Deadlock and a Turning Point

The Psionic Corpse's head spun a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Its eyes, devoid of whites, stared straight at Lynn.

Why was this human unaffected by its illusion?

The short sword had indeed hit, but it had failed to strike the weak point on its back, preventing the sneak attack effect of Backstab from triggering.

At the very last second before the short sword could plunge into the Psionic Corpse's back, the monster had blocked it with a shriveled palm.

Its arm contorted at an angle impossible for a human, reaching behind its back to block the short sword's attack.

The sharp blade pierced through the Psionic Corpse's hand, but it could go no further to penetrate the marked weak point on its back.

Stared down by the Psionic Corpse with such a chilling gaze, even Lynn felt a jolt of alarm. He immediately tried to pull out his short sword and retreat.

However, the blade was wedged firmly between the monster's metacarpals, refusing to budge no matter how much force he applied.

Even though the electric current from Booming Blade was still crackling in its palm, the Psionic Corpse remained completely unfazed.

A Zero-Circle spell was practically useless against a Psionic Corpse that had already condensed two psionic fires!

The Psionic Corpse tightened its fingers, gripping the short sword firmly in its hand.

Its other hand was already clawing toward Lynn.

Lynn immediately let go, abandoning the sword to retreat, but the Psionic Corpse was faster!

“Lynn!”

Lupa, who was waiting in the distance, suddenly cried out in alarm.

The Psionic Corpse had actually intended to use a psionic blast to control this reckless adventurer, only to find that it couldn't channel the psionic energy in its body for some reason!

The 【Mage Slayer】 Feat had taken effect.

However, the Psionic Corpse's sharp claws were still not something a non-class-holder apprentice could withstand head-on.

In a fraction of a second, the Psionic Corpse's pitch-black nails thrust straight toward Lynn's throat.

Fortunately, since Lynn dared to engage a Tier 2 monster in close combat, he naturally had something to rely on.

Before sneaking over, Lynn had cast Blade Ward on himself to prevent being injured by the Psionic Corpse.

The defensive cantrip did not last long against the Psionic Corpse's razor-sharp nails, shattering in a fraction of a second.

Fortunately, Blade Ward had not failed completely. Under the resistance of the mana, the Psionic Corpse's claws veered slightly off course, scraping across the side of his neck.

By this time, Lynn had calmed down. Waving his staff, he cast another Blade Ward on himself while simultaneously activating 【Burst Step】 to retreat out of the Psionic Corpse's attack range.

He lightly touched his neck.

The leather neck guard had barely cushioned the blow before being cleanly sliced open, and his hand was now stained with a bit of blood.

Thankfully, under the effect of Blade Ward, it had only been a graze. Otherwise, if it had been just a few millimeters deeper, his artery might have been severed...

Under the passive 【Enhanced Self-Healing】 granted by his 【Dungeon Slime】 bloodline, the wound healed completely in just a second or two.

And the Psionic Corpse's corpse poison, which would kill an ordinary person on contact, failed to have any effect in the face of his Lv.2 【Poison Resistance】 from his 【Skeleton】 bloodline.

At this moment, Lynn couldn't help but feel fortunate that his body possessed over a dozen more bloodlines than a normal human.

He had no idea that the Psionic Corpse was currently even more shocked and enraged.

The Psionic Corpse was filled with utter confusion.

How could a Mage apprentice, whose presence wasn't even on par with an ordinary class-holder, be so slippery? Even it couldn't keep up with his sudden bursts of speed!

Furthermore, its attacks were completely ineffective against this damned Mage!

It was one thing for the wound to heal in the blink of an eye, but even the corpse poison that had entered his body had somehow rapidly dissipated.

Was this even a human? Which of them was actually the monster?!

Meanwhile, Lynn tried to enter Stealth again, only to find that under the opponent's psionic lock, his Stealth was virtually useless.

For a moment, neither side seemed able to do anything to the other...

Instead, the battlefield suddenly fell quiet.

At the edge of the Public Cemetery, seeing that Lynn appeared to be unharmed, Lupa stopped herself from rushing forward to help him.

Lupa prayed silently in her heart.

Breaking this silence was the soft clack of jawbones snapping shut, as well as the skeleton soldiers starting to move once more.

Several skeleton soldiers had finally broken free from the Psionic Corpse's control.

Driven by their vengeful instincts fueled by fel energy, the undead creatures, which knew no fear, charged toward the Psionic Corpse in unison.

Several Challenge Rating 1/2 monsters, especially skeleton soldiers driven primarily by psionic energy—under normal circumstances, the Psionic Corpse could have disposed of them with almost no effort.

But now, two highly capable adventurers were still watching vigilantly from the side.

In an instant, the Psionic Corpse was caught in a righteous gang beating!

The moment the skeleton soldiers moved, both the Monk and Lynn simultaneously realized that this was a golden opportunity!

The Monk shook his head to dispel the grogginess in his mind. Regrouping, he swung his long staff once more.

Meanwhile, Lynn drew his other short sword and charged at the Psionic Corpse again.

In an instant, the two of them, along with several skeleton soldiers, attacked the Psionic Corpse from different directions.

The Psionic Corpse, which had met with nothing but misfortune since crawling out of its grave, was now thoroughly enraged.

The two psionic fires hovering around it flared up violently.

The Psionic Corpse's already shriveled body shrank even further, as if it were using itself as kindling to ignite the psionic fire.

The pale blue psionic flames gradually darkened in color, instantly sweeping across an area of several meters around it.

The soul fires of the skeleton soldiers were instantly assimilated, forced to become matches to feed and fuel the psionic fire.

Even the Monk, who excelled in willpower, was forced to temporarily retreat under this mental fire, clutching his head as he backed away.

Just as the Psionic Corpse thought it had successfully forced back all its enemies, a figure broke through the barrier of psionic fire and lunged straight at it.

Relying on 【Burst Step】 to once again close the distance to the Psionic Corpse, Lynn gripped his short sword tightly.

Against his chest, the [Mind Wall Pendant] gifted by the Wererat Art grew faintly warm.

The psionic fire that the Psionic Corpse had ignited at the cost of its own body was actually judged as a "low-to-medium intensity psionic shock" before this piece of equipment!