The Paladin in the Abyss

The crowd of spectators let out shouts of astonishment. Whether the Human Knight was driven by fear or some other reason, not even a Barlow Flame Demon could have just stood there and taken a hit from the charge of a Fiend's massive horn. They widened their eyes, preparing to enjoy the bloody scene of the Knight being skewered.

Meanwhile, Lancelot's companions all showed expressions of terror. The size difference between the two combatants was simply too great, and by any common sense, Lancelot didn't stand even a one percent chance of facing it head-on. Little Isah was so frightened that she covered her face, not daring to look any longer; Elothysia, disregarding the risk of exposing her identity, attempted to open the "channel" within herself that connected to the plane of Positive Energy; and Kalalin began to kneel down and pray, seeking from her deities the power to bring the newly dead back to life.

The only exceptions were Cromwell and Bruto. The former, through their psychic link, felt the soaring battle spirit within Lancelot's heart, and the Dwarf believed that Lancelot must already have a plan in place, because in this plane of existence, no creature had taken more beatings from Lancelot than he had, so no one had more confidence in Lancelot's abilities than he did.

Lancelot focused on the power gathering inside of him, growing stronger and almost bursting forth, as he stared intently at the rapidly approaching sharp horn of his opponent. His eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Among the Knights, there circulated a variety of stories about battle, and the most bizarre of these went as follows: Two Knights with a personal vendetta came across each other on the battlefield. They raised their Long Spears and charged at one another. One of them hit the other's Shield, knocking the opponent off his horse. The Knight who remained mounted quickly pulled away, then turned around, ready to launch a second round of lance charges, just as taught in the knightly code.

In most cases, once thrown from his horse, the opponent should have immediately knelt and surrendered, for a Knight who had lost his mount had no way to withstand the incoming Long Spear charge. But when he turned his horse around, he was astonished to find his opponent still standing, holding a Two-handed Sword in his hands.

The mounted Knight immediately charged, glad that he didn't need to show any mercy to his opponent. Yet, the bizarre part of the story was that, in the end, it was the dismounted Knight who survived because he managed a feat that seemed impossible to accomplish, which was exactly what Lancelot was about to do.

Time seemed to slow in his perception, as he clearly saw the Giant Horn of the Fiend inching closer and closer to him. When the tip of the horn was less than five feet from his chest, Lancelot released the power that, within one more second, would have burst out of him and killed him.

The descending Glacier struck like a black bolt of lightning, accurately hitting the tip of the massive horn, holding it firmly to the ground with a force as imposing as a mountain. Dugba was like running into a wall of Mithril; the kinetic energy of his full-charge was instantaneously reverted back onto himself.

As the Fiend's charging horn was sliced towards the ground, its heavy body uncontrollably flipped forward, as if kicked in the backside by a Giant. A crisp 'crack' reached the audience's ears, as the huge horn broke in half, and the Fiend's body flipped over Lancelot's head and crashed heavily onto the ground behind the Human Knight. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

The audience was stricken speechless by this world-shocking slash, even the Fiends, those beings of transcendence, couldn't comprehend what had just unfolded before their eyes. To hit the oncoming sharp tip of a charging Fiend's horn was as difficult as slicing a fly with a Great Sword. How on earth did the Human Knight manage to do it? And what kind of terrifying power was contained in that Heavy Slash to stop the full-charge of a Fiend and even break its charging horn?

While the audience was still dumbfounded, someone had already begun to take action.

Akama and Pakos.

In the instantaneous moment that the horn of the Beetle Fiend broke off, the current and former Lords of Withering both charged in. Akama let out a shriek beyond the auditory range of mortals, a scream that attacked not Dugba's body, but its soul—a phantom image identical to the Beetle Fiend appeared next to its body, its soul forced out by the piercing wail, causing Dugba to temporarily lose control of its body.

Meanwhile, Pakos' body glided through the air in an odd manner, as if he had an invisible pair of wings behind him. His right hand rapidly transformed into a giant dragon claw, and the moment the Beetle Fiend landed, Pakos' claw also pressed against its upturned belly.

The sharp claw easily punctured the Beetle Fiend's thin carapace on its abdomen, and then reached into its body, accurately clutching its heart. A cold smile formed on the halfling's face, and with a gentle tug, he pulled out Dugba's heart.

For all Demons, the heart is an absolutely fatal vulnerability. The Lord of Withering who mere minutes before was filled with pride and power didn't even have a chance to let out a scream before he died silently. The six legs at his side twitched meaninglessly towards the sky, slowly draining the remaining life force from the corpse.

Pakos tossed Dugba's still-beating giant heart toward the spectating crowd, and the Demons, stimulated by the fresh blood, immediately tore it to pieces. The halfling shrugged, his right hand silently returning to its original form.

"Heh, it's been quite a while since I've seen 'The Immortal' take action; your performance is really extraordinary," said Ms. Shapeshifter Akama as she approached, gazing at Dugba's still-twitching corpse, her voice filled with flattery for the halfling in the form of a Giant Dragon.

"Oh, no, it's not like that, madam. Your intervention is even rarer, isn't it? Some of the new citizens of Mogrondale probably don't even know about the glorious battle achievements of 'Shapeshifter' Akama from back in the day," he replied.

"Ancient history, what's there to talk about?" the female Demon lazily stretched her alluring body, "But to think that such a fool could become the Lord of Withering, has this city really fallen to such a degree? We can even discuss how to kill it in front of its face; how boring."

"Haha, it's not as simple as you say," Pakos turned his head to signal to the Human Knight standing not far away, "it was all thanks to our powerful knight friend here, wasn't it?"

"That's true, he really is a pleasant surprise." The female Demon with dark red skin also turned her head, "You're called Lancelot, right? I thought you were an interesting fellow the first time I saw you, but I didn't expect you to be this interesting—interesting enough to turn Satugura into your predecessor. I've heard some unsettling rumors about his death; did he really... transform?"