The Paladin in the Abyss
Chapter 868: Revised: 845 Entering the Woods Again

Chapter 868: Revised -845 Entering the Woods Again

When Lancelot climbed to the top of the small hill for the third time, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

‘Sir, this is Hadlari Silverlake. The battle has erupted in the Gatutcik Mountains. Repeat, the battle has erupted. Good luck to you all.’

He remembered that the speaker was the raven spellcaster Soveris had introduced earlier, and this spell was not unfamiliar to him—the Third Circle’s Message Spell, which Kalalin had used before. Following the telepathic link established by the magic, he confirmed with the other party that he had received the message, which also caused the link to terminate.

Lancelot reached into the rarely used dimensional bag at his waist and knocked on the lid of a special wooden box. Moments later, a fully armored blonde girl crawled out of the bag, her sleepy eyes suggesting she had just woken up.

“Good morning, little Isha.” Lancelot looked at the sky, estimating that there were still one or two hours before dark. “Sorry to wake you, but we need to start moving.”

“It’s okay, brother, I’ve rested long enough, ahhhh…” The little vampire yawned broadly and then flashed a smile so bright it might have scorched her, “Shall I go first?”

“That’s right.” Lancelot pointed to the two skeletons at the edge of the woods. “See those two sentinels? Leave them to you.”

“Understood, give me one minute.”

“It’s up to you.”

The girl nodded, and with a sound like a cork being pulled from a bottle, she transformed into a beautiful little bat, let out a soft screech towards Lancelot, then flapped her wings and flew away. The bat didn’t go straight for the nearby enemies but circled around, entering the withered woods about sixty feet from the target.

After a good while, the two skeleton guards still showed no movement, making Lancelot a bit worried that little Isha had run into trouble. But through their telepathic connection, he knew the little vampire was unharmed, so he chose to be patient, not wanting to distract his companion with a hasty contact.

A short while later, little Isha’s figure finally appeared above the target. She hooked her legs around the branch, a short sword held in her mouth, her body hanging upside down. Even with Lancelot’s eyesight, if he hadn’t been watching closely, he might have missed his cute sister’s actions.

As a wanderer, when she could get this close without being detected, she had many options available. The little girl gently extended her jade-like arms and swiftly but quietly removed the broken helmets from the skeletons’ heads—the victims were completely unaware. She then threw the two helmets to the side, finally causing the two skeletons to react, instinctively turning their heads towards the noise.

In that instant, the little vampire launched her attack. She released her legs from the branch and floated down like a coat blown off a rack, the short sword now gripped in her hand striking down on one skeleton’s skull.

With a muffled ‘thud,’ the short sword sank into the bone like it was soft snow. The blessing of the God of the Dead immediately took effect, and the skeleton, which could still stand a moment ago, collapsed, leaving only a skull hanging from Isha’s sword.

The other enemy reacted, raising its rusty straight sword to slash at little Isha, who easily dodged it. She tried to counterattack but awkwardly found her weapon had turned into an unwieldy hammer. She had to leap back to avoid another swing from the skeleton.

As the enemy stepped forward to chase her, little Isha had a bright idea. She threw her weapon to the ground, causing the skeleton to step heavily on its comrade’s skull and fall. The little vampire quickly drew another short sword from her waist.

‘Well done.’ A few moments later, Lancelot conveyed his congratulations through their mental link. ‘You stayed very calm during the fight, showing significant improvement.’

‘Hehe, thank you for the praise, brother.’ Little Isha’s voice sounded very pleased. ‘Did you see me stealing their helmets? I had a hard time holding back my laughter…’

‘Of course. What happened earlier? Why did it take so long in the woods?’

‘There was another hidden sentry, a zombie disguised as an ordinary corpse, but of course, it couldn’t escape my sharp eyes…’

“Well fought,” Bruto said from the side, “although your style is completely different from ours, I like it, especially that last move…”

“Me too.” Lancelot nodded, turning to look at the other companions. “Let’s go. Little Isha has opened the way, and it’s time for us to move.”

The companions quickly crossed the clearing, entering the woods without causing any disturbances. Burnt trees were everywhere, and the air was thick with mist, creating the illusion that enemies could be hiding behind every obstacle. Under normal circumstances, such an unknown environment would induce strong fear, but it was clearly not the case for Lancelot’s group—Kalalin had thoroughly scouted the area beforehand, ensuring no surprises until they reached the core area.

Continuing their advance, they encountered several groups of skeletons and zombie guards. With teammates working together and Lancelot using his noise-covering divine skills, these enemies posed no challenge. Kalalin’s map proved to be incredibly accurate, with enemies appearing exactly where noted, in just the right numbers.

After a silent quarter-hour, they finally faced their first real challenge upon entering—the skeletal knight. This was the exact target Alamir had chosen earlier. If everything went smoothly, they could reach the shores of the Stygian River with no further obstacles.

The good news was that the skeletal knight was alone, allowing Lancelot to focus solely on it. The bad news was that its aura was exceedingly strong, nearly rivaling a six-armed serpent demon, and it was accompanied by three floating flaming skulls. These creatures, which they had encountered in the ancient temple before, could cast Fireball Technique, posing an outsized threat despite their small size.

“Seems like we’re in for some trouble?” Bruto pressed his head against a tree trunk and whispered in a mosquito-like voice, “Big bro, what do we do?”

“That guy seems a bit unusual…” Lancelot squinted, examining the figure a few dozen feet away. “Have you ever seen undead light a bonfire before, and the way it’s sitting there—thinking? Troubled? Disheartened?”

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