The Paladin in the Abyss

"Father..." Bruto’s voice sounded hesitant, "Your injury..."

"Has already been healed by the Elves!" The old Dwarf stomped heavily, as if to prove his complete recovery, "Besides, I’ve already died once, dying again is nothing to fear!"

"But..." Bruto wanted to persuade further but finally gave up, "You old fool, when the battle starts, I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying right by your side..."

"My friends, you have done enough already, for this I am deeply grateful." Soveris’s voice came from not far away, he had just finished arranging a new round of reconnaissance tasks, "But your responsibility does not lie in the upcoming battle, I still hope that in the future you can completely defeat the Lich, so that the residents of this land can regain their freedom..."

"Don’t worry, old blackbird." Bruto patted his chest, "We are warriors blessed by the Lord of the Dead, even if we fall in battle, we can be resurrected, what’s there to fear? Including you, don’t think you can act the hero and then just leave us behind."

"Resurrection is not as simple as you think." Soveris shook his head with a bitter smile, "I have experienced resurrection many times, and the feeling gets worse each time. I’m not talking about pain that can be overcome by sheer willpower, it’s a strong physiological discomfort, making you feel like your heart is being cut with a saw, and your brain is split with an axe, and in that state, forget about fighting the Lich, even a few ordinary skeletons would be a tough challenge."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Bruto crossed his arms, looking disbelieving, "We’ve been resurrected before, and it wasn’t as terrible as you say..."

"Trust me, I have much more experience in this than you, I guess the time you were dead before being resurrected did not exceed a minute, your body was likely still warm..." Soveris shrugged, "In that case, it wouldn’t be so awful, but I’m not saying this to scare you, just wanting you to reconsider... Sir Lancelot, are you staying?"

Lancelot hesitated slightly, then nodded affirmatively, and said:

"Even in the worst-case scenario, I have great confidence in surviving the battle."

"But you must also understand, this is a battle destined to be lost, the goal is merely to weaken the Lich’s army as much as possible..." Soveris laughed self-mockingly, "I have witnessed your strength firsthand, but I guess even if you stay, you won’t be able to change the course of the battle, right?"

"Indeed, I can’t. Even in full health, I’m no match for Peyton Derrick." Lancelot shrugged, frankly admitting, "If Peyton personally intervenes, the battle would end immediately... And you know well that if the situation turns unfavorable, the Lich would not stand by idly, Raventown’s fall is inevitable."

"I never had any false hopes from the beginning, so why are you insisting on staying?"