"Find an opportunity to disable the Headless Knight’s hands. Even if he can recover, if his weapon is taken, could he conjure a new one out of thin air?"
Riding horses was feasible in the forest, but the terrain was not suited for charging. The Headless Knight’s horse was no ordinary steed, and Zheng Yichen, standing on higher ground, still couldn’t intercept the Knight’s charge.
The horse simply disregarded certain terrains as it charged up, its sword ablaze with a ghostly green fire, chopping at Zheng Yichen’s neck. In life, the Knight had been a warrior with considerable sword skills, which he retained even after death.
Compared to Zheng Yichen, who only knew how to thrust with pole arms, the Knight’s skills were far superior. Zheng Yichen’s advantage was his weapon’s reach.
He struck first before the Headless Knight could reach him. However, this time the Knight came prepared, leaning back during the charge to dodge the attack. Lacking a head, his evasion was even quicker.
Having dodged Zheng Yichen’s assault, the Knight closed the distance between them. Zheng Yichen narrowly avoided the sword, which, burning with a ghostly green flame, cut into a thick tree, leaving behind a deep gash.
The scratch on the tree was immediately charred, emitting a stench of singed flesh.
"Hmm?" Zheng Yichen looked at the tree, puzzled, ignoring the soreness in his neck. He thrust his black spear into the tree, which began to bleed as it was pierced.
Feeling the feedback from the black spear, Zheng Yichen suddenly lost interest in the Headless Knight. No, his sword was still cool—Zheng Yichen wanted it nonetheless.
First, he’d deal with the Headless Knight.
Zheng Yichen circled the Tree of Death with the Knight, using his spear’s long reach to attack the horse several times. The feedback was the same as striking the Knight directly, like a cup of water with a bit of sugar dissolved in it. He didn’t want the water; he wanted the sugar.
The increasingly enraged Headless Knight rode his horse straight up to the high ground where the Tree of Death stood, ’staring’ at Zheng Yichen, before leaping down. The sword carved a mark in the earth, igniting the dry leaves with its ghostly green flames, which quickly spread to the Tree of Death.
Seeing this, Zheng Yichen’s eyes twitched. Setting the forest on fire... oh, it’s not a problem in this world.
The spreading ghostly green flames automatically veered away when approaching Katrina and the others, encircling them in a ring. Katrina’s refuge magic array formation proved effective.
Moreover, the ghostly green flames didn’t truly ignite the trees; they simply set the dried leaves ablaze.
Zheng Yichen couldn’t fly, so faced with this fiery onslaught, he had no choice but to retreat to the protection of the magic array formation. Katrina’s white horse seemed very agitated at this point. Zheng Yichen glanced at the backpack hanging on the saddle, then looked away.
His weapons were on him, and there was nothing left in the backpack that could help in the current situation.
"The Headless Knight possesses hellish powers; the human race simply cannot defeat him," the Forest Witch said, observing the surrounding flames. Katrina’s refuge magic was useful, but that was all; magic had its limits, and the refuge magic array formation would eventually fail.
Zheng Yichen took off his shirt and glanced at the Headless Knight, who was lingering around the refuge magic array formation. The Knight’s leap and fiery sword strike looked impressive, but even without Katrina’s refuge magic, the fire was spreading slowly enough for him to escape its range. He didn’t believe the flames could continue to spread throughout the entire forest.
The Headless Knight couldn’t come in, but Zheng Yichen had a new idea, "As long as you draw the magic array formation, your magic will work, right?"
"One also needs to master the corresponding magic, but the array formation is more important," Katrina quickly nodded in response.
"Then that’s settled." Zheng Yichen took out a crayon from his backpack. This item was for marking trees in the forest, leaving marks that were difficult to erase or wash away by the rain: "Draw a refuge magic array formation on my back."
The Forest Witch was at a loss for words. Could this be done? Well, if someone was able to confront the Headless Knight head-on, this seemed to be without any issue.
Katrina looked nervously at the pacing Headless Knight, took the crayon from Zheng Yichen, and started to draw the refuge magic array formation on his back.
Seeing this, the Headless Knight became even more agitated, the agitation transmitting to his spectral horse. The horse’s hooves restlessly stomped on the ground, scattering the pale green flames around, and the Headless Knight backed up a distance on his horse, picked up a tree branch, and threw it at Zheng Yichen as if it were a projectile.
The tree branch and the tip of the black spear collided; the fragile branch instantly shattered. The Headless Knight broke off another new branch to throw, all of which Zheng Yichen successfully intercepted, affecting Katrina’s speed in drawing the array formation.
This young girl’s forehead was sweaty with nervousness, while Zheng Yichen felt his arms growing uncomfortable from the impact of the branches; the Headless Knight’s strength was immense.
"Try this." As the Headless Knight reached for a new branch, Zheng Yichen took out his hand cannon and fired at the Headless Knight. Confronted with the incoming small grenade, the Headless Knight slashed at it with his sword, and the explosion’s blaze engulfed him.
Soon the figure of the Headless Knight reappeared, with traces of scorch marks remaining on his body, which quickly extinguished.
"It’s done." Looking at the completed refuge magic array formation on Zheng Yichen’s back, Katrina sighed in relief. Whenever Zheng Yichen made a big movement, she had to stop for fear of making a mistake, but now the magic array formation was finally complete.
Zheng Yichen immediately went to the area covered in pale green flames, which dispersed around him as if driven away.
The area of dispersal was not as large as the magic array formation Katrina drew on the ground, but it was enough for Zheng Yichen.
The long spear stabbed into the knee of the horse’s leg, causing the black horse to stumble and its body to lean to the side, which also affected the Headless Knight on its back. Zheng Yichen took the opportunity to pull out the one-horned mule’s tongue and whipped the air viciously with it.
A hissing sound arose... The Headless Knight was unmoved.
"Right, he has no head!" Without a head, naturally, there was no effect from spiritual attacks. Zheng Yichen resolutely gave up on this ineffective support. The Headless Knight rolled nimbly on the ground, decisively abandoning his mount to opt for ground combat.
Riding was too difficult to maneuver in such an environment, whereas combat on the ground provided an advantage. However, as he approached Zheng Yichen, the Headless Knight retreated quickly, as if allergic, taking two steps back. The power associated with the refuge magic array formation on Zheng Yichen’s body made him very uncomfortable.
The refuge magic had a dispelling power; coming too close to Zheng Yichen gave the Headless Knight a feeling of being driven back to Hell.