The Paladin in the Abyss

'Shall we take action, then?'

Tijana's mind link conveyed Lancelot's daring inquiry. The Succubus Lord wasn't surprised, as she was pondering the same question. The being that had descended into the Abyss was surely not the true form of the Goddess of Ice, but merely an avatar. The strength of an avatar lay in its connection with the true form, able to directly access the greatest number of spells that its mortal frame could bear.

After the latest cataclysm in the Multiverse, it had become difficult for True Gods to leave their Divine Kingdoms. To intervene in the Mortal Realm, they had to rely on proxies or send avatars. Clearly, an avatar was not immortal, nor did it possess the reality-altering defensive capabilities of the true form, making it not invincible (Annotation 1).

In Lancelot's current Spirit Perception, the Ice 'Goddess' before him seemed no stronger than Tijana. If it truly came to a fight, the odds of him and the Succubus Lord triumphing together were not small.

'Even though I know you always manage to surprise, I still underestimated your ability to escalate things,' Tijana responded through the mind link without showing any change in expression, 'I'll try to persuade her to cooperate first....'

"A Demon Lord dares to question me?" The eyes of the Goddess of Ice narrowed dangerously, "and a succubus at that?"

"The body you're currently occupying belongs to one of my subjects, and they..." Tijana pointed behind her, only to awkwardly realize there was only Lancelot standing there, "he is one of my followers. I sent him to negotiate with Mohoi for a way to withstand the severe cold. In return, a blizzard was exchanged. It seems he has received the blizzard, and the citizens of Twin Bridges Town are now looking at this suddenly snow-capped mountain with awe. But I wonder if that Tiflin can fulfill the rest of the agreement?"

"Oh? You Tanari have learned to keep promises now, have you?" Ignoring Tijana's threat, Olul's avatar floated over to Lancelot, peering down at the man who still sat cross-legged on the ground, "Why do you need a way to counter the severe cold? Who are you planning to confront?"

"We plan to take a stroll through Kostcheqi's territory," Tijana decided to tolerate the arrogance of the True God's avatar for the time being, "as far as I'm aware, you don't have a good relationship with that self-proclaimed king of the Frost Giants, the Abyssal Lord."

"Wasn't that ugly fool captured by Zariel?" The icy-blue woman turned her head and stared at the Succubus Lord with cold eyes devoid of warmth. "You intend to take over that plane?"

"Not at all, I just fancy the treasury left unattended by its master."

"Thief," Olul's avatar summarized bluntly. She pointed at Lancelot, who still sat quietly, "This man... is he the one to carry out your mission?"

Meanwhile, the voice of Olul reached Lancelot's mind through the mind link:

'You've aided my priest, which is good. Now, would you like to become a follower and receive my blessing?'

'Yes, he is one of my finest warriors,' Tijana's voice also echoed in Lancelot's mind, but it was clearly not addressed to him.

"I do not worship any deities, madam," Lancelot spoke openly, "Besides, I know too little about you, which makes it difficult to form any faith."

"Fear forms the basis of faith for my followers, foolish mortal. I will help you establish that."

The icy-blue woman whirled around, instantly creating a distance of over thirty feet. She waved her hand nonchalantly and a dense power of ice and snow coalesced in her palm into a snowflake-shaped amulet.

"This is what you want, it will grant you the power to resist the extreme cold, but why should I give it to you?" Olul's priest showed the amulet to the two before opening his mouth and swallowing it in one gulp, "Now, feel my power! Either submit, endure, or you could try to..."

Countless conical ice blocks extended from her ice-blue skin, like sharp blades glistening with a cold light. Raising her hand, Olul's avatar pointed in the direction of Lancelot and Tijana, coldly declaring,

"Defeat me!"

As her voice fell, a terrifying blast of ice erupted centered around the two of them. Snowflakes splattered in all directions like waves crashing against rocks, accompanied by the Goddess of Ice's frenzied, high-pitched laughter that sounded like the sharp scraping of metal across ice.

Lancelot, noticing the energy converging in an instant, leaped backward, like a tree frog sensing danger. But the range of the ice blast was too large, and even though he had moved with a speed far beyond that of a normal person, the shockwave of icy energy still caught up to him.

A wave of green light emanated from the Human Knight, the Protective Sword Shield of the Qingyun Sword Art activating automatically, negating most of the damage, but still, a small amount of energy managed to penetrate his body. Lancelot felt a sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of hot blood spurted out, instantly vaporizing the thick snow on the ground.

"Lancelot!"

Tijana's cry of alarm sounded from behind, as the figure of the Succubus Lord appeared from the void, seemingly unharmed. Her hand on Lancelot's back, a surge of vibrant life force instantly flowed into the Human Knight's body. This sensation was not unfamiliar to him, and the already minor injury quickly healed.

"I'm okay now, thank you," Lancelot said as he looked at Tijana with a special gaze, "is it time to take action now?"

"You've made a colossal mistake!"

The Succubus Lord didn't answer him directly, instead roaring furiously towards Olul's avatar in the distance. She disappeared from her spot, not fleeing but using high-speed movement to avoid being pinpointed, thus preparing her powerful Spell.

And naturally, Lancelot wasn't going to sit idly by. He drew out Frostslash, which had been strapped to his back, and charged towards the human-like female figure made of ice. Olul's avatar's attention was immediately drawn to this rapidly approaching threat. She reached out and broke off the ice spikes that had grown from her own body, hurling them like darts at the Human Knight.

However, the figure of the Human Knight sprinting forward suddenly twisted eerily, completely evading the sharp ice chunks, then dodged a second one. By the time the divine avatar thought to throw a third dart, she found that her opponent was already too close.

Frostslash's blade glimmered with bright Sword Aura as it slashed down towards the head of the ice girl. The Frost Goddess looked indifferently at the Human Knight as if she disdained the power of such a mere mortal.

"Boom!!!!"

The moment the blade struck the head of the icy female figure, a deafening explosion sounded. Lancelot felt as if he had struck iron felt with his sword; the shock nearly forced him to lose his grip on the weapon, followed by a powerful blast wave that flung him backward.

Although Lancelot was clad in armor at the moment, his Foundation Establishment Stage strength allowed him to maintain complete control over his body. He executed an elegant spin mid-air, landing steadily on the ground. Looking up, he saw a deep crack on the ice figure's forehead; the fissure ran from the top of the skull down to the brow, parting the entire forehead in two.

Regrettably, from the look of the gash, the interior of the Goddess of Ice's avatar was also entirely made of ice, no skull or brain or anything of the sort. Meaning, although the split-open appearance looked incredibly intimidating, it was only an ordinary wound, far from fatal.