Chapter 99 | Paladin Class: Awakening the Strongest Demon System

Soon, half an hour passed.

The voluptuous woman from before was now slumped on the ground like a dead dog.

"She" murmured weakly:

"Please, kill me... Please, give me a swift end...

"I'll do anything you want..."

"Remember, no lying. If we find out later that even a single word you said was false, I can keep playing these games with you forever.

"Right now, we're short on time, so I only played with you for half an hour. Your subordinates, however, played with me for at least two hours!"

Jiang Lin threatened her.

At the same time, he activated the 【Blood Deterrence】 effect of the 【Crimson Slaughterer】 on her.

The "attack helicopter" collapsed on the ground was now utterly bewildered.

Clearly, this guy seemed far more evil than she was.

His methods of torture were so varied, and the faint mountain of corpses and sea of blood behind him proved he was definitely no saint.

Why was he allowed to be a member of the Temple, living openly in the light, while she could only live like a rat in the shadows, loathed by man and beast?

However, "she" still hurriedly said:

"I understand, I understand! Please, just give me a swift end, sir!"

Jiang Lin slapped her across the face.

"Give you a swift end now? Then how would I account for the innocent people you killed?"

Few cultists who managed to climb to such a position were clean; basically, they all deserved to die a thousand deaths.

However, Jiang Lin noticed that after he slapped her, an inexplicable look of excitement actually flickered across her face.

But that excitement was quickly replaced by fear.

Jiang Lin looked at the person and curled his lip, no longer wanting to say anything.

This one was truly beyond saving.

After finishing the basic interrogation, Jiang Lin glanced at the sturdy man.

The sturdy man understood and took out the "cosmos bag" that could store living things from his robe, stuffing the "attack helicopter" inside.

"Let's go, strike while the iron is hot."

Jiang Lin sighed.

The two quickly cleared the traces in the room and put back the items scattered during the fight.

The bed that had been smashed was repaired by Jiang Lin using magic.

Magic was truly such a convenient thing!

Even the flawed soundproofing arrays carved on the floor were repaired back to their original state by the sturdy man.

After completing all this, the sturdy man removed the soundproofing and isolation arrays he had set up, restoring the room to its initial appearance.

Then, they pushed open the door of the small room and returned to the empty main warehouse.

The warehouse was silent, with only the dark red magic crystals on the walls emitting a faint glow.

The sacrificial array in the center looked particularly eerie in the dim light.

Following the clues provided by the "attack helicopter," they walked to the wall on the left side of the array.

The wall looked perfectly normal, just a patch of mottled stone bricks.

He reached out and tapped on specific bricks in a rhythm of three long and one short.

Thump, thump, thump—thump.

A faint mechanical sound clicked, and the wall silently slid open, revealing a gap just wide enough for one person to pass.

Behind the gap was a set of stone steps leading down into the darkness.

This was the direction the two people from earlier had disappeared.

Jiang Lin entered sideways first, with the sturdy man following closely behind.

The stone steps weren't long. After about a dozen steps, they reached a narrow corridor.

There was a heavy wooden door on each side of the corridor.

The door on the left was carved with runes—complex, obscure runes with shadows faintly flowing through them. This was the purple-robed mage's room.

The door on the right was simple and crude, just a plain wooden door. It was likely the bald warrior's quarters.

Faint whimpering and the creaking of beds came from both rooms.

These two high-ranking members of the Pleasure Cult, like the "attack helicopter," were also following the core tenet of their cult's doctrine.

Namely—indulgence.

In their respective rooms, both of them had some kidnapped "sacrifices."

It had been a while since the meeting ended, and they had returned to their rooms in the stronghold specifically to enjoy these "sacrifices" who were about to be offered up.

Jiang Lin listened to the indescribable sounds coming from behind the doors while exchanging looks with his companion.

Finally, the two nodded to each other, deciding to stick to their original battle plan.

During the interrogation earlier, after repeatedly confirming the levels of the purple-robed mage and the bald man, Jiang Lin and the sturdy man had divided the labor.

The sturdy man would deal with the peak 4th-rank purple-robed mage, while Jiang Lin would intercept the peak 3rd-rank bald warrior.

Jiang Lin's feat of defeating a level 30 king-tier demonic beast had already ensured he could maneuver with ease against early 3rd-rank opponents.

And the fight with the "attack helicopter" just now also made him feel that he would have no problem staying alive against a useless 4th-rank.

So now, facing the peak 3rd-rank bald warrior, Jiang Lin should be fully capable of stalling for a while.

The sturdy man moved noiselessly to the wooden door on the left, which was covered in shadow runes.

He took a deep breath, the earthy-yellow magic essence inside him beginning to flow slowly as his muscles tensed slightly.

Dealing with a peak 4th-rank mage wasn't too difficult for him.

As long as the opponent wasn't a genius on his level, he could beat them easily.

However, he had to end the battle as quickly as possible to go and support Jiang Lin.

Otherwise, he worried that with Jiang Lin's peak 1st-rank strength, he wouldn't be able to last long while challenging a peak 3rd-rank across two major ranks.

Although Jiang Lin looked confident, the sturdy man asked himself—back when he was peak 1st-rank and had just received the mission from the God, he definitely didn't have the strength to duel a peak 3rd-rank.

Much of his foundation was only gradually accumulated after becoming an apostle of god.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lin arrived in front of the ordinary wooden door on the right.

He held his breath and lightly rested his hand on the door panel.

Jiang Lin looked back at the sturdy man, saw that he was ready, and nodded.

The next moment, they acted simultaneously!

The sturdy man gave a low growl, a blinding earthy-yellow light exploding from his right fist as he charged into the left door like a cannonball!

Amidst flying wood chips, the sturdy man's figure rushed into the room, lunging straight at the figure on the bed engaged in indescribable activities!

At almost the exact same time, Jiang Lin also slammed open the right wooden door. The eight-colored longsword instantly condensed in his hand, its tip pointing straight at the equally naked bald warrior on the bed!

"Enemy attack—!!!"

The bald warrior reacted extremely quickly, instantly realizing that things had gone south.

However, he was currently in his most vulnerable state. Trying to transition instantly to his peak combat state was still somewhat difficult.

What happened?

How did someone enter the passage without triggering any alarms?!

Did they know the code to the secret passage?

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind before he clearly saw the intruder's face.

It was one of the two people who had been called to the "attack helicopter's" room earlier!

Dammit! That cursed tranny kept causing trouble for the two of them!!

Wasn't there an anti-intrusion code for the secret passage?

If that tranny had told these two the anti-intrusion code, the two of them would have received a notification immediately and adjusted their state to deal with the intruders!!

He roared, having no time to put on clothes. His naked upper body muscles bulged as he sprang from the bed, dodging Jiang Lin's first wave of slashes.

At the same time, Jiang Lin noticed a naked so-called "sacrifice" who had been kidnapped on the bed.

She had already lost all hope, never expecting such a turn of events.

Has someone from the Temple arrived?

Praise the God! She was actually being saved!!

However, she was currently trembling all over from fear, crawling and rolling in an attempt to flee the scene.

Jiang Lin had already approached. Worried that the bald warrior would use this innocent person to threaten him, Jiang Lin spun around and kicked the woman, who was still scrambling on the bed, sending her flying away from the center of the battle.

The woman felt an incredibly powerful push-back sensation, then found her body gliding through the air.

She didn't quite register what was happening, feeling that this Temple savior's way of appearing was a bit different from what she had imagined.

Then she slammed heavily against a nearby wall. The massive recoil caused her already weakened body to spit out a mouthful of blood.

She felt... like she was almost dead.

Soon, her vision went black and she fainted.

On the other side, Jiang Lin engaged the bald warrior.

Although the warrior was shocked and flustered, his reactions were still very fast.

His naked upper body muscles knotted, and a layer of dark red keratinous layer appeared on the surface of his skin, like a suit of crude armor.

Jiang Lin's eight-colored sword qi, infused with a massive amount of mental energy, hacked down, directly shattering a large chunk of this armor.

However, no obvious wound appeared.

I can break through the defense, but I'm just short of a truly effective attack.

Jiang Lin judged quickly in his mind.

He just needed to invest a bit more mental energy or speed up the rhythm of his attacks, and he should be able to land an effective hit.

But he wasn't sure how strong the man's physical defense itself was.

At that moment, the bald warrior roared, his right fist carrying a foul wind as it smashed toward Jiang Lin's face!

The wind from the punch whistled, carrying the terrifying power of a peak 3rd-rank warrior!

Jiang Lin's eyes narrowed as his 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】 instantly activated, with countless future phantoms flickering before him.

A magic essence circuit appeared beneath his feet, and 【Light-speed Dash】 carried him in a side-step slide, narrowly avoiding the heavy punch.

"Boom!"

The bald warrior's fist smashed into the wall behind Jiang Lin, sending stone chips flying and leaving a clear fist print.

At this moment, the bald warrior sensed the aura Jiang Lin was emitting.

"1st-rank?"

He was utterly shocked.

"How does a 1st-rank little bug dare to come here and seek death?!"

After sensing that Jiang Lin's life level was indeed only 1st-rank, the bald warrior suddenly became very confident.

A hideous and arrogant smile appeared on his face.

His offensive came like a violent storm.

Fists, elbow strikes, knee strikes... He abandoned any fancy techniques, suppressing his opponent purely with strength, speed, and combat instinct!

The room was narrow, greatly limiting Jiang Lin's space to dodge.

The eight-colored longsword in his hand turned into streaks of light, constantly blocking and parrying, the sound of clashing metal ringing incessantly.

With every collision, Jiang Lin's arms felt numb, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger throbbed with pain.

A peak 3rd-rank warrior's strength was indeed considerably higher than his own.

However, the opponent's use of technique was far inferior to his.

Essentially, only brute force was keeping him suppressed.

"Kid, is that all you've got?!"

The bald warrior fought more and more fiercely. He found that although Jiang Lin had strange movement techniques, exquisite swordsmanship, and even a strength level approaching the peak of the 2nd-rank.

But 1st-rank was 1st-rank. Without reaching the next life level, the quality of his magic essence simply couldn't compare to his own.

The power of the same skills would only be crushed by him!

This feeling made him feel very secure, and his attacks became even more reckless.

Jiang Lin retreated while fighting, looking distressed, but his eyes were incredibly calm.

With the 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】 running at full capacity, he constantly captured the openings and rhythmic changes in the opponent's attacks.

At this moment, his thought was very simple.

This peak 3rd-rank...

Isn't actually that strong...

The pressure he gives is even less than that king-tier lava great lizard...

It made sense. Although the opponent's level had reached the peak of the 3rd-rank, close to level 40.

But a level 40 transcendent-tier demonic beast could be easily slaughtered by a level 30 king-tier one.

The opponent was only at the level of a transcendent-tier demonic beast among the 3rd-rank.

While he might be slightly stronger than a transcendent-tier demonic beast of the same level, among human adventurers of the 3rd-rank, he truly only belonged to the level of an ordinary person in the transcendent-tier.

As such, there was nothing to fear!

Jiang Lin felt completely at ease!

Consequently, his moves became even more bold and uninhibited!

At that moment, a holy light appeared behind him. It was his mount—the Shadow of Blood!

However, it hadn't had time to update to Jiang Lin's new skin yet. It was still the form Jiang Lin had it copy when he was level 19.

Although the Shadow of Blood was only around level 13, it was still a combat force nonetheless.

In a fight of this level, even if it couldn't do much, it could make the battlefield more chaotic.

Of course, that was only its effect in the Jiang Lin form.

With a thought, Jiang Lin changed the golden, glittering blood clone into the crimson claw-wing form that had claimed the lives of countless cultists.

A hellish demon glowing with golden light appeared, and the bald man looked at the creature lunging at him with surprise.

He threw a punch, his peak 3rd-rank strength slamming into the golden version of the crimson claw-wing Shadow of Blood, punching a large hole right through it.

However, Jiang Lin knew that such a minor injury was not very serious for a creature like a Blood Demon.

Especially for a crimson claw-wing, whose recovery ability was particularly outstanding.

Jiang Lin unleashed several eight-colored sword qi attacks condensed with a large amount of mental energy, breaking through the opponent's defense again, and blood immediately pumped out of the wounds.

This time, Jiang Lin increased the power of the sword qi attacks, causing high damage to the opponent.

At the same time, the golden version of the crimson claw-wing, with a hole in its body, lunged forward.

Like a piece of sticky candy, it clung tightly to the opponent's body and began to viciously gnaw at his wounds.

After a few bites, the large hole in its own body was instantly restored to normal.

Meanwhile, the bald man let out a pained howl.

He began to desperately elbow the crimson claw-wing clinging to him and tried to use some defensive skills to blast it away.

However, all his attempts were in vain.

Because at this moment, the crimson claw-wing had already embedded its sharp claws into his body, and its head was buried in the wound slashed by Jiang Lin, taking large bites.