Before the square-faced man singled him out, Joen had been earnestly experiencing the way the Divine Art Sequence tempered the body.
Using magic to strengthen the flesh—this was something nearly all sequences attempted, though each sequence emphasized different approaches and methods.
For example, the War Sequence, which Joen was best at and most familiar with, relied on communicating with one’s own blood and flesh, squeezing out the ultimate potential of the body.
Almost all of its power came from this very flesh.
As for the Holy Knight’s training method, Joen sensed that after the body reached extreme fatigue and damage, Divine Power participated in the repair process, replacing the function of some tissues, and gradually transformed the body into a “half-Heroic Spirit” form.
The benefit of this was obvious.
Divine Power was incredibly mighty.
Holy Knights could rapidly increase their strength, reaching a level that War Sequence casters would need to train for a long time and endure great hardship to achieve.
When severely injured or exhausted, they could pray to the Goddess to recover their peak combat strength at an astonishing speed.
They could also use their own bodies as mediums to summon true Heroic Spirits, or even Angels.
But unless they received the aid of another god’s power to reconstruct their bodies, once they left the Church and lost the protection of the Divine, it would be difficult not only to maintain their strength, but perhaps even to survive.
The price of transforming the body was being abandoned by the Divine.
Perhaps this was the root of the “Dark Knight’s” existence.
Joen thought to himself silently.
In his perception, the surrounding Divine Power of the Goddess was frantically surging into his body at every moment.
Even though he was unwilling and kept resisting with his own strength, the Divine Power still maintained great enthusiasm toward him, making him suspect that if he was willing, these Divine Powers would immediately transform him into a Heroic Spirit Body.
‘If I transform into a Heroic Spirit Body, I might become stronger. After all, I could use Divine Arts without restraint, be immortal and indestructible, and grasp part of the Goddess’s laws.’
‘When breaking through physical limits, I wouldn’t need to consume so much flesh and blood energy. Maybe I could push the “Super Speed” state beyond ten minutes.’
Having worked closely with the Imperial Guard and the Holy Army, Joen had a high standard for understanding power.
He could roughly calculate the final result in his mind—the benefits definitely outweighed the drawbacks.
But what was the source of the problem?
The overly enthusiastic Divine Power always made him uneasy.
The Divine Art Sequence was always so convenient and efficient, but was the Divine Power really without issue?
Was it really okay to let a power of unknown origin fill his body?
What if… the Divine was not correct?
This thought clung to his mind like a stubborn disease.
Although the Goddess’s teachings, morals, and ethics, as passed down to this day, constituted almost all the “correctness” in this world and formed the majority of his sense of right and wrong, he still feared that tiny possibility.
The possibility that “the Divine could also be wrong.”
‘Don’t let the Divine Arts modify me.’
‘If one day I must believe in a god, it must be an absolutely correct god.’
Joen made a silent decision in his heart, and at the same time roughly pushed away all the surging Divine Power.
The Holy Knights around him, who had felt that today’s training was particularly ineffective, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank heavens, the Divine Power concentration has finally returned to normal…”
Just then, Joen heard the square-faced man’s angry roar.
He looked up with a dazed expression.
It took a moment to react, and he pointed at himself: “Me?”
“What else? Who else but you brought a pet?”
“You mean me? No… Uncle… this is—”
“What attitude?!”
The square-faced man had originally only wanted to make an example of someone and shake up the team.
But seeing Joen neither humble nor arrogant, a newcomer who dared not flatter or lower his head, ignoring his thunderous authority, he immediately became furious.
He already felt that he didn’t deserve the position, and now this made him completely enraged out of shame.
If he couldn’t suppress this newcomer, the team would be even harder to lead in the future.
“Uncle? Who are you trying to buddy up with? At work, use my title! Call me Captain! Understand?”
“Huh?”
Joen was stunned.
He was surprised because when the teams were assigned, he had seen the Temple Knight Captain here, and it wasn’t this square-faced man.
Although it was in the Empire Capital, this was just a branch church in a remote district.
Having a single regiment’s formation was already the limit.
Where would a second captain come from?
But soon, Joen caught on and realized: “Oh, you’re Deputy Commander Mr. Wen Sen, right?”
Hearing the word “Deputy,” Wen Sen’s face darkened.
He practically wore “I want to bite you to death” on his expression.
He even suspected this guy was doing it on purpose.
Bringing up the one thing that stung!
“Lily is not a pet.”
Joen explained politely and seriously: “Lily is my friend. She’s also a nun here. What I’m doing does not violate Church Doctrine.”
“Are you kidding me? She’s a nun? Did my uncle… I mean, the Lord Bishop go crazy?! Letting such a little thing be a nun?”
“This is her Church Badge.”
Joen took off the iron cross badge on Liya’s chest and showed it to Wen Sen.
Wen Sen was choked into silence.
But soon, he found a new angle and scolded with a dark face: “Even if she’s a nun, how can you let her sit on you? Does Church Doctrine allow a General Affairs Nun to sit on a Knight? This is simply indecent!”
“But the Doctrine doesn’t forbid it either.”
“Just because it doesn’t forbid it, you can do it? As an Apprentice Paladin, shouldn’t you strictly follow Church Doctrine?”
“I—”
“Talking back? Now, immediately, go over there and spar with Luo Te and the others!”
The hot air blasted from Jie Sen’s roar almost hit Joen’s face.
However, after a long time, Jie Sen didn’t hear Luo Te or the others respond.
He turned around in confusion and only then saw that Luo Te and the others, who stood like three iron towers among the crowd, were now looking miserable and cowering, sometimes stealing glances at him, sometimes at Joen.
When their eyes met, a battered and bruised Luo Te said with a trembling voice: “C-captain, maybe we shouldn’t spar today? I’m not in good shape. Really not good…”
Jie Sen’s face immediately turned serious.
He didn’t deserve the position.
He only got it through his uncle, and he was always being suppressed by the Chief Commander.
He had always known that many people below didn’t accept him, so he had deliberately wooed the three strongest Apprentice Paladins.
Whenever a new apprentice joined, under his orders, those three would bully the newcomer until all their sharp edges were worn away.
Then he would hypocritically step in, save the newcomer, and sternly criticize Luo Te and the others.
That way, he could both establish authority and win people over.
Jie Sen quickly suppressed his anger, his expression becoming emotionless and cold as water.
Before he understood the newcomer’s background, he didn’t want to escalate the conflict further.
“Newcomer, you know what? I could have charged you with disrespecting a superior according to Church Doctrine. But considering you’re young, just joined, and don’t know the ropes, I didn’t punish you.”
His expression softened slightly, and he patted Joen on the shoulder.
“Remember, blame is concern. Punishment is tempering.”
“As your captain, I have a responsibility for your lives. If you slack off now, the chance of dying at the hands of Demons increases tenfold! Don’t fool around and treat your own life like a joke!”
“Let it slide this time!”
With that, he walked away with his hands behind his back, full of presence.
But as soon as he left the training ground, Jie Sen’s pace quickened until he was sprinting.
Finally—
He burst into the Bishop’s Office, his expression panicked, his eyes urgent.
“Uncle! Uncle! I think I’ve gotten you into trouble! That new guy… does he have some powerful background?”
“Should I prepare a gift right now and go kowtow to apologize?”
“Uncle, don’t be angry. I’ve learned a new kowtow technique—standing on my head to kowtow. I’m sure it can amuse the big shot!”