The Paladin in the Abyss

But at this critical moment of life and death, this Coward Devil certainly wouldn't ignore the weapon it felt was dangerous anymore. Other Coward Devils, too, either due to stumbling or being hit by flying objects they didn't see coming, took notice of the previously ignored Cold Iron Weapons.

To the Demons in the stands, these desperate fellows were just trying to grasp at straws. They were all too familiar with such reactions, but they knew them to be destined for futile struggles.

Some Dwarven Artisans secretly clenched their fists. They didn't understand why the Gladiators on the field had initially avoided the cold iron crafts, nor why they suddenly came to their senses, but the enemies they faced were too strong. Whether the performance of the Cold Iron Weapons was enough to compensate for the gap in strength, these Dwarven Artisans also had no confidence.

"Ah, such a headache, what should I do with those junk items from Twin Bridges Town?" Molo's annoying voice rang out again, "I'm afraid they can only be thrown into the furnace as scrap metal, to be turned into materials for the slaves."

Tijana didn't have the time to pay attention to him. Due to past experiences, this clown's only understanding of social interaction was humiliation. When the time was right, she would make this fool pay for all the offenses. She just hoped that when that day came, Molo wouldn't have died for some other reason beforehand.

The Succubus Lord narrowed her eyes to slits, not wanting anyone to notice the magic glow flickering in them.

Under True Sight, she saw a familiar figure sneaking around the arena with an axe, quietly placing it at the feet of the last Coward Devil that hadn't gotten a Cold Iron Weapon yet.

She turned to look at the stands, where a Human Knight had his eyes closed tightly, seemingly unable to bear to watch the bloody scene below.

The Succubus Lord revealed a sliver of a smile, then quickly flattened the corners of her mouth and looked back to the field. There, the Coward Devils were finally cornered by the Fillet Demons, with no way out.

A slightly taller Coward Devil let out a roar with all its might, leading a few other Coward Devils into the fray.

The Coward Devil holding a Nail-headed Hammer swung with all its might at the head of a Fillet Demon, only to hear a 'clang' of metal striking metal, followed by a sharp pain in its stomach.

The Fillet Demon effortlessly caught the Nail-headed Hammer with its strong upper limb, while the two arms on its stomach swiftly plunged the Dagger into the Coward Devil's belly. The sharp blade sketched left and right, spattering blood and pus all over the ground.

The Fillet Demon casually threw the body of the Coward Devil to the ground, turning its head to seek the next target.

That was its first mistake of the day.

The dying Coward Devil unleashed the ferocity inherent in a Demon. It dragged its shattered body across the ground, struggling to lift the Nail-headed Hammer in its hand, gathering its last bit of strength to viciously smash the Fillet Demon's foot.

All Demons possessed innate Protective Auras, much like armor to mortals. Under normal circumstances, this final blow of the Coward Devil wouldn't have done much damage, but in front of the Nail-headed Hammer, the Fillet Demon's Protective Aura was like butter facing a hot knife, offering no resistance whatsoever.

The Fillet Demon let out a cry mixed with pain and surprise. It looked incredulously at its foot, finding it had been smashed into a bloody mess by that blow.

What was more troublesome was feeling an uncomfortable chill penetrating its body, hindering the healing of the wound.

Most of the audience hadn't realized what anomaly had occurred, thinking it was merely the last furious strike of a Coward Devil before death, nothing to fuss over. It was a group of Dwarves, however, who excitedly jumped up from their seats.

The Abyssal Creature itself certainly noticed something was amiss, but there was no time left for it to ponder. Several more Coward Devils rushed to its side, swords, axes, and hammers coming at it from all directions.

With a leg injured, the Abyssal Creature found it difficult to move freely and had to face the attacks of these Coward Devils in place.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Fortunately, having become an Abyssal Creature, it possessed two immensely powerful upper limbs. Relying on sheer strength, it met the enemies' blades head-on. The battle axe first sent the weapons of attackers on both sides flying, then split their bearers in half.

Its abdominal arms, each clutching a Dagger, were waiting for the enemy in the middle to strike, but the opponent didn't move as it had anticipated. This sly Coward Devil slightly slowed down during the charge, letting its comrades on either side advance half a step ahead.

The two companions were instantly killed by the Abyssal Creature, but it seized the fleeting opportunity. With the Abyssal Creature's battle axe stuck in a corpse, the Coward Devil took the chance before the enemy could retract its arm and swung its sword at the wrist that held the axe.

In its mind, if it could just injure the opponent's axe-wielding wrist, it would be a great success.

But the outcome far exceeded its expectations. The icy Sword Blade, like a scythe through stalks of wheat, effortlessly chopped off the palm that held the battle axe at the wrist.

A spurt of blood jetted from the bare end of the limb; it staggered back, staring incredulously at its own wound, emitting a pained and angry scream.

The Coward Devil was also startled; it gazed dumbfounded at the weapon in its hand, as if trying hard to comprehend what had just happened.

The surrounding audience also noticed something was amiss, people began whispering to each other, discussing the scene that had just unfolded. The most dramatic reaction came from a certain arrogant Succubus Lord named Molo, whose mouth hung wide open in surprise at seeing his highly-regarded Warrior easily grievously wounded.

"Tijana! What kind of trickery is this!" the Succubus Lord shouted angrily, "That sword is definitely not normal! You've mixed such a powerful weapon in, did you want to create this accident? This Coward Devil was arranged by you beforehand, wasn't it!"

"Calm down, Molo," Tijana's voice was unfluctuating, but inside she couldn't help secretly praising, well done. "It's merely our new product, and there is more than one such weapon below. Anyone could have picked it up."

Molo wanted to say more, but the gasps of surprise from the stands redirected his attention back to the arena.

The remaining three Coward Devils started charging the Abyssal Creature from different directions. Its foot, injured by the previous blow, had never recovered enough to move freely and now, with one precious upper limb disabled, this beast, which had the upper hand just moments before, suddenly became dangerously vulnerable.

Its one remaining fully intact upper arm wildly swung the battle axe, causing another Coward Devil to halt its attack out of fear. The Abyssal Creature seized the momentary fear of its enemy, turned sharply and cleaved another Coward Devil to pieces.

It had no time to deal with yet another opponent, but its instincts told it that accepting the attack of one Coward Devil in exchange for reducing the enemy's number from three to two was the best decision under the circumstances.

But it had forgotten something; its instincts had been wrong several times today.