Who made him a paladin?

Chapter 9 The First Battle of the Supreme Slayer

"Then... Princess, please crawl through the hole."

Before Xia Nan could finish speaking, he caught a glimpse of a goblin peeking through the fence with its big, beady eyes.

"Gibberish!! (Goblin language: Stranger spotted!)"

Screams echoed through the cramped dungeon, followed by the sound of alarm bells.

"Ding ding—!"

In an instant, a dense sound of stone spears dragging on the ground rang out from all directions.

"Dude!" Bruce's ears perked up, a little bewildered. "Let's run!"

"Princess, my two daughters." Xia Nan looked at the two women behind him, his tone devoid of any politeness, "You two better stay close. If a fight breaks out, I won't have time to worry about your lives."

Perhaps due to the intimidation of those words, Silvisa no longer displayed the arrogance of a princess. Her azure eyes narrowed slightly, and she nodded gently.

The movement was small, but Xia Nan could see it clearly.

Suddenly, three goblins wielding rusty iron swords rushed to the outside of the wooden fence.

Interestingly, Xia Nan doesn't know how to use a sword at all.

In his previous life, he often cut his hand even while chopping vegetables, let alone any exquisite swordsmanship.

Fortunately, with the [Lazy] skill, the nearly 30-pound greatsword felt as light as a chopstick in his hands.

"Bang!"

The wooden fence was smashed by the sword, and Xia Nan retaliated with a sweeping motion.

Buddha--

With a mournful cry, the broken sword swatted away the goblin charging in front of it.

"Hey buddy!" Xia Nan shouted without pausing, wildly swinging his broken sword to force back the other two goblins, "Take down the torches on the wall and create some chaos."

"Leave it to me!"

Bruce immediately darted out and quickly pulled the torch out of the iron ring.

Then, they threw wooden boxes or furniture haphazardly onto both sides of the passageway, without considering the consequences.

The orange-red light spread rapidly, and thick black smoke billowed and surged into the depths of the passage.

In the distance came the agonizing screams of goblins choking on the smoke.

Xia Nan didn't look back, and led the two princesses quickly along the unlit passage.

Just then, a goblin darted out from around the corner.

Xia Nan instinctively swung the broken sword horizontally.

"Bang!"

The sword struck the goblin in the chest, sending the green-skinned dwarf flying. He crashed into the stone wall with a thud, his body sliding to the ground, where he lay motionless.

Strictly speaking, this was more of a "snap" than a "chop".

After all, the sword was broken and rusted, so it couldn't be cleaved in two with a single stroke.

But the effect is the same; both can defeat the enemy.

Meanwhile, Sylvie, who was following behind, was undergoing a subtle reshaping of her perception of Xia Nan.

She noticed the way Xia Nan held the sword.

Clenching your fingers too tightly is a typical characteristic of someone who has never received formal swordsmanship training.

Paladins hold their swords with a technique of "three fingers firmly planted, two fingers loosely placed," applying force with a balanced and controlled strength.

However, the way Xia Nan held the sword was as if he was afraid it would fly out of his hand.

But he used this haphazard method to swat away one goblin after another that charged out along the way.

There were no elegant sword flourishes, no standard starting stances, and no paladin's usual prayers; only a few words she couldn't understand occasionally popped out of his mouth.

For example, strange phrases like "your grandpa" or "I * you *".

What's even stranger is that, despite being so thin, he was able to wield this seemingly heavy broken sword.

So is he a paladin or a mysterious figure from another plane?

But in the next moment, Xia Nan quickly overturned Sylvie's doubts.

"Whoa—!!"

A deep howl came from the end of the passage, its sound as deep as muffled thunder, quite different from the goblin's shrill cry.

Xia Nan paused slightly.

Ahead, amber eyes shone in the darkness, their pupils narrowed to slits and glowing with a cold, fluorescent light.

Immediately afterwards, a giant gray-black wolf, as big as a calf, slowly appeared.

Its back hair stood on end like steel needles, its limbs were thick, and its claws scratched the stone ground with a "scratching" sound.

His lips parted to reveal two rows of sharp, interlocking teeth, and saliva dripped down his lips in a clear, thread-like stream.

On the back of the giant wolf, a goblin was gripping the mane, holding a sharpened bone spear in its hand, and making a "cawing" commanding sound from its throat.

"Dude, my rival's here!" Bruce said menacingly. "Don't underestimate this wolf; if you get bitten, you'll really die."

Xia Nan simply smiled faintly, holding the broken sword horizontally in front of him.

In an instant, a blazing white light shone on the broken sword.

But it's not over yet.

Xia Nan pressed his body down again, and with a "thud," the second stage of the Supreme Saint Slash was activated.

The white light on the sword was dazzling, like a burning magnesium strip.

Xia Nan suddenly stepped forward, and the broken sword drew a holy arc of light in mid-air, slashing straight at the dire wolf.

"Supreme Saint Slash!"

"boom--!"

A flash of white light erupted, and the surrounding wooden crates were shattered by the shockwave, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Moments later, the white light dissipated, and the dire wolf, along with the goblin that had been commanding it, vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

"call……"

After using his combat technique, Xia Nan was breathing heavily, and the edges of his vision began to blur.

"Thump."

He could no longer hold on, and collapsed to one knee, plunging the broken sword into the ground to barely support his swaying body.

The power of this second-tier Holy Slash is indeed beyond imagination, but the cost is equally enormous.

The sensation my body is experiencing now is like the state of a sage after a period of deep ecstasy.

This body's stamina is a real problem.

Xia Nan silently complained in his heart.

When I get back this time, I must find a way to improve my basic attributes, otherwise if I encounter this situation again, I'm afraid I'll die suddenly after just a few shots.

Just as Xia Nan was catching his breath, he caught a glimpse of Sylvie not far away, looking at him with a very complicated expression.

The expression on her face seemed to tell Xia Nan that the princess had witnessed something that defied common sense.

That...that's the Supreme Slash?

But how could that be!

Sylvie knew perfectly well that the Holy Slash was the most iconic divine spell of the paladins, and its power was directly linked to the user's level of piety.

Ordinary paladins must loudly recite virtues before being released in order to obtain divine permission.

But that man just now, apart from uttering strange phrases like "your grandpa," didn't offer any prayers at all.

What she couldn't understand even more was that the light from that sword strike was clearly a second-tier divine spell that only an elite holy warrior could unleash.

How could this apprentice paladin, who doesn't even bother to wear an armband and whose sword-wielding posture is no different from that of a country bumpkin, possibly use it?

In an instant, Sylvie had forgotten Xia Nanfang's earlier insults.

Instead, she was filled with endless curiosity, much like her extreme obsession with magic.

It was in this delicate atmosphere.

call--

Bruce threw the torch directly into the passageway, and the wooden crates and burlap sacks were ignited almost instantly.

"..."

Xia Nan, Silvisa, and Elena were all stunned.

"Buddy..." Xia Nan's voice was weak and feeble, "I asked you to create chaos, not to block all escape routes."

It wasn't that Xia Nan was worried about not being able to get out, but rather that Xia Nan felt the spreading flames would pose a threat to Karl's cargo.

"I'm so sorry." Bruce paused, scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and gave a simple, honest look. "I... I was just afraid that another rival would appear."

"Sigh..." Xia Nan sighed and struggled to stand up.

He knew that complaining wouldn't help, so he might as well think of a solution.

Looking to the passages on both sides, thick smoke billowed out, making it impossible for anyone to pass.

If you linger any longer, you'll either be burned to death or suffocated by the smoke.

It seems we have no choice but to turn back and take that "private passage".