Immortal Paladin

021 Strongest Strike

What kind of skills would a Paladin lack? Movement techniques. I had two or three that enhanced my speed, but none that could let me flicker through the battlefield like a sword cultivator or an assassin. And in this duel, sheer speed was a fool’s gambit—Jiang Zhen’s confidence suggested he could be faster.

He smirked. “What are you waiting for? The festival might end before you even make a move.”

I ignored his taunts. In Lost Legends Online, skills fell into three categories:

Cooldown Restricted– Limited only by time before they could be used again.Resource Restricted– Dependent on mana, stamina, or other expendable energy.Both + Extra Conditions– Having both cooldowns and resource costs, plus additional limitations.Ultimate Skills like Divine Word and Judgment Severance belonged to the third category—and their restrictions were absurd. They consumed a rare resource called Spell Slots, which were painfully difficult to replenish. I had only three, and once spent, it would take over a day to restore them. Worse still, Judgment Severance had an eight-hour cooldown.

If I had my way, I’d unleash Judgment Severance thrice and pummel this old man into the dirt. But the game devs had been sadistic enough to ensure that wasn’t an option. Any veteran knew the value of restraint; hoarding Ultimate Skills was second nature, like a dragon guarding its hoard.

Jiang Zhen yawned, stretching as if waiting for me was an unbearable chore. Arrogant bastard.

I exhaled, calming my mind. My Intelligence and Wisdom—both towering at Level 275—compressed my perception of time, letting me analyze my options with crystal clarity. Yet, rather than anxiety, I felt only curiosity.

This was an opportunity. A lesson.

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned Silver Steel from my Item Box.

Jiang Zhen had granted me the first strike. A foolish display of arrogance—or a calculated test? Either way, I would oblige him. If my attack proved fatal, I had more than enough means to drag him back from the brink.

Lost Legends Online offered dozens of resurrection items. While I didn’t have every kind, I carried more than enough to revive him three times over. The only uncertainty was cultivation—if he died, would he lose his realm? If my items failed, I could always resort to a resurrection skill. And if that, too, proved useless?

Then I’d simply chalk it up to fate and move on.

It was heartless, but… I have to be realistic.

Still, I wasn’t keen on comitting my first murder.

I shifted my stance, lowering my center of gravity as my grip tightened around Silver Steel. No sense in squandering this opportunity—I would unleash the strongest non-Ultimate skill combination at my disposal.

"Designate Holy Enemy."

A reversed crimson cross shimmered into existence above Jiang Zhen’s head, a mark of judgment. This debuff redefined him as impure—undead, fiend, or simply an enemy of the divine. The shift in his expression was immediate. Gone was the careless amusement; in its place, a quiet, assessing sharpness.

"Blessed Weapon."

Golden radiance enveloped Silver Steel, its edge gleaming like a sunbeam honed to a razor’s edge.

"Divine Might."

TriDivine was a passive ability with three manifestations:

Divine Might– Strength surged.Divine Speed– Agility refined.Divine Fortitude– Endurance solidified.For this battle, I chose Divine Might, pushing my Strength to rival my second-highest stat.

"Holy Wrath."

Wisps of gold and blue ascended like drifting feathers, their presence a quiet promise of destruction. Holy Wrath imbued my next strike with overwhelming force—twice so against a marked foe. My mana dipped slightly, a minor toll, but a reminder that I was layering blessings upon blessings.

Jiang Zhen’s gaze never wavered. His stance remained loose, yet I could sense it—an imperceptible shift in his posture, the gathering of something unseen.

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He was taking me seriously.

Good. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Zealot’s Stride."

Golden light erupted beneath my feet as I surged forward, my body infused with divine speed. Agility surged—every fiber of movement honed to its absolute limit. The world blurred, and in an instant, I was upon him.

Inside range.

I swung down with both hands, channeling everything into the most devastating single-strike technique in my arsenal—the one with the cruelest critical multiplier.

"DIVINE SMITE!"

For a moment, I thought space itself had ruptured. Or perhaps it was the clash of my skill against Jiang Zhen’s technique, distorting reality in some unfathomable way.

My blade cleaved through him—like cutting through an illusion.

The ground behind him wasn’t so lucky. The earth exploded, scorched and torn asunder, leaving behind a deep trench stretching several meters. Dust and embers swirled in the air, the lingering remnants of devastation.

I exhaled, resting Silver Steel on my shoulder with casual ease. “How’s that?”

Blood dripped from Jiang Zhen’s lips.

Yet the stubborn old goat refused to acknowledge the strike. “Had our terms included impressing me, I might have conceded. But alas, you never even made me move.”

His voice carried effortless charm, but I wasn’t convinced. He hadn’t taken a step back, that much was true… but his face was definitely a shade paler than before.

Wordlessly, I reached into my Item Box, pulled out an Extreme Health Potion, and offered it to him. “Drink.”

Jiang Zhen uncorked the vial, took a sniff, then gave me an amused glance. “Hoh~! Such arrogance!” From scent alone, he had already grasped its potency.

“Then don’t drink it.”

Before I could reclaim it, he tipped the bottle back and emptied it in one gulp.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smirking. “As your senior, I must uphold my responsibilities. A gift should never be refused—it would be rude, after all.”

This foolish old man.

I downed an Extreme Mana Potion without hesitation.

Jiang Zhen looked like he wanted to complain but held his tongue—likely remembering that he had just guzzled an Extreme Health Potion himself.

I still had two Spell Slots left. I just used Divine Word on Gu Jie, but I imagined it should be fine to spend a bit more today.

Players hoarded Ultimate Skills for two reasons: versatility or sheer paranoia. Lost Legends Online had cultivated a brutal PvP culture, where resource conservation wasn’t just a habit—it was survival. No one wanted to be caught with their strongest techniques on cooldown at the wrong moment.

I took a few steps back, resting Silver Steel on my shoulder as I considered which Ultimate Skill to test.

Jiang Zhen was still marked as a Holy Enemy, and my weapon still carried the blessings of divinity from my Blessed Weapon spell. No need to waste those buffs.

I exhaled, then layered another amplifier. “Holy Wrath.”

Brilliant gold and blue feathers drifted upward, divine radiance coalescing around me.

I smirked. “I will show you my single-target strongest attack… You can still refuse.”

Jiang Zhen folded his arms. “BRING IT!”

I pointed my sword at him. “Hea—”

The sky darkened.

Thick storm clouds gathered with unnatural speed, their depths flickering with ominous golden lightning.

Jiang Zhen’s expression twitched.

“—ven—ly—”

A celestial glow enveloped my blade, suffused with boundless righteous fury.

Jiang Zhen stiffened.

“—Pu-nish—”

That was when he ran.

“YOU WIN, FUCKING SMURF!”

…Smurf?

What?

Had another player fallen into this world before me? That was such a gamer terminology…

I barely had time to process it before completing the incantation.

“—ment.”

~HEAVENLY PUNISHMENT~

A colossal sword of divine radiance manifested in the sky, descending like the wrath of a vengeful deity. It honed in on Jiang Zhen, crashing down in a pillar of blinding golden light. The heavens trembled. The air quaked. The earth shattered.

I strode toward the impact site. The ground was scorched black, the lingering embers of divine fire still crackling. A massive trench stretched before me, raw with celestial devastation.

My eyes scanned the wreckage.

No corpse.

No trace of Jiang Zhen.

No way he was disintegrated… right?

That… wasn’t something I was used to.

Back in Lost Legends Online, nothing simply vanished. Player characters, NPCs, even monster spawns—everything left a body. Whether to be looted, revived, or mocked in victory, corpses always remained.

Which meant…

“…Ah, shit.”

I frowned, cupping my hands. “Old man? Changcheng? Where are you? How am I supposed to resurrect you if there’s no corpse?”

A muffled groan answered me.

Jiang Zhen crawled out from the dirt, dragging himself up with a limp.

“It’s Jiang Zhen, damn it! Not Changcheng!” he spat, shaking off soil like an enraged mole.

I blinked. Huh. He actually survived.

If I had to guess, his karma value must not have been that bad.

Jiang Zhen wheezed, glaring at me like I’d just kicked his beloved pet. “Were you trying to kill me?! I never thought I’d have to use that stupid Earth-Burying Technique just to save myself!”

I tilted my head. “Well, you said BRING IT with so much emotion. Would’ve felt bad if I held back, you know?”

“FUCK YOU!”

I waved a hand lazily. “Aren’t you supposed to be a sage-like figure? A hidden master? You sure this is how a ‘powerful expert’ should act?”

Jiang Zhen gritted his teeth, still struggling to stand.

I smirked. “You know what? Let’s just void that attempt and do it again. Of course, that’d make it the third try—”

“MOTHERFUCKER, YOU REALLY ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!”

“Whoa, whoa, hold your horses!” I said, raising my hands in mock innocence. “Come on, let’s count it as the third attempt. Maybe you’ll succeed this time? After all, I did expend a lot of energy just now. Look at it as an opportunity! It’ll be fun!”

Jiang Zhen trembled with rage. “FUN? FUN?! WAS IT SO FUN BULLYING AN OLD MAN?!”

I chuckled. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t look that old. Middle-aged at best.”

Jiang Zhen snapped.

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST SOME CHUMP!” His finger jabbed toward me, trembling with suppressed fury. “FINE! YOU’LL HAVE YOUR MEETING WITH THE ISOLATION PATH SECT AS REQUESTED!”

I sheathed my sword into the Item Box, satisfied.

“Well, why didn’t you say so sooner?”