Facing Go-Jin, who regarded the power of 'Dark Wave' as magic,
Lyle naturally had no intention of explaining.
The skill effects displayed by 'High-Tier Professions' were completely different from the martial arts of this world, so it was perfectly normal for them to be identified as magic.
"I was careless just now."
Go-Jin took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. His fierce white eyes now looked at Lyle, having recognized him as a true opponent.
"My weapon was also a bit lacking." Lyle heard what the other party said, raised the remaining broken sword hilt in his hand, and casually threw it to the ground.
Go-Jin's pupils constricted when he saw the shattered iron sword fragments on the ground.
What exactly happened just now?
In that instant, besides his body stiffening, his mind also became somewhat hazy. By the time he reacted,
this deep wound had already appeared on his chest.
Was the magical technique just now at the cost of destroying his weapon?
This thought quickly flashed through Go-Jin's mind. His thick thighs slightly squatted, and his eyes widened.
"Outer Skin Reinforcement!"
Go-Jin let out a low growl, then clenched his fists and spoke again: "Super Outer Skin Reinforcement!"
A layer of light brown glow flickered all over Go-Jin's body, followed by another, brighter layer of light brown glow.
From a distance,
Go-Jin's dark green skin seemed to exude a metallic sheen.
Lyle squinted slightly, glancing at the information displayed on the attribute panel. He always paid great attention to the unique martial arts of other worlds.
Especially reinforcement-type martial arts, which were completely different from magical reinforcements.
For example, magical reinforcements like 'Magic Reinforcement' and 'Super Magic Reinforcement' would only retain the highest-level reinforcement magic if used simultaneously.
But martial arts were different!
Using 'Outer Skin Reinforcement' and 'Super Outer Skin Reinforcement' together would not keep only one like magic; instead,
they would stack.
This was the unique aspect of martial arts!
Lyle withdrew his gaze from the attribute panel and did not learn these two reinforcement-type martial arts.
It wasn't that he didn't want to learn them, but that he couldn't use them.
Humans, besides a thin layer of skin, did not possess the outer skin that demi-humans had, so this type of reinforcement could not be used by humans.
"I underestimated you, human alchemist."
Go-Jin's rough voice rang out. His thick, long arms hung down, reaching past his waist to his thighs,
and he spoke solemnly,
"Next, I will only attack once. If Your Excellency can block it, I will apologize for my arrogance."
After saying this,
Go-Jin felt a slight shame. A warrior's intuition allowed him to vaguely sense that Lyle's aura was not as strong as his.
The other party was also a magic caster skilled in alchemy.
In this situation, he was not only injured and forced to retreat by the opponent, but also forced to use his strongest defensive measure,
to guard against attacks like the one just now.
Hearing Go-Jin's words,
"One round to decide the winner? I'd be taking advantage." Lyle said, his gaze relaxing slightly.
In terms of raw strength,
Lyle knew his limits. At his current level, he was not Go-Jin's opponent.
The only way to defeat the opponent was through a long-range war of attrition. Utilizing Go-Jin's inability to fly, Lyle could summon a Fire Archangel to take him into the sky and then attack.
However,
the magic scrolls for the Fire Archangel he had were almost completely depleted in the Great Swamp, with the only gain being "Experience Slot: 20152 / 10000."
Barely breaking twenty thousand, enough to stably gain one level.
The remaining two magic scrolls were also destroyed by Go-Jin in the previous battle.
As for the three days spent returning to the Imperial Capital, Lyle merely casually crafted two Fire Archangel magic scrolls. Most of his remaining magic power was injected into the "Orb of Death 110 / 280."
Therefore, even a war of attrition would be somewhat difficult.
Go-Jin's sudden arrival was completely unexpected, leading to Lyle being unprepared.
However!
He had just exposed the 'Dark Wave' ability precisely to prepare for a war of attrition.
Lyle glanced at Go-Jin's wound, where blood continued to seep out, his gaze calm.
After 'Cursed Knight' reached Lv 3, the damage caused by the curse would make it impossible for low-tier healing to treat and suppress regeneration.
This had a natural restraining effect on races like ogres that relied on regeneration!
Go-Jin might not realize it now, but given a little more time, the negative status effect of bleeding alone,
would be enough to wear Go-Jin down to death.
"I'm going to attack!"
Go-Jin warned, and a fierce aura was instantly released.
Boom!
The ground shook.
Go-Jin strode forward, his massive figure rushing towards Lyle like a speeding train, creating a powerful current of air that swept through the area.
At the same time!
Another martial art glow flashed across Go-Jin's body: "Flowing Water Acceleration!"
His already extremely fast speed suddenly increased by a notch. Just as he was about to charge in front of Lyle, Go-Jin seemed to anticipate Lyle using his previous method again,
Bang!
He forcefully pressed his foot down, leaping into the air, and using the power of his massive body's descent, he threw a punch downwards.
With this technique!
Even if Lyle were to use the method that made him lose consciousness and body control again, he could still continue his attack by using the natural downward trend of his body.
"What strong combat intuition."
Lyle looked at Go-Jin, who seemed to transform into a giant rock smashing down from the sky, a look of surprise on his face.
Even Lyle himself hadn't thought that such a strategy could be used to circumvent the body's stiffening state.
Furthermore, with this attack method, even summoning a Fire Archangel for defense would not be very effective, as the opponent would use his own weight to press the angel down as well.
Should he use a Fourth-Tier Angel Summon?
No need!
Lyle's entire body flashed with magical light, and his body rapidly shrank at a visible speed. With a movement of his feet, he shot away from his original position like an arrow.
"Shrink!"
In the blink of an eye, Lyle had appeared dozens of meters away.
Boom!
Go-Jin's punch missed, creating a visible burst of energy. His fierce white eyes saw Lyle, who easily avoided his attack, and a hint of excitement appeared.
It had been a long time since he had encountered such an interesting opponent.
Despite being weaker than himself, he could not only injure him but also easily dodge his attacks.
Go-Jin suppressed the excitement in his heart, baring his sharp teeth in a grin as he looked at Lyle, openly saying: "I lose, human alchemist."
If the opponent were a weakling, Go-Jin would disdain any interaction with them. But the brief exchange just now made Go-Jin realize that Lyle was not a weakling, but a strong individual with mysterious magical techniques.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Go-Jin."
Go-Jin spoke cheerfully.
"Free Will, Tang." Lyle swayed, his body returning to its original state.
Thud!
Go-Jin sat on the ground with his legs crossed, letting out a dull thud: "Then let's talk, Tang."
"Alright."
"However, before that, your injuries need to be treated first."
Lyle's voice was calm as he pointed to the sword wound on Go-Jin's chest, which was still bleeding. It seemed that due to the intense movements just now, the blood was flowing out even faster.
Go-Jin looked at his chest, his white pupils contracting.
As a race born with powerful regenerative abilities, injuries that were fatal in human eyes were merely minor wounds to him, which could heal in just a short amount of time.
But now!
This wound, which he considered a minor injury, had not healed at all, and the amount of bleeding was clearly abnormal.
"You—"
Go-Jin raised his head, opened his mouth, and then paused.
At this moment,
the various factions of the Imperial Capital waiting outside the noble courtyard and watching the commotion looked at the closed gate with some confusion.
They naturally knew why 'Martial King' Go-Jin would appear here. Logically, it shouldn't have taken this long.
Yet, until now, it was completely quiet inside.
Time passed bit by bit!
Until evening.
Go-Jin finally pushed open the heavy, ornate gate and walked out of the noble courtyard, sweeping his gaze across the many confused eyes outside.
"Hmph."
Go-Jin let out a cold snort.
Ignoring the crowd, he solemnly closed the gate before departing. Wherever his massive figure passed, countless pedestrians actively made way.
Many faces in the crowd showed expressions of surprise.
Simply through Go-Jin's small action,
these people immediately realized that something they didn't understand must have happened inside.
This intelligence was also delivered to the Blood Emperor's hands at the first opportunity.
If the Blood Emperor didn't care about other matters, then as a fan of 'Martial King' Go-Jin, and also concerning the symbol of the Empire,
the Blood Emperor immediately sent someone to have Oskor of the Imperial Colosseum inquire Go-Jin about what had happened.
A mere alchemist being able to make 'Martial King' Go-Jin stay there for such a long time seemed abnormal no matter how one looked at it.
Inside the luxurious great hall.
The Blood Emperor paced back and forth in the room, his long fingers pressed against his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Unique alchemy techniques."
"Refining potions with ogre blood—"
The Blood Emperor, Gilgirik, raised his head, his golden pupils flashing, "Could it be that the other party's goal was 'Martial King' Go-Jin from the very beginning?"
"It doesn't seem like it either. This person is becoming more and more problematic."
Dong! Dong!
A soft knock on the door sounded.
"Come in." The Blood Emperor, Gilgirik, spoke without raising his head.
The secretary officer carefully pushed open the door and walked in.
"Speak."
"Oskor has inquired. The Martial King said nothing, only canceling all his matches for the next few days."
The air was briefly silent.
"Continue to arrange personnel to keep a close watch on that alchemist."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Late at night, noble district courtyard.
Lyle looked at the moonlight obscured by dark clouds in the sky, smiled softly, and said to the Imp beside him: "We should leave too."
"Chirp." The Imp responded.
Lyle extended his palm and patted the Imp's head: "Shrink."
The Imp's body trembled, and in the blink of an eye, it became the size of an ordinary puppy.
Lyle then took out a feather of some bird from his item box, held it in his hand, and his body began to glow with a Emerald green light.
"Wild Shape!"
Whoosh!
Lyle's body slightly twisted and contracted, transforming into a large goshawk over a meter tall.
Skill: Wild Shape ( | )
Consumption: Requires one corresponding material from a beast or monster during transformation. The material can only be used once.
Description: The transformed beast or monster must not exceed the transformer's body size. After transformation, the abilities from before transformation cannot be used.
When the transformer's level exceeds the level of the transformed beast or monster, it is calculated based on the beast or monster's own level limit.
Lyle slightly shook his body, still a bit unaccustomed to the somewhat weak beast form.
He glanced at the attribute panel: Goshawk (Lv 8)
"Only up to level 8?"
A human voice came from the sharp eagle beak.
Flap!
His broad and powerful wings spread open and flapped fiercely.
Lyle grabbed the shrunken Imp and soared into the sky, disappearing into the night.