The Paladin in the Abyss

Chapter 633: Chapter 657: Breaking the Move

Given Lancelot’s enhanced physical condition after his Foundation Establishment, he could have easily jumped to dodge the attack, but he decided to respond as an ordinary knight would—quickly lowering the tip of his sword to form a triangle with the blade, the ground, and his lower leg, blocking the trajectory of his opponent’s strike. The iron-headed stick came sweeping in swiftly, striking heavily against his sword, then deflected harmlessly upward. Normally, all Lancelot had to do was follow through with an Upper Slash, and he would land a solid hit on the enemy.

However, compared to ordinary humans, demon monkeys have a particular advantage—their flexible tails, which act like an extra arm. The demon monkey had let go of her weapon beforehand, using her tail to wrap around the bouncing stick. She didn’t step back but instead stepped forward again, her body stretching like a released spring, seizing the opportunity to throw a fierce uppercut.

Even more deviously, her other hand stealthily reached for Lancelot’s groin; because her fist and body obscured her movement, the Human Knight couldn’t possibly see it coming. This caused the onlookers’ faces to change instantly.

“Using the old monkey steals the peach!” Bruto exclaimed through clenched teeth, “That’s so despicable, so shameless!”

It was clear that the little monkey was determined to land this lethal move, but all her attacks missed—Lancelot evaded his opponent with a simple half-turn, while delivering a lightning-fast elbow strike. His elbow, sheathed in a Metal Armguard, struck the demon monkey accurately in the back of the head, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground.

Jing rubbed her head, staggering as she got up. It was evident that Lancelot had actually held back his strength; an elbow strike was one of the most powerful moves a humanoid could perform with bare hands. Even if it had been Kalalin instead, the strike could have seriously injured the demon monkey without any exaggeration.

The onlookers gasped in unison; Lancelot’s actions of blocking, dodging, and counterattacking were not complex. Anyone could perform them separately, but when he linked them together, it was as smooth and pleasing as moving clouds and flowing water. Regardless of their own strength, the spectators could sense the Human Knight’s high level of skill from these concise moves.

“I lost…” The demon monkey’s face flushed red as she spoke with shame, “This is the first time anyone has dodged my special move… Have you encountered a similar technique before?”

“Just lucky,” Lancelot said with a smile, “There was a bit too much time between your two attacks; if you had aimed straight for my abdomen, the effect would have been better. Additionally, the Beard Demon’s chin has venomous whiskers like a serpent’s, so besides weapons, avoid letting any part of your body get close to them.”

“Phew… Thanks for the lesson.” The young demon monkey put her hands together in a sign of respect and gave Lancelot a solemn bow, her expression quite serious. Unfortunately, the tail that was still coiled around the iron-headed stick ruined the solemnity of the moment.

“You’re welcome.” Lancelot nodded and looked towards the others waiting on the side, “Next, who’s up?”

“Me.”

An aged voice rang out as Ivendell stepped into the ring, his eyes burning with eager fighting spirit. He held a Longsword and a Shield in each hand, and it was apparent that the Shield once bore some sort of Emblem, though it had been deliberately erased by its bearer. He gave Lancelot a Knight’s salute, then assumed his stance with a steady voice:

“Please instruct me, Sir Lancelot!”

Lancelot did not speak but instead seriously returned the salute, also taking up a stance ready to fight. Seeing this, the Holy Warrior wasted no words and approached steadily. When he was about seven feet away, he switched to cautious, broken steps, starting to circle clockwise around him.

For this dance of knights, Lancelot was naturally a master as well, but he didn’t plan to waste time on it, so he just stood still, not moving along with his opponent. This represented his absolute confidence in his own strength, not minding giving his opponent the advantage in the angle of attack, and to some extent, it was even a kind of insult to his opponent.

The old Holy Warrior didn’t stand on ceremony, and after moving to a position to the front-left of Lancelot, his feet suddenly lunged forward, raising his shield in front of him and stabbing his longsword along the edge of the shield toward his opponent.

“Well done!”

Lancelot let out a light shout and chose not to block this thrust but instead moved abruptly to the right, evading the line of his opponent’s weapon attack. At the moment, his opponent had the shield, and Lancelot’s weapon was not at an advantage in length, so no matter what method he chose to respond, Ivendell would be able to deflect it with his shield. Therefore, Lancelot had to find a way to neutralize this equipment disadvantage.

The opponent’s response didn’t surprise the Holy Warrior; he even felt somewhat proud because a subsequent shield bash would have knocked Lancelot off balance, giving him the chance to thrust the sword tip into the gap between his helm and breastplate.

Years of training had ingrained muscle memory in the old Holy Warrior, who instinctively retracted his sword while swinging his shield forward to the left. However, at that moment, an astonishing force suddenly came from the shield, pushing him into a stagger, followed by the sensation of his supporting foot being lightly tripped, toppling him to the ground.

In the eyes of the onlookers, Lancelot had merely stepped to the side and then immediately charged into his opponent’s shield with such speed that it even produced an afterimage. Despite the stunning appearance, Lancelot had not used any True Yuan, relying purely on his formidable physique and precise timing, with one dodge and one charge, he had decided the outcome of the battle.

Although Ivendell couldn’t see clearly how his opponent had done it, his rich experience quickly led him to understand what had just happened. He grabbed Lancelot’s offered hand, allowing the latter to pull him up, the look in his eyes turning from eagerness to fight to immense admiration.

“I served as a court swordsmanship instructor for over twenty years,” the old Holy Warrior shook his head in disbelief. “I knew that technique as well as my own palm lines, yet I never thought it could be countered in such a way. Truly an eye-opener, Lancelot, you are indeed the strongest knight I have ever seen.”

“It was just luck, and besides, you didn’t use any Holy Warrior powers either; otherwise, the outcome could have been different,” Lancelot humbly shook his head, “Improvement comes from sparring with someone of similar strength. Shall we go again?”

“Let this old man rest for a bit,” Ivendell shook his head, his face showing a smile that was seven parts self-mocking and three parts melancholy, “The others also need your guidance.”

“You flatter me,” Lancelot said, somewhat embarrassed, as he touched his nose.

“Excessive modesty is just pride.”

The old Holy Warrior put away his smile and solemnly reminded him, then saluted Lancelot with a knight’s courtesy again and turned to walk towards the edge of the arena. Lancelot returned the salute with equal seriousness, with not the slightest hint of negligence. When he stood tall again, he immediately felt several burning gazes and looked around to see his companions all eager to try.

“What, can’t wait?” Lancelot laughed and walked over to the weapon rack to switch to a staff, “The Demon Legion’s infantry are Beard Demons, they use large cleavers, I’ll use this to simulate that, and teach you some techniques to deal with them…”