The Paladin in the Abyss

The familiar feeling came again, various ways to modify this creature and the energy required appeared in his Divine Sense, much clearer than when he had promoted Dingke.

Lancelot did not choose the method of transformation for advancement; instead, he strengthened the creature's existing form. True Qi from the Abyss's spiritual energy of nature slowly flowed into the Nightmare's body, then naturally into each of its meridians. The Abyssal Warhorse seemed to feel very comfortable, contently flicking its tail.

"Here it comes."

The amount of True Qi that Lancelot was channeling suddenly burst forth, and the Nightmare let out a piercing neigh as its body violently exploded into a mist of blood. True Qi, like a bursting dam, overflowed from its meridians and eagerly transformed the creature's flesh and blood.

What followed was a scene both bloody and cruel, yet it was not Lancelot's first time witnessing such a sight. Muscles that suddenly grew large tore through the skin, only to be quickly pierced by thickening bones; its skull split open like an overripe watermelon, revealing the bubbling, boiling brain matter inside.

The tumbling flesh incessantly healed newly-formed wounds, and the rising blood mist, ignited by the leaked energy, enveloped its entire body in flames. Gradually, the pain within the Nightmare's cries lessened, and in Lancelot's Spirit Perception, its energy began to climb rapidly.

In the end, it raised its front hooves high and let out a resonant roar. Flames on either side of it morphed into a pair of enormous wings, and the Nightmare curiously flapped them, a sense of strange familiarity flooding its mind, as if it was always meant to have these wings.

But as the strengthening process completed, the flames slowly retracted into its body, and the Nightmare calmed down.

While it could not speak, the Abyssal Warhorse actually possessed the intelligence of a normal person. It understood what had happened to itself and was deeply impressed by the abilities of its 'master'—the creature had already accepted Lancelot as its master in its mind, but its instincts compelled it to resist a little.

The proud beast raised its hoof toward Lancelot, only to find itself somehow already on the ground, with the master's knee pressing against its head.

"Any other issues?" Lancelot asked, knowing that the other could understand.

The Nightmare blinked at Lancelot, the message could not be clearer.

"Must we do this every time?" Lancelot moved his knee away with a sense of resignation, while the Nightmare's expression seemed wronged, as if Lancelot had made an egregiously unfair request.

The Abyssal Warhorse once again stood before them all. At first glance, it still looked like a Nightmare, but compared to before, it had grown a whole size larger, its muscles extraordinarily developed, as if it had spent years in a gym designed specifically for four-legged creatures.

The most eye-catching feature was still the mane around its neck, those long, silky manes that floated in the air like liquid flames. This reminded Lancelot of the Goddess Alamir, whose title was the Lady of Flame Hair, and the mane of this Nightmare looked...

Lancelot stopped his dangerous and blasphemous thought in time. It was said that gods can always be aware of the surroundings of their priests within a certain range, and for gods, reading minds might be as easy as drinking water—who knows if some curious Goddess was watching their romantic adventure.

Such thoughts seemed even more blasphemous, so he quickly dropped it!

Advancing a Nightmare required much more True Qi than advancing a Quasimodo Demon. Lancelot, who had already recovered a small portion of his True Qi, now had one-third less of it, and he would need to consume gemstones again on the road.

"Now that's better, bringing along a petite Elf should be no problem at all!"

No one responded to him, and Lancelot looked around curiously to find that his companions' expressions were nearly petrified.

"Moradin's beard…" Bruto muttered, "Lancelot, this ability of yours… Is it not a bit… exaggerated…"

"Isn't this something only a Demon Lord could achieve…" Koula looked at the warhorse nearly five times her height with awe, "How did you do it?"

"I know! I know!" Bruto slapped his head, shouting excitedly, "Did you and Tijana do… 'that,' and now you're a Demon Prince, so you have this ability?"

"That makes sense!"

"Tijana has been coming over frequently recently, right? I knew something was off!"

"But she hasn't shown up much lately, has she gotten tired of it already…"

"No! Not at all! What are you thinking about!" Lancelot helplessly covered his face, "I stay at home every night, how would I have any chance…"

"That's not necessarily true, she could come after we're all asleep, and since she can directly teleport to the living room, teleporting to your bedroom shouldn't be a problem either, right?" Bruto continued to search for evidence to support his point, "And that soundproofing Spell of yours is quite useful…"

"There's really nothing." Lancelot was completely defeated by Bruto's wild imagination, "I'm still human, if you don't believe it, ask Alamir."

"How could I judge that? I'm just a Priest, and I'm only sensitive to Undead." The Elf Priest said with a mischievous grin, "As long as it's true love, the fiery lady Goddess will bless you."

"It's my own power." Lancelot took out an Earth Crystal, "You all know I can absorb the energy contained within these gemstones. I know you've never heard of this, but it's actually nature's spiritual energy, a kind of... very special energy. Didn't Kalalin say before that high-level Demons can use Magic Power to promote Low Rank Demons? I tried it on Dingke, and the result is what you all see now."

"Dingke?" Bruto blinked in confusion, "What about him?"

"Haven't you noticed it's more... robust than the typical Quasimodo Demon?" Lancelot glanced at the Dwarf helplessly, "Do you believe me now? It has nothing to do with Tijana!"

"Alright…" Bruto nodded reluctantly, "But that doesn't prove you and Tijana haven't…"

"Shut up, will you." Lancelot hoisted the Dwarf up onto the horse and then swung himself up as well, "And you, Alamir, if you say more weird things while we travel, be careful your crotch might catch fire."

"Hehe, got it." The Elf Priest grinned mischievously. He didn't wait for Lancelot to help, lightly leaping to sit on the horse's rump.

Kalalin then cast the Spell to summon his own warhorse, a hot-tempered Nightmare appeared. It lifted its forehooves, aiming to kick at Kalalin, but upon seeing the bulk of Lancelot's steed, it paused, its hooves awkwardly hanging mid-air, and then slowly retracted them.

"See, it's smarter than you." Lancelot patted the neck of his mount, which let out a dissatisfied snort, as if it disdained its fellow breed's submission without a fight, while Kalalin quickly climbed into the saddle, pulling Koula up too.

"Alright, let's set off." The Human Knight looked toward the southwest, "A helpless lady is waiting for us to rescue her."