Blood-red eyes, sharply pointed fangs, gradually beast-like claws for fingers and toes, and the horns that were slowly growing under the skin of his forehead... No matter how one looked at it, "Lokhak" before them had long departed from any human resemblance.
The Angry Demon attached to the young boy let out a piercing roar, its hollow, distorted bass shaking the surrounding air incessantly.
But no matter how angry the demon realized the situation was, the mysterious rune Magic had already been successfully activated within the Array under its feet.
The Spirit Repelling Runes floating in the air neatly circled around the Magic light's circular trajectory, rapidly rotating, and Magic Power suddenly whipped up gales around it.
The demon-possessed "Lokhak," bound by an invisible force, could only struggle and roar in vain at the spot, no longer able to step towards Leon.
Outside the Array, Azeryan hid within the forest stirred by the Gale, his eyes wide open witnessing the incredibly shocking magical spectacle.
A streak of red, like a flame, was being slowly drawn out of Lokhak's body.
As the visibly distorted illusion gradually took shape, a blank-faced, semi-transparent young phantom was also dragged out from within the red demon's illusion.
At the same time, wisps of murky shadows were also being pulled out from the dismembered limbs of the Corpse Demon Knights by rune Magic.
The Spirit Repelling Runes were taking effect. Leon brought his thumbs and index fingers together in each hand to form a triangle, a Dharma Seal gesture taught by that young girl's voice, and he aimed it at the exposed demon projection.
Loudly chanting the Demon Exorcism Spell, Leon's speech in Ancient Lorelette Language became faster and smoother.
The red flame-like demon projection let out a soul-shattering, silent scream. However, it was powerless to reverse the powerful and ancient Demon Exorcism ritual. Within the nested Array, the pure Magic light gradually evaporated its projection.
Azeryan, with a grim expression, raised both hands to desperately block his ears from the demon's shrieking, but he still couldn't stop the piercing soul roar, instantly feeling dizzy.
In a daze, he thought he saw a fleeting illusion flash by Leon within the Array.
...hair as pure as snow fluttering in the wind, a white robe fluttered about her petite frame by the wind of Magic...
Azeryan blinked confusedly, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him; it was still Leon's figure in front of him.
Leon watched as the demon projection was expelled by the Array. He continued the last step of the ritual, driving the soul into the container they had buried earlier.
The outer perimeter Magic light quickly converged with the operation of the Magic Array, but before it fully gathered into one point, an unseen force propelled Lokhak's soul back to its original body.
The Animated Corpse Knight, however, was different. His frenzied Wandering Soul was forced to converge into the center of the Array by the Magic direction, quickly solidifying into a dazzling orb of light that then fiercely plunged into the ground, sucked into the crude Earth Vein Spirit Lamp.
The Gale gradually subsided, and the brilliance of the Magic also dimmed anew. Leon sat down on the ground, finally heaving a sigh of relief.
"Well done," the young girl's voice gently praised inside Leon's mind, "You didn't mess up the spell even once; it seems you do have some talent."
Leon gave a wry smile. Perhaps the crisis of life and death had triggered his survival instincts, allowing him to recite those spells so smoothly, something he hadn't anticipated.
Leon got up and walked over to where Lokhak lay nearby. The muscular youth was lying on the ground, the demonic features on his body gone; his hands and feet had at least regained human form.
Leon squatted down and pried open Lokhak's lips.
Hmm, the teeth were normal.
Then he rubbed open the other's eyelids.
The eyes had returned to their normal color, except for some remaining bloodshot in the whites.
"Does this count as a success? Could there be any side effects?" Leon asked the young girl's voice apprehensively.
"Side effects... Maybe none, or maybe there are? Like maybe having frequent nightmares in the future... Hey, don't be ungrateful; compared to having his soul devoured by a demon, any price he might pay is nothing."
"That makes sense," Leon realized that they were fortunate just to have survived.
Calling Azeryan back to watch over his companion, Leon quickly moved to the center of the Array and uncovered the pit where the Earth Vein Spirit Lamp was buried.
A white light immediately shone through.
Even through the torn fabric blocking the soil, the Spirit Lamp's light still seemed particularly bright.
Leon carefully picked it up as if holding an incredibly rare treasure.
This was their key to possibly leaving the "Spirit-like Field" and returning to reality.
"Did it work? Is this the guide instrument you mentioned?" Leon asked inwardly, "How should I use this thing to find the way?"
He removed the hemp cloth from the wooden cage; without the barrier, the light was so bright that it dazzled him.
"Looks like you're in luck. The brighter this light glows, as the soul used as the wick moves closer to the place it desires to return to for rest, the light will brighten. Right now, the brightness indicates... the reality that the Wandering Soul desires to return to is very near," the young girl's voice answered.
"So, I just need to hold this thing and see which direction is brightest, then head in that direction, right?"
"Um, it's that simple," the girl's voice confidently stated.
Leon felt a great relief in his heart. He picked up the Spirit Lamp and shone it around, indeed, towards different directions, the brightness of the Spirit Lamp changed dramatically.
"Leon! Lokhak has woken up," Azeryan called out.
Hearing the call, Leon quickly returned to his companions' side and saw Lokhak lying on the ground with a dazed and bewildered expression.
"How is it? Are you awake?" Leon crouched down and shook his hand in front of Lokhak's eyes.
"What? How come I'm lying on the ground... Did I faint?"
Lokhak, holding his head, sat up groggily.
"You really slept deeply, we almost got chopped up by you along the way," Azeryan said with a bitter smile.
"...Huh?"
After a brief explanation, Lokhak finally understood what had happened before, but he truly had no memory of the process and only vaguely felt as if he had just had a nightmare.
Seeing Lokhak's apologetic face, Leon did not dwell on this issue further; after all, they had not yet escaped from danger.
Having just awoken from a deep sleep, Lokhak stood up and noticed the horrific bloodstains on his body and his torn and tattered Chain Armor, realizing how severe the terrifying change his companions spoke of had been.
With the crisis temporarily over, Leon called his companions to gather the scattered pieces of the Animated Corpse Knight lying around.
He wanted to loot the body for equipment.
The Armor on the dead knight obviously belonged to a noble, high-quality gear. Despite taking many powerful strikes from the demon-possessed Lokhak, it only showed a few dents—was it not a loss not to take it?
However, reality was cruel. After struggling a bit, they had to give up on the idea of taking the Armor.
First, their physical strength was simply insufficient to carry along the heavy knight armor.
Second, the tailor-made Armor did not fit any of them; although the young men were well-nourished and almost the size of average adults, this knight was still far too burly and strong.
Fortunately, even if they couldn't take the Armor, taking the gorgeous knight's sword that Azeryan had found was not a problem.
Leon removed the sword sheath tied to the knight's Armor and took the long sword from Azeryan, examining it carefully.
It was a very pretty weapon, close in design to a Hand Half Sword, with an unknown gem inlaid at the end of the hilt, the Cross Sword Guard adorned with elaborate relief patterns, and the blade engraved with what seemed like a family motto.
This was not just for show; its previous battle had already proven its superior quality. In a tough clash with the Demon Host, the blade still showed no nicks or chipped edges. As a former aficionado of cold weapons, Leon was indeed amazed by the extraordinary material strength.
He couldn't help but wonder if this was the so-called enchanted weapon from the online novels of his previous world? It might not be scientific, but it certainly felt magical.
"...It should be Dwarf Steel, I don't know if it's crafted by Dwarf artisans, but the material of this blade could be Dwarf Steel," said Azeryan, who, as a descendant of nobles, seemed to have discerned a few things.
Leon could only express his admiration, as long as it was useful, that was what mattered. Compared to the mercenary sword that had been hacked to uselessness, this noble knight's sword, if placed in a game, would certainly have a blue quality rating at least—his life-or-death struggle had not been in vain.
This time, Leon unhesitatingly sheathed the knight's longsword, hanging both it and the belt around his waist.
His lack of humility about the equipment was not due to greed.
But having experienced the incident of the demon possession among his companions, Leon had come to understand that in this mysterious and unpredictable realm, with the mysterious Miss Mage in his mind aiding him, he was the one among the three at the lowest risk of being possessed by evil spirits.
It was safer for him to keep this sharp weapon, rather than risk a frenzied companion using it to attack his own people.
Regarding Leon's decision, Lokhak needless to say, and Azeryan fully agreed—he had already witnessed the formidable capabilities of this "Wild Mage" companion multiple times and naturally had no objections.
While Leon and Azeryan were discussing the sword, Lokhak found a roll of parchment only about the size of two palms from a leather pouch on the knight's belt.
Unfolding it, the group discovered it was a map. Unfortunately, the parchment only had symbolic terrain sketches and a triangular marker, with no text or discernible landmarks.
...A treasure map?
Leon couldn't help but recall the classic scenes from literary works of his previous life. Operating under the principle that it wouldn't hurt to keep it, he stuffed it into his pocket.
Before leaving, the three pushed the knight's body and Armor back into the pitfall they had encountered earlier, quickly covering it with soil, which served as a simple burial.
Although this Animated Corpse Knight had posed a significant threat to them just moments before, after all, there were no grudges before death. Moreover, Leon was still holding onto the knight's spirit ready to use it to guide their escape, so a proper burial seemed appropriate.
After burying the body.
Leon, holding the Earth Vein Spirit Lamp in one hand and clasping the long sword in the other, led the way at the front of the group.
Azeryan held a long dagger while Lokhak carried the nearly broken sword right behind him.
Following the direction where the Spirit Lamp's light shone the brightest, the three once again entered the dense forest.