Chapter 78 - Battle With The Paladin [1]
Jake stopped near the underground river and called Irene using Magipathy. She had learnt Mana Communication from Lena, so she could reply.
‘Master, is it really a paladin?’
‘Indeed, he is.’
Jake looked at the man in front of him. Ash was a tall, oblong-faced man in his late twenties. He was equipped with a Rare weapon, and was in full-plate white armor.
Coming inside the dungeon, Ash frowned in discomfort. What was this place? Too foul. It had to be a dungeon. He concluded.
Looking at the demon which was not fleeing, Ash shot forward. He used his strongest attack from the start.
”Sword of Judgment!”
Ash’s weapon glowed in a brilliant, golden light as he slashed Jake using all his strength. Against a demon, he was taught to not hesitate. Otherwise, the demon would tempt or trick him.
Jake was not expecting this paladin to go all out. That light coming from Ash’s sword made him feel like death was approaching. He tightly gripped his scythe and hit the ground with its handle.
[Sphere of Darkness]
A thick, black shadow burst from him and enveloped his figure. The glowing sword clashed with the black shadow.
Ting!
The attacks nullified each other as they both were Unique skills. Equipping Black Reaper, Jake’s physical attributes were boosted, so he pushed the paladin back.
Wasting no time, he cast his new offensive spell.
[Shadow Spears]
”Banishing Ray!”
Both of their attacks met midair. The raw divine power and mana chaotically spread in the air. Jake and Ash again converged towards each other.
Inside Jake’s room, Lena panicked and told the priestesses to go help master. A paladin this near the dungeon core made her worried to no extent. It was like a bug had entered her belly. She wanted that foreign, holy creature to go away at once.
Irene cast several Uncommon buffs on herself to increase her speed and go toward her master. She was bringing the Hell Knight with her.
Near the underground river, Jake used flight and then used [Demonic Grasp] on the paladin. Losing his footing, Ash found himself unable to channel his full strength to his sword.
He opted to use spells and cast Cleansing Touch the moment he reached closer to the demon. However, Jake was one step faster in using [Blood Control]. The paladin’s blood began boiling, and he had no choice but to stop his casting.
Jake stopped using [Demonic Grasp] and Ash fell on the floor. But his physique was better than most humans because of his training and he was not hurt.
Ash realized that this was no ordinary demon. To fend off his Sword of Judgment, and even affect him with magic, Jake was powerful.
‘A noble demon… the most dangerous kind… He has lots of spells in his arsenal.’ It didn’t take long for Ash to know this point.
If that was so, then he had to inform the diocese about this. The dungeon seemed to have spawned for a long time, considering how foul the aura here was. Ash sensed the mana of this place using his Divine Sense and realized that it was a tier 1 dungeon already.
”Demon, you are a coward. Leading me to thi-”
[Dark Fire]
[Explosion]
Jake’s both hands glowed with mana as he simultaneously cast two of his most offensive skills. Immediately, Ash’s clothes and body began burning. A minor explosion also boomed in the air in front of him, throwing him back.
The paladin was trying to taunt the demon and lure him out of the dungeon. However, Jake was not like some third-rate villain who would listen and even have a conversation with his opponent.
He saw an opportunity; he struck. Cowardice or bravery, nothing mattered.
Whoosh!
Jake shot forward while rapidly regenerating his mana. He expertly swung his scythe at his opponent who was disoriented. However, Ash Harley wouldn’t be a paladin if he could not react quickly in the face of danger.
With the deathly blade of the scythe right before his neck, his over 400 Will burst out and he used the [Holy Shield], a unique defensive skill only available to Paladins and Bishops.
Clang!
Sparks lit up in the air as Jake’s attack met with the materialized white shield. A shock wave rang out, pushing both of them back.
Jake’s Black Reaper vibrated and his hand went numb. An exclusive Unique skill was powerful, indeed. No wonder paladins were the most troublesome humans. They were physically strong and could also cast divine spells.
At this moment, a female voice resounded in the area.
”Thorny Red Vines!”
Jakes ears perked as he heard this. Irene was using a control-type spell used to restrict the opponent. She made her stance clear by going the support route from the start. Jake was the damage dealer here.
[Icicle Rain]!
He did not lose this opportunity and stretched his hand toward the ceiling. His mana burst from his palm and mixed with the mana of the surroundings.
Above him, the mixed mana first condensed into large water droplets. They then froze into shards of ice and fell on toward the paladin, who was speedily cutting the vines binding him.
”Ack!”
Icicles scraped his clothing and pierced his body. Ash stopped cutting the vines and plunged his sword on the ground.
A pure, white halo burst from his position and spread radially outwards. Jake found his skin getting redder and his blood vessels about to burst when the divine power touched him. He ran out of the halo’s range and looked back.
”Ring of Protection!”
The vines and the icicles disintegrated into pure mana which the Divine Power swept far away. The paladin stood straight and pulled his glowing sword. It almost looked like a holy weapon. The visual effect was stunning.
‘Tch, that’s why I don’t like paladins. Overpowered as fuck.’ Jake rose to the air while cursing Ash.
He burned a lot of his mana and used [Flight] to the maximum. Swinging his Black Reaper, Jake went straight to attack the paladin from the air.