# Chapter 17: Where Should the Ring Be Placed
In this world, occasionally there appear people with incredible talent, who make incredible efforts, gain incredible power, then achieve incredible accomplishments, ultimately leaving their names in history.
Such people are called heroes or madmen.
And the Fallen One, Loranda, was undoubtedly such a figure.
Loranda·Glamorgan, one of the most talented Paladins in the nearly thousand-year history of the Church of the Seven Gods.
He was born into a prominent noble family in a kingdom of the Eastern Plains, but as a child, due to political struggles, his parents sent him into the Church for refuge. However, having fallen from the clouds to the mud, he did not give up on his life. Instead, relying on his talent and hard work, he gradually distinguished himself.
At first, as a low-rank Clergy, he was unknown, rarely appearing before others. Instead, he silently honed his power, completing one task after another assigned by the Church, like a young lion training his combat skills.
But Joshua knew that three years later, in the year known as the Era of Exploration, Starfall 835, Loranda would leave the Far Sea Holy Mountain and conduct crusades against cults across the entire Mycroft Continent. Whether in the Empire or the Far South, the Eastern Plains or the Western Mountain, even the archipelagos from the Brilliant Sea to the Stormy Ocean, there were traces of his valiant battles.
By that time, what appeared before everyone was no longer the silent and steadfast Clergy of before, but a Paladin wielding a cross-headed flail and square heavy shield, clad in pure white battle armor, burning with righteous fury, crushing all evil that dared to stand before him with unstoppable momentum.
Players who had been fortunate enough to fight alongside him all expressed how reliable Loranda was. Under the surging passion of the Paladin, unceasing buffing power spread through the team via his aura, even enveloping the entire battlefield. Before enemies could even strike, they found themselves struggling to move, while the players felt like fish in water, as if blessed by the gods.
Because of his successful eradication of cults across the land, Loranda's name spread throughout the world through the praises of countless people. Some who had once suffered under cults even suggested that the Church add the prefix [Saint] before Loranda's name—a title that could only be added to the most outstanding Clergy of each generation. At that time, everyone believed he would advance to Legendary, becoming the next Pope, or the Grand Commander of one of the Church's many Knight Orders.
It was at this time that the new king of Loranda's birth kingdom directly declared that his father, the previous king, had been wrong in his judgment against the Paladin's parents. He publicly apologized and immediately had a monument to heroes built for him.
But by then, the battle-hardened Loranda no longer cared about such matters. He declined the king's invitation to become a Guardian Knight of the kingdom and instead returned to the Far Sea Holy Mountain to organize his gains from those years, settle the anger in his heart, and temper his spirit, seeking to enter a higher realm.
From a silent and steadfast low-rank Clergy, to a Paladin burning with rage to eradicate cults, and finally to the worldly-detached Saint Loranda—he had accomplished all this in less than ten years.
Even among players, there were few negative opinions of Loranda. Such an ascetic Clergy had no dark spots. At that time, Joshua also greatly admired this kind of figure—someone who could maintain their original heart for decades without being swayed by fame or fortune. This was indeed a warrior worthy of respect.
However, things did not develop as beautifully as everyone imagined.
Time passed. Several years later, just when everyone thought that Loranda, who had already advanced to Ultimate-rank, should be preparing to assault the Legendary realm, news that shocked everyone emerged.
Atop the Far Sea Holy Mountain, the old Pope, Saint Israel, died unexpectedly. After the Holy Mountain was sealed for several days, it unilaterally issued an announcement declaring that the Sun Knight Loranda had fallen, betrayed humanity, and issued a full-scale wanted pursuit. The former Paladin made no explanation. With some wrinkles already appearing on his face, he fled all the way back to the kingdom of his birth, to his parents' graves.
After leaving behind a sigh, the former Paladin vanished, disappearing from the sight of all who sought to capture him.
Some said they had seen Loranda's figure in the Abyss—a knight wearing a gray Paladin's armor covered in scars, fighting a large group of demons on the Blood Sea Plains. Others said they saw, deep in the Shadow Plane, a powerful Clergy wielding a Sunset Warhammer maneuvering against several Shadow Dragons. But whether these things were true, no one knew.
After that, no one ever saw Loranda's figure again. No one continued to pay attention to this matter.
Because the seal on the Abyss Gate had been broken.
Regardless, this legendary figure had such an un-legendary end. The truth of history was buried amidst chaotic folk tales, and no one ever knew the real course of events. The truth of Loranda's fall was also sealed away with the passage of time.
After all, what followed was a series of unceasing wars that left no time for anyone to catch their breath. Joshua, who knew that this world was called the [Continent of Strife], understood this better than anyone.
With the death of the old Pope Saint Israel and the fall of the Sun Knight Loranda, the era of the Abyss Invasion officially began.
Of course, the current Loranda had not yet fallen. He hadn't even begun his crusade against cults. But the stage was already set, the actors were taking their places one by one, heroes drew their swords, and conspiracies arose on all sides.
"As I recall, he really could fight."
Ending his recollection, Joshua's mind churned with other thoughts: "But come to think of it, what exactly did he do back then to be declared fallen by the Church of the Seven Gods?"
In his previous life, almost no one knew the details of Loranda's fall. Even among the high ranks of the Church of the Seven Gods, it was an absolute top secret. Players could only rely on fragments of words to piece together the mystery.
Some speculated that Loranda killed the old Pope, his adoptive father. But setting aside how an Ultimate-rank Paladin could kill a Legendary-rank Clergy, no one could even find a motive for Loranda to do such a thing. As long as he could advance to Legendary, he would immediately become the next Pope. Given Loranda's talent, achieving Legendary was only a matter of time. He couldn't possibly have done something so stupid.
As for other so-called dark history—it was nothing more than being too brutal with cultists, not treating them as human at all. But in reality, Joshua was even more excessive than Loranda. Thinking of this, the warrior couldn't help but recall what those cultists did in remote villages. He shook his head, feeling that those who called it brutal were just being hypocritical.
The warrior's memories contained no relevant information. At that time, his entire team was cheering for the opening of the Abyss dungeon. Aside from some of Loranda's admirers, not many people cared about this matter.
There was no point in thinking about such things. Joshua gave up on the train of thought and turned to look at the old priest before him.
Since Atanis had advanced to Gold-rank, the complexion on his face had improved greatly. Although his white hair and the beard on his chin hadn't turned black, just by observing with the naked eye, one could tell the hair quality had become tougher.
"It seems you've also obtained the key."
Under the old priest's puzzled gaze, the warrior sighed.
In the unceasing conflicts of the Mycroft Continent, only by reaching Gold-rank could one be considered to have touched the door to the stage of history. And the Glory Force was the key to that door.
In Joshua's eyes, a layer of sacred radiance different from Holy Light flowed around Atanis. It was some kind of power related to life. Without a doubt, the old priest, who had accumulated much over time, had already touched the edge of the Glory Force before stabilizing his Gold realm. He just didn't know it yet.
There was a huge gap between a Gold-rank with Glory Force and one without it—an almost uncrossable chasm. Only by mastering it could one take the first step toward controlling their own destiny. Regarding this point, the warrior didn't plan to tell him. Sometimes, it was better to take that step oneself.
After chatting a few more words with Atanis, Joshua continued walking with Ying, Lin, and Number 3 along the road back to the main city.
The essence of rank advancement on the Continent of Strife was gradually transforming one's body and soul into transcendent materials. Depending on each person's preference, the direction of advancement varied. For example, Joshua's current path was one of strengthening pure power.
In fact, his *[soul], due to killing so many Chaos Monsters, had now reached an unbelievable level under the enhancement of the Azure Orb and the Chaos Warden profession. Ordinary Gold Peak experts simply couldn't match him, couldn't even fully break through his defenses.
Gold Peak, Glory Force. Joshua took a deep breath. Thinking carefully, he had finally obtained the entry ticket to the world's stage.
This step—the world's number one in his previous life took five and a half years, while he himself took nearly six years. That was because the world's number one was a Mage, while he was a Warrior.
Of course, Joshua of this life couldn't be compared.
From Mid-Silver to Gold-rank, he took 17 days. From Gold-rank to Gold Peak, he took only about half a year.
And now, he was about to step into the realm of Ultimate Essence.
Killing Intent Wave was the name Joshua gave to his Glory Force. Its essence was actually stripping a portion of the soul from every life he killed, then using the remnants of those souls as fuel to release unbelievable destructive power.
This wasn't a rare ability. There were quite a few Glory Forces that utilized soul power. That was why the old Dwarf, Moria, directly pointed out that Joshua was a Soulflame King. However, Joshua was definitely the strongest Soulflame King in history.
Now, deep within the warrior's body, in the depths of the Soul Abyss that contained souls, there were countless black soul fragments. His own soul hung high above, like a sun shining down on these fragments, melting them bit by bit, transforming them into pure destructive power.
Thinking as he walked, Joshua returned to the Lord's Manor. And at this moment, news from Nostradamus also arrived.
Like Atanis, he was also reminding the warrior that the Church of the Seven Gods would be sending their most powerful young Paladin to the Northern Lands. After expressing his thanks, Joshua didn't continue to pay attention to this matter.
Time passed. Late April.
Looking south from the main city of Moldavia, one could see the sky was perfectly clear. A layer of nearly transparent white clouds floated across the blue canopy. Golden sunlight shone straight down, illuminating the entire Aias Mountain Range and the Black Forest like a magnificent fairyland.
It was a rare good weather day in the Northern Lands. All the farmers took the opportunity to carry out the second round of sowing. The plants were growing well. Especially this year, with the purification and fertilization of the Sun Vines, it would definitely be a year of great harvest.
And Lin's advancement was also completely finished after the Divine Mechanism boy rested for a few days.
Having gained enough experience through the Book of Ibown, unlike Ying, Joshua didn't know if it was because Lin's physical constitution was naturally better, or if the previous time was truly due to an unexpected event that caused his slumber. This time, during Lin's advancement, he only occasionally felt a sudden lack of energy. Other than that, there were no special sensations.
Sitting at the steel-core wood desk, Joshua listened as Lin stood beside him, reporting various pieces of information and reports.
"Master Moria has already led his team from the Dwarf settlement. They will be visiting in a few days."
The black-haired boy looked down at the documents, summarizing the key points, then informed Joshua one by one. After reading for a while, he said with some surprise: "Here is a letter from Miss Claire. It expresses gratitude to you, Master. She says she has now finished planting all the Sun Vines and is just waiting for everything to be purified, then she can return to the Far South... There's also a small box inside. It seems to contain something."
"Open it and take a look."
Hearing this, Joshua couldn't help but become curious: "Let's see what it is."
"Very well."
Nodding, Lin promptly took the box from the envelope and opened it.
A ring appeared before the master and servant.
"So it's the Twin Serpent Ring of Flame..."
Having completely forgotten about this matter, Joshua picked up the women's ring in his hand and shook his head with a sigh: "Although it is indeed my thing, what use do I have for this thing... Why didn't she keep it? I gave it away and never planned to take it back."
Saying this, the warrior quickly made a decision.
"Ying, it's yours."
With that, he handed the ring in his hand to Ying, who was sitting in the corner reading a book.
"Thank you, Master..."
Hearing Joshua's words, Ying immediately put down her book and took the ring. But then she also looked somewhat troubled: "But Master, I can't wear other equipment. As soon as I undergo Divine Mechanization, all external equipment is automatically discarded."
(To be continued.)