The Paladin in the Abyss

As a professional ability of the Priest in the Domain of Life, guiding Divine Power can simultaneously heal severe injuries on multiple targets, but this ability is not without its flaws: Firstly, it cannot fully heal someone, at most restoring about half of the target's Life Force; Secondly, this ability does not work on Undead creatures—although most people wouldn't see that as a defect.

Before the enemies reach them, all the companions stood up again, albeit in poor condition, and Bruto's Titan Transformation had ended. Maybe the Baroness wouldn't need to act again; just the high-level units on the enemy's side, who hadn't joined the fight yet, could end this battle.

"Guys, we have trouble." Kalalin gazed at that red figure and said in a deep voice, "That was a Chain Lightning of the Sixth Circle, but normally Chain Lightning only produces three arcs. She definitely Circle Upcasted it, which means we are facing a High Rank spellcaster, maybe even an Archmage..."

"She's a huge pain in the ass, I already know that." Bruto responded irritably, "Got any more constructive suggestions? Like how to kill her?"

"If Lancelot were here..."

"Lancelot is not here." Bruto threw his Warhammer at a zombie crawling quickly like a spider, "Alamir? Weren't you supposed to be in command? Why out of ideas?"

"Little Isha, is your mental link with Lancelot still up?"

"Yes, I've already told him the situation outside." Little Isha replied quickly, "He said he can act at any time, but that would immediately stop the vines from absorbing lake water. He's already used up all the 'fertilizer,' and if we stop now, we will have to rely on the dwarves to dig a flood channel..."

"How could it come to this..."

"I still have some explosives here, enough to blow open the lake dam." Bruto raised his arm and caught the returning Magic Warhammer, "Right now, let's hold on as long as we can. If it gets really bad, call Lancelot out. That way, we can also lessen the environmental pollution a bit. Don't argue with me anymore..."

While discussing, they did not stop fighting, continuously knocking down the attacking enemies. However, compared to not long ago, there were far too many enemies now. The places where they were knocked down were getting closer and closer to the group, making the situation more and more dangerous. Fortunately, the Baroness didn't seem to plan on acting immediately; she was content with letting low-level minions wear down everyone's strength, while she squinted her eyes, observing the 'monster tree' by the lakeside.

"In light of your past services to the King, I can give you one more chance to work." The Baroness spoke in a lazy voice but did not order the soldiers to stop, "Surrender immediately and swear loyalty to King Peyton Derrick; this is your only chance to survive..."

"In your dreams, you hairless freak!" Bruto shouted rudely, "A king, you say? I'll tell you, that's no Peyton Derrick; that's Shrek! The god of Deception and Lies! Your lover's soul is enslaved by Him, body possessed by Him, even you were tricked into His bed. Maybe his soul was watching from the side then; oh poor you, it's really tragic, I could almost cry! But it's tears of laughter, wahahahaha!"

"This idiot..." Alamir covered his face helplessly, "Always using his taunt skills at unnecessary times..."

"You!!!" The noblewoman was so furious her mouth started to tremble, trying to chant a spell, but failed due to excitement. So she could only wave her hand viciously, "Get them! Bring me their bones!"

"Panicked, huh? Come at us directly, let's see who tears whose bones apart!" Bruto still yelled stubbornly but quickly whispered urgently in a voice only his companions could hear: "Kalalin, give me that Haste Spell quickly! And you, stinking elf, don't hold back any Blessing Divine Arts!"

Upon hearing this, neither the Scholar nor the Priest wasted any words and immediately started casting their spells. The Second Circle Haste Spell is one of the best enhancement spells for melee professionals. It greatly increases the speed of the recipient, allowing them to move a greater distance and make more attacks in the same amount of time. Alamir accommodatingly added a Fourth Circle Freedom of Movement spell, which allows the recipient to move freely over any terrain and be immune to any slow, stun, paralyze, or binding magic effects. Even non-magical binding measures like chains, shackles, or enemy grapples are easily broken with the help of this spell.

Clearly, when both spells are cast on the same recipient, it would inevitably create some kind of surreal scenario. Moreover, Bruto is a Berserker (a dwarf subclass of Barbarian), with the ability to rage. All of this combined results in a speedy, elusive, and extremely dangerous monster.

The Baroness's personal guards were six well-armed Undead Knights. They looked different from ordinary skeletons, more like fully dehydrated mummies. After their mistress gave the order, they spread out in a fan formation, advancing towards the group, looking as imposing as an execution squad approaching death row inmates.

Bruto knew very well about the vast disparity in strength between the two sides; it was impossible to deal with these enemies alone. Moreover, if the enemies surrounded his companions, the consequences would be unimaginable, so the young dwarf never planned to sit and wait.

Besides, he also wanted to test his limits—before having to ask Lancelot for help.

The dwarf let out a hearty battle roar and charged forward like an arrow. He pretended to rush towards the first enemy but suddenly turned sharply towards the second one midway. But he faked it and turned towards the third one, then immediately ducked between the opponent's legs—of course, not forgetting to elbow the enemy's knee.

When he tried to stand up, he was already in front of the fifth enemy, who had already swung their Two-handed Sword in low sweep to counter the approaching dwarf. Bruto barely parried the blow with his Warhammer but his attempt to stand was interrupted, which is one of the deadliest situations in a many-to-one fight.

But at that moment, the young dwarf burst out with incredible agility. He spun on the ground at high speed, looking like a turtle on its back, continuously making several strange maneuvers, causing the surrounding enemies' attacks to miss, while he successfully escaped the encirclement and flipped up with a kip-up.

"Aha, that was close but not enough!" He shouted in a victorious tone, "How about another round, gentlemen?"