The Paladin

**The Paladin**, also known as the **Voidal Paladin** is the secondary antagonist of the *Lightning SMP*.

He serves as a minor antagonist of the Taiga Arc, an unseen antagonist of the Liberal Arc, and the main antagonist of the ongoing Indigo Arc.

He is an Ender-Noid who evolved into an Enderman, he serves as the leader of the Void Screamers and the messenger and right-hand man of the dark god, Horus.

## Appearance

The Paladin, unlike the rest of the Void Screamers, has evolved into an Enderman. Like every other Endermen, he is lanky and stands at around 8 feet tall, he has void black skin and purple illuminating eyes. What sets him apart from regular Endermen is his ability to speak normally and that he doesn’t become agitated when one looks at his eyes.

## Personality

The Paladin is a cunning and intimidating individual, he is devoted towards Horus and will carry out any task his god tells him to. The Paladin uses his high authority and intimidating demeanor to keep other Void Screamers in check, he also seems to not like repeating himself. However, despite all of this, he somewhat cares for his fellow Void Screamers as he told The Captain that his rank doesn't mean he can mistreat his subordinates.

## History

### Taiga Arc

In the Taiga Arc's finale, "It's Not Over", The Paladin appears overseeing the other Void Screamers looting a desert temple, he makes no other appearances after.

### Indigo Arc

#### Fleeting Horizons

The Paladin makes no appearances in the first half of the Indigo Arc, also known as "Fleeting Horizons", though he was indirectly teased when a glimpse of his worshipping place was seen.

#### Shadow of the Indigo

The Paladin makes his proper appearance in the first chapter, "Intertwining Paths". The Paladin arrived at the Captain's team base through a nether portal and had a talk with him. The Paladin reveals that Horus wants Zillius alive and orders the Captain to cease any intentions on killing him. The Captain asks for the messenger to repeat, in which he angrily does so by teleporting right in front of the Captain. After reminding the Captain to not mistreat the lower-ranking, the Paladin leaves by entering the nether portal.

In "Merging Point", the Paladin shows up again in the end scene, the Paladin is in his worshipping place, talking to a head sculpture of Horus. The Paladin assures that Horus' grand-nephew will be separated from the girl, as he states that Zillius shows as much of a threat as her. The Paladin then thanks Horus for choosing him over dozens of his kind, despite him not understanding why but he remains grateful towards Horus for granting him his Enderman body. The Paladin then ends his conversation with the sculpture as he assures Horus he will not fail him.

In "Ghost from the Past", the Paladin appears in the intro attempting to report to a head sculpture of Horus, however he is interrupted when Aurora suddenly appeared behind him. The Paladin inquired why she was here, as this place was strictly for him and Horus, and not even the others have been to his worshipping place. Aurora explained she wants the Paladin to send a platoon of soldiers to kill Aikkop after what she did to Horus, however the Paladin denied her request, reminding her that Horus has once said to not attempt to kill Aikkop. This enraged Aurora but the Paladin intimidated her down and stated that they will hunt down Aikkop once the operation with Zillius is over. After that, Aurora is told to leave by the Paladin in a menacing tone.

In "Unfettered", the Paladin is mentioned by Zero when the latter realizes he has failed his mission which means his higher-ups would execute him for his failure. Later on, when Zero is caught by the rest of Centurio’s team, the former was about to be eviscerated by Centurio but was stopped when the Weaponsmith advised Centurio to report this back to the Paladin and let the messenger of Horus decide Zero’s punishment. After reporting to the Paladin, the Weaponsmith suggested Centurio to await for the messenger’s arrival at the Portal Crossroads, due to the Paladin apparently being furious of the fact Zillius is now aware of the Void Screamers’ existence, Centurio shrugged this off as he stated that the Paladin is the most devoted being towards Horus, and thus he would be "less than furious".

Centurio is quickly proven wrong as when he arrived at the Portal Crossroads, he was telekinetically slammed to the netherrack wall by the Paladin.

## Relationships

### Horus

Horus is the Paladin's lord and master, the latter serves as the dark god's messenger and right-hand man. Before the events of the series, the Paladin was appointed by Horus to be his messenger, transforming the Paladin and turning him into an Enderman, the Paladin was deeply thankful towards Horus and made it his eternal mission to serve the king in purple. He would travel across long distances to spread Horus' message and to report back to Horus, he would also teach his fellow Void Screamers in praising and worshipping Horus. If he is not carrying out Horus' will, the Paladin would return to his private worshipping place and continue to praise and worship a head sculpture of Horus.