Half-elf Ranger

"What are you thinking about standing here?" Andrina folded the letter in her hand and put it away. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Thorne, who was dazed in the direction of the passage, so she walked over and said softly.

"Have you ever felt an icy aura lingering nearby? The further you go, the stronger this feeling becomes." Thorne frowned as he stared at the direction leading to the sixth floor of the tower and told her inner doubts.

Based on the corpse of the soldier in front of him, he could judge that the passage leading to the sixth floor of the tower was probably the private forbidden area of ​​its owner.

This kind of forbidden area is generally without the permission of its owner, and no one dares to enter it without authorization.

Then, there must be some kind of guards guarding the passage nearby, but what puzzled him is whether the guards guarding the passage are still alive after so many years.

"Cold breath?" Andrina repeated subconsciously, and then her eyes were lowered into contemplation.

For Thorne's keen insight, she was convinced that the so-called icy breath was nothing more than two kinds, the cold from nature and the negative energy breath emanating from death.

On the fifth floor of this tower, there is no obvious air outlet for the cold wind to invade, so the only possibility is the breath from the dead.

With that said, there might be undead creatures hiding nearby.

Thinking of this, Andrina's pretty face showed a dignified look, and she stretched out a staff that radiated bright light and lightly tapped towards the front of Thorne's gaze.

- "Spell Level 1: Detect Undead!"

In the dim corridor, under the guidance of Andrina's hand, the shining spell with bright light radiated an almost invisible spell aura, swept straight in front of Thorne's gaze.

"Om!"

As the spell aura kept sweeping ahead, near the spiral staircase, four flickering spell auras appeared strangely.

"Intruder! Die!"

Immediately afterwards, four low and hoarse voices sounded at the same time, echoing in the passage of the corridor.

Noticing the abnormality in front of him, Thorne's pupils shrank suddenly, and he immediately tightened the Demon Slayer Sword in his hand, vigilantly guarding against the sudden appearance of four figures.

The four figures that caught his eye were translucent guards about 1.8 meters tall.

They are uniformly equipped with pure black heavy armor full of bold colors, their heads are covered by steel masks, their wrists are steel bracers with sharp spikes, and a scarlet cloak floats slightly behind them.

At the same time, each hand held a ghostly long sword and shield engraved with strange rune marks, and the whole body was surrounded by the cold breath of death.

The moment Thorne noticed them, the pupils of the four figures hidden in the steel mask suddenly radiated scarlet light, locking him coldly.

"What are these four guys?" Thorne felt four icy gazes, clenched his long sword, moved his footsteps gently to Andrina's side, and asked solemnly.

At this moment, four strange figures wearing steel boots slightly lifted their feet off the ground and stood in the air. Apart from their translucent appearance, their bodies looked as if they were still alive.

"The undead Phantom Guards are the ghosts of warriors and knights who died on the battlefield or defending their oath.

From detecting the intensity of the magic aura emitted by undead creatures, it can be judged that their strength is not as powerful as imagined, and they belong to the existence that we can deal with. "

Andrina, slightly relieved, explained to Thorne.

The four phantom guards who appeared in front of them must have been powerful fighters before, and were loyal to the tower master, so even if they died, they voluntarily turned into phantom guards and continued to guard the passage leading to the upper floors.

Although these ghostly guards are often indistinguishable from ghosts, ghost guards are not as bound by unfulfilled wishes as ghosts, preventing them from leaving the Material Plane.

And they can choose to end their undead existence at any time and disappear into the world.

That is to say, their souls are completely willing to stay in the main material plane, which means that they must satisfy their sense of honor and responsibility for the protection of this channel.

And phantom guards, like undead creatures, don't need air, food, water, or sleep.

If they want to disappear, in addition to killing, the tower is completely destroyed and turned into ruins or there are new guards to take over their duties, they will choose to disappear permanently on the main material plane.

"Intruder! Die!"

The four phantom guards let out an icy roar again at the same time, then raised their shields and swung their long swords to kill Thorne.

Because the phantom guards have the ability to move incorporeally, they move in the same way as ghosts, and they can stay in the air all the time.

Their attack was not so much a walk, but rather a direct floating.

A gust of gloomy wind reverberated in the corridor, raising a thick layer of dust.

Looking at the four phantom guards floating over, Thorne and Andrina immediately prepared to deal with them.

——“Desert Wind Sect (Strike Skill): Flame of Young Dragon!”

When they floated to Thorne's attack range, they saw that the flame energy that had been condensed on the tip of his sword suddenly burst out, turning into a cone of flames to cover the two phantom guards walking in front.

- "Second-level spell: searing rays!"

At the same time, Andrina's spell was also ready, and two scorching flame rays hit the other two Phantom Guards, splashing one after another on the energy field around them.

The shrouded flame disappeared, and Thorne looked intently, only to find that the four phantom guards attacked by the two did not change except their bodies were a little darker.

"This is the special force field around the phantom guards. Although they are incorporeal now, they can use the surrounding energy to wrap their whole body. If they want to hurt their body, they must first break the protective force field." Noticing the doubts Thorne, Andrina explained to Thorne immediately and quickly.

It turns out that it is no wonder that the flames just hurt them like nothing. After listening to the other party's explanation, Thorne probably understood the reason.

After all, the other party is still an undead creature. Compared with the banshee, it is nothing more than an extra layer of protective force field. For him, it is just a matter of slashing one more sword.

Thorne glanced at the Phantom Guard and waved his long sword toward the two of them. A fiery flame suddenly erupted on the Demon Slayer Sword. With the blessing of the "Desert Fire" specialty, his body was also enveloped by a layer of light orange firelight. , and then raised bursts of scorching dust winds and rushed towards the Phantom Guard.

"Ding!"

Thorne's flaming longsword slammed into the shield blocked by the Phantom Guard, making a crisp sound like a physical collision.

The scorching flames erupted at the same time as the "Judge Evil" attached to the Paladin Ring.

The Phantom Guard, who was attacked first, shattered the protective force field around him, and when the translucent body touched the long sword, it became dull and flickering.

Then Thorne took the opportunity to draw a scorching sword again, and the phantom guard in front of him let out a hoarse scream, which turned into a chill and disappeared into the air.

When the first phantom guard disappeared, Thorne leaned slightly to avoid the horizontal slash of the ghost sword of the other phantom guard.

——“Desert Wind Sect (Enhanced Skill): Sword of Red Lotus!”

A flaming flame suddenly erupted from the dagger clenched in his left hand, and then stabbed the Phantom Guard's protective force field with all his strength, breaking the Phantom Guard's force field again.

Immediately after, the long sword in his right hand slashed a cold light, and the phantom guard roared and disappeared into the air.

When Thorne looked at the other two Phantom Guards, who had become slightly dim after being hit by Andrina's spell, and was about to attack, the two Phantom Guards let out a low roar and disappeared into the air strangely. No matter how much he searched for Xu, he couldn't notice it.

So he immediately walked to Andrina with the long sword and asked, "What's the situation?"

"This is a kind of ethereal ability that the Phantom Guard is born with." Andrina said to Thorne's gaze.

The phantom guards have the ability to shuttle back and forth between the material plane and the etheric plane, and they also have the etheric horizon, even in the etheric plane, the condition of the material plane can still be clearly observed.

Phantom Guards with this ability are the easiest to sneak attacks against enemies who break into their wards.

If Thorne hadn't sensed the breath of death flowing in the air, and made her use the "Detect Undead Creatures" spell under vigilance, if the two of them rushed forward, they would have been able to sneak up on them.

"The Ethereal Plane." Thorne whispered subconsciously when he heard the words.

He still knows a little bit about the Ethereal Plane. This plane is the protective film of the main material plane where they are located. It belongs to an infinitely overlapping plane, and it is covered with dense fog everywhere.

Moreover, the etheric plane does not follow the law of gravity, so the creatures in it can move up and down, left and right as easily as walking, so if a person has the etheric horizon and etherification ability, then it is very suitable for reconnaissance, sneak attack or escape. .

Just like the two phantom guards who disappeared at this time, they must be in the etheric plane at this time, and they are observing Thorne's every move in secret. As long as he relaxes a little, two ghost swords will appear from his back instantly. , reaping his life.

Although Thorne is not afraid of the Phantom Guards, there is nothing they can do about their ability to enter and exit the Ethereal Plane at will, and now they can only be passively defended.

So in this empty corridor, Andrina was shrouded in a protective force field, standing still, while Thorne held two swords and looked around from time to time, always on guard against the sudden appearance of the phantom guards.

If they want to remove the threat of the Phantom Guards, unless the two of them honestly return to the same path, or even if they enter the sixth floor of the tower, the remaining two Phantom Guards will follow all the way on the Ethereal Plane, and then take the opportunity to sneak attack. , Thorne naturally does not want to be so passive defense.

In this way, the two stood there for about an hour, and Thorne finally noticed the slightly floating negative energy behind him.

Accompanied by the icy roar of the phantom guard, what followed was the slash of the two ghost swords that appeared strangely behind Thorne.

Phantom Guards retain their usual attack patterns, and they also remember how they died.

However, he can only vaguely recall the memories of the short time before his death and the very simple means of attack, while the longer-term memories and complex combat techniques are completely forgotten.

Therefore, their attack speed is not very fast, and there is no complicated skill at all. For the attack of the Phantom Guard, Thorne in order to prevent accidental injury, his eyes signaled Anderina to not need to shoot, he clenched the two sharp knives and unfolded them. attack.

But when Thorne noticed that the Phantom Guard's originally dull protective power had become condensed again, he immediately understood the reason why they had not shown up.

So Thorne no longer hesitated, and swung two sharp blades, one long and one short, with flame damage. With the blessing of the paladin's ring, the two phantom guards only resisted for a moment, and even had no chance to escape back to the etheric plane. , then under Thorne's rapid attack, it turned into two icy chills and disappeared into the air.

The four phantom guards not only contributed a lot of experience and practice points to the two, but also obtained the soul spar left after the death of the phantom guard.