The Paladin in the Abyss

Such commotion was bound to attract the attention of other guards in the castle, and soon enough, the roaring of demons could be heard in the distance, and it sounded like there were quite a few of them.

As for the noise made by the enemy, Lancelot seemed indifferent, still manipulating the vines to stack up portraits in front of him relentlessly. The skeletal head was somewhat anxious, but it was well aware of its master's miraculous abilities; the human knight must have detected the demons' presence long before the skeletal head could hear any of their noises.

Indeed, that was the case. Lancelot summoned several huge vines to block several entrances that were closer to the enemies. If the demons wanted to get in, they either had to take a big detour or claw through the vines—which wasn't very difficult but still a waste of time.

A few demons tried casting Spells on the vines blocking the entrance, but the results disappointed them. Disenchantment spells were ineffective against the plants, and while offensive spells could cause some damage, more vines would quickly grow and clog the gaps again.

Lancelot wasn't as at ease as he seemed, however; summoning so many vines at once was also quite draining. In just over a dozen breaths, ten percent of his True Yuan had been depleted, but compared to what he had gained, such expenditure was obviously worthwhile.

As the last portrait was stacked up in front of him, Lancelot put the Dimensional Bag on the ground and stuffed all of the Mother of Demons's collection into it. One bag was filled, then another, and finally, with the storage space that came with Cromwell himself, they managed to pack away all the portraits.

While opening the Dimensional Bag, Lancelot also stopped controlling the vines. The angry roars of the demons could soon be heard nearby, clearly indicating an entrance had been breached.

"Let's go!" Lancelot let out a low growl, grabbed the skeletal head, hung it on his belt, and quickly ran in a direction free of enemies. There were many stone walls in the surroundings, but they had been wrecked beyond recognition by the vines summoned during the audacious theft, revealing the original structure of the hall.

Unlike the plants summoned with magic, the vines did not disappear after Lancelot withdrew his mana but remained as roadblocks, hindering the pursuing enemies. The narrow space prevented the demons from flying, and Lancelot's figure, swift as a fish in water, soon vanished behind a door under the furious gaze of the pursuers.

"We've really played a big hand this time," the skeletal head's voice echoed directly in Lancelot's mind. "That is a collection most treasured by an Abyssal Lord. I'm sure that old hag wouldn't hesitate to chase us to the ends of the earth to find you. Shouldn't we leave her something?"

"Would she thank me if I left something?" Lancelot said calmly. "Besides, are you sure she'll know it was me?"

"What?" The skeletal head was startled by the words and then realized its master had already put on the Transformation Ring; what the guards had seen was not a human knight but the back of a succubus.

"You're setting up a trap for Elothysia?" the skeletal head murmured. "Isn't that a bit improper..."

"What's improper about it? Once these heroes are resurrected, she will be very safe in Androlina. The one who should be worried is the Mother of Demons herself," Lancelot ran down a long corridor, and at the end was a spiral staircase, which he resolutely chose to ascend. "Of course, that is assuming we can rescue the Paladin..."
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"So, doesn't that mean all the credit goes to her?" Cromwell asked, somewhat unwilling to accept it. "Rescuing so many captives from the Mother of Demons' castle could earn you a place as one of the greatest legends in the Multiverse."

"But that's only bad for me, not good, better to keep a low profile mixing in the Abyss."

Lancelot ran through another long corridor, alerting several distant Fireburn Demons, puzzled by why a succubus would sprint like that. Suddenly, as if electrocuted, they took to their heels and chased after Lancelot.

"Most likely other demons have informed them through telepathy," the dry-voiced skull commented, "You should be able to avoid them, right? By the way, if you're looking for our Paladin friend, you'd better head down instead of up, You're more likely to find her in the dungeon."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Can't say for absolute, but I'd still give it an eighty percent chance."

"I thought so too, but we better make sure, right?" Lancelot leapt up, then spread his wings and flew straight up to a three-story platform, leaving the enemies at the stairwell behind, "Plus, I don't want a bunch of demons trailing behind me when I rescue Elothysia... they would be quite the nuisance..."

"Then why are you parading around so conspicuously?" the skull head was utterly baffled, "You are clearly deliberately drawing their attention..."

"How else am I to lure these guys away?" Lancelot chuckled, "There might be some in this castle I can't beat, but equally few can keep me. Remember how we escaped from one of Enruiyesi's subordinates at Oasis Fort? I assure you, I'm more than a little bit faster now than I was then..."

"Sigh, boss, do you remember you're a knight?" The skull sighed as it followed Lancelot through a giant spiral staircase, "Being good at running away doesn't seem like something to brag about..."

"Ah, is that so?" Lancelot thought about it carefully, it seemed to be true, but he was still a Spiritual Cultivator, wasn't he? Han Tianzun was so powerful, yet he took great pride in his sophisticated escape techniques written between the lines of Spiritual Cultivation manuals.

"There is no honor in fighting these demons, bringing back the Succubus Paladin and those heroes is the truly great endeavour." Lancelot quickly found a splendid excuse for himself; he realized he had reached the top of the castle's main keep, without sensing the Succubus Paladin along the way, and in front of him was a bridge leading to an observation tower, guarded by two Brezu Swordsmen eagerly awaiting his rapid approach.

"These two won't need your help," Lancelot said, drawing Frostslash from behind him and charged at the enemy on the right. Like humans, most demons are right-handed, so when facing two opponents at once, tackling the one on the right first gives you a slight advantage, as it places you on the other's left side.

Twin Bridges Town also had plenty of these ram-headed demons; Lancelot had even briefly traveled with one of them, so he knew the Brezu Demons were very skilled Two-handed Swordsmen, their emaciated-looking bodies were just a deception for their enemies.