This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 278 Under the overthrow of the nest
In that instant—

"Life Link!"

A sharp shout, like a sword drawn from its sheath, tore through the darkness before dawn.

A soft white halo emerged from the void and enveloped the 'corpse' that was still twitching slightly in the bushes.

A gash appeared on Nie Weiyang's neck, blood gushing out, but the next moment, both his and the man's wounds began to heal. An extraordinary vitality and terrifying regenerative ability, far exceeding that of ordinary people, crossed the boundary between life and death, forcibly sharing itself with the dying stranger.

Life Link—this skill has long been an integral part of Nie Weiyang's combat instincts.

In countless past battles, no matter the circumstances, he would keep this skill active, regardless of who was on the other end.

At this moment, when it comes to saving lives, the first thing to do is almost instinctively connect to the link; everything else can wait!

Amidst the enemy's bewildered expressions, the man in the bushes struggled, his almost depleted health bar rapidly replenished, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“WT…”

Before the other person could even utter a word starting with 'F', Nie Weiyang made his move.

Atop the half-withered giant tree, the paladin leaped into the air! The faint light of dawn outlined his silhouette as he was suddenly enveloped in full silver armor. The armor's lines were cold and hard, shimmering with a bright luster, as if it were one with the longsword in his hand, which blazed with intense white light. He was like a god, wielding the power of thunder, as he brought his sword down!
"—Holy Radiance Blade!"

The dazzling blade of light detached from the sword and swept forward in a fan shape at a speed that almost exceeded the limits of human vision.

"Enemy attack!" The slave hunters finally realized what was happening. They roared and scattered, but the sound had barely faded when the blades of light swept past.

"Pfft——!"

The two escorts at the front froze instantly, their bodies splitting into four pieces, their entrails and blood splattering all over the ground.

Nie Weiyang landed heavily, causing the ground to tremble slightly. Without pausing, he charged into the chaos of the slave-hunting team, like a tiger among sheep. With a swift movement of his left hand, a golden spear materialized instantly, which he then hurled with tremendous force towards the open space in the center of the crowd—

"The Holy Place of Tranquility!"

The spear struck the ground but did not explode; instead, it emitted light.

A magnificent hemispherical barrier suddenly unfolded, its thick, solidified screen, as clear as glass, radiating light and enveloping all the bound slaves within, and even continuing to expand. The barrier instantly isolated the inside from the outside, blocking not only physical impact but also sound.

A reassuring light flowed through the fortress, soothing the terrified hearts of the victims, while the surrounding enemies were repelled by a cold, piercing force, flying three to five meters away.

Nie Weiyang stirred up a gust of wind and rushed towards the slave-catching team members who were isolated outside by Sheng Jing.

He didn't even bother to parry the weapons and low-level attack skills coming from all around him.

Clang! Bang! Sizzle—!

Weapons slashed at the gaps in his armor, as did attack skills, proving these people had experience dealing with fully armored units. But the attack only struck one of the two layers of shields on his body, shattering upon impact with the urchin-shell-like outer layer. At most, it only stirred up a ripple-like wave before disappearing without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

In this area of ​​extreme heat, where even leather armor feels stifling to most people, a fully armored unit charging into the crowd is essentially like a tank driving into a wheat field.

Especially since this humanoid tank is the strongest human being in the world, the battle lost its suspense from the very beginning.

The slave hunters' attacks were like tickling. Occasionally, a slightly stronger member would fight back in an attempt to escape, but even with all their might, they could only cause a noticeable fluctuation in the light shield.

But the next second, what awaits them is an unavoidable sword light, or an iron fist powerful enough to split rocks and shatter stone.

'Thud!' A catcher who tried to sneak up from the side and rear was cut in half at the waist by a backhand sword.

'Crack!' Another burly man swung a mace at him and turned to run away, but Nie Weiyang dodged the blow by sidestepping it and then delivered a precise chop to the neck, the sound of the neck bone breaking clearly audible.

The battle was a one-sided massacre.

"...Damn, how could it be so fast!"

Seeing the situation was dire, the burly leader and his tall, thin second-in-command didn't even attempt a counterattack, but instead fled in different directions. Nie Weiyang, his gaze icy, didn't even look, and hurled his longsword like a javelin!
'Whoosh—Boom!'

The longsword transformed into a white rainbow, striking first despite being behind, instantly piercing the tall, thin man's back and pinning him firmly to the trunk of a large tree, the blade still humming and trembling.

Nie Weiyang himself took a step forward. He was already close to 1.9 meters tall, and with the addition of the full-coverage armor, his size was close to 2 meters.

He took a step and gave chase. His steps seemed slow, but each step covered an astonishing distance, and the ground thudded with each step.

In the perception of the burly leader, it was as if behind him was not a person, but a humanoid tank that was crushing him with the force of a collapsing mountain, and the shadow of death enveloped him!

"No...don't kill me! I surrender! I have information..." the burly leader shouted instinctively.

Nie Weiyang had already caught up behind him, and his armored hand shot out like lightning, accurately grabbing his arm as he instinctively tried to block.

‘Crack! ’

A sickening cracking sound rang out as the burly man's arm was snapped in two, twisted at a bizarre angle.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream, his neck suddenly stretched out, and his head transformed into a snake-like shadow, biting down on Nie Weiyang!

But Nie Weiyang had already grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up like a chick. A flash of crimson light appeared briefly through the gaps in the helmet and visor—

"Ah—!!!" An even more shrill scream rang out. Extreme fear triggered a physical reaction. The burly man's body convulsed violently, his eyes rolled back, and he struggled to curl up.

The eyes are the windows to the soul.

Under the premise of close physical contact, Nie Weiyang only slightly released the spiritual power flowing in his eyes, and in the most brutal way, forcibly destroyed the target's spirit, searched and packaged the short-term memory, compressed and sealed it deep in his own consciousness, to be sorted out later.

Rescue? Murder? Gather intelligence?

Only children make choices.

After doing all this, Nie Weiyang tossed the corpse aside as if it were a piece of useless trash.

With the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, the battle was over in just a few dozen seconds.

The forest clearing returned to silence, leaving only the lingering scent of blood.

The radiant barrier of the Holy Silent Palace slowly dissipated. Inside the barrier, all the freed slaves stared in disbelief at the scene before them.

The light of dawn finally pierced through the thin mist in the forest and fell on the towering figure standing in the center of the clearing.

He was clad in silver-white armor, stained with the blood and flesh of his enemies, yet this did not diminish his cold and imposing presence. A sharply defined silver helmet concealed his face, revealing a deep, icy crimson light hidden in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, the longsword, freshly saturated with blood, returned to his hand with a 'thud,' hanging naturally and pointing diagonally at the ground.

The sword was still as clean and new as ever.

A faint, holy glow flowed, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding scene of carnage.

Silver armor, red light, holy radiance.

A tall, dangerous, yet reassuring stranger.

Nie Weiyang glanced back at them, casually peeled away the flesh and blood on his breastplate, and threw it on the ground.

"Where did you come from?" he asked, walking towards the bushes and simply picking up the shield from the ground.

The man who had just crawled out of the bushes tried for a while to help him lift the shield, but the reinforced Zhenhui was too heavy. Nie Weiyang casually tossed it into his backpack and looked down at the group: "Why aren't you saying anything?"

A girl with tear stains on her face emerged from the crowd. She first hugged the man by the bushes tightly, then turned to Nie Weiyang and looked up at him: "You...you are a god? Has the god finally come to save us?"

(End of this chapter)