The Paladin in the Abyss

In the depths of the Miasma Swamp, a group of uninvited guests silently approached the outskirts of a Troll camp. The robes and armor of this group were smeared with the swamp's decayed, foul-smelling muck; they were indeed Lancelot's party.

Perhaps not everyone was present, such as little Isa who wasn't there. Lancelot had sent her to transform into a bat and patrol the periphery, keeping an eye on the surroundings of the battlefield. Accompanying her was the skeletal Clone Well, who maintained real-time contact with Lancelot through a mental link. If the enemy had unexpected reinforcements, it would be up to these two to issue a timely warning.

Another person was also not among the team, and that was the Elf Alamir. Shuni's priest simply could not accept deliberately soiling his own garments, even if their purpose was to mask their scent and avoid detection by the Trolls; it went completely against the teachings of the Goddess that required her followers to stay clean and tidy. As clergy of the Shuni Church, the Elf would not do it no matter what.

Regarding this, Lancelot was not without understanding. It was not hard to notice Alamir's emphasis on personal hygiene in daily interactions—he would even place a cloth before sitting on a random rock outdoors, and the first thing after every battle was to clean the blood stains from his armor. Asking him to smear himself with filthy, stinking muck was indeed asking too much of him.

Fortunately, there was a solution: keeping him inside someone else's Dimensional Bag was sufficient.

Lancelot had two Dimensional Bags; the smaller one currently served as little Isa's 'boudoir', as well as to store valuables such as jewels, Spirit Stones, and Gold Coins, which he kept close inside the breastplate; the larger Dimensional Bag was hung within easy reach at his waist, used for storing larger equipment such as the Great Sword Glacier.

The Elf was currently in Lancelot's larger Dimensional Bag, where the air allowed him to remain alone for over ten minutes, enough to last until the Trolls could detect the intruders without relying on their sense of smell.

From within the shadows of a bush, Lancelot and his companions surveyed the camp they were about to attack. The Trolls were clearly not adept at building; the stone houses in the camp looked as though they had been stacked by a bunch of three-year-olds playing house, except these children could easily lift hundreds of pounds of giant rocks.

There were no walls or fences around the camp, just three low stone houses surrounding a sinister totem pole. The pole was covered with dried blood, and at the top hung a dreadful totem made from the skull halves of a Demon and a wild boar.

"Can you recognize the totem that these Trolls worship?" Lancelot whispered to Kalalin, "The Mother of Demons, Cang Ye?"

"No, definitely not. The Mother of Demons seldom develops her church in the material plane, but in the few cases where she does, her Evil Emblems all contain a distinct female symbol." Kalalin squinted at the totem, "I don't recognize this totem, but blood and skulls are very meaningful symbols, likely related to some Evil God associated with slaughter."

"Okay, that totem gives me a very bad feeling...but it must hold significant importance for these Trolls, otherwise they wouldn't place it in the center of their camp." Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

Lancelot turned his head and looked towards the nearest stone house. Through huge gaps in the walls, they could clearly see two Trolls still punching and kicking a red-haired child, with sounds of beating, crying, and the unsightly laughter of the assailants occasionally drifting out.

"What a bunch of beasts," Bruto said in a suppressed angry tone, "Lancelot, what should we do?"

"The kidnappers are too close to the hostage. We need to find a way to distract those Trolls," Lancelot looked back at the Scholar, "Kalalin, do you still have your sling? How far can it shoot?"

"Of course I brought it. What do you want me to shoot?" Kalalin asked somewhat surprisingly, "The range is about...thirty feet, and beyond that, I can't guarantee hitting a human-sized target."

"You don't need to aim too precisely. Can you throw that small bottle filled with Flame Glue within ten feet of that totem?"

"No problem," Kalalin nodded decisively. The troll camp's center was about one hundred and twenty feet from them, still within his maximum sling range.

"Good, I will summon a bunch of vines around that totem, and once ignited, it should create panic among the trolls. Then we'll take advantage of the chaos to rescue the hostages. Elothysia, you will still protect the child, and Dong Quan, make sure to calm Lilu and have her cooperate with our retreat," Lancelot glanced around at the group, "Everyone good?"

"Yeah!"

"All good!"

"Hurry up, I can't wait any longer!" Bruto chortled, "If we delay any further, the elves are going to burst!"

Seeing that everyone was ready, Lancelot spoke no more. In the dense swamp forest environment, his Wood System Cultivation Technique was easier to perform. With a slight concentration, he summoned a heap of thorn-like vines in the center of the troll camp.

"This isn't very 'Magic,'" Kalalin shook his head, sighing resignedly. Then he released the already swinging sling, and an unassuming little bottle whizzed out, shattering on the now-hardened dry vines.

The liquid inside the bottle ignited violently upon contact with the air, and the flames spread quickly across the dry vines. The raging flames instantly engulfed the totem pillar in the center of the camp.

The intense fire caused great panic among the trolls in the camp; they screamed and fled towards the camp's perimeter, with none of the trolls showing any intent to fight the fire. This scene reminded Lancelot of pouring boiling water into an ant hill when he was a child.

Two trolls who were initially abusing the Aira child did not realize what was happening at first, but when the roaring flames lit up the stone hut and cast their own shadows on the wall in front of them, they finally realized something was wrong. They immediately dropped the captives they were holding and ran out in terror.

However, a flying hammer hit one of the trolls right in the head, knocking it unconscious to the ground; meanwhile, a large number of vines suddenly sprouted under the feet of the other troll, binding it tightly.

"Why run? Are you only brave when facing a tied-up child?" Bruto reached the troll he had knocked over, "Afraid of fire, huh? Let me warm you up properly!"

The dwarf grabbed the fallen troll by one of its ankles, then spun around, flinging the foul-smelling creature straight into the central campfire.