The Paladin in the Abyss
Chapter 802 - 813: Jigsaw

The elf priest looked at little Isha with a strange expression, but eventually nodded and took two small bottles out of his pouch and handed them over. The little vampire walked to the defiled statue of Milko, poured a small amount of holy water from one of the bottles over the top, washing away the filth covering it, then took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped it clean.

Seeing that she wouldn’t be done for a while, the others scattered to inspect other areas of the hall. Like the outer hall, this place had clearly also experienced a battle, and the intensity was even fiercer. The difference was that the walls and floors of the outer hall were covered in dents, obviously caused by various weapons, while here the dents were caused by explosions, with pews blown around as if by a gale, and various scorched surfaces indicating a duel between spellcasters.

"Who do you think made these marks?"

Kalalin’s voice sounded from behind Lancelot, the human knight turned around and saw that the scholar seemed to be in a good mood.

"You seem quite excited... It’s Peyton Derrick, isn’t it?"

"Hehe, having the chance to learn some hidden history is of course exhilarating..." The scholar shrugged with a smile, "Peyton Derrick is certainly the prime suspect, but he wouldn’t have been fighting alone. We already know Peyton Derrick is a lich, and I really can’t imagine anyone with the power to contend with him..."

"Speaking of which, you reminded me..." Lancelot scratched his head, "How powerful is a lich exactly? Compared to Tijana, whose spellcasting ability is stronger?"

"In terms of pure spellcasting ability, the lich is undoubtedly stronger. No offense, but in their near-infinite lifespan, liches can master magical techniques that ordinary people can’t even begin to imagine through learning, experimentation, and research, whereas your succubus lover is a magician, using magic is more of a natural instinct for her, incomparable to a lich, an arcane caster..."

"Is it really that exaggerated? You’ve never seen Tijana fight. Let me tell you, when we were in Volcano Fortress, we watched the Barlow Flame Demon resurrect in the magma, and it felt like everything was over, but then Tijana arrived, and Visuvius was powerless before her. She slaughtered the Barlow Flame Demon as easily as Bruto slaughters a berserk demon..."

"Thanks for the compliment, but I still think I’m a bit better... Though it’s close." The young dwarf’s voice came from behind them. Faced with Lancelot’s somewhat displeased look, Bruto shrugged indifferently, "I was there too, and that’s the fact. I definitely killed more berserk demons than she killed flame demons."

"Hmm... Lancelot, you just asked about spellcasting ability, but if we’re talking about combat ability, Tijana is definitely stronger... While magicians only master a few spells, their casting method is more suited to combat, without a doubt."

"Thanks for saying that. Back to the previous question, according to our friend who can turn into a raven, the witch clearly had the ability to struggle against Peyton Derrick, and in our previous adventures, we used quite a few scrolls made by witches, didn’t we?"

"I know witches have profound magic knowledge, but if anyone had told me before that witches could rival liches, I would never have believed it."

"Do you believe it now?"

"Soveris provided a very plausible explanation—a witch coven. Among all possible reasons, that one really stands. When three or more witches form a coven, they can share spellcasting amongst themselves, greatly multiplying their combat ability. If, as Soveris said, thirteen witches united to form a coven, it’s not surprising at all for the lich to lose. However, the witches fought Peyton Derrick in their settled forest, whereas someone else dueled the lich here."

"Who could it be then?"

"I don’t know, but a reasonable guess would be that the person was a member of this temple, in other words, a divine office member of the Lord of the Dead’s church..."

"A divine art caster? Like Alamir?"

"I heard my name mentioned." The elf priest approached upon hearing his name. "Is there a problem?"

"We were discussing who fought here back then. One person is pretty much confirmed to be the lich Peyton Derrick, and we guessed the other might be a divine art caster like you."

"A reasonable guess. If it was a high-rank priest of the Lord of the Dead, they’d naturally have some suppressive power over an undead lich. However, it’s evident that Peyton Derrick won in the end, otherwise there wouldn’t have been the later battle with the witches, and the mosaic glass wouldn’t have been replaced with Shrek’s..."

"I feel like we’re starting to piece together a general picture from the clues we have." Lancelot stroked his chin thoughtfully, leaning against the three panes of glass depicting the ’glorious deeds’ of the Prince of Lies. "Initially, Peyton Derrick gained the method to become a lich in this temple dedicated to the Lord of the Dead, possibly during the third opening of that stone gate, or even earlier. After becoming a lich, he revisited this temple for some purpose, but had a serious conflict with one of its guardians, resulting in his victory."

"As for the witches, we also have some valuable information. Based on the illusion scene, Uncle Barrend was killed by a cursed weapon of Shrek, which the witches seemed prepared for, suggesting some connection between them and the Prince of Lies. Given this, the altered mosaic glass and the desecrated statue of Milko were clearly their handiwork, and the ghostly guardians at the gate said the witches were the last to open the stone gate before us, matching our hypothesis."

"Soveris said a huge battle once erupted between the witches and Peyton Derrick, causing a great commotion, but Peyton Derrick never appeared again afterward, and the witches became the de facto rulers of this demon’s domain. The question is, did the witches enter this temple and desecrate the statue of Milko before or after their battle with Peyton Derrick?"

"Is that important?" Bruto couldn’t help but ask, "I’m not challenging you, just don’t quite understand..."

"It’s very important." Lancelot nodded, "If it was before, then they might have found a way to defeat Peyton Derrick here, possibly discovering a fatal weakness of liches, or a method to weaken them, or perhaps... how to seal away their power."

"Uh..." Bruto swallowed with difficulty, "What did those ghostly guardians say earlier? Something about a powerful force being released?"