Lord of Glory

"Ow ow ow ow!" Aberleigh felt a rush of unbridled pleasure as he watched these humans flee in panic and fear. Aberleigh excitedly barked at the three mercenaries who were slowly running away, mocking these arrogant humans.

However, something suddenly slapped him from behind. Before Aberleigh could react, the power contained in the slap sent his entire huge body flying before falling onto the grass in the distance.

"Ow-ho-ho!" Aberleigh was naturally upset after being attacked out of the blue. He stood up angrily and roared in the direction he had just flown from. He wanted to see who had the audacity to attack him.

"You fool!" Paladin's skinny body stood in the said spot. While slightly shaking his ordinary palm, Paladin’s three eyes that glowed golden were staring straight at Aberleigh.

"Wow um." Aberleigh's heart trembled. He immediately whined, begging for mercy once again as he knelt on the ground. He didn’t have the courage to look directly at Paladin, whose terrifying three golden eyes were still fixed on him. Paladin took off the gloves he had just put on as he glanced sideways at the fleeing mercenaries before disdainfully saying, "What a trash, howling is all you can do. Watch carefully!"

Paladin casually raised his right hand at the end of his sentence. Two light arrows, each containing 100 magic elements, instantly condensed in front of him. When he narrowed his eyes, the two light arrows were launched. However, Paladin did not simply launch them as is. He raised his left hand as the light arrows were launched. Several arcs of light flashed in the palm of his hand.

"Run!" The female mercenary got separated from the others while trying to run away. Suddenly, she felt a strong sense of danger coming from behind that sent a chill down her nape. When she turned around to look, she witnessed two of her companions’ bewildered faces as two magic arrows emitting golden light each struck their backs. Their bodies were torn apart by the arrow. Without even having the chance to scream, they exploded into a mass of mush, splattering in all directions.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The female mercenary's body was pushed to the ground by the air wave created by her companions' exploding bodies. The entirety of the clothes and armor on her body were covered with thick blood and mutilated internal organs. She looked at her red hands with fearful and disoriented eyes and once again fell into extreme panic.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Shut up! Shut up, you woman!"

Paladin aimed the violent arcs of light at the female mercenary from afar. The arcs of light flickered for a split second before shooting out at breakneck speed! Before the female mercenary could react, four or five golden chains appeared and wrapped around her entire body.

"What is this?! Let go! Help!"

Paladin simply ignored the woman's yells. He clenched his left fist slightly before violently yanking the chains closer. The chains that bound the female mercenary instantly glowed. Her entire body fell uncontrollably to the ground, as if being grabbed and dragged back by invisible big hands. She was dragged until she was at Paladin’s feet.

"Please, you are a priest! I apologize for what happened just now, please don't kill me!"

Paladin squatted down and looked into the female mercenary's eyes, which still had a glimmer of hope as she begged for mercy. From the heart to his entire body, an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and superiority spread. Enjoying this wonderful sense of dominance, Paladin smiled and asked the female mercenary, "Tell me, where is this place?"

"Edley..."

The female mercenary gazed at the golden eye that was magically floating on Paladin's forehead, swaying and beaming above her. Her heart was filled with awe, but when she thought of the tragedy that had befallen her companions, she immediately spoke up, "Go straight ahead, and you’ll find a river. There are two bridges. Take the one on the right and you'll arrive at Edley."

"Really?"

"It's true, I swear! Just please let me go!"

Paladin saw the female mercenary's pleading gaze and felt like she was telling the truth. Just when he was about to get up and end this one’s life, Paladin suddenly heard a jumble of unpleasant murmurs.

"Don't kill me!"

"Hey, the little guy is so cute."

"Captain, this sword is really bad."

"Mom, I want to eat candy."

Paladin's body shook. He frowned and asked, "What are these sounds?"

"Huh?"

With a puzzled look on her face, the female mercenary tried to convince Paladin that those sounds had nothing to do with her. However, when Paladin listened attentively, he could clearly hear that all these jumbled voices were coming from the female mercenary!

He felt as if he had discovered a fortune. Paladin crouched down once more. Sure enough, the noises increased in volume. Just as the female mercenary became perplexed by Paladin's actions, the latter suddenly grabbed her chin and drew her face closer to him. The golden light in his eyes became more and more intense. The All-Seeing Eye on his forehead looked at the creature in front of him as if it had come to life. At this moment, Paladin was able to see many images through the eyes of this flustered and bewildered female mercenary. These images depict the female mercenary's memories spanning more than 20 years, from childhood to the present.

"What are you doing…?"

The female mercenary stared at the humanoid monster's three terrifying golden eyes. Her heart became filled with an extremely unpleasant sensation and began to pound fast.

"Hmm? Is your heart racing?" Paladin's golden eyes narrowed slightly. Suddenly, he put force in his hand that was holding the female’s mercenary’s chin and jerked it, forcing her to raise her head. As Paladin lowered his head, his three golden eyes were locked dead-on into the female mercenary's eyes. He then whispered, "Look into my eyes."

Right now, Paladin felt as if he had been suddenly plunged into another dimension. Back into his dreamscape, he saw the stone plate that led to the tunnel between the torrents.The difference this time was that all that flashed around were all the memories of this female mercenary. Memories from her childhood, memories from her teens, memories from being a mercenary, and of course, memories that showed the way to Edley that Paladin wanted. However, Paladin then felt a flash of light before his eyes and came back to reality again. Right away, he felt a headache and a stabbing pain in his temples as if stabbed by needles. However, unlike Paladin, the female mercenary was out of luck.

The female mercenary felt like she was standing in front of a beach. The boundless golden seawater dyed the sky a golden yellow. As the sky wrapped around her tiny existence, her entire being was explored by the violent and powerful golden color. As a result, her consciousness gradually blurred.

"Waaahhhhh!" The female mercenary let out a scream while covering her eyes with her hands desperately. Bursts of black smoke together with a strong burnt smell emerged from beneath her closed eyelids. Her clear eyes had most likely turned into a black gooey substance by this point. Paladin suppressed his headache and stood up slowly. Looking at the female mercenary who was rolling on the ground while crying bitterly, he disgustedly said, "You lied to me. Can you bear the price of deceiving me?"

When he looked at this woman's memory as if reading a book, Paladin knew that the correct route to Edley was via the bridge on the left. The bridge on the right would only make him go further and further away from Edley.

Obviously, the female mercenary who was in pain was unable to hear anything Paladin had said. Paladin didn't care. He opened his palm slightly and clasped her face at once. Immediately, a large number of golden light magic elements gathered in the palm of his hands. After that, Paladin apathetically whispered, "Get purified in the blazing fire."

With a boom, the female mercenary was suddenly engulfed in a raging golden fire. Under such golden flames, even her hardest armor melted into molten iron. It was obvious what’d happen to the fleshy body of the female mercenary. Her body, as well as the grass beneath her, solidified into coal fragments not long after. What about her skeleton? It was reduced to ashes too.