Chapter 297: Physical Exorcism (Part 2)
Soon, the Witcher understood what the sound was. A living corpse of a knight, identical to the one in the portrait and clad in ornate armor, shambled into the Witcher's line of sight.
The grating noise was caused by the knight's halberd, which he was dragging along the floor. In his other hand, he held a tower shield as tall as a man. The knight's eyes were gone, replaced by two balls of ghostly fire.
"Intruder! You dare trespass into my family's castle? This is your death!" The thundering roar shook the entire keep, and dust that had been gathering on the ceiling for ages rained down.
A silver streak sliced through the air as Lynn launched the first attack.
Clang!
His Grandmaster silver sword struck the tower shield, sending a shower of sparks flying. The living corpse of the knight used the shield to push the silver sword aside, then swung his halberd in a vicious stab.
Normally, no one could wield a huge tower shield and a massive halberd with one hand, but the living corpse's strength was monstrous. It could use both at the same time, and its speed was incredibly fast.
Lynn pulled his silver sword back and used the blade to block the incoming halberd.
DANG!
A shockwave of air burst from the weapons. Lynn's body was instantly sent flying backward, his boots carving two long grooves in the wooden floor, sending wood chips flying everywhere. He stopped only when he reached the broken staircase.
A gust of wind rushed over his head. Looking up, Lynn saw the living corpse of the knight airborne, its halberd pulled back behind its head.
Instinctively, Lynn dodged to the side with a roll. The halberd, now a blur, smashed through the floor. Dust flew everywhere.
An Aard Sign blew the dust away. The living corpse again held up the tower shield. But Lynn, who had charged forward, didn't swing his silver sword. Instead, he jumped onto the tower shield, and with a powerful leap, launched himself into the air.
He spun in mid-air and flipped head-over-heels, landing behind the living corpse. A torrent of fire burst from his palm, instantly setting the knight ablaze. The living corpse no longer looked so imposing and began to flail wildly.
Lynn landed lightly in a half-crouch and charged forward again. He was impervious to the flames. He thrust his Grandmaster silver sword into the gaps in the armor at the knight's neck.
The feel of the weapon told the Witcher he had hit his target, and with an expressionless face, he poured all of his strength into his hands. With a savage pull to the side, Thwack!
The sound of flesh being torn rang out, and a head rolled onto the floor. The headless body stopped flailing, and Lynn stepped aside. The headless corpse of the knight crashed heavily to the ground.
Lynn glanced at the living corpse on the floor, amazed. The creature was still not dead, even after its head had been cut off. He knew this because he hadn't absorbed any "experience" from the living corpse. But it didn't matter. Judging from the living corpse's state, without its head, it was as good as defeated. He could simply hack it to pieces and then burn it with Igni. He was sure that would exorcise the spirit.
But at that moment, an ear-piercing wail sounded from behind him. His body tensed up instinctively. Without a second thought, he rolled to the side. A ghost shot past him, its sharp claws scraping against his Quen shield, sending up a shower of sparks. If Lynn's mastery of Signs hadn't improved, the Quen shield would have shattered instantly.
After rolling away, Lynn finally got a clear look at the ghost. It was the wraith of the lady he had seen when he first entered the keep. It flew to the headless corpse of the knight, tenderly caressed the knight, and then, like a vicious beast, turned its head and snarled menacingly at the Witcher.
A cone-shaped sound wave burst from its mouth. This was no ordinary roar; an average person would have been left dazed and disoriented by this level of aural assault.
"Igni." A fierce stream of fire shot from Lynn's palm, condensing into a red spear. It pierced through the nearly transparent sound wave attack and plunged into the lady wraith's mouth.
The sound wave attack instantly ceased, replaced by a wail and a mouthful of flames. He had to strike while the iron was hot. Lynn pushed off the floor with his foot, and with a gust of wind, he shot toward the lady wraith like a bolt of lightning.
But a green light suddenly flashed around the lady wraith. His Grandmaster silver sword passed right through the wraith's body without any resistance, as if he were slicing through air. The next moment, the lady wraith and the living corpse disappeared in a flash of green light.
His medallion finally calmed down, and Lynn used his Witcher senses to check his surroundings, confirming that the lady wraith had truly left before he sheathed his silver sword. He didn't continue the pursuit. Instead, he sat down and began to meditate.
The real world wasn't a game. In a game, you could instantly recover your stamina and mana just by not using Signs for a while. And health? Just drink a potion or eat some bread. But in the real world, stamina and mana didn't recover so quickly.
Lynn wasn't weak by any means, but there could be more boss battles ahead. He needed to be in top form. Who would ever go into a boss fight with low health?
Fortunately, the Lynn of today was not the same as the one who had just come down from Kaer Morhen. The previous battle was fierce, but with his current physical prowess, he only needed a few minutes of meditation to fully restore his stamina and mana.
He drank a new round of potions to re-apply his buffs, then stood up and began to search for the trail of the lady wraith and the living corpse. Based on the knowledge he had learned at Kaer Morhen, he knew that the specters who teleported away were still in the castle. A wraith can only haunt a limited area around its burial ground.
Lynn began to search the entire keep. From time to time, more lantern specters appeared, but these low-level wraiths barely caused him any trouble, only consuming a bit of his stamina and mana.
After spending about an hour meticulously searching the second and third floors, he still hadn't found the lady wraith or the living corpse. That left only two possibilities: either they had returned to the first floor or they had gone up to the rooftop.
Following the principle of "up before down," Lynn decided to check the rooftop first. If they weren't there, he would go back to the first floor.
(End of Chapter)
...................
AN: Check out my P@treon For +120 extra chapters.
Thank You For your Support!!
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God