The Paladin in the Abyss

Almost all mortal races hope to preserve eternal youth and beauty, and humans, whose lifespans are particularly short, are no exception. Driven by such desires, some explore the connection between the body and nature, others pray for the grace of gods, while some rely on the power of wizards or the Dragon Race. Then there are those who turn to the dark side of the Multiverse, offering sacrifices to Demon Lords or Archdukes of Demons, utterly disregarding the curses that come with their boons.

According to legend, the Medusas, before they became non-mortal, were all women of astonishing beauty. They gained power, status, and common people’s worship through their looks. However, the more benefits they reaped from their beauty, the more intense their fear of aging grew. Out of fear, or perhaps greed, these beautiful women struck a deal with some malevolent entity. They retained their physical attractiveness and even reclaimed their lost youth, becoming immortal beings living among mortals like demigods.

Yet, as time passed, they ultimately paid the price for their arrogance and vanity—their bodies became vessels of curses, their hair turned into nests of venomous snakes. They remained beautiful, but could no longer reap any benefits from it, for anyone still desiring Medusa’s beauty would turn into a stele witnessing her downfall.

Nevertheless, as part of their fall, these people, who were originally all beauty and no substance, also received malevolent boons. At the sound of the others’ voices, even Lancelot almost couldn’t resist the impulse to look at them again, not to mention his companions. In response, a surge of Spiritual Light flashed through Lancelot’s mind, and he quickly focused on a black spot on his wrist and fiercely activated the power contained within.

With the Human Knight at its center, a tangible darkness exploded out like a shockwave, squeezing out all the surrounding light. Even creatures with dark vision couldn’t see through this fog-like darkness, so if anyone looked in Medusa’s direction, they wouldn’t be affected.

A vicious curse came from within the darkness. Though they couldn’t see anything, their other senses remained unaffected. Using their sense of smell for flesh, the two stone golems charged again, and their heavy footsteps let everyone know of the enemy’s approach.

However, the Human Knight who created the darkness wouldn’t allow them to pass. Glacier, with a sharp whooshing sound, struck heavily against the chest of one enemy, then rebounded toward another. A massive collision sound erupted, and the terrible force pushed the Human Knight back several steps. Lancelot was fairly certain he had hit the enemy’s swung fist, possibly even severing one or two fingers. The problem was, these strange artificial creatures didn’t feel pain, otherwise the loss of fingers would have been enough to incapacitate them.

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain from his Spirit Perception and heard two tiny, piercing whooshing sounds. Lancelot instinctively maximized his Protective Sword Shield, a substantial layer of greenish light appearing around him. In the next instant, the light shield vibrated violently like a struck bell, shooting out several beams of Sword Qi like long spears, slicing the two incoming Magic Feather Arrows into several fragments.