Overgeared

Noll—he was the only surviving vampire among the direct descendants, apart from Marie Rose and Braham.

Grid failed to kill him. There were various circumstances, but it was basically because Noll was too strong. He wasn't easily killed due to his excellent abilities to increase the survivability of himself and his allies. He wasn't included in the hell expedition because he was the lord of the vampire city, not because he was unqualified.

"Hurry!"

Noll had been lying in a coffin for almost his entire life, but he surprisingly had common sense. He gained a lot of knowledge and experience after becoming a member of the Overgeared Kingdom.

A dragon—he clearly recognized the absolute power of this huge creature. He felt great fear while knowing there was no chance. Even so, he didn't run away. He took the lead and ordered people to flee.

The nature of what he inherited from his mother Beriache, his 'benevolence,' forced him to put others first. It was an instinct to become stronger in moments of crisis when life was at risk.

Why? Why did his mother make him love others? The family love and fellowship he experienced in his hellish life had always been like a disaster.

Jealousy, resentment, anger. The bloodkin who were affected by the Curse of Sloth went crazy. They easily turned away from each other or harmed each other. As the only one among them who loved them, Noll's life was particularly painful. He felt alone. To be honest, he resented his mother.

However, at this moment.

'It is time to repay the favor.'

Noll was deeply grateful to his mother. Thanks to this 'heart,' he met Grid. Thanks to Grid, he had been meeting new people endlessly. He found out that he wasn't a mutation. The experience of exchanging kindness, not malice, was more valuable than blood. His heart was filled with joy. He was happy. He felt his mother's love. He realized that his mother loved him, so she gave him this heart.

Yes, it was time to repay all the favors. It was for Grid, who took him away, and his mother, who gave him the heart that made him feel rewarded. It was time to help those who taught him happiness while being with him.

Just then, the dragon that invaded Reidan out of nowhere released magic power. The bodies of Noll and the vampires were shattered.

It was pandemonium. People were screaming. There was no one who wasn't agitated by the empty deaths of those who rushed to help them.

"Re…vival!"

Gurgle gurgle!

The words that were painstakingly completed using a torn mouth became a spell—it was blood magic that used blood as a medium. The fluttering blood and flesh were reconstructed and attracted to each other at a very rapid speed. It was an untimely revival of the vampire army that had been wiped out.

"Don't look back and run!" Noll overcame death and urged the people. Floating rings lined up to the left and right of Reidan Castle. He delivered his willpower to the lord of Reidan by infusing magic power into the structures that were both architectural and symbolic.

"Noll… Shit! This way!" Garitsha, who became the lord of Reidan after Chris and Zednos—she turned away and led the people to the castle.

The warp gate—it was toward the rings that had just started to run while using Noll's magic power as energy.

[The command skill 'March' has been used.]

[The command skill 'Bravery' has been used.]

Garitsha belonged to Overgeared One. She was a talented person who had been a member since the days of the Tzedakah and changed her class to a commander due to the needs of the Overgeared Kingdom. Her command was swift and efficient. She quickly recovered and moved the people who weren't able to even walk properly due to shock.

'I can't make Noll's sacrifice be in vain.'

The warp gate had nearly all-rounder functions, but it had difficult operating conditions in exchange. It required a large amount of magic power. Hundreds of magicians needed to squeeze out their magic power to barely operate it. It was unlikely that Noll, who just operated four warp gates at the same time, would be in an intact state. This was despite the fact that he was a direct descendant and the lord of the vampire city. It was because his magic power wasn't infinite.

Meanwhile, Xenon was intrigued by the series of situations.

'The world has changed a lot.'

The relationship between vampires and humans was that of predators and prey. The act of helping each other was contrary to ecology and was a clear error. The direction in which human civilization developed was also unexpected. It was a form of harmony without destroying the ecosystem.

It meant that they had chosen a difficult path. They felt they could afford it. It was highly likely that human intelligence had developed to a level beyond expectations. Or perhaps it was related to the elves.

'Did my father deserve it…?'

An era that would've been classified as ancient by human standards—the operation of the warp gate, which was only seen in an era that felt quite old even for Xenon, made Xenon more cautious. The warp gates were the giants' technology. The reason for the destruction of the giants was that they were a threat to many transcendent species.

As expected.

Dozens of weapons appeared on the ground below the warp gates. He was alert to the giants' weapons that could fire a substance called a 'beam,' but fortunately, it was a cannon operated by gunpowder. The image of the busily moving artillerymen was primitive…

[……!]

Dozens of cannons fired simultaneously. At the same time, Xenon's eyes widened. It was like two crescent moons in the gray sky seemed to turn into full moons in an instant.

He was surprised by the power of the Overgeared Cannons. It was hard to believe that the cannons with a simple structure could show such power. Apart from Xenon's surprise, the dozens of shells didn't produce any results. Not a single shot hit Xenon. It was because they were blocked by the shield of transparent magic that surrounded his body at all times. It felt like the shells exploded in collision with invisible glass. Despite the fact that the shock waves generated at this time were quite powerful, Xenon's huge body didn't shake at all.

It wasn't even his absolute defense. A dragon's absolute defense was the power to 'invalidate all damage received.' However, Xenon had blocked the damage from even reaching him, and it was all with one simple shield.

'This is…'

'…A dragon!'

The minds and hearts of Noll and the vampires chilled. It was more accurate to say that their expressions hardened. The attack didn't work properly. The power of a transcendent species was so shocking. They already understood the power of dragons through sufficient learning, but actually experiencing it was a different problem.

Dragon Fear, magic, Dragon Words, Breath, barriers, absolute defense, etc. They felt most desperate about the fact that the gray dragon didn't show a single skill.

Meanwhile, Xenon had finished identifying Reidan.

'It isn't strange if the army arrives.'

In terms of the size and shape of the city, it was an important production base for humans. Yet there were no elite forces that responded. He didn't think that the vampires stationed there were the elite. His guess was that they trusted the warp gates. This allowed them to move troops at any time.

Dozens of spheres started to spin with Xenon as the center. It gradually became faster and more powerful. The city would be devastated even if only one of the spheres fell and hit the city.

Noll's pupils trembled like crazy.

"Garitsha!" he shouted in a hurry. However, the sphere accelerated several times faster than Noll's cry. Noll's cry was buried by a deafening explosion. The deafening sound continued without stopping. The four warp gates collapsed quickly and hit Garitsha and the people. There wasn't even time for Noll to act.

Garitsha and most of the people lost their lives from the moment the spheres collided with the warp gates. They turned into ashes, along with Reidan Castle which stood at the heart of the warp gates. A few people who luckily didn't perish were crushed to death by the remains of the warp gates.

It was an unbelievable disaster caused by small actions.

[I am very cautious.]

Xenon's father, Gujel, wasn't an old dragon. It was a bit too ambiguous to be the absolute being that humans imagined. Therefore, Xenon was able to make the guess that 'my father was killed by humans' and didn't feel overconfident in his power.

Xenon planned to travel around the continent. He felt a need to closely observe and grasp humans. The problem was that from a human perspective, it would feel faster than a storm.

"You…" Noll gritted his teeth. He didn't ask questions like why this dragon had invaded. This was a transcendent species that he couldn't understand from his own perspective. He decided it would be useless to ask for an explanation. The energy to devote to dialogue and understanding was completely focused on his magic power.

'Mother, I will be going to your side now.'

He smiled as he recalled Beriache's life. Blue blood vessels started to bulge all over his pale skin. It was the aftermath of magic power speeding through his blood vessels all over the body and accelerating blood flow. Noll was determined to die. He planned to explode every last drop of his blood and take at least one of the dragon's eyeballs. Of course, he knew that the probability of success was near zero. Even so, he wanted to leave with even a glimmer of hope rather than die an empty death.

Xenon's eyes that looked at him were sad. They resembled a human's eyes looking pitifully at a mayfly's life. It happened the moment Noll felt insulted and his blood vessels swelled up even more…

───!

One of the spheres still swirling around Xenon were fired at Noll. There was no sound. The sphere was soon lodged in Noll's heart. It was only when it exploded that it caused a deafening noise.

"Kuaaaaak!" Noll shattered without even screaming while the vampires writhed in pain. They were critically injured in the aftermath of the explosion that blew Noll up. Xenon showed them no further interest. He fired one more sphere without saying anything.

Just then, a giant bear appeared and blocked the sphere with its body. It was meaningless. The sphere pierced the unidentified bear with no trouble. The problem was that there were dozens of bears. By the time it reached its target, the sphere that had to pierce all types of obstacles without stopping or exploding lost its speed slightly. Arrows, swords, spears, axes, and shields fell in turn to block its way and the sphere exploded without advancing any further.

Noll and the vampires, who just finished regenerating, looked at the reinforcements with a haggard face. They were unexpected people.

"This is a great opportunity. I felt too uncomfortable to talk to him because I was less active in the Great Human and Demon War."

The 1st ranked berserker—it was Asuka, a blonde-haired woman called the weapons master or weapons collector.

"This is a disaster, not an opportunity."

1st in the summoner rankings—it was Black Teddy, a man with a cute teddy bear on his shoulder.

"I know. I am going to die. Even so, that doesn't matter."

The duo with names familiar to Noll stood facing Xenon without any fear. Their expressions were confident even with a giant dragon like a mountain in front of them. They didn't seem to know fear.

"Take that vampire and leave while I hold on. Okay?"

"Yes, Young Lady."

"What courage do you have…?!"

Noll's cry was ignored. Noll was helpless after already overcoming two deaths. Thus, Black Teddy's bears easily covered his mouth and lifted him up.

Asuka pulled out a new weapon and gripped it.

Money and information—she invested the most powerful capital to collect the weapons made by Grid and had the ability to respond to various situations. Additionally, berserkers didn't die easily. Death was deferred the closer she got to death. This was a more pronounced trait after level 460. It was possible to buy some time even if she couldn't win against an overwhelmingly stronger opponent than herself.

"I am finally going to join Overgeared One."

The right to purchase Grd's new works that couldn't be purchased no matter how much money she had—this was the lifelong aspiration of Asuka, who had the Weapons Mastery skill.

Black Teddy also longed for her to fulfill her aspirations. He actively cooperated with her. He used a one-time top artifact, a movement device, to break through the barrier and took Noll and the vampires away from the field.

The momentary wavelength of strange magic power woke up the queen who was sleeping deep underground. This made the few seconds bought by Asuka the most valuable time in the world.