The Paladin in the Abyss

"I can fully understand your concerns. As a succubus who once served the Demon Lord and brought countless fallen souls back to the Abyss, your caution is very much justified."

Without paying attention to the reactions of the two Aira, Elothysia continued on her own, her tone already growing somewhat excited.

"I do not covet your trust, nor do I need your pity or protection. I came here because I once vowed to fight for the weak, for hope, and against evil. I also believe that in Androlina, the Abyssal Plane's force of goodness will ultimately be its strongest fortress, where a reformed demon can receive the fair treatment it rightfully deserves."

The succubus' speech was not loud, but her voice was like a hammer, striking at the hearts of all the onlookers. The scene fell silent for a moment, as everyone was trying hard to digest what they had just heard.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

Lancelot began to applaud, and soon more clapping joined him, until nearly everyone was clapping their hands, expressing their approval of the succubus in this way.

"Uh, what's going on?" Bruto poked Lancelot in the side, "How can Elothysia also speak that bird-like language?"

"That's the language of the Heavens. The two Aira thought the succubus surely couldn't understand, they spoke a bit too much during their discussion just now." Lancelot, while clapping vigorously, whispered to the dwarf using a technique for covert communication, "You remember what her lover's identity is, right? The celestial language is not a difficulty, the succubus knows it too and even responded directly to the queries, making her intentions crystal clear."

"Not bad, well done!" The dwarf chuckled and also started to clap.

Elothysia looked around somewhat bewildered; this was not what she had expected. But from the applause of the crowd, she seemed to draw some kind of strength, her eyes becoming firm once again.

"You're right, it was my mistake, I should not have been prejudiced against you just because you are a demon." After hesitating for a short while, Akash finally spoke, "We will still watch your every move closely, but until you commit any evil acts, you will be treated as a guest. So... "

The silver-haired captain of the guards took a deep breath, as if making up his mind, and then a smile slowly blossomed on his face: Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

"Welcome to the Gift of Aedon, travelers."

"Yay!" Lilu and Dong Quan cheered, quickly flying to Elothysia's front, grabbing the reins of her mount, and intending to lead the succubus into the town. The townspeople who had just been spectating also surged forward, greeting the succubus warmly and eagerly throwing out a myriad of questions.

The group was practically escorted into the largest building in the small town, which wasn't a place like a town hall, but rather the only tavern (and inn) in town.

Bruto had forgotten how he even sat down, or when a cup appeared in his hand, but with just a small sip of the copper-colored liquid within, the dwarf completely forgot all previous displeasure, grinned widely, and began to drink heartily, quickly becoming chummy with those around him.

The townsfolk were full of curiosity toward this strange party—two humans, a dwarf, an elf, plus a talking skeleton. When Lancelot shyly brought out the little vampire, the scene grew even livelier.

Compared to Elothysia, a kind vampire was more easily accepted by people, partly because there were already many benign creatures within the Bloodline and more importantly, a beautiful creature always easily garnered affection—Succubus Paladin was so, and the little vampire was no exception.

But the focus of the entire room was still the Succubus Paladin. Any person, if they could put aside their biases, would quickly notice Elothysia's sincerity, affability, and warmth. She patiently answered any question posed to her. When talking about her past, she emphasized more on the mistakes she had made, the suffering she had experienced in seeking transformation, not the merits she had earned in seeking redemption, or the formidable enemies she had defeated in defense of the countryside.

As Elothysia recounted her story, Lancelot also had the chance to learn more about the Succubus Paladin's past. In fact, she had once been defeated by her previous master, the Barlow Flame Demon Yiltu.

The incident began with Elothysia's intention to go on a pilgrimage to a holy site of the dwarves. It is well-known that giants are the natural enemies of dwarves, but there was once a stone giant who was converted by a priest of Moradin and thereafter guarded a dwarven temple. Eventually, he even received a call from Moradin and became one of the Soulbreaker stone giant paladins.

However, the temple's treasury attracted the covetous eyes of a Blue Dragon, and the evil dragon boldly attacked the temple. To protect the temple, the stone giant chose to perish together with the Blue Dragon, and his remains turned into a Holy Relic infused with Holy Power. Elothysia wanted to go on a pilgrimage at that time; she wanted to see if there was some connection between her own transformation and that of the stone giant, but on her way to the pilgrimage, the Succubus Paladin was ambushed by the six-armed Serpent Demon Ashap.

After the successful ambush, the Succubus was not killed. Using a spell given by the Barlow Flame Demon, the Serpent Demon turned her bones into silver, stuffed her into a gelatinous creature's body, and put a regeneration ring on her. This way, any flesh that healed would immediately be devoured by the gelatinous creature's Acid, but Elothysia's silver bones would not corrode.

On her evil former master's instructions, the gelatinous creature with the Succubus inside was thrown into a sunless sewer. Since the Succubus Paladin so loved the Prime Material Plane, she might as well stay there. The gelatinous creature's body became her purgatorial prison, and from time to time, the six-armed Serpent Demon Ashap would return to ensure the Succubus was still suffering in this eternal torture.

Ironically, because of her shining skeleton, legends of the Silver Skeleton began to circulate locally, and with the help of a curious group of Adventurers, Elothysia finally escaped from the nearly endless torment.

Lancelot guessed that it was after this event that her angel lover made the Amulet that could sense Elothysia's location. He already knew what happened later; after repeated attempts, the Demons eventually succeeded. Elothysia was cleanly killed this time, resurrecting in the Abyss, only to be captured again.

"I'm so sorry," Lancelot said, raising his cup to the Succubus, "If I had known what that six-armed Serpent Demon did to you, I would have made her death even more painful."