Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 121 Familiar Old Rival

A faint orange glow covered his body, and holy power was held in his hands.

Even though the flames covered his body, Rean couldn't feel the heat.

He only felt warmth.

But for his opponents, it's a different story.

“SOL”.

He calmly spoke the dragon's words, but what he was calling out was the essence of Rean's subconscious ideal of a paladin.

I will ignite myself to illuminate the world around me. If the world is pitch black and no other light source can be seen, then I can become the light that guides future generations.

And the spirits of the dead around the candles were lit one after another.

They howled in agony in the flames, but were gradually purified by the radiance.

“SOL,” Rean called out the word again.

But this time, what was being murmured and called out was what appeared to be a person's name.

He touched his heart and felt its frantic pulse.

It is expelling dragon blood, yet it is also radiating light and heat.

Light does not rely on external objects; it originates solely from within itself.

If there are no principles, no justice, and no role models, then let yourself create them.

Perhaps it's not perfect, perhaps it's full of scars, but this is my life, my justice.

I will not hesitate, wait, forgive, or compromise.
“Sur”.

This time, Rean no longer concealed it; he recited names!
Meanwhile, the orange flames of the "sacred sun" became increasingly clear.

This dragon's words are now more complete.

"So this is the magic of dragon language. Understand it, analyze it, embrace it, and call upon it."

The so-called elements are not just simple natural elements such as earth, fire, water, and air; concepts such as "law" and "justice" are also constituent elements of society.

The elements that the Dragon's Word magic can summon are not restricted.

"No, not infinity, but your everything; it is you who creates, it is you who understands."

The understanding of the heroic spirit Sul, and all that lay on the path of the paladin, ultimately merged into the element of "Sul," this dragon emblem.

Dragon patterns are constantly evolving, but from another perspective, what is evolving may be the users of dragon language, rather than dragon language itself.

"Snapped!"

Rean walked on in silence, no longer needing to call out the names of gods or elements.

This light and warmth are originally me.

I am the sun.

Wherever it passed, the spirits of the dead were automatically set ablaze.

One by one, the ancient beings returned to dust before Rean could even see them clearly.

"I am the sun," Rean did not compare himself to the stars in the sky.

That requires immense self-confidence. Perhaps Kuku could do it; he simply accepted the "sun" from the memories of his predecessors and transformed himself into the "Sun Paladin" who, in his own understanding, was capable of illuminating the darkness.

That was not a perfect example of a paladin; in fact, it was clearly biased and prejudiced.

But it works exceptionally well when dealing with things in the shadows.

No undead could stop Rean anymore; they couldn't even get close to him.

"Is this normal? Are paladins really this outrageous?"

“I’ve seen hundreds or thousands of paladins, but I’ve never seen one like this. Not even a Grand Paladin.”

The audience behind the scenes couldn't understand it, but they were deeply moved.

Sallyman, who was leading the team, was also stunned and bewildered. She knew that Rean was probably stronger than an ordinary paladin, but wasn't this a bit too far-fetched?

Wasn't it supposed to be that degenerates would lose everything? Isn't this level of power a bit ridiculous? Even a Great Knight wouldn't vaporize undead so easily!

Under normal circumstances, with this level of extraordinary ability, one should be the one who gets hurt first, but being so close, they only felt a little warmth.

She subconsciously glanced at Larry, the supposedly brilliant newcomer who had already reached the fourth tier of paladin; perhaps he understood.

"Truly worthy of being Senior Rean!" The Spider Paladin's six eyes sparkled, the young genius acting like a little fangirl.

Suliman turned to her aunt; as a magical girl, she should know something, right?

"As expected of Rean, my little darling!" His eyes are practically sparkling. Auntie, can't you be a little more reserved?! Are you deliberately teasing him with Larry?!

At that moment, Kuku suddenly walked in front of Sallyman, standing on tiptoe and puffing out his chest, as if waiting for her to praise him.

"Uh, Your Excellency Kuku, do you know?" Sallyman was probably quite good at reading people.

"I know! I taught him! I am the genius Kuku! This is the power of heroic spirits! The power of the Holy Knight Sull!"

This makes it somewhat understandable. After all, it's the power of an ancient hero, so it's normal that it's a bit too strong to comprehend.

She looked at Rean with a somewhat complicated expression. She had heard part of the story of the heroic spirit Sull from the princess.

That person seemed to be a remarkable ancient hero, and Rean appeared to be his disciple, but due to becoming a degenerate, he had no choice but to start the selection process for the next successor once again.

But this means that Rean, who was once a great knight, is indeed the successor of a paladin hero who once brought down a god. So, if it is truly the inheritance of a heroic spirit from the previous era or even the era before that, the power system may be different, and it is normal that he cannot recognize it.

But isn't this power still a bit too abnormal?
She looked at Rean and wondered if the scales on Rean's "lizard skin" were a bit too tough. Was Sudar's bloodline really that powerful?
Finally, the oblivious girl vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

"arrive."

At this moment, Kuku's compass was parallel and pointing forward.

The passageway began to narrow, and what lay before us was no longer a corridor, but rather a series of complete rooms.

It seems we have reached the base's residential and warehouse areas, and have reached the first floor.

The next route seemed much smoother, as most of the warehouse supplies had already rotted.

Not far away, it seemed to be the destination of this trip.

"Boom."

The door doesn't even need to be unlocked; it will rot and turn to dust with the slightest touch.

Even if there are traps or magical seals inside, they become meaningless in the face of time.

The metal walls were quite sturdy, likely originating from ancient ruins. Kuku excitedly ran around, but often ended up touching piles of ashes, leaving him feeling utterly dejected.

Finally, he got tired of looking at these unattainable "treasures" and urged Rean to speed up the exploration.

"Boom."

The broken door opened again, and this time the search compass pointed to its intended target.

Behind a pile of iron frames and equipment, a half-crippled metal puppet lay on the ground, with only one hand and one foot remaining, and faint sparks of electricity emanating from her body.

Although they were separated by a whole warehouse and were quite far away, the longan made Rean's view very clear.

“Found it.” Rean’s words trailed off mid-sentence.

He saw something floating, which appeared to be the skeleton of an undead, except that only half of the body was floating.

"What a thick storm of negative energy."

He instinctively felt extreme disgust. If the previous undead skeleton soldiers were just a little bit of darkness, this half-skeleton covered in blue flames was enough to be regarded as an entire night.

"Lich." At this moment, there was nothing Rean didn't understand.

But as Rean drew his sword, ready to fight to the death, he realized something was wrong.

That lich seems a bit abnormal.

His long, slender fingers were poking and prodding at the candidates from the machine race, occasionally snapping his jaw shut as if he were laughing.

The next moment, the lich's attention was drawn to the roller it was pushing, and it subconsciously chased after it.

"Ha!" He panicked when he couldn't catch up with the drifting creature.

The hollow pupils emitted heat rays that instantly vaporized it!
Then, he happily spun around in mid-air, seemingly quite pleased with himself.

Is this a wise yet evil lich? It looks more like a lapdog that only hisses.
“Crazy,” Kuku said casually, seemingly taking it for granted.

"Yeah, it's crazy." Purple Rose responded casually, as if it were a habit.

But madness is indeed the inevitable fate of most liches.

These undead creatures, transformed from high-level spellcasters, have been fused with negative energy for a long time, and it's only a matter of time before their personalities become paranoid, radical, or even insane.

Sometimes, it's not just due to negative energy; most liches tend to live in solitude for a long time, and the memories of their past as both social and ordinary beings constantly torment them, ultimately making them more extreme.

"It's not just that he's been staying home for too long and seems to have been injured; his soul isn't whole."

"The transformation may have failed, or it may not have been an active spell. It could also be due to dying too many times, resulting in a damaged soul."

The two top spellcasters concluded that the lich before them was truly insane.

However, this is what's causing the headache.

Liches are difficult to deal with because of their accumulated experience as top spellcasters and top undead. Even if a truly insane lich still retains the ability to cast spells, it is actually much easier to deal with.

The most difficult thing for spellcasters to deal with is always their rationality and wisdom; a well-timed spell can change the course of a battle.

But a spellcaster who only has magic power? Isn't that a fireball mage? Is that the same difficulty level as a mage?
"That machine race might not be able to withstand friendly fire." But the unfortunate machine race in front of them, which was leaking electricity all over its body and twitching from time to time, might really not be able to withstand the torment.

After thinking it over, Rean had an idea.

More than ten minutes later, as the floating lich was blindly chasing a rolling gear, a voice suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Is this... your family?" Rean, carrying a blue bone skeleton, stepped out from the passage in the distance.

The moment the lich looked over, he suddenly exerted his strength.

"Crack!" The blue bone was snapped in two by Rean, who then smashed it so hard that pieces of bone scattered all over the ground.

"Sorry, your family is all over the place. Are they your parents?" The unscrupulous paladin delivered the most heartless taunt.

is that useful?
"Boom!" The sudden burst of heat rays revealed everything.

The floating skeleton lich charged straight down from the shelf.

The mocker? He's become a fugitive who turns and runs.

"Come on, little lich, if you catch up, we'll make sure you get your grandparents back." Even the companions in the shadows couldn't hold back anymore. This guy who was swearing so rudely was actually a paladin? Or a classical covenant paladin who served as a moral exemplar?

"His actions are unrestrained and his tactics are unconventional. He truly lives up to the reputation of Senior Rean!" Rona covered her face, unable to bear it any longer. Larry, who was full of admiration, is hopeless.

(End of this chapter)