The Paladin in the Abyss

This might be the weirdest scene Lancelot had ever witnessed. The seducing demons had heads like leopards, a pair of huge arms resembling lobster claws, a pair of smaller arms like those of humanoid creatures, and backward-bending legs similar to a goat's—they just didn't have wing-like appendages.

Yet, oddly enough, they were flying behind Lancelot at that moment, like a flock of water birds poised to hunt their prey.

In fact, the innate spell-casting ability of the seducing demons allowed them to cast the Flight Spell once a day. Since the spell only lasted ten minutes, they would not easily use this spell before spotting their prey.

Although Lancelot, running on the ground, was extremely agile in his movement technique, the flying seducing demons took advantage of their weight to forcibly clear the dense branches in midair, allowing them to move in a straight line. As a result, the distance between them continued to shrink.

Seeing this, Lancelot began to make sharp changes in direction incessantly, trying to shake off the enemies behind him. Although he was not familiar with this swamp, he could still roughly sense where the dangers lay and which paths led to a dead end.

The more the seducing demons chased, the more amazed they felt. Could the one below really be a human knight in heavy armor? He was running too fast!

Demons are not creatures of great patience. On any other occasion, they would have given up the chase long ago, but the red-haired girl in the human knight's arms was like a red cloth in a matador's hands, continuously taunting the nerves of these wild beasts.

She was the captive ordered by the Mother of Demons to be brought back. If they returned empty-handed, it was certain that some heads of seducing demons would roll across the floor of the Bone Castle. Would the Mother of Demons kill them all to vent her anger? No, she would most likely pick one or two unluckies, but who could assure they wouldn't be the unlucky ones?

Upon realizing that they wouldn't be able to catch up with this slippery 'rat' within the effective time of the Flight Spell, the seducing demons used their most powerful magical ability. As Lancelot was frantically running, he only heard a single word uttered from the mouth of the nearest demon, followed by a fearsome energy directly assaulting his Sea of Consciousness.

This was the Eighth Circle spell, Commanding Word of Intimidation, which the seducing demons could use once a day. This powerful magic had no lengthy casting process, only requiring the utterance of one potent word to shock an opponent within the caster's view into a state of intimidation by overwhelming their will, making it very hard to resist. Nearly all middle rank demons would be affected by this spell, let alone ordinary human adventurers.

The small bamboo slip in Lancelot's Sea of Consciousness emitted a bright green light in an instant, like a large bell firmly protecting his spirit, and the energy, like a giant hammer, struck violently against the green Protective Barrier but only caused it to flicker slightly. It completely failed to break through the protection provided by the small bamboo slip.

Still, Lancelot was affected. Although his consciousness remained clear, it was as if someone had blown a horn used for signalling on the battlefield right next to him, rattling him to the point of staggering, nearly losing his balance.

Even though Lancelot swiftly regained control over his body, that brief moment was enough for the demons to close in on him. Two seducing demons dove from the sky, their claws like the blades of a guillotine aiming to chop the human knight into pieces.

"Idiots! Don't kill the little girl!"

The demons farther away reminded loudly, and the two seducing demons quickly rotated their arms, deciding to slap towards the human knight on the ground with the sides of their pincers instead.

Lancelot regained consciousness at the very last moment; he heavily stomped on the ground and his body shot forward in an eerie manner, narrowly escaping the Enchanting Demon's attack.

"Damn you, human! A creature even lower than reptiles!"

The curses of the enraged demons came from behind, and Lancelot felt a shiver of fear. He realized he might have been a bit too overconfident—had those two attacks hit him squarely, it was uncertain whether his Protective Sword Shield would have withstood them.

The two Enchanting Demons who had missed their target let out angry roars. Although their Flight Spell was still active, taking off and accelerating again would take time, and their prey had seized this brief moment to increase the distance once more.

They fell behind, while ten other Enchanting Demons continued to pursue the Human Knight and the young Vampire girl. These demons were no longer holding back, taking turns using Commanding Shocks, hurling them at the Human Knight. Had it not been for the small bamboo slip protecting Lancelot's Divine Sense, by now he might well have become a drooling idiot, standing there in a daze.

But the feeling was still extremely uncomfortable, as if Lancelot were surrounded by an entire marching band, each musician creating piercing noises at full blast. This kind of mental oppression wasn't easy to get used to. Lancelot felt his head was splitting, nearly losing consciousness, stumbling forward like a drunk, running wildly, purely on the strength of his will.

The little girl, Isa, fared even worse. Commanding Shock was a magic that targeted through sight, and Lancelot's movement technique was too unpredictable, while the girl's bright red hair made her very conspicuous amidst high-speed movement, inadvertently drawing the attention of the demons.

Vampires didn't have protective treasures like the small bamboo slip, and Isa was inevitably affected. Her gaze completely lost focus, her body stiffened as if in shock, but fortunately, it was a controlling Technique and didn't cause actual harm. Otherwise, the vampire might have been blasted into a mist by now.

Another Commanding Shock came, and still, it couldn't break through the green light of the protective barrier produced by the small bamboo slip, but the shockwave was enough to make Lancelot taste blood in his throat, and he couldn't hold back a mouthful of blood, spraying it all over the girl's face in his arms.

The scent of fresh blood triggered the vampire's instincts, and Isa, without thinking, extended her tongue to lick the blood near her mouth. So sweet was the taste, so rich the power it contained, that she snapped back to her senses instantly. Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire

She felt her face was wet and instinctively withdrew one hand that had been wrapping around Lancelot's neck, wiping her face with it.

"Ah!" The sight of her blood-covered hand startled the young girl into screaming. Her brother was bleeding? Could it be a severe injury? The blood smelled so good, and now that it was already out, it couldn't go to waste...

Without thinking, Isa licked her fingers, the sweet taste blanking her mind momentarily, completely overtaken by a ravenous hunger. By the time she realized what she had done, her palms and cheeks were licked clean.

The girl's face turned even redder than her hair in an instant. What was she doing? He hadn't noticed, had he? She really was a wicked, shameless woman—would he come to hate her for this...