The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 775 - 786: Dark Assault

Almost all mortal races hope to preserve eternal youth and beauty, and humans, whose lifespans are particularly short, are no exception. Driven by such desires, some explore the connection between the body and nature, others pray for the grace of gods, while some rely on the power of wizards or the Dragon Race. Then there are those who turn to the dark side of the Multiverse, offering sacrifices to Demon Lords or Archdukes of Demons, utterly disregarding the curses that come with their boons.

According to legend, the Medusas, before they became non-mortal, were all women of astonishing beauty. They gained power, status, and common people’s worship through their looks. However, the more benefits they reaped from their beauty, the more intense their fear of aging grew. Out of fear, or perhaps greed, these beautiful women struck a deal with some malevolent entity. They retained their physical attractiveness and even reclaimed their lost youth, becoming immortal beings living among mortals like demigods.

Yet, as time passed, they ultimately paid the price for their arrogance and vanity—their bodies became vessels of curses, their hair turned into nests of venomous snakes. They remained beautiful, but could no longer reap any benefits from it, for anyone still desiring Medusa’s beauty would turn into a stele witnessing her downfall.

Nevertheless, as part of their fall, these people, who were originally all beauty and no substance, also received malevolent boons. At the sound of the others’ voices, even Lancelot almost couldn’t resist the impulse to look at them again, not to mention his companions. In response, a surge of Spiritual Light flashed through Lancelot’s mind, and he quickly focused on a black spot on his wrist and fiercely activated the power contained within.

With the Human Knight at its center, a tangible darkness exploded out like a shockwave, squeezing out all the surrounding light. Even creatures with dark vision couldn’t see through this fog-like darkness, so if anyone looked in Medusa’s direction, they wouldn’t be affected.

A vicious curse came from within the darkness. Though they couldn’t see anything, their other senses remained unaffected. Using their sense of smell for flesh, the two stone golems charged again, and their heavy footsteps let everyone know of the enemy’s approach.

However, the Human Knight who created the darkness wouldn’t allow them to pass. Glacier, with a sharp whooshing sound, struck heavily against the chest of one enemy, then rebounded toward another. A massive collision sound erupted, and the terrible force pushed the Human Knight back several steps. Lancelot was fairly certain he had hit the enemy’s swung fist, possibly even severing one or two fingers. The problem was, these strange artificial creatures didn’t feel pain, otherwise the loss of fingers would have been enough to incapacitate them.

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain from his Spirit Perception and heard two tiny, piercing whooshing sounds. Lancelot instinctively maximized his Protective Sword Shield, a substantial layer of greenish light appearing around him. In the next instant, the light shield vibrated violently like a struck bell, shooting out several beams of Sword Qi like long spears, slicing the two incoming Magic Feather Arrows into several fragments. freewebnøvel.com

A chill went down Lancelot’s spine. Clearly, these two powerful arrows had come from the Medusa, each bearing a terrible curse. Had he not promptly gathered his True Yuan to reinforce the Protective Sword Shield, the consequences would have been unthinkable. At the same time, heavy footsteps sounded again; the flash of light from activating the sword shield had pierced through the darkness, making him an obvious target.

Fortunately, after fighting single-handedly for so long, the Human Knight finally received his companions’ support. After the Elf Priest removed the petrification effect, the Scholar completed his first Spell—a gentle breeze summoned by the Spellcaster blew through the passage obscured by darkness. Four distinct chuckles followed: one familiar voice belonged to Lancelot, two others sounded like the mumblings of deranged lunatics, and the last eerie female voice held no pleasure, more like a vessel filled with evil and resentment that had been cracked open.

The sound of laughter had barely begun when the Elf Priest raised the Shield emblazoned with the emblem of Shuni, and eight Holy Light Missiles, like flying hammers, shot forth from the Shield, flying toward the approximate locations of the two flesh golems. Ultimately, only three missiles hit their target, but that was enough—Alamir had used a Fourth Circle spell slot to cast this originally First Circle spell, thus creating an Arcane Light bright enough to pierce the darkness.

Bruto and Tanya, who had already begun their charge, immediately found their respective targets and fearlessly engaged the two formidable petrified flesh golems. The Dwarf took two steps as one, instantly reaching the underside of his opponent, his Warhammer smashing into the golem’s knee from the side. After the hit, he didn’t hesitate to roll to the side to dodge the enemy’s powerful counterattack; the Half-elf adopted a similar tactic, her Pike aimed straight at the golem’s joints. After striking, she swiftly retreated, not giving her opponent any chance to counter.

This was the strategy the party had discussed just moments earlier. What was most disconcerting about fighting golems was their ability to completely ignore pain. The party was accustomed to the idea that if they could land the first blow, it was effective because the pain and damage inflicted would disrupt the opponent’s counterattack, but golems simply disregarded this rule. Combined with their astonishing strength, this made them particularly troublesome.

But golems were not notably agile, and this shortcoming was even more pronounced in the petrified flesh golems; with enough patience, they were not too difficult to engage in a drawn-out fight.

Using the opportunities his allies had won, Lancelot switched back to Frostslash, the nimbler Hand-Half Sword better suited for targeting joint connections and less likely to accidentally harm companions. The whistling of the sharp blade filled the air again. The Human Knight held his breath and concentrated, his Longsword slashing back and forth through the air, and with two clanging sounds, two arrows aimed at the Dwarf were deflected to the side, unbeknownst to Bruto himself.

"We’ll handle these two!" shouted the Dwarf confidently after landing another blow with his hammer, "You go deal with that evil woman! And don’t hold back!"

"Look out for yourself!"

Lancelot continued to whirl Frostslash swiftly around his body, making his way toward the source of the malicious laughter in the deep darkness. The clashing sounds of metal incessantly rang out, each clash corresponding to an arrow he knocked aside, but this significantly slowed the Human Knight’s advance. He advanced three steps only to retreat two, looking as though it would take minutes to reach the enemy—assuming the foe didn’t retreat while shooting arrows.

But just then, a scream suddenly erupted, followed by a sound as if someone’s mouth was abruptly covered. Receiving the signal, Lancelot’s thoughts raced, and the surrounding darkness instantly retracted into the dark spot on his wrist. The noble figure ahead had already fallen to the ground, the throat slit wide open nearly to the spine, while a pale hand covered the eyes.