Clank!
Sparks flew out as Rexorem effortlessly cut the sword of the Paladin fighting Layland in two. The said Paladin looked at the scene in horror and bafflement; he couldn't believe that the weapon his God had blessed could be destroyed easily.
Having more than a decade of fighting experience, he was quick to recover from his disbelief. He kicked the ground, shooting backwards to dodge Layland's next swing. He managed to do it but Rexorem's tip still managed to nick his nose. Compared to losing his head, of course, it was nothing. Still, he couldn't rejoice.
He was sustaining a lot of injuries. Even though he could still stand and keep dodging, it wouldn't be long until Layland would kill him. His Holy Power had been dried out, so running was not an option either. The only choice he had was to die there. That was what he planned but he wouldn't die alone. He would take Layland down with him.
The problem with that plan was that he could barely find any chance to get close to Layland. Whenever he managed to get close to Layland, he either had to step back so Rexorem didn't take his life or block Layland's kick that could put a hole in a mountain.
Swoosh!
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead after he dodged another one of Layland's kicks. His foot just passed over his nose but it was already enough to break it.
Ignoring the pain in his nose, he gritted his teeth and spun on his heel. He coated his arms with Holy Energy and then blocked Rexorem with them. The air exploded as Rexorem made contact with the vambraces protecting his arms. His core muscles contracted to keep his balance steady, causing a lot of blood to churn out of the wound on his abdomen.
Glaring at Layland with utmost hatred, the Paladin growled out, "You...will never be able to live long! Trust me…your win today is your postponed death!"
"Isn't that how it is supposed to work anyway?" Layland taunted.
Spurt!
"Keuk…! This accursed Demon!" The Paladin looked extremely irate outwardly but he was smiling inwardly. The reason was that he had gotten closer to Layland. Grabbing the Cross Pendant hanging on his neck, he exclaimed, "Die, you despicable creature!"
As the Paladin channelled his Holy Energy into the Cross Pendant, it glowed brightly. Layland knew that the Paladin had just detonated himself but he didn't even bother to run. Swiftly using [Senbonzakura], he wrapped thousands of cherry blossom petals around him. When the explosion engulfed him, he was already protected by them.
Boom!
Everyone watched as a blinding light which was both soothing and threatening engulfed Layland. The air blast almost knocked the weaker Warriors off their feet, meanwhile, most of the human soldiers had to slightly crouch to maintain their balance.
When the light died down, another massive crater could be seen decorating the ground. Layland was standing inside it. He had a gash on his side but otherwise, he was fine. A second passed and the air exploded. His Mana surged for a moment before settling down. When everything was calm, the gash on his side was gone.
The gash marked the seventh time he had been injured and the seventh time he had received a Power-up. He had gotten seven Power-ups from three Paladins, which boggled his mind.
He had heard about the unpredictability of the High Paladin, yet he didn't expect them to be this remarkable. He was quite ashamed for thinking that he might be on the same level as the Grand Paladin. Seeing that three High Paladins managed to draw his blood, there might be High Paladins who were stronger than he was. It made him rethink his next course of action.
He had planned to infiltrate the Holy Land—the land that was managed solely by the Temple—to kidnap Brianna but he decided to put the plan on hold. It was quite irritating to let her live peacefully for quite some time but doing so gave him something more beneficial—power.
As long as Brianna was alive, the Temple would keep sending him its High Paladins. It was troublesome to always mind them but it was the fastest way for him to gain power. The Temple wouldn't send an overwhelming number of Paladins just to kill him. It would send just barely enough people to threaten his life and therefore it was his win.
Layland was hard to kill. If someone wanted to kill him, they should use overwhelming force because should he survive, he would be a nightmare to them.
Stab!
Layland awakened the people from their dazed state by planting Rexorem into the ground. At this moment, they registered he had climbed up the crater and was standing before them. Knowing what he would do next, the people turned to Rexorem. It wasn't their first time seeing it but they were still astonished by Rexorem's unique trait.
When Layland willed it, the blood of the High Paladins he had shed flew at Rexorem before being absorbed. The greatsword shone brightly in deep red, letting out an ominous aura and soul-crushing pressure.
"Decima, tell me how many people we have lost," Layland spoke, earning the said Lamia's attention.
"1,078 human soldiers, Commander," Decima responded immediately. "We also have 314 heavily injured Warriors but they were salvageable."
"Hoh? That is a lot less than I expected."
It was indeed a small number of losses. There were 14 secret bases scattered in the perimeter of Antares. Each base contained 2 Centuries of the best Senior Paladins, which means they had fought 2,800 Paladins with an army of 3,000 men. 70% of the said army was filled by human soldiers. Considering that most of them were Third Grade Swordsmen, it was a remarkable result.
"We should be doing this a lot more," Layland remarked, making everyone blink their eyes. "The battle you had with the Paladins seems to have improved your battle insight and teamwork. All of you will truly be invincible if it keeps going on."
Instantly getting what Layland was going to do, Decima blinked her eyes. At this moment, she understood why Layland had told Velucan and Lemius to conduct joint training instead of joining them in the operation: Layland was planning to have a long battle with the Temple.
It was quite a bizarre plan in her opinion. Ilschevar himself had never thought of challenging the Temple despite having an army capable of facing the Luxibrae Army, consisting of warriors of every existing race in this world. The Temple was a troublesome enemy. It was baffling that Layland thought the 6,000 Warriors and the 50,000 human soldiers they had would be enough.
It was a very risky plan. Should the Temple decide to get serious, the entire Demon King's Army had to be involved. It wouldn't take long until the others join in, putting the Verniculos Kingdom in a dire situation. Ilschevar would be forced to participate in the battle and it wouldn't be a good idea.
"Lemius had talked about it with me. I know how many people hiding knives behind their backs as they wait for us to turn around."
Layland's remark caught Decima off guard. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped as she racked her brains to think of words to express that she didn't mean to underestimate Layland's plan.
"Their target is me. I am but an ordinary Warrior that our Demon King has. This won't get big, Decima. They won't put much effort into killing me."
"That is…"
Layland proclaiming himself to be no different from the other Warriors was as ludicrous as saying Ilschevar was average. Decima would like to correct him but he seemed to understand what he was doing. She nodded her head and dropped the matter immediately. She still couldn't tell what Layland was aiming for this time but she was sure it was beneficial for them.
Layland pulled Rexorem out a minute later. At this point, the bodies of the High Priests had dried up. Rexorem still couldn't be an Indigo Rank Relic but it was tougher than ever. The damage it could cause would even put some Indigo Rank Relics to shame.
Afterwards, all of them returned to Antares. As soon as they arrived there, the bodies of the fallen soldiers were taken to their families. Their funerals were held on the next day, fully funded by Antares. Since the families didn't expect Layland to show much care for the fallen, his gesture increased their sympathy toward him greatly.
Although it seemed fitting for him to do it, he didn't do it to gain sympathy—he didn't care about the people's sympathy. He held funerals for the fallen as his way to thank them for what they had done for Antares. Nothing is sadder than dying without anyone thanking us for our sacrifice. Layland was not ungrateful; thus, he did what he did.
Things remained calm for a week. During that time, Layland focused on managing the economy of Antares, while staying up to date with what the Temple was doing. Black Merchant worked better than ever with his support. Its agents could easily sneak into the Holy Hand, which was a very hard thing to do.
It was even harder to remain there—twenty-seven of its best agents had died—but they had reaped a lot of information. Thanks to them, Layland could tell that another batch of Paladins would be sent to kill him in two days. The number was half a time bigger than the previous one and more High Paladins would be sent.
Instead of worrying about it, Layland couldn't help getting excited.
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