Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 218 Advancement
The homes of ordinary people are burning fiercely, and the surrounding people are panicked and terrified.

The three-story building burned brighter and brighter, and the old building, full of wood and books, was completely engulfed in flames.

Someone called the fire brigade, and some kind-hearted people came with buckets of water to put out the fire, but they couldn't get close to the small building and could only anxiously wait outside.

"Snapped!"

The knight in black armor sat on the stairs in front of the small building, the longsword on his knee still bearing bloodstains.

Before any of the firefighters could even get close, they were all deterred and stopped by its imposing presence.

This was clearly not a group of kind-hearted people. The original owners of the building were lying on the ground; they were well-known intellectuals and students in the community.

They cried or begged, their pain beyond words, yet they still couldn't get close to the fire.

Some firefighters who ignored the warnings also fell to the ground after the knight's blade flashed.

"The city guards are here! The sheriff is here!"

Finally, when the local sheriff arrived and called in the patrol team, onlookers thought things were turning around. Then...
"Snapped!"

The Black Knight finally stood up, too lazy to even draw his sword, and had no intention of making the first move.

"when!"

In less than ten seconds, he sat back down.

A squad of police officers and a squad of guards couldn't last ten seconds against this black knight; they were knocked down by his sheathed sword.

The unfortunate men were lying all over the steps, which was quite embarrassing.

Most absurdly, the black knight never even left the steps he was on.

After dealing with the intruder, he sat back down, took out an oilcloth, and silently wiped and maintained his sword, while also keeping watch over the small building behind him as it continued to burn.

The police officers lying on the ground were dumbfounded. What kind of villains were these? Attacking civilian homes and setting fires was one thing, but attacking the approaching sheriff and not even running away was another.

How dare they openly challenge the kingdom's authority? Are they just waiting for the Radiant Guards to hunt them down?
Could it be one of those cult members who's been making headlines lately? Judging by that black armor and the black dragon scales on it, they clearly don't look like good people.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

Finally, one by one, young knights clad in silver armor arrived.

They carried the emblems of swords and fists; they were followers of the war god Kandra, a strange cult that used swordsmen as priests, and the leader was even a paladin surrounded by a faint silver aura.

However, they were all dressed in white robes and light armor, with simple swords, and their shields were just small wooden round shields instead of tower shields or large shields, clearly indicating that they were just knight apprentices.

Is there a church of the God of War nearby? Well, that's certainly possible. This god doesn't seem to care much about the powerful and wealthy, which is normal in an ordinary neighborhood like this.

"Detect evil!"

As the light suddenly fell, Rean sighed; he knew his fishing attempt had failed.

It's burned to this extent, and it's really strange that no other cultists came to rescue this branch. It shouldn't be like this. A cult organization of this size shouldn't just have a few small fry.

The scale of that underground altar is not something that one or two core cultists could handle. Are they just going to give up such a large foundation like that?
"Tsk, is this what it feels like to be sent to spy on evil?"

But when the divine spell to detect evil was cast, all the onlookers were dumbfounded.

The ruthless arsonist in their eyes, the Black Knight who had already attacked the police, didn't even emit the red glow of evil; rather, it wasn't the white glow of the innocent or the pale silver glow of the kind, but...
"Golden light?! What is golden light?!"

"Uh, I've never seen it before either."

Rean sighed, raised his sword, and swung it lightly.

That was the same radiant damage of the same color, and also the symbol of the paladin.

"Knights, young knights." This black knight, whose voice sounded very young, spoke to the knights of the God of War in a teasing tone toward his juniors.

"Gold is the recognition that He gives you when you serve pure goodness to a certain extent."

A faint glow spread out, revealing a face even younger than that of a knight's apprentice as the knight removed his black dragon wing helmet.

"I am Paladin Rean Rean Sudar. I have just uncovered a lurking cult of evil gods. There are some very troublesome things inside. Make sure to burn it to the ground."

An evil god? A cult? Right here in this ordinary neighborhood? Right here in this old museum where many people go for entertainment?
It's been here for decades!

If anyone else had said such nonsense, they would have been publicly reprimanded.

But this is a noble paladin, and his words should perhaps be trusted.

But after all these years, this place has just been an ordinary market. What is the point of cultists being here?
Doubts and unease were spreading, and the situation remained quite awkward for the time being.

On one side were the unfortunate police officers on the ground, and on the other side were the "whisperers" citizens who were still crying.

Rean sighed and tugged at the large sack of marijuana that was placed on the steps.

They slightly opened the opening, and a bunch of messy things rolled out.

There were scrolls stained with blood, a bizarre black Holy Grail, and a whole bunch of books covered with human faces in skin.

These things, which only appear in nightmares, rolled all over the ground, most of them still stained with fresh blood, clearly newly acquired "spoils of war".

“These things must be handled properly. I’m not sure how much is left inside. Not a single bit can be left. They must be burned completely.”

Rean offered a brief explanation, but the knights opposite him didn't notice him. They were staring intently at a rolling "sphere," which appeared to be the head of a demon.

It had three eyes and four pupils, and even had ordinary human hair, which was somewhat strange. But what the young knight apprentices couldn't understand was the radiance emanating from that head.

"...It's pure black in the detection of evil?! Aren't evil beings all red?"

"Look, it's a bit red, and the edges are a bit red. Is it a reddish-black color? I've heard my elders talk about it, but this is the first time I've seen it. What kind of evil is this!"

"It's right here? Underground near our house? We've never found it?"

The demon is a mid-level monster, but this demon, which is obviously somewhat supernatural, is definitely not an ordinary demon. Just the fact that its head is only three times the size of an ordinary demon is enough to imagine how difficult it would be to deal with if it were intact.

But the darkest thing was that old, worn-out clock; it practically shone with a black light!

"Yes, it was alive not long ago."

Rean gave a brief explanation, glanced back at the fire, and casually summoned a flame, adding fuel to the fire right before everyone's eyes.

"Um, Sir Rean, could we exchange some information? Which evil god committed this atrocity? Was it 'One-Eyed Butcher,' 'Grey Parrot,' or Crimson?" The paladin apprentice leading the group asked who was responsible.

The knights have already taken action, helping up the unfortunate sheriffs while also imprisoning the wailing "whisperers."

Rean has already gained some fame in certain areas, but among the ordinary people and low- to mid-level warriors who make up 99% of the population, he is still a relatively unfamiliar newcomer.

Most ordinary people wouldn't care what kind of knight the princess had newly appointed, nor would they know the difference between a classical knight and an ordinary paladin.

"I can't say." Rean responded calmly, leaving the other party speechless. "You don't even trust your fellow paladins?"

"It's not that we don't trust you. Once you've completed your apprenticeship, you'll know that some evils exist; their information and names themselves are evil and corrupting. One of our tasks is to keep people away from them."

Rean put away the spoils and bandaged them up.

With him guarding it, and the knights having no other objections, this flame was destined to never be extinguished.

Rean acted with great restraint; the firefighters who were helped up were not injured. With the help of the knights, they dismantled some parts and made firebreaks to prevent the fire from spreading.

"Crack!"

Finally, the building burned down.

But instead of collapsing as expected, it began to sink inward after a loud bang.

The middle section began to gradually sink, with large amounts of sawdust falling from it.

The floor of the first floor had been burned, and the enormous weight had forced a hole through it, naturally revealing a huge cavity underneath.

At this moment, even the Whisperer citizens were stunned. They had no idea that the place where they usually exchanged books had so many hollows underneath.

"What's this?!"

"How can it be!"

The next moment, the citizens gasped in surprise.

The collapsed underground passage revealed a large number of unburnt bones and flesh!

Many of them have even undergone zombification in places of negative energy, with low-level ghouls, zombies, and skeletons being activated.

They struggled blindly in the sea of ​​fire, but gradually turned into ashes.

The most outrageous thing is that ghosts appear in mid-air. These ghostly life forms, which can only be produced by black magic, death from extreme resentment, or in places with negative energy, are extremely rare.

In the past, seeing just one would be enough to create a "haunted villa" scene, but this time, dozens, even hundreds, of them appeared on this plot of land overnight.

But they didn't seem to harbor much resentment towards the living; they simply lingered around, wailing and lamenting.

The knights who came to the rescue were dumbfounded. Just how many people had died to create a place of such vengeful spirits?

If left unchecked, all sorts of undead creatures will mass-produce at an alarming rate, and within a few days, this entire city will be rendered useless.

The knight in black armor sighed and then snapped his fingers.

"Snapped!"

From its core, an orange-red glow emanates.

That warm light was like a small sun descending to earth.

Bathed in this sunlight, the ghosts gradually faded into nothingness.

Some of them let out a mournful cry of despair before gradually evaporating.

Some, however, regained some of their senses and gave the Black Knight a grateful smile.

They might bow or wave goodbye, and then disappear completely into thin air.

Rean sighed and continued to maintain the sacred, blazing sun, offering these pitiful souls their final mercy and salvation.

But suddenly, he looked surprised.

"Huh? My paladin has advanced? To the third rank? Why is this two-headed monster hated by the world?"

(End of this chapter)