The Paladin in the Abyss

Kalalin relied entirely on her subconscious reaction to complete the casting of the Enlarge Spell.

The power of magic surged into Lancelot’s body, and he felt not that he was growing larger, but that the world around him was shrinking.

However, to Bruto and the others, Lancelot did indeed grow larger. His figure soared upwards, but it stopped at around ten feet and did not reach twice his original height.

"Kalalin! What kind of Enlarge Spell is this? What happened to twice the height, eight times the weight?" Bruto, leaning against one of Lancelot’s enlarged thighs, shouted anxiously.

"Impossible! I have not tampered with this spell at all! And even a true Mage couldn’t have done it better than me!" Kalalin, unconvinced, retorted with her neck outstretched.

"It must be my problem," Lancelot spoke, his voice like the muffled thunder of a summer day. He could feel the force surging into his body was extremely powerful, but the flesh and blood strengthened by nature’s spiritual energy were not so easily duplicated.

Everyone clung tightly to Lancelot, as scattering at this time would be akin to giving the enemy the opportunity to defeat them individually. With the large figure of Lancelot present, at least the shark-lizard beast would not be able to swallow them all in one bite.

The vibrations from the ground grew stronger and stronger, making everyone’s hearts rise to their throats.

"Lower your center of gravity, brace for impact!" Lancelot called out a reminder, and everyone did as told immediately.

Then, Lancelot suddenly leaped into the air.

"What the hell..." Bruto was baffled by his movement and blurted out without thinking.

Of course, Lancelot had no time to respond. He jumped nearly ten feet high, and at the apex of his leap, he drew his enlarged Great Sword, pointing it downward, and let gravity pull him back to the ground.

As though it were a pre-arranged signal, the moment the tip of the sword pierced the ground, the earth burst apart simultaneously.

A terrifying figure sprang from below; it was going to send all creatures on the surface flying and swallow the one in the middle in a single gulp.

That is, if there wasn’t a sword blade lodged in its mouth.

Lancelot’s sword tip pierced through the lower jaw of the shark-lizard beast, his feet planted on either side of its gaping maw, like a spread pair of tongs, preventing the monster from closing its devastatingly large mouth.

Bruto and the others were flung aside as the shark-lizard beast burrowed out from below, but fortunately, Lancelot’s strike from above halted the creature, and they had been ready for the impact, so they almost immediately scrambled to their feet, unharmed.

No creature likes the feeling of having their jaw pierced by a sharp weapon while their mouth is open, and the shark-lizard beast was no exception. Driven mad by pain and rage, the beast violently thrashed its head, forcing Lancelot to jump aside, of course not before he yanked the hilt hard, enlarging the wound on the beast’s lower jaw a bit more.

The shark-lizard beast finally crawled out from the ground; it was nearly twenty feet in length, about twice the size of its kin that had previously appeared in the Prime Material Plane.

Its back was covered with smooth yet sturdy carapace, with sharp protrusions resembling shark fins on top; the upper half of its head was also a single piece of carapace, with only a small pair of pits near the nose, where vertical-pupiled eyes that were emitting an abnormal white light resided.

Its gaping maw was now like a leaky water bag, fresh blood constantly gushing out from below. Such a wound wasn’t fatal for it, but it was sufficient to drive it mad.

But Lancelot was even madder. The giant-like knight brandished his exaggerated Great Sword, slashing fiercely at the shark-lizard beast. Lancelot was shocked to find that his full-strength strike powered by True Qi was not strikingly effective, barely cracking the beast’s skull.

However, he did not ease the pressure on his enemy. His Great Sword, like a pile driver, fell again and again upon the shark-lizard beast.

As a warrior seasoned in countless battles, Lancelot was not short on experience in dealing with wild beasts. You can rely on bait, traps, and ambushes to kill them without showing yourself, but when you must face them head-on, you must not show even a hint of cowardice, or you’ll surely be the one to die.

This shark-lizard beast had never faced such a formidable opponent before. Lancelot’s relentless Great Sword strikes stunned it, but some primal beastliness from the Abyss awoke within it.

It suddenly lifted its head and, at the cost of nearly having its mouth full of sharp teeth shattered, bit onto the annoying Great Sword, then, with a fierce snap of its large jaws like a tiger’s vice, Lancelot was left holding only the hilt.

The shattered sword blade quickly shrank and scattered between the teeth of the shark-lizard beast, creating even more small wounds.

"Fuck your grandfather!" Lancelot cursed furiously. Although the Great Sword had nothing special about it, it had accompanied him through many battles, and he had formed a deep connection with it.

He drew Frostslash, his face contorted into a smile that was more angry than amused.

"Bet you didn’t see this coming, I’ve still got another one!"

The monster roared in anger and swiped at Lancelot with its claws, who met the attack head-on without fear.

Cold iron clashed with sharp claws, emitting a series of loud noises. Barrend and Kalalin watched the terrifying confrontation between the giant creatures, dumbfounded; they felt completely useless, as even a slight touch of the aftershocks would be enough to seriously injure them.

But one Dwarf thought differently.

Bruto had already made his way to the rear of the shark-lizard beast, holding up his Shield to block the flying mud and stones, cautiously trying to approach the enemy’s hind legs, all the while wary of the shark-lizard beast’s tail, which was like an iron rod.

Lancelot naturally didn’t overlook the Dwarf’s movements; he executed a set of flashy sword Techniques, firmly capturing the enemy’s attention.

Bruto finally reached the enemy’s feet. The shark-lizard beast’s hind legs were as thick as pillars, filled with explosive power, but the Dwarf still found his favorite target, the protrusion where the monster’s thigh met its calf.

Bruto threw away the Shield, grabbed the hammer with both hands, and swung it high over his head, striking down hard on that protrusion.

The beast, engaged in combat with Lancelot, let out an earth-shattering cry of pain, its body losing balance and toppling to one side, nearly crushing the Dwarf who was trying to deliver another hammer blow.

The shark-lizard beast turned its head around; it would rather use its already partially shattered Helmet to block another of Lancelot’s strikes than to tear apart that detestable little Dwarf.

It hated Dwarves; the taste of Dwarves was difficult to stomach, like chewing on stones. It also detested Elves, for their flesh was scant and had a wooden stench to it.

But the Knight’s sword did not chop down as it had anticipated. Lancelot suddenly changed his move, unleashing an Upper Slash he hadn’t used before in the fight.

It was his trump card, which had helped him defeat countless enemies. Aside from being well-practiced, there was nothing special about the move itself, but Lancelot would initiate with a series of downward and Horizontal Slashes to create a defensive pattern in the enemy’s mind, then he would suddenly perform an Upper Slash, often achieving a decisive effect.

This time was no exception; the sword struck fiercely against the shark-lizard beast’s unguarded, scar-riddled jaw. The force of this sword was so tremendous that it sent the upper body of the shark-lizard beast soaring upwards.

Lancelot’s Longsword did not hesitate; he had already considered three follow-up moves before his strike. The Longsword turned and stabbed, its blade piercing through the shark-lizard beast’s lower jaw, through its mouth, and lodged against the part of the skull likely near its nose. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Knight roared, his body’s True Qi circulating at full strength, and his giant-like physique burst forth with terrifying power, impaling the shark-lizard beast off the ground.

The shark-lizard beast’s mouth was forcefully pried open, its limbs flailing wildly, like a hooked carp. Although Lancelot’s sword had controlled it, it failed to strike its brain and was not lethal.

Looking at the shark-lizard beast’s gaping mouth, Lancelot had a flash of inspiration and shouted:

"Bruto! Climb onto my shoulders, quick!"