Chapter 36
The Second Alien (1)
The middle-aged man looked up and down at Artis.
He seemed to be a bit confused.
“Is it that Mage, then? Level 40 is still too low, but it’s better than that fraud.”
He kept talking to himself.
‘Did he relax because he thinks nobody knows who he is?’
‘It’s probably because of the Guidelines.’
It was a habit Ryu Han-bin himself had.
Whenever he relaxed without anyone around, he had a habit of talking to himself.
Artis often nagged him about it.
‘As expected, he’s also an Earthling.’
He was the first Earthling he met after falling into this world.
The Lich he fought against at the Satt Forest was technically the first one, but he only realized it after killing it.
In the first place, by the time he had met it, it was no longer human.
That was the first time he felt like he met an actual Earthling.
Han-bin felt a little happy because of that, but he kept his emotions suppressed.
‘The other Earthlings are different from me.’
The man looked calm.
He didn’t seem like the Devil was manipulating him.
However, Han-bin still couldn’t be sure that the man wasn’t hostile.
‘I’ll have to wait and see.’
* * *
Artis took a step back and asked Han-bin a question.
“He immediately discovered my level. Is he an Alien?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Only Earthlings can do that.”
The man seemed to have no intention of hiding his identity based on the way he talked.
The man laughed and gave them a definite answer.
“I am Alejandro Fernandez. Well, my full name is a little longer. Perhaps you already know? If you belong to the Upper Draconium, you’d have already heard about it.”
‘Upper Draconium?’
Artis was confused. He didn’t know anyone who went by that name.
Alejandro squinted his eyes.
“You don’t look like you know. Aren’t you from the Upper Draconium?”
“You must have found the wrong person, Alien.”
“I’m not looking for a person. You’re a Dragon, aren’t you?”
At that moment, Artis felt his heart sink.
‘How did he know?’
His tone had that sense of certainty in it.
Giving off a laugh, Alejandro pointed at Artis.
“This is getting bothersome. Follow me. I’d love to hear the whole story.”
He was beginning to grow more and more arrogant.
‘At least it’s clear that he’s not on our side.’
Artis stealthily controlled the conversation.
When fighting, it was necessary to dig up more information before the battle could start.
“What are you talking about?”
“Aren’t you the one who killed Shin Ha-joon?”
“Shin Ha-joon?”
“Oh, of course, you don’t know his name. Did you kill a Lich recently?”
‘So the Lich’s name is Shin Ha-joon.’
Ryu Han-bin grew curious.
That form of naming method felt familiar to him.
‘Was that skeleton Alien a Korean?’
Regardless, the Lich’s nationality was the least of their worries.
The Lich had the mark of the Great Earth.
And the man before them seemed to be the acquaintance or friend of the Lich.
He could also be a member of the Great Earth!
‘I don’t think we’re going to be able to have a peaceful conversation.’
Han-bin slowly began to warm his fingers up.
* * *
Meanwhile, Artis was deep in thought.
Alejandro clearly believed that he killed Shin Ha-joon.
However, his attitude didn’t line up with that thought.
If the enemy won against a Level 72 Lich, any level 75 Magic Swordsman would be forced to keep their guard.
How could he be so relaxed?
‘There must be something he’s hiding.’
Artis continued to dig up information through their conversation.
“A Lich? I don’t know what bullshit that is. Besides, what Dragon are you talking about?”
Alejandro raised his hand forward.
“Of course, you’d play innocent. After all, you’ll be in trouble the moment the people find out your secret.”
He pointed his finger at Artis.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Tak!
From the man’s fingertip shot out an electrical wave.
Artis immediately cast his own magic to defend himself.
“Shield!”
The battle began too sudden, leaving him with no choice but to rely on low-level magic.
The wave swiftly broke the shield and hit Artis, causing him to fall back.
“Ugh!”
Alejandro laughed blatantly.
“Once I capture you, I’ll be able to interrogate you all I want.”
* * *
“Stay on top of them.”
As commanded, the Wyvern flew and circled over the sky.
Alejandro turned his gaze toward Ryu Han-bin.
“You’re dead.”
An invisible force flew towards Han-bin and grabbed his limb.
It was the unique telekinetic power of Magic Swordsmen, Psychic Force.
“Hmm?”
Feeling the pressure being applied onto his skin, Han-bin frowned.
It felt as if there were multiple men were grabbing onto his arms and legs.
“This should be enough.”
Alejandro turned to Artis again.
He unsuspectingly believed that he had overpowered Han-bin entirely.
However, it couldn’t even faze Han-bin. He could break free just as easily as pulling dozens of men off of him.
‘He’s only at this level?’
Just as he was about to escape through sheer brute force, Artis sent him Telepathy Magic.
-Wait!-
Through Telepathy Magic, he was able to send his thoughts to anyone within 5 meters of him.
However, since Ryu Han-bin couldn’t use magic, it became a one-way conversation.
He looked at Artis with concern.
‘Why?’
Artis’s message continued.
-I’m going to deal with him myself, so get as much information as you can from where you are! He doesn’t seem to have any intention of killing me here anyway.-
Ryu Han-bin easily defeated a level 72 Lich. A level 75 Magic Swordsman wasn’t going to be any different.
Artis still felt suspicious of the man. He was way too confident.
He had to be hiding something in his sleeves.
Artis had to figure it out.
-Oh, if you think it’s becoming dangerous, don’t hesitate to move immediately.-
Artis finished. He still valued his life more than anything.
‘Okay.’
Han-bin loosened his grip in agreement.
Artis aimed his staff at his enemy and began to conjure magic.
“Ignition Ray!”
A wave of heat washed over Alejandro.
He laughed.
“Hah! A spell that weak won’t work on me.”
Even though it was a level 25 flame magic, he treated it as if it was a low-level spell.
He was simply that strong.
Alejandro raised his palm toward the incoming heatwave.
“Hmph!”
A shockwave shot out of his palm, tearing the heatwave to pieces.
Bang bang bang!
Force Wave, like the Psychic Force, was one of the basic skills of Magic Swordsmen.
Due to his high level, even basic skills were enough to destroy Level 25 magic.
“As expected. It’s not enough.”
Artis began to cast stronger spells.
“Reverse Gravity! Flame Burst! Death Blast! Electronic Explosion!”
It was time to utilize the 18,000X investment he put on magic scrolls.
He conjured a series of level 37 to level 40 magic spells.
“This is a little annoying.”
Complaining, Alejandro pulled out his twin blades.
He doubted he’d be able to stop such powerful spells with just his Force Wave.
He pointed his left sword forward and raised his right sword above his head.
It was the Magic Swordsmen’s peculiar stance.
Just as Spiritists used spirits to cast their skills, Magic Swordsmen used Magic Swordsmanship through stances.
-Magic Sword: Thunder
Rumble!
As the sounds of thunder echoed across the mountains, four beams of lightning descended from the skies.
The beams slithered through the air like eels, swallowing up every magic in its path.
The Reverse Gravity spell was destroyed right away.
The rest exploded upon being devoured.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Artis hastily took a step back.
“That quick…?”
Despite the massive gap in level, he thought his newly-learned spells would at least work.
Alejandro chuckled triumphantly.
“I am a Level 75 Magic Swordsman. Such low-level spells wouldn’t work on me.”
* * *
Ryu Han-bin calmly examined Alejandro’s techniques.
‘Because he’s a Magic Swordsman, I thought he’d be more like a Mage, but Magics swordsmen are actually a little different.’
He didn’t use both the Warrior’s swordsmanship and the Mage’s magic but instead used a unique style called Magic Swordsmanship.
‘It’s the style that I couldn’t get at the Rocky Mountain.’
Meanwhile, Artis was being overwhelmed.
“Ugh! Uuugh!”
No matter how many spells he attacked Alejandro with, none of it worked.
Not even his barriers worked against the Magic Swordsman. Every wall he created was easily destroyed with a single hit.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Artis’s magic shield broke again due to the explosions.
Alejandro smiled wickedly as he approached.
“You still don’t understand the situation, Dragon?”
If he wanted to, he could break Artis’s head right then and then.
He was just going easy on Artis.
Now that he had figured out the opponent’s identity, he couldn’t kill him in human form.
“How long are you going to keep pretending to be someone you’re not?”
Artis decided.
The opponent seemed to already know his true identity.
There was no point in hiding it anymore.
“If so!”
His entire body was once more engulfed by red brilliance.
His transformation ripped the robe he was wearing to shreds as the light expanded further.
Alejandro burst into joy.
‘That’s it. Turn into a Dragon. Only then can I check your identity.’
Soon after, a large red Dragon around 10 meters tall appeared in front of him as the light dissipated.
“Gaaaaarrrrh!”
Alejandro was mesmerized by the gigantic figure.
“Huh?”
Disappointment filled his eyes despite the Dragon’s majestic appearance.
“Aren’t you just a young fire Dragon?”
The red Dragon roared.
“And you’re a vile Alien! I’ll show you the true power of Dragons!”
Alejandro didn’t care about what Artis had to say.
“So you’re not the Dragon that killed Shin Ha-joon? Then who killed him?”
He felt like he had been chasing the wrong being.
“Well, guess I won’t have to use this then.”
Mumbling, he touched the necklace around his neck.
Then he reached out and pointed at Artis.
“Well, since you’re here already, guess I’ll still use it anyway.”
The necklace began to glow.
“Return to your human form, Latnain Dragon!”
A beam of light hit Artis.
“Ugh!”
Artis was astonished.
His body began to shrink back rapidly.
He had been returned to his human form.
The fact that he had been forced to revert was definitely a problem.
But he had a much bigger problem.
‘I can’t change into my Dragon form. Is it the power of that necklace?’
Alejandro laughed at the naked, red-haired young man.
“It’s a unique item– a Polymorph Necklace. It forces any Dragon to transform into their human form.”
He didn’t need to use it on a young Dragon like Artis.
“But it’s easier to drag people than to drag dragons.”
Though he was confused for a moment, he quickly recovered his smile.
Even if it was still young, the red Dragon was still useful in many ways.
As said before, the Dragons’ body parts were extremely valuable.
It was because of that that the Lich they fought became thrilled upon seeing Artis’s Dragon form.
“I couldn’t find a full-grown Dragon, but tracking you down still isn’t in vain.”
At that time, a smile came to Artis’s mouth as well.
“Even if the Dragon that killed the Lich were an adult, you’d have no reason to fear them if they’re in their human form. Is that what you believe?”
Alejandro felt a little confused by what he thought was Artis’s bluff.
“Where are you going with this?”
Artis laughed.
“Well, I am not an adult Dragon, am I?”
“Then who killed the Lich?”
Just as he was about to answer, Alejandro heard an explosion come from behind them.
The psychic force that held Ryu Han-bin down had been destroyed.
Baaaaang!