Overgeared

Only three times. The people and players of Vex only blinked three times.

Was that really an old man? They questioned it when a man with a fierce gaze and presence appeared with no warning. The sight of the remnants of the Rebecca Church bursting like balloons was so terrible that they had to close their eyes. Then when the ground collapsed and the buildings exploded, they opened their eyes in shock and found that the 18 holy weapons had already formed a wave of light. They had to close their eyes for the second time because the light was so bright their eyes ached.

Hundreds of thousands of explosions occurred as a ringing tinnitus pierced their minds. It was before they could scream. Everything was fast. It was difficult for the blinded people to tell if they lived or died. The situation was so urgent and threatening.

The people struggled in confusion without realizing where they had been wounded and who was helping them. It was an overwhelming combat force and great strength that couldn't be understood, let alone resisted. They opened their eyes again after the light had subsided and the explosion calmed down.

This was what they saw.

[Martial God Zeratul has descended.]

[Zeratul has denied the martial arts you have accumulated.]

[Your armed might has become insignificant. All stats, including character level, skills level, and magic level will be reduced by 50%.]

[Resistance has failed.]

[All passive skills and combat-related title functions are sealed.]

[Resistance has failed.]

[The power of all active skills and magic will be reduced by 50%.]

[Resistance has failed.]

[Martial God Zeratul has established a temporary sanctuary. The freedom of most beings, except the followers of the martial god, are oppressed.]

[Resistance has failed.]

"Ah… Uwahh…"

The martial god—if discussing the absolutes, this was naturally the first being to be considered. There was a powerful echo in Zeratul's name. People were overwhelmed. They vaguely understood the situation and felt despair.

Sometimes it was better not to know. There was a clear difference in people's confusion and fear when they were unaware of what was going on and when they perceived the existence of the martial god. The tens of thousands of people hiding all throughout the city were completely panicked.

At this time, the slave of the Overgeared God—no, Noe turned large like a giant wolf and flew high into the sky. He bravely opened his mouth toward the martial god. People noticed it one step late. The blue current that wrapped around the area and protected them actually came from Noe.

This was why they lamented even more. They stomped their feet as they sensed Noe's death as his head was caught in the hands of the martial god. The electric currents shook due to Noe's crisis.

The electric currents that formed the barrier were suddenly disturbed and it delivered a piercing pain to the people.

People blinked for the third time. It was short. It was in a split second. However—

"M-Master…!"

They only blinked once, but the situation in front of them changed. People saw the back of Noe, who was still alive. The scene of Grid, who had just been on the ground, falling from the sky intertwined with this landscape. The ground on which they stood trembled like it was going to explode. Then it calmed down again.

There was no sense of reality. They noticed that the martial god had disappeared out of nowhere and wondered if they were dreaming as a group. However, it was reality. The long lines of blood falling from Grid's body was proof.

"Your Maaaajesty!"

Unlike the players who were wary of the disappeared martial god, the people ran recklessly to Grid. They stacked their bodies on top of each other to form a cushion. It was to fully accept Grid, who seemed to have been seriously injured. Grid didn't want their sacrifice.

[There are eight seconds remaining on the duration of the immortality.]

He had no intention of showing his ragged state. Noe's large body wrapped around Grid.

The people who looked like dots on the ground—Noe hid Grid so they couldn't see what he looked like. At the same time, an orange light caught people's attention. The afterimage of the six fusion sword dance used by Grid with two dragon weapons colored the sky behind Noe and Grid.

Grid buried his face in Noe's soft fur and laughed helplessly.

"I'm not as good as Hayate."

Grid had witnessed the battle between Hayate and Zeratul. After a flash of light, Zeratul fled and Hayate descended to the ground unharmed. On the other hand, Grid was in tatters. It would've been hard for him to win if many miracles hadn't overlapped. Of course, those miracles weren't mere flukes, but an inevitable result.

It was when Zeratul entered the 'time of the martial god.' Grid's divinity responded to Zeratul's divinity. It was because Zeratul's divinity, which was reduced in the aftermath of him descending to the surface, didn't overwhelm Grid's divinity. It was also evidence of the high divinity that Grid had accumulated over the years.

Just as Garion, god of the earth, moved through the time of the martial god and restored the earth in real time, Grid also moved through the time of the martial god. It was a time that could slow down even Shunpo. It seemed to split one second into hundreds.

The realm of an absolute that went beyond transcendence—Grid realized the skills of Hayate and Zeratul and moved drastically.

He climbed higher and captured the sight of Zeratul swinging the sword in the air. Then he moved his hands behind him and fired a Breath. In order to get a bit closer to Zeratul's speed, he used the explosive energy as a propulsion force. He crossed his arms in front of him as the invisible, transparent sword approached with immense pressure.

The gauntlets that reproduced the arms of Fire Dragon Ifrit—he determined that he had no choice but to believe in the effect of absolute defense built into it that significantly reduced the probability of injury. He was hit directly by the sword energy that spread through dozens of waves and the absolute defense was horribly broken. Fortunately, both his arms avoided any injury.

Every time the absolute defense was broken, his body became stiffer due to increased damage resistance. Magic power circulation occurred and the cooldown of Small Breath was reset. In exchange, he lost more than half his health, but Grid pushed his hand back and fired the Breath to narrow the distance with Zeratul. He didn't forget to keep Zeratul in check by firing the fusion sword dances based on Transcend from time to time.

Unfortunately, he faced a crisis. Zeratul's second sword strike was much more powerful than the first attack. He immediately noticed that it was sincere.

One more step and the absolute defense didn't occur. The probability of absolute defense for Ifrit's Arms and Cranbel's Pelvis was 10% respectively. Thanks to the set effect, it resulted in a total probability of 40%, but it was still less than half.

Grid entered the immortality state as a burning pain shot throughout his entire body. He couldn't look back. It was a situation he was prepared for from the beginning, so he wasn't agitated. The reason he stacked Item Combination, the power of the rune, and his buff skills from the beginning was because he predicted this battle wouldn't be long. If he didn't kill Zeratul all at once, he wouldn't be able to hold on and would die.

Grid took into account the meaning of Hayate's advice and performed the six fusion sword dance with two swords.

King of the Mountain, which was activated thanks to his low health, the blessing of Chiyou in the sword dance, and the incomplete qualifications of the Sword Saint gave him great strength. Additionally, Dragon Rage occurred. The power of the absolute species that stacked all attacks twice. The activation probability was only 30%, but it was inevitable. It was because the number of hits of the six fusion sword dance using dual swords was high. The occurrence of God's Command was inevitable.

In the end, the pain he felt was so real that it made him dizzy, but Grid gritted his teeth and cut at Zeratul's body. Darkness Sword responded by soaring from Zeratul's feet. Zeratul's invisible health gauge fell to the bottom in an instant. It was the same reason that Grid's health gauge disappeared in less than 0.1 seconds.

The two of them delivered a fatal blow to each other, but this was the human world, not Asgard. It was the realm of the human god, Grid.

Zeratul, who was constrained by the duration of immortality, eventually got scared first and retreated. In the meantime, he cursed, but… Grid didn't even remember. Thanks to Zeratul's retreat, the time of the martial god ended and Grid's passage of time returned to normal. The dam seemed to collapse. He thought he had already felt enough pain, but that was just arrogance.

Grid briefly lost his mind as the pain that had been trapped in the extended time washed over him all at once. Now—

Grid looked at the sword in his trembling hand. It was a sword that revealed its pure white appearance in places of low light, but it sparkled like frost and became as hazy as fog in the light.

'This guy's help was the greatest.'

A sword that reproduced Cranbel's horn—of course, Cranbel's actual horn was much larger and the ends were divided into three branches, so it was right to say that he had only reproduced one branch. Just as Ifrit's horn resembled a spear, Cranbel's horn resembled a sword. Thus, Grid naturally thought about it during the production.It was inevitable because Cranbel's arm was the material.

[Horn of the Cloaked Dragon Cranbel]

[Rating: Myth (Transcendent)

Durability: Infinite Attack Power: 23,880

★ Critical hit chance will increase by 100%.

★ The probability of attacking a weak spot will increase by 100%.

★ The attack skill usage speed will increase by 50%.

★ Inhibits the target's perception.

★ Significantly reduces the target's counterattack and evasion rate.

★ There is an 80% chance of neutralizing the target's defense (including all skill, magic, and powers).

★ Skill attack power against great demons, archangels, gods, and dragons will increase by 50%.

★ There is a 25% chance to trigger 'Extreme Speed' when attacking.

★ It can replace a dragon's horn.

This is the horn of the Cloaked Dragon Cranbel, which was realized by Overgeared God Grid smelting Cranbel's arm.

It has retained a ferocity that is contrary to its beautiful appearance.

It refracts and scatters light, so it is difficult to detect the shape and movement.

Wearing Conditions: Grid, Dragon Slayer, Dragon Knight.

Weight: 3,900.]

[Extreme Speed]

[Passive

Completely neutralizes the target's evasion and defense.

Cooldown Time: 1 second.]

It was natural that the rating and attack power was higher than Gujel's Fang. It was because the material was different. Gujel's Fang was literally a sword made by splitting Gujel's teeth in half, while Cranbel's horn was made entirely of Cranbel's arm. It was also easy to anticipate that the effect of hindering the perception of the target would be attached.

It was because the inherent effect of Cloaked Dragon Cranbel was presumed to be 'concealing his appearance.' However, the skill 'Extreme Speed' was unexpected for Grid. He had tried to reproduce Cranbel's horn while creating the ideal sword shape, but he ended up conceiving a structure that subdued the resistance of the atmosphere…

The passive skill that 'completely neutralized' the target's evasion and defense was attached. There wasn't even the restriction that the target should 'have a low status.' Cranbel's Horn was literally the strongest weapon for Grid, who had been and would continue to fight against enemies with a higher status than himself.

Would it have been possible to defeat Zeratul without Cranbel's Horn? It wouldn't have been easy. There was a high chance that Gujel's Dao would've lacked attack power, even with Duke of Amplification, God's Command, Dragon Rage, etcetera were all combined.

"Grrung… Randy and the skeletons will be sad… Aheung."

He made a dog noise, cried like a cat, and then made a sound like a tiger. Noe, who became an adult, seemed to have some confusion about his identity. Still, he said what he had to say. It was obvious how upset Randy and the Overgeared Skeletons, who hadn't been summoned, would be when they saw the injured Grid.

Of course, they would understand Grid's heart. The reason Grid summoned Noe was due to the existence of the skill Impertinent! Noe's ultimate skill had grown significantly thanks to Betty and it was optimized to protect a large number of targets. In fact, it evolved into a barrier skill.

Randy and the Overgeared Skeletons also had many means of protecting people, but he judged that Noe alone was sufficient. What if Grid had summoned Randy and the Overgeared Skeletons as well? If they were in a group with Noe, it would be easier to protect people and there would be more energy so they could attack Zeratul.

There was naturally a high probability they would've died. It was just that their experience was precious, so it wasn't a situation that Grid wanted.

"If they are dissatisfied, tell them to be stronger," Grid was flustered for no reason, but he spoke firmly.

Only the naive Noe's mood improved.

"Like me, nyang?"

"Uh… Yes…"

Grid responded roughly and confirmed the victory reward. He thought the members of the Noe fan cafe should know how good he was to Noe. The list of rewards was gorgeous. Out of the 18 holy weapons that Zeratul swung, he received 14 as the rewards. It was followed by five volumes of the legendary rated martial god's secret techniques.

However, these things were just incidental. The reward that Grid paid attention to was the evolution of his mental world. It was the unique mental world of the Overgeared God, not the mental world borrowed from the Heart of the Red Phoenix. It was the reward he had dreamed of.

Grid wanted to immediately look at it in detail, but the people were concerned about him. The facial expressions of the people who were as small as dots were clearly imprinted in his eyes. They all looked worried.

"Let's go down first."

Grid decided to reassure the people first and gradually descended to the ground. The wounds on his face were unpleasant, but he had fought and won against the martial god. He thought this much was understandable.

A body with no strong areas except for the arms and legs… he supported it with the God Hands and covered it with a cloak. The color of the blood-stained cloak had become darker. It was evidence and a medal for defeating the martial god.