The Paladin in the Abyss

Lancelot fell from a light door in mid-air.

Remembering the High Priest's advice, he immediately scrambled to his feet and ran forward. A violent explosion erupted behind him, and the blast wave forcefully threw him to the ground.

Fortunately, the blast did not bring with it rocks, metal, or other worse things. Lancelot slowly got up, confirming that, aside from being covered in dust and grime, his body hadn't lost or gained any parts.

Only then did he begin to observe his surroundings.

What first caught his attention was the dark red sun in the sky, weakly casting rays that held barely any warmth.

The ground was as if covered with a thick layer of volcanic ash, desolate and barren all around. Strange bushes were scattered messily across the land, and the occasional tall trees appeared aggressive. To his left lay a vast plateau, the ground pockmarked with frightening depressions, and it seemed there was a river in the distance; to his right stood an immense mountain range, obstructing his view.

The blessings of the Elves included much knowledge about this world, and Lancelot closed his eyes, sorting through the information that kept bubbling up from the depths of his heart.

This place called the Abyss had a multi-layered spatial structure, with each layer being like a separate small world. The surface of each layer harbored portals leading to unknown layers, but digging downward from any point on any layer for a certain distance resulted in being forcefully teleported to a fixed next layer, a property that established the ordered hierarchy of layers.

The vastness of the Abyssal Plane lay beyond the Elves' imagination; their furthest explorations had only reached the sixth layer, and the area they had charted was already larger than their own world. Each layer was slightly smaller than the one above, leading the Elves to speculate that the Abyssal world likely presented a cone-shaped spatial structure, and must have a bottom. According to a widely held belief among the creatures of the Abyss, there were at least 666 layers.

According to them, it was a chaotic, barren, and cruel world, where the very land was saturated with evil energy, rendering any virtuous traits inappropriate and out of place here.

Yet it was a rich world, teeming with precious mineral deposits, powerful magical items, wonderful natural creations, and Abyssal creatures of considerable research value.

At least the "Elves' Blessing" version imparted to Lancelot rated the creatures of the Abyss as "of considerable research value."

Demons are the original inhabitants here; the difference in strength and intelligence between the various kinds is vast, but their common traits include being irritable, evil, shameless, and unpredictable in behavior. The Elves speculated that this is likely related to the long-term influence of the rampant evil energy in this place. To a certain extent, low-level Demons are like creatures driven mad by intolerable pain, but this view still needs sufficient evidence to support it.

The Demons seem to have an allergy to any form of order, so much so that even a neatly arranged formation would cause intense discomfort to low-level Demons, but what they feared more was the authority of high-level Demons. Therefore, the Demons had practically no social organization structure, but the strongest among them could muster terrifying legions by virtue of their superior authority, and war with each other for any valuables or territory that might be worth seizing.

However, Demons are not the only creatures here; from time to time, travelers from other worlds find themselves lost here. They either arrived by accident or deliberately came using Teleportation Magic. Through contact with these travelers, the Elves confirmed the existence of multiple upper worlds, and even in other worlds, there was the race of Elves, their language being variants of the Dragon tongue.

Furthermore, according to the Elves' records, they had also come into contact with a creature that called itself a Demon. They were as powerful as the Demons but displayed a high level of intelligence and discipline. The Elves soon realized that the evil of the Demons was not inferior to that of the Demons, and since the Demons did not possess the uncontrollable madness of the Demons, they were much more dangerous. The Demons at that time seemed to be exploring the Abyss as well, and with the power and cunning they displayed, it is very likely that they have now gained a foothold in the Abyss.

The Elves had also mastered the Demonic language commonly used in the Abyss; this knowledge was included in the blessing they gave Lancelot.

Lancelot tried to release a Summoning Magic spell to summon a warhorse, and with a flash of white light, the summoning was effortlessly successful. This was a very practical spell taught to the knights of the rebel alliance by the Elves. However, in their world, the success rate was not high, suggesting that the Abyss had a close connection with the Elemental Plane.

But the "warhorse" that appeared before him was vastly different from what Lancelot had imagined. The creature before him had the shape of a horse, with red flames burning in its eye sockets, scales covering its body, and muscles full of explosive power. Creatures summoned with the warhorse spell come with their own harness, but the harness on the back of this creature looked unusually sturdy, seemingly designed for a being several times heavier than a human.

This was a Demonic warhorse, which, just seconds ago, had been traversing an area where lava flowed. Its hooves contained terrifying high temperatures, leaving scorched marks on the ground wherever they touched. Being magically summoned to a strange place, it was very displeased.

It raised its head, looking at Lancelot. Some inner voice told it that the guy before it, dressed in an iron suit, was the culprit who had brought it here, so it didn't hesitate to raise its hooves and fiercely kicked at Lancelot.

Lancelot naturally wouldn't draw his sword and chop the feet off his own mount. In a rush, he could only crouch and roll to the side, dodging the hooves sharp as spearheads. The black warhorse charged again, but this time Lancelot had his Giant Shield removed from his back and held it in front of him.

There was a thunderous noise as Lancelot was kicked back several steps, and two dented hoof prints appeared on his shield which had withstood countless strikes from Treasured Swords and Warhammers. The warhorse charged at Lancelot again but suddenly crashed to the ground, struggling to rise.

It turned out that while using his Giant Shield to block, Lancelot had thrown a lasso he had prepared in advance, accurately catching the Demonic warhorse's neck. Then, at the moment when the Demonic warhorse charged again, he forcefully pulled, causing it to lose balance and fall to the ground.

The moment the warhorse hit the ground, Lancelot pounced on it, pinning his opponent firmly beneath him. Like a wrestler seizing an opportunity, he choked the warhorse's throat with both hands, while his legs were tightly wrapped around the warhorse's long neck. The Demonic warhorse struggled violently, trying to throw off this annoying creature, but on one hand, Lancelot's weight made it difficult to maintain balance, and on the other hand, the tighter it struggled, the tighter Lancelot's hands choked, gradually suffocating it.

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Its movements finally slowed, like a beast that had failed in its battle for the leadership of its pack, ceasing its struggles and adopting a submissive posture.

Lancelot was unsure whether the demon or the horse inside was more dominant, so he slowly loosened his grip, confirming that the other truly submitted.

It seems the equine part prevails, otherwise, this Spell would have to be renamed.

The battle seemed to have calmed the steed down, as it docilely allowed Lancelot to mount. A certain instinct inside it understood that it had to obey this new master, though it was still slightly disgruntled.

Lancelot surveyed his surroundings, thinking about his next course of action.

The first step was to ascertain which layer he was on. The topmost layer of the Abyss was a realm quite similar to the material plane, and as such, it was the most frequented by Outsiders, making it relatively friendly to them. According to the elves' records, the surface of the first layer was covered in thick ash, with countless bottomless pits scattered across the land, leading to an unknown world below. The Stygian River's streams were equally common, like a spider's web, sprawling across every corner of this world.

All that he saw matched the description of the first layer in the records, but Lancelot had to remain cautious. He judged his environment, deciding to head toward the barren mountain range first.

In his view, the plains likely housed roving hordes of demons, and following the rivers might even lead to demon settlements, situations he could not cope with in this unfamiliar territory. The mountains, however, provided cover and a high vantage point to observe his surroundings and decide the direction of his next move.

The mountains within the Abyss were all sharply angular, as though ripped right out of the earth by a giant. He chose the most gradual ascent within his line of sight, intending to march to the mountaintop from there.

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Riding horseback, Lancelot slowly advanced along the winding mountain path. The dark red sun climbed gradually higher, suggesting that day and night alternated here too, but the sun in the sky, still crimson like a setting sun, was stingy with its warmth to the land beneath.

After turning at a mountain pass, Lancelot suddenly heard a cacophony of noises, as if many creatures had gathered together.

He hurriedly dismounted and crouched low, making his way stealthily towards the source of the sounds.

After skulking forward a bit further, Lancelot located the origin of the noises in a valley ahead of him. He carefully crawled to the edge of the cliff, poked his head out, and peered down.

The scene below momentarily halted his heartbeat.

The valley swarmed with an enormous number of demons, mostly humanoid ones. They had bloated bodies and filthy skin that obscured their original color, and their grotesque faces featured a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. At the ends of their thick forelimbs were paw-like hands.

The knowledge passed down by the elves identified these lowliest demons as Coward Devils, known for their simultaneous cowardice, weakness, and cruelty, almost universally bullied and enslaved by all other Abyssal creatures. A large gathering of them indicated only one scenario: they were under the domination of a more powerful force. Lancelot noticed several demons wielding magic wands, wearing helmets with tall horns, who looked like magicians. Even farther off, there was an imposing figure, nearly three meters tall, resembling the mythic centaur with bull horns on its head and wings on its back, wielding a great axe, watching over the scene with a cool gaze,

They were evidently performing a ritual. The Coward Devils were all on their knees (or perhaps lying prone? Lancelot couldn't tell), their heads pressed tightly against the ground. The demon magicians moved among them, chanting incantations, occasionally using their bone blades to slit the throats of unfortunate victims.

Only then did Lancelot notice a strange magic formation drawn in blood on the ground directly below him. As victim after victim had their throats cut, the magic formation began to pulsate, signaling that something was about to emerge.

Suddenly, all the demon magicians shouted in unison in the demonic tongue:

"Oh mighty being, hearken to our summoning!"

Lancelot couldn't help but hold his breath, curious about what was to be summoned.

A familiar flash of summoning magic light flickered, and Lancelot's pupils contracted, for the summoned was evidently of the Human Race. The person appeared to be in their early twenties, dressed in an ordinary white robe, and looked quite bewildered by the situation at hand.

"Not good, that's a civilian!"

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