Chapter 95

The muscular man stopped talking and walked straight toward the paladins. In his eyes, these were not warriors equipped with the Steel Rain spell, but merely a clump of weeds blocking the trees. He swung his axe horizontally with force, intending to make these women back off, so he did not use his full strength. However, his power was truly great, and the axe cutting through the air actually made a "whoosh" sound.

Hai Rui's eyes narrowed, and she drew her long sword, clashing with the axe with a metallic clang. She tried to use the strength of her wrists to throw the axe away, but the force transmitted through the weapon startled her. The muscular man pushed her with a casual motion, causing Hai Rui to stagger a step, and she sidestepped to deflect the force.

Another five long swords were drawn simultaneously, surrounding the man. He was like being trapped in a thorn bush; no matter which direction he moved, he would be injured unless he retreated.

The muscular man took a deep breath, making a rumbling sound in his throat. He frowned, preparing to fight to the death.

At this moment, the person who should stir up trouble appeared, and Zhao Mai was very aware of the role he should play. He rushed to Hai Rui's side, waving his arms and shouting, "Wow, what are you doing? The goblins couldn't defeat you, so you're going to fight each other? I don't know if you noticed, but I saw the goblins smiling!"

The goblins sat on the ground, dragging their chains, with wide eyes and a look of confusion. Their feelings were not important; in Zhao Mai's plan, they were just props.

"We are all humans, and we reason, not who has the biggest fists is right," Zhao Mai said. "Big guy, no matter what you want, these goblins are our captives. Even if we are not righteous paladins but just a group of ordinary mercenaries, if you want to take the captives from us, you need to explain the reason and make sense. We don't want to fight you, but that doesn't mean we can't."

The muscular man glanced at Zhao Mai, his eyes full of disdain. This look was very hurtful, so Zhao Mai took out the giant-toothed beast and fired a shot at the ground. With a loud bang, rocks and dust flew everywhere, and a shallow pit was blasted in the ground.

"Is this the legendary dwarven fire gun?" Hai Rui frowned and gently blew the hair out of her ear.

"Yep, that's right, I used it to take out the vanguard general of Lamashitu," Zhao Mai chuckled and then said, "Big guy, are you sure you're not here to save them, stepping over human corpses to kill goblins?"

"These bastards killed everyone, my friends, my brothers, I won't let them go!" The muscular man remained stubborn but finally spoke to Zhao Mai, "Boy with the fire stick, get these... whatever you picked up from a store... girls out of the way, don't block me."

"Watch your words, big guy, don't talk like a bear goblin," Zhao Mai shook his head, "That won't help solve the problem!"

"Alright, ladies," the muscular man ground his teeth, shook his head forcefully, and lowered his axe. "You noble people always talk, your tongues are sharper than anything. Fine, I want to kill those three goblins myself, what do you say?"

"That's not possible unless they are tried," Zhao Mai said before Hai Rui could speak. "We already discussed this when we captured the goblins. We will take them to the next village for trial and let them atone for their sins. Isn't that right, Paladin Hai Rui?"

"That's correct," the female paladin stepped back and sheathed her long sword. "We do not shield evil, but we also do not give up the possibility of reform."

"To hell with that, these goblins can reform, what are you dreaming about?" the muscular man shouted, "These bandits rushed into the village, trying to rob us. My family offered them the food of the day, the stored grain, and asked them to leave. What happened? These maggots!! They still killed my family and the others in the village!"

"Where were you at the time?" Zhao Mai asked.

"I was carrying a hunted deer back, and I saw everything from the hill. I really regret leaving the village!" The muscular man pointed at a goblin, his eyes full of anger, as if they could shoot flames. "It was him, using a heavy axe, he split open my..."

Only water can extinguish flames, and sorrow can drown anger. Zhao Mai reached out and patted the muscular man's arm. "We all feel very sad, and no one wants this to happen. We understand your desire for revenge, but we also have our own code of conduct."

"What? You sissy, you coward!"

"Calm down!" Zhao Mai said, "The goblins need to be tried before they are punished, that's the code of the paladins. But I suggest we take these goblins to your village for trial, is that okay?"

Hai Rui thought for a moment and nodded, "As long as the trial is fair and just, there's no problem. That's our bottom line."

"Trial?! There's no one alive in my village, how can there be a trial?" the muscular man sneered, "What kind of trick are you playing, wasting time, letting these scum breathe more?"

"Idiot!" Zhao Mai leaned in and lowered his voice, "Instead of wasting time here, even fighting might not solve the problem, why not quickly take the three goblins to your village? As long as there are still people alive in your village—including you—you can hold a trial. What were the punishments for robbery, murder, and massacre in your village?"

"Of course, death... oh, oh!" The muscular man finally understood, "You're more cunning than the duke's tax collector, I really despise you."

Zhao Mai was choked by these words. He looked at Hai Rui, and the female knight shrugged, "I heard everything you said, and he's right."

"Hey! That's not friendly!" Zhao Mai pretended to be hurt, "Wasn't I trying to solve the problem? Look at you, one side is righteous paladins, the other is a man seeking revenge, I'm at a disadvantage in both numbers and strength. What do I gain, if not to prevent you from fighting each other?"

"Hmm, Mike is right," Hai Rui nodded, "We are willing to help you take these three goblins to the village and provide assistance after the trial."

"Bullshit help," the muscular man cursed, took a few deep breaths, and said, "Alright, you take the three alive, I'll deal with the dead ones."

With that, he pushed Zhao Mai aside, walked to the goblin corpses, and with one axe stroke, decapitated each goblin, throwing the heads to the side. Zhao Mai was about to call him to set off, but the muscular man continued to swing his axe, cutting the headless goblin corpses into pieces.

He was silent, expressionless, only the blood splattered on his face and the continuous "clang, clang" sounds surrounded him.

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