Knights and Magic Wand

(Ancient Lorelette Language) "...Spirits that cannot rest... shadows beyond this world's shore..."

Facing the furious charge of the Corpse Demon Knight and "Lokhak" from both his left and right, Leon chanted the spell rapidly in his panic, his usually calm voice becoming increasingly frantic.

The Array was still too small, with its mere ten-meter diameter being crossed in seconds, and the first to charge was the towering Undead Knight.

Leon didn't dodge; right in front of him was another trap he had prepared earlier.

The Corpse Demon Knight's heavy footsteps landed on the thin camouflaged netting, and it immediately fell through with a clatter of Armor, ending up with only its upper torso poking out of the not-so-deep pit.

Watching the towering Undead Knight fall into the pit, Leon didn't even have time to feel relieved. Just as the Heavy Armor-clad body sank, he saw a black shadow whistling through the air behind it, rapidly enlarging in his field of view, incoming like a shot.

What!?

Unable to react in time to dodge, he managed to twist his head away in desperation, but the flying object still struck his shoulder with fearsome momentum, causing him to cry out in pain and fall backward, off-balance.

As he hit the ground, his right shoulder felt as if it had been hit by a lead ball, the pain was excruciating, forcing beads of cold sweat to break out on his forehead. It was then that Leon recognized the rolling object beside him.

What struck him was the severed head of a Living Corpse that Lokhak had carried earlier.

That wasn't the important bit, the critical thing was that the spell he was near finishing had been interrupted!

Realizing the dire situation, Leon executed an expert roll to the side, flipping twice before using the momentum to stand up and look up— "Lokhak" with his sword drawn was already bearing down on him, close at hand.

In his panic, he could do nothing but retreat repeatedly. Fortunately, "Lokhak," who was bringing down his sword with a fierce motion, was suddenly tripped by something at his feet and fell to the ground, caught off guard.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Leon who had narrowly escaped death once again, bolted past the fallen "Lokhak," sprinting rapidly toward the other side of the Array.

He had to quickly start the chant for the Spirit Repelling Rune again or all was lost.

When Leon ran back into the Array, a glance told him that his escape had been thanks to the Corpse Demon Knight reaching out desperately and grabbing Lokhak's ankle.

The Undead caught in the pit, grasping the boy's ankle for leverage, pushed against the edge of the hole with one hand, kicking the earth wall with his feet, pulling the boy outside so forcefully that he had to stagger backward. The heavily armored Corpse Demon Knight then leapt up fiercely with both armor and body.

Jumping out of the pit, the Corpse Ghost landed with a clang and stood firm. In the next moment, it swung its sword at "Lokhak," who was on the ground before it.

To the frenzied Wandering Soul, even a "Demon Host" was still a living creature of flesh and blood at the moment.

—Clang!

The sound of clashing gold rang out loudly as the two swords intersected.

The Corpse Demon Knight's heavy and powerful blow was not only parried by the Angry Demon-infested "Lokhak" with a backhanded defense, but the superhuman "Lokhak," in his rage, had even managed to press the Corpse Ghost's blade off-course, exposing its core.

"Lokhak," acting on instinct, twisted his swordplay and thrust it fiercely at the Corpse Ghost's chest.

Clang—!!!

The blade struck the Knight's Chest Armor, shattering the tip of the burdened sword, but still managed to push the Undead Knight off-balance, causing the Corpse Ghost to stagger back several steps before catching its equilibrium.

The terrifying force not only left a dent in the solid Armor like it had been struck by a nail hammer, but "Lokhak's" own right wrist was also twisted into a horrifying shape by the rebound.

Lokhak's eyes turned a crimson red with rage. The twisted right hand clutching the sword handle snapped back into place with the sound of crackling bones empowered by Desecration. He rose from the ground, his hulking stance like that of a Demon.

"...Hiss…..hisss...." Blood-mixed saliva dripped from "Lokhak's" mouth, now filled with non-human fangs, as he let out a hoarse roar from his increasingly distorted throat, "Die!— Die all of you!!!!"

Charging forth, the boy swung his jagged and bloodstained sword, stirring up a stench of blood as he pounced toward the object of his hatred. In his blood-red eyes gone astray, there were no more Corpse Ghosts or Undead in front of him, only the detestable faces of Kantadar thugs.

Knowing nothing of fear, the Undead positioned its stance obediently following its instinctive Sword Skill engraved into its bodily reactions, sidewards positioning the lavish treasure sword in its hands.

Holding the sword with both hands in front of its withered and fierce face, the Corpse Demon Knight pointed his sword tip towards the boy attacking him.

This unawares, Lokhak stepped into the Knight's fighting range, and immediately, his broken sword fell towards the Corpse Ghost, vowing to split in half the "murderous kin" that he saw.

The Corpse Demon Knight took a quick step back and forward, swiftly shifting from the right to the left like Lightning, changing direction to dodge the attack and pushing forward with his sword for a counterattack.

Zing—!

Sparks flew in all directions, accompanied by a teeth-gritting sound of metal against metal— "Lokhak" barely managed to withdraw his blade in time to block the Corpse Demon Knight's simultaneous attack and defense.

But this moment of clashing was far from over.

Had the Corpse Demon Knight still been alive, he might have already elegantly and neatly followed up with his Coiling Sword technique, sealing the throat of the poorly skilled opponent before him in one move.

However, the Living Corpse, left with nothing but its bodily instincts, could only follow one basic Swordsmanship move after another in its rigid form. When its sword path was obstructed, it raised "Lokhak's" yet to be powered blade with a Cross Sword Guard, invading the opponent's close range. With a strong turn of the body accompanying the steps, the Corpse Ghost's blade swung from the left to downward, slashing towards the young boy's neck—

It was only that half-beat's waste of an instant that allowed "Lokhak" to narrowly shift his position and press back his armed sword, bending his knee to raise the blade horizontally.

Swords clashed with a shrieking friction, fastening together in a deadly grip.

Lokhak had barely parried the blow that almost beheaded him, yet the disadvantage in stature and position under the repressive body left his sword crushed, unable to maintain the parry.

Seizing the opportunity as his opponent clearly hadn't stabilized his stance, the Corpse Demon Knight, clad in heavy armor, suddenly lifted his sword and knee in a brutally fierce knee-strike that made Lokhak grunt and his body stagger.

But the knee-strike was just a prelude—the Corpse Demon Knight's true heavy chop followed immediately!

A thunderous boom!

Lokhak was forcibly brought to his knees by a tremendous force, smashing the ground and fracturing it terrifyingly, the youth's legs buckling beneath the strain, snapping audibly.

With the full weight of the Knight's burly frame behind it, the falling long sword effortlessly breached the clumsy defense with a single strike.

The long sword drove Lokhak's own blade into his shoulder. Had it not been for the non-human strength he possessed after being possessed by a demon, that fearsome chop would have split the young man diagonally in two.

But the one bearing this strike was ultimately not a pure "human"—

—Roar!!!!

Lokhak's twisted face was nearly unrecognizable with rage, and as he continued enduring the humiliating oppression, the demon's roar finally burst through the mental veil, descending upon this world from the depths of the youth's fury.

Releasing the hilt, "Lokhak," knees broken and kneeling on the ground, fell into a rage. His hands, turning into claws, seized the knight's shin-armored legs, pulling with inhuman strength.

Caught off guard, the knight crashed to the ground with a clangor.

Lokhak, like a wild beast, pounced, heedlessly pulling the armed sword from his shoulder.

The Corpse Demon Knight's right hand tried to retract the sword for a counterstrike, but now engaged in a scuffle on the ground, the long blade hindered him. Before the left hand could grasp the blade to defend with a Half-sword Technique, Lokhak swiftly chopped with the armed sword in his hand!

With great strength, the sword easily cut through the armor joint along the knight's right arm. The ferocious youth howled as he dragged the blade, viciously tearing off the Corpse Ghost's right forearm.

The arm armor's connecting component snapped, and the severed arm, along with the illustrious knightly treasure sword, flew into the distance.

But it was his excessive force that left Lokhak vulnerable. As he leaned to the left with the swing, the Corpse Ghost beneath him threw a swift left hook, heavily flipping the youth's body over.

No matter how great the strength of the youth infected by the Angry Demon was, there was still a considerable difference in body weight between him and the heavy armored Corpse Ghost. The also extraordinary knight pummeled Lokhak to the ground with a solid punch.

Taking advantage of the blink-of-an-eye moment before the youth could rise, the Corpse Demon Knight flipped over, skillfully pinning "Lokhak" beneath him from behind.

The knee pressed heavily on the youth's back, while the heavy right steel boot stamped on the sword-wielding right wrist. The Corpse Ghost's remaining left hand clasped Lokhak's throat from behind.

Just one squeeze of the Iron Gloves, a light twist, and it would all be over.

As if sensing the joy of engulfing a living soul, the Undead Knight's eyes glinted with frenzied Ghost Fire...

...A sudden chilled gleam flashed by—

Wielding the knightly treasure sword that could slice through iron like mud, Azeryan swung down from behind the Corpse Ghost!

The knight's head flew off the neck like a ball and rolled on the ground.

The sudden turn of events left the Living Corpse motionless.

It was not dead, but the sudden loss of vision and its connection to the body plunged the undead into bewildered disarray.

Its left hand reflexively reached to touch its now empty neck, trying to pick up its fallen head.

In this brief pause, "Lokhak" beneath it broke free from the restraints.

Azeryan, having successfully ambushed the enemy, smartly chose to turn tail and run. After all, his companion, who was clearly under demonic control, was hardly going to thank him for the rescue.

"Lokhak" heaved off the headless Living Corpse from on top of him and, fueled with rage, the demonized youth spared no thought for why the Corpse Demon Knight had suddenly lost his head and thrashed with his sword.

The sightless Undead Knight, now bereft of the ability to dodge, was cut down by the furious youth... With sword strike after sword strike after sword strike, the Corpse Ghost's body was dismembered into pieces along the cracks of its armor. Severed limbs bleeding black oozed like sentient worms, eerily crawling around in search of its head...

A brief but intense battle reached its most perilous juncture as Leon, anxious, fortunately completed the final syllable of the activating spell amidst the clash of those two fierce beasts.

Light burst skyward from the Array, runes within the Demon Rune trajectory ascended like projections into the air, encircling as if forming a three-dimensional barrier.

The youth, nearly half-demonized, dropped the torn living corpse in his hand. "It," with baleful bloodshot eyes, turned and only then did the Angry Demon from beyond the soul realize the anomaly beneath its feet.

Sadly, it was too late.