Overgeared

His left field of view went down and his right field of view receded. It was a change in vision that wasn’t intended at all. The struggling Saleos looked back in doubt and witnessed a scene in which the world behind him had been split in half. At the same time, he realized something.

“”Sword... Saint!””

It was the identity of the human being in front of him. Blood erupted from Saleos’ flesh as he was cut in half from the middle of his forehead. The disgusting stench as Saleos’ organs poured out suggested his death.

『 This is unbelievable...! 』

『 A blow was struck to the 19th great demon...! 』

After Muller, the title of ‘Sword Saint’ carried the same weight as history. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that most of the history of humanity in Satisfy was protected by the Sword Saint (Muller). Unlike Pagma, who fought alone in a place no one knew, the Sword Saint had guarded people’s side and fought with them. This was recorded in many histories and passed down orally. Now the world—

-As expected of the Sword Saint!

-God Kraugel!

There was no doubt that Kraugel would continue Muller’s reputation. The sky above the sky—the pinnacle of humanity, who no one but Grid could resist, was qualified to bear humanity’s expectations.

"Earth Dragon’s Ascension."

How much had he grown in this period of time? Kraugel showed the miracle of performing Space Sword without warning. Nevertheless, he wasn’t satisfied with cutting Saleos apart and linked the next sword technique. Sword energy surged from the ground to swallow up Saleos who was splitting into two halves. Saleos seemed like he would become a pile of ashes.

The 19th ranked great demon was on the verge of being raided by just one player. The world held their breath as they watched the historic moment that would never happen again. Then tens of thousands of blood vessels emerged from Saleos’ pumping organs and started to tangle up together.

『 ...! 』

-...!

It was like looking at a regression in time. Saleos’ organs were restored to their original state and his body, split in half, was stuck together again. If the land he stood on wasn’t soaked with blood, people would’ve thought that the scene of Saleos being split in half was merely their imagination.

Clap, clap, clap.

Saleos’ first act after restoring his body was a tribute. He clapped briefly and laughed—it was a pleasant laugh, not a derisive one. “”You are the Sword Saint. You are the one carrying on Muller’s legacy? I’m going to have a fun fight for the first time in a long time.””

Hell only had two enemies—one was Alex, and the other, Muller. The frustration and fear felt by the 33 monarchs who ruled hell were only caused by the two of them. What about Pagma, who defended the Behen Archipelago and prevented the great demons from entering? That guy’s last spark was the work of Baal’s whim and he was just a momentary trouble.

On the other hand, Alex’ invasion of hell, and Muller’s tenacity in sealing the bodies of the great demons who came to the world of humans, were very difficult and painful.

“”In the end, the two of them are gone...””

Muller—the one who sealed even Hell Gao, the 9th great demon. Saleos would be reborn as a being beyond Hell Gao if he killed the man in front of him who followed Muller’s footsteps. There was a deeper smile on Saleos’ face as he rushed toward Kraugel.

Saleos’ crushing fist was blocked by Kraugel’s sword. Kraugel’s sword had the power to cut anything but it stopped after only cutting Saleos’ ‘power.’ Saleos’ body couldn’t be reached.

“”What?”” It didn’t come to a power struggle. Saleos frowned as he used his skills to push Kraugel into the defensive. “”This is too easy. Muller’s swordsmanship is only this much?””

“...Muller.” Kraugel stiffened due to the blow to the side and felt the pain of his internal organs being squeezed. His eyes were usually restrained in their emotions but now they were filled with a rare anger. “I didn’t learn Muller’s swordsmanship.”

The first day he made contact with Satisfy, Kraugel was fascinated by the touch of the cold sword and there was only one path before his eyes. He decided he would be a swordsman and he did his best to see it through to the end. This was the result. Kraugel’s sword path was found and pioneered by himself. He didn’t follow a path that someone else had already built. Being compared to Muller was never pleasant.

“My name is Kraugel.”

A fierce silver sword energy encircled Kraugel. Kraugel’s health and defense were replaced by the durability, attack power, and defense of his own swords. The White Tiger Sword held in his right hand resonated clearly under the influence of ‘Poetry that Praises the Sword.’

“I’m not Muller’s successor. I am a new Sword Saint.”

[The +9 Alione’s Sword has been destroyed.]

[The +3 Imoogi’s Tusk has been destroyed.]

[The +8 Deceptive Two Swords have been destroyed.]

Dozens of swords in Kraugel’s inventory were sequentially destroyed. Every time Kraugel allowed Saleos’ attacks, the swords were damaged on behalf of Kraugel. Meanwhile, Condemnation Sword had its power increased by 11 times due to Poetry that Praises the Sword and it condemned Saleos. The more evil the target, the greater the power of Condemnation Sword.

The energy sword that pierced Saleos was white at the top and black at the bottom. The White Sword and Black Sword were successfully connected and the only thing left was the expression of the Twin Swords. Kraugel could turn Saleos’ body into a rag as long as he completed the combo.

However, Saleos’ body was restored immediately and his health gauge was still over 90%. On the other hand, Kraugel had already consumed half of his 40 spare weapons. The expensive unique or legendary rated weapons were permanently destroyed in exchange for dealing some damage.

Saleos’ destructive power frustrated Kraugel while Kraugel’s swordsmanship bored Saleos. “”You are so weak.””

The black magic power spun like a drill bit in Saleos’ hand. Now it was this magic power, not Saleos’ power, that Kraugel’s sword would cut. Moreover, Saleos’ power would remain intact and crush Kraugel.

“”Because you didn’t learn Muller’s swordsmanship.””

Saleos denied Kraugel and his attack struck like a thunderbolt.

***

“I am Grid. Remember this well because I am the most persistent person in the world.”

Grid walked along a forced path. He unintentionally changed his class to Pagma's Descendant, and was forced to walk the path of a blacksmith. This path was never smooth. Grid looked back on his path many times, trembling with anxiety and sometimes feeling sorry for himself.

However, he finally reached the final destination. He got off the path that had already been cleared and stepped onto a new path.

‘My’ path.

It was Grid’s path.

Then Muller? The question of the 13th great demon, Beleth, about following Muller’s path and carrying on his legacy, scratched at Grid’s pride. Grid didn’t want to be obscured by the shadow of Muller at every important moment.

‘I’m tired of it.’

Grid threw a bottle of empty potions behind him and started to perform a beautiful dance. The silver light at the tip of his sword gradually turned blue and scattered into petals. It was the moment when Transcended Link Flower dominated the battlefield.

Grid was the only one who could move freely here, at least during Transcended Link Flower. He used Blacksmith’s Rage and Quick Movements before jumping up from the ground, accelerating as he was surrounded by lightning. Grid planned to use a four fusion sword dance while Beleth was acting wary of the blue sword energy petals.

However, Beleth acted relentlessly. He moved with great strides to meet Grid regardless of the blue petals touching his body. It was enough for Grid to change his plan. “Flower.”

The basic concept of Flower was to leave marks on the target and then attack the marks. Beleth was covered in marks due to exposing himself to the petals of Transcended Link Flower and in return, two blades of sword energies would be hit each mark. It was a sword technique that exerted both physical and magical attack power. It was an opportunity to analyze Beleth’s vulnerability.

Just as Grid was feeling expectant, Beleth stared at the sword energies flooding toward him and waved his hand slightly. The sword energies that should’ve hit Beleth stopped at once and twisted their direction. Beleth’s power was to make ‘objects without a master’ his ‘weapon.’ From the time that the sword energy left Grid’s sword and was judged as a ‘projectile,’ it was already Beleth’s power, not Grid’s power.

“Kuek...!”

Grid was bombarded by the sword energies returned to him and retreated back while coughing up blood. The amount of health he lost was 207,090. This was the price for allowing himself to be hit three times. Beleth’s weapon damage was powerful enough to inflict 69,030 damage per hit. A chill went down Grid’s spine as he recalled the first time he was hit by Beleth’s fist. The damage he received was exactly 69,030.

‘Crazy. Is it fixed damage?’

It was also a fixed damage close to 70,000. The health and defense he gained so far didn’t matter against this opponent.

It was a moment of desperation for Grid.

The dozens of remnants of the wall Beleth destroyed became weapons and hurtled toward Grid. His immortality would immediately be consumed if he allowed even two of these attacks... Grid attempted to use Shunpo but it failed. The Lightning God skill of the Blue Dragon Boots wasn’t triggered, either.

Inevitably, Grid had to use Freely Move to avoid the sharp pieces of rocks and reach Beleth’s side. His eyes shone through his fluttering hair like he was going to eat Beleth. “LInked Kill Flower Pinnacle.”

Beleth’s body still had marks on it. The power of Freely Move to avoid all non-targeted skills and approach the target was beyond imagination. It was almost invincible except for the fact that the cooldown time was very long.

“”These little tricks...”” Beleth was hit by Linked Kill Flower Pinnacle and bled for the first time. His white clothing that was clean without dust had finally become dirty. Beleth gritted his teeth and stomped his feet as hard as possible. “”If you haven’t followed Muller’s footsteps, then get out of here, stripling!””

There was an earthquake and hundreds of stone shards soared from the shattered ground, striking at Grid, who was still in the air. Beleth had no doubt that these hundreds of weapons would lead to the death of the man in front of him—the very same man who dared to hurt him.

However, this human was as persistent as he claimed. Suddenly, flames appeared and burned the hundreds of weapons to ashes. The infinite sword energy that unfolded caught Beleth’s attention. The human called Grid stood behind this unimaginable spectacle and grumbled.

“Okay, your weakness...”

The power to attack using all nearby objects as weapons—it was a threatening ability. Did this mean that the 69,030 fixed damage weapons could bombard indefinitely? No, Grid was a blacksmith and knew it—the damage of a weapon wasn’t the only thing that mattered about them. A weapon might possess a strong attack power, but if it had poor durability, it would be destroyed before reaching the target. It was like the hundreds of stones in the Storm of the Fire God.

Grid smiled confidently and used Open Potential. He used the infinite sword energy to launch Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle. It was at this moment that the infinite sword energy turned back in all directions and aimed at Grid.

“...Eh?”

It was the end. Grid realized that the infinite sword energies were reduced to being Beleth’s weapons and was bombarded with them. After this, Grid consumed all sorts of survival and counter skills, but he still died in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Grid had delayed Beleth for a total of 5 minutes and 50 seconds.

“...This is a scam!” Grid’s scream echoed from the resurrection point.

Dammit, actually using his own sword energy as a weapon? He had to counter it properly.

Grid instantly summoned Sticks.

“Your Majesty?”

“Teleport!”

“...Yes.”

***

『 I-It is shocking news. The supreme, Grid, died after six minutes of fighting the Berserk King, Beleth. The Reverse Summoning magic circle prepared by the Saharan Empire has become virtually useless... 』

Raiding the 13th great demon alone? In fact, it was impossible from the beginning. However, the world had high expectations because the other person was Grid. Many people believed that even if Grid didn’t raid Beleth, he would be able to last 13 minutes. Yet the result turned out disastrous and the world was in turmoil.

The imagined scene of Beleth advancing to Henlutu Fortress, collapsing the Reverse Summoning magic circle, and destroying the Arc Kingdom, spread clearly in their minds. There was a moment of silence as terror encroached on the world. Just then, a stream of light fell from the sky. Grid, who died not long ago, reappeared. It was Sticks, the world’s strongest mode of teleportation... no, it was the majesty of Overgeared King Grid, who led the sage.

“It is going to be different this time.”

““...Can’t you understand who you are up against?””

Beleth’s angry face became even scarier.