The Paladin in the Abyss

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Fortunately, that power had not come to destroy him.

The range of the divine power burst was very small, confined to an area of less than nine feet centered on Barrend.

Barrend's eyes bulged as he realized that the Father God had just responded to his prayers. The holy light was slowly infusing into the cold iron-made whip, and the iron anvil serving as the base was imbued with a very sacred aura, one that he was very familiar with—it was the presence found only within Moradin's shrine.

According to dwarven standards, with a burning furnace and an iron anvil, this place had become an unmistakable Dwarf Temple, blessed by Moradin himself.

At that moment, a flash of white light passed, and the Lord of Twin Bridges Town appeared on the scene through teleportation.

Tigana was in full battle gear, wearing a set of mithril full body armor that snugly fit her curvaceous figure; her right hand held a longsword, her left a light shield, and attached to her belt were a whip, throwing knives, handcuffs, and several vials of potions.

She had obviously felt the surge of divine power within her domain and rushed over at the first instance, her eyes scanning for enemies, ready to confront whichever celestial being had dared to trespass.

"Ah..." Lancelot called out to her, "Tijana, calm down for a second, I can explain..."

"How are you here?"

…

A moment later.

"So you're telling me, you used cold iron to make a whip for me, and after it was completed, this old dwarven man thought the product was so exceptional that he prayed to the great divine power of order and goodness, the Soul Forger Moradin, hoping he would bless this gift intended for demons?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lancelot felt Tijana's description was a bit too dramatic, but on second thought, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

"Ah..." Barrend said awkwardly, "more or less... I hadn't expected the Father God to answer..."

"Congratulations, you succeeded!" Tijana said with an ironic smile, "It seems the Soul Forger himself holds quite the opinion of me, turning it completely into a Holy Weapon to prevent me from using it. If I were to grasp it directly, it might be no different than holding a branding iron, I suppose."

"No, it's impossible, if the great Father God had not approved, he would have directly destroyed this weapon!" Barrend quickly objected, then his eyes lit up, "Right! I previously obtained a design for gauntlets that came from a famous Succubus Paladin. With those gloves, you could use this weapon normally. Give me five days, no, three days! I can make it in three days!"

"I've heard of that guy, and I know what you're thinking, Barrend," Tijana said coolly, "I've never doubted your skill, or that of any dwarven artisan. You don't need to prove anything to me."

"So what about this whip?" Barrend looked eagerly at Tijana, his face filled with unwillingness.

"Just make those gauntlets as soon as possible," Tijana suddenly smiled, grabbing the whip, her face instantly twisted in pain, the hand holding the whip beginning to emit wisps of smoke. "A Holy Weapon, why not? Even if I were to place it in my vault, it would be a perfect collectible."

She endured the pain and placed the whip inside a Storage Bag, both Lancelot and Barrend noticed that her hand had become bloody and mangled, but it was healing rapidly.

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"Make that gauntlet as soon as possible, I can't wait to try it," Tijana said, bringing a smile back to the old Dwarf's face, "According to Dwarven tradition, you have the right to name your creation, and I respect that tradition. Have you thought of a name yet?"

"This is a whip made of cold iron, capable of dealing extra damage to most Abyssal creatures," Barrend said respectfully, "I plan to call it 'Abyssal Scourge'."

"As you wish," Tijana nodded, "Since I have respected your tradition, you must now respect mine. If I'm not mistaken, this iron anvil has turned this place into a sanctuary of Moradin, and you know my attitude towards these self-proclaimed deities, right?"

The old Dwarf's eyes showed deep fear as he exclaimed:

"No! Absolutely not! You cannot destroy it!"

"Do I need to remind you who is the master here?" Tijana's tone showed she was suppressing anger as she spoke in a low voice, "There are no temples in Twin Bridges Town, not one! Either you do it yourself, or I'll kill you first and then do it myself, stepping over your corpse!"

"Let's all calm down." Seeing that the situation was getting more and more heated, Lancelot quickly intervened to defuse the tension, "My lady, could you tell me the reason for your actions? Such behavior is bound to irritate those high and mighty deities, but it seems to have no benefit for you."

"Do you know what you're saying, human?" Tijana glared at Lancelot, "Look around you, this is the Abyss, have you considered the consequences?"

"From my point of view, having one more temple like this won't make your enemies hate you more, since they already have ten thousand reasons to despise you," Lancelot analyzed patiently, "And about your allies, sorry, does Twin Bridges Town truly have any? My friend Kalalin has told me about this city's grand history.

During the most dangerous times for Twin Bridges Town, it seems no power has ever reached out to help you except for the city's own citizens, those Dwarves who were the first to serve under you."

"So what?" Tijana was still quite irritated, but seemed willing to let Lancelot continue.

"It means that from the outside, whether or not you destroy this Dwarven temple makes no difference to you," Lancelot found his mind racing, "And internally, the benefits of keeping this temple are obvious. The vast number of Dwarves in Twin Bridges Town would have a much more positive opinion of you.

They would respect and even revere you, which would make them much less resistant when you make various demands."

"I don't need their reverence! What I want is their obedience and submission!" Tijana said impatiently, "I can get all of that through fear alone!"

"What you want is not merely obedience and submission, you want their skills, their products, and even their military strength if necessary," Lancelot was not daunted by Tijana's impatience, "Respect and reverence can provide you with these too, and possibly even more. A craftsman who lives in fear will not put his whole heart into his work; he is just trying to save his own life."

"But this is still too dangerous, it might even attract the attention of the Abyssal Lords, and you know nothing about their power. Here in the Abyss, even the incarnations of deities are mostly no match for the Abyssal Lords." Though Tijana seemed somewhat swayed by his words, she was still not convinced.

"We could adopt a compromise," Lancelot continued persuasively, "Not far from here, the Shattered Mountain Range has countless caves suitable for hiding. You could have the Dwarves move this iron anvil there, and proclaim to be unaware of the matter, while Barrend will ensure that the Dwarves' gratitude towards you is not diminished."

"All Dwarves would be grateful to you, I assure you," Barrend quickly joined in, "Perhaps except for those gray-skinned bald ones."

Tijana silently looked at them, saying nothing, and Barrend had no choice but to summon his resolve and throw out his last bargaining chip.

"With the rallying power of Father God's miracle, I'm certain that the production of cold iron weapons can be increased to fifteen hundred… no, at least two thousand pieces a month!"

Finally, a smile appeared on the Succubus's face.

"You have half a day to make this iron anvil disappear from Twin Bridges Town."