The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 584 - 608 Missing
Chapter 584: Chapter 608: Missing Chapter 584: Chapter 608: Missing Before leaving the Iron Ice Plains and meeting with Pakos, the party had made a series of preparations, including scouting the terrain around Glacial Fortress, establishing teleportation points, a new gigantic Array Plate, specially commissioned Teleportation Array scrolls, a pure and healthy sheep, and a bottle of poison said to be particularly effective against Dragons—though somewhat cliché, the group still planned to try it.
Pakos was naturally dissatisfied, viewing it as an insult to the Dragon Race. However, when the Dwarf questioned whether he was more concerned that the White Dragon would indeed be fooled by such a simple trick, the Halfling decided to steer the conversation toward why the White Dragon should not be counted among the True Dragons.
“Let’s put it this way, you humans never consider yourselves the same species as monkeys, right?” the Halfling said in a condescending tone, “The difference is that monkeys are stupider, almost have no intelligence, and don’t have the complex social structures that you humans do. White Dragons are the same to us; they’re indistinguishable from beasts, dumb enough hardly to speak. How could we classify such creatures along with us?”
“It’s said that Tiamat has five heads,” Bruto said dryly, “One of them is white.”
“That just proves that White Dragons also worship the Dragon Queen, and does not mean they are of the same species as other colored Dragons!” Pakos retorted viciously, “Unless you think Dwarves and Gnomes are the same race!”
“Fine, have it your way,” the Dwarf shrugged, “Anyway, there’s not a single White Dragon here to defend itself.”
“Speaking of which, I have a somewhat inappropriate question…” Kalalin said, holding a soup bowl and speaking hesitantly, “The White Dragon, I mean Svafnir’s son, he hasn’t really bothered us, has he? As a Scholar studying the Abyss, I’ve never heard of him venturing to the Prime Material Plane to commit evils. Isn’t it a bit wrong to just kill him like this?”
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“Damn it, how could I forget to cast an alignment detection on you!” the Halfling sneered, “You’re not one of those who emphasize morality and the presumption of innocence… good people, are you?”
“What’s wrong with being good people?” Bruto scratched his head, “Although I too desire a title of Dragon Slayer, what Kalalin says doesn’t seem wrong. If a Succubus can become a Holy Warrior, maybe not all White Dragons are… bad dragons?”
“What a pity,” Pakos gazed menacingly at Bruto, “Ladies won’t spread their legs for a title like Slayer of Dwarves…”
“I’ve considered that issue already,” Lancelot said resolutely, “He is a rapist, and as a Knight, anyone who tries to go against a woman’s wishes…”
The Human Knight’s words were cut off because the Pakos in front of him suddenly ‘changed,’ his neck no longer having the innocuous, likable Halfling head but instead a draconic head covered in scales and spines with a mouth big enough to swallow a man whole. Due to the size difference, it looked rather terrifying and yet somewhat adorable.
“If we didn’t also need to deal with Svafnir…” the mouth of the Red Dragon opened and closed, letting small leaps of flame escape from between his teeth, “I would very much enjoy spending a few years slowly torturing him.”
“We will kill that White Dragon,” Lancelot lowered his gaze, “I promise.”
“Good,” Pakos nodded, “The night is still young. Tell me about the recent war in this plane. Considering your glorious role in Androlina, don’t tell me it had nothing to do with you.”
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Twin Bridges Town.
After nightfall, the tavern was always bustling, even in the Abyssal Plane, especially right after some major event had happened. At such times, the tavern would be extremely noisy and crowded, but the brawls that were frequently staged on other days were much fewer because nobody wanted to miss out on the latest rumors and news; no one would drink to the point of oozing alcohol through their skin.
Barrend Frostforge was sitting in such a tavern, brooding over his beer mug. Only a sip of beer had been drunk from the glass, and it seemed the old dwarf had no interest in lifting his mug again for the time being. Realizing that Twin Bridges Town was not so safe, he was missing his son and worried he might never see him again.
Beside him were Delg Frostforge, a long-time collaborator and expert in ore smelting, and Takolin Stoneplate, a Gray Dwarf who was a master in weapon edging. Unlike Barrend’s silence, these two dwarves were engaged in a heated discussion, naturally about the events that had occurred earlier that day. Although they had no reliable sources of information, this did not stop the dwarves from expressing their opinions.
“… we all saw it on the city wall today, the fact is as clear as if it were engraved in stone.” After gulping down a big mouthful of beer, Delg slammed his mug on the table as if to lend authority to his statement, “Coward Devils are like rats that only scurry out in a group when the house is on fire, and Volcano Fortress is the house for today’s group of Coward Devils. The demons might be holding a parade there right now!”
“Pah! ‘Destruction Flame’s army might well have suffered a defeat, but the Volcano Fortress wouldn’t fall just like that.” Takolin caressed his smooth, bald head, a characteristic of the Gray Dwarves, “I’ve been to the Volcano Fortress, that place is like a rock wearing a helmet, and it is a piece of processed Obsidian that can resist magic effects; we just sent a batch of weapons there last week, Bartez couldn’t possibly have taken that place so quickly!”
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“But those Coward Devils…”
“Oh! Throw away that theory about Coward Devils!” the Gray Dwarf farted loudly, which in (some) dwarf culture is a form of punctuation, “Creating Coward Devils for the Demon Lord is no more troublesome than us making arrows, a bunch of fleeing cannon fodder proves nothing!”
“New intelligence!” a shrill voice came from the entrance of the tavern, turning heads, revealing a smug-looking Quasimodo Demon, “Give me a glass of the best Snake Tree Wine, and I’ll tell you the details!”
“You’ll get nothing more than a glass of Razor Vine Beer!” a dark-skinned orc mercenary shouted at the little demon, “Spill it quick, or would you rather taste my fist?”
Like most low-rank demons, the Quasimodo Demon backed down under the threat of violence, possibly also because it saw another competitor emerging from a tavern across the street. It hopped onto the bar, snatched the glass brought by the Tiflin bartender, took a big gulp, and began,
“This is all from our gang leader, who crouched outside the interrogation rooms in the barracks area all day; initially, it just wanted to listen to the captives’ screams…” the Quasimodo Demon grabbed the attention of the entire bar with an authoritative tone, “The shameless Bartez played a trick; they dispatched four legions, but only flew the banners of two! ‘Destruction Flame’ Visuvius stupidly chose to strike first, and when it realized something was wrong, the battle was already beyond salvageable!”
“That’s just stupid.” Delg whispered, “Can’t they count?”
“You expect too much from the Tanari.” Takolin scoffed, “Maybe the scout assigned to count didn’t even get the flags right and told Visuvius that only one legion was coming.”
“Was Destruction Flame himself killed?” A Brezu Demon shouted at the Quasimodo Demon, “Answer me quick, or I’ll skin you!”
“Who knows?” the little demon belched sourly, “but several prisoners witnessed the Flame Demon General being attacked by four Abyss-bred Demon Refinement together; what do you think his chances are?”
