusing the slave market of swallowing your goods?

If the earlier provocation at their door could still be defined as an individual going mad, it would merely be a fight to the death.

But now, the situation is far more serious; the knight is directly challenging the authority and integrity of the slave market, the very basis of the entire market's transactions.

It sounds ridiculous; the slave market is known for committing every evil, yet its business reputation is actually very good; as long as you have money, they provide goods.

After all, the forces involved behind it are too numerous and too mixed; no one knows who you might offend by acting recklessly.

"How could this involve Hero's Blood? Uh, is this Paladin a degenerate race?"

Someone with sharp eyes noticed Li En's round ears, which he had already stopped bothering to conceal.

"Don't even know the Oathbound Paladin Li En? He is at least a Great Knight to start with, and the rarest kind: a Classical Oathbound Knight of the Law school." These past two days, news of Li En had spread.

"Classical Oathbound Knights are rare enough; aren't Law Knights almost extinct? Is this a hero walking out of some ancient epic?"

"Now the market has a big mess; even swallowing goods from a Great Knight under thirty, and an Oathbound Knight at that. Heaven knows who is behind him; could it really be a myth?"

Yes, in the eyes of many, Li En himself was actually not the most troublesome part.

The trouble was the person and organization behind him capable of cultivating such a young Great Oathbound Paladin (fifth tier and above).

"Someone has made an assessment; his mentor starts at quasi-mythical level, with no ceiling. That's not even the most troublesome part..."

"I get it, I get it. Paladins don't come wild; provoke one, and you provoke a whole nest. Behind them are often churches and true gods. Tsk, they always shout 'for justice, for fairness' and rush up in a swarm, showing no Wu De! And they still dare to speak of fairness!" The person saying this was probably quite problematic.

This is the backing that allows Paladins to "claim justice"; they are the embodiment of violence themselves, enforcing the law forcibly relying on the Knightly Order.

Li En's existence, especially his reckless behavior, made his backers even more wary, but now...

"... but now, whatever the backing is, it's meaningless, right? The slave market has countless ways to make him die without anyone knowing why, and they can even find someone to take the blame." The nature of the situation had changed; before, there was no grudge, but now, you've stormed their door, so why consider things so far ahead?

Your Knightly Order may be powerful, but it's not here, is it? Can you survive until reinforcements arrive?

In everyone's eyes, Li En, who seemed to be actively seeking death, still stood there.

He showed no smile, no anger, no sorrow, no joy; he faced them with a cold face, as if waiting for something.

The alarm bell finally rang; two thugs rushed over.

The red light of judgment shone, followed by a flash of silver light; two heads floated directly into the sky.

He was completely unafraid.

Not only did you dismantle your gate, but you also killed your people... dogs!

And every minute he stays here is a severe blow to the slave market's prestige and authority.

"What? You swallowed my goods, and now you want to kill me to silence me?!" As soon as he opened his mouth, he intended to talk someone to death.

That mouth was nothing like the honest Paladin everyone had in mind; it was extremely sharp-tongued.

As if worried the hatred wasn't enough, after killing someone in the street, he casually flicked his sword, letting blood drip onto the magnificent, expensive demon-goat carpet.

"Flicking blood into drops, this color... Azeroth steel sword... It is said that the authentic Hero's Sword is also forged from this legendary rare steel." Someone who knew their treasures recognized the artifact.

He stood there; he didn't need to curse anymore. Merely blocking the door and killing directly was an infinite blow to the slave market's authority.

This actually verified his dominance and his sense of impunity; this was someone coming to cause trouble at their door.

"Doing this, the slave market won't let him go..." Someone's discussion was very loud.

"Heh, as if saying that if I didn't come to their door, they would let me go?" Hearing this, Li En only wanted to sneer.

He found a travel notebook on Eugene, and one entry in it was a record about himself.

In the dock district, guarded by the greedy wolf of the slave market, how could ownerless "wealth" that had lost its ability to defend itself avoid being plundered?

To the greedy, all the weak within any "territory" are merely free-range "wealth," aren't they?

Li En, marked as "ownerless wealth," stood right there, countless gazes turning toward him, smiling quite pleasantly.

He couldn't sweep away all this trash directly yet, but since there was a chance to deal a heavy blow and bleed them, why hesitate?

Two more guards rushed over; this time, well-equipped, they looked like seasoned professionals.

Facing the provocateur, they didn't intend to waste words, displaying a skilled tactical combination: one held a shield to block the front, the other fell back to cast spells.

This was the standard mage-with-tank-cannon-fodder combination, practical and effective.

The only problem was that quality cannon fodder was consumed relatively quickly, and mages were too rare and too expensive to maintain.

Facing this combination that acted directly, Li En smiled pleasantly; he liked this kind of unreasonable behavior.

"Sin Domain Judgment."

Even now, he still had to occupy the moral high ground.

Instantly, the warrior in front turned blood-red, while the caster in the back was only slightly reddish.

"Evil Breaker." The holy power overflowing outside his body was once again compressed into the blade.

Whether it was Armor Erosion or Spell Break, they were still merely derivatives of the Evil-Breaking Slash.

His familiar two-handed sword grip, the posture of swinging at high speed, seemed no different from the past.

But Li En, after the slaughter two days ago, was completely different.

Truly understanding the "Sword of Fury," from that moment on, he had finally mastered the powerful soul known as "Wall-Breaker."

When he raised the greatsword, silver light shot forth, but the instant he prepared to swing, the brilliance withdrew inward, and the sword path became silent and imperceptible.

"Hoo!" Li En leaped up suddenly, the brute force of the Ogre Gloves carrying him into the air, then he slammed down with a fierce vertical chop.

"Is that it?" But in the eyes of true veterans, this was merely an ordinary leap and vertical chop, an attempt that was overly bold, even reckless.

A full-power attack while jumping was a high-risk, high-reward tactic; once blocked, one became a stationary target in mid-air, unable to evade.

"Too green." The veteran shield-bearer smiled; the Paladin's martial arts were crude.

What meaning did this straightforward, direct surprise attack have against an old guard like him?

His second-enchanted tempered steel shield could easily block it.

"Die!" The shield-bearer charged forward, his eyes filled with confidence.

He had already made his plan; as long as he blocked for a few seconds, his partner would turn him to ash.

"Swish."

Metal meeting metal produced a smooth sound, like a long knife slicing through tofu.

The shield-bearer, illuminated red by the sin light, still sneered at this moment; in his imagination, he had already torn the knight apart.

But a bloodline silently appeared in the middle of the mercenary's face.

His pupils, gradually losing focus, became dull; the dazed mercenary froze motionless.

"Clang!" The tempered steel great shield hit the ground in the next wave, directly cut in half from the middle.

The fully armored shield-bearer was turned into two halves by this single leaping chop!

Yes, a leaping chop was stupid; if it didn't break through the opponent, one simply became a live target in mid-air.

But if a strike with all body and soul truly pierced through, it was just one slash!

The shield-bearer died with his eyes open; the bisected corpse fell straight down, a scene so bloody that onlookers gasped or cheered.

"Fireball!"

And his companion, not wasting his sacrifice, launched a Tier-3 explosive spell; the explosion fireball, renowned for its attack power, had already reached Li En.

"Get lost!" The knight's roar echoed throughout the entire hall.

"Boom!" The fireball exploded; on a battlefield of this level, such an area-of-effect explosion was nearly an instant kill.

Although the Fireball spell appeared in many novels and stories, seeming like a common minor technique, on real battlefields, explosion and fire were always the most efficient methods; the evocation fireball of this world was the spell that killed the most people.

The compressed flame, ignited by the spell component sulfur stone, transformed into a ring-shaped wave of raging fire, spreading out directly.

The entire hall reverberated with the explosion; the King of Slaughter of Tier-3 displayed its explosive nature.

Nearby glass windows were all shattered by the shock, expensive ceiling fixtures turned to trash, yet the mage smiled with satisfaction.

Although he might be punished, eliminating this trouble meant the reward wouldn't be small—but the next moment, he couldn't smile anymore.

"How is this possible!" But after the smoke cleared, Li En, standing right where he was, seemed completely unharmed!

Li En made no sound, simply walking toward the mage.

Fire seemed to burn faintly in his pupils; although he was unharmed, it did hurt a little.

"Die!" Rapid-fire force missiles launched in succession, magic transformed into bullets, and the caster fell into hysteria.

And Li En simply kept walking forward, step by step.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Force missiles comparable to handgun bullets struck him one by one, then turned into bubbles!

This time, without the cover of smoke, everyone understood how the fireball had vanished just now.

Magic, supreme in the eyes of mortals, simply dissipated like that!

What was this? How could such a thing exist? Onlookers felt as if they were in a dream.

The epic soul from ancient times, for the first time, showed its absurdity to mortals.

【Soul: Wall-Breaker, Jin Gang Rank New Effect: You can try to extend its effect onto your body and weapons. You can ignore protective items below Tier-3. You can use rage to dispel inferior curses and Dark arts. (This is still not its full power.)】

And Li En, having learned some new things from the junior brother Dimon, realized that a roar infused with rage could also be regarded as part of his own body!

Rage was the core of this soul and its supporting martial arts.

The previous soul description had actually hinted at this, but only until two days ago did Li En truly understand.

When will a holy knight rage? Only when facing evil!

Now, Li En, eyes wide open, burned inside as he walked step by step toward the mage, enduring the arcane missiles.

Reach out, lift up, throw.

"Boom!"

The mage, not deserving death, was slammed straight to the ground.

He immediately spat foam and lost consciousness.

He may not deserve death, but his crime of aiding evil cannot go unpunished.

"Who else!"

Two transcendent beings gone in a single glance? Without even testing his limits?!

A bizarre scene, like a dream, unfolded before the crowd—especially the outrageous act of swallowing spells—causing some would-be "kind souls" who planned to intervene to halt. What unsettled them most was not strength, but the unknown.

After all, this was a dispute between the slave market and this outsider. Risking one's favor for a slave market person? Unnecessary.

Yes, these people, from start to finish, would never aid Li En, the "outsider" and "alien."

The obstructors were one dead, one maimed; yet Li En, surrounded by wolves, still stood there, with no intention of moving.

Every second he stood there struck at the authority of this land of sin.

"Bold indeed!"

Finally, Li En waited for the person he expected.

But in outcome, it exceeded expectations.

It was a towering figure, at least three and a half meters tall, muscles bulging to bursting, skin as if flowing with magma and flame.

He was grotesquely ugly, with a steel guard fitted near his chin, from which flames seemed to drip when enraged.

This half-man, half-beast stood on the second-floor staircase, blocking the light, resembling an upright river of molten hippopotamus.

"So this is the boss, 'Volcanic Roar' Kveirduf? Indeed, a monster."

Li En's Dragon Eye of Truth received no feedback—this was a transcendent-level crushing force. The opponent before him was at least a fifth-rank great warrior!

Kveirduf wasted no words; from afar, he launched his attack.

"Boom!" The giant's cleaver, thrown with force, was blocked by Li En's ancient shield.

He stepped back slightly, his arm already numb.

Facing the advancing opponent, Li En realized this was likely too strong a foe.

Li En's hand quietly reached for the ancient book on his back, as if preparing to use his final trump card.

Though slightly beyond expectations, Li En felt no regret. He had been "grown-up" for too long—it was time to draw his sword and draw blood.

"Come then—give me a powerful spirit hero, one that will tear this entire slave market apart." Since it's a trump card, using it here is no waste!

After completing two commissions, Li En had a faint feeling: the next spirit hero he drew would be extremely, extremely powerful.

And at the moment of possession, when the spirit hero's virtual personality took control of the body, its strength peaked.

The "volcano" before him was close enough, ready to strike at any moment—he was not a man to reason with.

A deadly duel was about to erupt, when a hurried sliding sound came from behind.

"Get out of my way! How dare you block me? Move! Get out of my way!"

A familiar voice from behind hurriedly pushed through the crowd, rushing forward urgently.

The dazzling serpent woman rushed into the center of the battlefield, grabbed Li En's shoulder, and pulled him against her chest.

At that moment, the beautiful woman stood before the young knight, glaring fiercely at the attackers.

"Who among you dares touch him? Touch my fiancé, Miss Shaliman Sudar!!"

(End of Chapter)