Chapter 52: Beat the Young, the Old Comes
The two men laughed heartily as they threw punches at each other, but the reality was somewhat awkward.
The paladin, who had grown a bit reckless from being constantly suppressed, abandoned his greatshield. In the next instant, he was effortlessly slammed to the ground by Joshua, failing not only to counterattack but also being swiftly defeated.
A punch landed squarely on the right temple of Loranda. He felt his brain violently rattle within his skull, his soft gray matter churning like tofu. A fierce dizziness surged through every nerve in his body. Although his powerful will and Holy Light quickly stabilized the shaking in his head, and his robust physique kept him standing without collapsing from the vertigo, it was clear that this paladin could no longer fight.
He had already gone into shock while standing upright.
Though difficult to comprehend, this was actually quite normal. Rather than being continuously beaten down, it was better to attempt a counterattack—Loranda's idea was sound, but reality did not develop as he had envisioned. Moreover, he had been deceived by Joshua's earlier combat behavior.
Of course, the most important reason was that he was a paladin.
What kind of profession is a paladin? If you asked this question, everyone might have a different answer. But for Joshua, and for the vast majority of people on the Mycroft Continent, a paladin was someone stationed in a certain place or traveling across the continent, dealing with various threats to local humans.
Of course, the most common threats they dealt with were magical beasts.
They were warriors specialized in hunting giant monsters. In the past, there was even a Dragon-Hunting Paladin class inherited from Saint George, the Dragon-Slaying Saint. Historically, the first Dragon Knight was also a paladin-turned-Archbishop from the Church. In general, since they belonged to the good-aligned profession of protecting humanity, they rarely fought against people. Their combat techniques were broad and sweeping, impressive in power but lacking in finesse.
Because Joshua had relied on rapid movement and swift heavy punches throughout the previous fight, Loranda subconsciously assumed that this was the limit of a warrior under such a furious assault—nothing more than an extremely berserk golden lion. His assumption wasn't entirely wrong; even Joshua found it difficult to punch any harder or faster.
But Joshua could change his tactics!
Realizing that his opponent had decided to abandon defense and trade blows, the warrior's mind turned like lightning, and he immediately altered the trajectory of his next attack. Both Loranda and he were swinging their right fists toward the left side of each other's faces. But now, Joshua didn't aim for Loranda's head. He shifted his body sideways, pulling his left arm back to its limit like a drawn bow, while turning his right fist into a palm to intercept Loranda's right arm. This blocked the attack while throwing his opponent off balance.
Then, Joshua's true killing move followed!
His feet, planted on the ground, suddenly stomped down. In an instant, the frozen earth cracked, countless clouds of dust and smoke erupted, and the ground within dozens of meters shook violently. The warrior twisted his waist, and the muscles in his lower back and chest simultaneously unleashed astonishing tension and elasticity, allowing his long-charged left fist to blast out with devastating force, slamming heavily into Loranda's face like a sledgehammer!
In that moment, the helmet deformed and shattered into pieces, and the paladin immediately fell unconscious.
It must be said that Loranda was worthy of being a paladin. An ordinary Gold-rank expert of the same level who took a punch from Joshua would either have their head explode into a pool of red liquid or at least have half their skull blown off. But Loranda's body was as tough as diamond, only slightly inferior to the warrior who had cultivated the Steel Armor Breathing Art and received the enhancement of Order Force. At the moment of impact, he even instinctively burst forth Holy Light, using divine arts to connect himself with the surrounding atmosphere, transferring a significant amount of force. After a violent and scorching gust of wind erupted, he stood firmly in place, seemingly without much damage aside from being unconscious.
Really tough.
Joshua withdrew his left fist. He looked at his middle finger, which had snapped, sighed, and then smiled faintly.
"I still love fighting too much."
He looked at Loranda, who stood motionless except for his heartbeat, and said softly, "So every time I fight, I always want to see how far I can push myself, prolonging the battle as much as possible."
This was truly a bad habit.
Joshua shifted his gaze to the paladin's neck, where there was a thin layer of throat armor. Compared to the hard helmet and skull, that was the truly unguarded spot. Looking at it, he shook his head. "Many attacks are unnecessary. Just aim for the vital points, and one strike is enough."
But the fight was too enjoyable, so he couldn't bear to give up this opportunity.
Others were not even worth a single exchange. Every time Joshua sparred with someone and knocked them out with one punch, the warrior felt nothing but boredom.
How could the battle end so quickly—why don't you get up and keep going!
Was there no one in this world who could face him head-on and let him fight to his heart's content?
The battle ended too quickly.
But the sun had not yet set.
The evening sun shone, the wind swept through the encampment outside the city, dispersing the dust and mist from their clash. From the direction of the distant city wall came the clamor of voices—the sound of the City Guard, who had detected the massive disturbance and come out to investigate.
"Not bad, but still not enough."
Turning around, Joshua regretfully flexed his wrist. The Gold-rank's powerful regenerative ability had already healed his broken middle finger and damaged fists, leaving only a thick layer of blood scabs. "You should be able to be stronger; you just lack experience. What a pity."
And just as he was about to leave, planning to have the City Guard bring the unconscious paladin back to Saint Lawrence Cathedral and hand him over to Bishop Atanis, a change occurred.
Gentle, tolerant, stable, harmonious, protective, healing, just, wise... A light—a light that, merely by shining, could calm the heart and bring warmth—appeared behind Joshua.
His whole body trembled. Joshua turned around in surprise.
This was—this was Order Force, and it was far stronger and deeper than the Order Force within his Azure Orb, which only had the single effect of 'purification'!
Could it be that Loranda had been holding back, only now unleashing it?!
At this thought, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement—an opponent worth fighting could still battle; what a joyful thing that was!
But in the next instant, he froze.
Because what appeared before him was not the awakened paladin, but a slowly coalescing mass of light.
Loranda still stood in place, his posture as stable as ever, maintaining a combat stance even in unconsciousness. At this moment, little by little, silver-white light particles surged from the Seven Gods emblem on his armor, gathering into an even more brilliant and massive orb of light.
Countless complex geometric structures rotated at the core of the light orb, while sacred runes formed layer upon layer of protective barriers, shrouding these mysterious structures.
The power condensed within this light orb was initially weak, but in just a few breaths, it reached the Gold-rank, and then it continued to rise. In Joshua's horrified gaze, the power of this light orb skyrocketed, breaking through the Ultimate Wall in seconds, crossing the Triple Veil, then shattering the Ring of Destiny, arriving at—the Legendary Realm!
In that instant, the world seemed to freeze. The meaning of color and sound vanished, leaving only a pure white silhouette between heaven and earth, reduced to mere 'existence' and 'order'.
If one relied solely on the naked eye, it was utterly impossible to comprehend this shock. In Joshua's eyes, which also possessed Order Force, the Order Force contained within this light orb had already radiated to the distant hills, enveloping the entire main city of Moldavia. But the most terrifying thing was not this—it was that despite possessing such immense power, there was no heavenly anomaly. It appeared silently, without alarming anyone, like gentle air, tolerant and enveloping everyone without their knowledge!
This level of control over power was no less than his own when he was at the Legendary Realm!
And just as Joshua had vaguely guessed who this was, the light orb gradually condensed into a hazy humanoid form, and an old, slightly smiling voice emerged from within.
"Joshua van Radcliffe."
He spoke softly and politely, "Hello."
(To be continued.)