The Paladin in the Abyss

Arrows, throwing knives, and explosions were left in Bruto's wake; the traps seemed designed specifically for slow-moving targets like Zombies, yet the Dwarf charged through like a bull in a china shop, smashing everything to smithereens.

"Whahahahaha! This is too much fun!" Bruto laughed wildly as he sprinted forward, with the occasional trap that did hit him failing to penetrate the fatherly brand of Dwarf Heavy Armor produced by Master Barrend.

That is until he stepped on what appeared to be an ordinary suspension bridge.

The bridge was engineered to barely support the weight of one and a half Kobolds, roughly 60 pounds, while the armor on the Dwarf alone approached that weight. The seemingly sturdy bridge snapped violently the moment Bruto's right foot touched it, and the furiously charging Dwarf had no time to respond before plummeting downward.

Lancelot's figure flashed, and he dashed from dozens of feet away to right behind Bruto, grabbing the Dwarf's left ankle in an instant.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!" Bruto let out a frightened scream, yet what really fell was only his toad-shaped Helmet. Lancelot, thinking the Dwarf might have encountered some problem, quickly peered down, only to find Bruto with his eyes tightly shut, unharmed.

"Stop yelling, I've got you," said Lancelot, annoyed.

"If you had established even a bit of a fearsome image in the hearts of those Kobolds just now, it's completely ruined," Eckmond's voice came from behind.

"Ahh~~~~~~~~! Eh?" It was only then that Bruto realized he hadn't actually fallen down, "Uh, how did I..."

The Dwarf couldn't finish his sentence as he suddenly noticed that the winding tunnels below were filled with Kobolds, each clutching a Crossbow, taking aim at him.

"Damn it!"

The sound of springs releasing filled the air, and a multitude of gleaming projectiles flew towards him, looking like a sky full of stars flipping upside down.

Bruto's warrior instincts kicked in, and he instantly raised his Shield to tightly protect his head and upper body, but his exposed rear was not so lucky.

Lancelot pulled hard, yanking the Dwarf back up. The first thing Bruto did was to yank all the arrow shafts out of his butt, but the Armor covering his hindquarters was riddled like a beehive, appearing as though it had been thrashed by an Ogre wielding a Wolf Fang Club.

Fortunately for the Dwarf, he couldn't see the state of his own posterior; at least until the next time he sat down, he would remain blissfully unaware; otherwise, Bruto would undoubtedly charge out in a rage, aiming a kick at the rear of every last Kobold below.

Seeing their attack had failed, these timid and desperate Kobolds immediately thought of fleeing, but Lancelot's timely shout stopped them:

"Stay put!"

The voice, infused with True Qi, carried an intimidating power, and many Kobolds were so scared that they froze on the spot, trembling and unable to take a step.

Right then, everyone had reached the edge of the cliff, sizing up the Kobold 'city' below.

This was Lancelot's first encounter with Kobolds, creatures said to be common in many worlds and also the weakest among intelligent races. They possessed a humanoid figure with an average height of only about two and a half feet, a crocodile-like head on their neck (which they claim to be a sign of Dragon lineage), and a lizard-like tail.

"Look! What is that?"

"This can't be real! A floating skull!"

"Is that the legendary Skeleton King?"

"It must be! The Skeleton King! The Skeleton King!"

After seeing Eckmond, the group of dog-headed creatures below quickly transitioned from being intimidated by Lancelot's roar to worshipping the floating skull in midair.

Eckmond himself was taken aback for a moment but immediately got into character, using a voice with an echoing effect and full of pretense, he loudly proclaimed,

"I am indeed Eckmond, the Skeleton King, ruler of tombs, skeletons, and death, and these warriors are my followers." He then whispered in a tone audible only to those nearby, "Kalalin, quick, get me some special effects!"

The Scholar rolled his eyes and quietly stepped out of the dog-headed creatures' line of sight, then took out a minor Illusion scroll and created a bunch of floating skeletal Illusions around Eckmond.

This was just a level 0 trick with no limit to the number of times it could be cast per day, so the Scholar continued to produce some faint, ethereal choral special effects, making the image of the skull head more convincing.

When it came to creating illusions, Kalalin was very skilled, and the duration of the spell was only a few seconds. The small brains of the dog-headed creatures, dumber even than the average human civilian, were completely unable to see through the essence of these illusions.

"Who is your king! Have him come and talk to me!" Eckmond seemed to be having a lot of fun, while the others all raised their heads so the dog-headed creatures below couldn't see them struggling to maintain their composure.

An extremely obese dog-headed creature was pushed forward, appearing highly reluctant but still began speaking with a sense of looming danger,

"Great Lord of Bones, why have you come to our filthy tunnels? We are a very poor tribe and cannot offer anything of value..."

"Your bits of broken copper and iron are meaningless to me." Eckmond interrupted bluntly, "I am here because the boundary between life and death has been broken here. Do you know who has awakened the dead, preventing them from finding the peace of death?"

Upon hearing this question, the dog-headed 'king' opened his mouth to speak, but his words were immediately drowned out by the shouting of other dog-headed creatures.

"The big Ogre! The big Ogre!"

"The blue-skinned monster! Ten feet tall!"

"He's taken over the corpse-dumping room! We can't touch the bodies anymore!"

"Uh." Faced with the chaotic scene, Eckmond cast a pleading look at Lancelot, who, understanding the situation, once again shouted with a voice filled with True Qi,

"Silence!"

The effect was immediate, as if the throats of all the dog-headed creatures were clutched, only Lancelot's voice echoing non-stop throughout the tunnel.

"King, you may speak now." Eckmond said casually, completely unbothered by having Lancelot play the role of his underling.

"About three tendays ago, a blue-skinned Ogre came to these sewers we built and also took over the corpse-dumping room," said the dog-headed creature king with trepidation, his eyes constantly stealing glances at Lancelot standing beside him.

"Corpse-dumping room? What is that?"

"No matter where a body is thrown into the sewer, it always gets caught there, and we can go rob those who can't fight back!

So many, so much loot!" The obese dog-headed creature seemed very proud of this strategy, but then his expression suddenly darkened again, "But after that Ogre came, not only does he forbid us to go near, but he also makes the dead stand up and wander the tunnels, it's really too terrifying!"