The Paladin in the Abyss

"What's wrong?"

Bruto had already shaken off his low spirits. His long-standing rapport led him to immediately place a hand on the handle of his warhammer, his eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Lancelot didn't answer right away. Instead, he carefully listened to the sounds reaching his ears. The clanging of metal was easy to distinguish, indicating a fierce battle taking place not far ahead. What concerned Lancelot was a certain peculiar resonance, reminiscent of multiple whips lashing simultaneously, a sound he had heard elsewhere before.

"There's a battle ahead," Lancelot said, drawing out the hand half sword he carried on his shoulder. "Among them is a six-armed serpent demon."

"It could be General Sonam!" Succubus Leticia became excited at once, as Lancelot knew she had been secretly wiping tears earlier, "Or it could be Viska or Bessiah... Hurry and help them, Sir!"

"Of course, if indeed some of our acquaintances are there..."

"What if they're not?" the young dwarf asked, turning his head.

"Then kill them all."

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Although Lancelot heard the sounds of fighting from a distance, it took the companions less than a minute at full sprint to reach the source of the noise. As Lancelot had said, the battlefield indeed featured a six-armed serpent demon, accompanied by two blood-covered Brezu demons, while an enticing succubus commanded dozens of berserk demons to encircle them.

The companions recognized the serpent demon as Sonam at a glance. After all, she had been stationed at the Mercenary Hall for many years and was arguably one of the most familiar demons to everyone. Judging by the armor style, it was easy to see that the two Brezu demons were also once members of Twin Bridges Town.

As for the identity of the enemies, it wasn't hard to guess. Even without noticing the six-fingered emblem branded with a branding iron, the darker complexion compared to ordinary demons revealed their identity as the minions of 'Lord Wu'an' Grazzt.

Just as the group arrived, the attackers launched a new round of assaults. Five berserk demons lunged at the serpent demon from different angles, while the succubus stood about forty feet away, concentrating intently on its prey. Lancelot noted that in its two smaller, human-like arms, it held a magic wand, likely prepared to counter any type of magical abilities the serpent demon might use.

The two Brezu demons guarded Sonam's side and rear. These demons, who had goat heads and lean, tall figures, preferred to wield large pole weapons with agility that belied their size.

Facing the oncoming attackers, they did not rush into action but patiently waited until the moment the berserk demons raised their claws before violently thrusting forward with their pikes, piercing through the unarmored chests of their foes as if harpooning fish.

Although the heart is an absolute weakness for demonkind, berserk demons are among the few fiends capable of delivering a final blow even after sustaining lethal injuries. Ignoring the terrifying barbs on the pike, their massive bodies continued moving forward, driven by inertia, while the goat-headed demon, undaunted, arched its back and drove its horned forehead fiercely ahead.

The sharp horns pierced into the berserk demon's shoulder, and the huge, filthy claws of the berserk demon landed on the back of their killer. The Brezu demons convulsed violently as foul blood splattered, and the dagger-like nails of the berserk demons found the gaps in their armor, creating wounds insufficient to be fatal, but likely preventing them from withstanding the next attack.

Meanwhile, in another direction, the serpent demon faced three oncoming enemies alone. Although her alluring body had three pairs of arms, she still had only one head and a pair of eyes, unable to deal with multiple threats simultaneously, leaving an opening for her foes, just as the succubus hoped.

But as a retired Blood War General, Sonam knew exactly what to do in such a situation. Instead of remaining in place to defend passively, she charged toward the leftmost foe, using its body to block the attack paths of the others.

Three silver sword lights flashed, easily slicing open the throat and chest of the humanoid frog, and various ulcerated and tumorous organs spilled out from the cuts like a bag of sliced potatoes. Bruto should have felt proud of this scene, for the longsword in the six-armed serpent demon's hand was crafted by him, and these cold iron weapons evidently lived up to the trust of their customers.

The disembowelment of the berserk demon slightly delayed its companions' attacks, but also exposed the serpent demon's back to the other enemies. These aggressive fiends didn't wait for orders from their commander, instead rushing forward, their minds filled with the thrilling pleasure of claws tearing open the serpent demon's smooth skin.

Sonam had anticipated this risk, but she had calculated the distance between her and the enemies, knowing she had time to perform a flash technique to escape. However, just as she was about to do so, the succubus raised its arm, pointing the magic wand held in its hand at the serpent demon. A purple beam shot from the wand's tip, instantly enveloping the six-armed serpent demon, interrupting her teleportation halfway.

The serpent demon swayed, the magic power surge from the counter-spell leaving her dizzy, and it wasn't until the pain from claws tearing into her flesh brought her back to reality.

Sonam bent her upper body backward to an inhuman angle, coiling up like an actual python, before violently swinging her massive lower snake body out, tossing away those humanoid frogs clinging to her (including those two Brezu demons).

Even though Sonam responded immediately, she still endured dozens of claw strikes, her body covered with raised scales and bloody wounds. Before the stirred dust settled again, those berserk demons had already gotten back up, bruised and battered, perhaps with a rib or two broken, but for these beasts that had tasted blood, the thirst for slaughter had overridden all other sensations.

These foolish and vicious cannon fodder didn't understand that they would likely end up as piles of minced flesh under the cold iron forged longsword, yet the serpent demon wouldn't have it easy either, not to mention the succubus eyeing her fiercely, poised to claim the dying prey.

But that was not to happen.

The shadow behind the succubus suddenly wriggled and stretched silently, eventually transforming into the form of a human knight, of which the demon remained entirely unaware. A green light, incongruous with the surrounding environment, shone, piercing into the succubus's body from its waist and driving straight into its heart.

The demon's eyes widened in shock, and it slowly lowered its head, puzzled as to why metal was protruding from its chest. However, before it could feel any pain, its consciousness faded like ashes burnt to completion, dissipating completely in the dry, fiery winds of the Plains of the Abyss.