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Editor’s note: the novel is intriguing, but let me bitchslap Paladin once, just once! (I lied, I want to slap him countless times) He's already this inhumane and we still have so many chapters to go. :D
TL note: Same<(￣︶￣)↗
Taking out the quill and inking it, Paladin laid down on the ground to draw the Philosopher's Stone alchemy circle on the ground. Drawing from memory, Paladin's flawless sketching was completed. He looked at it quite complacently. Paladin was about to turn around and palace a child on the magic circle when he heard something. The previously sleepy child lying on the top with closed eyes suddenly opened his eyes. He jumped out of the sandbag with unmatched agility. With a piece of broken glass that had been hidden in his hand for quite some time, he stabbed viciously at Paladin who was squatting down!
Paladin’s hair instantly pricked up. With horror inside his eyes, he subconsciously jumped back, trying to avoid the sharp glass. Who would have known that the child was very agile? Seeing that he missed, he didn't stop. He kicked his feet to catch up with Paladin's speed. The sharp glass in his hand went straight to Paladin's eye socket!
Death! Paladin could clearly sense death approaching. At this point, Paladin's desire to survive outweighed all other desires, prompting him to scream in horror, "DON’T!"
Paladin's foot accidentally tripped over the hand of an unconscious beggar, causing the former's center of gravity to shift and making him fall to the ground. The beggar had also made up his mind to kill the young priest. When he saw Paladin fall to the ground, he changed the posture of his wrist and stabbed down fiercely. Paladin continued to move backwards with his hands on the floor, avoiding the boy's blade.
In horror, he begged, "Please, please! Don't kill me, I don't want to die! What do you want? I'll give it to you!"
Hearing this, the boy who missed the hit spit out in disgust. Without responding, when he saw Paladin retreating to the wall, he immediately leaped and attempted to stab the desperate Paladin.
"NO!"
Following Paladin's horrifying scream, Paladin subconsciously stretched out his right hand, seeing that the sharp glass was about to pierce his neck, and grasped the sharp glass in the boy's hand. The boy was stunned. The sharp glass was firmly held by the priest but neither his flesh nor skin were torn. Not a single drop of blood was spilled.
What surprised him even more was that the pupils of the priest, who was huddled in the corner at this moment, were emitting a dazzling golden light. The entire eyeballs were bathed in golden light. Shining bright in this dark basement, it was difficult to look at.
Shocked, Paladin glanced at the firmly grasped blade. Suddenly, he recalled that his hand was fused with golden light elements. His original frightened and desperate expression changed instantly.
"Go to hell!" he said, with a crazy and playful eerie smile.
In an instant, the table had been turned. The boy saw Paladin exert force and rubbed his hand. The glass shard instantly turned into powder. Paladin looked at the boy whose eyes were filled with disbelief. Dissatisfied with the movements of his hands, Paladin’s right hand was instantly wrapped in golden light magic elements and transformed into a pair of gloves with five light knives. Ruthlessly, he shoved it in front of the boy's face.
The boy, who had never seen this kind of ability, panicked. However, the advantage lies in the agility of his body and the fact that Paladin wasn’t good at close combat. Paladin attacked back and forth dozens of times but surprisingly, the teenager managed to dodge every single time.
"Bastard, continuing to dodge! Want to escape, huh?"
Somewhat exasperated and tired, Paladin attacked again. Unexpectedly, the boy, who had gradually calmed down, picked up the pole that was originally used to carry logs on the ground. With that one stick, he swung it to Paladin's face fiercely. Paladin grabbed the wooden stick. His angry eyes transformed into ecstasy in an instant. He couldn't stop laughing.
"I’m so stupid, so stupid!"
Paladin completely ignored the solemnity of the boy's gaze and stretched out his right hand. The light that was originally condensed on his fingers disappeared, vanished, and deformed. It turned into a lightsaber that was more than three feet long and made of golden light. Seeing this, the young boy's face changed drastically. He was about to run away when Paladin sneered and said, "Trying to run? It's too late!"
In fact, Paladin never knew his magic element well enough. When he saw the boy hitting him with a wooden stick, he realized that the magic elements' form was constantly changing, so he didn't have to stick to claws. Then, driven by his thoughts, these elements morphed on his arms. Very obediently gathering together, obeying Paladin's ideas. And then, it formed a sword.
The boy couldn't dodge in time. As a result, his wrist was severed by Paladin's sword. Before the boy had the chance to cry out in pain, Paladin grinned and slashed his sword again on the boy's knee. The boy finally fell to his knees as he cried out in pain. With a wave of his hand, the sword made of light in Paladin's hand scattered. He stuffed the rag used to stuff the wine barrel into the boy's mouth so hard that he couldn't even scream.
Hearing the boy, who was lying in the pool of blood, whimpering out of pain, Paladin indifferently dragged him and the other three into the magic circle. He was so excited. Skillfully, he poured water on the edge of the center of the circle, lit a fire, blew some wind, sprinkled some soil, and then stepped into the center of the circle. Ready to bite his finger to activate the circle with his own blood. Although the boy who had lost a lot of blood had no idea what the terrifying priest was going to do, he had a vague feeling that his life was in grave danger.
In a trance, he glanced at the crazed and excited Paladin. The boy was barely able to raise his remaining hand to remove the rag from his mouth. At his dying moment, when he felt death approaching, his pale lips trembled. He could only utter a weak, "Why…?"
Paladin stopped his hands and turned to face the boy. Instead of becoming enraged because the other party removed the cloth, he said disdainfully, "You won't understand and you will never understand."
The boy’s expression weakened even more. He weakly asked, "Why? I am… innocent…."
"This matter has absolutely nothing to do with you."
Squinting, Paladin looked down at the boy. He wasn't looking at a person right now; he was looking at an inferior creature. The contempt in those eyes was palpable. But right now, the boy who had a pale and angry face smiled nostalgically. Almost like a parting last word, he said, "I have a mother who’s waiting for me to go home…. and she will miss me day and night, sob.”
When Paladin heard this, he couldn't stop laughing. He sarcastically said, "That's why you're lying here now, weakling."
Paladin bit his finger and drew an inverted cross in the center of the circle. When the action was completed, the magic circle immediately roared while emitting a strange dazzling light.
Feeling that his strength and thinking ability were being devoured by an invisible big mouth, the boy took one last look at the man who had ruined his life, this crazy priest. However, he only saw the priest standing up in the center, the inverted cross under his feet. His arms were opened in a welcoming manner while his face was filled with indescribable joy.
"My entire life has been a joke." The boy, who had only believed in kindness and happiness in his heart all his life, muttered to himself. Finally, his empty eyes were closed forever.