The Paladin in the Abyss

"Protect me, you filthy Serpent Demon bitch!" the overturned Frost Giant yelled in the language of the Abyss, "That is my command!"

A mocking smile played on the Serpent Demon's face as she watched her Summoner being torn to shreds by the Dwarf's heavy hammer and the fangs of a massive wolf, indifferent to the scene. Although Frost Giants possess immense strength, once felled, they were as vulnerable as fish out of water, helpless to defend themselves.

After the last enemy was dealt with, Bruto, Alamir, and the old Reap, now a giant wolf, all circled the Serpent Demon. They cautiously stood fifteen feet away, no closer, but their threatening intent was unmistakable. The Serpent Demon tilted her head, scanning over the Elf Priest with holy flames licking his weapon, the Dwarf Warrior splattered with giant's blood, and a black-backed wolf larger than a saber-toothed tiger, before finally resting her gaze on Lancelot.

"You are a truly interesting man," the Serpent Demon said at an unhurried pace as she 'slithered' towards him and stopped in front of Lancelot, "Although this is our first meeting in this cold Hell, you still made me feel feverish..."

She sheathed her weapon, then began to remove the armor from her torso and waist, exposing her bare body to the Human Knight. Her female body, possessing three pairs of arms, exuded an eerie sex appeal and allure. Still, the shocking wound between her towering peaks reminded them that their relationship had just been a matter of life and death.

The Serpent Demon's six hands caressed her chest tenderly, soft as fox tails. But in the next instant, those hands plunged into the wound on her chest and tore it ferociously apart to either side.

A vast spray of blood burst forth, and almost as if she was performing a shedding right in front of Lancelot's face, she started with tearing open her chest, followed by stripping the skin off her face completely. When she twisted her lower body in a manner that could invoke a visceral reaction, and fully shed the giant snake tail's skin, she appeared as delicate as a newborn baby, her body covered in an amniotic-like viscous fluid.

"We will meet again, Knight," the Serpent Demon bent down and whispered in Lancelot's ear, her now smooth chest facing his face, "My name is Korata Sikjagata Scarlett, and you will remember it, won't you?"

Lancelot said nothing throughout, but his body was tense, like a fully drawn longbow, ready to unleash an array of slashes and cuts at any moment.

"Dangerous man, hehehehe..."

The Serpent Demon moved past Lancelot, headed for the distance. As soon as she left the range of the Anti-Magic Field, her body lit up with the blue light of teleportation and gradually faded away, but her bone-chilling laughter still echoed in everyone's ears.

"Wow!!"

Accompanied by a painful moan, the Dwarf began to vomit profusely, while Kalalin collapsed onto the snowy ground with a thud, and even the old Reap, in his massive wolf form, began to shiver violently, as if trying to shake off the goosebumps.

"Are you all right?" Other than Lancelot, the only one who seemed unaffected was Alamir, Shuni's Priest, who crossed her arms and appeared completely untouched by the events.

"Uh, uh, don't you and Lancelot feel nauseated..." the Dwarf gasped as he stood up, grabbing a handful of snow and furiously rubbing it over his mouth and beard, "That was the most disgusting scene I've seen since coming to the Abyss, bar none..."

"It's okay, shedding is a very natural phenomenon, it's just that the Serpent Demon made it a bit dramatic. Did you notice? After the shedding, her face became a bit smaller and actually quite pretty. You know, my standards for what's considered 'pretty' are not low..."

"Moradin above, your mind has been corrupted by the Abyss!" Bruto looked at Alamir with a disgusted expression. "If your Goddess heard these words, she would probably strip you of all your power right away..."

"That just shows you know nothing of Lady Flame's ideals, but that's understandable. Not everyone has the eye to see beauty, especially in what's considered taboo." Alamir shrugged exaggeratedly and turned to look at Lancelot, who had not moved at all, "Personally, I think Lancelot has great self-control. I saw it clearly, his skirt armor didn't budge a bit just now. But I can understand, if I could see Tijana's face every day, I'd probably lose interest in that Serpent Demon too... Uh, Lancelot? Are you alright?"

The Elf Priest felt something was off and took a couple of steps forward to check on the condition of the leader of the adventure team, but stopped approaching, guided by a strange sixth sense.

"Sigh..."

Lancelot let out a long exhale, so prolonged that it lasted for about twenty heartbeats. His state had not been good just now; the actions of the Serpent Demon had awakened a primal desire within him—not just sexual, but rather a nearly insane longing for violence, slaughter, and destruction.

Lancelot had not been indifferent to the Serpent Demon; he had been using all his will to fight that impulse.

Although he didn't understand what had happened to him, Lancelot felt an intuition that if he had shown even a slight weakness in his will just now and had let that impulse take over control of his body, he absolutely would have torn the six-armed Serpent Demon into pieces and probably swallowed every piece of its flesh. But he would not have stopped there; he mostly likely would have gone completely mad and killed all his treasured companions, turning into a true Demon.

Everything has its price. The spiritual energy of the Abyssal Plane is not easy to endure.

"I'm alright now." The Human Knight took off his helmet, letting his companions see his face, "Everyone fought very well just now..."

"No, no, it was you, brother, who handled the toughest enemy..." Bruto stared blankly at the helmet Lancelot was holding, which was continuously emitting white mist, as though it was filled with boiling soup, "Hey, speaking of which, where's little Isa? She was just behind me..."

"Haha, you still remember her? The poor girl really suffered because of you all."

Lancelot chuckled and walked to the body of the Frost Giant Spellcaster that Bruto and old Reap had taken down together, bent down, and rolled the enormous body aside, then began to dig through the snow.

"Did you see that?" Bruto turned his head to look at Alamir, who had just been arguing, "He just pushed aside a body weighing over two thousand pounds?"

"I thought you'd gotten used to it already."

The Elf Priest shrugged, stepped forward to help Lancelot dig, and soon the others joined in. After digging a hole about five feet deep, they finally found a little Vampire with her eyes shut tightly and her face pale green. She lay on her back in the snow, holding a purple leather-bound book wider than herself, appearing as if she were asleep.