The Holy Light Unicorn was snow-white all over, its mane appearing to be covered in holy flames, and the unique spiral horn on its forehead pulsed with immense magic power.
As soon as the unicorn stepped out of the light gate, it raised its front hooves high. Pure flames rippled out like waves, forcing back the thick black mist surrounding Matthew.
This Holy Light Unicorn was at the same level as Salas, rank 4, making it a formidable existence even among spirit beasts.
Furthermore, as Salas's mount, the two of them working together could definitely achieve a result where one plus one was greater than two!
This was the most powerful characteristic of knight-type classes: after contracting a mount, every knight was equivalent to two combat units of the same level.
However, contracting a mount was still a distant prospect for Jiang Lin.
One had to wait until at least breaking through to rank 1 before the body could withstand the cost of using a spatial contract.
Usually, it was only at that stage that one could seek out a spirit beast for a contract.
"What is going on with this cultist?"
Salas vaulted onto his horse, his brow furrowed as he looked at Matthew.
Jiang Lin hurried to warn him from the side:
"He seems to be possessed by an evil god. Be careful!"
He was terrified that this gold badge knight might lose due to carelessness.
If even this big shot couldn't handle the opponent, then even if Jiang Lin used every trick up his sleeve, he likely wouldn't have any way to turn the tables and would just have to wait for death.
"Also, this evil god's ability seems to be related to time!" Jiang Lin added before running away from the center of the battlefield, so as not to hinder the two combatants or be caught in the aftershocks.
Upon hearing Jiang Lin's words, Salas's pupils constricted slightly.
Possessed by an evil god?
Was this the kind of thing someone of his level should be involved in?
However, he thought of the level 3 paladin behind him and felt a sense of resignation.
If even a level 3 paladin was dragged into this, it was only logical for someone in their forties like him to encounter it too...
"As long as I am here, you won't harm a single student!"
With a grab at thin air, he pulled a long spear with a tip burning with holy flames from his spatial ring.
With a solemn expression, he pointed the spear tip directly at the black-mist-shrouded Matthew.
However, Matthew had no intention of dealing with Salas at all. He bypassed Salas and charged straight for Jiang Lin.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin's eyes nearly split from rage. He was reaching his breaking point.
Being hunted for no clear reason by an existence whose status was countlessly higher than his—anyone would find it unbearable.
But in the next moment, Jiang Lin felt a massive force from behind. Salas picked him up like a little chick and placed him on his mount, behind his own back.
Before him was thick, sturdy bright-silver armor, and a reassuringly deep voice came from the front:
"Don't be afraid! I'm here!"
Hearing these words that were overflowing with a sense of security, Jiang Lin was so moved he almost cried.
"Little Black, look at him, then look at you. You're a dignified evil god, so why can't you do anything except huff air on my shoulder?"
Once Jiang Lin confirmed he was temporarily safe, he didn't forget to put some pressure on Little Black.
Little Black looked at Jiang Lin expressionlessly while releasing a rank 1 magic essence fluctuation, as if saying:
'I'm just a rank 1 kitten. What do you expect me to do?'
"Do you have some kind of grudge against him?" Salas asked.
Jiang Lin wanted to cry but had no tears:
"No! I don't know him at all! And I have no connection to these evil gods!"
At this point, Jiang Lin suddenly had a realization:
"Holy crap, Little Black, is this guy your enemy? Did he come looking for you?"
Little Black said with certainty:
'Absolutely not. If it were my enemy, I would recognize its aura. Besides, that ability to control time is extremely rare among evil gods. I haven't even heard of an evil god awakening such a power before.'
Jiang Lin was suspicious: "Really?"
Little Black's gaze was firm: 'Positive!'
Jiang Lin said no more. After all, there was no way to verify it. If it was true, he could only blame his own bad luck for being stuck with such a liability.
Ending his brief mental communication with Little Black, Jiang Lin shouted toward the front:
"I have no grievance or enmity with you! Why do you want me dead?!"
Unfortunately, the opponent wasn't the type of villain who liked to chatter before acting. After all, a villain like that wouldn't live long enough to reach its level of power.
It glared fiercely at Jiang Lin and then lunged toward the two of them.
Simultaneously, a ring of black mist, condensed as if it were solid, appeared around Jiang Lin and Salas. A moment later, it suddenly contracted inward.
Salas's face turned grave as he let out a low shout:
"Divine Grace!"
A thin shield flickered into existence, protecting the two of them. Then, the holy flame spear in his hand erupted with even more brilliant light. With a sudden sweep forward accompanied by a piercing screech, he tore a gap in the ring of black mist.
The Holy Light Unicorn leaped forward, carrying Jiang Lin and Salas away from the attack.
But Matthew's attack fell again.
The black mist around him churned violently, transforming into several pitch-black tentacles that tore through the air with ear-piercing shrieks, aiming straight for the vital points of Salas and the unicorn.
Salas maintained his distance while his spear danced, precisely striking every incoming black tentacle.
Holy flames collided with the decaying black mist, producing a sizzling sound and the muffled pops of energy annihilation.
The Holy Light Unicorn also let out a long neigh. The horn on its forehead emitted a massive amount of magic power, forming shields to protect the vitals of itself and the two people on its back.
Because he had Jiang Lin's intel about the opponent's time-control ability, Salas's tactics were relatively conservative to prevent the enemy from using a "time freeze" to hard-control him.
If even he fell, the other Temple members present would have almost no chance of defeating the opponent. At that point, the thousands of students present would likely lose their lives.
Consequently, the pressure on Salas was immense.
However, as an evil god, the opponent shouldn't be so blatant about running wild in a place protected by a righteous god.
Now that the opponent's aura was exposed, it shouldn't be long before the seven gods could send down divine punishment to eliminate it.
Clearly, the evil god possessing Matthew knew this as well.
Seeing that Salas's frontal defense was nearly impenetrable, it chose to unleash its strongest ability. Using a secret technique, it began to burn the life force of this body.
Unfortunately, Matthew himself would probably never know that his one instance of being possessed would result in eternal sleep.
As Matthew's life burned away, the power the evil god could use increased once more.
With a single step, its original figure suddenly blurred, leaving a spectral afterimage in place. The true body bypassed Salas's frontal defense at an incredible angle, lunging toward Jiang Lin in the back.
Jiang Lin felt a bone-chilling killing intent instantly envelop him. The shadow of death had never been clearer.
Almost purely by instinct, he unleashed the 【Light Blade】 he had just mastered to the superlative peak yesterday. He poured magic essence into the holy light sword as if it cost nothing, while desperately twisting his body to the side to avoid a direct hit.
"Vrrrrm—!"
A beam of holy sword light, compressed to its limit and appearing almost physical, erupted from the tip of Jiang Lin's sword with the brilliance of a lone star!
"Hmph, a mantis trying to stop a carriage!"
The evil-god-possessed Matthew snorted in disdain.
To think he would try to resist with an attack of this level—how delusional!
If it had been that strengthening spell from before, he might have had to waste some effort, but he didn't care about an attack like this at all.
The black mist churned, preparing to block Jiang Lin's sword qi.
However, that was when the unexpected happened.
The sword qi, which should have collided with the black mist and dissipated, passed straight through it this time. With incredible speed, it vanished into Matthew's body.
Matthew's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
This attack... wasn't a simple sword qi!
It was hundreds of 【Low-level Strengthening · Jetting Aura】 hidden inside a single sword qi!!
The outer layer of sword qi was blocked by his defense, but the strengthening spells, relying on their property of ignoring defenses, bypassed his protection and hit him again!!
He had actually suffered twice in a row from the same trick?!
Since the cooldown for time reversal hadn't ended yet, he had no room to undo this!
Furthermore, the number of strengthening spells this time reached a staggering several hundred. Trying to condense negative skills to resist them now, as he had done before, was too late!!
Infuriated, the evil god possessing Matthew unleashed his strongest attack by burning life force before the strengthening spells could take effect.
Ring after ring of profound and complex, eerie runes appeared before him. A thick black pillar of light erupted from the center of these bizarre magic circles.
The black pillar of light carried an aura that could corrode anything, radiating violent energy as it surged toward Jiang Lin.
The violent energy shockwave expanded, tearing up and cracking the ground along its path, looking like a scene of apocalypse.
However, several layers of defense had already risen in front of Jiang Lin.
The earth churned as thick earthen walls rose—these were defensive spells cast by nearby mages and priests who were now frantically pouring magic essence into the walls to reinforce them.
Shields also rose—these were defensive spells cast by priests who had finished their chants from a distance.
The pitch-black light pillar collided with these defenses. These layers held for a moment but couldn't withstand the frenzied assault.
However, they served as a buffer, significantly weakening the light pillar's power.
Layers of defense also rose around Jiang Lin's body, and various attribute protections were applied to him. Clearly, the priests in the distance had realized that this cultist was aiming for the boy.
【Wind's Protection · Buffer Resistance】
【Earth's Protection · Defense Boost】
【Wood's Protection · Healing Aura】
...
Skills that were originally intended for Salas were transferred to Jiang Lin.
Unfortunately, while there were many spells, they were ultimately a bit rushed and couldn't fully block the attack.
In a stroke of luck, by the time the final shield was broken, the attack had been reduced to a level Jiang Lin could withstand.
In Jiang Lin's final memory, he felt a massive impact. His body erupted in sharp pain, and then everything began to spin. He heard various cries of "Holy shit!" from the surroundings, including a very close "Holy shit!" from the rank 4 paladin, Salas.
Then, Jiang Lin's world fell into darkness as he lost consciousness completely.
...
Seizing the opportunity, Salas finished off Matthew—who had exhausted his power and, for some reason, had suffered a disaster at his rear. Salas leaped down from the unicorn and removed his cold, metallic helmet, revealing a young, handsome face.
It was a face with sharp eyebrows and starry eyes that held a determined gaze, topped with a golden-yellow slicked-back hairstyle and a small tuft of stubble on the chin. Though he looked young, he gave off a very reliable sense of security.
At this moment, he was looking solemnly at Matthew's slumped corpse.
He didn't quite understand why Matthew, who had been so fierce just a moment ago, would suddenly lose control of his bowels and fall into total disarray.
He had already noticed that what had possessed Matthew wasn't the evil god's entire consciousness, but only a portion of its divine sense; otherwise, it wouldn't have self-destructed so decisively.
From this perspective, the opponent was definitely an old-timer evil god.
He also didn't understand why such an evil god would be so obsessed with killing a level 3 boy.
But that evil god was indeed terrifying. Even with just a fragment of divine sense possessing a student, it could unleash power sufficient to rival him.
The specific details would have to be investigated later. For now, as the core of this group of Temple staff, he needed to take command of the situation.
The training ground was currently a mess. Temple staff were still maintaining order and evacuating the students.
A few students seemed to be friends of that boy and were trying to rush over to check on him.
However, the remaining silver badge knights were no pushovers. Although they couldn't help in the fight just now, they were more than capable of handling these students who hadn't even reached rank 1 yet, helping to maintain the scene and prevent further damage.
But a tall figure with golden hair and golden eyes said something unknown to the silver badge knight blocking her, causing him to hesitate. He looked toward his boss as if seeking help.
Seeing his boss nod, the silver badge knight let the girl through.
"Cousin!" Anya called out to Salas.
If one looked closely, one could see a slight resemblance between Anya and Salas. However, Salas's features were more rugged, while Anya's were softer. Both were exceptionally attractive.
It could be said that the genetics of Anya's family were quite outstanding to produce two such excellent paladins simultaneously.
Salas's Holy Light Unicorn was now standing beside the supine Jiang Lin, pressing its spiral horn against his body. The glow of magic power pulsed slightly, and the holy flames burning in its mane spread down the horn to Jiang Lin's body.
It wasn't trying to cremate Jiang Lin early or make a barbecue out of him; it was using its innate ability to heal his injuries.
As the holy flames burned, Jiang Lin's deep, bone-exposing wounds began to recover at a startling speed.
At the same time, several white-robed priests ran out from the crowd, looking at the boy who was only level 3 yet had been hunted by a cultist with rank 4 combat power.
Seeing that his life was not in danger, the priests breathed a collective sigh of relief.
A soft white light then glowed in their palms as they assisted Lord Salas's Holy Light Unicorn in treating Jiang Lin's wounds.
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