Gangtie Kuangchao was fighting to his heart's content when a harsh shout suddenly rang out behind him.
"Divine Smite!"
A dazzling beam of light descended from above. Metal screeched against metal, and a moment later, the right arm of his armor crashed to the ground.
Gangtie Kuangchao's face froze in disbelief before an overwhelming pang of heartache struck him. "My Guardian Armor—!"
He swiveled the construct around to see a blond-haired, blue-eyed paladin standing with blade in hand.
It was none other than Andre Bosque.
"You bastard, you're going to pay for my armor!"
Furious at the man who had ruined his prized creation, Gangtie Kuangchao lunged forward and swung his left fist, jets of flame bursting from the limb.
"Take my Thunder Gauntlets!"
Yet the paladin was enveloped in an Aura of Alacrity. He dodged the heavy, windup strike with effortless grace and slashed out with his sword once more.
"Divine Smite!"
Another blinding flash tore through the air.
With a loud clang, the Guardian Armor's left arm was sheared away as well.
"How is this possible...?"
Gangtie Kuangchao mumbled to himself, on the verge of tears.
This suit of armor had cost him all his savings—and even some embezzled guild funds. He had never imagined it would prove so fragile before this blond paladin.
Andre glared at the half-dragon in the cockpit, his eyes resolute. He spoke each word with conviction: "Minions of the evil dragon, your very existence threatens the peace and order of the Northlands. Eradicating you will become part of my glorious saga!"
Bang!
Zhandi Lunyiren fired a shot, but Andre dodged it with ease.
Andre leveled his longsword at Zhandi Lunyiren from afar.
Guiding Bolt.
A shining beam of radiance struck between the half-dragon's brows, punching a neat hole straight through. Zhandi Lunyiren dropped dead on the spot.
"Take my Body Slam!"
Gangtie Kuangchao leaped into the air, throwing the massive weight of his armor forward in a desperate bid to crush the paladin flat.
Andre deftly stepped aside, a dense magical radiance shimmering along the edge of his blade.
Magic Weapon.
With a single thrust, he drove his sword clean through the cockpit's reinforced canopy, skewering Gangtie Kuangchao right inside his beloved suit of armor.
Andre wrenched his bloodstained sword free, his blazing gaze sweeping toward the remaining players.
"Holy crap, it's a boss!"
"He's heading this way!"
"The guild leader and vice guild leader both got one-shotted!"
"This paladin is insane—he just hacked down a Gundam!"
Tiansheng Zhankuang watched from a distance as the paladin began butchering players, clicking his tongue in wonder. "This mob is pretty tough."
[Based on your own strength, you can observe the following information]
Andre Bosque
Core Class: Oath of Glory Paladin
Challenge Rating: 6 (2,100 XP)
Tiansheng Zhankuang chuckled, his eyes alight with intense battle lust.
He glanced at Xiaye Qiuyu beside him. "Qiuyu, elite mobs like this don't come around often. Are we taking him?"
Xiaye Qiuyu gave a slight nod, but kept her voice low. "Of course we are, but we take him alive."
Tiansheng Zhankuang asked in confusion, "Why not kill him? Did this elite mob's good looks catch your eye?"
Xiaye Qiuyu facepalmed, pointing helplessly at the status screen. "Take a look at his surname! Bosque! That's the most powerful family in Anzeta according to official lore—the Lion of the North!"
"If we kidnap this guy, who knows how much gold we can extort? Isn't that way better than a measly handful of XP?"
Tiansheng Zhankuang rubbed his bald head and grinned awkwardly. "You've got a point."
The battle raged on.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
"Damn it..."
Andre knelt on one knee, propping himself up on his sword. Sweat dripped from his brow. His body was covered in wounds—burns, frostbite, and even patches of acid corrosion.
The players' attack patterns were utterly bizarre. Even with his auras of protection and alacrity shielding him, he could not avoid everything.
Players were hardly honorable knights; given the slightest opening for a sneak attack, they took it without hesitation.
These foes were unlike any enemy he had ever faced.
Even when Andre slaughtered their comrades, the survivors swarmed forward without a shred of fear, shouting incomprehensible jargon like "I'll DPS," "Need a tank!" and "Heal me!"
By now, Andre was on the brink of exhaustion, pushed to his physical limits.
All around him lay mounds of player corpses.
Over a hundred in total!
Whoosh—
An arrow whistled through the air.
Sensing the attack from behind, Andre rolled to his left to dodge it, then snuffed out the wretched sniper with a Guiding Bolt.
Yet a barbarian hurled a spear from his flank with terrifying force. Andre instinctively raised his sword to parry it aside.
The instant his blade rose, another magical aura surged from behind.
Hold Person.
This time, he was a fraction of a second too late to dodge. The spell froze him in place, rendering him entirely immobile.
Fengyun, vice guild leader of Wangquan, cried out excitedly, "He's held! Nobody do anything stupid—wait for our guild leader to take the kill!"
"I'm on it!"
Brandishing a greatsword, Bazhe charged forward with ferocious momentum.
Yet an unnatural, thick fog abruptly rolled over the battlefield, swallowing the paralyzed Andre—it was Fog Cloud.
Bazhe groped blindly through the mist, roaring in fury, "Who cast Fog Cloud?!"
In an instant, members of the Wangquan Guild, solo players, and players from other guilds all rushed headlong into the mist, hoping to fish in troubled waters.
"Ow! You hit the wrong guy, I'm a player!"
"Is the boss still there?!"
"Someone cast Gust of Wind!"
Amidst the chaos, a shadowy figure darted through the dense fog.
Vice Guild Leader Fengyun raised his staff and cast a spell.
Gust of Wind.
A howling gale rose, sweeping the thick fog away.
Yet the spot where the paralyzed paladin had been standing was now completely bare.
Watching the prize slip through his fingers, Bazhe flushed scarlet with rage and bellowed, "Find that sneak, whoever they are!"
Behind a nearby hillside, bolstered by a Haste spell, Tiansheng Zhankuang dumped the blond youth onto the ground and bound his hands and feet tightly with hemp rope.
He rubbed his bald head, grinning with satisfaction.
"Haha, duped that bunch again."
Xiaye Qiuyu could not resist reminding him, "Don't celebrate too early. The duration on Hold Person is almost up."
Sure enough, Andre began struggling to push himself up from the dirt.
"Where is th—"
Thwack!
Tiansheng Zhankuang brought a heavy club down squarely on Andre's head, knocking him out cold.
He dusted off his hands and looked down fondly at the tightly bundled youth. "Done. Looks much safer this way."
Still not entirely at ease, Tiansheng Zhankuang rapped him over the head several more times.
Xiaye Qiuyu could not help saying, "Don't go clubbing him to death!"
Tiansheng Zhankuang puffed up with confidence. "I've got plenty of experience knocking people out. Besides, he's a mini-boss and has that paladin Divine Health trait. He won't die that easily."
"Tsk, tsk, we're rich now."
Looking down at the unconscious, lump-covered blond noble, he felt as though he were gazing upon a glittering mountain of gold coins.
And so, the third legitimate son of House Bosque, an Oath of Glory paladin who carried the highest hopes of his bloodline, was ignominiously kidnapped by players right off the battlefield.
Chapter 113