The Central Stronghold of the Great Wall.
Lock stood with a faint smile, his left hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist and his right on his hip, looking at Orland across from him with a composed demeanor.
"Hah!"
The burly man roared, charging towards Lock at the fastest speed he could muster, his longsword poised to strike.
A glint flashed in his disguised black eyes, and immediately, the Sword God Domain unfolded, a heavy and dangerous aura sweeping across the entire field.
First strike!
It came head-on, chilling to the bone, striking directly at Orland's chest.
Orland, rich in combat experience and already on guard, did not choose to meet it head-on. His forward steps immediately shifted direction, moving to his front-left, while his upper body twisted backward.
The sharp sword qi grazed his chest. Orland did not hesitate, continuing his charge towards Lock.
Unfortunately, this evasive maneuver caused his speed to momentarily halt.
That slight slowing down had already become his greatest fatal weakness.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three streams of sword qi, two in front and one behind, shot directly towards him, attacking Orland's calves and chest respectively.
Martial Skill: Flowing Water Acceleration!
Orland immediately activated his martial skill. In his eyes, the sword qi seemed to slow down slightly, allowing him to dodge them continuously.
"Success!"
Orland grinned. He had already reached a position less than ten meters in front of Lock. This distance would only take two seconds to cross!
But in the next second, the smile on his face immediately froze.
A severe stinging pain came from his back. His body, running forward, instantly stumbled. Then, an even denser volley of sword qi split and arrived. In the brief second, his posture twisted, and it struck his chest, sending him flying; he fell heavily back to his starting position.
"Ouch~"
The pain all over his body made even a tough man like Orland let out a cry of agony.
Lock walked over to him, smiling, and extended his hand. "I told you long ago, you couldn't cross that distance. You've learned your lesson, haven't you! I made sure not to injure your bones and tendons. Get up."
Orland grabbed his hand, using the leverage to get up from the ground, and said, "Seeing that Paladin Captain Remediosgott beaten so badly, I was just curious for a moment. I really don't know how you developed such a martial skill. Not only do you have to guard against frontal attacks, but you also have to be wary of attacks from behind. For a warrior, it can truly be considered a very restraining technique."
"Actually, it's nothing major. It's just combining martial skills like 'Sword Qi Domain' and 'Sky Slash,' and then adding a bit of 'Multiple Sword Shadows' and 'Rapid Qi Gathering' as a combined martial skill."
"…An ordinary person activating so many martial skills simultaneously would have already collapsed and died, wouldn't they? Are you a monster, you guy?" Orland couldn't help but roll his eyes, expressing his speechlessness. Still, he also felt that it was not surprising for a composite martial skill, which required the combination of so many martial skills, to possess such formidable power.
Lock smiled noncommittally. If it wasn't powerful, why would he waste time creating it?
Ever since he reached level 100 in Yggdrasil, he realized that his path upwards had hit a bottleneck. In terms of magic, he could still continuously enrich his offensive and defensive methods by learning skills, but it seemed impossible to break through to level 101 in this way.
So, while continuously researching magic, he also began to cultivate warrior-type abilities, and at the same time, strengthened his basic abilities through 'transformation rituals.'
Even if he ultimately couldn't break through to the level 101 threshold, he could still strengthen himself. Why wouldn't he?
After completing the transformation ritual, he gained the characteristics of a dragon. The dragons in this world have infinite lifespans, and he had enough time to explore methods of breakthrough.
"Orland, have there been any movements from the Paladin Order?"
"Heh heh, after being defeated by you, those Holy Knights who were usually so arrogant are now like eggplants hit by frost. Especially their Captain, she has been holed up in her room for an entire day." Orland shrugged, then elbowed Lock in the chest. "Seriously, you wouldn't have ulterior motives, would you? I heard that woman calls your name in her dreams. It seems you've really left a deep impression on her!"
"Get out!" Lock pushed his arm away and said, "At most, she just hates my guts. I wonder what they've decided about meeting the Holy Queen?"
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy!" Orland shook his head, saying with some regret, "Originally, the higher-ups were already suspicious of you. Now, even the Holy Kingdom's strongest Holy Knight has been soundly defeated by your hand. For safety reasons, you won't have a chance to meet the Holy Queen for a while."
"Hmm~"
Hearing Orland's analysis, Lock let out a meaningful hum, which immediately startled Orland.
"You're not planning something big, are you? Don't do anything reckless!"
Lock said with a half-smile, "If I really wanted to do something, for example, destroy this stronghold. What would you do?"
Upon hearing this, Orland's face immediately changed color, and he said with a solemn tone, "At that point, I would only be able to fight to the death."
"Hahaha," Lock patted his shoulder and said, "Don't be so tense! I'm here as an envoy; I wouldn't do such a thing. Don't worry, I have enough patience to wait for an audience with the Holy Queen."
Lock was, of course, not in a hurry, because if he were to meet the Holy Queen now, unless he used force, it would be almost impossible to make the Holy Kingdom immediately side with the Sanctuary.
His coming here, and even deliberately delaying for so long, was all about waiting for an opportunity, and that opportunity should arrive very soon.
In the past few days, he ran outside the Great Wall every morning, not just to ride his horse, but also to use scouting magic to investigate the situation of the Demi-human Tribes in the Abelion Hills.
Recently, he had discovered that they had begun large-scale movements, so Demiurge should soon order the Demi-human Tribes to attack the Great Wall.
In the past, the Holy Kingdom was able to repel attacks from the Demi-human Tribes entirely because the assaults were small-scale, launched by single or a few tribes. This time, it was a coalition army of all demi-human races within the Hills, and the Holy Kingdom would not be able to withstand it.
This was a problem of military strength.
Furthermore, in terms of top-tier combat power, relying solely on the Holy Kingdom's nine colors, plus a Holy Queen and a High Priest, would be hard-pressed to resist the Ten Heroes of the Demi-humans, the ten tribal leaders who surpassed the hero domain within the Abelion Hills, not to mention the Great Tomb members in the shadows.
At that time, when the crisis arose and the Holy Kingdom lacked sufficient strength to resist the Demi-human Tribes' attack, the Sanctuary would have a reason to move troops against the Holy Kingdom.
That kind-hearted Holy Queen should not refuse the assistance offered by Lock, the great hero defending the Great Wall, right?
Everything was according to plan!
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