The Paladin in the Abyss

"However, why did the demons appear here?" Lancelot frowned and asked, "If they wanted to launch a surprise attack from here, they shouldn't have sent so few soldiers."

"Furthermore, with terrains like the slave enclosures, it would have been easier for them to attack the walls directly." Old Reap crouched on the ground, examining the skeleton left behind by the Bone Demon, "Demons always engage in meticulous planning, these guys must have had some special purpose for coming to the bottom of this pit of corpses."

"Think about that ice wall, and how easily they summoned the Skeleton Sea." Kalalin seemed to have realized something, "Lancelot, you might have unintentionally saved Oasis Fort, sparing it from a fate of being overrun by demons."

"What did I do?" Lancelot scratched his head, "Was this Bone Demon some big shot or something?"

"I don't know what kind of figure it was, but it was definitely a very powerful spellcaster," Kalalin confidently stated, "Think about how many skeletons there are in the pit. I guess it was preparing a very powerful spell that would awaken all the skeletons in the pit."

"Then an endless stream of skeletons would burst out of the slave enclosures, overwhelming every living being inside Oasis Fort," Lancelot smacked his lips, "In a way, this kind of death is quite fitting for Molo and his Oasis Fort."

"Oh! Boss! What a deep irony this is!" Eckmond exclaimed excitedly: "The bodies of the slaves rising up to completely destroy the city that enslaved and murdered them—it's exactly the demons' style! The original plan must have been just like this!"

"Don't get too happy too soon," the werewolf said gloomily, "Demons are a bunch of creatures with a severe thirst for revenge, especially against those who hinder Barto Hell in any way. You better be careful the next time you use this succubus identity."

"Thanks for the reminder," Lancelot nodded, though he thought to himself that he better wear this disguise whenever he did something big in the future.

Having already plundered the treasure vaults of the Succubus Palace, completely looted Molo's treasure vault, and killed a Succubus—a demon with a special status in Shendiravir; now he had also foiled the demons' plan. The Bone Demon, once resurrected in Barto Hell, would surely exaggerate and report him, which now put him on the demons' radar.

However, Fiends' ability to resurrect was really annoying, making it difficult to conceal his true strength. He would have to seriously research if there was a way to break this ability.

"Hey! Come and check this out!" Koula was looking at a large rock that Lancelot had sliced open with his sword, and found the tail of the Bone Demon on the ground.

Upon hearing this, everyone walked over only to see that the tail had not decayed like the rest of the Bone Demon's body but was still very firm and strong.

"I've never heard of such a phenomenon before," Dwarf Priest Witt spoke, "What happened to this tail, and these two polished stones?"

"That Bone Demon had been hiding behind this rock initially before I sliced its tail off with my sword," Lancelot shrugged nonchalantly, explaining the event plainly.

"Along with the rock," Eckmond added, "Boss, that sword stroke won me over."

"My old man might be able to craft this tail into something," Bruto said, rubbing his eyes and adding, "A lance, or a whip?"

"Look at the thick vertebrae, and those sharp bone spurs on it! This tail is just beautiful!" Eckmond moved closer, "Boss, can you give this to me?"

"For what? You want to piece together your own skeleton bit by bit?" Bruto curiously looked at the skeleton, "This thing seems pretty suitable for a spine—you could even have a tail." Find more adventures on empire

"Uh, I've never thought about it that way," the skeleton was stunned for a moment, "That's actually a great suggestion, I'll consider it. I mean, I could use this thing as a weapon; it should be pretty effective."

"How do you plan to use this thing? Swinging it around with your mouth?"

"Indeed, it has something to do with my mouth, but I'm not going to swing it."

The skeleton head flew over, opened its mouth, and sucked the tailbone into its mouth, which was the entrance to the dimensional space within its body. Then, it brewed in the air for a moment and shouted loudly:

"Watch closely!"

All of a sudden, it opened its mouth wide, and the Bone Demon's tail shot out like a long spear, punching a large hole in the wall.

"How about that! Isn't it impressive!" The skeleton head still had the tail stuck in its mouth, mumbling its words. It slurped the tail back in like noodles. "Huh, it feels great, an attack bursting from the mouth like that can surely surprise the enemy during a fight!"

"It's pretty disgusting watching you suck back that thick, long surprise," Bruto commented. "Your move would be more effective up close, so you don't need to project such a long thing and then spend half a minute sucking it back bit by bit."

"Noted." Eckmond flew back to Lancelot's side. "How about it, boss? Can I keep this thing then?"

"Until I find a better use for it, you can use it," Lancelot nodded, then turned to look at Bruto, "Are you alright? Alamir, can you heal him?"

"I'll do it, let's not waste precious Divine Arts." Witt opened his backpack, pulling out bandages, potions, and other tools for treating wounds.

Healing the sick and wounded is the responsibility of most priests, who usually receive good medical training, so they aren't caught off-guard once they've used up their daily quota of Divine Arts.

Apart from Bruto, the others had also sustained some minor injuries, only Phil and Koula, the two small ones, were unharmed. After a quick treatment, the group resumed their journey to escape from the Oasis Fort.

Worried that other Demons might have entered the passage and could ambush them ahead (a common trick among Demons), the group proceeded with extra caution, but fortunately, they encountered no trouble along the way.

After walking for about an hour, by the Dwarfs' instinct, they were already close to the surface. Lancelot could feel it as well, as the air in the cave was starting to freshen, though using 'fresh' to describe the air in a world devoid of plants wasn't quite accurate, but that was the general idea.

Suddenly, old Reap sniffed the air, frowning as he warned:

"There's a smell of blood ahead, be careful."

"What a sensitive nose." Phil commented casually.

The atmosphere suddenly quietened down, everyone staring at the forthright Goblin, especially the Werewolf old Reap, who squinted his eyes, dangerous fangs poking out from the corners of his mouth.

"Uh, I mean, what a sensitive nose, bro! What a sensitive nose, bro!" Phil scrambled in his explanation, "Please, stop looking at me like that. Everyone knows Goblin meat is sour and stinky, it could easily upset your stomach for a month and make you unable to eat anything!"

"Seems like you have quite a clear understanding of yourself," old Reap withdrew his gaze, "This blood smell seems like it's been on the ground for a while, let's go see what died up ahead."