Chapter 45 | Paladin Class: Awakening the Strongest Demon System

A gentle wind brushed through the forest, rustling the leaves as if a mother’s hand were caressing a child’s face.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the foliage, leaving scattered spots of light on the damp earth that swayed with the rhythm of the wind.

The wind today was quite clamorous.

However, this wind... seemed to be weeping...

"Ahhhhh! Get the hell away from me! I'm not clean anymore! Ahhhh!!!"

"Damn it! I've been holding it in for so long! Didn't you know to stay further away?!"

"Crap, why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"Could I speak? Did I even have a chance to open my mouth? If I moved even a little bit, I wouldn't have been able to hold it in!"

"I don't care! Get away from me!!!"

This tragic and miserable conversation naturally came from the two poor souls persecuted by Jiang Lin.

Frederick clutched his stomach, which had been ravaged by Jiang Lin, no longer suppressing himself. After finishing his release, he finally caught his breath.

He knelt on one knee, appearing to have made a certain decision. Blazing flames erupted from his body, and under Jiang Lin's shocked gaze, he burned the clothing on his lower body to a crisp.

Then he stood up, his face twisted in a hideous expression as he looked at Jiang Lin, looking as if he wanted to swallow him alive.

"Even if I die here today, I’m going to discipline you, you degenerate!!"

Seeing that the other party chose such a method to continue the fight, Jiang Lin instantly thought of the most powerful form of mental attack.

He glanced downward and let out an expression that suggested he was barely stifling a laugh, before quickly regaining his composure as if everything had been an accident.

In truth, he felt a bit of admiration. After all, despite being in such a state, the man hadn't lost his fighting spirit and had stood up to continue the battle.

When Frederick saw Jiang Lin’s look of suppressed laughter, especially coupled with that glance toward his lower half, he nearly lost his mind with rage.

As the prestigious number one of Morning Star Academy, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?!

As he activated his skill, his entire being seemed to enter a different state.

Talent: 【Berserk】!

His class was none other than the berserker branch of the warrior profession!

With the activation of the 【Berserk】 state, his speed, strength, and agility all surged significantly.

His strength was already top-tier among level 9 melee classes; now that it had increased, he was even a match for rank-1 melee practitioners, completely outclassing the current Jiang Lin in physical power.

In Jiang Lin’s 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】, the opponent’s figure suddenly shifted from two or three images to dozens, making it impossible to determine his movement.

How did he become so strong?!

Jiang Lin was surprised. He never expected that two people he randomly met on the road could explode with such combat power.

Should I use that move?

The title 【Crimson Slaughterer】 he had just obtained flashed through Jiang Lin's mind.

However, the thought was snuffed out as soon as it appeared.

No, this is just a normal exam. Using that move would be too unreasonable. I can explain my sword skills improving as natural talent, but that move clearly isn't something used by a righteous person. It would be hard to explain if I exposed it.

As his thoughts whirled, Jiang Lin noticed that as the opponent drew closer, the dozens of afterimages were gradually decreasing.

The closer the distance, the less space there was for the opponent to dodge and react, but this also meant his own margin for error was shrinking.

Thinking of this, Jiang Lin retreated while continuously releasing sword qi that shimmered with a sacred golden glow.

Although the opponent’s strength was far superior to his, Jiang Lin’s proficiency with various skills was clearly much higher.

Now that Frederick’s pants were burned away, he was a man with nothing left to lose. He no longer feared Jiang Lin’s 【Jetting Aura】.

However, he was also afraid that Jiang Lin had hidden some other underhanded trick in that golden light, so he dodged what he could and used his battle-axe to cleave through what he couldn't.

However, Jiang Lin’s target was clearly not Frederick, but Eli, who was hiding behind him preparing to cast a spell.

Seeing Jiang Lin’s sword qi flying toward him again and blocking all his evasion angles, Eli cursed while repeatedly deploying magic barriers.

But this time, the magic barriers easily blocked Jiang Lin’s sword qi; not a single barrier even cracked.

Huh? Is he out of magic essence?

Eli was confused. Then, he saw the same golden light that had previously entered Frederick’s body penetrate his barriers and enter his own.

Immediately, he understood Frederick’s earlier sensation.

"Holy crap!! What kind of degenerate skill is this??!!!"

As the sword qi scattered, several more strengthening techniques hidden within the holy light sword qi entered his body, targeting his nether regions and successfully breaking his defenses.

"Ahhhhh! I don't care anymore! Even if I die here today, I'm not finished with you, you degenerate!!"

As the second-ranked student of Morning Star Junior Magic Academy, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

As elemental currents surged, his lower body clothing was also burst open by his own power. Just like Frederick, he fought Jiang Lin while completely exposed.

For a moment, the scene was indescribably bizarre and twisted.

Jiang Lin held his holy light longsword, continuously swinging brilliant and sacred light, while the other two were like insane, perverted zombies, charging and attacking him.

If an outsider saw this, they would surely think it was a divine and righteous paladin disciplining two evil, perverted youths.

Eli completely abandoned his defense and began desperately bombarding Jiang Lin with his most proficient attack spells.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lin relied on his 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】 along with his amazing speed and reaction time to swing his holy light longsword so fast it practically smoked. He maneuvered between the two, and for a while, the scene fell into a stalemate.

While a passionate and heated battle was taking place inside the secret realm, the outside was peaceful and serene.

After completing the opening ceremony, the Temple Master prepared to leave to handle other official business.

The scene was left to the three year directors and other leadership figures of the Temple.

Normally, since the Temple Master attended, the principals of the three academies should have been there too.

However, due to the incident at Radiant Magic Academy yesterday, its principal had been taken away for investigation and "education." The principals of the other schools had also been called to a meeting for similar "education," so none could attend.

Thus, it was left to the three poor year directors to hold down the fort.

At this moment, they were sitting in a nearby meeting room. In the center of the room were various projections from the secret realm, transmitted through the bracelets on the proctors or students.

Besides the three year directors, there were three representatives from the Temple. One was the familiar gold badge knight, Salas.

As for the other two, one was a fierce-looking gold badge warrior who appeared to be around the same age as Salas, while the other was an elderly priest who looked kind and benevolent.

"Mr. Salas, your sister’s strength is quite impressive. Together with that young girl, the two of them are handling a pack of gale demonic wolves with ease."

The fierce-looking gold badge warrior spoke.

Salas looked over and saw Anya’s fighting figure on the screen.

Anya, her hair tied in a high ponytail, was dancing through the wolf pack with her greatsword. Gale demonic wolves were being sliced in half by her blade. Her smooth blonde hair bounced as she perfectly interpreted the combination of power and beauty.

However, seeing this, he frowned.

"Hmm? Where did Jiang Lin go?"

"Who is Jiang Lin?"

The gold badge warrior was stunned.

Salas shook his head.

"Nothing. Let’s keep watching."

It seemed the two of them didn't end up teaming after all?

"By the way, Crixus, your brother is also in this year, isn't he? I heard he's the number one at Morning Star Magic Academy?"

At the mention of his brother, Crixus bared his teeth and pointed at a projection.

"There, see for yourself. That idiot and his teammate can't even read a map. They ran in the opposite direction and haven't encountered a single demonic beast yet."

Salas looked in the direction Crixus was pointing. Seeing those two figures sprinting through the forest while holding a map, he desperately tried to manage his facial expression.

"Laugh if you want. That idiot... is beyond saving..."

Crixus sighed. Although he looked fierce, he was actually quite gentle and didn't have a temper; he even spoke politely.

Salas coughed to mask his lapse in composure.

"Don't worry. I've undergone professional training; I usually don't laugh."

The three year directors followed suit and began observing several prominent students.

Horn, the year director of Morning Star Magic Academy, saw his two highly-regarded students performing like this and couldn't help but facepalm.

"Excuse me, which school does this top-ranked paladin gentleman belong to?"

At this moment, Ms. Pova, who had been silent, spoke up.

Everyone turned their attention to the screen she was pointing at. They saw a clean-looking youth moving rapidly through the trees, continuously slashing out waves of holy light sword qi wherever he went.

"Ah, haha, that’s a student from my school. He usually keeps a low profile, but I didn't expect him to make such a splash today."

Director Wills said with a chuckle.

"Haha, Director Wills is quite lucky. The top two are both in your school. The two from ours... sigh, better not to mention them..."

Vien said with feigned envy.

"But have you noticed? Based on their current paths, the two groups might meet very soon,"

Salas noted.

Sure enough, the paths of the two teams were about to intersect.

"Director Wills, although your school’s paladin gentleman is quite capable, facing two people alone might be a bit too much for him to handle,"

Vien said, beginning to gloat.

"Sigh, we'll just have to see his own luck."

At the same time, Director Wills sighed inwardly, feeling that Jiang Lin had indeed been too overconfident this time. If he had teamed up with Anya, then taking first place for the team category would have been no problem.

As time passed, the two groups finally met. Everyone turned their attention back to them, enlarging the projection to watch.

"This paladin gentleman's combat experience is quite rich. It seems your school has taught him well."

"Such fast reaction time. It’s just a pity he encountered another pair of seed players so early."

"His sword qi is quite strong; it should be the famous 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】, right? But unfortunately, he probably can't sustain that kind of consumption for long."

"Eh? Why is Frederick on the ground?"

Soon, a turning point appeared. The Morning Star Academy duo, who had originally held the advantage from a high position, were now at a disadvantage in a two-on-one situation.

For a moment, the entire meeting room fell silent.

Seeing everyone's silence, Director Wills, who had been quiet until now, said cheerfully:

"Hehe, our Radiant Academy places great importance on cultivating student Jiang Lin. His combat literacy has always been excellent."

As the two teams clashed again, Director Wills saw the scene on the projection and suddenly stopped talking.

That berserker... what... happened to him??

What kind of bizarre skill did Jiang Lin use??

Only the gold badge knight Salas knew what was happening.

However, he had undergone professional training and usually wouldn't expose it.

Then, a scene occurred that caused everyone present to experience a mental shock.

Frederick seemed to have abandoned all self-respect. With his pants burned off and his 【Berserk】 active, he charged at Jiang Lin while completely exposed. This abstract image looked incredibly bizarre in the now quiet and serious meeting room.

Next came the mage's explosion, who also attacked Jiang Lin with total disregard for his image.

However, even under such an attack, Jiang Lin remained composed and didn't seem to be struggling too much. He even used more holy light sword qi, as if he hadn't consumed any energy at all.

After trading skills for a while, he caught a opening in the opponent’s rage and took out the undefended Eli first, blasting him with several waves of sword qi until he lost his ability to fight.

The meeting room became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Then, facing the berserker’s relentless pursuit, Jiang Lin hid a defense-ignoring golden skill within the storm of holy light sword qi. Frederick’s running body suddenly stiffened, as if his legs were unbalanced, and he slammed hard into the ground.

Salas could roughly guess what the skill was. It was likely Jiang Lin's toxic healer skill, applying a strengthening technique to only one of the enemy's legs.

He had seen this method of using strengthening techniques before; it was considered quite normal among toxic healers. It was easy to solve: one could use a debuff on oneself, use a strengthening technique on the other leg, or rely on powerful body control to adapt quickly.

Experts at their level would usually choose the third method. After all, at their level, their perception of their own muscles was terrifyingly high, and they could adapt to a strengthened limb almost instantly.

However, for this group of students who hadn't even reached rank-1, it was a bit too much.

Jiang Lin took the opportunity to close in, placing his holy light longsword against the other's throat.

With that, the match was decided!

However, the meeting room remained strangely quiet. Everyone stared silently at the indescribable scene on the projection, sharing a collective silence.

Frederick’s brother, in particular, had a face as dark as water. Seeing his exposed brother, the dark lines on his face were even more severe than when he discovered his brother couldn't read a map.