Chapter 154: High-Grade Divine Art Scroll

Chapter 154: High-Grade Divine Art Scroll



Rain had just discovered a weakness, or perhaps not a weakness, but more accurately, a point where the Temple Knight was not strong enough.

It seemed that the Temple Knight's attack power was slightly insufficient. The Knight's longsword in his hand seemed unable to break through the enemy's black aura and the double defense of their black armor, which led to a stalemate in the battle.

Otherwise, if the Temple Knight's attack power was strong enough, then under the siege of four Temple Knights, a Malevolent Knight would not be able to hold out for long.

As Rain rode forward, Dean Rudolf's expression turned solemn.

He had just said that he believed the young men of the Church would easily win, and Rain could just watch from the side.

But before long, another Malevolent Knight wielding a giant axe appeared.

Dean Rudolf was not an old-fashioned man. When the enemy's strength clearly exceeded expectations, he naturally would not stop Rain from going forward to help. Instead, he silently approved of Rain's actions as he intercepted the Malevolent Knight with the giant axe.

Rain could have waited for Rudolf to ask for his help, but he didn't want to seem like he was waiting for someone else to take the lead.

The Temple Knight who was struggling against the Malevolent Knight with the giant axe felt grateful when Rain came to assist.

However, as a fellow young man, he had heard Dean Rudolf's praise for Rain and his assurance that Rain would be a candidate for the Myester County's protege if he chose to join the Church. This made him feel a bit envious.

After all, he had been in the Church for eight years, but the prospect of becoming a protege seemed distant.

But now, this young man from Shangjin Town, who was a few years younger than him, could easily obtain these opportunities if he chose to join the Church.

So, deep down, Rain's competitive spirit was ignited.

"I admit you are strong, but Dean Rudolf is overpraising you. After all, you're not much stronger than me." This was the young Temple Knight's inner monologue.

It wasn't that he had any complaints about Rain.

Perhaps, it was more of a competitive spirit, similar to bulls in the mating season, always fighting for the right to mate with the cows.

As Rain engaged the Malevolent Knight with the giant axe, Dean Rudolf continued to flip through his book and began to pray quietly.

As a Dean of the Wind and Sea Goddess Church specializing in demon hunting and exorcism, Rudolf's methods against enemies naturally wouldn't be limited to just one Divine Spell.

"Great Wind and Sea Goddess, please grant your knights strength against powerful foes. May they fight with unwavering courage and drive out evil! Divine Spell: Unyielding Anthem!"

As Rudolf's chanting grew louder, a female phantom holding a conch horn appeared in the void behind him, and with the sound of the horn, a pale blue phantom burst into a ripple that radiated in all directions.

This mysterious energy seemed to automatically search for paths, and once it found a Temple Knight, a blue beam would bloom on the fighting Temple Knight.

Soon, the Temple Knights enveloped in the pale blue beams quickly regained their peak state, not only becoming more agile but also fighting with exceptional bravery, unafraid of death!

Rudolf's forehead was covered in sweat, indicating that the power of this Divine Spell, although stronger than the previous 'Blessing of Shelter', was also quite burdensome for him.

After being bathed in the pale blue beam, the young Temple Knight felt filled with confidence, strength, and courage.

He knew that Dean Rudolf had cast another Divine Spell on them, so he turned to Rain and said, "Sir Rain, you can just assist from the side. Leave the task of slaying evil to us Temple Knights!"

With that, the young Temple Knight charged forward with his sword and shield.

Under the effect of the Divine Spell, the young Temple Knight performed admirably, engaging the Malevolent Knight with the giant axe in a back-and-forth battle, neither gaining the upper hand.

Rain was taken aback, watching the young Temple Knight with a slight shake of his head and a smile, not saying anything as he moved to the side to harass the Malevolent Knight with the giant axe.

To be honest, Rain's warhammer, 'Unyielding Force', of 1,500 people. In the previous battles, it hadn't been fully utilized, even against the Third-Level Wizard Apprentice Adams. He only used it for a finishing move at the last moment.

Rain swung the pointed end of his Boar Head Hammer, instantly piercing the enemy's black aura and striking the black armor.

The piercing sound of metal on metal rang out, and the Malevolent Knight stumbled, his black armor now riddled with small holes from the dense spikes on the pointed end of the Boar Head Hammer.

Rain was delighted, as the armor-piercing power of the Unyielding Force had been fully demonstrated.

Don't forget, Rain's hammer technique level is actually not that high.

His current hammer technique level is only lv4, and the immense power of his hammer technique relies more on his core skill, 'Hammer Specialization lv3'.

As for whether Rain wanted to compete with this young Temple Knight, to show him who's boss?

Not really. Firstly, there needs to be a common goal for a competition.

For example, when we say 'competing for attention', both parties need to be vying for and attempting to win the heart of a woman, making the competition meaningful.

Secondly, the competitors, in terms of status or strength, should be relatively equal, otherwise, there's no real competition, just as a rich man wouldn't compete with a beggar over wealth.

In the current situation, this young Temple Knight, without the divine spell enhancement, in terms of his own strength, would definitely not exceed the upper limit of a veteran Knight.

To be honest, this level of strength is already somewhat unimpressive in Rain's eyes.

Rain circled around to the back of the Great Axe Malevolent Knight and delivered a heavy blow with his Boar Head Hammer, and during this, Rain did not activate 'Breaking Limit'.

"Heavy Strike!!"

Rain swung the pointed end of his Boar Head Hammer, instantly piercing the opponent's black aura and striking his black armor.

"Clang!!"

The piercing sound of metal on metal rang out, and the Malevolent Knight stumbled, his black armor now riddled with small holes from the dense spikes on the pointed end of the Boar Head Hammer.

Rain was delighted, as the piercing power of the Boar Head Hammer was truly formidable.

But the next moment, his eyes widened, his mouth gaped, and his hand froze in mid-motion.

The Temple Knight wasn't stunned by the sudden appearance of the Chain Flail Malevolent Knight, but the previous scene had truly left him dumbfounded.

At this moment, his expression beneath the knight's helmet was almost frozen, his mouth wide open, and fortunately, he was wearing a helmet, so no one could see his expression.

Damn, is Rain this strong without the blessings and protection of the goddess?

If he had the goddess's blessing...

The young Temple Knight didn't dare to think about it.

No wonder wonder

No wonder this guy, at such a young age, could receive praise and recruitment from Rudolf, the Dean.

This strength and talent are truly extraordinary.

Judging from the situation, the only one in the County City Church who could possibly suppress Rain might be the current Dean's disciple.

Well, it's hard to say, maybe only a one-on-one match would reveal the truth.

At the same time, Rain's heavy strike also instantly extinguished the young Temple Knight's desire to compete.

Sometimes, people are like this.

If the gap between oneself and the opponent is not that big, or only slightly different, most people will feel that they can catch up or even surpass the opponent through their own efforts.

But when this gap grows to a certain extent, most people will completely lose the will to compete.

"Go intercept that flail Malevolent Knight. I’ll finish off this great axe Malevolent Knight and then come to help you," Rain’s deep voice echoed.

Now, that flail Malevolent Knight was wreaking havoc among a group of ordinary combatants. Rain naturally couldn’t continue to stand by and watch, after all, they were all his Night Watch subordinates.

"Oh, alright, Sir Rain!" The young Temple Knight was taken aback at first but immediately nodded in agreement, turning his horse and charging toward the newly emerged flail Malevolent Knight.

The heavily wounded great axe Malevolent Knight roared in response, immediately raising his great axe with one hand, as if about to unleash some ultimate move.

But Rain leaped off his warhorse, delivering a secret technique, the 'Earth Splitting Hammer,' directly at the great axe Malevolent Knight!

Due to the immense force of Rain's leg thrust, the stirrup transmitted so much power that the warhorse beneath him instantly collapsed.

There was no way around it; with the improvement in his strength, ordinary warhorses were increasingly unable to match his combat power.

Seeing Rain's formidable momentum, the great axe Malevolent Knight immediately placed the 1.5-meter-long metal axe handle horizontally, intending to block Rain’s strike.

"Clang!!!"

Rain’s secret technique, the 'Earth Splitting Hammer,' used the flat head of the boar head hammer. Upon impact with the great axe, it almost bent the metal axe handle like a bow.

Although the material of the great axe handle was not ordinary and could withstand Rain’s powerful 'Earth Splitting Hammer,' the entire body of the great axe Malevolent Knight was driven deeply into the soft forest ground by Rain’s overwhelming force.

The great axe Malevolent Knight’s lower half was completely embedded in the soil, unable to move.

Seeing this, Rudolf, who had been reaching into his pocket, stopped his action.

After carefully observing the battle between Rain and the great axe Malevolent Knight, he withdrew his hand from his pocket.

It seemed that it wasn’t time to use that trump card yet.

This Rain

gave me another surprise.

His combat power is actually this strong?

He is truly an excellent candidate for a future Punishment Knight!

No, I must test him again later. It would be a great loss if such talent doesn’t join the Church! Rudolf thought to himself.

While Rudolf was musing, the battle between Rain and the great axe Malevolent Knight was entering its final stages.

After using the 'Earth Splitting Hammer' to plant the great axe Malevolent Knight in the ground like a tree, Rain took advantage of the enemy’s dazed state and performed a waist-twisting, hip-rotating motion, akin to throwing a hammer, with the boar head hammer.

This time, the pointed end faced the enemy, sweeping up from the ground. It was the Tokkar Hammer Technique secret skill, the 'Dragon Ascending Hammer'!

"Thud!!!"

A sound akin to a watermelon being smashed by a stick suddenly rang out!

The great axe Malevolent Knight, who had been half-embedded in the soil, was launched into the air like a rocket, trailing a trail of dirt.

It turned out that Rain’s 'Dragon Ascending Hammer' had struck the enemy’s chin, with the pointed end deeply piercing the lower edge of the helmet, causing the cracking sound.

"Thud!!!"

The great axe Malevolent Knight, after flying through the air for a few seconds, crashed heavily to the ground, emitting a piercing scream!

The next moment, the protective black aura surrounding his body suddenly dissipated.

Then, the towering figure crumpled to the ground, as if drained of all life, with the entire set of black armor scattering on the ground.

A System Notification appeared:

[Your skill Tokkar Hammer Technique has been upgraded, +243 experience points]



[You have experienced a battle, Knight (Extraordinary) experience points +81]



[Congratulations, your Knight (Extraordinary) class level has increased!]



Originally, Rain’s Knight (Extraordinary) class level had already reached lv3 (476/500), so this time, he smoothly leveled up to lv4 (57/1000).

At the same time, Rain also received one skill point and one attribute point as a reward for leveling up.

At this moment, the sharp-eyed Rain noticed a black, thumb-sized crystal among the remains of the great axe Malevolent Knight.

This immediately reminded him of the blood crystal that had provided him with a large amount of experience points. So, he casually and quickly picked it up.

Sure enough, a System Notification sounded:

[Ding! Detected host obtaining Malevolent Energy Crystal, triggering class change — Malevolent Knight!]



[Prerequisites for class change to Malevolent Knight: 1. Formal Knight; 2. Mental 15 points or more; current conditions met, proceed with class change to Malevolent Knight? Yes/No]



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_-||

This was completely different from what he had expected!

Rain’s expression instantly turned into that of an elderly bus passenger looking at a phone.

"The system is getting more and more ridiculous."

"A Malevolent Knight is clearly not something a normal person should be. No need to prompt me for such a class change next time!" Rain grumbled to himself.

Without hesitation, he chose No!

However, a second System Notification sounded:

[Ding! Unknown absorbable energy detected, absorb? Yes/No?]

"Hmm?"

This was more like it!

This was the correct way to unlock the Malevolent Energy Crystal—absorption was the key! Rain's heart leaped with joy, and he quickly selected 'Yes!'

The next second, the eerie black energy within the Malevolent Energy Crystal seemed to surge like a tidal wave, instantly coursing through Rain's arm and into the depths of his body.

Just like the previous time, the energy from the crystal appeared to be selectively absorbed by the system, and once again, Rain felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Moreover, the entire absorption and transformation process was completed almost instantly.

【Ding! A total of 433 Extraordinary experience points have been converted. Please choose to enhance Knight (Extraordinary), Apprentice Mage (Extraordinary), or Beastmaster (Extraordinary).】

Upon seeing this, Rain contemplated briefly and decided to enhance Beastmaster (Extraordinary).

The reason was simple; he was currently at Beastmaster (Extraordinary) lv1 (12/100), and by choosing to enhance Beastmaster, he could directly increase his level by two.

However, if he chose either Knight or Apprentice Mage, he wouldn't gain any levels.

Obviously, having two more attribute points and two more skill points was much more appealing! So, Rain silently recited, 'Beastmaster!'

Instantly, two consecutive system notifications appeared:

【Congratulations! Your Beastmaster (Extraordinary) profession level has increased!】

【Congratulations! Your Beastmaster (Extraordinary) profession level has increased again!】

Seeing the Beastmaster (Extraordinary) level on his panel increase from lv1 to lv3 (12/500), a brilliant smile spread across Rain's face.

He continued scrolling down.

At the bottom of the panel, it displayed the remaining attribute points: 3, and remaining skill points: 4.

Among the remaining skill points, one point was left over from the last time he had leveled up.

In a single battle, Rain had gained three attribute points and three skill points. He felt that this trip to Night Song Forest had been well worth it!

As if struck by an idea, Rain suddenly looked up at the Chain Malevolent Knight.

His eyes burned with intensity.

Next, as the fourth Malevolent Knight did not appear, the subsequent battles proceeded without any suspense.

After Rain killed the Chain Malevolent Knight, the Lance Malevolent Knight was also slain by the combined efforts of three Temple Knights.

This time, Rain obtained a second Malevolent Energy Crystal, but from the solemn expressions of Rudolf and the other Temple Knights as they looked at the crystal, Rain knew that he probably couldn't absorb it on the spot.

"Rain, this crystal contains a vast amount of malevolent energy, which will undoubtedly attract the attention of many evil forces. I suggest it's best to leave it to the church to handle," Rudolf advised.

Rain politely declined, saying, "Bishop Rudolf, I'd like to study it. Rest assured, if I can't handle it, I'll contact the church immediately. Thank you for your concern."

Rudolf thought for a moment. Recalling Rain's explosive attack power, he concluded that Rain should have the strength to deal with any evil forces that might be drawn to the crystal, so he nodded and agreed, "Alright, then. But please be extremely careful with it!"

After the battle, they assessed the casualties. Fortunately, two of Shangjin Town's Night Watch members were severely injured, but miraculously, none had died.

On the other hand, among the four Temple Knights, three were severely injured, and one was lightly wounded, leaving only two Temple Knights with their combat capabilities intact.

They hadn't even entered the interior of this temple ruin yet, and they had already encountered three Malevolent Knights, each with strength rivaling that of a Peak Knight.

So, as the group gazed at the temple just within reach, the mysterious, dilapidated temple seemed like a monster with a gaping blood-red mouth, waiting for them to deliver themselves to its jaws.

At that moment, Matthew stepped forward, his face filled with worry, and reported, "Deputy, do we need to enter here?"

"Hmm," Rain stroked his chin and turned to Bishop Rudolf.

Rudolf patted the scroll in his embrace, thought for a moment, and said, "Since we've come this far, let's investigate further and uncover what secrets this temple holds."

"This time, I also have a High-Order Divine Spell Scroll bestowed by the Archbishop. I believe we should be able to ensure a safe retreat."

Rain's eyebrows furrowed.

A High-Order Divine Spell Scroll?

He had just witnessed the two Divine Spells that Bishop Rudolf had cast, and indeed, they had exhibited tremendous power when used by the Temple Knights.

If they had an even higher-order Divine Spell Scroll, the subsequent exploration of the temple would likely be safer.

Especially after encountering Malevolent Knights, which had provided him with exceptionally generous 'experience pills' as rewards.

It was hard for Rain not to anticipate finding similar or even more generous 'experience treasures' within the temple.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end