The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 719 - 740: Healing Touch

Tijana began preparing a complex spell, requiring lengthy incantations, mysterious gestures, and a black sapphire as large as a fist. The Barlow Flame Demon, already at death’s door and completely incapacitated, couldn’t even speak and could only watch helplessly as the Succubus Lord completed her magic.

Purple lightning burst from Tijana’s fingertips, fully enveloping Visuvius’s massive body. Between the leaping sparks and blinding light, Lancelot saw the apparition of a Flame Demon appear and instantly get sucked into the black sapphire. The purple lightning then disappeared, leaving behind only Barlow Flame Demon’s slack, dehydrated, ashy corpse, reminiscent of ashes after a campfire has been extinguished.

Tijana tossed the gemstone in her hand and revealed a satisfied smile, then turned to Lancelot and said,

"See? You have to extract the essence of the Flame Demon first, so it won’t trigger a Self-destructive Explosion."

"I don’t know how to perform that spell." Lancelot raised his arm and touched his nose blackened by the soot, "Killing it on the first try was luck enough..."

"Well... come here."

"Hmm? What’s up?"

"Don’t talk. Open your mouth."

The next second, the Succubus Lord’s red lips met Lancelot’s, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. Despite the hard armor, he could still feel Tijana’s soft body and the slight tremble of her body at that moment. Along with the red lips came a smooth, small tongue, but this time it was somewhat different, the tip filled with life energy. Lancelot felt as if Alamir had cast a Healing Spell on him, the effect was exactly the same.

Of course, the healing effect had taken place the moment they made contact, and what was left was... normal kissing between lovers. Their lips didn’t part for a long while, until Tijana immediately turned away, not letting Lancelot see her expression, while Lancelot felt two scorching gazes from behind.

He turned his head and saw the Dwarf and Elf embracing a Half-elf and a shape-shifter not far off. The Dwarf suddenly coughed violently, while the Elf’s expression was much more natural, causing Lancelot to feel a bit embarrassed.

"How are they?" Lancelot casually changed the subject, "They’re not in any life-threatening condition, right?"

"Tanya’s situation is quite severe, she was crushed by a Barlow Flame Demon first, then took the brunt of a Self-destructive Explosion at a close distance. Even with my Divine Arts helping, I’m afraid she’ll still have to stay in bed for a week or two," Alamir shrugged, "As for Jing, she just passed out, I’m quite certain her evasive actions saved her from the main blast. A single Healing Divine Art would immediately wake her up, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that for Tanya. Even if she woke up now, she wouldn’t have any ability to defend herself; we might as well use the Feign Death Technique and put her in a Dimensional Bag until we’re somewhere safe to take her out…"

"Not necessary." The voice of the Succubus Lord rose from behind the group,

She made a simple gesture with her hands and uttered a short word, and two bright red Magic Auras flew into Jing and Tanya’s bodies. Both women let out a soft moan and opened their eyes at the same time. Alamir silently set down his Half-elf companion, while Jing, like a startled cat, made a vigorous leap and landed on top of Bruto’s head.

"Get down from there," the Dwarf grumbled, "And don’t pull my hair."

"What is happening, Madam Tijana? What happened?" Tanya looked around, her face filled with confusion. "Is that Visuvius’s corpse? Didn’t it explode?"

"Yes, both you and Jing were unconscious from the explosion, and Lancelot was thrown into the lava, but he floated back by himself afterward," Alamir explained softly. "Bruto and I remained conscious, but we weren’t faring much better. Then Visuvius reemerged from the Lava Lake, clearly possessing some method of resurrection..."

"Fortunately, Madam Tijana arrived just in time, or today would have indeed been our end," Lancelot said with a bitter smile as he shook his head. "My lady, I did not expect you..."

Suddenly, he realized that what Tijana was casually handling was none other than the green Sword of Zariel. Although in most cases, a weapon is just an item, Lancelot still felt a strange sensation—as if the holy sword from the Heavens, longing to kill all Fiends, was a mere sheep in the hands of the Succubus Lord.

Noticing his gaze, Tijana gave a slight smile, turned the sword handle around, and tossed the treasured sword to Lancelot.

"Keep her safe and better not to use her unless absolutely necessary, for she brings more trouble than utility," the Succubus Lord said as she turned to face the other end of the cave entrance. "I guess you have many questions, but now is not the time..."

"That’s fine," Lancelot responded softly. "Anytime, my lady."

As they spoke, several tall figures emerged one by one from the entrance of the cave, the three generals of the allied forces: ’Hammer of Burning’ Taran, ’Pale Flame’ Tu’a, and ’Bartez Slayer’ Babos. Following close behind and accompanying Tijana were two Serpent Demon generals, ’Scorching Snake’ Bessiah and Viska ’Madam’.

All appeared to have just been in a fierce battle, their bodies covered with blood that had not yet coagulated, making it hard to tell whether the blood was their enemies’ or their own. Upon seeing Tijana, all three Flame Demon generals were taken aback, clearly not expecting to encounter the Succubus Lord here, while the two Serpent Demons silently ’slithered’ to stand behind Tijana.

What surprised the Flame Demon generals even more, however, was the massive corpse of Visuvius on the ground. It was well known that Tijana was a powerful Magician, and the death of a Barlow Flame Demon involved an explosion, leaving a Flame Demon’s corpse intact clearly indicated who had been behind this lethal strike.

"Madam Tijana," Babos began cautiously. "I did not expect to see you here; it seems we owe the recapture of the Volcano Fortress to your hidden aid."

"If the Volcano Fortress truly fell into demons’ hands, the downfall of Twin Bridges Town would be imminent," Tijana answered with a feigned smile. "It seems the battle above has concluded?"

"We killed all the Bartezi; none escaped," another Flame Demon general spoke up, his tone flat. "But a Demon Refiner is missing; I suspect it was killed in combat with the former lord of this place?"

"Perhaps," Tijana said expressionlessly as she twisted her neck. "Now that the Volcano Fortress has been recaptured, I wonder what ’Lord Wu’an’ has planned for it?"

"Hahaha, we annihilated four Demon Legions and executed all the Demon Refinement generals; our lord will surely be very pleased with this," Babos laughed thunderously. "As for the Volcano Fortress... its location is so crucial, it must be governed by a powerful yet cautious general who can also maintain the longstanding good relations with Twin Bridges Town, don’t you think?"

"Respected ’Bartez Slayer’, your wisdom impresses me," Tijana said, her face breaking into a sly smile. "I completely agree."