The Paladin in the Abyss

"Who are you?!" the lich exclaimed in surprise, "Leave, this has nothing to do with you!"

The Raven Queen sneered disdainfully, unwilling to respond. But soon, her expression turned to surprise, not because of the lich, but because of Lancelot—the human knight had already charged forward, holding two treasured swords of varying lengths in his hands, while a trident formed from vines hovered around him like a massive flying serpent.

In fact, if she looked more closely, she would notice that this 'serpent' had four eagle-like claws on its body, and its head even had two antler-like forks. However, the trident's ability to fly was inherent to it and not due to Lancelot mastering a flying sword technique beforehand.

'Judgment! Judgment! Judgment!' A passionate female voice echoed in everyone's minds, 'Destroy the evil completely!'

'Even I'm getting excited because of your fervor,' another male voice joined, sounding more pleased than thrilled, 'Ah, it appears we have a new companion...'

If a weapon had consciousness, would it simply observe the battle as a spectator as it's wielded, or would it somehow join the fray? Only the weapons themselves knew the answer, but Lancelot could only hope for some encouragement from unseen allies. The location the Raven Queen had teleported him to was over three hundred feet from the lich, and he had to figure out a way to get past the dense throng of undead creatures within those three hundred feet before his weapons could strike the target.

"Stop him! Stop him!!"

Evidently, the lich recognized who had arrived, shouting loudly in an attempt to issue new commands to his minions. However, the anti-magic field severed all magical connections around, though it didn't immediately turn the skeletons and zombies back into corpses. Most had been ordered to stay put, with only a small number near the defensive formation continuing their attacks.

Nevertheless, the presence of living beings triggered an instinctive counterattack from these undead creatures, but they posed almost no threat to Lancelot.

'Hurry up, human. That creature is no ordinary lich; Cranvo must have informed you about it, right?' The Raven Queen's noble, ethereal voice echoed directly in Lancelot's heart, 'The anti-magic field is ineffective against divine power, though that creature likely has little of it left...'

Lancelot felt a surge of urgency. Three hundred feet wasn't far, and the disorganized enemies posed no more difficulty than crossing through a field of tall grass. But it would still cost him several seconds, during which the opponent might come up with something new.

Thinking quickly, he pulled a small clay pot from his chest and immediately smashed it to the ground. A brilliant light burst forth from his heels, casting a long shadow, and Lancelot activated his shadow jump ability, stepping into the 'other side' of this world. Although the demon's domain was an independent demi-plane, it was attached to the Fallen Shadow Netherworld, so all shadow-related magic was enhanced. Lancelot felt as if he had jumped onto an icy slide, feeling a biting cold, but instantly reached his destination—despite the anti-magic field, the lich's position was easily identifiable, a ring of shadow-immune space as if there was a burning candle there.

He materialized in front of the lich, took a step forward into the anti-magic field's area, and immediately swung his twin swords at the lich.

"Stop, I'm not your enemy!" The lich jumped back and shouted as he saw the sudden appearance of a human knight. "Have you forgotten? I'm your best friend. Cranvo must have deceived you..."

Lancelot's movements slowed. He stared blankly at the lich's mouth, with only a thin layer of skin, moving up and down as it spoke such pleasant words. His heart screamed silently, warning him it was Shrek's power, but his consciousness found no reason to refute. It felt like an absurd dream, where everything impossible in the real world seemed perfectly logical to him.

"Oh yes, yes, you remember now, don't you? I'm your best friend, and you're mine. We'd give our lives for each other..." The lich's face twisted into a strange smile, "It's all Cranvo's doing, that despicable rogue, and his heartless slut, masquerading as the Goddess of Magic Midnight... Yes! She too is involved! Cranvo knows nothing of such high magic, it must be Midnight who enchanted you, making you see your best brother as an enemy... Join my army! We can rewrite history today!"

'No, impossible. This is an anti-magic field. If I were truly enchanted, it would have been nullified…'

'But what if this anti-magic field is fake?'

'If it's fake, why did the lich's spell fail earlier?'

'Then it's a real anti-magic field but specially arranged not to affect you…'

'Impossible! This spell was cast by the Raven Queen; she is a deity but does not govern magic…'

'How much do you really know about gods to be sure they can't do such things?'

Lancelot's divine sense quivered violently, striving to find reasons to convince himself, but his mind kept conjuring contradictory arguments, leaving him indecisive. However, he didn't fully believe the lich's claim of being his friend, instead standing there dumbfounded like a scarecrow in a field.

"What are you still doubting, my dear friend?" The lich moved towards Lancelot very slowly, appearing non-threatening, "Don't worry, I will answer all your ques―"

The lich suddenly felt his mouth unable to close. He rolled his eyes downward and saw a shining blade at his throat.

Little Isa held her right wrist with her left hand and forcefully twisted the sword hilt. The lich's body was extremely tough, and the wanderer felt like she was trying to carve out a hole in a granite wall, so she had to exert more strength. At last, with a 'thud,' she wrenched the lich's head from its neck like opening a tightly sealed jar. The little girl promptly tossed away her weapon and caught the flying head in her arms.

"Uh, I think I used too much force..." Little Isa looked at Lancelot awkwardly, "Should be... okay, right?"