Lhutel the Headless

The slime carried a nauseating stench of rot and acid.

At the same time, Xia Tong suddenly lost control of his body, becoming completely rigid.

The Cemetery Shade's huge, insect-like mandibles suddenly opened, releasing a hair-raising shriek.

Then, its figure vanished into thin air once more.

When it reappeared, it was pressed directly against Xia Tong's face.

Its withered hands clutched tightly at Xia Tong's shoulders.

Its ferocious, mantis-like mandibles tore viciously toward Xia Tong.

"Fuck! Aaaah!"

Xia Tong cursed inwardly, but at the same time, he could not stop himself from howling in pain!

This was different from a knife wound, a sword wound, or being blasted by Glintstone Sorcery. This was the pain of being eaten alive!

At the same time, three Stray Wolves pounced madly forward and tore at the Cemetery Shade's hind legs.

The Cemetery Shade was extremely bizarre. Whenever it attacked, it took on a physical form, but whenever it wanted to evade or launch a sneak attack, it turned into smoke.

The Fanged Imp also nimbly leaped onto the Cemetery Shade's body, bringing its Forked Hatchet straight down.

But the Cemetery Shade was simply too fast. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye.

Xia Tong felt dizzy for a moment.

This was not the side effect of overusing mental power, but severe hypoxia and blood loss caused by pressure on his carotid artery.

He could even hear the sizzling sound of the Cemetery Shade lying against the flesh of his shoulder, greedily sucking his blood.

"Bang!"

With a dull impact, the Cemetery Shade clinging to Xia Tong was violently rammed away.

It was the Godrick Soldier holding the greatshield!

At the same time, Kulala the jellyfish spewed out a fierce mass of venom from her enormous gelatinous body at the critical moment, forcibly driving back the enemy and preventing the Cemetery Shade from launching another surprise attack.

Wounded, the Cemetery Shade turned into smoke again and fled into the distant darkness.

"Gulp, gulp."

Xia Tong hurriedly broke free from the spiderweb-like slime, then grabbed the Crimson Tear Flask and took two huge gulps.

He wiped away the dense beads of sweat that had already seeped across his forehead.

As the medicine entered his stomach, he instantly felt alive again.

Inside the horrific bloody hole in his shoulder, countless granulations grew wildly under the stimulation of the medicine, slowly closing the wound.

"Hiss—"

Xia Tong could not help glancing sideways, then sharply sucked in a breath.

A bloody hole as thick as a wrist had already been bitten into his shoulder, exposing even his shoulder blade.

Xia Tong temporarily set the Shield of the Guilty on the ground, then drew the Demi-Human Queen's Staff from his back.

The glintstone at the top of the staff glimmered faintly, poised to strike.

"Kulala, stay by my side."

Xia Tong called out to her.

As long as Kulala the jellyfish remained beside him, she could take defensive action in time and prevent another near-instant kill like before.

At this moment, Xia Tong's left shoulder was injured, making it inconvenient for him to hold a shield, so he switched to a staff in his left hand while still holding the Lordsworn's Straight Sword in his right.

He moved his left shoulder and found it was still somewhat stiff.

The Crimson Tear Flask's life-giving tears could not restore a wound instantly. They only accelerated healing; complete recovery still required time.

Fortunately, the Cemetery Shade had not emerged from the previous battle unscathed.

Its pitch-black, smoke-like body had visibly dimmed.

As a veteran Spirit Ashes player of Elden Ring, Xia Tong knew this opponent was the classic type: high attack, low defense.

He could not drag this out any longer. He had to end the battle quickly.

Xia Tong stared fixedly at the Cemetery Shade's position.

Suddenly, the Cemetery Shade vanished into thin air again, as if it had completely dissolved into the air.

Immediately afterward, Xia Tong felt a bone-chilling cold rise from the back of his neck.

Too fast!

Xia Tong rolled forward awkwardly, barely avoiding a flurry of slashes carrying a bleeding curse.

The instant they widened the distance, the Godrick Soldier Xia Tong had summoned earlier moved.

The soldier wielding the tower shield did not hesitate at all. He raised his heavy shield and charged fiercely into the black shadow.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, the Cemetery Shade's movement was interrupted for an instant.

Meanwhile, the crossbowman in the distance knelt on one knee and fired a bolt that struck the shade precisely in the shoulder, interrupting the green immobilizing slime it was about to release again.

An opportunity!

Instead of retreating, Xia Tong slid forward and charged to the shade's flank.

He shoved the tip of his staff almost directly against the Cemetery Shade's chest.

"Crystal Barrage!"

The magic power he had stored for so long erupted in an instant.

This time, it did not form elegant projectiles.

Violent magic transformed into countless sharp blue glintstone shards, exploding at point-blank range like a shotgun blast.

"Screee—!!"

The Cemetery Shade let out a scream like an insect being crushed underfoot.

Its fragile body could not withstand such close-range magical bombardment. Its ghostly movements instantly froze, and its entire body arched backward.

The three Stray Wolves seized the chance, pouncing viciously to bite it and pin it to the ground.

Taking advantage of this, Xia Tong pressed his staff against its lower back once more.

He unleashed Crystal Barrage again!

"Pssh—"

This time, dozens of sharp glintstone shards pierced through its already dimming body without resistance.

The mass of black matter roiled violently amid its screams, finally turning into a puddle of black ash that dispersed into the tomb's cold air.

A large mass of Runes surged from where the black shadow had vanished and flowed into Xia Tong's body.

Two thousand two hundred points!

"Clatter."

Something fell from the black ash.

Xia Tong walked over and picked it up.

It was an irregular sphere, like a soul crystal formed when a dead person's ashes naturally collapsed and fused under immense pressure.

It emitted a faint, cold pale light in the dim tomb.

Flickering lights and shadows flowed faintly within it, slowly moving and turning like smoke trapped inside amber.

In a daze, that smoke seemed to gather into the outline of a miniature humanoid figure.

It was a knight clad in heavy armor and holding a greatshield painted with an eclipse pattern.

Most chilling of all, the phantom knight had no head.

Lhutel the Headless!

Xia Tong was exceptionally excited upon seeing these Spirit Ashes.

Lhutel the Headless had once been the commander of the Mausoleum Knight Order.

These were legendary Spirit Ashes.

They were also the first legendary Spirit Ashes Xia Tong had obtained so far.

In order to continue protecting their lord in the world after death, Lhutel and her Mausoleum Knight Order carried out a terrifying curse ritual:

They willingly cut off their own heads.

In the setting of the Lands Between, being headless meant being unable to return to the Erdtree.

Through this act of self-mutilation, they forcibly kept their souls on the land through a curse, becoming eternal ghosts.

All so they could wait for the awakening of a lord who might never be resurrected.

If one day the Soulless Demigod within the mausoleum returned to the world, Lhutel could return once more as a hero.

Xia Tong carefully put away the Spirit Ashes and placed them in a separate clay jar.

Then, with his Spirit Ashes in tow, he turned and left the cold underground tomb.