The Paladin in the Abyss

Chapter 348: Chapter 362: Three Light Rings

After entering the Foundation Establishment Stage, the effect of his Spiritual Sight greatly enhanced, transforming the surrounding environment into silver lines in his Divine Sense. Although his main purpose was to watch if the enemy had arrived, he incidentally noticed the situation on the other floors of the inn as well.

The guests below them turned out to be a group of werewolves, which surprised Lancelot somewhat – half because this notoriously fierce race would actually pay to stay in an inn, and the other half because the innkeeper was willing to accept these customers, who were barely better than wild beasts.

As for what they were doing in the room, it was extremely unpleasant: These dog-like creatures were conducting a live sacrifice of a Devilspawn captive, the victim firmly tied to the bed, dozens of green-eyed werewolves surrounding him, patiently waiting for a leader dressed as a Shaman to complete the ritual. The drooling from their mouths had already soaked the entire bed.

The room above them was empty, the floor marked with a Magic Formation seemingly used for summoning. Just as Lancelot was about to shift his focus, a disheveled Succubus appeared from that formation. From her violent gesticulations and rapid lip movement, it was evident that the Succubus was loudly cursing the Summoner who had called her forth.

In the other rooms of the inn, one scene after another of evil or fallen acts unfolded. In his state of Spiritual Sight, only silver outlines were visible, which lessened the visual impact, but even so, Lancelot had to continuously operate the Ice Heart Technique to keep his mind stable.

He slowly shifted his attention to the streets surrounding the tower, watching for signs of enemies among the passersby. He didn’t wait long – soon, two Zoel Elves peeked out from the shadows of a corner, sizing up the room Lancelot and his companions were in from below.

One of them noticed the open window and used Levitation Skill to rise into the air, trying to peer into the room. Lancelot had not yet spoken to have Acheron take action when a string of chained Fireballs flew out from another tower. The floating Zoel was instantly flustered, barely evading the first Fireball, but the subsequent attacks all hit, dragging a long tail of flames as he plummeted to the ground.

“Good, one less,” Lancelot thought silently to himself while tapping lightly on the Metal Sphere at the end of his sword hilt—a clear sound ringing throughout the room, alerting all his companions that the enemy had appeared.

Everyone’s actions paused briefly, but then quickly resumed their tasks. Lancelot had previously agreed with everyone that a light chime signified the appearance of an enemy scout. As Kalalin had speculated, the effect of the anti-surveillance Array made the cunning Zoel hesitate instead of attacking immediately.

Bruto was checking his armor, restoring bent and blunted spikes to their original form; Alamir was half-kneeling on the ground, conversing with his Goddess – of course, he was the only one speaking, but the Priest truly believed the Goddess could hear his prayers; Koula nervously adjusted his Mutagen, a potion that needed to be consumed immediately upon preparation due to its short effective duration, while Little Isha repeatedly practiced drawing various weapons and gear from her waist, ensuring she could promptly grab the correct item during the upcoming battle.

Lancelot tapped his sword handle twice more, signaling that the enemy’s main force had arrived. The sounds of weapons being drawn echoed in the air of the room, as everyone gathered in the spacious hall, the battleground they had prepared earlier.

The Human Knight was still seated cross-legged at the center, his eyes tightly closed. Everyone was originally in a state of high tension, every second felt incredibly slow, but under his long breaths, all the anxiety and unease in their hearts had vanished, they were even filled with anticipation for the upcoming battle.

Koula swallowed the prepared mutagen potion in one gulp, his body instantly shrank to the size of an ordinary human, the muscles exposed looked as if they were carved by a knife; the Dwarf shielded himself with a shield in front, his right arm holding the hammer began to rotate, ready to throw his powerful Warhammer; and the Succubus Paladin’s longsword began to ignite with golden flames. Although the enemy was neither Fiends nor Undead, the Radiant Attack didn’t have an extra effect, but it still could provide a normal damage bonus.

Finally, three light chimes signaling the impending attack rang out, everyone held their breath, quietly waiting for the enemy to appear.

First, noises came from the bedroom to the left of the window, three Zoel warriors walked straight out of the stone walls. It was clear they intended to sneak in; if not for the traps set in advance, they would have made almost no sound.

One of the Zoels stepped on a bear trap on the floor, the force of the trap closing was so strong that the five-pound metal trap bounced up from the ground, viciously clamping onto the unfortunate one’s calf. A piercing scream arose, these Dark Elves weren’t wearing the light leather boots, allowing the bear trap with its serrated edges to cause extreme damage.

Another invader hooked onto a tripwire, triggering a series of crossbow arrows. This Zoel Elf dodged all the incoming arrows with astonishing agility but ended up crashing into a wall covered with spikes.

Heaven and earth be my witness, that malicious wall was an original part of the room’s decor, Koula had absolutely nothing to do with it. How could a Halfling anticipate that a nimble foe would dodge in that direction?

The only invader who dodged all traps rushed out of that room, only to be met with the hammer thrown by Bruto, and the Dwarf himself following behind the hammer, rolling forward like a spiked metal ball.

More noises came from other rooms, sounds of mechanisms being triggered, the sizzling of acid corroding metal, the whoosh of sharp weapons cutting through the air, mixing with the screams and curses uttered in Zoel language by the victims. The first wave of enemies hadn’t even engaged with the defenders yet and had already suffered heavy losses.

Still, four Dark Elf warriors charged out. Avoiding all traps amidst such chaos itself proved their strength and ruthless efficiency—some traps simply could not be dodged without using a companion’s body as a shield.

Bruto, Kamoen, Acheron, and Koula either roared or remained silent as they each engaged an enemy. The one who roared was naturally Bruto, the Dwarf like an enraged wild boar, charged fiercely at his opponent; while the silent one referred to Kamoen, his scimitar cutting through the air so quietly that not a whiff of air was stirred, instantly pressuring his own kin into retreating continuously.

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