The Mighty Big Babylon

The Saint Cassis Continent is home to many races, but the humans are the most populous. Humans are also the uncrowned rulers of the continent and its wealthiest inhabitants.

All human kingdoms, regardless of their strength, pledge allegiance to the Holy See. Although the Holy See is merely a religious organization and not a nation, it acts as the suzerain of all other countries.

A thousand years ago, after the Holy See drove the Beastmen of Behemoth to the continent's most barren northern regions, it initiated a racial purge in the name of the Holy Father. For centuries, the continent was plagued by war. Every successive Pope was a religious fanatic who led the human kingdoms across the continent, fighting the Elves, clashing with the Druids, bullying the Dwarves, and even dealing with the Giants.

Essentially, every named race was confronted by the Holy See at least once.

Only the Barbarians, who have lived in the Savage Plains for generations, are the one race that has inflicted significant losses on the Holy See.

Popes have organized five campaigns against the Barbarians throughout history, but the results were consistently disappointing.

The Barbarians have two defining characteristics: they are poor, and they are fierce.

Even a starving rat would shed tears of sympathy upon entering their territory. As for their fierceness, it's as if they'll kill you if you so much as glance at them, assuming you're trying to steal their tent and grab their weapons.

For the Pope to lead his subordinates to pick a fight with the Barbarians is like spending countless hours and vast sums of money to assemble a team for a raid, only to find that the target has an incredibly low sense of self-preservation. They resist with all their might, beating you black and blue. Even if you manage to win, they're left with nothing, leaving you with no spoils to plunder.

Later, modern Popes grew wiser and simply ignored these impoverished Barbarians. They decided to let them cause trouble in the plains, reasoning that after thousands of years of living in the wilderness, they would only become poorer and their population would dwindle.

There was no need for everyone to go to great lengths to kill them; they might just starve to death in a few years.

The reason the Barbarians could make the Holy See so frustrated wasn't without cause. Every Barbarian awakens their racial abilities at birth. From childhood, they constantly hunt beasts to hone their bodies. They are born with naturally hardened, semi-petrified skin, making them resistant to ordinary weapons. If that were all, the Holy See's legion soldiers wouldn't be pushovers either.

The problem was that the Barbarians' combat prowess was also off the charts. They beat ordinary Holy See soldiers as easily as one might swat at their own pet dogs. A single kick could send a hapless Holy See soldier to the ground, spitting blood uncontrollably.

And at this moment, Big Babylon was a barbarian elite warrior who had participated in countless battles and endured numerous trials by fire and blood.

Facing the more than ten Armored Warriors who had surrounded him, he wore a ferocious grin, his eyes burning with malevolent intent. His muscles bulged, clearly displaying his brute strength.

Since crossing into this world, Allen had, for the first time, experienced the treatment befitting a top-tier noble who was considered trash. In reality, he was only benefiting from Dina's presence. If he had ventured out alone without Dina, he would have been beaten to death outside the Old Castle by anyone, and no one would have cared. This was unless the Grand Dukes' hidden guards, who were constantly monitoring Allen's every move, intervened.

Both Wood, the local religious leader, and Sakre, the chief of staff for the Earth Dragon Legion, understood Dina's current importance to the Holy See. Therefore, upon learning that Allen intended to take Dina out of the Old Castle to bully commoners, they immediately dispatched armed forces to secretly follow and protect them.

Allen was well aware of their intentions.

Although the Holy See was the continent's foremost power, it had no shortage of adversaries.

Dina's status as a Candidate Saintess and her role as the Holy See's best public relations tool could not be concealed from the outside world, especially in the leaky Outpost County.

To many assassins, Dina was now a walking gold mine. Countless individuals dreamed of killing her to claim the reward.

Allen hadn't expected that the first troublemakers to appear would be a pair of Barbarians, one large and one small. These two clearly hadn't fully developed their brains, as they brazenly came to the Outpost County to stir up trouble.

Sakre's lackeys were all cunning and knew that Barbarians were not to be trifled with. They all retreated behind the local Faith Guardian Knights, shouting noisily but making no move to attack.

The Holy See's Faith Guardian Knights and the Barbarians were old adversaries. In recent years, the quality of the Faith Guardian Knights had deteriorated. While many were skilled in flashy techniques and could wield various forms of Battle Qi, they lacked practical combat experience. Most were also very young, dreaming daily of achieving fame in battle, gaining the Pope's favor, and becoming Temple Knights at the Holy See's headquarters.

Having never fought Barbarians head-on, they were arrogant and didn't take Big Babylon seriously.

With their old enemies, the Barbarians, right in front of them, several young Faith Guardian Knights, like recently released convicts leaving prison, saw a bathhouse offering free promotions. They raised their greatswords, eager to charge and kill Big Babylon.

As numerous enemies were about to attack, Big Babylon roared, "Wait!"

His raspy voice, like a cracked bell, startled everyone and made Allen and the others' eardrums ache.

Seeing that his enemies were stunned, Big Babylon slowly took off his worn-out boots, which had five toes exposed, and carefully placed them on the ground. After a moment of thought, perhaps feeling uneasy, he cast a wary glance at Allen and the others before solemnly handing the worn boots to Little Zack.

Little Zack accepted the task as if it were a thousand-pound responsibility, nodded solemnly, turned his back to Allen and the others, and carefully tucked the worn boots into his embrace.

After dealing with the boots, Big Babylon pulled out a piece of moldy black bread from his embrace, crumbled it carefully, and slowly put it into his mouth, savoring it as if it were a delicacy. He licked the remnants from his palms with his large tongue, then licked his lips as if still unsatisfied. He then took out a waterskin, drank it dry, and as he put the waterskin back, he, like Doraemon, pulled out a rawhide rope and tied it around his waist, tightening his deerskin skirt.

"Come on! You cunning humans," Big Babylon said, stretching his neck, which produced a series of cracking sounds like popping beans. His appearance was incredibly rugged.

Allen and the others rolled their eyes speechlessly at Big Babylon's antics.

Seeing that the Barbarian had finally finished preparing himself, a Faith Guardian Knight let out a low growl, raised his greatsword, and leaped into the air, slashing down at Big Babylon.

The greatsword struck Big Babylon's shoulder with a "clang," a sound like metal striking metal. The attacking Faith Guardian Knight's expression changed drastically.

Big Babylon grinned, extended his hands, and lifted the Faith Guardian Knight high into the air. With a roar, he threw him like trash towards a cluster of knights.

The Faith Guardian Knight, clad in half-plate armor, crashed into several of his companions, breaking their ribs. In just this one exchange, three unfortunate souls lay on the ground, groaning in pain.

The remaining two Faith Guardian Knights were clearly different from their fallen, combat-ineffective comrades. They exchanged glances, activated their golden Battle Qi, and shone as brightly as human light bulbs.

Big Babylon instinctively shielded his eyes with his palm.

Seizing the opportunity, the two knights charged simultaneously. Their two greatswords thrust directly towards the vital spots on Big Babylon's sides.

The two greatswords, imbued with Battle Qi, cut through Big Babylon's semi-petrified skin.

The sharp sword tips stopped half an inch into his flesh.

The two knights were momentarily stunned. They pushed harder, attempting to inflict greater damage, but their efforts were in vain.

A Barbarian's life is a life of combat. Big Babylon, who had become a top fighter for the Bloody Hoof Tribe upon reaching adulthood, was incredibly formidable. Ignoring the greatswords embedded in his flesh, he extended his thick arms, grabbed two Battle Qi knights by the neck with one hand each, and with a gentle squeeze, the two strongest Faith Guardian Knights in the outskirts of Outpost County were sent to meet the Overgod, without even a chance to utter their last words.

Several of Sakre's guards, true to their role as seasoned lackeys, coordinated perfectly. They shouted in unison, "Protect Lord Count!" and then, as if chased by dogs, fled behind Sakre, looking at Big Babylon with terror.

Allen was utterly speechless. Seeing the lackeys hiding behind Sakre, he couldn't tell if they were seeking Sakre's protection or if they were meant to protect Sakre.

Sakre's face flushed red. He glared fiercely at the warrior attendants behind him before turning his serious gaze towards Big Babylon.

This top fighter of the Bloody Hoof Tribe, his eyes burning with fierce intent, pointed his finger, as thick as a small radish, at Dina and said in a deep voice, "Cunning humans, hand her over to me, and I will kill you all!"

Dina ignored him and continued eating her roasted meat. Little Zack, who was watching from the side, drooled profusely at the sight of the roasted meat.

Big Babylon didn't attack again, waiting for Allen to give him an answer.

Sakre didn't give him the answer he wanted, but instead swung two rusty, broken swords in a cross-cut.

"Great Cross Slash!" Sakre was in mid-air, the Battle Qi on his two broken swords flashing. Compared to the two dead Faith Guardian Knights from earlier, it was like comparing a Bugatti Veyron to something next to it; there was a fundamental difference.

Big Babylon was also a shrewd judge. This time, he didn't dare to be careless. After dodging to the side, he raised his foot and delivered a simple, unadorned kick.

Sakre's attack missed, and he crossed his swords to block.

When Big Babylon's dark, grimy feet touched the two rusty swords, the swords, covered in mottled cracks, shattered into countless iron fragments. Sakre's tiger's mouth went numb from the powerful kick, and he retreated several steps before steadying himself.

His slightly trembling hands showed how much brute force was contained within that seemingly ordinary kick.

Sakre, the champion gladiator of the Lotel Kingdom for several consecutive terms, had practiced martial arts and honed his Battle Qi since childhood. At a young age, he had already begun to make a name for himself on the continent. Among the younger generation, besides the Papal Legion Commander Xiulunte and Princess Hathaway, he had never submitted to anyone. In the Lotel Kingdom, he had a demeanor of drawing his sword and looking around with a sense of aimlessness.

Unfortunately, in the small Outpost County, Sakre, who was a Count of the kingdom and a leader in his own right, was kicked into a daze by a barbarian who seemed to have popped out of nowhere.

"Hahahaha!" Allen pointed at Sakre, who was holding the two sword hilts, and burst into laughter. "Serves you right for showing off, parading around with those two broken swords every day. Look at you now, stunned."

Allen had long disliked Sakre. This kid had a higher noble title than him, had lackeys clearing the way when he went out, and had a father who was a powerful Duke. At such a young age, he had already made quite a name for himself.

This kid also constantly loitered in front of the petty Allen. Now that he had been humiliated, Allen seized the opportunity to mock him relentlessly.

It was because Sakre's lackeys always carried dozens of broken iron swords with them for their master to show off, which Allen found incredibly annoying.

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