Fierce Battle with the Headless Knight

"Advanced Battle Qi!" Nalant roared as he ran. Battle Qi suddenly flared along his sword, covering it in a faint red glow.

Wielding the sword coated in Battle Qi light, Nalant swung directly at the Hellhound.

Seeing Nalant charging fiercely at it, the Hellhound showed no fear. Its hind legs kicked off the ground, launching its calf-sized body into the air as it pounced at Nalant with a foul, bloody stench pouring from its maw.

"Die!" Though it was his first life-and-death battle, the power brought by his formidable Battle Qi left Nalant unafraid. Just as the Hellhound was about to reach him, he changed his sword slash into a thrust, aiming straight at the airborne beast.

Pfft!

The Battle Qi-coated sword pierced directly into the Hellhound's body.

"Roar!"

The sword sank deep into the Hellhound's body. It howled in pain, but to Nalant's surprise, the strike hadn't severely wounded it. Instead, it had stirred up its ferocity.

The Hellhound twisted its body, its two sharp foreclaws swiping at Nalant's face.

"Such vitality!" Too surprised to think further, Nalant abandoned his sword and raised the small round shield on his left wrist to block.

Thud!

With a dull impact, Nalant was hurled several meters away by the tremendous force.

When he came to his senses and looked at his left hand, the small round shield that had been fastened to his wrist was already smashed to pieces, its iron plating and wooden splinters scattered across the ground.

"Roar!" The Hellhound remained just as vicious after that attack. It roared and pounced at Nalant again.

Having only just gotten to his feet, Nalant saw it lunging at him once more. His attention fell on the sword embedded in its neck, and he instantly made a risky decision.

The original owner hadn't truly been useless. On the contrary, he had possessed decent learning ability and talent. Thanks to the combat skills he had learned in the past, Nalant wasn't exactly a complete novice at fighting.

"My lord, be careful!" Quick and the others caught sight of Nalant's situation from the corners of their eyes and cried out nervously.

But just when they thought their lord was in danger, Nalant merely crouched down, narrowly dodging the Hellhound's attack. In the next instant, he gripped the hilt of the sword lodged in its throat.

Riiip!

The motion flowed without pause. As a sound like a torn sack rang across the battlefield, the Hellhound's entire lower abdomen was sliced open.

Thud!

When the Hellhound hit the ground again, it could no longer stand. Its entire body crashed heavily onto the earth.

"My lord is mighty!" Only then did the guards who had witnessed everything react, cheering at their lord's astonishing feat.

"Focus on the battle!" Nalant didn't give the guards a friendly look in response to their flattery. A single lapse right now could cost them their lives.

The guards shrank back at his words and focused on their own enemies. Still, with the support and cover of Vivian, the powerful archer, and ten Longbowmen, today's battle wasn't particularly dangerous. It was even much easier than they had imagined.

After reprimanding the guards, Nalant picked up his sword and walked over to the Hellhound, which was still baring its fangs on the ground, unwilling to die.

Pfft!

The sword plunged straight into the Hellhound's eye socket, finally finishing off the fearlessly vicious creature.

"Whew, no wonder people fear Dark Creatures. Not only are these things powerful and fearless of death, their vitality is terrifying too!"

The Hellhound had only displayed a small fraction of its strength. If it had been given a few more minutes to recover, Nalant felt that he truly might not have been its match. No wonder the previous barons had all been wiped out.

Clop, clop!

Before Nalant could relax for long, hoofbeats suddenly rang out beside him.

Nalant's expression changed, and he immediately grew solemn. "The most troublesome one tonight is here!"

The Headless Knight was the strongest among Second-Tier Dark Creatures. Headless Knights were usually clad in iron armor, and without a head—their greatest weakness—they were practically iron cans.

Soon, the Headless Knight entered Nalant's field of vision.

It wore heavy knight armor that covered its entire body and rode a deathly warhorse over two meters tall. In its hand was a heavy double-bladed battle axe weighing at least dozens of pounds. With such a setup, even a mid-level Bronze Knight would struggle against it, let alone an Initial Bronze Knight.

The guards had been brimming with morale, but at the sight of the Headless Knight, every one of them couldn't help shivering.

"Hey, you headless bastard! Over here!" But since Nalant had Nightmare Precognition, he had naturally made preparations in advance for this most difficult boss.

The Headless Knight sensed Nalant's shout and felt the Battle Qi on him. The next moment, it charged straight toward him.

"Damn, it's so fast!" Though he had mentally prepared himself, the Headless Knight's full-speed charge still startled Nalant. Without another word, he turned and fled.

"Don't follow me! Keep fighting!" Even as he ran, Nalant specifically gave the order, worried that his men would get hurt.

Clop, clop!

Then, with the Death Knight pursuing him, Nalant ran toward the open fields to the side.

Naturally, two legs couldn't outrun a warhorse charging at full speed. Out in the open field, the Headless Knight grew faster and faster, steadily closing the distance between itself and Nalant.

Five meters, four meters, three meters, two meters...

The next instant, the Death Knight's heavy battle axe was raised high. Its blade gave off a cold, ghostly gleam beneath the moonlight, then came crashing down toward the back of Nalant's head.

Almost! Almost! Listening to the sound of the axe blade tearing through the air above him, Nalant's heart pounded wildly, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

"Now!" At that critical moment, Nalant bellowed and threw himself toward the ground without hesitation.

Screech!

At that moment, the Headless Knight's axe brushed right past Nalant's helmet. Nalant could even hear the teeth-grinding scrape of metal against metal.

"Fall!"

Nalant hadn't taken such a risk without reason. The instant he fell, the Death Knight's warhorse suddenly stumbled. Its front hooves seemed to be tugged by some force and lost their balance, and the entire horse rolled over and crashed to the ground.

"Let's see how arrogant you can be now!" Nalant sprang to his feet and rushed toward the Headless Knight, which had toppled to the ground.

Before nightfall, Nalant had ordered Vivian and the others to dig a large number of horse traps nearby. Though the Headless Knight was a Dark Creature, it wasn't a ghost, so the traps worked just as well on it.

"Advanced Battle Qi Slash!" Nalant rushed up to the Headless Knight and immediately swung his sword.

Clang!

The Headless Knight truly was powerful. Though Nalant had moved quickly enough, it still raised its axe and blocked the attack.

But Nalant had expected this. After his attack was blocked, he didn't stop. Instead, he drove a full-force kick into the handle of the Headless Knight's battle axe.

Bang!

The Headless Knight had already been sitting on the ground. Kicked hard by Nalant, it staggered and toppled backward.

"Now, die!"

The instant the Death Knight fell onto its back, Nalant disregarded all appearances and threw himself onto it. He then aimed his sword at its neck, the only place unprotected by armor.

Then he drove it down with all his strength.

Pfft!

The sword plunged down from above, piercing directly into the Headless Knight's chest cavity.

Roar!

The Headless Knight had no head and couldn't make a sound, but its deathly warhorse let out a mournful cry. Deathly energy then began to spill from its body.

After only three to five seconds, the Headless Knight and its warhorse turned into white bones, leaving not even flesh behind.

"Finally dealt with it!" After confirming the Headless Knight was dead, Nalant lay flat on the ground, gasping for air.

Defeating the Hellhound and Headless Knight tonight had drained every last bit of his energy.