Immortal Paladin

097 Holy Spirit

What was a Holy Spirit?

What was his purpose in life?

Dave didn’t have an answer to that.

At least, not one that felt profound. Not one that could be inscribed in scripture or spoken of in legend. He just knew he wanted to stay by His Lordship. To do good. To keep moving forward, no matter what.

Just like they always had.

“Perish!”

Divine Smite connected.

A searing, radiant arc of holy light cleaved through Hei Mu’s body.

For a moment, her face twisted—not in anger, not in hatred, but in something like disbelief.

Then—

She fell.

Her severed halves tumbled through the air, sinking into the dark waters of the lake below.

The ripples spread. The battle did not pause.

Hei Yuan’s voice cut through the chaos.

"Hold the line!"

He unleashed a series of invisible attacks, guiding his energy strikes to rip apart the encroaching undead. Every movement was precise, every shadowed blade that shot forth unseen to all but those who could perceive his shadow.

The reanimated bodies crumpled and vanished under his onslaught.

But the fight was far from over.

A new wave of enemies approached.

Thousands of cultivators, clad in porcelain black masks, sprinted across the water’s surface.

Who was undead? And who was not was hard to identify.

They moved as one, their steps synchronized, their blades reflecting the eerie glow of the moon.

The Shadow Clan cultivators did not meet them on the ground.

They hovered in the air, unleashing spell after spell, thinning their numbers before they could reach the shore.

Yet for every masked figure that fell, two more took their place.

“They are using a cloning ability…”

Dave exhaled, stretching his Divine Sense outward.

Voice Chat, a power Dave was only recently starting to get a hang of. “Gu Jie, what’s your situation?”

Her voice came through the link, steady but firm.

“We’ve secured the opposite side. The enemy forces there were weaker than expected.”

Dave’s brow furrowed. That was strange.

If this was a full-scale attack, why would their defenses on the other end be so lax?

“We’re fine for now,” Gu Jie continued. “But if anything changes, we’ll retreat immediately.”

Dave nodded to himself. “Understood. I’ll catch up with you soon.”

But Gu Jie’s voice cut in sharply.

“No.”

Dave blinked. “No?”

“Stay where you are.” Her voice carried an edge of something unusual—concern?

“I feel… an ominous misfortune. Something too much even for you, Senior. But I believe you shall triumph.”

Dave frowned, tightening his grip on his sword.

A sudden chill crawled up Dave’s spine.

He tried to move.

But—

He couldn’t.

The world slowed.

Then—

A hand tore through his armor and his chest.

Dave stared.

His own beating heart was poking out from his chest.

It pulsed.

There was no pain.

No blood.

But—

He knew something was wrong.

His body felt… hollow.

Dave swung his Silver Steel, empowered with Heavenly Punishment, in a desperate counterattack.

But his blade hit nothing.

He staggered, breath shallow, as he looked down at his chest.

His armor was intact. His flesh was unbroken.

Yet—

He could feel it.

His heart was gone.

Dave’s vision blurred.

His body plummeted.

The lake’s dark waters rushed to meet him.

And there—beneath the waves—

She waited.

Hei Mu.

Resurrected.

Her nails, long as daggers, plunged into the gaps of his armor.

She smiled—a twisted, monstrous thing.

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Dave felt his life fading.

His thoughts were sluggish. His limbs were weak.

He had been unable to cast buff spells on himself.

His evolved Heavenly Punishment consumed mana at a constant, stable rate.

He had no leeway to heal himself.

But—

That didn’t mean he was helpless.

A surge of power—

Sacrificial Zeal activated.

His passive skill. The more his health dipped, the stronger he became.

And—

There was also his Reflect.

The moment Hei Mu’s nails connected—

She exploded.

The force ripped through the water, sending shockwaves in every direction.

Dave landed on the surface of the lake, standing through Zealot’s Stride.

His chest still felt wrong.

Empty.

A few Shadow Clan cultivators rushed to him, forming a protective circle.

Hei Yuan appeared in a flicker of darkness.

His gaze sharp. "What happened?"

Dave took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain upright.

Then, with a wry, breathless chuckle—

"There's a powerful expert lurking around."

He lifted his gauntleted hand to his chest.

His fingers trembled.

"And they just stole my heart."

Dave coughed, his gauntleted hand catching flecks of dark red blood.

His body trembled. His vision blurred. He was running out of time. He only had one spell slot remaining for his Ultimate Skill. Two, if he included his armor’s Ephemeral Touch.

His heart had been stolen. He had barely survived.

But.

The battle wasn’t over.

Hei Yuan and a group of elite Shadow Clan cultivators fought around him, fending off the relentless waves of attackers.

Dave staggered, but forced himself to move.

His Item Box flashed as he retrieved mana potions, uncorking them with his teeth.

Gulp.

He chugged.

Gulp.

The bitter liquid burned his throat, but he ignored it.

He needed mana. Now.

Hei Yuan flickered beside him, cleaving through an undead with a blade of pure darkness. "Hurry up!" he barked.

Dave wiped his mouth. "Already on it."

Then—

He activated Holy Sanctuary.

The air around them erupted in white light.

Waves of divine power rippled outward.

The Shadow Clan cultivators stood taller, their fatigue fading. Their wounds began to mend.

Meanwhile—

The enemies screamed.

The holy power seared them, weakening their bodies, shattering their unnatural resistances.

The battlefield descended into chaos.

The Shadow Clan cultivators—despite their lower numbers—fought like cornered beasts.

Because of Dave.

Because of his buffs.

Dave drank another mana potion, then another.

His mana flared back to life.

And now—

He made a decision.

He would use his last spell slot.

He took a deep breath.

His voice rang out like a sacred command.

"Divine Word: Life."

A pulse of gold and green energy surged through his body.

Veins of divine power stretched across his armor and skin.

Life itself answered.

Divine Word: Life didn’t just heal.

It fortified health.

It carried a sacred buff—one that removed debuffs at random and empowered future healing.

With his body glowing with radiant light, Dave cast another spell.

"Blessed Regeneration."

A warm sensation flooded his chest.

Then—

His heart began to regrow.

His breath evened.

His strength returned.

But—

The enemies weren’t stopping.

The undead and the black-masked cultivators were still surging forward.

Dave exhaled sharply. "Retreat!"

The Shadow Clan cultivators obeyed without hesitation.

They leaped backward, regrouping.

Dave remained.

He gripped Silver Steel.

He could feel it—Heavenly Punishment still crackling within the blade.

But that wasn’t enough.

His mana surged.

His sword ignited.

"Searing Smite."

The divine karmic flames clung to his weapon.

Then—

He swung.

A horizontal arc of blazing light erupted forth.

The flames rushed ahead, forming a blazing barrier.

But—

The undead ignored it.

They walked straight through.

Dave tensed, gripping Silver Steel tightly.

The undead charged straight through the blazing barrier.

At first, it seemed like they were unaffected.

But then—

They began to crumble.

One by one.

Their bodies turned to ash, disintegrating as they rushed past the divine flames.

The ones behind them kept running, completely ignoring their predecessors' fate.

It was as if they felt no fear.

As if they did not care.

Dave exhaled, his grip on his sword relaxing just slightly. "Thought so."

Holy flames still burned the wicked, even if they pretended otherwise.

Just then, a blur streaked toward him from the sky.

A Shadow Clan cultivator, balancing effortlessly on a flying sword, landed beside Hei Yuan.

"Report!" Hei Yuan barked.

The cultivator clasped his fist. "The invaders are splitting their forces. They're flanking from both sides!"

Hei Yuan’s expression darkened. "They’re trying to get to the island. To the Clan premises!"

Dave clicked his tongue. "Figures. The undead are just a distraction."

Hei Yuan acted immediately.

"Split into three groups! First squad, maintain aerial bombardment! Second squad, engage the flying cultivators! Third squad, form a defensive perimeter on the island!"

The Shadow Clan moved with practiced efficiency.

Meanwhile, Dave used Zealot’s Stride to ascend in the air.

The sky crackled with energy as cultivators unleashed a barrage of spells, forcing the enemy’s aerial squad to scatter.

Below, the undead continued their mindless charge, heedless of the slaughter.

Dave readied Silver Steel.

Even with the battlefield completely chaotic, he could feel it—

Something worse was coming.

His Divine Sense pulsed, stretching toward the island.

A sensation of rotting qi flooded his mind, accompanied by the faint echoes of a voice.

A whisper.

“You cannot stop what is inevitable.”

Dave’s grip on his sword tightened.

"Hei Yuan."

The elder turned, sensing the shift in his tone.

Dave’s voice was firm. "Something else is here."

A wicked melody slithered through the battlefield.

It was a song—dark, insidious, and playful.

“Oh, dance and drown in sorrow’s tide,

Let shadows feast, let hope subside,

A heart that beats is such a waste,

Come now, let me have a taste…”

Dave’s muscles went taut.

His breath hitched, and for the second time that night, he froze.

His buffs had kept the Shadow Clan cultivators from collapsing, but they still swayed, eyes glassy, jaws slack.

A soft voice whispered in his ear, too close, too knowing. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Would you let me pluck your heart a second time, I wonder?"

Dave’s eyes widened.

He barely had a second to react before a hand poked through his chest again.

A cruel grip tightened around his heart.

No pain. No blood.

Just wrongness.

But this time—he was ready.

"Stagger!"

A pulse of force blasted outward.

The grip loosened.

"Holy Smite!"

A radiant halo erupted behind him, releasing a barrage of blazing projectiles.

He twisted around—

Nothing.

Whoever—or whatever—had stolen his heart vanished.

But his heart… it was gone again.

Dave stumbled, coughing.

His Divine Word: Life still lingered, preventing his immediate death, but the feeling of emptiness in his chest was unbearable.

He had to regain control.

He had to anchor his allies.

He took a deep breath and drew upon his Lion’s Courage.

"LION'S ROAR!"

His voice thundered across the battlefield, empowered by holy might.

A wave of silver-gold force washed over the Shadow Clan cultivators, shattering the grip of the Shadow Song.

"Steel your hearts!" Dave’s voice rang clear, cutting through the lingering haze of the enemy’s wicked melody.

"Cowards fall to fear, but we are not cowards! We stand because we have something worth protecting! We fight because we refuse to kneel! And tonight—"

Dave raised Silver Steel high.

Its divine radiance blazed like a beacon.

"—Tonight, we defend our home!"

The Shadow Clan roared in response.

Their fear broke.

Their spirits rose.

To the Shadow Clan, the island was their home.

To Dave, his home was not a place—it was His Lordship, Gu Jie, Ren Jingyi, Lu Gao, Ren Xun, and Hei Mao.

That was what he fought for.

The divine radiance of his Silver Steel gleamed with unshakable resolve as the Shadow Clan cultivators steadied themselves. The song’s influence faltered, though the eerie notes still lingered in the air, slithering like unseen serpents through the battlefield.

The masked invaders surged forward, their formation tightening, pressing against the defenses with renewed aggression.

Hei Yuan barked, "Hold the line! Keep them from stepping on our land!"

Spells ignited the night. Blades clashed in the air. Dave exhaled, regaining his footing as his Divine Word: Life continued to sustain him, keeping him standing despite the gaping void in his chest.

But his instincts screamed—

The real threat was still watching.

From the shadows.

From the dark.

Blessed Regeneration kicked in—and Dave’s heart grew again.

His breath hitched, his fingers twitching as the sensation of restored flesh filled the cavity in his chest. The battlefield was a storm of steel and sorcery, but Dave barely registered it as he exhaled sharply, steeling his mind.

A sudden descent of shadow marked Hei Yuan’s arrival.

“The rearguard has been breached—” Hei Yuan began, but Dave didn’t need to hear the rest.

His hand shot out, grabbing Hei Yuan by the throat.

His fingers clenched around flesh—but something was wrong.

The shadow that had cloaked the presence of the mysterious expert faded, peeling away like dying mist—

Revealing a face.

A face that was shocking.

A face that was familiar.

Dave’s grip tightened, his Divine Sense flaring, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

But Hei Yuan’s voice was far heavier and far more shaken.

“W-Why…” Hei Yuan’s whisper was barely audible over the chaos of battle. His pupils shrank, his breath hitched. “Why is the missing late Shadow Patriarch here!? A-and… you haven’t aged a year!”

A playful smile spread across the man’s lips.

He shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“I’m back.” His voice was smooth, almost casual, like an old friend returning home. His pitch-black eyes gleamed with amusement. “And I’d like to get my island back.”