The Paladin in the Abyss

The female figure made of ice glared fixedly at Lancelot, her eyes burning with a pale blue flame of ice, her expression angry and twisted. Coupled with the terrifying crack on her forehead, she looked both eerie and fearsome.

Though only an avatar had descended here, the avatar shared the same knowledge, memories, and personality as the original—it was essentially indistinguishable from the original, except in strength, though the avatar itself was unaware of this difference. She had expected that her opponent would kneel before her majesty, begging for mercy, and even if resistance occurred, it should have been easily overcome, followed by an exceptionally cruel torment, ultimately leading to submission to her will.

As an exceedingly proud goddess, Olul found it hard to accept that she had been injured by a mere mortal. She completely ignored the fact that she was just an avatar, or rather, a saint, and still presumptuously believed herself to be invincible, at least against mortals.

Just as she was preparing to unleash her fury on Lancelot, the figure of the Succubus Lord appeared at the other end of the battlefield. Judging by the glowing Magic Aura around her, she had prepared a powerful spell.

"Take this, bitch!" Tijana screamed without any grace, "Disintegrate!"

A thin beam of green light shot out from her fingertips, hitting Olul's avatar on the back instantly. As the green light appeared, Lancelot felt a terrifying presence that made his hair stand on end, knowing that if he were hit by that green light, he might be reduced to ash on the spot.

As a high-rank Magician, Tijana could choose different overmagic abilities to enhance her magic while casting spells. Usually, she used Spell Instant Casting the most, which allowed her to complete a complex spell in a very short time, but this time was different. Facing an avatar of a True God, she needed to ensure the spell would hit the target first and foremost.

To achieve that, the Succubus Lord used another type of overmagic ability: Circle Upcasting. Unlike Circle Upcasting, which enhances the power of a spell, Circle Upcasting reduces a target's resistance to spells.

Just as Tijana planned, the spell successfully hit its target, and the icy, humanoid female's body instantly showed hundreds of cracks, as if it was about to shatter into pieces the next second. Just when Lancelot thought the woman he adored had just obliterated an avatar of a True God with a single move, a strong golden light burst forth from within the ice sculpture.

In his Spirit Perception, it seemed as though reality had been altered. After the golden light, everything reverted to normal; the Goddess of Ice's avatar still looked as if her body were wrecked, but all the cracks vanished as if the destructive green light had never happened.

'What is going on?' Lancelot stayed on guard at his position while communicating telepathically with Tijana, 'What was that golden light about?'

"Legendary resistance! This guy used legendary resistance to evade my spell!" Tijana still screamed at an unnecessarily high volume, "Don't ask why I'm talking like this! I'll explain later! Keep fighting!"

Lancelot looked incredulously at Tijana as she shouted as loudly as she could, while flapping her wings in the air, darting around dodging ice cone darts thrown by the Goddess of Ice.

With the agility of a Succubus Lord, she naturally wouldn't be hit by darts from such a distance. Tijana dodged all the attacks, then turned again to face the Goddess of Ice, ready to cast another powerful spell.

'Watch your back!'

Lancelot was already charging forward with his hand half sword raised, but he still kept an eye on the situation at the other end of the battlefield. Those ice cones that Tijana had dodged didn't fall to the ground but transformed into some sort of creature about three feet tall in a flash of blue and white light, resembling a goblin with wings and a skin-and-bones appearance.

As soon as these strange creatures appeared, they immediately opened their mouths and sprayed a burst of intense cold air at Tijana's back. With Lancelot's warning, the Succubus Lord dodged the sneak attack from behind just in time, but the monsters immediately flapped their wings and rushed towards her, forcing her to deal with the enemy in front of her first.

"Damn Ice Demon Bats!"

Tijana screamed again, raising her hand to shoot out a series of dense fireballs, trying to prevent the creatures from getting closer. Evidently, the Succubus Lord was caught in some strange negative effect, and Lancelot wasn't sure if it was caused by her own doing or some magic secretly imposed by a True God.

Regardless of the situation, Lancelot couldn't allow the Goddess of Ice to take this opportunity to attack Tijana. He abruptly accelerated his speed, rushing instantly to the avatar of the Goddess of Ice, and Frostslash swung down again with astonishing force.

The Saint had no choice but to shift her focus back to the Human Knight. She turned around, and a morning star made of ice (note: a weapon similar to a nail-headed hammer, named for its starburst-like head when viewed from above) magically appeared in her hand, clashing with the weapon swung by the Human Knight.

Due to its excellent ability to break through armor, the morning star was one of the best choices for dealing with "tin cans," usually paired with a shield. After parrying the opponent's heavy weapon, it utilized the advantage of its short handle to swiftly knock the knight senseless. Lancelot had faced adversaries armed with such a weapon countless times, so his body had long since learned how to respond.

Distance, the trick was to grasp the distance.

This was a phrase his swordsmanship instructor had emphasized repeatedly when he was still an attendant. Lancelot didn't take the final step of the charge; instead, his body came to a stop earlier, and his longsword's action shifted from a slash to a thrust, aimed directly at his opponent's throat.

The corporeal avatar of the deity responded much slower than Lancelot had anticipated, and Frostslash easily penetrated her defenses, the tip embedding deeply into the neck of the ice statue, meeting significant resistance two inches in and being quickly withdrawn by him with a defensive step back in a horizontal slash, once again widening the distance.

To be fair, as a deity of the natural order, Olul was better at casting spells, and close combat was indeed not his strong suit, but that was relative to other deities. His skill with the morning star was equal to any veteran warrior, the problem was that Lancelot's martial prowess was already close to the limits of a mortal.

Moreover, seeing a weapon that was a renowned killer of those in heavy armor, it was impossible to claim that he had no psychological shadow at all. Fear could either paralyze a person or stimulate extraordinary strength, and in that moment, Lancelot's speed broke through his physical limits once again, and as a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage, his physical limits were not comparable to those of an ordinary mortal.

If there had been a spectator nearby at that time, they would have thought that the Human Knight had simultaneously executed both a slash and a thrust, because Lancelot's speed was simply too fast, leading the brain to involuntarily imagine the latter half of the interrupted motion.

Olul's avatar was practically driven mad. A terrifying large hole appeared on her neck, and her head seemed to be split open, making her look more like an Undead creature without any pain sensation, far from any semblance of divine majesty.

"Moradin!!!!!!"

As if things weren't bad enough, the roar of a dwarf and a rapidly flying heavy hammer could be heard in the distance.