Gripping the sword hilt tightly, Jacques spun around and charged to one side.

Isabella, sensing some emotion, reacted a moment too late. Under normal circumstances, she could have anticipated and stopped Jacques, but this time, she was still one step behind. Thɪs chapter is updated by novelFɪre.net

As a holy knight, Jacques’ current body stats had already reached eight, and he had not yet hit a bottleneck.

He only needed to train for another year or two to return to his family and, with their power, rapidly ascend to Steel Seed status.

Under these conditions, Jacques could already dash far in just one second.

Although Isabella was quick-witted, her agility was lacking.

Priests clearly had a disadvantage here—they needed to reach Steel Seed to compensate well.

Only then could they forcibly control their bodies with their spirit to respond swiftly to enemy movements.

By the time Isabella realized this and turned around, all she could see was Jacques shrinking into a small black dot in the distance.

Putting aside the sadness in her heart, Isabella quickly made the right decision—she would go find the old priest.

She knew very well that before Jacques came here, he had been harboring a grudge, wanting to punish the family traitor.

For Jacques, hitting those illegally mining whalehide ore was not the main point; the key was to use this incident to teach Naimes a lesson.

This was one of the reasons Isabella had always been hesitant about pursuing Jacques.

It wasn’t because Jacques lacked kindness—such a person willing to uphold justice was rare in noble families, and his character was already qualified.

The problem was that Jacques was too deeply influenced by his family.

His mind was filled with the family’s honor, and anything said by his family was absolutely correct; he never questioned its truth.

People like that were too easily used as cannon fodder for their family.

And now, Jacques was exactly like that.

Benjamin, the tainted witness, was directly linked to Op, the miner, not Naimes. They first needed to establish Op’s guilt, then investigate whether there was any collusion between the two.

Only after confirming that could they deal with Naimes.

The holy knight status was Naimes’ greatest shield. Back then, even though the Dartmanley family hated Naimes to no end, they still couldn’t take action!

Yet now, after the witness died, Jacques’ first thought was not Op but to charge straight at Naimes.

“The family’s influence has already robbed Jacques of his most basic logical judgment.”

“Attacking a full-fledged holy knight while still an apprentice is a serious crime!” In any organized faction, insubordination was extremely frowned upon.

Isabella understood this clearly, which was why she rushed to find the old priest.

Only the old priest could suppress this matter now.

Jacques had no idea that after his reckless move, Isabella would think so much.

He had only one thought: to confront Naimes for an explanation.

His idea was simple—who else in this village could carry out such a large-scale massacre besides Naimes?

In Jacques’ mind, there was only one thought: Naimes is the villain. So when something bad happens and the only capable person around is Naimes, he must be confronted!

Soon, he spotted Naimes’ house.

“Naimes!!!” Jacques shouted without hesitation, charging forward and kicking the door with a powerful blow, about to break in and grab Naimes to ask why he killed so many innocent people!

But the next moment, Jacques’ body was flung backward.

He crashed heavily onto the ground, dragging a long trail across the floor.

Naimes slowly stepped out from inside the house, slightly turning his body and casting a downward glance at the fallen Jacques.

After he came out, the door behind him cracked and shattered into many pieces.

When Jacques rushed over, Naimes had already sensed it and kicked out from inside the door at the exact moment Jacques kicked in.

Their feet collided through the door.

This was how things ended up like this.

“Attacking a full holy knight is a serious crime, Jacques. Have you lost your mind?”

“If that’s the case, pay for my door, and I might forgive you.” Naimes said this, feeling the stirring power of the forgiveness commandment within himself.

Besides enhancing his power and studying faith, the commandment system was the most complete ability preserved within divinity.

Unfortunately, commandments were not something that could be established casually.

And even if established, not all commandments provided enough support.

A perfect commandment required actual establishment, alignment with the nature of the divine commandment, and a certain difficulty to truly activate.

When unable to add new commandments for the time being, increasing the strength and breadth of existing ones was the fastest way to improve power.

Jacques might be foolish, but his strength was undeniably real.

If Naimes forgave him, he might gain a decent bonus.

“Dream on! Today I will crusade against evil!” Jacques was already deaf to Naimes’ words. His mind was filled only with his own thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, he activated the secret breathing technique, clutching a white-yellow bead hanging on his chest with one hand, murmuring a sacred incantation.

“God, may the Dartmanley family kiss the land you walk on and follow the path of the saint. Grant me the power to sever obstacles and continue forward!”

As the words fell, the white-yellow bead in front of Jacques emitted a faint glow, enveloping him.

Secret Transmission: Path of the Saint.

A saint once appeared in the Dartmanley family. He once walked on the land of disaster, following the steps of the gods, ultimately obtaining a divine miracle.

With this miracle, he gained fame and founded the family.

One of the family’s heritage foundations was this secret art, which was closely related to the sacred and greatly enhanced the strength of its members.

“You don’t know this move, traitor!” Jacques took a stance, staring fixedly at Naimes, his eyes like a dye house—full of chaotic emotions.

Hatred and anger toward Naimes, pride in his own secret art and power, and the joy of teaching Naimes a lesson.

These emotions pushed him forward. Jacques stepped firmly, shifted his body to one side, gripping his sword with both hands, spinning as he slashed horizontally at Naimes.

Naimes narrowed his eyes, feeling the flowing faith power in this secret technique.

Interest immediately sparked, and he raised his sword to parry diagonally upward.

“Sizzle!” The sword blade wailed.

Naimes assessed the situation.

“The power level is about eleven, already exceeding the Black Stone grade maximum, which is acceptable.”

“However, this kind of secret technique usually comes with special traits, which need to be considered!”