Chapter 436: Chapter 342: You Are Courting Death

He felt that what Shire said seemed to be right, as if it were only natural.

"Maybe goblins really are amazing. After all, they have their own city," Pazani mumbled under his breath, lowering his head, not daring to look at Shire.

Shire overheard the Naga Prince’s words, but he just smiled without offering an explanation. He didn’t need to explain himself to anyone; after all, his ancestors really had been incredible.

"The Paladins have lost half their number already." Pazani peeked out from behind a stone wall, glancing at the arguing Paladins before quickly ducking back. "What now?"

"Now?" A smirk played on Shire’s lips. "It’s time to fan the flames."

...

"What should we do now, Vice Commander?" a Paladin asked loudly, staring intently at Lingard. "We’re losing men for no reason and we’re constantly being ambushed. Of the Paladins who go out on patrol, few ever return. The rest just seem to vanish into thin air. This ruined city is too damn strange."

Lingard frowned. Frankly, he hadn’t expected things to turn out like this. His plan had been simple: sneak into the Feathered Serpent Evil God’s lair and, while it slept, finish it off with a few Holy Slashes. Even if the Evil God woke up and a bitter struggle ensued, the heavy casualties they might suffer would have been enough to take down the sluggish Feathered Serpent.

But now, his men were disappearing one by one, and the ambushes were relentless. He was beginning to doubt the merchant’s intel. ’Could it be that what’s hiding here isn’t an Evil God and its goblin minions, but a well-trained, well-equipped army, waging a war of annihilation against us under the command of a brilliant strategist?’

’Impossible. No organization would treat the Holy Order Army like this. Why go to all the trouble of luring us here just to kill a few Paladins?’

But when he’d met with that merchant from the Commerce Alliance, he had distinctly felt the man wasn’t lying. Besides, he had clearly seen goblins during the ambushes. Their round, green heads were unmistakable. Lingard would bet his life he wouldn’t mistake them, even if he were to gouge out one of his own eyes.

’So who the hell is behind this?’

He frowned and scanned the surrounding Paladins. Every face was a mask of suspicion and anger; it didn’t look like an act. ’Could this be a conspiracy against me?’

His mind raced. An idea quickly formed: someone wanted to eliminate him, the Divine Chosen One of the War God Church. ’The Lord Bishop once said that holy wars are cruel, that no tactic is off-limits. Full-scale wars are common enough, but the most cost-effective method is undoubtedly to kill the opposing Church’s Chosen One. The problem is, the identities of the Chosen are a closely guarded secret. A Church wouldn’t expose its Chosen One so early unless the holy war reached a fever pitch.’

’But there is another possibility... The secret of the War God Church’s Divine Chosen One has been stolen.’

A tremor ran through Lingard at the thought. His hand instinctively tightened around the hilt of the invisible Longsword at his waist, and his entire body tensed.

"Vice Commander, please say something," a Paladin squad leader urged, stepping forward.

Lingard’s eyes narrowed. He suddenly drew the weapon from his waist. SWISH! The squad leader clapped both hands to his own neck, his eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at Lingard, a gurgling sound escaping his lips.

He couldn’t get a single word out. He staggered back two steps and then fell to the ground with a heavy THUD.

The other Paladins, shocked by this sudden turn of events, all panicked and tightened their grips on their weapons. They watched Lingard warily, afraid their Vice Commander had been possessed by something strange.

"He betrayed his Blood Oath! He sought to abandon his honor, and worse, his piety to our Divine Being! This is blasphemy—blasphemy against the great War God!" Lingard said, enunciating each word through gritted teeth. "This forest is dangerous. The Evil God’s Abilities have caught us off guard. But that doesn’t matter. We can choose to either continue our exploration or return now, call upon the entire Holy Order Army through the Church, and then launch a proper crusade against this Evil God."

"So now, Paladins of the War God, will you fight this disgusting Evil God to the bitter end? Or will you endure the ridicule of mortals for a time, only to wash away your shame with blood later on?"

Lingard had cleverly thrown the decision to the Paladins. He started by executing a dissenter to intimidate the rest, then used his authority as Vice Commander to chastise them, and finally, he presented the illusion of a choice. This way, he could wash his hands of the matter. Even if something went wrong later, he could claim it was the group’s decision and absolve himself of all responsibility.

And indeed, his strategy worked. The remaining Paladins began murmuring amongst themselves, their whispers growing into loud arguments. Some insisted they had to keep searching for their missing friends, while others argued they had to retreat immediately to minimize further losses. Gradually, the faction supporting a retreat grew larger. After all, they were just Paladins of the Church; their own lives were more important. They weren’t demon-slaying, dragon-butchering Heroes. In over a hundred years, there had only been one Siegfried.

"Very good. Since everyone is in agreement, we will retreat..." Seeing that they were reaching a consensus, Lingard nodded, preparing to issue the order.

Unfortunately for him, fate seemed to have other plans. A voice echoed from behind a distant stone wall. "I have been imprisoned for ten thousand years... and exiled from my own homeland."

"What was that sound?" the Paladins asked, looking around in a panic. "Why is someone speaking Common Speech here? Is it the Evil God?"

"Quiet!" Lingard shouted, quelling the panic. ’Ten thousand years? Is this Evil God really that powerful?’

He stared into the distance, a flicker of doubt in his heart.

"And now, you dare trespass upon my domain," the voice continued, growing louder. "You are courting your own destruction."

"The voice is coming from over there!" a Paladin shouted, pointing forward. Everyone, including Lingard, turned to look where he was pointing.

Then, they saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

A short goblin in a ridiculous outfit stood at the base of a crumbling stone wall. He held a black megaphone to his lips and was shouting in their direction, "You are courting your own destruction!"

"A goblin? A ten-thousand-year-old goblin?" the Paladins muttered among themselves. But Lingard’s brow furrowed as he immediately understood. ’It’s all a damn show! There are no magical traps here at all. It’s all just goblin tricks! They must have dug all sorts of traps in advance, and our comrades just fell into them.’

"Seize him! Don’t let him get away!" Lingard commanded loudly. "A goblin that speaks Common Speech must be a chieftain! He definitely knows something!" Hearing their Vice Commander’s order, the remaining Paladins snapped to their senses, raised their weapons, and charged in Shire’s direction.

"Alright, that’s a lifelong dream fulfilled. Now, let’s go!" Shire immediately leaped off the stone wall, called over to the still-dumbfounded Pazani, and stepped into a Teleportation Gate. Beside it, Broken Tooth instantly activated the portal. With a WHOOSH, Shire and the Naga Prince vanished on the spot. Broken Tooth immediately melted back into the shadows.

"Come out!" A few Paladins kicked down the teetering stone wall, but they found nothing. There wasn’t so much as a single goblin hair in sight—only a few footprints on the ground.

"Up ahead!" a sharp-eyed Paladin spotted several goblins darting between the rocks in the distance.

"After them! Capture one alive!" Lingard commanded.

The Paladins raised their weapons again and charged toward the distant goblins.

But by the time they reached the edge of a patch of ruins, the goblins were nowhere to be seen. "Where did they go? Where did the goblins run off to?"

"To the left!" another Paladin shouted. Everyone looked and, sure enough, saw several goblins leaping over rocks and dashing through the undergrowth.

"Chase them!" Lingard said through gritted teeth. "Forget taking them alive this time. Just get me that leader!"

The Paladins raised their weapons again, and with a great cry, charged off to the left.

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