Although I couldn't see the woman with long hair, I could guess her intention after a few rounds.

She wants to kill all of us using Karona, and then commit suicide, so that we all accompany her in death.

The one I'm fighting against now is not Karona, but something else. And it's not an ordinary opponent.

Karona, as the former number one student, excels in all aspects except for lack of practical combat experience. What's frustrating is that the ghost attached to her is rather experienced in battle.

In a direct confrontation, I definitely don't have the upper hand after a sleepless night. I don't have any weapons at hand, while Karona, wielding a silver sword, launches a fierce attack. Although her movements are not fast, each swing of her sword leaves an afterimage. I see multiple swords. Although I can tell which specific direction she is aiming from her arm movements, it's already my limit to do so.

If it was the possessed Karona, she would have been able to instantly kill the Wolf King last night.

But as I mentioned before, defeating enemies doesn't solely rely on strength and experience. When facing an opponent who is evenly matched, I need to think of other ways.

At the moment, without Karona's knowledge, I discreetly switched our positions through evasion. Little Ilan and Little Furball are behind me now, it is impossible for them to launch a sneak attack. If Karona intends to use her body to commit suicide, I am confident in stopping her. In other words, the opponent hasn't found any of my weaknesses.

But I have two trump cards in my hands.

One is the necklace on the ground, which the ghost seems to attach great importance to.

The other is a method to subdue the enemy. However, if possible, I still hope for a peaceful resolution.

I really want to know who this person is, why she died here, and why she persists in guarding this land even after death.

Unfortunately, despite my repeated signals for negotiation, this person only intends to kill me.

So far, for the fiercely aggressive people or animals, they only listen to me when they see the difference in strength between us. I guess this applies to the ghost as well.

Even if it doesn't apply, as long as I threaten her with the necklace, I can communicate with her through Little Ilan.

So, I will prove to her now that I am stronger than her and Karona's combination.

For the first time, I didn't rely solely on physical ability, but concentrated magic power in my eyes.

After coming to this world, I haven't learned any magic knowledge, so besides my inherent skill "Forge All Things," I don't know any other magic. But I have a basic understanding of magic knowledge, so I can analyze the opponent's moves with pure magic power.

Then, I remembered a simple strengthening magic, which is to concentrate magic power in the part that needs to be strengthened. Karona's incredible speed is probably achieved by wrapping magic power around her body.

This is the first time I have tried this, because it has never been necessary before.

Of course, concentration of magic power alone is not enough for specific magic, so this method I'm using can only be considered as the first step of magic, an unformed form of magic. The strengthening effect is much weaker than fully displayed magic, by several levels.

For me, it is enough.

Too slow.

Everything is too slow.

Like in a slow-motion scene, Karona's actions are full of flaws. Trying to compensate for the flaws with speed, forcefully applying the fighting style. In other words, she is not familiar with the body she just obtained.

Just by taking a look at this, it can be easily seen that everything is out of sync.

Without being in sync mentally and physically, there will be a lag effect. With the ghost's level of experience, she will definitely weaken her own incredible speed to stabilize control. It's like when playing a game and facing a strong enemy, you switch from double speed to normal speed for easier control.

Capturing her with pure physical ability is difficult, but with the use of magic, it becomes ridiculously easy.

Magic, what a convenient thing.

I feel ashamed of myself for thinking like this because using magic to temporarily strengthen myself feels like I'm not fighting at my true level.

But thanks to this, the battle has become far too easy.

I easily found an opening and landed a punch on Karona's face.

Although I didn't want to do it, but--

"Open your eyes and take a good look!! That wolf is already gone!! How can you be so fearful over such a trivial matter? Are you still worthy of calling yourself number one?!"I purposely didn't use all my strength, after all, it wouldn't be good to leave scars on such a beautiful face. But still, Karona ended up on the ground, her nose bleeding and dripping onto the floor. The corners of her mouth were also scratched, and Karona looked at me, suddenly bursting into tears. She cried and vomited violently, her stomach in turmoil. After this, it should be fine.

"Little Ilan! Is the ghost still on Karona? Xiao Yi--"

Although I tried to avoid it, the dagger still stabbed into my thigh, with only the silver handle visible. The black pants couldn't show the color of the blood, but soon it became soaked.

"Tsk. You bastard."

So persistent. I didn't expect that in an instant, it would possess little Ilan's body. What kind of method is it using...

I can't panic. Even if just for a moment, once my body is taken away, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"One after another, relentless. What do you want to do?"

This time, she finally answered with little Ilan's body.

"I want... friends."

I pulled out the dagger that was stuck in my thigh, and blood immediately gushed out.

"What friends? You just want more people to bury with you. Go back to hell."