The Paladin in the Abyss

"Tijana..." Visuvius's eyes narrowed dangerously, "how come you are here?"

"I am wondering the same thing," the voice of the Succubus Lord was as cold as an iceberg, "If I'm not mistaken, Sir Lancelot risked his life to rescue this stench-filled fortress from Bartez's grasp, and he has obviously succeeded. But why are you not fighting those demons who brought shame upon you, instead of turning up here directly?"

"He knows too many secrets that he should not, so he must die," Visuvius raised the Lightning Longsword, pointing it directly at Lancelot who stood behind Tijana, "Step aside, Tijana, if I say he must die, then he will surely die!"

"He is my man," the voice of the Succubus Lord was as cold as an iceberg, "If you want to kill him, then I will kill you."

"Hahaha!" laughed the Lord of the Volcano Fortress, his booming laughter echoing, "Just you? A succubus?"

"Yes, just me," a strange golden light began to shine in Tijana's eyes, "I hereby swear, I will completely obliterate you..."

Some kind of mysterious power was 'activated' in the Succubus Lord's body, and the feeling that arose in Lancelot who stood behind her was eerily familiar; he had definitely encountered a similar situation before, and he was about to remember it...

"How can you have such power?!" Visuvius looked extremely surprised, exclaiming with disbelief, "This is impossible!!"

"Oh, but it is possible, my dear neighbor," Tijana's face revealed a sinister smile, "We have been neighbors for hundreds of years, and yet you know so little about me..."

"Your man stole my treasure," Visuvius suppressed his rage, "Have him return the item, and I will pretend that nothing happened today..."

"Oh, get lost, you useless trash; from the moment you lost the Volcano Fortress, everything here stopped being yours. Whatever my man wants to take, he can take!" Tijana cursed back fiercely, then her expression suddenly turned suspicious, "Wait a minute, why would you... Oh, damn it, Visuvius, the great 'Destruction Flame', you didn't just get... killed once, did you?"

"No!!!" The Barlow Flame Demon subconsciously denied immediately, but the ambiguous smile on Tijana's face was nearly unbearable for him, "I tell you! No!!!"

"Well done," Tijana didn't care about the almost erupting living volcano in front of her, turning her head to smile at Lancelot, "I've wanted to do this for a long time."

"I tell you again! No!! No!!" Visuvius, enraged by Tijana's attitude, charged at the Succubus Lord, the Lightning Longsword held high above his head, continuing to roar angrily, "I say no means no!!!"

"Look back and tell me how you did it," Tijana's voice sounded directly in Lancelot's mind as her figure shot away from where she stood like an arrow released from its bow. All of a sudden, her empty left hand flashed, and almost simultaneously, she let out a brief, piercing scream. A deep blue magic aura then burst forth from her and struck the Barlow Flame Demon in an instant.

Among all the spectators of this battle, probably only Lancelot had clear sight of what had just occurred: His succubus lover had, with incredible speed, made a series of hand gestures, and that short scream, if played back slowly, would have been a complete spell. Tijana had once explained to him about her various supernatural abilities, one of which was spell instant casting, and the deep blue spiritual light signified that it was an enchantment system spell.

Lancelot also knew that enchantment system spells required the use of perception ability to resist, which happened to be one of the weaknesses of the Barlow Flame Demon. Moreover, although Barlow Flame Demons are extremely powerful, they are not legendary creatures; they only possess the Fiends' natural magic resistance and do not have the legendary immunity that would allow them to stand against such a powerful succubus magician like Tijana.

The enchantment system spell took effect the moment it hit Visuvius. The immense body of the Flame Demon was fixed in mid-air and then plummeted straight to the ground. Tijana had, with just one spell, put her formidable opponent into a paralyzed state.

But what happened next truly made Lancelot cry out in surprise. The Cold Iron Whip in the hands of the Succubus Lord suddenly radiated a blinding golden light, so dazzling that even the nearby lava lake lost its luster in comparison. Then, with a flicker of the whip, Lancelot first saw Visuvius's body torn open and his flesh melt and deform like wax exposed to heat, and only then did the thunderous sound of a sonic boom reach his ears.

Even though it was executed with a whip, Lancelot was sure he wasn't mistaken about what Tijana had just used: Evilbane Slash! A signature combat technique of the Holy Warrior!

The Human Knight was blown away by the revelation. What was going on? Was Tijana also a Holy Warrior? How was that possible? What was her vow?

As his mind was crowded with questions, the battle between the Succubus Lord and the Barlow Flame Demon continued. Before Tijana could deliver a second strike with her whip, Visuvius barely recovered from the paralyzed state. It roared and swung its Lightning Longsword, but such a hasty counterattack had no chance of hitting the agile Succubus Lord, and its Flame Whip was equally ineffective against Tijana.

Another deep blue magic aura flared up, and Barlow Flame Demon's attempt to resist the spell failed again, its body frozen in place once more. The follow-up 'Evilbane Whip' tore off its flesh from the right shoulder down to the waist, exposing the stark white bones beneath and the flaming core pulsating within the skeleton.

Lancelot noticed another detail, Tijana wasn't using just any Evilbane Slash; it was an enhanced version that required the consumption of high-level spell slots. Holy Warriors, not being primarily spellcasters, have very limited spell slots; they wouldn't normally even use the regular version of the spell. Yet Tijana was using spell slots as if she had an inexhaustible supply, each strike being an enhanced version of the utmost intensity, quickly leaving Visuvius in a critically injured state.

Moreover, she was continuously using her spell instant casting ability to hurl one spell after another at her opponent. The once-unassailable Lord of the Volcano Fortress was left powerless to retaliate under Tijana's relentless assault and was soon on the verge of death.

"Be careful!" Lancelot hastily called out, remembering his own recent encounter, "It will explode upon death!"

"So, it was the Self-destructive Explosion that left you in such a miserable state," Tijana replied casually, "Don't worry, I have a lot more experience dealing with this than you..."