Pallad had his flail. It was a great day to war, but there were reasons war was negative for the world. And yet he had to fight for the church and the God of Light. It’s an odd job, but one Pallad felt pride in.

  Pride he knew was wrong to hold; as he kept marching on. He was remembering this; he knew that. But his boots fell strong upon the ground. He was technically a monster; one that would be rightfully slain by an adventurer were he not in the right.

  Yet he was still standing. This one was a crusade, not against other people. He declines those jobs; and the God of Light seems to hate them just as much. After all, he was blessed with the Paladin class when he awakened.

  And of course, the battle would be tough. This dungeon was one that the adventurers felt was too dangerous. Around D rank, perfect for someone level 50. Pallad marched in, and felt the interior twist around him.

  Dungeons were well known to have absurd dimensionality. And he was young and dumb. He could always handle the teleportation dungeons cast upon you; and he rushed deeper into the occult.

  The dungeon was simple, an obsidian black palace with brilliant purples shining in the windows all mimicking a god he couldn’t remember the name of. He looked upon a plate in Elvish, and used his Translation skill.

  [Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here - S//d//i/g /oic/s]

  47 - Battle

  Pallad felt the steel rod impaling him. It hurt like nothing hurt him before, but he would manage. He would survive, especially since he came too after passing out. Shammus needed him right now, being pinned beneath Furista.

  Furista was dangerous, and Pallad was going to face off against Furista one more time. Pallad tries to lift up his other arm, the one not pinned by the metal pole pinning him to the brick wall behind him.

  There was so much blood. The blood of the civilians that Furista killed with a smile on his face. Maybe it was to spite Pallad, but it just filled him with rage. Rage that seemed to strengthen his body as he gripped at the metal rod.

  He knew it would probably leave him at death's door to keep him in, and line him up to join Sornid if he tore it out like he was about to. Especially with the pain he felt alongside it. He wondered if Judine was almost done with her goal.

  But he stopped pushing through the pain as soon as a lyre tore his attention away from the task. It hurt more to slowly slide the metal pole, and Pallad felt himself sinking lower as he pulled at it.

  [Bleeding]

  The system told him that he was bleeding which he could feel. Real well actually as the song seemed to seep into him ever so slightly. Suddenly, the song quieted. Then got a lot louder as someone wearing a bard’s outfit with 30 tentacles? No, those were 6 wings composed of 5 lines each.

  Pallad looked up as the song filled him with power once again. The green wings were odd and one of them speared into him and Shammus as the wielder of them landed down with an almost instantly recognizable grin.

  “Bariton survived…” Pallad felt the surge of power enough to pull out the metal rod without risking further damage. And the bleeding stopped, or at least the pain did. So did the way he was light headed. It felt good to step up once again, and the System seemed to agree.

  [Class Evolution; Paladin of Truth -> Demigod of Battle]

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The system was cruel, but he was cooler. He felt something spear out from his back as his own flesh merged with his Greatsword of Justice. He knew Shammus felt a similar transformation as his wings were pitch black, and seemed to emanate darkness.

  Shammus pushed Furista off and jumped back to join Pallad and Bariton. Pallad looked back and saw instead of wings, armor had formed from his bones. Pallad was a bit happy though underneath the envy that was brewing.

  He was always a brawler. And it seemed Furista was practically done for as a light lit up the sky. Something Pallad would have to worry about later. Shammus and Bariton both drew their weapons and they had a different glow.

  Pallad would’ve called Bariton a heretic if his bow didn’t have an entire scale alongside the lime green. That green is usually mixed with Necromancy after all. But he knew he was also a heretic.

  He was no god of light after all. Pallad rushed in and slammed into Furista, who responded in kind by launching the magical slashes at him. But they bounced off as Furista was thrown a few meters, bouncing against the stone pavement a few times.

  Pallad grinned and slapped his own arm, sounding like a clash of blade on blade with the armor. Bariton shot towards Furista who then panicked, cutting a few of the… notes that shot at him. That didn’t do much as it just changed the tune of his demise.

  Shammus had also flown in cutting at Furista’s legs as he tried to run for a grapple match with Pallad, which Pallad would’ve gracefully accepted, after Shammus vanished into the shadows. Pallad clasped onto Furista’s arms, and felt his power surge.

  Furista’s arms began shaking, as if tired all of a sudden as Pallad laughed to land a punch into Furista’s face. His nose was now broken, and his larger pair of eyes rolled into his head. Must’ve hurt from how Pallad’s strength seemed to grow larger.

  [Painfueled - Default Trait; Demigod of Battle]

  The system answered the question before Pallad could even ask it. And he fought hard. He fought harder than he ever thought he’d need to. He punched Furista hard, into the sky to avoid collateral damage. Furista seemed dazed by it as his lower two eyes locked onto Pallad from the sky.

  Pallad grinned as he slammed his fists together, the sound of metal grinding on metal rang out strongly as he dove in the air. Furista was right there to meet him, his hands clasping together as he cast a spell strange.

  [Domain; Shrine of Malevolence]

  [Effects:

  POWER: -50%

  AGILITY: -50%

  Buffs -10%]

  Even as Pallad felt his strength sap from him, he still had Bariton and Shammus in here. And the constant slashes were hitting him through his armor. He knew he had to tank these hits to prevent them from getting to those two, but Shammus almost collapsed.

  So Pallad dived back and held him up and took his share of slashes for Shammus. The damage was building but then another bright flash of light as the domain shattered, much to the shock of Furista.

  When Furista looked back to see the city, mostly glassed from that bright beam of light, he knew he was done for, especially with Pallad kicking Furista towards the bright beam that seemed to ravage the city greatly.

  And Furista flipped Bariton off, who responded in kind as he was launched into the giant pillar that consumed the sky, but Pallad was more curious of the cause of it. The power it seeped was shattering the very ground they stood atop.

  He looked down and found Judine and Clara fighting against the flow. Or who he thought to be those two, everything lost its color as the pillar gained more power. He landed besides those two, and immediately asked them what was going on.

  This close to the pillar however, most sound was drowned out, but Clara responded anyways. The lyre was still audible as Bariton seemed to scan the surroundings, turning his head like he was lost.

  “We were fighting the queen!” Clara shouted over the piercing sound of the light. It seemed to just constantly be rising in tone, something Pallad could’ve sworn was called the shepherd’s tone. “And then she did a weird hand signal and now…” Clara seemed to lose her voice as she gestured at whatever the hell that was.

  “By Light’s Edge…” Pallad muttered, it probably went unheard since he couldn’t hear it himself, but it was worth remembering this sound, it seemed to carve into Pallad’s mind even as his partial divine status fought against it.

  [Divinity -> .1%]