The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 690 - 714: Useful Weapons
Chapter 690: Chapter 714: Useful Weapons
(First post, then revise)
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The companions crouched and carefully slipped out of the room. The violent volcanic activity filled the building with a rumbling roar, masking the noise made by several companions clad in heavy armor as they moved, but without the soundproof barrier created by Lancelot, the sounds of combat might still have alerted enemies in other areas.
In the next room lay three Horned Demons, covered in wounds. Yet Lancelot’s Spirit Perception told him that their aura hadn’t weakened in the slightest, suggesting either a trap for adventurers attempting to take advantage of what seemed like an easy situation, or that they were in fact shirking, pretending to be injured to escape the fierce combat.
After further observation, Lancelot concluded that the latter was the case. This wasn’t hard to understand; Horned Demons (or Domineering Demons) were not fond of combat, especially in an environment where they couldn’t use their ability to fly.
Lancelot made several hand signals to his companions, conveying the number of enemies and the plan for combat. He certainly could have used Divine Skills to relay tactics in greater detail, but since the others didn’t possess such abilities, they would be at a disadvantage when they needed to silently communicate future intelligence, without proficiency in sign language.
After confirming that everyone nodded in response, Lancelot took out another clay jar and gestured toward Alamir.
“Start immediately,” he whispered to the Elf Priest who had drawn close, “just like before.”
Alamir nodded, gently twisted the lid of the jar half a turn, held it in his hand for a moment, and then threw it into the room. At the same time, Lancelot formed the Seal Handprint to cast the soundproof barrier spell using his True Yuan, completely enveloping the room where the battle was about to unfold.
A dazzling white light exploded within the room, with the sound of the blast completely blocked by the soundproof barrier, its effect resembling a violent lightning strike in the distant sky, with the sound yet to reach everyone’s ears.
The companions rushed into the room, to be met by three huge figures clutching their eyes, wildly flailing their double-tined tridents. Lancelot burst forward in speed, quickly leaving his companions behind. After two steps, he leaped toward the central opponent; the others targeted the demon on the right, intending to quickly bring their foe down; the demon on the left was momentarily ignored, for even if it recovered before its companions were killed, it would hardly be able to aid the Horned Demon on the far right, at most trying to pincer Lancelot, who was confident that two flightless Horned Demons could not trouble him.
The enemy Lancelot targeted tilted its head at the last moment with the aid of instinct, while also raising its weapon to try to parry. The longsword and the steel trident collided, emitting a harsh metallic clang accompanied by a spray of blood. Caught off guard, the demon could not mount a proper defense, and given that Lancelot had put all his physical strength into the strike, his sword overpowered the trident, cutting a giant gash into the Horned Demon’s shoulder.
With intense pain spurring it, the demon pushed its weapon upward with all its might, but this move was already anticipated by Lancelot. Instead of resisting, he used the demon’s force to withdraw his sword, swinging the blade in a complete arc behind him, then slicing into the creature’s body again from between its legs.
Glimmering with green light, the longsword carved its way upward, splitting the demon’s abdomen all the way to the chest before it was stopped by the ribcage. Even as a High Rank Fiend, the Horned Demon’s life force was tenacious, but such grievous injury left it completely incapacitated, unable to even utter a curse, only staring with frenzied, venomous eyes at the person in front of it.
Yet Lancelot’s face was hidden behind his helmet’s visor, offering the demon only the sight of steel armor performing a Dance of Death; it couldn’t even be sure whether the armor enclosed a living being or some energy creature created by magic.
Lancelot let out a wild roar as his longsword, stuck at first, moved upward again, a fountain of fresh blood gushing out from the demon’s body, drenching the Human Knight in front of it red. After breaking through the last rib, the sword’s ascent sped up, until it struck the demon’s chin.
After less than a half breath’s pause, the head crowned with a pair of huge curved horns slammed into the ceiling of the room, a long spine dangling beneath it, resembling a festive balloon.
The last Horned Demon had only just shrugged off the blinding spell, but instead of immediately attacking Lancelot, it turned and ran towards the exit without hesitation. Lancelot could almost hear its mental screams, but the Half-elf Cursed Swordmaster standing by his side intercepted all of that psychic energy, ensuring no nearby Demons would hear anything.
Huge vines suddenly burst from the ground, and the dashing Horned Demon failed to notice them underfoot, tumbling headlong into the dirt. When it turned over, that fearsome Human Knight was already standing in front of it.
“Wait! Don’t kill me!!!” the Demon screamed in the common tongue, “Let me go, and I can give you wealth that you’ll never be able to use up…”
Frostslash pierced out like lightning, directly through the Demon’s skull.
“Fear indeed is a very effective weapon.”
Lancelot mused to himself, withdrawing the longsword from the Demon’s body, then turned to look at his companions. The Dwarf was sitting on the corpse of the Horned Demon, arms crossed, watching it, while the rest of his companions were either cleaning their weapons or their armor, clearly having dealt with the enemy some time ago.
“Why didn’t you come help?” Lancelot complained to his companions, “This one almost got away…”
“Your pose just now was too cool, I was afraid I’d ruin the mood if I came over,” Bruto shrugged his shoulders and instinctively covered his nose, “Don’t come over here, did you take a bath in Demon blood or something? It smells too strong…”
“Uh…” Lancelot threw a pleading look at the Elf Priest, “Alamir, help me out with some water to rinse off.”
“Stand still.” The Elf Priest rolled his eyes and made several gestures in the air, suddenly causing a localized downpour over Lancelot’s head, rinsing off all the bloodstains from his body.
“Alright, let’s continue, next room,” Bruto clapped his hands on his knees, getting up from the Demon’s corpse, “Just thinking about how much these guys are worth makes me feel especially good…”
“Hold on a second, Bruto, there’s something,” Lancelot said.
“What’s wrong?” The Dwarf immediately stopped, asking tensely, “Are there enemies coming?”
“No,” Lancelot shook his head, “There are only a few Flash Bombs left, I plan to save them for a critical moment…”
“Oh, so we… just charge in and start fighting?” Bruto looked at Lancelot puzzled, “Why are you telling me this specifically?”
“Charging in directly is not the best idea, without the element of surprise, giving the enemy time to react makes them much harder to deal with.” Lancelot stroked his chin, “I have an idea worth trying, if it works, the effect might not be worse than a Flash Bomb…”
