The Paladin in the Abyss

Lancelot's sword was swift and fierce, and Dunif was cleaved into two before he could even react.

The noise of his sudden fall had already caught everyone's attention, now they were all stunned by Lancelot's abrupt assault.

But a more horrifying scene unfolded, the body of the Gray Dwarf bubbled as if boiling, emitting white smoke continuously, which gathered above into a vague, jellyfish-like form. The mist in the air had dissipated, replaced by a sickly sweet, rotten scent.

Kalalin's pupils constricted violently, recognizing what it was.

"Evil spirit demon!" His quivering voice exposed his fear, sending a shiver through everyone's heart.

But Lancelot didn't care about that; he fearlessly raised his weapon again and struck at the gaseous jellyfish form in the air.

The chill-emitting Frostslash passed through the location of the evil spirit demon without any hindrance, failing to cause any damage.

"Only magic can harm it!" Kalalin shouted while unrolling a scroll, "Beware its touch!"

The Scholar had already channeled magic power into the scroll, and the spell was about to be completed, but the evil spirit demon raised a gaseous tentacle and pointed it at him.

Kalalin emitted a terrified scream and turned to run away from the evil spirit demon, dropping the scroll on the ground.

The evil spirit demon, recognizing the robed figure as the only spellcaster among the group, used a Fear Spell to drive him away, leaving the three remaining people incapable of inflicting any harm upon it.

The Human Knight named Lancelot continued vainly attacking the air with his sword, yet he was the target of the evil spirit demon this time.

Evil spirit demons are a peculiar type of demon; they are not generated by mortal souls but can possess a corpse that is not severely damaged. Afterward, they will continue to play the role of the original owner of the body or adopt a new identity, blending into the social fabric of the deceased's community.

They naturally prefer individuals of higher social status, with charming appearances, as this facilitates their spreading of evil and corruption. They certainly do not wait for their targets to die naturally; in fact, they are incredibly adept at seizing a mortal's life.

Typically, they would summon a weakening mist to diminish the target's willpower and then create the most horrific illusion imaginable to cause psychic damage. Once the target's life force is severely depleted, it would approach and use its most lethal technique: Touch of Death.

Dunif, the leader of the Gray Dwarf mining team, had been the evil spirit demon's last victim, a very suitable host for possession. However, the arrival of Lancelot gave it a new idea. This Human was the leader of an adventuring team, tall and strong, brimming with masculine charm, and an irresistible temptation for it.

It extended a gaseous tentacle to Lancelot, preparing to use Touch of Death to snatch away the Human's life and take over his body before eliminating all eyewitnesses at the scene.

Controlling such a perfect physique shouldn't be too difficult.

Lancelot realized that ordinary physical attacks were useless against this phantom-like demon, and the tentacle reaching towards him ignited a strong sense of crisis within him.

No longer holding back in the face of death, Lancelot released the most pure Innate True Qi from his Dantian and swung his sword at that tendril.

The strike seemed unremarkable, and the demon spirit took it as the last struggle of its prey. However, a sharp pain caused the incorporeal demon to screech. They witnessed its invisible tendril cut off by Lancelot's sword, harmlessly floating in the air before gradually dissipating.

Seeing his attack was effective, Lancelot was momentarily stunned, then greatly encouraged. An enemy immune to his attack was invincible, but now the situation had changed.

The demon spirit's reaction was unexpectedly violent. Taking advantage of Lancelot's brief lapse in concentration, it quickly retreated, and a portal appeared behind it. The jellyfish-like demon backed through the portal and disappeared.

The non-corporeal demon didn't utter a word the entire time, but everyone present heard its painful cry in their minds when its tendril was cut, along with a string of venomous curses before it vanished.

With the demon's disappearance, Kalalin finally broke free from the state of panic. He clutched his chest, gasping for breath, having possibly run faster than he ever had under the influence of fear.

Bruto and Barrend were a bit too far away to be of any help earlier, and now they quickly came over to support the physically exhausted scholar.

"Are you alright?" Bruto asked with concern; he now had many questions that needed Kalalin's answers. "What was that thing just now?"

"That type of demon is a new species; their existence was first confirmed less than a thousand years ago," Kalalin managed to catch his breath and began to share what he knew about the demon spirit.

"...In summary, this is a kind of demon that is not yet fully understood. It's known that they can occupy a corpse that has not been beheaded or severely damaged, and can repair all the damage the body had suffered the instant they possess it.

Moreover, there's always been speculation within the Dark Cult that they possess a terrifying supernatural ability: they can kill a living being immediately with just a touch, though the specific conditions for this to take effect still require further investigation."

"My initial attacks seemed ineffective against it," Lancelot expressed his confusion. "How is such a demon normally dealt with?"

"They are like spectral beings, immune to all non-magical damage. Clerics, Holy Warriors, and the like are specialists in dealing with them, or a proper Mage would do," Kalalin said awkwardly scratching his head.

"My second circle 'Magic Weapon' spell can grant your swords and hammers a magic attack effect, which under normal circumstances is the only effective method we have because even if I use all my spell slots to cast offensive magic, it wouldn't be enough to kill it. But it seems I was hit by its Fear Spell and was of no help. It looks like that plan won't work either."

"That's terrifying," Bruto said, glancing around fearfully, a bit concerned the incorporeal demon hadn't gone far. Dwarves abhor any foe that can't be killed with a hammer or axe.

"Such demons can indeed be devastating if lacking the means to counter them," Kalalin said, as though recalling something, then turned to Lancelot. "You used the same power you had against the mud creature before, didn't you? The effect seems quite good; otherwise, we would have been in real danger today."

Lancelot nodded. In a moment of desperation, he had used up nearly a third of his Innate True Qi, which pained him. Innate True Qi could not be replenished and could only be slowly recovered by one's own body. He reminded himself inwardly not to lose his cool again until life and death were truly at stake.

"It's good we have you," Kalalin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "A disembodied demon spirit is actually very fragile. It used a teleportation spell to escape just now and probably wouldn't dare to trouble us again."

As if in response to his words, the expressions of Barrend and Bruto suddenly changed, followed by Lancelot feeling a rumbling beneath his feet, as if some huge creature was rapidly approaching from underground.

The pale faces of the dwarves signaled the identity of the incoming attacker. Lancelot shouted at Kalalin:

"Enlarge spell! Now!"