Volume 2, Chapter 11 – The So-Called Paladin

“…”

Although it was true that Paladins were a group of fanatics who would sacrifice their lives for their faith, to force one to take his own life just because of that…

Honestly, Karl couldn’t understand why the outsider before him would say something like that.

“Confused, aren’t you? Actually, I’m making a deal with you, your life in exchange for those Paladins down below.”

Yunchou smiled and pointed at the magic floating in the air, encircling Karl.

“Did you really think those spells were aimed at you?”

He said this without any context at all.

“Even though they’re indeed facing your direction, you do realize that beneath you there’s still a whole group of Paladins and soldiers from the Kingdom Faction, right?”

“You—!”

It was at that moment Karl finally understood Yunchou’s intention. Yes, those magic spells weren’t targeting him at all. They were meant to wipe out the Kingdom’s soldiers and Paladins he was protecting…

“If you want to kill me, then just do it. I can’t even move anymore. Why would you go after them?”

Rеαd οn KаtRеαⅾinɡCαfе

Karl’s expression didn’t change.

“Kill you? No, no. Didn’t I say it before? I never underestimate a Legendary-tier’s combat power. Even tens of thousands of B-tier spells wouldn’t be enough to kill a Legendary-tier.”

“At most, it would leave you gravely injured. And by then, there wouldn’t be enough time left to finish you off. So, I chose another method.”

“…”

Paladins were a type of combat unit that every ruler both disliked and yet cherished deeply.

The reason was simple. Paladins, holding fast to the virtues of knighthood, could become a decisive factor when wars broke out within the Kingdom Faction.

And the first reason for that lay in their sheer combat power.

Paladins were strong. Every ordinary Paladin’s template started at least from the White-tier and above.

In other words, while ordinary soldiers of the Kingdom Faction were mostly White-tier templates, there was no such thing as a White-tier Paladin.

That alone was fatal enough.

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Moreover, wherever the faith of the Holy Light spread, wherever the Church of the Sanctuary existed, Paladins could be found.

Thus, every nation under the Kingdom Faction had its own official Paladin corps.

The strength of a Paladin Legion was such that once deployed on the battlefield, it could shift the tide of an entire war.

Yet despite that, every nation possessing such a corps would deliberately seal them away whenever war broke out.

Yes, seal them away. Even with a force powerful enough to sway the outcome of a war, no nation ever actually used their Paladins.

And the reason was simple.

Paladins were righteous zealots.

They upheld the codes of knighthood and despised war.

If a powerful nation declared war on a weaker one, a war that should’ve been one-sided, but at a crucial moment, the Paladins of the powerful nation suddenly turned against their own country and joined hands with the Paladins of the weaker nation to resist the invasion…

If one were the ruler of that powerful nation, what would the ruler think?

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Your own Paladin Legion had betrayed the country?

But what could you even do? Declare them traitors?

The people would never believe it. To them, the words of the righteous and pure Paladins held more weight than any ruler’s decree.

And if it came to fighting, how would the two nations’ Paladin Legions even battle each other?

Paladins were strong, but to all rulers, they were essentially a strategic deterrent weapon.

Like a chicken rib, tasteless to eat, yet too wasteful to throw away.

It was precisely because of the existence of Paladins that the Kingdom Faction had remained divided into the Three Southern Empires and the Seven Northern Kingdoms for over a million years.

There had been emperors who once sought to unite the Kingdom Faction, but at the critical moment, their own Paladins declared that such wars only brought suffering to the people and served no purpose whatsoever.

And so, the Paladins rebelled.

Not only did they rebel, they secretly gathered all Paladins across the nations to stand against the empire, and at the peak of it, they even rallied the people to overthrow the tyrant…

Rеαԁ on ΚаtRеαⅾiոgСafе

It could be said that it was precisely because of these so-called “saintly hypocrites” that the Kingdom had never once been unified in its entire long history.

It was exactly because Paladins were such extreme existences that Yunchou, having already studied them thoroughly, came up with such a method.

It was a bit shameless, but against these Paladins who would even commit treason in the name of peace… there was no doubt it was an effective approach.

That was why, as a Paladin himself, Karl could never bear to watch the soldiers and Paladins below him die before his eyes.

“Did you really do all this just to kill me?”

After a long silence, Karl sighed softly.

As if he had made up his mind, he slowly closed his eyes.

“Though your method is despicable… you win.”

Yes. That was what it meant to be a Paladin.