Roselia was shocked at the thought that the dragon in front of her was so close to godhood, but as a paladin, her faith remained firm even in face of that terror. In fact, even if she stood in front of Shae, the Goddess of Darkness, in her current state, she would likely manage to keep her wits about her.
This was the first time Roselia encountered a situation where she couldn’t use [Detect Evil], leaving her confused about what to do.
Paladins would only strike out against evil. They could join wars, but those were rare occasions. If they were fighting against good people, then they would gradually lose their power. This was why [Detect Evil] was a standard spell for them. It was thanks to this spell that they could tell where evil was.
Everyone knew about a paladin’s restrictions, but when these were circumvented, they could be extremely powerful. They had strong attack power and stronger resistance to physical and magical attacks. They could dominate those of other professions within the same rank, and when it came to evil creatures, paladins could slay most of them in seconds.
This was a give and take. By following the ultimate goodness and order, they could gain unparalleled power!
Roselia was at a loss. She hesitated as she could not tell how evil the dragon was. But in the next instant, she decided to use her own instincts to judge his evil.
Even if she knew that she was like a firefly, like a mantis trying to block a car, she had already resolved herself when she came to Dragon City.
“Evil Dragon, return the holy relic and have your sins judged!”
The holy maiden’s body shone with sacred light. This light was so dazzling that the imperial nobles not far away let out terrified screams as black gas emerged from their bodies. This was their inner evil being illuminated by the light of the paladin.
In fact, Roselia had long known that the nobles were criminals, but the reason she did not take action was that a paladin was a defender of the law. This meant that even if the other party was evil, these nobles could only be tried legally.
However, great nobles always had countless ways to use loopholes in the law to escape sanctions. This was the inconvenient part about being a paladin. They were not above law and order.
However, a dragon was different. Dragons were a race that was close to evil in nature. Paladins had the ability to judge evil, but this time, Roselia was not judging a normal dragon, but a pseudo-god!
“Arrogant mortal, how dare you to try to judge a god?! Blasphemers will pay the price.”
Louie shouted angrily. His divine will spread, and in an instant, time seemed to stop.
Since Louie was infinitely close to being a god, Louie’s will and soul had also begun to transcend. His whole being had already begun to slowly change as the shackles of mortality were released. In the face of blasphemers, he instinctively became angry.
These were the instincts of a god that were separate from Louie’s will. They wouldn’t affect his reasoning, but they would make him unconsciously release his divine might in retaliation. It was much like how the bussing of a mosquito would irritate a human being.
This anger was directed at Roselia, causing her face to pale and making her take two steps back.
“[Order: shock]”
Louie pointed his fingers, cursing the space to shake from the divine power. As the spell fell on Roselia’s body, she trembled slightly and froze in place.
If this spell was released by a normal mage, it wouldn’t even have any effect on a ninth rank paladin, but a spell made with divine power was considered a divine spell that even a paladin could not defend against.
Mortals could never fight against the gods. Only legendary rank powerhouses could enter a god’s eye and receive a certain level of respect from a god. Anything below that was merely an ant.
After being hit by the spell, Roselia lost all resistance. Louie’s finger activated another spell and his right arm turned into a long whip of flames. With a swing, Roselia was whipped from top to bottom.
This was a spell from the transformation system — [Flame Whip]
Slap Slap
Louie was now like a slave owner whipping his slave. With a crisp sound, a deep red mark was left on Roselia’s beautiful face. The terrifying force caused her to be flung away through a window, and her body fell from the third floor.
Even if Louie was not yet a true god and could not display the full might of divine power, anything that contained divine power already exceeded mortal understanding.
Roselia only felt a hot pain on her face. The blood flowing out made her close her left eye. Paladins had a natural resistance against spiritual attacks, but that was only to an extent against mortals. Against demigods, she couldn’t even dream of defending.
The hard floor cracked when she hit the ground. For a ninth rank paladin, falling from the third floor would not be able to injure her, but Louie’s spell had done a serious number on her.
“What a bunch of stupid people with their hands in the sand. I’m very curious what a paladin’s brain looks like.”
Louie walked out from the main door and walked beside Roselia. She knew that she could not win, yet still came to die. In Louie’s opinion, this was no different from stupidity. Fortunately, he was not involved with the order camp, or else he wouldn’t have been able to accept having a subordinate like her. Only the Goddess of Morning would love these kinds of brainless idiots.
“You are not allowed to insult us paladins, evil god!”
Roselia struggled to get up from the ground. When she raised her head, there was no anger in her expression, only insistence on her faith and will.
She did not call Louie an evil dragon anymore instead, she called him an evil god because she recognized that he was a divine entity.
In the world of San Soleil, evil gods were also true gods. They weren’t fake gods, but truly divine albeit vile beings like Shae and Rose.
“Milord.”
The crowd passing by was originally frightened by the sudden battle that took place in the city. They panicked and thought of running away. The guards on the other hand immediately responded to the situation and hurried over to maintain order. The residents and guards of Dragon City were all Louie’s believers. At the sight of Louie, they recognized that it was the great dragon god who gave them the happy life they had today and the one whom they believed in.
All of them spontaneously kneeled on the ground. Some with stronger faith even let out frenzied expressions and cried.
“That woman actually dares to bother our lord, our God!”
“She is a blasphemer! A criminal!”
“Don’t let her run away!”
“She is the embodiment of evil!”
“…”
After that zealous scene, the people began to roar while being led by those fanatical believers. They surrounded Roselia like a group of zombies. In her consternation and disbelief, the saint had been labeled as evil by the populace.
“You should be able to feel it right, paladin! This is the power of faith. It is the power of the people you protect. Let me see if your will can resist it.”