The story of the black silk female knight

Meanwhile, Tia manipulated the mage's hand to move the ice blocks that Valensa had shattered to other places, and soon dug a deep pit in the ice.

The two worked together seamlessly, digging nearly 20 meters down in less than three minutes, breaking through the top of a space beneath the ice, much like a tomb raider's tunnel that led directly into the burial chamber.

That is where the ghosts hide when they are in hibernation.

After exchanging a glance with Tia, Valensa took up her sword and shield, and leaped into the cave.

Tia then entered a battle state once again, surrounded by multiple golden magic cards, and took out her magic wand that could manipulate gravity and repulsion, standing guard above the cave entrance.

The space beneath the ice wasn't large. As soon as Valensa jumped down, she saw what appeared to be a dormant ghost.

This was the first time she had ever seen a living ghost.

From the outside, the Netherworld Ghosts are indeed no different from humans, except that their skin is slightly whiter and their muscles are slightly stronger, but not significantly. As long as they wear a little more clothing, they will not attract any attention in a crowd.

However, the way the Netherworld Ghost Clan looks when they are in hibernation is quite strange.

Their sleeping area doesn't resemble a bed at all; it's more like a large, foldable phone stand.

The ghost in front of Valensa was lying on the support with its legs together and its arms outstretched at about a 30-degree angle.

The hibernating ghosts do not breathe, nor can you hear their heartbeats. There is only a cable that looks like a mobile phone charging cable on their lower back, connecting them to the ground.

The information about this cable is clearly recorded in the records of the Netherworld Clan, but its specific purpose is still uncertain. The most common theory is that it is used to recharge the Netherworld Clan when they are in hibernation.

However, the Sage Tower disagreed with the idea of ​​charging, because it had conducted extensive research and experiments on this type of cable and found that its energy conductivity was extremely poor, making it unsuitable for charging.

However, the Sage's Tower only disagreed; it didn't reject the idea entirely. After all, many unknowns still exist on this continent, and perhaps some special energy requires such cables to transmit?

Valensa only paid attention to the cables for two or three seconds before turning her attention back to the demon in the middle of the ice chamber, wielding Moon Kiss to slash at the demon's legs.

Just as Moon Kiss was about to strike the Netherworld Demon's leg, the dormant demon suddenly awoke.

At this moment, the ghost's body had no time to react. It opened its eyes wide and glared fiercely at Valensa with its strange eyes that had no pupils but only whites.

pong!

Valensa suddenly felt as if an invisible hammer had struck her chest, a force that interrupted her charge, causing her sword, which was about to sever the legs of the demon, to ultimately miss its mark.

Actually, the invisible force of the ghost's push wasn't very strong. If it were anywhere else, Valensa could easily withstand it and continue swinging her sword by simply standing firm and adjusting her posture slightly.

But this is an ice field, and the ice chamber where the ghosts hibernate has a very smooth ice surface with a very low coefficient of friction, making it impossible to stand firmly.

This force was not enough to harm Valensa, but it was enough to push her away.

On that incredibly smooth ground, no matter how strong Valensa was, it was useless; she could only watch helplessly as she drifted further and further away from the ghost.

That wasn't all. After repelling Valensa with an invisible force similar to telekinesis, the ghost immediately jumped off its dormant shelf. The cable behind its waist also automatically disconnected, and it disappeared into the ice like a snake retreating into its lair.

Then the ghost forcefully hooked its hand, and the ice forming the wall behind Valensa began to deform, turning into icicles with extremely sharp tips, waiting for Valensa to crash into them and be pierced.

Valensa wasn't actually that afraid of the ice spikes; she was confident in her physical strength, and she also had divine particle armor.

However, the ice spike looked quite sharp, and Valensa, being a cautious person, ultimately chose a steady approach, turning around and swinging her sword to cut the ice spike in half.

But it was in that turn and swing of her sword that Valensa completely lost her initial advantage.

The ghost was like a ruthless fighting machine. Although it had just been forcibly awakened from its dormancy, it showed no panic and every counterattack was extremely precise.

The Ghost's tactics are very simple: use an invisible force to control Valenza, while manipulating the ice surface to transform into ice blades and ice spikes for attack.

Valensa wasn't afraid of the ice blades and ice spikes at all; she could easily shatter them with a single swing of her Moon Kiss sword. However, the invisible force posed a slight challenge for her.

The ice here is so slippery that no matter how Valensa tries to improve her grip, she gets shoved against the wall whenever she's hit by an invisible force.

Valensa cannot fly yet. Even if she could run at supersonic speeds, she would need a surface to run on. Right now, she can't run at all and can't get close to the ghoul.

In a normal Ghost Hunting Team, in addition to the 2-3 Lighthouse-level warriors who are the main force, some Pearl-level support is also needed to deal with this situation.

The invisible pushing force of the Netherworld Demon, similar to telekinesis, is quite troublesome on the ice, but it is not the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei that has no blind spots.

As long as multiple people spread out and continuously harass and attack from different angles, the agile warriors who are the main force will eventually be able to seize the opportunity to render the Netherworld incapable of moving.

Valensa was now all alone, and it was her first time fighting a ghost in real combat. Facing the ghost's extremely powerful one-on-one combat style, she was indeed struggling for a while.

However, Valensa is a woman who has experienced many great things. She has even fought against the Stars while still a Pearl, so this kind of hard-fought battle is nothing to her.

She quickly adapted to the Netherworld's attack methods, and instead of resisting the invisible force that pinned her to the ice wall, she threw out the alloy round shield, which transformed into six floating blades in mid-air, attacking the Netherworld from different directions.

These floating blades alone are certainly not enough, because they are too light. Every time they get within about 3 meters of the Netherworld Ghost, they are blasted away by an invisible force that is like telekinesis.

However, every time the floating blade was knocked away, Valensa could clearly feel that the invisible force pressing her against the wall would weaken a little.

This once again proves the truth of her conjecture and the relevant information—the invisible thrust of the Netherworld Clan, which is similar to telekinesis, has a power limit, and the method of attacking from different angles is very effective!

Unfortunately, Valensa only had six floating blades, which was still a bit too few. If she had twice as many, she was confident that she could render the Netherworld incapable of moving with just the floating blades.

Now... we have to use other methods.

While continuing to slash at the ice spikes that had deformed from the ice wall, Valensa controlled six floating blades to relentlessly attack the Netherworld Ghost.

Although each of Valensa's attacks was deflected by an invisible force, she didn't seem to care, as if she intended to wage a war of attrition against the Ghost.

However, when she was shattering those ice spikes, Valensa held the sword with her left hand, while her right hand remained hanging down, quietly gathering power.

As the Holy Light and the power of the mind mixed in a ratio of 100:42, an even more powerful and blazing divine power of the Sunfire began to gather at the fingertips of Valensa's right hand.

Such an obvious mobilization of energy could not possibly escape the notice of that underworld ghost.

The Ghost of the Underworld definitely wanted to interrupt Valensa's power-up, but unfortunately, the difference in their strength was too great. The Ghost of the Underworld was already barely managing to suppress Valensa as it was now, and it was impossible to interrupt Valensa's power-up.

As an intelligent race, the Netherworld would certainly not sit idly by and wait for its demise. It reduced the pressure of that invisible force on Valensa once again, and gathered the saved energy together, seemingly preparing some means to defend against the Sunfire Ray.

Both sides had their own calculations, and two or three more minutes passed before Valensa suddenly erupted. Ignoring the ice spikes that were piercing her back after the ice wall behind her deformed, she threw the Moon Kiss in her left hand directly at the Ghost.

The ice spike failed to pierce the divine particle armor, but it still made Valensa quite uncomfortable, causing her to throw the Moon Kiss slightly off-target. The Moon Kiss missed the Netherworld Ghost and flew past it about 1 meter away.

This made Valencia show an annoyed expression, and then she looked like she was about to fight to the death, raising her right hand and pointing at the Netherworld, unleashing the Sunfire Ray that she had been charging up.

Even though the ghost hadn't shown any expression the whole time, like a fighting machine, it finally couldn't help but exude a smug aura.

It seemed to think that Valencia had misjudged the situation and that it was certain to win.

As a high-level divine technique that most priests can only practice at the Shining rank, the power of the Sunfire Ray is undeniable.

Even though it's nearly 40% weaker in the icy plains where it doesn't have the protection of the Sun Goddess, a direct hit is still enough to instantly kill a Lighthouse-level cultivator.

Ordinary lighthouse-level cultivators, whether using armor for warriors or various shield spells for spellcasters, would absolutely be unable to withstand the Sunfire Ray.

However, the reason why the Netherworld Ghost Clan is considered by some to be a Radiant-rank existence is not only because of their innate ability to instantly transform creatures within range into undead. They also have other methods that are much more powerful than ordinary Lighthouse-rank beings.

For example, the ghost that Valensa was facing suddenly created something resembling a small round mirror in mid-air about 5 meters in front of her.

The small round mirror wasn't facing Valensa directly, but rather at a certain angle, catching the solar flare that Valensa unleashed.

The ray of sunlight that was supposed to hit the ghost split into two in mid-air.

One of the rays was reflected by the small round mirror. By adjusting the angle of incidence, the Netherworld Ghost made the small round mirror withstand the power of the Sunfire Ray, reflecting a portion of the Sunfire Ray's power away... Overall, the angle of attack was changed by less than 30 degrees, but it was enough to make the Sunfire Ray avoid the Netherworld Ghost and hit the ice wall behind him.

The other beam of sunlight, though it pierced through the small round mirror, also refracted like sunlight passing through glass... The angle of change was not significant, but it was enough to cause the original target to be lost.

Valencia's long-awaited comeback attempt seems to have been thwarted.

But Valencia showed no sign of frustration, only a hint of surprise... She had expected that her solar flare would be blocked by the Netherworld Ghost, but she hadn't anticipated that the Netherworld Ghost's method would be so ingenious.

But it doesn't matter anymore. The small round mirror that appeared out of thin air was indeed ingenious, but it also consumed a lot of the power of the Netherworld Clan. At this moment, the invisible force suppressing Valensa has been reduced to the minimum.

Normally, a paladin using a Sunfire Ray wouldn't be able to move quickly, let alone Valensa who was being pushed down by an invisible force.

But with a clang from the ice chamber, the Moon Kiss, which Valensa had previously thrown off course, collided with the floating blade behind the Demon King and bounced back precisely towards him.

The Ghost immediately tried to use an invisible force to push Moon Kiss away, but the attacks of the other floating blades suddenly became extremely fierce. Valensa even used her combat boots to push off the wall behind her, using the reaction force to rush towards the Ghost, and she also had another sword in her hand.

Faced with so many attacks, the Netherworld Ghost reacted quickly and made what is, in terms of common sense, the most correct judgment.

It focused most of its power back on Valenza, pressing her back against the ice wall, while using the remaining power to defend against the incredibly agile floating blades in the air.

As for the Moon Kiss, which bounced back after only hitting the floating blade in mid-air, the Ghost chose to move its body to dodge... After all, the rebound force was not great, and the Moon Kiss was relatively slow, making it the easiest to dodge.

Just as Moon Kiss was less than a meter away from the Netherworld Demon and was about to fly past it, the moonlight on the blade suddenly burst into bright light and transformed into a human shape.

One of Moon Kiss's three inherent skills is the Exquisite Demon Sword.

Valensa, who had been pinned to the ice wall, vanished instantly and reappeared beside the Ghost. Having anticipated this, she gripped Moon Kiss and unleashed more than ten consecutive sword strikes.

The Netherworld Ghost tried its best to defend, but firstly, it was caught off guard, and secondly, its strength and speed were far inferior to Valensa's after her mental power was enhanced. Its all-out defense was just a futile struggle.

Valensa remembered the strategy for defeating the Netherworld Demon summarized by her predecessors. Instead of attacking the head and heart, she slashed at the joints of the Netherworld Demon's limbs, severing both legs and arms in one fell swoop, rendering the Netherworld Demon completely incapacitated and causing it to collapse.

The strategies summarized by countless predecessors with their lives are quite useful. After its limbs were severed, the ghost not only completely lost its ability to move, but it also could not activate that invisible thrust. Now, it can only stare at Valensa helplessly.

Valensa didn't rush to continue, but instead took a closer look at the cross-sections of the ghost's limbs.

Yes, as expected, compared to ordinary creatures, the life form of the Netherworld Ghost race is closer to that of the undead, but it is not an undead at all.

There was no blood on the cut surface of the smooth limbs, and no muscles or bones were visible. Instead, it looked a bit like a cut mushroom, with many things that looked like mycelium wriggling wildly at the cut.

Valensa had no doubt that as long as she gently put the severed limbs of the Netherworld Clan back together, it wouldn't be long before it could reattach itself.

Unfortunately, those who hunt ghosts never give them that chance.

Normally, the hunter of the Netherworld should take out a heavy weapon like a sledgehammer at this point and smash the Netherworld's body to kill it completely.

Valensa was worried that smashing the ghost to death first would damage its spinal cord, so she didn't rush to take out the large iron hammer she had bought earlier. Instead, she used her toes to turn the ghost over, and then gently pierced the ghost's nape with her Moon Kiss, cutting it open from the back of its neck and exposing its spinal cord.

Valensa then took out a pair of long-sleeved white gloves from her storage space and put them on before reaching into the ghost's body, grasping the spinal cord, and pulling hard.

A section of bone structure, about 40 centimeters long and resembling a centipede, was pulled directly from the ghost's body by Valensa.

"Okay, we've got the first one. Now we just need to collect about four more, and we can craft Elser's Frostmourne..."

Valensa held the spinal cord up to her eyes for a brief examination. Once she confirmed that it was mostly intact, she breathed a sigh of relief and carefully put the spinal cord away, muttering to herself as she did so.

After collecting the bone marrow, Valensa took out the large hammer she had bought before entering the ice field, intending to smash the ghost's body and kill it completely.

Just as Valensa was about to make her move, she discovered that the ghost on the ground had completely lost its life force, and even the strange, mycelium-like things at the cuts on its body were no longer moving.

Valensa thought for a moment, but instead of immediately striking, she retrieved the severed limbs of the ghost and pieced them back together at the break, then continued to observe.

Sure enough, the severed limb, which the records indicated could be pieced back together in less than two minutes, now shows no sign of healing whatsoever... This ghost is truly dead.

Chapters 172-174 The Mysterious Anime Girl

Valensa wasn't particularly surprised to see the completely dead ghost before her.

When Friggia was studying the corpses of the Netherworld Clan, she said that the essence of a Netherworld Clan was almost entirely concentrated in its spinal cord, which was roughly equivalent to the CPU and power supply in a computer.

Now that Valensa has roughly ripped out this spinal cord, it's perfectly reasonable for the ghost to be completely dead.

only……

This is clearly not a difficult question to verify. The Sage Tower has been studying the Netherworld for so long, it must have discovered this long ago.

The Netherworld Demon is not without weaknesses, but its weakness is not its head or heart, but its spinal cord. Destroying or removing the spinal cord can also kill the Netherworld Demon in one blow.

If the hunters of the Netherworld knew this, would they increase their hunting efficiency?

Valensa thought about it carefully and realized that it might not be so.

Unless it's a backstab attack, it's much harder to destroy the spinal cord from the front than to get a headshot or a heart shot. It's not as good as the current mainstream tactic of cutting first and then smashing.

This also helps to conceal the fact that the spinal cord is a crucial part of the Netherworld Clan, preventing unscrupulous individuals from secretly collecting the spinal cords of the Netherworld Clan to cause trouble.

Having figured this out, Valensa didn't linger any longer. After burning the ghost's corpse with holy flames, she jumped out of the ice cave and returned to the ground.

"Is it done?"

Tia, who had been guarding the cave entrance, quickly came over and asked.

"It's done."

Valensa first smiled and nodded to Tia, then loudly called out to Winston and his two sons, who were deliberately keeping their backs to avoid suspicion, saying that the ghosts here had been dealt with and they could move on to the next one.

Old Winston looked distressed, his skin wrinkled up, making him appear several years older.

He sighed inwardly for a while, but finally couldn't help himself and tentatively asked:

"Did the Holy Knight smash the corpse of that Netherworld Clan member?"

“I burned it with holy flames.”

Valensa raised an eyebrow:

"Don't worry, I burned it very cleanly, there's nothing left."