Lord of Glory

Chapter 1: A Fateful Night

There was a very prominent story recorded in Oloson's Cassily Bible. A powerful alchemist who specialized in the power of day and night finally succeeded to set foot in God's realm. The devil tempted and corrupted him in order to cause him to fall from the side of the light. Even though he was immortal, watching his lover die was heartbreaking. Thus, he used God's power to save his lover, ignoring God's warning. The two of them lived happily ever after...

The Great God, on the other hand, was enraged. Resurrecting the dead was a violation of God's iron law. As a result, God punished him by murdering his beloved, who could no longer be resurrected.he alchemist was overcome with grief, but the demon on whom he had been relying on was nowhere to be found. So, he---a mortal fueled by hatred---decided to fight God. In the end, he died because of God's divine punishment.

Nevertheless, his method of entering God's realm was recorded in his scroll. As it flowed down the long river of history, it had been peered at by countless people who had vainly attempted to resist God.... That scroll originated from the hands of an alchemist. So, since the descendants didn't know the name of the scroll, they took the alchemist's surname and named it the Ripley Scroll.

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"Onix, you answer. How do you stabilize a boiling sulfur solution with white copper(cupronickel)?"

In the middle of a lecture hall with towering white stone pillars, marble-covered walls and floors, and mysterious ancient murals carved onto the ceilings, a beautiful woman with red hair in a white robe was frowning. She tapped the alchemy platform in front of her, looking angry at a white-robed student about ten meters away from her. The student who had just awoken from his slumber appeared befuddled. The student, whose name was Onix, got called out and it made his face flushed immediately. The students around him lowered their heads and softly snickered. No one dared to secretly tell him the answer.

"Um... This...." Onix's voice became increasingly smaller. He had an argument with his classmates yesterday. That's why he dozed off in the morning class, completely forgetting it was Feng Li Er's, an alchemy tutor who must never be offended in class.

At the same time, a man with messy black hair stood beside a half-opened wooden door next to the lecture hall. He was dressed in shabby and coarse black clothes, holding a wiper and a broom in his hand. The 20-year-old man with a handsome but dirty face was observing this scene carefully. He unconsciously showed a contemptuous smile. His name was Paladin, which meant holy and pious. Such a name was immensely unsuitable for this place.

Paladin was acutely aware of his predicament. His biological parents, who made no attempt to hide their faces, left their newborn son in front of the college's gate without saying goodbye. Not even a single letter or message was left. They only left a tattered bamboo basket and a cross necklace worn by the newborn. Paradoxically, not only did his parents not want their son, but they also outed themselves as members of the continent's most powerful organization, the Holy See---which was wanted and hunted down---in front of a branch of the Freemasons' Association.

That's right. On the Oloson Continent, the Freemasons' Association was both a dangerous and harmless organization. As an organization filled with mysterious alchemists, they didn't care much about things outside, didn't have much attack power, and didn't have many members. They did, however, threateningly preach that Enos, the true god of the Holy See, was a heretic. They advocated for the equality of all things in the world. They believed that the world wasn't created by God, but by the invisible laws of the universe. This clearly posed a significant threat to the Holy See's prestige and rule. Both sides launched a thousand-year-long pursuit and hunt.

Paladin didn't care about these things. What he cared about was that his parents forced him to wear the symbol of the Holy See, the mortal enemy of the Freemasons' Association, on his body and then abandoned him in their hands. Surprisingly, the members of the association didn't get angry. Hypothetically, he thought it was some kind of insult. Thus, he chose not to commit suicide. He grew up as a slave who cleaned and did chores. He was given the sacred name Paladin, which was ironic. Paladin was rendered speechless by such mockery.

Paladin chuckled softly as he leaned on the wall in front of the door, watching Onix squeak and struggle to speak.

"Idiot, use clover to reorganize the magic circle and assist it using the four sequence formulas."

Of course, Paladin wasn't stupid enough to let these people, who looked down on him hear. He also didn't want these people to know that his knowledge of alchemy was already comparable to their teachers'. The only reason he didn't dare was because he wanted to live longer.

Teacher Feng Li Er abruptly stopped frowning without waiting for Onix's response. She sighed deeply and waved her hand. The murder weapon on her chest shook violently. With an expression full of disappointment, she said, "Okay, okay. Let's call it a day."

As soon as she said that, all of the students in the classroom immediately picked up their textbooks. The sound of them sliding tables and chairs and then rushing towards the door could be heard. Seeing this scene, Paladin was startled. His disdainful expression quickly changed to one that appeared dull and silly. He picked up the broom and pretended to sweep the floor.

Crash! A large group of students, both male and female, all handsome and beautiful, poured out from the doorway while talking and laughing. When they saw Paladin, one of them burst out laughing and stepped forward to playfully touch his head. With a smile, the student then said, "Fool, do a good job."

"Hahaha, my leather shoes are dirty, please lick them for me," someone else joked. Paladin wore a timid and fearful expression as he tried to avoid those who teased and insulted him.

Paladin's pitiful and terrified expression was noticed by a student who was holding a beautiful female student in his arms. He suddenly became interested and teased, "Fool, you're so old. You can't possibly have touched a single woman yet."

After speaking, he suddenly pushed the woman in his arms towards Paladin. "Hey! This is for you!" The woman screamed as she was thrown towards Paladin. This caused Paladin to continuously back away in fright. However, he couldn't help but touch the woman's soft waist and smell her fragrance. His face quickly turned bright red.

"Hahahaha! Look at this, the fool is blushing!" said Onix, the male student who had previously fallen asleep in class. When he saw Paladin's appearance, he became overjoyed and couldn't help but laugh.

What was even more insulting was that the female student who was thrown into Paladin's arms suddenly stared at Paladin with disgust and hatred, as if he were something dirty. She quickly slapped Paladin's hand on her waist, hurriedly walked away, and returned to Onix while muttering angrily, "Honey, stop playing with this kind of thing! The thought of this thing touching me makes me sick!"

When Paladin heard this, he cowered and squatted on the ground, his head buried in his arms. Onix, who saw this, immediately burst out laughing. He was having a blast.

"Don't be angry! I'll go back to the dormitory later and comfort you well!" After saying this, he wrapped his arm around the woman's waist and swaggeringly left together with a group of smiling and happy classmates.

Other students who were leaving the class turned a blind eye to this situation. Paladin's existence was shunned by the entire branch of the Freemasons' Association. Rumors circulated that he was a moron who could only do menial tasks and mundane daily chores. Coupled with the ironic name, some people dismissed the idea of being caring to him.

Even if Paladin wasn't pleased with the branch's leader, there was no reason to jeopardize his future. He still needed the woman's benevolence for a little longer. Therefore, Paladin had no one to talk to within this whole branch of the Freemasons' Association.

Around this time, the students who were in their twenties were nowhere to be seen. The mural-covered corridor was devoid of people. The silence was so deafening that the sound of leaves being blown by the wind could be clearly heard outside. Slowly, Paladin stood up. The hand that was trembling with fear displayed incomparable calmness. His face was obscured by the shadow of his jet-black hair, but there was no sign of dullness, timidity, loneliness, nor fear this time.

If people from this branch saw him right now, they would definitely be blown away. The famed fool, the idiot, and the timid coward was completely gone with no trace of the past. Instead, he had a ferocious and vicious expression! His eyes were wide open while his pupils constricted. The corners of his mouth were distorted by hatred and a desire for destruction, exuding a chilling and terrifying aura that made people shudder! Rather than calling him a fool, it was better to call him a demon in human skin!

The corner of the evil and gloomy mouth moved slightly. A hoarse voice with a vengeful aura could faintly be heard.

"A bunch of rubbish, trash! I, Paladin, won't stop here! One day, you'll have to pay a heavy and irreversible price one by one!" After that, Paladin, whose face turned dull again, picked up the broom and bucket. He slowly walked to another path.

In a dark and small attic, Paladin slowly pushed open the dilapidated wooden door. He skillfully lit a match by the door. The damp and smelly room was immediately illuminated by a dim oil lamp. It was a small room, less than forty square meters in size. The room was filled with all kinds of cleaning utensils. But strangely, there were piles of books lined up neatly on the ground. Needless to say, there was an ocean of books.

Among the book piles was a dilapidated alchemy platform with a hole caused by an explosion after some alchemical failure. Apart from a few test tubes containing unknown drugs, there were also several worn-out parchments on the platform, which were filled with beautiful runes and alchemy tutorials. Obviously, Paladin was not the fool that others thought he was. On the contrary, he had been studying alchemy day and night. His knowledge and expertise in this area were enough to make any mentor feel ashamed.

Paladin, who had just set down the tools in his hand and was about to relax, was suddenly taken aback. He was surprised to discover that the cleaning brush he had brought with him had been left in the lecture hall!

"Hey, I've got to go there again." Paladin sighed in frustration.

He extinguished the oil lamp, carefully shut the door, and walked towards the classroom. From the tower's windows, an endless forest and mountains could be seen looming from the outside, shrouded by the chilling night. It gave the once vibrant corridor a strange and eerie aura. There was something unusual about this night.

The enveloping night was just like the gods' veil concealing true terrors within! Even the bright moon in the sky seemed strange right now. Paladin had no idea that his life would change dramatically on this mysterious and distant night....