The Unlucky Knight

It was not bandits blocking the carriage, but a group of knights in iron armor. From that perspective, bandits would have been much better.

"May I ask what you want?"

Li Lin stood before the towering paladins with the same gentle, refined manner as ever, not even raising his eyes. At the same time, the runes on his body began to change and exert their influence once more.

"Who are you?!"

"I'm just a scholar."

It seemed Li Lin was quite fond of his "hidden" identity.

"May I ask why you knights have stopped us?"

"You have desecrated living beings!"

The paladin at their head stepped forward, and the holy light enveloping his longsword showed faint signs of growing stronger. The two horses, which had died long ago and remained undead only through necromancy, whinnied softly because of the light, clearly displeased.

"They're only two horses."

Li Lin frowned, but his voice remained gentle, as though everything was open to discussion.

"Can't you make an exception?"

"A villain who won't even spare the souls of the dead has no right to make demands of us!"

Faced with the stern paladins, Li Lin said nothing more. He merely sighed helplessly.

"What a pity. I warned you."

"What are you talking about..."

Before the leading knight could finish, his horse suddenly let out a piercing scream and collapsed headfirst. Blood flowed from its mouth and nostrils; clearly, it would not survive. With its death, the horses beneath the other paladins suffered the same fate. The paladins, who had never expected such a turn of events, were thrown into disarray as their mounts fell. Fortunately, their reactions were quick, and their somewhat scattered formation soon returned to normal.

"He's an evil mage! Watch out...!"

The paladins quickly spread out to either side. They knew very well that mages were adept at large-scale magical attacks, and that gathering together would only make them targets.

"Oh?"

After killing all the horses in a single strike, Li Lin watched the paladins' movements with interest. They seemed quite familiar with how to deal with mages...

They were different from the paladins he had encountered before, but unfortunately for them, even if they had fought mages, they certainly had never faced an Arcane Mage.

With that thought, Li Lin raised both hands and clapped them together hard.

A deafening boom tore through space like thunder. The knights preparing to attack heard a tremendous roar in their ears, and then they could hear nothing at all. They shouted and gestured to their companions, but having lost their hearing, the paladins could not understand what the others were trying to convey. Their formation immediately fell into chaos.

Paladins possessed divine power and considerable resistance to magic, but as for physical damage...

Li Lin smiled faintly as he watched the paladins stagger about, but his hands did not pause for a moment. He still looked like a mild-mannered scholar, yet he showed no mercy when he struck to kill. As Li Lin swiftly made a series of magical gestures, a cloud of thick red mist streamed from his fingertips and, as though alive, swooped around a nearby paladin. After several screams, the red cloud slowly dispersed. The once robust paladin had withered beyond human shape. He lay on the ground like skin and bones, clearly beyond saving.

Seeing their companion turned into a corpse just like that, all the paladins were horrified. Though they had fought many mages before, this was the first time they had seen such a bizarre death.

What kind of mage could be so powerful?

With that thought, the paladins no longer dared underestimate him. Holy light appeared around them, and they dared delay no longer. Waving their longswords, they rushed forward together, trying to surround the terrifying man completely and prevent him from casting any more spells. After all, if this continued, heaven knew what else might happen. In their anxious haste, they completely forgot the principle they had remembered only moments before.

Mages were best at large-scale group attacks.

Li Lin did not move as the longswords, wreathed in holy light, slashed down at him. But none of them reached their target. A transparent circle appeared around him, just in time to block the weapons. Moreover, it seemed to possess some kind of magnetic force, holding the weapons fast. Even the knights could not break free—not when they were wearing iron shells.

Of course, their armor might have contained silver, and it was not ordinary steel, but none of that mattered. One by one, the paladins struck with their weapons, only to find they could not pull them back, or even abandon their swords and retreat. The knights behind them noticed something was wrong, but in order to save their companions, they foolishly chose to try to cut through their longswords, only to suffer the same fate.

Now that the prey had entered the trap, Li Lin had no intention of waiting. He murmured under his breath and cast another spell. Of the spells Li Lin currently knew, not many could kill outright, but they were enough to deal with these paladins.

A ring of scorching fire suddenly appeared at Li Lin's feet and spiraled outward. In an instant, the intense heat turned the poor wretches' armor red-hot. Unceasing screams and the smell of roasting flesh filled the surroundings. Li Lin watched the paladin before him quietly and gently. The paladin opened his mouth in a scream, but in the next moment, flames burst from his mouth and eyes, melting his skin and beginning to scorch his muscles. He did not last much longer. His body twitched twice by reflex, then lay still.

Once the muscles on the paladin's face had melted away and the stark white bone began to show, Li Lin ended the spell. Several suits of red-hot steel armor soon fell to the ground with loud crashes. Li Lin, however, had no intention of stopping. He cast another spell and casually pointed ahead. The one that had slipped through the net and tried to escape was also frozen in place, unable to move a muscle, like a statue.

"All right."

After dealing with the last unlucky fellow, Li Lin dusted off his hands.

"It's time to eat."

"A man?"

Angela jumped out of the carriage, displeasure on her face.

"I thought there would be women... Never mind. A man it is. I'm not the one eating, anyway."

With that, she clapped her hands.

"It's time for you to eat."

At Angela's words, Mina and Fina hesitantly stepped out of the carriage. Both looked uneasy as they gazed at the scene before them, a veritable hell on earth. After all, the two of them had been priests of the God of Justice in life, and seeing their former companions roasted like this was still somewhat hard to accept. However, when they looked at the sole surviving paladin, both wore hesitant expressions.

"Miss Angela, we can't..."

"You have to."

Angela sneered, interrupting Mina.

She pointed at the immobilized paladin and smiled.

"Go and feed. Drink his blood and gain eternal life. Haven't you had enough rat blood? It's about time you moved on to humans. I don't care who you were before, but now you are my servants, and you will obey my orders. What use are two vampires who don't drink human blood? You only bring me shame for no reason. Go on, drink his blood and take his life. You'll find it a truly wonderful experience."

At this, Angela's voice became seductive and captivating, while Li Lin stood beside her, watching the two sisters' descent into darkness with interest.

"Go on. When you drink blood, that warm liquid enters your body and brings you incomparable warmth and comfort. It is as peaceful as a spring breeze caressing your body, and like a lover's caressing hands, it gives you pleasure and delight. Go on, this is your fate, your destiny..."

As Angela whispered, the sisters seemed to fall into a trance. Their eyes went vacant, and they slowly walked toward the unfortunate paladin. Though the immobilized man did not know exactly what would happen to him, he struggled desperately to break free when he saw the sisters approaching. Unfortunately, Li Lin's spell was extremely powerful; even an ordinary mage could not undo it, let alone these paladins.

Under Angela's guidance, the sisters came to the paladin's side. One on each side, they embraced his arms. The gesture looked like someone holding a bouquet in both hands, yet it was fraught with terrifying danger. Gazing at the sisters' beautiful faces, the paladin stared in a daze for a moment, completely forgetting to struggle. By then, they had removed his helmet and moved toward his neck. The instant they bit down, Angela released the hypnotic spell, allowing the two women she had been controlling to regain consciousness.

Their first reaction upon coming to their senses was to pull away at once. But when the warm blood flowed into their bodies, the wonderful sensation stopped them. The warmth was incomparable, and the blood was mellow, fragrant, and sweet. Even wine aged for years could not possess such an aroma, and even the most delicious food could not bring them the vitality they felt now.

Standing beside Angela, Li Lin could easily see the change in the sisters. Their expressions went from surprise to fear, then to resignation and rapture. Clearly, Angela's education had been highly effective and very successful.

"Temptation is humanity's eternal original sin."

Angela was clearly very pleased as well. She chuckled softly, watching the sisters cling tightly to the paladin and greedily drink his blood. The paladin, by contrast, was growing paler and paler. Clearly, what they were taking had exceeded what he was capable of giving.

"Even the firmest conviction cannot withstand the pleasures of the flesh."