Chapter 23: Keep Killing

"Who's next?!"

When the twin-bladed pig-man finally stopped and roared at the sky, his entire body was drenched in blood. On the ground lay the corpse of a true transcendent, his eyes wide open in a final, unresisting stare. The mastermind behind this casino looked like a hunk of pork head meat that had been mangled by a butcher.

Demon gasped for air, clearly at the end of his rope, yet his eyes still radiated a fierce, killing light. The opponent’s remaining lackeys, who significantly outnumbered him, stood trembling, forced back by his overwhelming aura, not daring to meet his gaze.

However, his condition was far worse than he let on. He felt as if his hands no longer belonged to him; something seemed to be sprouting within them, and he could barely move them.

"I told you to take it easy. Why did you use your trump card right at the start?"

"I had no choice... I didn't expect to run into such a powerful transcendent running a gang."

The sudden voice shattered the silence. Lien's arrival meant that the "collusion" between the two was now out in the open. Glancing at Demon's arms, which had already begun to show signs of physical deformation, Lien felt a sense of relief. The resistance provided by the Knight’s Oath was much stronger than expected; even with Demon using this "killer move," he could hold on for a while longer.

"Don't move."

Lien tore open a scroll, using holy power to trigger the force within it. "Remove Lesser Curse."

A pale white light flickered. A moment later, the golden gloves on Demon's hands fell off, and his condition visibly improved. He owed this to the prior warning from Old Man Sur, who had prompted Lien to request several "Remove Lesser Curse" scrolls while preparing the Cursed Giant Strength Gloves, specifically to safely doff the cursed items and alleviate their side effects.

Low-level magic and divine scrolls were not cheap as high-quality consumables, but they were priced in gold coins. The scroll Lien had used was so effective that it was likely the masterpiece of a high-ranking priest. High-ranking priests were often bigwigs in their respective churches, and getting them to scribe scrolls for you required far more than just money. It was clear that the patron, Dragon Hunter, was truly wealthy, resourceful, and influential. Lien already had his suspicions about him.

"Take these."

There were four in total; Lien tossed two over. He had already confirmed that, by using his holy power, he could resist the curse of the Ogre Gloves, so he kept one as a backup.

"If you use the gloves again while I'm not around, find a priest or paladin to use these scrolls."

A scroll was essentially a sealed "spell model" that still required a certain level of corresponding casting ability to activate; divine scrolls could naturally only be used by paladins and priests. Accepting the scrolls, Demon nodded and headed toward the next target.

Watching that sturdy back, leaving blood-stained footprints, Lien smiled and shook his head.

"Has the path of the Oath already begun..." Although Lien could not use the Dragon Eye to observe the other's class, he could feel the power of the "Oath Knight" sprouting within him.

This was quite counter-intuitive. Normally, paladins were advanced paths for squires and warriors. As for the classical Oath Knight, in most cases, only the most elite and extreme paladins or monks would choose such a path. The standard progression was "Warrior (Squire) - Paladin - Oath Paladin," yet Demon had stepped directly into a First-Tier Oath Knight... An advanced class is not necessarily stronger than a base class, but it often provides unique elements, completing what the profession needs most.

An Oath Knight’s will is like steel, naturally possessing extreme resistance to curses and magic. More importantly, the power of an Oath Knight originates from the "Oath"—its source is ultimately one’s own soul, life, and past. At this stage, a paladin can break free from the constraints of deities and generate their own holy power!

Every oath brings its own unique power reinforcement; the more ascetic and devout one is, the stronger they become. A devout oath-taker does not despise the gods, but they do not necessarily need to overly respect or worship them; they know exactly what they are fighting for. This was the source of the strength held by those classical Oath Knights during the rebellion against the God of Law—their power came from within, not from the divine.

"My turn. Let's see who's next on the list... Oh, a casino runner and loan shark who also 'traffics people' (the wives and daughters of gambling addicts). Indeed, he deserves to die."

Once a war begins, it does not stop easily. With little time left, Lien continued the "demon-slaying" he had long prepared for.

[Synchronization rate: 45.6%, Satisfaction: 30.6%]

Old Man Sur’s attitude was direct; he had been looking forward to this day for a long time. The surprise raid on the first day of war, when the opponent was unprepared, was often the day of the greatest harvest.

"Boom!"

There was no need to use the back door; the casino wall was demolished directly. As the smiling paladin entered, he casually judged a "Sin Domain."

"Damn. You guys really did a 'good job,' a damn good job."

The scene before him—the interior of the casino, decorated as luxuriously as a high-end hotel—made even Lien curse out loud. It was the first time he had seen a room full of gamblers, thugs, and casino staff, all of whom were glowing with a blackish-red aura!

You lot are even more sinful than those involved in human trafficking. How many families, how many people have you ruined?

Without a word, the silver blade cut through the air once more. Against a greatsword meant for purging evil and punishing sin, common criminals had no defense. During this process, Lien deliberately used the "Armor-Piercing Strike," forcefully penetrating the opponents' armor and gear to hone his own combat skills.

"Clang."

But this time, the blow was blocked by a gleaming silver spear.

"I knew you'd come! Mercenaries, take him down! Double the commission!" The rescued casino boss still had the nerve to shout.

Looking at the mercenary squad silently closing in—that obvious hunting trio—Lien kept smiling.

"Give me a break; we're all professionals."

"Three against one, you have no chance. Leave, and we don't want to fight to the death with you."

"We're just doing a job for money. We don't know which church or deity you're backed by, and we have no interest in offending them."

The three mercenary professionals—one support and two heavy infantry—the veteran mercenary vanguard held a spear, while the younger one held a shield. They looked quite capable. There was a faint red light on their bodies—guilty, but not to the point of death.

However, adding the obstruction of justice and the shielding of criminals was enough...

"Purge Evil..." Lien’s response was as direct as ever.

"Thrust!" the veteran mercenary roared, turning the move into a blood-lit slash. The cunning mercenary shouted "thrust" but delivered a clear, momentum-based cleave. Was he trying to force him back? To control the distance and enjoy a gang-up?

The Dragon Eye completed its analysis in a flash. At the same time, the paladin’s blade did not retreat to block; instead, the silver light surged, the sword’s power becoming faster and more ruthless.

"Slash."

Silver light shimmered on the blade; the pure holy light was converted into the power of judgment, and the momentum of the sword increased several times over. The spear point right in front of him? Ignore it...

"Clang!"

A split second earlier, the spear shifted from a slash to a pull, striking the sword to deflect it.

"You, you're really crazy!"

The spear-wielding mercenary felt a lingering fear. He had been doing this for at least ten years and had never seen anyone play like this. If he hadn't retreated just now, his spear would have hit, but the opponent's sword would have landed too!

"Your head would have shattered first," the paladin said with his usual gentle smile, yet at that moment, it instilled inexplicable terror in the mercenary. How many battlefields had this man been through? The experience of facing life and death on both sides seemed to be on completely different levels.

But this momentary trance met a new wave of sword light. This young paladin had absolutely no sense of martial honor.

"Clang!" This time, the companion blocked it just in time with his shield. However, the grimace of pain and the immediate bleeding from his web of the thumb showed that this wouldn't last.

"Purge Evil." The young knight used the same move again. The sword was deflected by the spear again. Compared to the veteran, Lien’s strength and agility were not superior.

But the next second, the silver light flashed again.

"Hold on! A paladin of this age can't use 'Purge Evil Slash' many times. Without the reinforcement of holy power, he's just a trash warrior..."

Yet, the silver light showed no intention of stopping.

"Clang!" The first to buckle was the web of the veteran mercenary’s hand holding the spear. Before the sword light could fade, a kick followed, and the veteran was sent flying. His defensive line had collapsed... the support in the back, who seemed to be casting a spell, was exposed.

"Purge Evil."

And so, with a flash of light, the low-level caster’s head, eyes still wide with disbelief, floated into the air. With that, the trio’s pincer tactic completely crumbled. The pack of wolves hadn't stopped the giant tiger; a single violent charge tore through the lines and killed the most threatening "wolf king."

The next second, Lien’s sword light pointed at the veteran mercenary, who was still trying to catch his breath. Perhaps, as that head landed, they still couldn't understand the situation. Why did this paladin’s holy power seem endless? He had turned the costly "Purge Evil Slash" into a basic attack.

Soon, after leaving behind a pile of corpses and burnt ledgers, Lien departed.

[Synchronization rate: 46.6%, Satisfaction: 30.8%] Old Man Sur, with a synchronization rate approaching the halfway mark, expressed his satisfaction.

Lien, the Oath Knight at the end of his version cycle, was truly terrifyingly strong.

[Biological Grade: Inferior Stone, Status: Strength 2(13), Physique 3(10), Agility 3(6), Spirit 5(16)]

With the addition of his new equipment, the lack of base attributes had been compensated. That pathetic Strength 2, which could have been broken by a child, reached 13 with the equipment—the level of an average silver-grade strength species. The high spirit brought by the Heroic Soul possession, under the reinforcement of Holy Power, transformed into above-average physical reinforcement. Even agility, the most useless base attribute for a knight, was forcibly raised by his physique... He possessed all the basic hardware of a normal mid-tier paladin.

"Whew."

Even more absurdly, between breaths, his depleted holy power overflowed once more. It was a pity he lacked healing abilities; otherwise, he could show them what a "super cockroach" that gets stronger the more it fights looks like.

[Species Grade: Inferior Stone, Temporary Class Levels: Second-Tier Classical Oath Knight, First-Tier Paladin, First-Tier Warrior (These temporary classes will disappear in 7 days and 2 hours)]

[Possesses temporary class abilities: Purge Evil Slash (1st Circle), Sin Domain Judgment (1st Circle)...]

Looking only at the panel, Lien’s highest rank was only two, which wasn't considered strong. But generally, such a class combination shouldn't be possible—a first-tier paladin has no reason to jump straight to an Oath Knight. But now, this strangeness was continuously providing him with power.

"Whew."

Holy power poured into the blade, and the brilliance of "Purge Evil" illuminated the dark tunnel ahead once more. This was the only way Lien could pour out his overflowing holy power; he was so wealthy he used it for lighting. A normal paladin would never be so extravagant—playing "Purge Evil Slash" as a basic attack and using "Sin Domain Judgment" as a flashlight.

Lien could be this absurd not only because of his terrifyingly high spirit but also because of the oaths of the Classical Oath Knight. Every oath, when fulfilled, grants the oath-taker a reinforcement. This is a class that clearly gets stronger the older it gets.

The oath to save the weak grows stronger with each successful rescue. The oath of poverty settles gradually with the ascetic's daily routine of water and black bread. This accumulation ultimately transforms into the holder's inner strength.

The inner strength possessed by the heart and will is the root of an Oath-taker’s power. The increase in resistance is merely due to inner strength; if it were an Oath Paladin, this inner power could be converted into a large amount of holy power, while an ascetic monk who keeps their oath gains "Qi."

For this reason, except for a very few devout ones, efficiency-seeking transcendents generally do not choose the path of ascetic oaths... It's too tiring, too slow, and the cost is too high. If I crave holy power, why not directly defect to a deity? In most cases, for high-tier professionals eligible for oaths, the improvement for an oath-taker in the early stages is so small it's imperceptible.

"But the seed of holy power has already sprouted in Demon."

Thinking back to their meeting, Lien revealed a subtle smile. He could see that Demon no longer cared about the legacy of the Heroic Soul; since he intended to blend into the darkness, he had already decided to give up on becoming a successor to a Heroic Soul. But the reality was that he had stepped onto the path of a true, free paladin—the path of self-asceticism, independent of deities, the only true path.

A free paladin who does not rely on deities can basically only rely on oaths and asceticism to accumulate holy power. This advancement was clearly abnormal, and Lien suspected it had something to do with the Heroic Soul Compendium.

"It's a pity, his current state won't last many days..."

Lien's situation was the same. His Oath Knight level was borrowed; it was actually Sur's oath... That Sur, at the end of his life, was so strong was directly related to the countless "rescue" oaths he had fulfilled throughout his life. His holy power did not rely on deities, but was like a furnace of earth-fire, endless and inexhaustible. Lien, possessed by the Heroic Soul, had borrowed only a small portion, yet still had an endlessly overflowing holy power.

With infinite power, paired with the body (hardware) that the Heroic Soul (software) could fine-tune, this complete combat system was constructed, and its strength naturally soared.

"Next is... a killer organization? The dock area actually has something like this. Oh, a loan shark and debt-collection gang calling themselves a 'killer organization,' and they moonlight in kidnapping? Then they deserve to die too."

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The Mad Knight had truly gone mad.

Lien’s "Judgment of Justice" soon became the headline of the Dock District. The "grudges" accumulated during his patrols were being settled one by one after he gained power. But now, few people could see that in the wake of his rampage, the "Bone-Crusher Gang" had successfully risen to prominence.

The gangs in the Dock District were just third-rate scum; after losing their bosses, the scattered members of various small gangs were easily absorbed by someone. Especially with Lien vaguely backing them, the progress was even faster.

Of course, there was a cost. These gang businesses would regularly provide some food for charity, mainly to help orphans, the elderly, and women who couldn't survive. Demon would say Lien forced him to do it, and Lien wouldn't deny it.

The takeover was too smooth. Even if those forces had backers behind them, as long as the "tribute money" kept coming and the new boss didn't mess things up, they couldn't be bothered to care.

"At the end of the day, everything in the Dock District is just trash. The people above won't care that much..."

Demon hit the nail on the head. You would take an opponent seriously and study their strengths and weaknesses, but would you care about the thoughts of the mosquitoes under your feet? As long as the stench didn't spread past the lid, they wouldn't care.

But were they really not important?

On one hand, the black market wanted list for the "Tail-Hunting Case" was finally out, and at the same time...

"My people can already make contact with the slave market..."

These peripheral trash were, in fact, the outer layer of a behemoth... You couldn't expect the high-tier transcendents hired by great nobles or churches to search, gather information, and purchase "goods" in this Dock District.

"Most of the complete slaves (who have lost all human rights) are debt slaves. After all, neighboring countries haven't had much war in recent years to provide war slaves, and over eighty percent of debt slaves are from gambling debts..."

These things were naturally within the control of the gangs. Just like the trouble Larry encountered before, one of the main tasks of the gang's stray dogs was to constantly collect and distribute goods for the slave market. Under normal circumstances, it was extremely rare for someone to fall so far as to sell all their human rights... but for a gambler, losing their wife and children at the table could be a moment of impulsive madness.

The local gangs naturally became their tentacles, continuously providing them with "goods."

"...The slave market, which looks as magnificent as a palace, is actually constantly creating tragedy and suffering in the Dock District."

When saying this, Demon was very calm. It had been this way since he was a child, and it hadn't changed after all these years.

"Ten years ago, when the kingdom was still strong, it wasn't like this..." It was just something he heard from his mother; it hadn't always been this way.

"The era of the former Hero, Lex?" At this moment, Lien remembered the person the Dragon Hunter had asked about; it was said that that Hero almost turned the kingdom into a world power.

"The Hero is too far away from us. Mom just told me that back then, the kingdom was still strong, the Dock District wasn't this chaotic, the police weren't this corrupt, and just finding a job at the docks was enough to support a family... Things like the slave market were only possible because the nation's strength declined, allowing those people to do whatever they wanted here. It has become a festering tumor of the city."

What seemed like idle chatter was actually the gradual exchange of key intelligence.

Over the past two days, Demon’s focus had been on "vice and gambling" related industries. On one hand, this was indeed the source of the chaos in the Dock District; on the other hand...

"...Casinos and loan sharks provide a continuous supply of goods to the slave market, while brothels and flower streets are the premium consumer end of the slave market. These small gangs and organizations can all be viewed as the periphery of the slave market."

Darkness was not formed in a day; it was layer upon layer of nesting dolls and interest entanglements.

"To be precise, we scum can only be considered the periphery of the periphery. Those big gangs that communicate directly with it are beyond our reach right now."

But gradually mastering these peripheral gangs meant gradually mastering the slave market’s information network. Even if they didn't value the ants under their feet, the exchange of information and supplies still revealed much of what Lien wanted to know. At the very least, he knew which departments the slave market had, who their leaders were, and what goods they were eager for.

He also had some ideas for his subsequent deployment.

"Are you confident you can control them?"

"Not in the short term... It can only be done slowly."

The dark sludge was the accumulation of countless years; to eradicate it, one could only do it bit by bit. This might take a person’s entire lifetime.

"I’m beginning to understand the approach of the Heroic Soul legacy..."

To change this world, perhaps one really has to do something; the power of one person alone is limited. Even an extremely powerful evil dragon could only use dragon breath to create destruction; if one really wanted to build or shape something, they could only let individual mortals do it.

"...Perhaps, he was guiding, longing for something." Those seeds scattered into history might have truly changed something.

Lien shook his head. There was too much missing information, and there was no need to make far-reaching guesses. Currently, some things were becoming clearer.

[No. 1 Bone-Crusher, Biological Grade: Original Stone, Status: Strength 8, Physique 8, Agility 4, Compatibility 30%, Satisfaction 48%]

Compatibility generally doesn't change because class levels and physical conditions don't change easily, but the Oath-taker's profession and the three oaths had fundamentally changed him. The growth in strength and physique was due to the effect of the cursed Giant Gloves; even though the curse had been expelled, certain changes had occurred... It was true that some paladins used this method to "freeload" base attributes, but the danger was not low.

While the compatibility soared, the satisfaction was also skyrocketing; Sur greatly appreciated his "justice."

"The justice that attempts to change the future of the children here, so they are no longer born lowly... It's no wonder Old Man Sur appreciates it." The reality was that Lien also appreciated it; otherwise, he wouldn't be so easy to talk to.

In fact, without the interference of the Heroic Soul, an Oath-taker wouldn't have advanced so easily.

"There’s not much time left for the other candidates. Next, the main course is served. Stimulate them a bit, and hope they can accomplish something in this incident..."