The Paladin in the Abyss

"Ha! Another Dimensional Bag, let's pack some more!" Bruto said excitedly, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically.

Lancelot was about to say something, but his expression suddenly changed. He pulled a small ball from his bosom; it had several cracks on its surface that were expanding rapidly. Within moments, it had completely turned into a pile of fragments.

"The Goblins are in trouble," Lancelot said with a solemn face, and started running out, "We've already gathered enough, they need help now."

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned, but they immediately followed him. Bruto had already grabbed a handful of gemstones and was stuffing them into his robe haphazardly. It was still too difficult for a Dwarf to discard these shiny stones.

The group ran up the stairs a bit further but found that there was no way to go. At that moment, Alamir pulled a lever on the wall, and the ceiling above creaked open.

After they climbed out through the exit, they realized they were right in the center of the stage. Lancelot glanced around and immediately understood the severity of the situation. There were several large holes in the ceiling, with flashes of fire visible in the night sky; the floor too had many holes, apparently, the boulder that had crashed into the resting room came from here.

The Succubus Palace had already partially collapsed, and there was no one around. From afar, the dense sound of weapon clashes and shouts indicated that a large-scale battle was underway. Lancelot spotted a huge hole in a wall not far from them, identified the direction, and confirmed that it was where Phil had placed explosives. He then led everyone towards that hole.

Passing through that hole, they arrived at a main street in Oasis Fort. Looking around, battles were taking place everywhere, with various types of demons and humans fighting against magical creatures they had never seen before, plunging them immediately into the midst of battle.

A volley of arrow-like objects flew towards them from above, and Lancelot, quick as a flash, swung his sword and deflected them all. He looked up and saw a group of creatures resembling small gargoyles with purple skin, holding long spears, and with a spiny tail hanging beneath them; a flick could shoot out a spine.

Bruto let out a roar, quite coarse for a Succubus, and threw his hammer. The hammer, spinning rapidly, traced a wavelike path through the air. One of the creatures failed to dodge in time, was struck squarely, and screamed as it fell out of their sight.

"Ha! Bullseye!" Bruto proudly exclaimed, catching the hammer as it flew back to him.

"That's a Bazt Demon!" Kalalin said with a furrowed brow, "How could they be here?"

"Who cares why," Bruto said irritably, scanning the surroundings, "Where is Uncle Vito and the others? Did that damned Goblin mess something up?"

"They should be nearby," Lancelot recalled the conversation between the six-fingered Prince and Tijana, and his unease grew stronger. Oasis Fort was at least nominally a Neutral Town, but now, demons were here—what did that mean?

He looked around to make sure no one was watching them and decided to take a risk by going up in the air. He turned back to his companions and instructed:

"You guys retreat to the Succubus Palace to hide for a while, I'll go up and see if I can find Phil and the others."

"Go up?" Bruto looked at him with surprise, "How are you going to do that?"

"By flying, of course." Lancelot flapped the bat wings on his back, "I've practiced."

He crouched down and then leaped upwards sharply, flapping his wings, and truly, albeit shakily, flew up into the air.

Although he had practiced, he had only mastered ascending, descending, turning in circles on the spot, and diving forward, movements that couldn't compare to those creatures born with wings, let alone fighting in the air.

He did not dare fly too high, carefully ascending along the high walls of the Succubus Palace, hiding in the dim shadows.

The night sky over the Plains of the Abyss also had a moon, but this moon looked distant and dim, more like a blurry projection from another world, casting only a faint glimmer.

Hovering in mid-air, the first thing Lancelot noticed was that Oasis Fort was burning everywhere. There actually wasn't much fighting inside the city, the real fierce battles were happening on the city walls, with fireballs occasionally hurling down with red trails, smashing the battling sides into a bloody mud, but they were immediately reoccupied by the combatants.

Several sections of the wall had already collapsed, and battles for control were happening at each breach, but it seemed they were not yet lost. However, it was possible that some slip-through enemies had stormed in when the walls were first breached, which explained the scattered battles inside the city.

It indeed appeared to be a sudden raid by the Demon Legion, and though uncertain of the enemy's strength, Oasis Fort's defenses looked ready to crumble, especially since its lord, the male Succubus Molo, was not in the city. Explore hidden tales at empire

After grasping the general situation, Lancelot didn't look closely anymore, but quickly scanned the nearby areas where battles were occurring, hoping to spot Phil and the others.

Catching on that concentrating True Qi in his eyes enhanced his abilities, he quickly spotted several Dwarves within less than a block's distance, surrounded and attacked by about seven or eight enemies with purple skin, wielding Large Cleavers.

The Dwarves, back against a street corner, had formed a tight defensive formation, with the light of Healing Divine Arts occasionally flashing over them, which seemed to barely keep them supported, but Lancelot knew that once the Priest exhausted their Divine Arts, they would be in danger.

He confirmed the route over, folded his wings, and plummeted downwards.

Just before hitting the ground, he vigorously flapped his wings a few times which slightly slowed his descent, but he still crashed heavily onto the ground, creating a circle of web-like cracks centered around him.

"How is it? Did you find them?" Bruto burst out immediately after hearing the noise, anxiously asking.

"Follow me; they need support," Lancelot said briefly, then turned and ran out along the route he had memorized.

The rest quickly followed, as under their Succubus forms, their speed was not slow, and surprisingly, Alamir, clad in Chainmail, effortlessly kept up with them.

"Tough guy," Bruto looked back and winked at the Elf.

"Regular training," the Elf responded tersely.

After about two minutes of running, they could already hear the battle cries of "Moradin" up ahead.

Bruto let out a roar, his eyes turning blood red, and his speed increased by a third, rushing past Lancelot to lead the charge.

The moment he saw the enemy's back, the bearded Succubus fiercely threw his hammer, not slowing his steps, and crazily charged forward holding his Shield.