It's so painful! So hard! So difficult!

"Tsk, why didn't you say that earlier?" Bai Lin's previous denial of the elves seemed to give Katie some support. She walked behind Bai Lin with full momentum and lay on him.

"Tear her apart for me, Bai Lin!"

Bai Lin smiled bitterly and picked up her sword and shield. She took a defensive stance without hesitation.

Most of my moves had already been demonstrated to the elves, especially Katie's spells, which were the core. I didn't mind much, having only learned a few basic sword techniques, so it was just a matter of changing them.

But the opponent was truly unfathomable. Just from the speed of the first three arrows, Bai Lin was already feeling a bit uneasy.

"My name is Christina La Crowfallenelle, ruler of this forest. If you desire the right of passage, then come and claim it, fearless adventurers."

What a long name! Bai Lin thought so as she watched the elf in front of her become more and more absorbed in the story. She sighed and began to sprint forward.

When it comes to elves, they usually think of a race with excellent eyesight and hearing, as well as a talent for magic. The opponent's slender arms seemed to remind her that close combat was advantageous.

But Bai Lin didn't make such a simple judgment. He had already suffered several setbacks in the other world by judging people by appearances. This time, he couldn't let his guard down. Even in close combat, he couldn't relax.

Two lightsabers stabbed at Bai Lin mercilessly. He wasn't using a tempered long blade, so he couldn't use the "see through" skill to dodge. Bai Lin could only raise his shield and judge his position by the direction of the attack.

"Bang, puff." The first sound was the sound of the light blade being blocked by the shield.

Chapter 51: Sabbath Day of Prayer

Then there was the sound of flesh being pierced.

Clearly, Bai Lin only blocked a flash of the sword. Her left wrist was completely pierced by the sword. Due to the pain, Bai Lin unconsciously let go of her knife, which fell to the ground.

"Is that all you're capable of?" Kress mocked mercilessly from the distance, her once serious expression now languishing in a relaxed slump. Rows of lightsabers still surrounded her, ready to unleash their power.

Bai Lin gritted his teeth, pulled out the sword, and threw it to the ground. Blood splattered as Katie's healing spell took effect. Although the wound healed quickly, the lost blood was not so easily replenished. Bai Lin reluctantly picked up the knife from the ground and took a step back.

This time, Katie chose to use smoke magic, again to obscure vision. A thick fog instantly spread around the two of them. After all, if she could obscure her opponent's vision without affecting her own side, that would be a huge advantage.

But this time, the two chose to fight separately. With Bai Lin acting as a mount, their speed was significantly lower than their opponent's, and their agility would be reduced, increasing the chances of being caught in a single blow. Both knew this, so they tacitly separated and began to act separately.

Bai Lin stomped her feet, closing the distance between her and Claire. Based on Katie's information, her opponent likely hadn't had time to change her position, but there was still a chance she might have strayed from her original position. She decisively swept her sword across her round shield, releasing energy to expand her attack range.

"Bai Lin, be careful!" Katie, who was hiding and preparing spell support, suddenly screamed.

The opponent's actions don't seem to be due to impaired vision.

Even when Bai Lin launched a charge from the side, Kress had already begun her own action. She took out a long staff and turned slowly.

If a mage faces close combat without fear, there must be something fishy going on.

Bai Lin was slightly stunned, but she quickly took action. She changed her weapon without hesitation, and at the same time, an extremely strange staff came into her sight.

The staff's base and top are a gradient from wood to pure white. If it weren't for the star-like white spots that are so artistic, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to mistake this staff for a paint job error.

Three short branches twisted around the magic sphere crystal at the top of the staff. Countless mysterious words flowed within it, and even a glimpse of it was like being in a hallucination, causing Bai Lin to feel dizzy for a moment.

The interior of the crystal sphere surged like a tide. The violent golden aura not only threatened Bai Lin but also enveloped Kress, completely altering her demeanor.

In this situation where it was obvious that she was about to be fatally attacked, Bai Lin did not dare to pause. She immediately took a step back and crossed the blade, seeing through it.

But as he did so, the firelight also illuminated his opponent's face. As the magic circle appeared next to the long staff, Bai Lin caught a glimpse of Kress's mysterious smile.

What is she laughing at? I was about to see through her weakness the moment she cast the spell. Would the Ice Witch's controller have missed this?

But Bai Lin soon realized that she was wrong.

Despite the opponent's magic circle radiating brightly, there were no other abnormalities. Even when Bai Lin slashed at Christine, she had already calmly extended her free hand and used several lightsabers to block the instantly tempered long blade.

Then, he touched Bai Lin's helmet. This touch was like wiping ice on her defenseless face, making her shiver and feel cold.

At this moment, she realized that she had cut into nothing.

The strangely surging lake suddenly erupted, a flash of blue electricity tearing through the mist and accurately striking Bai Lin's body. She felt a sharp pain, and her body began to twitch uncontrollably. Every cell in her body cried out in agony as it burned, but there was nothing she could do except scream.

Despite being in direct contact with Bai Lin, Claire didn't react at all. She simply stared at Bai Lin's golden pupils, which were twisted in pain beneath his helmet. Bai Lin's eyes were now rolled back, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

At this moment, a precise and swift beam of light pierced into Kress's pupil. The blonde elf immediately disappeared from the spot, and Bai Lin fell to the ground.

The fog dissipated, and Katie sprinted to Bai Lin's side. Dodging, Christine left two longswords of light on Bai Lin's brain stem and lumbar spine. Katie hurriedly prepared to unleash her healing spell, only to find the lifeless body before her disintegrated into countless fragments and vanished on the spot.

Katie sat on the ground, as if drained of all strength. Her usually lively black pupils were dull, like her blank mind. In an instant, an overwhelming amount of emotion flooded through Katie's body, a crushing impact that undoubtedly caused her body to stop thinking and moving.

Then, all these complex emotions transformed into anger, driving her body to slowly stand up.

Tears stopped flowing, and she shouted hysterically:

"How dare you kill her!"

Chris looked nonchalant. "Why? It's just a killing. This is the consequence of her rejection of me. I just wanted to vent my anger. See how considerate I am. I helped her die without any pain..."

If I had to say it, there was nothing wrong with what Chris said. She was wrong only in missing one point.

Katie, who was very close to Bai Lin every day, never knew that Bai Lin would come back to life. Every time Bai Lin appeared in her sight in extreme pain or exhaustion, she never knew the specific reason.

Even when analyzing the Ice Witch's spell, Bai Lin never mentioned his own death, subconsciously passing it off. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to upset Katie, or maybe it was something else.

In short, in Katie's ears, Chris's words were so harsh. Katie, with a dark face, trembled all over. She forced herself to open her clenched fists and quickly took two steps back.

Unlike her usual calm chanting, a sharp, distorted tone emerged from Katie's mouth. In that strange, inhuman tone, only anger and aggression could be heard.

It was as if those segments of spells could transform into sword blades to pierce the opponent.

"Hey, hey, is this true? I have no reason to fight you..."

Chapter 52 Single Challenge

Before she finished her words, several destructive blasts of light flew out from the magic circle behind Katie. The red flames symbolized destruction. After dodging two of them, Claire raised her staff, and a blue light emanated from the magic orb, forming an ice barrier that barely blocked the blasts.

A vast mass of icy mist enveloped the light bullets, dampening their violent explosion. Under the erosion of this cold air, they lost their original power. On the surface, this mutual restraint seemed to give the ice a slight advantage, but surprisingly, in terms of "quantity," it was Claire who lost.

One of the light bullets eventually exploded, completely shattering the ice barrier and leaving a horrific burn on the blonde elf's delicate, beautiful right hand. She cried out in searing pain, quickly dodging a step to create distance while casting a healing spell to recover.

Surrounded by the gentle lake light, the wound healed quickly, and she turned her gaze towards Katie. This time, her eyes were no longer those of a harmless little human girl, but rather sharp.

Chris frowned. If she had not been pretending to be the Ice Witch for so many years and was not very proficient in communicating with the element of ice, she would have been seriously injured by this blow.

The ice shield she hastily formed could easily block dozens of ordinary fireballs.

The aura of that spell was also very familiar. Although she didn't listen carefully to the sharp chanting of the spell, she still made a judgment...

"You are not human at all." Chris said coldly.

Katie didn't answer, she simply continued to cast her own spell while her opponent was thinking. To complete a spell of such destructive power in such a short time was simply not something a minor girl could achieve.

Similarly, an invisible aura began to gather around Katie. Her small form radiated a sense of oppression against those below her, but Chris remained unaffected. Seeing Katie didn't respond, she also grasped the staff in her right hand, extended her left arm, and began to cast a spell.

If she had to say it, the girl in front of her already made her feel threatened. She couldn't show mercy just for Bai Lin's sake, and with her current strength...what would happen even if she didn't give her this face?

The edges of Katie's golden pupils gradually began to ripple strangely, and a red-orange color flowed into them. It was like a flame had been ignited.

Behind her, a faint layer of orange-gold animal wings unfolded. This further confirmed the elf's suspicions. Just as she had said, she was no longer human.

Katie finished the chant, taking a deep breath of air as a magic circle reappeared before her. Without hesitation, Chris raised her staff, and a giant object slowly rose from the surging lake.

This was the first vibrant green that Katie saw in the dead forest, but she was not in the mood to appreciate it at the moment.

It failed to protect me last time, and it failed this time either. What on earth is this?

She didn't dare reveal her strength, she was afraid of separation. But what kind of separation could be compared to the separation of life and death?

A massive tree, like a monstrous face, nearly covered the entire lake, its countless branches waving in the air like arms. Its overabundant vitality gradually condensed into ferocity, and a resounding roar like a war cry shook Katie. She paid no heed to the powerful current that swept past her, instead unleashing her spell against the wind.

The sky-blue was light and gentle, but the surrounding air was distorted by the high temperature. After the new head emerged from the magic circle in front of Katie, it rushed towards the giant tree as fast as lightning.

The giant tree summoned by Chris would naturally not sit still and wait for death. It spread out its thousands of branches, and the lake water hanging on it evaporated drop by drop into the ground and became crystals of magic. A green barrier completely surrounded it and Chris.

This was the protection of the sacred tree, and it was also the judgment made by Cress after she truly understood its strength. As the giant tree that had accompanied her for so long, it had long possessed spiritual wisdom. Therefore, she easily completed another spell.

Unlike before, there was no earth-shattering rage and arrogance, but instead a bone-chilling coldness like that of an ice witch. She still chose to counterattack with an ice attack.

Just like Bai Lin had encountered before, a massive ice meteorite smashed into Katie. Katie didn't make any move, simply raising her right hand. The magic circle behind her, which had not yet dissipated, transformed into a long beam of light that pierced the air, piercing through the ice meteorite. Before it hit her, it turned into fragments that poured out like an avalanche.

At the same time, the scorching blue breath collided with the sacred tree's protection. Like a spring breeze thawing the ice, the protection was reduced to dust in just a few breaths. In an instant, the giant tree's body was severely burned. It cried out in pain, forcibly neutralizing the breath with hundreds of its own branches.

The charred, drooping treetops betrayed its fragility, its branches drooping feebly as it simply absorbed the lake water. It would likely be unable to move for a short while.

Katie, on the other hand, was buried beneath the ice. Although she didn't expect this move to kill her, she didn't expect it to have only this much effect.

However, this is enough.

The violent aura from inside out once again spread from her cane to her whole body. As long as she could restrict Katie's movements, she could use as many attack methods as she wanted.

A huge lightning bolt accumulated from the bottom of the lake and arrived above Katie's head in a blink of an eye. Bai Lin, who had just melted the ice, no longer had any formation around her. She was completely unprepared and had to face this lightning strike while being surrounded by ice dance. She was about to fall.

But just as the lightning was about to strike her, the ice mist mixed with ice crystals immediately formed a net-like sphere. The stable semicircle firmly protected Katie's small body. The lightning flowed along the ice net to the ground and disappeared silently.

Katie's expression returned to normal. She let out a long sigh, her eyes calm as if nothing had just happened.

Compared with her plain appearance, Chris's heart is extremely shocking.

When humans cast spells, they always summon the elements they desire on the spot, occasionally borrowing from their surroundings. This is because of their habits: humans always choose the safest and most suitable place to live.

Chapter 53: Duel of Spells

Monsters rarely change their habitats from birth. The blood they've accumulated over the years allows them to adapt to environments that humans find unbearable, and those monsters who can use magic tend to be extremely biased towards one type of magic.

However, once they leave their territory, the spell's effectiveness is greatly diminished. This is because monsters themselves use special communication methods to pre-use pre-existing magic power. It's like throwing an Ice Witch into a volcano; she'll have less ice available, and her power will be greatly reduced.

At this moment, Katie was using the pre-existing frost. She was infinitely close to being human, but from this perspective, her identity was unquestionable.

In a human body, he performed monster acts. This was what shocked Chris.

Judging from the spells Katie had cast previously, she wasn't particularly inclined towards manipulating ice. And Chris, after observing her for so long, didn't believe Katie had any similar experience. After all, the blonde girl often came to the forest to practice her spells.

Therefore, the conclusion is that she was able to use the spell so flexibly simply by watching the Ice Witch cast it. The net-like ice sphere perfectly neutralized Chris's thunder attack. Such a reaction was achieved simply by breaking the ice...

Chris's vigilance could not help but rise a little more.

"Excuse me." Katie said in a low voice.

"What did you say?" Chris replied in surprise after hearing this.

Katie didn't answer. Unknown years ago, she had promised Klein that she would no longer borrow her previous ability.

Even if she used that power to kill Cress, would Bai Lin really be happy? Perhaps it was because of similar thoughts that occurred while frozen that she regained her composure.

Even though he could leverage the power of heaven and earth with his pure magical output, the old goblin, with his advantage of the lake, would definitely outlast him if a tug-of-war ensued. Furthermore, the other party possessed a so-called sacred tree. Therefore, magic must be used where it strikes the target with the least expectation.

"Next, I will defeat you as a human priestess to comfort her soul in heaven."

After saying this, she clasped her hands together, and a large amount of icy mist enveloped Katie. This magical mist successfully blocked Chris's sight. She had even created the ice meteorite that had created the icy mist. Wasn't this just shooting herself in the foot?

But Chris didn't show any regret or anger on her face, and there was even a hint of a smile on the corner of her mouth.

Why? Because she found a reason for the other party to attack her. It turned out that the little girl in front of her was so angry because she thought Bai Lin was really dead. When she thought of this, she waved her hand and let the sacred tree sink back to the surface of the lake.

"Then, correspondingly, I will also fight alone as the forest supervisor." Chris raised her staff and began to prepare her own spells.

The advantage of having a staff is that you can store basic formations within it, making it faster and more discreet when constructing certain spells. For example, orange-red formations are often fire spells, but the orb in the staff will have a much smaller target.

It was simply because Claire wasn't human and liked to be high-profile that she changed her aura so ostentatiously. At this point, her opponent had already hidden himself, but she had no intention of changing her tactics.

She used her strength to collide with her opponent's skill, a testament to her absolute confidence as a senior. Like waves in the water, the magic ball on her staff surged with Claire's low chant. The deep blue, like a whirlpool threatening to swallow you, made it difficult to look directly at it.

I'll play with you for a while before that guy Bai Lin rushes back.

The first to move was Katie.

Although hiding in the dark allowed him to prepare several spells and release them simultaneously, the space covered by the ice fog was very limited. If he didn't move, he would just become a fixed target. He already had the conditions to strike first, so he couldn't just sit there and wait for death.

Unfortunately, at that moment, Kress also completed her spell. Smiling, she tapped the water beneath her feet with her staff a few times, then manipulated the air currents to retreat several meters, creating some distance.

When both sides, wielding spells, confront each other, which side will ultimately prevail? Honestly, even Claire herself wasn't entirely certain. Compatibility was crucial. If her spells were countered by her opponent's, even a significant magical advantage would only lead to a crushing defeat.

But she didn't care. One wrong move, one wrong step, and you'd be stuck in a dead end. That was the fun.

How long had it been since someone had made her feel this thrilling and tense? Perhaps she herself couldn't quite remember the answer; after all, her duty was to stay within this small forest. Just a small avatar was enough to subdue all the monsters.

The magic circle around Katie shone brightly, and a biting cold spread from her hands, but it was far from reaching Chris's body.

Are you trying to create an ice surface to expand your range? You've miscalculated this step. How could that little bit of ice possibly freeze a lake so rich in magical power? Chris frowned, questioning the significance of Katie's actions.

Could it be that she had just suddenly become enlightened and used such a powerful technique? Kress didn't think so. Furthermore, there was a completed magic circle on the right side of Katie's body, so the elf decided to wait and see.

As expected, Katie's ice sank into the water without a single ripple, vanishing into thin air. With a look of surprise on her face, she quickly drew out another of her magic arrays and held them before her chest. The familiar, thick white light seemed to have lost some of its power due to her haste, but Chrissy still didn't want to be hit by it. She chose to cast her own spell after flashing.

As humans, our movements are always severely restricted. This is probably why Katie had to create ice to cross the lake, while I could just fly. It's the same now. I can dodge through the air, but if nothing goes wrong, Katie will be caught in this spell.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. Chris shook her head, but her men were merciless. She had just tapped the lake's surface, not for show, but to inscribe a few spells. A swirling waterspout swirled from her toward Katie, growing larger as it absorbed the lake's surface.

Katie is in crisis!

Chapter 54 The Forgotten Place