Chapter 51: After Taking a Beating from Me, We’re Friends
Ever since entering the Gold Realm, Joshua had felt his body continuously transforming into a peculiar state.
This sensation was something he had never experienced in his original world, nor had he felt it when he first transmigrated with only Silver-rank strength.
Originally, Joshua could only rely on breathing and muscle movement to adjust his internal organs and bodily potential—ultimately, he was still just a powerful mortal. But now, he only needed to ‘think.’ As long as his will directed it, he could freely unleash his body’s potential, make muscles writhe and organs shift, and even temporarily use Battle Qi to substitute for the function of certain organs, maintaining combat effectiveness even when severely wounded.
This might be a difference between this real otherworld and his original world, or it might be a manifestation of Gold-rank Transcendent abilities. Regardless, this ability to freely control parts of one’s own body was indeed very powerful—especially for Joshua.
And it wasn’t just that. Powerful Battle Qi would gradually strengthen the body’s physical power from the core, and a robust physique would in turn make the Battle Qi even stronger. Every day when the new sun rose, Joshua could feel himself growing stronger—though insignificant, this feeling of getting stronger was truly exhilarating.
And possessing such power made one want to fight. No, rather, it was precisely for better fighting that one pursued such power.
But unfortunately, in the entire Northern Lands, there was no one who could have a proper fight with Joshua.
Although Archbishop Atanis had broken through to the Gold Realm this year, he was already in his fifties or sixties. Joshua couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for fighting someone of a lower rank. The same went for Verdani and Moria—one was a lord from another territory, and the other, though decent in strength, was an old man nearly two hundred years old.
After thinking it over, only Brandon, far away in the Imperial Capital, could be considered a good opponent. But he was too far away; even communication required letters or communication arrays. It was precisely because of this that Joshua, bored out of his mind, had been looking forward to the Dragon Clan’s retaliation. In fact, when two Gold-rank Demon Blood Dragons appeared before him, what flashed through his mind wasn’t surprise, but delight.
But regrettably, his strength was still too great. The two dragons were hardly a challenge for him. He just threw ordinary punches and dodged, leaving them completely helpless. Such a fight held no fun, let alone delight.
However, ‘delight’ suddenly appeared.
Right before him.
This Paladin.
Joshua stared at the silent Paladin who still hadn’t explained himself, his heart full of joy.
This guy was very strong—something that didn’t need eyes, only ‘feeling,’ to perceive. Aside from Nostradamus and the Ultimate Wild God of the Carlis World, he was probably one of the strongest people Joshua had ever met.
How could he let such an opponent slip away? Even if he knew full well that the other party couldn’t possibly be some Dragon Clan spy—he still had to fight first! At worst, he could apologize afterward.
On the other side, Loranda was also thinking.
—This person before him was clearly the Lord of Moldavia, the one his godfather had said would give him the answer: Joshua van Radcliffe.
Although the other party clearly had some misunderstanding about him for some strange reason, he didn’t want to explain.
Regardless of whether an explanation would have any effect on this obviously excited lord, the truth was that Loranda himself also wanted to test his skills against this man.
Although Joshua was the strongest Gold-rank expert the Paladin had ever seen—bar none—as the strongest Paladin of the younger generation in the Church of the Seven Gods, he had enough confidence in his own strength.
If he wanted to fight, then fight!
Joshua tossed aside the two dragon heads in his hands, which crashed to the ground with a dull roar. But before the roar even sounded, his figure had already vanished, charging toward the Paladin before him.
The gale stirred up by his extreme speed carried a bloody aura. In that fraction of a second where even sound couldn’t keep up, a heavy fist stained with dragon blood broke through the atmosphere, rushing straight toward Loranda’s face with a sharp whistle.
But the Paladin was no weakling. If this blow could make the Demon Blood Dragons unable to dodge or react, he could.
In the palms of both hands, Holy Light shone. As the solidification Divine Technique array activated, a cross-shaped Warhammer and a massive shield large enough to cover his entire torso appeared in his hands. Facing Joshua’s charge, Loranda didn’t retreat but advanced, colliding head-on.
Boom!!
The giant shield engraved with the emblems of the Seven Gods and the iron fist capable of breaking dragon scales slammed solidly together. At the moment they made contact, white shockwaves began to sweep back and forth. Visible blast waves, accompanied by thunderous vibrations, roared across the entire merchant caravan camp. All the frenzied Ground Dragons that the Paladin had calmed with Holy Light were startled awake by the terrifying noise. But just as they were about to continue their rampage, they were immediately subdued by another aura—more terrifying and more ferocious than the Demon Blood Dragons—and stayed put, trembling.
Joshua, who had thrown this punch, and Loranda, who had withstood it, both temporarily retreated.
Joshua opened and closed his slightly numb right hand. He nodded, a hint of a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
The first test exchange had no results, which was perfectly normal. Both sides now had a basic understanding of each other’s strength, reaction speed, and endurance. The subsequent battle would build on the information gained from this exchange.
—Strong strength!
On the other side, Loranda cautiously turned sideways, raising his shield, his left hand gripping the cross Warhammer tightly. He was somewhat glad he used his right hand to hold the shield. Under Joshua’s full-force attack, his fingers were already a bit numb. If it had been his left hand, after such a heavy blow, it would definitely affect his dexterity, and he might not be able to block the opponent’s next attack.
These Paladins, who had dealt with monsters for years, were always fighting Magical Beasts whose strength far exceeded humans. So they were more accustomed to using their stronger right hand to hold the shield.
The brief standoff ended in the next instant. Both sides began rapid movement simultaneously. Although Joshua had no weapons in his hands and couldn’t compare to the fully armed Loranda, his mobility was greatly enhanced. While moving back and forth, looking for the opponent’s opening, he still had the energy to throw punch after punch of jabs. But the Paladin was no pushover. The giant shield in his hand, though extremely heavy, he could use it freely, blocking the warrior’s repeated assaults. Sometimes, he even found the right moment to counterattack with the serrated edge of the shield.
However, because his focus was on defense, the Warhammer in his left hand was rarely used. And since he had to concentrate on manipulating the shield to block Joshua’s attacks, each Warhammer counter was a bit slow, completely unable to hit the opponent.
This was also a lingering effect of years of fighting Magical Beasts—due to their massive size, as long as one defended well, there was no need to worry about not hitting them. Although the Paladin had Gold Peak-level strength, he was still somewhat inexperienced in fighting humans.
Joshua quickly noticed this. He laughed loudly and launched a relentless onslaught.
Due to the shockwaves from their battle, the surrounding camp and trees had long been swept away. The ground cracked, and countless sand and gravel, carried by the wind of his punches, swept toward Loranda. Each grain of sand and pebble was like a bullet, striking the shield and producing crisp vibrations as they shattered.
The Paladin didn’t panic. Facing such a formidable display, he steadily raised his shield, blocking Joshua’s repeated heavy punches. Even when several attacks caused the ground beneath his feet to collapse and his body to lose balance, he used Holy Light to stabilize his stance, ensuring he wouldn’t be sent flying by the opponent’s force.
Facing an onslaught capable of collapsing city walls and destroying houses, people with only human size and weight could easily be knocked back by the recoil of their own and the opponent’s attacks, losing their combat posture. And for a Paladin, who valued defense over offense, posture was even more important than for other professions.
By this point in the battle, Joshua naturally knew that the other party was a genuine Paladin, and very likely the one the old priest Atanis had mentioned—the Paladin of the Church of the Seven Gods coming to his territory. But who cared? How could such an exhilarating fight stop now? He took a deep breath, channeled the power within him, and in an instant, unleashed a hundred consecutive punches!
“Wait, how does he still have stamina?!”
Sensing Joshua’s eruption, Loranda was filled with surprise. Their exchange had been going on for a while. As the active attacker, Joshua had consumed several times more stamina than him. And now, the Paladin’s right hand, having endured too many blows, was starting to lose sensation. Although his giant shield was forged from Glimmer Crystal Steel with Divine Techniques and couldn’t be destroyed by such attacks, his right hand holding the shield was about to give out.
But Joshua grew more excited the more he fought.
How many times?
How many times had he thrown punches?
Three hundred? No, more than that. Five hundred? That wasn’t right either; still a bit low.
In this brief battle, lasting less than ten minutes, he had thrown nearly a thousand punches, right?
When was the last time he met someone who could withstand his full-force onslaught?
Another sidestep brought him to the Paladin’s flank. The warrior took a forceful step forward, closing in at supersonic speed, preparing to enter the inner circle beyond the shield’s defense. But the opponent was equally quick. The Paladin stepped back, then raised his right hand, and the indestructible giant shield blocked Joshua’s path.
The ferocious shockwaves oscillated back and forth, destroying most of the merchant caravan camp. At the very center of the battle, a huge pit dozens of meters in radius and over twenty meters deep had formed. Fortunately, most personnel had evacuated at the very start of the fight, so no one was caught in the blast.
This was the nature of Gold-rank experts’ battles. Even if neither side had time to unleash more powerful charged attacks, the destruction caused by such rapid close combat was enough to destroy towns and alter terrain.
Due to continuously striking the steel-forged shield with his fists, Joshua’s hands were now covered in blood. The dark red blood contained powerful life energy. Although his strong self-healing ability as a Gold-rank expert constantly repaired the wounds, the frequency of his attacks clearly exceeded the rate of healing. Gradually, with each punch, some blood evaporated due to the frictional heat of supersonic speed, and the bloody scent gradually spread.
And the more Loranda defended, the more his heart pounded.
Although the opponent had injured himself from the recoil before him, for some reason, he felt no excitement from tactical success. Instead, a chill rose from the depths of his heart.
What’s going on?! How is he not exhausted?! How is this attack frequency getting faster, and the punches stronger and heavier than before?!
Remember, this guy had killed two dragons and flown all the way back! Knowing this—knowing that the opponent’s stamina wasn’t at its peak—he had deliberately chosen a defensive stance to wear him down.
But who would have thought that Joshua showed no signs of decline, his attacks growing fiercer instead, leaving him fewer and fewer opportunities to counterattack. Now he could only focus entirely on defense, completely unable to strike back!
Was he going to be beaten like this until the fight ended?!
Such a thought even flashed through his mind.
“This is fantastic.”
Amid the relentless assault, the warrior could still speak intermittently. Joshua wore an excited smile on his face and said sincerely, “Paladin, you’re strong. You can withstand my attacks.”
“You’re the strongest Gold-rank opponent I’ve ever seen.” (To be continued.)