The Paladin in the Abyss

The Frost Giant Spellcaster successfully activated the power of the tome, and with a crackling sound similar to that of snapping branches, a strange portal opened. Lancelot's Spirit Perception frantically warned him, as a female figure emerged from the portal, but she was clearly not a woman.

As she lifted her head, a massive serpent's tail and six arms extending from the sides of her body unfurled along with it.

"Who has summoned me?" the six-armed Serpent Demon's voice was both hoarse and evil, laced with haughty arrogance as though looking down from above.

"I am your master, obey my commands!" The Frost Giant Spellcaster, holding the tome with a purple cover, bellowed rudely at the Serpent Demon, "Kill them for me!"

The Serpent Demon cast a venomous glance at the Frost Giant, clearly preferring to chop up the creature who dared to order her around into pieces, yet the magic that brought her here forced her into submission. Like most Demons, the Serpent Demon greatly detested this situation and would surely vent all her pent-up fury on the one who summoned her the moment the enforcing magic's power waned.

On the other side, Lancelot's heart sank sharply. A High Rank Demon such as a six-armed Serpent Demon was not something an ordinary Spellcaster could summon; it required a powerful Magic Weapon as compensation and the promise of commanding a vile army. It was evident that it wasn't the Frost Giant Mage's own power that had brought the Serpent Demon here, but rather the bizarre tome in its hands.

What kind of a tome possessed such power?

The answer wasn't hard to guess, but it didn't offer much help with the current predicament. Among his companions, Bruto and Alamir were jointly confronting a fallen Frost Giant, while old Reap, transformed into a huge wolf, was dealing with another. The only one left to assist him against the Serpent Demon was Kalalin. The Scholar hadn't yet revealed himself and was placed in a dilemma by the presence of the last Frost Giant Spellcaster.

His first spell had to massively weaken the enemy's ability to retaliate, but faced with a 'Spellcaster' who weighed over two thousand pounds, the Scholar wasn't sure how to proceed. A Frost Giant Spellcaster was firstly a Frost Giant, and even with its magical abilities restrained, it could easily pick up any object at hand and throw it at the Scholar with likely the same effectiveness as casting a spell.

But Lancelot could no longer afford to help Kalalin ponder over this issue as he had already charged toward the Serpent Demon. His mind swiftly navigated through all known information about Serpent Demons, and he decisively triggered a special mechanism on his armor, instantly creating a Dead Magic Zone extending about thirty feet in radius with him at the center.

Many people's most vivid impression of a Serpent Demon was her six arms, almost no one able to withstand the barrage-like onslaught, but to Lancelot, the true threat of such High Rank Demons lay in their capability of Instantaneous Teleportation. If he couldn't restrict this ability right away, the six-armed Serpent Demon could use instant teleportation and her exceptional burst strength to defeat each of his companions one by one, then turn to face him last.

Back when he was on the edge of the Great Abyss, he had encountered a group of shapeshifters attempting to steal Sareth's Shield Eye. From their corpses, he found a precious Anti-Magic Stone and had been carrying it with him ever since, until today when it finally came into use. Although he wasn't a match for the Serpent Demon in terms of absolute strength, if he could hold her off long enough, there might still be a chance for a turnaround.

"Oh? You dare to challenge me?"

Facing the Human Knight charging towards her, the Serpent Demon lazily stretched her arms, casually flaunting her terrifying form, but it was nothing more than a ruse to mislead her enemy. The next second, the Serpent Demon suddenly twisted her body, sweeping her thick tail towards Lancelot at a tricky angle.

Had it been anyone else, they might have fallen for the Serpent Demon's trick, but Lancelot was no stranger to such sly tactics.

As soon as the Serpent Demon began to turn, he stamped heavily on the ground, leaping up like an antelope, his body almost parallel to the ground, and lunged forward with unstoppable momentum towards the enemy. When the Serpent Demon spun her body back to face him, Lancelot's longsword was already nearly at her face.

In that moment of life and death, the opponent exhibited the flexibility of a serpent, her upper body bending backward bonelessly, while all six arms swung their weapons; some trying to deflect the Human Knight's attack, others hacking towards his body.

Lancelot had struck with full force, leaving no room for a change in plan, whereas the Serpent Demon's response was a beat too slow. She used four of her six arms to deflect Lancelot's thrust, while the other two arms slashed their swords towards the Human Knight's body. However, the Human Knight's strength was far beyond her expectations, and by the time she realized it wasn't enough, it was already too late.

The Serpent Demon's four weapons failed to alter the course of Frostslash; the longsword, ablaze with azure-green flames, sliced across her chest, now bent nearly horizontally, leaving a half-foot-long, three-finger-wide gash. The surrounding flesh melted away like wax, as if the blade were not made of steel but a red-hot branding iron.

But Lancelot's situation wasn't much better; his legs were soaked red with blood. In the rush of the moment, the Serpent Demon had still found the gap between his skirt armor and leg armor, embedding two sharp scimitars into it. Even though he was protected by a Protective Sword Shield and his flesh was as tough as sandalwood after Foundation Establishment, the wounds on his legs were still an inch deep—ordinary men would have likely lost the use of their lower bodies.

"Your sword blade is quite hot," the Serpent Demon said, straightening up, the wound on her chest making her look all the more dreadful. "When I chop off all your limbs, I hope the gush of blood will warm me up..."

Lancelot didn't respond, but silently circulated his True Yuan, striving to heal the wounds on his thigh. Just then, the Serpent Demon suddenly felt a special kind of binding disappear. She turned her head in surprise, only to see the Frost Giant Spellcaster clutching his left hand in agony, a small dagger embedded in the palm, while the large tome that had been in his hands was gone, stolen away.

At the same time, the Dwarf and the giant wolf had dealt with their respective enemies and pounced towards the last Frost Giant together. The Giant Spellcaster, enduring the pain, pulled out the dagger from his hand and began chanting a complex spell, seemingly preparing to cast a powerful magic.

"Counter spell!"

Kalalin, who had been holding back, seized this opportunity; his excitement evident as he blurted out the name of the spell while casting. A black ring of light appeared around the Frost Giant Spellcaster, causing all the gathered magic power to dissipate, while the Dwarf and the giant wolf were already upon him.

"You're no longer under the control of the spell that summoned you here, are you?" Lancelot stood with the support of his sword, staring directly at the six-armed Serpent Demon, "This is still the Abyss, are you sure you want to keep fighting us?"