Arcane splendor begins with the throne

Chapter 122 Paladins

From the night that fell, Brian entered the spacious banquet hall leisurely, and quickly looked at everything with scrutiny eyes with different meanings in his eyes.

The hall is brightly lit, with exquisite crystal chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, which is extraordinarily dazzling.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small white stage in the corner of the hall.

The surrounding area is decorated with exquisite light-colored flower branches, cleverly separating the stage from the surrounding environment, so as not to affect the volume of the music, but also to properly hide the figure of the bard on the stage.

At this time, several musicians were sitting on this hidden stage, playing brisk and melodious music. It was difficult to see their figures clearly without looking carefully.

To Brian's disappointment, he didn't find the magic swordsman Snake Eyes.

Even so, he was very sure that the other party was absolutely like a poisonous snake, watching everything around him coldly.

It can be seen from this that the magic swordsman's hiding methods must be very superb.

Although he had already learned from Princess Kearney that this magic swordsman who was tired of killing was not as dangerous as he imagined, he still needed to maintain the necessary vigilance.

After all, in an unfamiliar environment, being watched by a dangerous person who has been hiding in the dark from the beginning to the end, he always felt very uncomfortable.

Brian ignored Duke Sweet's kind eyes.

As for the duke, the deeper he got to know, the harder it was to guess the other party's mind, which always gave him the feeling that the other party was planning some kind of conspiracy.

Even if the two are now in the same camp, he has to be extra careful.

In particular, the fact that the other party contacted the king of Tigrila arbitrarily, leading to the exposure of his identity and whereabouts, even if the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, still made him very disgusted.

Brian deliberately slowed down his pace and used the time to walk towards the dining table to quietly observe the distinguished guests invited by the old king.

The first thing I saw was the red-haired Prince Andel, and several knights in black armor beside him.

On the surface, the other party should be his biggest competitor right now, but the only thing Brian doesn't have to worry about is actually this Prince Wikiman from Andell.

Because before attending the banquet, he had learned the detailed information about the other party in advance through Princess Kearney and his mercenary men, and even included many interesting things.

In fact, what really surprised him was the envoy from Nelusk.

Thinking of this, Brian glanced casually at the five big and three thick Niluskan warriors, as well as a wizard covered in black robes.

The moment his gaze swept over, the black-robed wizard seemed to sense something, and raised his head vigilantly in response.

Brian ignored this.

Naturally, this mysterious wizard would not say to him without thinking, 'What are you worried about? '

When he observed the envoys of Niluskan, he immediately recognized the strong man at the head.

This made him secretly surprised, and for a moment he didn't realize the real intention of the old king of West in inviting the other party.

This strong man with broad shoulders and arms as thick as a small tree trunk is the heir of the Niluskan Kingdom: Mambatton.

Even if the opponent is sitting motionless on the chair, Brian can still judge the opponent's tall and burly figure and the inherent sense of oppression.

He had to admit that this was the strongest and tallest human being he had ever seen in the world of Asno. Even the orcs in the extremely cold place were shorter than him.

It is said that ten years ago, the 15-year-old Prince Mambaton was able to kill a wolf with his bare hands, and also participated in the war where the Niluskan army completely conquered the orcs.

He is also famous among the tribes of the Orcs for his great size and unrivaled ferocity.

Today, the largest hidden orc tribe in the Niluskan Kingdom has been completely eliminated, and even many surrendered half-orcs and orc tribes have been accepted into their army.

Because of this, this increasingly powerful kingdom began to set its sights on the fertile plains south of Tigrila, wanting to dream of an empire that conquered the mainland.

At times, Brian also worried if the northernmost fortress of Astakra, which defended against Niluskan from Tigrila, fell.

That means that Niluskan's most powerful cavalry unit can rush unimpeded from Tigrila to the Oram River with an unstoppable momentum.

If they succeed in crossing the river again, they can even go directly through the Kingdom of Campos to the hinterland of the Kingdom of Florence.

Fortunately, the Niluscans in the northernmost part of the continent were unable to form a naval fleet to compete with other kingdoms due to the harsh climate and terrain.

This made them want to fulfill their dream of conquering the mainland, so they could only blindly smash on the fortress in the northern border of Tigrila.

From Tegrila's inability to govern the self-supporting Dragon's Head Port and the Storm Islands, it can be seen what kind of pressure Niluskan's army has put on the Astakra Fortress.

Thinking of this, Brian began to think about the real purpose of the old king of West in inviting the heir of the Niluskan Kingdom here.

He never believed that the old king really wanted to marry the Niluskans.

After all, the heir to the kingdom known for his brutality is about to prepare for his fourth marriage, and the deaths of his first three wives are all accompanied by various terrifying rumors.

Bryan is a person who doesn't believe in rumors, but the rumors related to Mambaton can be seen from his words and deeds, which are really not groundless.

Brian looked back and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Because he already guessed the general meaning, this made him think about how to keep this grown-up wolf of the Niluskan Kingdom here forever.

If it really succeeds, Brian believes, it will definitely be a heavy blow to the northern kingdom.

As for how to keep him, he faintly felt that the black-robed wizard who followed the prince was definitely the most difficult problem to deal with.

He felt that it was necessary to discuss this issue with his magic pet after the banquet was over.

He believed that the former Grand Duke of Hell would definitely be very interested.

After secretly deciding on his plan, Brian looked at another extremely conspicuous existence.

"Why is this... guy here?"

When Brian noticed the resolute knight in silver full-body armor, he secretly cursed in his heart.

Strickland from Karnas, a powerful paladin who gritted his teeth and felt helpless.

This is not to say that there is much grievance between the two, but that Brian is very troubled by the paladin's upright behavior.

Whether in the game world or in the Asno world, Brian's first impression of the paladins he has seen is that most of them are guardians of light who pursue justice and kindness.

Their first belief is justice and kindness, and their second belief is the gods.

Even if the world cannot be noticed by the gods, the profession of paladin will still exist.

Because the profession of paladin is not what the world imagines, as long as you want to, you can take up the job.

The reason why some people can become paladins is that they receive the so-called 'inspiration' and accept their own destiny.

Well, that's right, it sounds very high-end, like the Chosen One.

In other words, no one can become a paladin by learning, and whether one can become a paladin depends entirely on nature.

As for what 'nature' is, no one can explain it clearly. There are only two types of 'nature' and 'none', and it cannot be obtained through any will or behavior.

When you receive the call, you can also choose to refuse to become a paladin. No one can force you to do so, but almost no one will choose to refuse this power and responsibility.

Moreover, a paladin must be of the lawful good alignment. If he leaves this alignment, he will lose his holy power.

Having so many restrictions shows how powerful this profession is.

They possess the abilities of warriors, can cast divine spells, are protected by divine energies, are forever immune to disease, and defy all fear.

A passion for the best, a will to uphold the law, and to repel the forces of evil are the goals of a paladin's life.

In fact, Brian still respected the paladins, but sometimes what they did made him hate it.

In the Kingdom of Breland, he once took over the task of a naughty earl asking a female vampire to be his concubine with a lot of money.

It took him five days and consumed a lot of potions to deal with the vampire, and he finally caught it. When he was about to take the vampire back for business, he ran into this paladin. This was the first time the two met.

The result can be imagined, this living vampire was brutally purified by the paladin Strickland, and he was also angered by the angry earl, chased by a group of guards, and escaped from the territory overnight.

This is not over yet, on the coast of the Moon Floating Sea in Purcell, he was invited by a wizard with a lot of money to capture a mermaid in the sea with him for magic research.

When he taught a group of girls to successfully lure the mermaid ashore with singing, this meddling paladin made another gorgeous appearance, claiming that the mermaid is a kind creature and should not be hunted and killed at will.

The evil wizard who tried to study the mermaid was killed by the paladin on the spot, but he escaped because of his alignment and being an accomplice.

Best of all, this nosy paladin hunts evil creatures or monsters for free.

The rules that the Adventurer's Guild relied on for survival were trampled to pieces by him.

Brian usually only needs to hear that this paladin appears nearby, and he usually hides as far away as possible.

Otherwise, it is very likely that all the hard work will end in vain.

Now, seeing the figure of this paladin again, after he finished cursing secretly in his heart, he had another thought.

So he looked at the prince next to the paladin Strickland.

Immediately, he felt an indistinct sacred aura emanating from this Prince Karnas called Tien.

Bryan realized immediately that this prince of Karnas had been exposed to the path of the paladin.

The reason why Strickland surrendered his identity to follow him is very likely to be the mentor who guided him on the path of a paladin.

It didn't surprise him that a prince of Karnas was taking the path of a paladin.

After all, the entire Asno continent, the capital of Karnas: Yaohui City, is the only city with the Temple of the Good God.

Even after losing contact with the gods, the priests in the temple who spontaneously awakened to the divine arts still maintain a devout belief in this god, expecting him to shed divine light one day.

For Brian, who had been to the temple before, he naturally knew that this good god was actually Lathander, the Lord of the Dawn, who was nicknamed the "Great Evil God" by players.

With the retreat of the ancient evils and the gradual recovery of the magic net, in Brian's view, it is only a matter of time before the Losander Temple regains its divine glory.

Looking at Tyan, the kind and honest Prince of Karnas, a smile appeared on the corner of Brian's mouth, because he suddenly thought of a good way to deal with the Niluskan.

Afterwards, he stopped paying attention to the other guests at the banquet, and walked straight towards the empty seat next to Duke Swift.

(End of this chapter)