By the time the Psionic Corpse realized someone had actually broken through its psionic blockade, Lynn had already lunged to within less than half a meter of it.
Utilizing the momentum from the high-speed movement of 【Burst Step】, Lynn thrust the short sword in his hand toward the Psionic Corpse's completely defenseless back.
Backstab!
Having just unleashed its psionic fire, the somewhat mentally drained Psionic Corpse failed to react to Lynn's attack in time.
The skill-infused short sword easily pierced the Psionic Corpse's back, slicing through its shriveled latissimus dorsi muscle and driving straight toward its heart.
The Psionic Corpse's heart had long since stopped beating, so it was not naturally a fatal blow.
However, the special effect of Backstab still successfully triggered, plunging the Psionic Corpse into a brief stun.
Roughly a tenth of a second later, the Psionic Corpse regained consciousness.
Refusing to accept this, the Psionic Corpse subconsciously tried to channel its psionic fire once more to burn this Mage's consciousness.
But it discovered that its psionic energy was completely unresponsive!
Only now was the Psionic Corpse finally certain.
This Mage apprentice actually had the ability to silence others' spellcasting!
How could a Mage possess such an ability? And why was his own spellcasting completely unaffected?
It wasn't fair!
Fuming with rage but unable to do anything to Lynn, and having missed its window to counterattack, the Psionic Corpse could only use both hands to shield its head.
Naturally, Lynn would not let such a perfect opportunity to deal damage slip by.
Another white light enveloped his short sword as Kidney Strike immediately followed Backstab.
Under the boost of the Lv.2 Skill effect, “Backhand Kidney Strike,” the already formidable Kidney Strike saw its power surge significantly once more.
Because he had powerful spells like Magic Missile, Lynn had actually not used Kidney Strike for a long time.
Now, facing the highly magic-resistant Psionic Corpse, Kidney Strike finally proved its worth.
Squelch—
The short sword, carrying a spiraling white airflow like a drill, plunged fiercely into the Psionic Corpse's flank.
Chunks of flesh and blue blood sprayed into the air.
“Die!”
Though heavily wounded, the Psionic Corpse did not care about its bleeding wounds at all. For undead creatures, physical damage would certainly weaken them, but it was far from fatal.
Its psionic energy was trapped and unusable, but even without it, the Psionic Corpse was still a powerful monster!
Even with the mental acceleration from his Intelligence attribute compensating for his lack of Agility, Lynn still found it extremely difficult to parry the Psionic Corpse's onslaught.
Clang—
The short sword and the sharp claws collided, producing a metallic ring before separating.
Even his short sword could not sever the Psionic Corpse's claws, which were infused with fel energy!
Lynn's 【Mage Slayer】 Feat could only prevent the Psionic Corpse from channeling its fel energy, but it could not directly erase the fel energy already residing within the undead creature's body.
Consequently, there was not much he could do against those fel-infused claws.
Soon, due to a slight slip in his guard, the Psionic Corpse's pitch-black nails pierced Lynn's chest once more.
Fortunately, with the dual protection of Blade Ward and his leather armor, the Psionic Corpse's nails only left two centimeter-deep gashes on Lynn's chest.
This was also thanks to the passive Hardening from his zombie bloodline.
Although Lv.1 Hardening could not make Lynn's skin as hard as rock, it could still cushion a portion of the damage.
The torn pectoral muscles at the wound bled profusely, but they quickly healed.
With his pain blocked, the injury did not affect Lynn's ability to keep fighting at all.
However, without the protection of Blade Ward, Lynn's movements inevitably became somewhat constrained.
And in such high-intensity combat, he simply could not spare a single second to cast another layer of Blade Ward on himself.
Even with the Psionic Corpse's spellcasting silenced, the scales of victory gradually tipped back in its favor.
The difference in their Agility attributes was just too vast!
Despite falling into a disadvantage, Lynn did not panic; he still had plenty of trump cards left.
But the question now was, should he use 【Burst Step】 to pull back?
Pulling back would indeed allow him to recast his defensive spells and ensure his safety.
But once they separated, the Psionic Corpse's spellcasting ability would recover.
If the Psionic Corpse realized that 【Mage Slayer】 required a successful hit to take effect, it would actively keep its distance. At that point, relying on Burst Step alone would not be enough to catch up to this monster.
By now, the rage in the Psionic Corpse's heart had been replaced by a sense of sadistic pleasure.
No matter how bizarre or troublesome this damned Mage apprentice was, under the absolute suppression of strength, his tricks would have no room to shine!
Die here!
But the Psionic Corpse seemed to have forgotten one thing.
It was not fighting alone.
A sudden, powerful gust of wind swept in from behind without warning.
Damn it!
With its fel energy sealed, the Psionic Corpse's environmental awareness was greatly diminished, so much so that it had not even noticed the Monk, who had recovered from his daze and closed in on it.
A burning sensation surged from behind.
The Psionic Corpse's arms instantly twisted at a bizarre angle, blocking the Monk's downward-swinging staff in an impossible posture.
The iron staff slammed against its crossed ulnas. The seemingly fragile bones actually managed to withstand the blow.
However, the white light enveloping the iron staff flared brilliantly the moment it made contact with the undead creature.
The fel energy inside the Psionic Corpse collided with the white light, evaporating rapidly like ice thrown into a roaring fire.
At this moment, even an undead creature like the Psionic Corpse, which was virtually impervious to pain, subconsciously let out a groan of agony.
It swung its arms to drive the Monk back, but its arm bones had already partially melted, leaving its hands bent at grotesque angles.
Already injured by Lynn's Kidney Strike, the Psionic Corpse completely lost its close-combat capabilities under the Monk's devastating holy light.
Raising its arms, the Psionic Corpse instinctively leaped up, wanting to lift off the ground again and fly to escape the encirclement of these two damned adventurers. However, with its psionic energy disabled, it had lost the ability to fly.
The Psionic Corpse hopped in place a couple of times between the two adventurers, looking utterly ridiculous, but Lynn would not show mercy.
His short sword, glowing with the light of a skill, did not target the Psionic Corpse's flank this time. Instead, it pierced straight toward the weak point of its skull at the temple.
The blade easily pried open the skull, and with a gentle twist, completely scrambled the Psionic Corpse's brain.
“Killed Psionic Corpse: Corpsefire. Obtained 40 Bloodline Points (Psionic Corpse) (Over-level kill multiplier x 200%).”
“Feast stacks +15.”
Although the Monk had contributed significantly to the kill, no assist penalty was triggered this time, likely because Lynn had played a major role in the fight.
It seemed that the assist penalty only applied to monsters that were essentially free kills.
With no assist penalty, it meant he could now activate a Tier 2 monster's bloodline!
Lynn felt a wave of excitement.
But since there was no longer any danger, he was in no hurry to unlock it just yet.
Having just activated three skeleton bloodlines in a row, his body was already feeling slightly uncomfortable.
If he were to activate the Psionic Corpse's bloodline right here, the Monk and Lupa might notice something was off.
Beside him, the Monk suddenly muttered to himself, “We killed a Tier 2 monster?!”
His voice was filled with utter disbelief.
The Monk had thought this adventure would be his end.
Yet, he and Lynn had actually teamed up and slain a Tier 2 monster instead!
If he told anyone, they probably wouldn't believe it!
Lynn smiled and bumped fists with the Monk to celebrate.
“Let's gather the loot first.”
Lynn pointed at the bones scattered all over the ground.
Lupa walked over to Lynn's side as well, her expression filled with excitement.
Lynn chuckled and casually rubbed her head, messing up her soft, silver-gray hair while giving the gray fluff inside her wolf-girl ears a good scratch.
Lynn's technique was excellent, causing the little beast-girl's tail to wag gently against her back as she subconsciously let out a comfortable whine.
But she suddenly remembered they were still in the middle of a commission, so she pushed Lynn's mischievous hand away with mock seriousness, though the blush on her face had yet to fully fade.
The three of them began to clear the battlefield.
Aside from the gear left behind by the skeleton soldiers, there was also an unexpected harvest.
Rate on N.U.
