The Paladin in the Abyss

"That indeed sounds like a very intelligent strategy, robbing bodies also requires quite a bit of bravery," Eckmond praised, "And what about those zombies?"

"That blue-skinned Ogre made the bodies stand up again," the Kobold King shuddered, "These bodies guard the sunk corpses' chamber, preventing us from entering! Some even run out from there, wandering in the tunnels, and they always pass by our doorstep, just as if they have come back to life! But they are still dead, we all know that!"

"We all know that!" All the Kobolds chimed in unison.

"Sounds like the original zombies went out of control after exceeding some limit," Kalalin murmured softly, "But why did they all run to dig into that Tiflin's basement?"

"Who cares why, we'll just flatten that ringleader and that'll be that," Bruto shrugged, "That guy can't resurrect himself, can he?"

"Typical Dwarf thinking, but quite reasonable," Eckmond commented. Then he turned to the fat Kobold, "My followers and I will put an end to this... blue-skinned Ogre's evil, send us your smartest, most cunning, fearless Warrior to lead us to that sunk corpses' chamber, and he shall witness my power!"

The Skeleton King said a lot with a godstick-like tone, but the group of Kobolds below looked at each other without moving, clearly, the standards Eckmond set were a bit too high.

"Just give me someone who knows the way," Eckmond threatened the Kobold King, "or else you can take us there yourself!"

"No!" the fat Kobold screamed in fear, grabbing a guard by his side, "You, it'll be you!"

Once a target was set, the Kobolds swiftly sprang into action. They almost seemed to take malicious pleasure in grabbing their poor kin and then, working together, they threw him over.

The pitiful representative, who was screaming all the while, hardly touched the ground before he tried to run, but was quickly pinned down by the agile Dwarf who stepped on his tail.

"Very good, we will go and deal with the big guy in that sunk corpses' chamber, and then you can continue to 'rob' the bodies there," Eckmond maintained his inscrutable persona, slowly floating backwards, disappearing from the Kobolds' sight, then his demeanor suddenly changed, "Excellent, now we have a guide."

"I've noticed that you seem to have quite a talent for playing the charlatan," Lancelot remarked, then crouched in front of the trembling Kobold, and said softly:

"Look at me."

His voice carried a special Magic Power, compelling the Kobold to obey involuntarily.

"Very good, do you have a name? How do others call you?"

"E-e-everyone calls m-me Taka," the Kobold stammered, feeling an immense pressure from the human in front of him, even more so than from the real Skeleton King beside him.

"I need you to lead us to that sunk corpses' chamber. You won't be in any danger, and if there's any battle on the way, you just need to hide to the side," Lancelot took out two beautiful malachite gemstones from his chest, placing one in the Kobold's hand, "Look at this, do you like it?"

The Kobold was almost instantly captivated by the gemstone in his hand, just as Lancelot had guessed, any race adept at digging has an innate frenzy for gemstones, and of course, the Kobolds themselves believe it is because of their Dragon Race lineage.

This poor race would not miss any clue that could prove they were also dragon descendants, only by this could they temporarily ignore the harsh reality of being at the bottom of the food chain.

He reached for the other gemstone involuntarily, but Lancelot quickly withdrew his hand.

"You will get the other one after you've taken us to the place," Lancelot promised him.

The Gnoll got up with a disgruntled look, then caught sight of the completely destroyed traps.

"Uh, these, well…" Bruto was somewhat embarrassed, "We've dealt with the zombies, so you won't be needing those traps for now."

"Taka is not in charge of setting traps." The Gnoll said something out of the blue, perhaps implying he couldn't care less about the traps being destroyed.

Everyone followed the Gnoll outside, with Koula asking curiously, "Taka, how far is it to the corpse sink from here?"

"Half-breeds have no right to speak to those of the Dragon Race!" The Gnoll's response was very intense, and he showed a look of utter disdain for Koula.

"Answer her question." Lancelot's tone carried no threat, yet it involuntarily made the Gnoll shiver.

"It'll take about as long as it takes a candle to burn down." The Gnoll replied very reluctantly, his eyes never looking at Koula, persisting in his prejudice in this manner.

"Doesn't sound too far." Bruto shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows what their candles are made of."

The group returned to the crossroads and continued down the path with the water channel. Along the way, there were quite a few traps, which they avoided any damage to with the reluctant local's guidance.

After moving forward a bit more, the environment around them changed significantly. Moss on the walls began to die, a faint mist hung in the air, and even the water in the channel seemed to lose its color, turning into a morose gray (a far cry from its earlier vibrancy).

The scene was all too familiar to the group since the surroundings of Hagrid Manor were in the same state.

"Wait."

Lancelot suddenly spoke up, halting the team's advance.

He silently drew his longsword from behind him, and everyone understood what that meant, becoming alert and closely watching the corner not far ahead.

The sound of a thud, a thud, gradually grew louder, and a figure dragging a wooden stick appeared at the corner. Alamir extended his glowing hammer in front of his shield, slightly adjusting the angle to illuminate the limping figure with the metal shield's reflective light.

This was clearly a corpse, which seemed to have been soaking for a long time before standing up again. His face was twisted like melted wax, his belly swollen from prolonged soaking and burst, with numerous maggots feasting on his exposed innards, his long intestines dragging by his feet, but none of this caused any trouble for him, already dead.

The sudden light seemed to aggravate it, or it might have been the scent of living flesh that made this undead creature become frantic, charging straight toward the group.

Bruto intended to throw his hammer, but a sense of déjà vu made him stop, which relieved Lancelot, who was watching his actions closely—the Dwarf apparently still had a normal memory.

Just as the zombie was about to enter the attack range of Lancelot and Bruto, something unexpected happened. It stepped on its own intestines, flailing around, and stumbled.

The momentum of its charge made its body slide along the ground for a stretch, landing right at Bruto's feet.

"Is this the legendary epic fail?" The Dwarf asked his companions while turning around and smashed the zombie's head into a pulp with a hammer blow.