The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 670 - 694: The Dead’s Conversation

Chapter 670: Chapter 694: The Dead’s Conversation

Lancelot entered the shadow world, and the feeling was incredibly surreal. The surrounding scenery turned into shades of black, white, and gray and stacked upon each other in a very peculiar way. It was as if the world he had originally inhabited had always been contained within a gigantic fishbowl, and suddenly he found himself outside of it, transformed into a mass of shadow with area but no height.

This bizarre state lasted for a very short time, as Lancelot expertly navigated through a narrow crack and entered a broader space. The colors of the environment rapidly returned, and he regained his three-dimensional form, along with the demon monkey girl he was pulling along—the latter had her mouth tightly covered with one hand and her eyes wide as eggs.

Lancelot placed a finger to his lips, signaling his companion to stay quiet. The demon monkey quickly recovered from her shock and nodded at him to show she understood.

The two turned their heads to survey the space they were in and discovered it seemed to be the interior of a watchtower. The stone walls around them had windows made of obsidian through which the outside scenery could be vaguely seen, but they hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the obsidian city walls during their climb. The top of the watchtower was entirely covered in obsidian as well, but it surely couldn’t withstand a full-force hit from Barlow the Flame Demon, assuming it could fly to that height and was aware of the structure inside the Volcano Fortress to know where to strike.

Lancelot quickly confirmed there were no demons nearby, but signs of invasion were everywhere—the walls were splattered with dark red blood that hadn’t yet gone black, and a putrid smell of rotting corpses pervaded the air. To their left, near the exit, lay the broken bodies of two Aberrant Demons, and to their right was a small desk with a Tiflin lying face down upon it, an arrow in his back.

The arrow appeared to be entirely made of brass, as thick as a thumb. Whoever had shot it possessed remarkable skill, having pierced the victim’s heart accurately. Lancelot noted that the Tiflin’s right calf was a metallic prosthetic, clearly the result of an accident that had occurred a long time ago, unrelated to his murderer the night before.

“I didn’t see any enemies on the street outside,” Jing reported quietly as she cautiously retreated from the exit. “Can we bring the others out now?”

Lancelot nodded and unfastened the Dimensional Bag around his waist, laying it on the ground. He then reached into the Magic Container and pulled his companions out, one by one.

“Ha! Lancelot, you’ve got some nice things in this bag!” Bruto greeted Lancelot with a laugh and then turned to the still-bewildered Half-elf, “What did I tell you? I knew Lancelot could handle it!”

“Keep your voice down; this is enemy territory,” Lancelot said somewhat helplessly to the Dwarf. “The bag is little Ysha’s bedroom; you didn’t mess it up, did you?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Apart from accidentally breaking a chair, everything’s fine, and I’ve fixed it! Ah, a hammer is such a handy thing, it can be both a weapon and a tool…” the Dwarf took a deep sniff, “Damn, it really stinks in here. What’s that, a Tiflin?”

“A dead Tiflin who seems to have been a non-combatant,” Tanya said as she moved the body aside, revealing a parchment it had been lying on. “This is… Abyssal Text. Can anyone here understand this?”

“Let me have a look…” Alamir leaned in, “…on the second day of the siege, we observed a Bartez legion of about three thousand leaving toward the direction of Twin Bridges Town in the east, led by a Demon Refinement Officer from the deep Abyss… The rest is smeared with blood and unreadable. This Tiflin seemed to be a scribe, recording information visible from the watchtower. It’s the kind of task ordinary demons are ill-suited for and the able ones are too proud to do.”

“Visuvius never mentioned there being civilians in the city,” Lancelot’s expression grew grim. “Alamir, can you make him speak? Perhaps we can gain some useful intelligence.”

“No problem, just give me a moment.”

The Elf Priest carefully turned the body over, propping it up as if seated in a chair, then took a small piece of candle from a pouch on his belt, lit it, and placed it at the foot of the body. After completing the preparations, he grasped his shield bearing the emblem of the deity Shuni and begun to murmur mysterious spells under his breath.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

With the completion of the spell, the blue smoke rising from the candle swirled in a supernatural manner and ultimately all entered the corpse’s nostrils. Lancelot was certain that something had returned to the body, and in the next instant, its eyelids suddenly opened, gazing blankly ahead with a pair of unfocused eyes.

“…you…hello…”

Speaking with stiff, cold lungs was clearly not easy. The voice of the dead sounded distant, hollow, and full of echoes, as if originating from within a deep, dark cave. Alamir nodded to Lancelot, signaling he could start asking questions now, and also shook his outstretched palm, indicating a total of five questions could be asked.

“Who are you?” Lancelot thought for a moment and decided to start with the most basic question.

“Amnon…Peck…clerk…of Volcano Fortress…”

“Who killed you and the two Aberrant Demon guards at the door?”

“A Demon…Ogre…equally strong…with a halberd…and a crossbow…”

“How many civilians like you are there inside the Volcano Fortress?”

“…several hundred…cannot…fight…unable to…leave…”

“After the enemy breaks through the fortress, is there anywhere they can hide?”

“…west side…Lord Wu’an…Temple…underground…”

Everyone exchanged silent glances, confirming they had all heard this important piece of information. The Elf Priest waved a finger at Lancelot to remind him he only had one more question left, but Lancelot shook his head, indicating he had no further questions.

“I’ll ask one,” Bruto shrugged. “Do you have anything else important on you?”

“…inside…the coat…pocket…”

After the last question was answered, the corpse’s complexion quickly turned gray, and the body collapsed backward, void of strength, as the energy that had sustained its animation was completely depleted. Bruto sighed, stepped forward, and reached into the jacket pocket, quickly finding a particular item.

“What’s this? A letter?” The Dwarf waved a rectangular envelope at the others, “Clearly, this was very important to him, but it’s no use to us now. Maybe I should just put it back…”

“Wait a minute, that’s…” Something on the envelope caught Lancelot’s attention. He grabbed the Dwarf’s wrist, “The emblem of Twin Bridges Town?”