The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 454 - 469 Conflict

In the following days, Tijana remained extremely busy. She would come to Hagrid Manor in the evening to reinforce the illusion that enshrouded the estate, but she could only stay with Lancelot for a little while. Both of them enjoyed this brief time together during the day, and even after the reinforcement of the illusion was complete, she would still come to see Lancelot at this time every day, chatting and taking a walk together in the beautiful garden.

Most of the time, it was the Succubus Lord who spoke, and the Human Knight who listened, mainly discussing the troublesome matters she encountered while fulfilling her duties as a lord. Lancelot would then cautiously offer his advice; whether Tijana agreed or not, at least it could provide some perspective.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

The much-anticipated Dwarven Legion, amid chaos and controversy, was finally established. The one chosen as Commander was a Gray Dwarf named Todak Stoneshield. Generally, these bald, sullen, and pale-skinned underground Dwarves did not get along well with their cousins, but this former Gray Dwarf general was an exception, for he had converted to Moradin, and that was the reason he was exiled to the Abyss.

Since arriving in Twin Bridges Town as a fugitive slave, Todak had been living there for seventy years. He had participated in the town’s defense battles several times before, and his command skills were already recognized by other Dwarves. Moreover, as a Gray Dwarf, he was more pragmatic politically and was not so resistant to serving the Demon Lord directly, making him the best choice considering all the factors.

Among his four lieutenants was also a very special choice: Vito, a Priest of Moradin. Tijana was originally very opposed to this selection, but Lancelot reminded her not to forget the original purpose of establishing this legion: not to conquer more territories, nor to suppress potential Dwarf rebellions, but to provide a defensive force when Twin Bridges Town was attacked. Accepting a Priest of Moradin as a lieutenant of the legion would not change the purpose of the army or affect its command structure; its sole purpose was to reduce the Dwarves’ resistance.

The Succubus Lord was very reluctantly persuaded, but she demanded that the Dwarves keep it a secret, and she would not publicly acknowledge the Priest’s status as a Commander in any way. Furthermore, if the news leaked out, she would not hesitate to claim ignorance and expel any Dwarf who held a position within the Moradin Church.

Reluctantly, the Succubus Lord had to consider the political impacts of this matter as she did not want to give surrounding forces a reason to band together and trouble her, and she also had to consider the feelings of the Demon residents of Twin Bridges Town.

Lancelot played the role of a negotiator during the whole negotiation process: on one hand, he had to convince Tijana to accept the Dwarves’ nominee, and on the other hand, he had to persuade the Dwarves to agree to the conditions Tijana offered. He had never done anything like this before, but fortunately, the Dwarves were straightforward by nature, so there was no need for him to possess any highly sophisticated diplomatic skills; a clear statement of the situation was persuasive enough.

There was no choice but to accept. After all, this was Tijana’s territory; living under someone’s roof, they had to bow their heads. To be fair, the conditions offered by the Succubus Lord were already good enough. It was not just allowing them to shelter from the rain under the eaves but also agreeing to let them into the house.

After the Commander was selected, the Legion’s training quickly got underway. Tijana very assertively deprived the Dwarves of most of their rest time, demanding that every Dwarf go to the barracks for at least three hours of training after finishing a day’s work—training until their last bit of energy was drained before they were allowed to rest. Naturally, there were many complaints from the Dwarves, but that was something Lancelot couldn’t resolve by reasoning.

News from the front lines at the Volcano Fortress forced Tijana to make such a harsh decision. After the attack was stalled, the Demon side gathered more forces and regained the upper hand in battle, with the Flame Demon General’s controlled area shrinking day by day. And the ’Lord Wu’an,’ Grazzt, had yet to send reinforcements for his General. It was said that a war between him and ’Queen of the Succubus,’ Mekanshut could break out at any moment. Under such circumstances, it was already good not to recall the forces from the Volcano Fortress, and neither of the two Abyssal Lords was likely to weaken the defense of their own territories.

Every time Tijana visited Hagrid Manor, Lancelot could feel the anxiety in the Succubus Lord’s heart growing heavier. As for this, he too was powerless, only able to provide comfort for Tijana as much as possible, letting her find a moment’s peace in that beautiful garden.

Of course, he did not neglect his own cultivation,, but the growth in the strength of spiritual cultivators is measured in years, unless there’s another battle like the one against the Giant Skull Demon or Pascaler, teetering on the brink of death, otherwise, it was highly unlikely that he would break through to the next realm anytime soon.

That afternoon, Lancelot was in the underground training room, controlling two sword shadows to fight each other when he suddenly heard Bruto calling his name anxiously from outside the door. Lancelot had previously instructed that he should not be disturbed while cultivating in the secret chamber, and although the young dwarf was somewhat headstrong, he usually heeded Lancelot’s words; it seemed that something urgent must have happened.

Lancelot dissipated the sword shadows, feeling a slight stinging pain in his forehead; controlling two sword shadows at the same time was still somewhat burdensome on his divine sense, but that was the purpose of the training. He opened the stone door of the secret chamber and found the dwarf leaning on his knees, panting in front of him.

"What’s the matter?" Lancelot took Bruto’s hand, infusing a thread of True Yuan into the dwarf’s body to help him quickly stabilize his breathing.

"Ti... Tijana and the people from the Craftsmen Committee are having a conflict!" The dwarf pulled Lancelot and started to run out, "Big brother, you have to go and persuade her!"

"What?" Lancelot frowned, reached out, and picked up Bruto, "Where?"

"Put me down, I can..." The dwarf started to protest but got startled by the burst of speed Lancelot unleashed, instinctively holding onto Lancelot’s waist like a scared tree squirrel, "The... The largest building in the blacksmith area!"

Lancelot’s feet flew apace, streaking through the streets of Twin Bridges Town like a rainbow, fortunate that it was daytime and the streets were not crowded, allowing him to sprint at full speed.

In less than two minutes, he had covered nearly a mile, arriving in front of the assembly hall of the Craftsmen Committee. It was a circular stronghold with a large hall inside that could accommodate all the dwarves of Twin Bridges Town, surrounded by some smaller rooms, used as storage, offices, or for other purposes.

Following Bruto’s directions, Lancelot arrived at a room on the left side of the hall, a small exhibition hall used to display the artisans’ most outstanding work. When they were still thirty feet away from the room, they heard Tijana’s roar filled with anger:

"Every item in this room belongs to me! Who gave you the right to take that thing away? This is an unforgivable crime, someone is going to be flayed!"