The Paladin in the Abyss

Chapter 209 Unwanted Guest Arrives

"Although these mountain paths are difficult to navigate, we must have walked close to thirty li by now," Lancelot frowned and pondered. "The place where we killed those shape-shifting monsters isn't far from the Skeleton Tower. If the Divine Artifact was indeed discarded as they were climbing up, this should be the maximum range. Either we're unlucky and the Eye of Sarezdon didn't fall at this height, or we chose the wrong direction and should have explored in the other direction." Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"Should we turn back first thing tomorrow, or should we continue exploring for half a day more?" Kalalin couldn't think of a good idea either. "I think we should walk a bit further because those shape-shifting monsters would have tried to get as far away from the Skeleton Tower and its guard while fleeing..."@@@@

"Does roast chicken smell that good to you?" Lancelot suddenly interrupted the Scholar, his face filled with helplessness.

"...What?" Kalalin was baffled by the Human Knight's words, but then he suddenly heard a familiar jingling sound by his ear— it was the signal that the alert spell had been triggered.

Lancelot had already stood up, his eyes fixed intently on the Black-Armored Knight who was slowly advancing towards them.

"Enrique, that's your name, isn't it?" Frostslash appeared silently in Lancelot's hand, the killing air in the atmosphere suddenly becoming so thick that it was stifling.

The Dark Guardian didn't answer but merely raised his Longsword, issuing a clear and unmistakable challenge.

"Sigh, it seems you're not here to appreciate our Halfling companion's cooking," Lancelot sighed. "Though our last bout didn't conclude, I still wonder if we can avoid this conflict. Elothysia told us your story, and I think that..."

He didn't finish his sentence as Enrique already lunged at him, and Lancelot moved simultaneously. In this thirty-foot space, with cliffs on three sides and a bottomless abyss on the other, the most crucial thing once the fight started was to seize the central position.

This was a response that broke the fundamental principles of Knight swordsmanship. Since slash-based attacks found it difficult to penetrate the defense of plate armor, a knight's duel typically wouldn't result in severe injury before one participant fell. Therefore, the most critical thing was to maintain one's balance while attempting to knock down the opponent during armored combat. Jumping—a movement likely to cause imbalance—was strictly forbidden in any school of swordsmanship.

Lancelot was confident that his response would utterly surprise his adversary, and it seemed that the reality was indeed so. With the Dark Guardian's weapon having missed its target, he left his midsection wide open, presenting the Knight in mid-air with an excellent opportunity.

He was about to thrust his longsword when he suddenly realized that the opponent had swung the Horizontal Slash one-handedly, while the other arm was tightly pressed to the side, ready to spring forward like a crossbow tightly wound.

Just as Lancelot was certain that his opponent would surely succeed with the Rotational Parry, Enrique was confident that his adversary would have a way to block his subsequent Horizontal Slash. Therefore, he did not place all his bets on that one strike but kept a fist in reserve as a contingency.

Lancelot inwardly cursed his misfortune, hastily positioned his yet-to-be-thrust longsword before him, just in time to block the fiercely launched punch.

The Dark Guardian's fist was ablaze with black and red flames, which gave off an extremely impure sensation. A hot and evil energy traveled up the sword, and Lancelot's True Qi within his body spontaneously reacted, striving to fend off the invasion of this corrupt force.

Fortunately, the punch had not landed on his body, and that peculiar energy ultimately failed to penetrate his system.

The Human Knight, hanging in mid-air with nowhere to leverage, was sent flying backwards from the impact. However, he had, after all, successfully blocked the enemy's attack and was not greatly harmed, so he quickly adjusted his posture and landed steadily on the ground.

"Tch," Lancelot grunted in dissatisfaction. Although the three moves seemed to have ended in a draw, the opponent now occupied the center of the arena, which actually put him at a disadvantage.