Knight and Wand

Chapter 84: Unbreakable Obsession

The windless woodland seemed especially quiet.

The majestic ostrich feathers stand upright on the gold ornaments on top of the helmet of the halberd-wielding warrior.

The full-coverage silver armor is shiny and glossy, inlaid with gold edges that look like the real thing. The right shoulder is covered by a dark red battle robe, and the surface of the large ring shoulder armor from the left shoulder to the left chest is printed with a flame-shaped pattern with a hollow center.

The long-handled halberd held in the warrior's hand is made entirely of metal. The blade is not the common axe-shaped one, but a single-edged blade. Complex patterns are carved on the blade surface that shines with a cold glow, and a spike like a nail chisel extends from the spine, which is exquisite like a work of art.

This set of luxurious and exaggerated armor and weapons is very different in style from the armor of the Feru, Uriah, or Atias that Leon has seen so far.

"Sir? Are you alive?"

Leon took the initiative to break the silence and tentatively asked a question to the gorgeous warrior who was standing outside the magic circle with his head lowered.

He didn't know whether he was a friend or an enemy, so he wanted to avoid misunderstandings as much as possible.

After all, you can't indiscriminately extract the souls of living people to light lamps.

But Leon's inquiry went unanswered.

The tall, heavily-armored halberd guard was still standing blankly outside the magic circle, looking down at something, standing there without saying a word, like a sculpture.

Leon didn't dare to move forward rashly. In order to get close to the fierce heavily-armored warrior to confirm whether he was dead or alive, he sought the answer from the existence in his heart.

"What is the Yanyang Guard? Miss Laura, do you recognize this guy's identity?"

"The Yanyang Guards are the elite guards responsible for protecting the Mage Lord." Laura replied calmly: "Of course, the one in front of me has already passed away. I can't feel any signs of life. He has become a zombie."

"Can the spirit lamp also use his soul?" Leon continued to ask.

“Yes, but for you, such warriors are still too dangerous even if they have become mindless undead.

See that armor? Every piece is made of forbidden magic steel. If you don’t remove his armor, the spell under your feet will have no effect on his soul. "

Laura warned: "You are lucky that he didn't attack you. Back away slowly. If this guy wants to kill you, I can't stop him now. A trick like Isha's Arrow is just like tickling the guards' armor."

Leon felt a chill on his back when he was tickled, and he listened carefully and slowly stepped back.

However, just when Leon took a step back, the "Flame Sun Guard" that had been motionless before suddenly took action.

The guard holding a halberd took heavy steps and stepped straight into the range of the magic circle.

Leon tensed his body as if facing a formidable enemy, and almost asked Corvis to ride away on horseback.

But then, under the stunned gaze of the two young men inside and outside the magic circle.

The Yan Yang Imperial Guard actually bent down slowly, holding the halberd, and with a bang, his heavy body knelt on one knee on the ground.

Leon's retreat suddenly stopped.

He looked at the zombie guard in confusion as he received such a gift.

"What does this mean?" Bow down? Leon thought that he didn't even have time to shake his body.

"."

Miss Laura seemed to ponder for a while, and said hesitantly: "Maybe? Because of the magic under his feet, his remaining sanity may have mistaken you for a wizard of the same faction."

And just as Leon was listening to Laura's guess in confusion.

The mage guard who had already become undead did not stop his actions.

The warrior holding the halberd raised his left hand and took off the helmet with ostrich feathers standing upright, along with the armor.

As expected, the face revealed underneath was a shriveled corpse's head.

The hair on his head had long since fallen out, and in the zombie warrior's empty eye sockets, there flickered ghost fire, symbolizing the underworld.

After taking off his helmet, the kneeling Yan Yang Guard holding the halberd stopped moving. His dark undead eyes stared blankly at the spell runes on the ground and fell silent.

"It's really surprising. Did you recognize the technique? He's been dead for so long and still has such an obsession." Laura sighed and hurriedly urged Leon.
"Draw the seal. He seems to be willing to cooperate with my spell. This is good. Wandering around this area forever is a torture for him. This is a good opportunity to let him rest in peace."

Hearing what Miss Lola said, Leon felt relieved, and felt that this big guard brother who had been dead for who knows how long was really a kind-hearted man with chivalry. After death, he turned into a ghost, but not only did he not hurt others, he also used his soul to help others.

I'll definitely dig him a good grave when I get out.

After silently expressing his thanks, Leon immediately made a hand sign to the kneeling zombie guard with his head exposed, so that the wizard in his mind could activate the spell under his feet.

The blooming magic light lit up again.

However, unlike the soul shadow that Leon saw last time, the spirit of the guard that was slowly drawn out of the body by magic was actually shining with an exceptionally bright white light.

The soulless guard's body completely stilled, and the heavy halberd in his hand clanged against his shoulder armor.

The dazzling souls of the guards rose into the air, and along with the surge of magic power, they poured into the spirit lamp buried in the center of the magic circle.

The light of the magic pattern dissipated, ending the ritual. Leon quickly walked to the center and dug out the spirit lamp in the soil.

As soon as he dug up the soil, he squinted his eyes because of the dazzling light.

The soul light in the wooden cage was much more dazzling than last time.

".It's so bright? Does it mean that the place he wants to go back to is very close here?" Leon asked in his heart with surprise.

But there was no response from Miss Lola.

Not paying much attention to it, he turned his head to look at the remains of the Yan Yang Royal Guards and couldn't help but envy the equipment.

Anyway, I have already taken the opponent's soul with me, and now I have a war horse following me to carry heavy objects.

Wouldn't it be a waste if you don't take this incredibly cool set of armor and weapons with you?

He walked over, laid the warrior's body flat with respect, moved the heavy halberd away, and then skillfully began to try to strip the armor off the corpse.

"You may not be able to wear this armor. Even if you take it, you can probably only use it as a decoration." Miss Lola, who seemed to have come to her senses, suddenly spoke.

Leon frowned in disappointment: “What kind of insurance measures are there on this?”

"The armor of the Blazing Sun Guards has a magic-forbidden field inside. Only warriors who have survived the scorching sun trials can use it safely. If your spirit is not strong enough, this armor will burn your soul like a high-temperature furnace. If you are not afraid, you can give it a try.

Ah~ The premise is to complete our agreement first before trying again. I don’t want you to be burned to death by this armor before you take me back to Rolandar.” Miss Laura reminded.

Hearing this, Leon regretfully gave up the idea of ​​wearing it.

But even if he couldn't use it for the time being, he really didn't want to leave this treasure gathering dust in the cursed land.

Such a cool and exquisite armor would look very impressive even if you put it at home as a collectible work of art.

Or if we explain the hidden dangers and sell it to wealthy nobles, it should be worth a lot of money. Leon took out the completed pathfinder and turned around to ask Corvis to bring the warhorse over.

He asked the blond boy to help, and together they moved the body of the Yanyang Guard onto the horse.

It won't be a big deal anyway, so just take the body of this kind brother out and bury it.

Then Leon turned around, picked up the heavy and gorgeous Royal Guards halberd on the ground, and asked Laura: "Can't I use this too?"

"This scorching weapon has no restrictions, but you don't know how to manipulate magic yet. To you, it is at best an ordinary long weapon with an exceptionally sharp handle, and it is much heavier than ordinary weapons."

Laura looked at Leon's strenuous movements in her field of vision and suggested helplessly: "You might as well give it to the kid next to you. At least he can connect to the autonomous magic formula in the halberd and use the spell of manipulating objects to control it and hit someone."

The gorgeous halberd forged entirely from steel was indeed very heavy. Leon picked it up and fiddled with it for a while, then realized that this weight was not suitable for him at the moment. Although a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy was growing well, he was still too young.

He had no choice but to tie the halberd to the horse's back. Leon called to Corvis to follow, as it was time for them to leave.

The blond boy followed Leon's footsteps with a lantern and turned to look at the magic item in his companion's hand, which was brighter than a high-quality magic crystal lamp. "Is this the thing that can allow us to leave the spirit-like land?"

Leon nodded and briefly recounted the general principle.

Listening to his companion's brief explanation, Corvis was incredulous.

It seemed that every step was so easy, but he still didn't understand how that crude tool, which looked like a child's toy, could bind the soul and work.

If it was so easy, why couldn't those wizards in Atias' history who ventured deep into the cursed land and never returned make something so simple?

Restraining his curiosity and confusion, Corvis silently kept up with the pace, walking and stopping with Leon in the rugged forest.

When he really started to find the way, Leon found that this time was not as pleasant as last time.

Without griffins to crush the zombies they encountered, they had to deal with all the undead they accidentally met on the road by themselves.

Fortunately, with the assistance of Corvis's spells, Leon chopped down the enemies who were pulled off balance by the blond boy in the air, and he was able to escape danger all the way.

The most dangerous thing was encountering a zombie tiger that had been dead for who knows how many years, which almost scared the warhorse away.

Leon was not wearing plate armor and his head was exposed. Considering that the leather chain mail on his body could not withstand the power of the beast, he could not go up and show off his sliding ability. He just attracted the attention of the mindless undead from the front, allowing Corvis to find an opportunity from behind. He used the little magic power he had left to successfully link the halberd of the Flame Sun Guard high up, and then suddenly dropped from the sky, piercing the undead tiger's head and nailing it to the ground.

Miss Laura was right. The flaming halberd was extremely sharp, and it pierced through the tiger's head as smoothly as if it were cutting into tofu.

After solving this only obstacle that almost cost him his life, the rest of the journey was no longer so unlucky. As Leon watched the light in his hand grow brighter, his heart became more and more at ease.

Probably going out soon.
As the two of them trudged on, the trees around them became increasingly sparse.

Leon discovered that although he had not yet arrived in the outside world, the surrounding terrain was becoming easier to walk on.

Until they saw a neat road that was obviously built by humans appear in the mountains in front of them?!
Surprised, Leon waved the spirit lamp in his hand back and forth.

After repeatedly confirming that the light was indeed brightest in the direction of the road ahead, he suppressed the strangeness in his heart and continued on his way.

As he walked, he looked down at the stone path beneath his feet.

It was a much more solid and flat stone-paved road than the ones built by the Orland and Kantadar people, but the easier it was to walk on, the stronger the doubts in his mind became.

Ever since we set foot on this smooth road through the mountains and forests, the light of the pathfinder no longer changes as before.

It's as if the spiritual lamp points to wherever the road under your feet leads.

Finally, following the road, we arrived at the mouth of a valley that extended downward.

Leon looked up into the distance. Although there was no sound or wind, the scenery before him was still extremely shocking.

A dark storm like dark clouds rolled up on the sky that looked like rolling ink.

Directly below the bottomless eye of the storm is a valley lined with trees.

The winding river winds around the steep mountains. There is also a group of neat buildings like a small fortress located on the river bank and hillside.

And just at the innermost side of the small fortress, against the mountain, standing in the distance is a tall, angular spire, with its top pointing directly to the chaotic sky that is silently rolling in the sky.

"Leon, where is this?" Corvis looked at his companion with some uneasiness.

The young man had a vague feeling that the two of them not only failed to find a way out, but were getting closer and closer to the depths of the spiritual field.

"I see."

Leon sighed.

He glanced at the spiritual lamp in his hand that was so dazzling that he could hardly look directly at it, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

"Dude, you don't want to go out at all?!"

Resisting the urge to curse at the soul of the Yan Yang Guard, he calmed himself down and spoke to the existence in his heart.

"You actually knew this a long time ago, right? Miss Laura?"

".Hmm~ I guess so." Laura's voice did not deny it.

"So, you want to follow this soul's guidance and come here to take a look?"

Leon took a deep breath and said helplessly: "Why don't you tell me? Let me be mentally prepared. If you ask me, I will find it for you anyway."

"It was only halfway through that I realized that his soul was indeed not directed toward the outside world."

Laura said in a relaxed voice: "Don't worry, there is no danger here. It's just as I expected. This may be the safest place in this area.
Don't just stand there, go down and take a look, maybe it's easier to get out from there."

Leon was helpless. What else could he do? He owed the mage lady an unrepayable favor anyway, so he could only risk his life to accompany her.

He hoped that the other party would not make a wrong judgment.

Patting Corvis on the shoulder, Leon comforted his worried companion: "Don't panic, it's safe here."

"you sure?"

The blond boy looked up at the terrifying dark scene in the sky and was speechless for a moment.

Accompanying his skeptical companions, Leon led his horse along the road, crossed the stone arch bridge over the river, and came to the fortress wall.

It was not until I got closer that I realized that although the wall was not particularly tall, its surface was actually neat and smooth.

It seems as if the entire surface was shaped from a giant rock and is flawless.

Huge flags can be seen hanging on both sides of the city gate. From a distance, one can see the same circular white flame pattern on the red flag as on the chest of the Yanyang Guards.

Is it really you? Through the eyes of the person she was possessing, Laura stared blankly at the familiar mark on the flag.

(End of this chapter)