CHAPTER 570: CHAPTER 333: FALLEN PALADINS, HOLY DRAGON BLADE

"Paladins!"

Noah withdrew his consciousness, the gleaming golden dragon eyes showing a contemplative look. He had found the mastermind behind the extreme hunting organization in the Alviss Continent, established in his name.

It was precisely the professionals he trusted the most, a group of paladins. More precisely, a group of paladins who had already fallen into darkness, a pitiable group that even made him sigh.

Every paladin who could receive a response from the Holy Light held steadfast faith and noble pursuits. They were the group most despised by the ruling class and also the most feared professionals by the followers of evil gods and the fallen. To the struggling lower class, they were the transcendents they most longed to encounter.

They were so lofty, each paladin appearing as the embodiment of perfection, that even Noah was willing to give them complete trust and significant responsibilities.

Under the Order led by the Holy Dragon, even a paladin in training had the chance to govern a city and even wield the authority only granted to his favored.

But even with such stringent conditions for entry, seemingly perfect professionals would still produce the fallen. Paladins cannot escape the realm of humanity. Moreover, even the Divine has numerous cases of falling, let alone the mundane wise beings.

The fall of a paladin can be categorized into four types. The first type are those who betray their oaths. If a paladin succumbs to bad habits like theft or initiates an attack on non-hostile beings, conducting an ambush, they violate the Oath of Dedication.

Harming natural beings or destroying the natural environment violates the Oath of Nature. If they do not compensate the innocent victims affected by battle afterward, they might violate the Oath of Vengeance.

This is the fall due to oath-breaking. The second type forsakes the path of Order and Good.

A paladin whose behavior and values shift dramatically towards chaos or evil, such as frequently employing deceit or violence against innocents, and no longer upholding laws and moral principles, will be abandoned by the Holy Light, falling into darkness, and thus, becoming fallen.

The third type is shaken faith, the most pitiful and lamentable fallen.

When a steadfastly faithful paladin repeatedly encounters suffering and disaster while the Divine remains indifferent, and they possess no means to resolve it, they begin to doubt their faith, leading to wavering.

During this period, although their faith wavers, the Holy Light does not abandon the paladin. However, due to their doubts, the paladin may voluntarily forsake the power of the Holy Light.

If at this time, an entity like an evil god or devil tempts them, promising to grant greater power to aid them in accomplishing what their revered god cannot, the paladin might abandon their faith and turn to embrace evil.

The last type occurs when their moral compass is forcibly twisted or crumbles.

The environment’s influence on beings cannot be ignored; the same applies to paladins. Should a paladin be dragged into the Dark Hell, unfortunate to fall into a devil-ruled underground city, or plunge into the Hell and Abyss, prolonged exposure to a setting rife with evil and corruption can numb them, leading them to accept and participate in evil deeds, finally falling.

Another scenario is a paladin being in prolonged contact with evil or morally weak individuals, becoming influenced by their actions and thoughts, resulting in a decline in their moral standards, and eventually falling.

However, the fourth type of fallen paladins is exceedingly rare. Any individual who can become a paladin possesses an extremely firm will, making them difficult to fall due to external influences.

It is precisely because of this that many evil demons and even evil gods find amusement in capturing staunch paladins, enticing, coercing, and driving them to their fall.

Successful cases are exceptionally rare. Many paladins do not surrender, even at the brink of soul collapse after torture and torment.

More fallen paladins fall for the third reason, witnessing injustice and grievances in the world, while the Divine turns a blind eye, and they themselves are powerless to change it, causing them to question their faith, leading to an internal collapse of belief, and thus falling into self-destruction.

This is also the main factor for a paladin’s fall. Paladins who fall for this reason constitute the majority. As for the other three types of fallen paladins, if encountered, Noah did not mind casually crushing them.

But it was only this third type, who helplessly witnessed worldly suffering and disaster due to divine injustice, and spiraled into destruction, that truly made him regretful.

Therefore, upon discovering such fallen paladins, seizing the opportunity with the spread of Holy Dragon worship in the Alviss Continent to swiftly establish a faction and eradicate corrupt officials and treacherous nobles, Noah delved into contemplation.

For a rightful good god to discover fallen paladins, acting under his banner, carrying out assassinations and executions against the ruling class of a nation with established order.

No matter what reasons or grievances the fallen might have, regardless of their just motives, even if those executed were truly deserving of death, the Divine would not consider these. He would only dispatch his church’s forces to utterly eliminate these pretenders to his name.

This is the nature of a righteous god, who could never accept followers using violence to remove the upholders of order, regardless of the position of those upholders or the deeds they have done.