The Paladin in the Abyss

The hammer whistled through the air and slammed into the back of a purple Demon, sending the enemy flying with a deep dent formed in its back.

The sudden attack from behind caught the enemy off guard, but these Demons exhibited a discipline that left a deep impression on Lancelot. Generally, such pincer movements would send most soldiers into a panic, but these Demons did not show the slightest disarray. The three that stood at the back quickly turned around, forming a defensive formation, ready to face this new foe.

It was then that Lancelot got a clear view of these Demons. At first glance, these Demons looked like muscular humans, but their purple skin, thick tails behind them, long and sharp fingernails, and Elf-like pointed ears all indicated their extraordinary nature.

But what was most impressive were their 'beards.' The beards of these Demons were as thick as thumbs, nearly a foot long, and ended in thorn-like spikes. These vine-like whiskers grew from their chins to the roots of their ears.

From the small booklets Kalalin had previously given him, which introduced common creatures from the lower planes, Lancelot had read about these types of Demons. In the infernal language, the name for this kind of Demon is Barbazu, but they are more widely known as Beard Demons, for obvious reasons.

These Demons were the backbone of the Nine Hells Legion, unlike those barbarian-like Berserk Demons in the Demon army, the Barbazu were true professional soldiers. Although their individual strength was greatly inferior to the Berserk Demon, their iron discipline and tenacious combat spirit often allowed them to defeat enemies several times their own strength.

This is the nature of Demons, their lawful disposition ensures they act in a completely different manner from Demons. The eternal Blood War between Demons and Demons started before mortals came into being, and will likely not end until mortals are completely extinct.

Despite being outnumbered and not as powerful individually, Demons have mostly been on the winning side for the majority of the Blood War. While infighting and individualistic combat among Demons is certainly a reason, there is no denying that with iron discipline, superior command, and clever strategy, Demons perform much better on the battlefield than Demons.

Lancelot had also read several reports of the Blood War, and amidst all the sensational, contradictory, and nonsensical text, he could still roughly piece together the process of battle.

Aside from the scale and gore far exceeding ordinary mortal understanding, the process of the battle reads like a large mob of peasants with pitchforks attacking a well-armed, well-trained regular army—the outcome was hardly difficult to predict.

The Beard Demons before him were the most common infantry in the Demon army. Most of their bodies were bare, but their vital parts were protected by simplistic metal armor. The weapon in their hands was a Large Cleaver, which had a pole-like handle similar to a lance, but ended in a foot-long pointed blade that enabled them to both thrust and swing, a typical weapon suited for large-scale warfare.

Facing the enemies who were charging at a high speed with Shields raised, the three Beard Demons quickly adjusted their formation. The two Demons on the sides slightly spread out, while the one in the middle took a step back.

Lancelot thought to himself that this was bad, and he quickly quickened his pace.

Bruto, charging in front, had already caught his hammer flying back to him. Facing the three gleaming blade tips, he recklessly crashed into them with his Shield.

He did indeed collide with the enemy, but the raised Longswords weakened the force of the impact. Just as Bruto was about to raise his hammer for another blow, enemies from both sides already swooped in on his flanks like lightning.

Unlike Lancelot, Bruto's height had increased by a foot after his Transformation into a Succubus, and this change in height genuinely affected his combat skills. Facing the incoming weapons of the enemies, he instinctively tried to duck to evade, but he misjudged his new height, and both blades cut deep across his back.

Bruto groaned in pain and rolled vehemently to one side. The armor on his body absorbed some of the force, but the sharp blade still created two bloody wounds on his back.

The Beard Demons to his left and right immediately pursued the fallen Bruto. Struggling to his feet while half-kneeling, Bruto blocked the incoming blade on the left with his Giant Shield and swatted away the cleaving attack from the right with his hammer.

Just as Bruto thought the danger had momentarily passed, the Beard Demon on his right leaned in with its head. In a split second, Bruto realized in disbelief that the creature dared to headbutt a Dwarf (as he appeared to be a Succubus in the Demon's eye), but in the next moment, the Demon's seemingly submissive beard suddenly stiffened, launching forward like spears toward his face.

Bruto desperately tilted his head back, narrowly avoiding his face, but his chest and shoulder were struck squarely. His armor once again reduced the impact of the attack, yet still left several bloody holes in his body.

As the enemy prepared to continue the assault, Bruto's face cloth fell off again due to his vigorous movement, revealing a Succubus visage with a fiery red beard. Even the most rigorously disciplined Demon Warriors, who wouldn't budge despite facing a charge by several times more Demons, were visibly taken aback by the sight.

By the time they snapped out of their momentary daze, Lancelot had already charged to Bruto's defense.

Taking advantage of the momentum from his charge, Lancelot skillfully executed an over-the-shoulder slash and shouted at Bruto,

"Fall back!"

Frostslash's blade shone with a cyan light, the signature color of the Cold Iron Weapon infused with the Qingyun Sword Art's Sword Aura. The Beard Demon that Lancelot attacked swung its cleaver in an attempt to deflect the Knight's assault—what turned out to be perhaps the gravest, and definitely the last mistake of its demonic existence.

The Beard Demon's Large Cleaver was like rotten wood, easily split by Lancelot's Longsword without any deflection of his blade. The Knight's Sword Glow continued forward, passing between the Demon's eyes, which bulged in shock—freezing its expression forever. Discover exclusive tales on empire

With words and attack that seemed to carry a compelling force, Bruto found himself retreating rapidly to the rear as Lancelot had instructed, something a Dwarf in combat mode would definitely not normally do.

But retreating was undoubtedly the wise choice. A Shield pressed against his back, and Alamir's voice echoed from behind,

"For great love!"

It must be said that the battle cry of the fiery-haired lady's Priest was laden with incongruity.

Fortunately, this did not affect the effectiveness of the Healing Spell. The emblem of Shuni on Alamir's Shield lit up, and a surge of Positive Energy in the form of a white radiance flowed into Bruto's body.

This was the Priest's Circle 1 Divine Arts Healing Spell, but Bruto's wounds were far from light, and Alamir performed a Circle Upcasting, consuming a Circle 2 spell slot to make the Divine Arts more powerful.