Overgeared

'Save me? Why?'

Once the light came, chaos lost its darkness. At the end of the procession of trumpet blowing angels was Goddess Rebecca. The goddess created the heavens and earth and formed living things, while Dominion and Judar helped. It was a prelude to Genesis.

The first thing Rebecca did when she came to the surface was the creation of the heavens and the land. Garion and the World Tree were likely to have been born at this time. It meant that just like the other heavenly gods, Rebecca was Garion's mother. Of course, he had been on the surface ever since his birth, so his tendencies might be different from the other gods in heaven. Even approaching Piaro and Grid was within the scope of understanding.

Yet asking for help was a completely different matter.

Garion wanted Grid to save him? A god who was respected and loved by all and who had Rebecca behind him. He was in a position to ask for help?

"……"

Grid didn't answer hastily. Doubts had already sprang up in his heart as he touched his chin. He acknowledged that Garion was a god worthy of respect, but he didn't trust Garion.

It was the right decision. The first Great Human and Demon War that Pagma went through, the second Great Human and Demon War that humans of this time went throug, and the old seven malignant saints episodes—as history proved, the gods had committed numerous sins. They pretended on the surface while secretly committing the crime. They were far more insidious than Baal, who was openly trash.

Grid clearly knew this, so how could he believe only in Garion's reputation and trust him? He would just be an idiot.

'It seems like a trap.'

Of course, it could be an opportunity. Garion was a god who walked a neutral path on the surface. If it was true that he was a god who existed only for human beings, then it was a status that had no relationship with the heavenly gods. It was understandable to rely on Grid when going through a crisis.

'It will be a great strength if I help at this time and we take the same side.'

First of all, it was great to be able to get a lot of information. The World Tree had little expression of emotions and had difficulty communicating, perhaps because it was fundamentally a tree. Meanwhile, Garion resembled an ordinary god. It meant Garion was similar to humans. He fully expressed his emotions through writing, so it seemed possible to communicate smoothly.

'I'm a bit upset, but…'

-Saveme.

Grid felt emotional again when he saw the letters on the ground. This was a god who didn't use spaces. Of course, it might be possible to have an actual conversation if he succeeded in saving Garion. Grid thought about it for a while before sending a whisper to Lauel.

He explained the current situation and asked for advice. Then he asked questions based on the advice. "What are the circumstances in which you are asking to be saved? First of all, I want to know the situation you are in."

-Consumedivinepowereverytimethegroundisrestored.

-TherearemanySwordSaintsthesedayssoIkeeplosingstrength.

'Biban and Kraugel did something wrong.'

So why do they keep cutting the world…

Grid shook his head when he remembered the powerful swordsmanship of the Sword Saint before his expression soon stiffened.

-Stillitwasbarelymanageable.

-Butpeoplethesedays.

-WorshipOvergearedeGodratherthanmyself.

-Slowsdowntherecoveryofmystrength.

"…Uh, um…"

Grid realized it once again. How much influence he had on the worldview. He felt embarrassed but proud.

-Whyareyousmiling?

"I feel sorry, so I am smiling bitterly."

-Itisokay.

-OvergearedGodisn'twrong.Itisgreat.

'Indeed… he is upright and has a discerning eye.'

He was a respected god for a reason. Then wouldn't it be better to just trust him?

-ItwasalreadyhardbutitwasruinedduetoZeratul.

-HedestroyedthelandandIlostdivinepower.

'Indeed, Zeratul is a jerk.'

Grid shifted all the blame and responsibility to Zeratul and found peace of mind.

The writing continued.

-IaskedMothertohelpme.

-Silencewastheanswer.

"Mother… you are talking about Goddess Rebecca."

-Right.

-Mothercanrechargemydivinepower.

-ButthereisnoasnswerevenwhenIcall.

Rebecca's silence had been an issue that had been going on for a long time. It was around two years after Satisfy opened. In the early days, there were some people who heard Rebecca's voice through quests but at some point, these experiences disappeared. Damian even said that when he was the pope, he had only received Rebecca's divine message twice. It was only like that at the beginning and she had been silent ever since.

It was the same for Grid. The goddess' gentle voice that Grid heard had long disappeared from his memory. He was now uncertain if the voice had ever been genuinely kind.

'What is this?'

Various speculations were possible about the reason Rebecca became silent toward humanity. It could have been to rebuke the Rebecca Church for its many civil wars in the wake of the corrupted Pope Drevigo or because she disliked the people who lost faith because the gods didn't save humanity when the great demons came.

However, was it possible for her to also be silent with the gods? It was unreasonable to see it as her simply alienating Garion. Zeratul, who repeatedly descended to the surface without sufficient preparations, proved it. Wouldn't Goddess Rebecca have restrained Zeratul if she was in a good state?

Asgard was obsessed with increasing their armaments to the point of harvesting legendary souls and turning them into angels. It was unlikely that the goddess would've hoped for Zeratul's helpless defeat and loss of divinity when he could be described as the goddess' weapon.

Looking back on it now, the events of the archangels' attempts to slaughter humanity also seemed far from the will of the goddess. In the past, the goddess communicated with the Rebecca Church by sending down the holy sword and divine messages. It meant she actively supported the religious activities of human beings. Did she really want the angels to hurt her believers and destroy the trust that had been built up?

Grid had a complicated expression on his face due to the many doubts he felt and he asked another question.

"Did something happen to Goddess Rebecca? Is it possible that someone has imprisoned the goddess and is wielding her authority recklessly?"

The gods of the beginning—in other words, there were two more gods the same as Rebecca. One of them, Hanul had lost his power and fled to the East Continent, so he was out of the question. Meanwhile, Yatan had never appeared in the world. His appearance meant destruction. Therefore, it couldn't be recorded.

Maybe Yatan, to Rebecca…?

Grid had new doubts. It wasn't the speculation that Rebecca was actually a good god, but the evil god Yatan was suppressing Rebecca and causing chaos in the world. The fact that Yatan wasn't an evil god was proven by the hell purification episode.

Grid didn't discriminate between good and evil. He just wanted to figure out the situation.

-ThereisnoonewhocanimprisonMother.

-EvenYatancan'tdoit.

-YatanandMothercooperatewitheachotherbuttheycan'tinterfere.

"……?"

Grid was puzzled. It was because Garion's writing had stopped. No matter how long he waited, the writing no longer continued.

"Garion?" Grid urged and a few minutes passed.

-OvergearedGod,asyouknow.

-BaalbetrayedYatan.

-RaphaelorGabriel.

-ItmeanstheycanbetrayMother.

The beings who opposed the three evils of hell were the 1st and 2nd archangels. The angels Rebecca created before the other gods. Born from the chaos of nothing, they had to inherit Rebecca's 'blood' and their authority was enormous. It might've been possible for them to distort heaven, just as Baal who inherited the blood of Yatan had distorted hell.

Grid remembered Raphael's unlucky face and gritted his teeth. "Then are you saying the whole situation is Raphael's doing?"

-Itisallaguess.

-Mother'ssituationisdifferentfromYatan.

-Alwaysthere.

-RaphaelandGabriel.

-Theprobabilityofasuccessfulrebellionislow.

-Mother'ssilence.

-ItmustbeMother'swill.

-Idon'tknowthereason.

"…How can I help you?"

After a discussion with Lauel, Grid decided to help Garion. Given Garion's past actions, it was safe to assume there was no possibility of him antagonizing them. The conversation also lent some credibility to this. In the first place, he wasn't a god in the position to hit them in the back of the head. The right judgment was to at least consider him as neutral. Of course, if he asked for unreasonable help then it was right to be suspicious and wary.

-IrecognizetheOvergearedGodasagod.

-ThegodthatpeoplebelieveinthemostrightnowistheOvergearedGod.

-IcanrestoremydivinityifIamacknowledgedbytheOvergearedGod.

-Buildonesmalltemple.

Garion's request was ridiculously easy. He just wanted Grid's recognition. It also meant Grid would be holding Garion's leash. If Garion regained divinity through Grid's recognition, he would lose his divinity again the moment Grid denied Garion.

"That… isn't this the same as betraying Goddess Rebecca? Heaven won't just sit still, right? How are you going to handle it?"

-Itcan'tbehelped.

-Mymissionistoprotecttheland.

-Protectthebeingslivingontheland.

-Therearemanypeoplesufferingdisastersevenatthismoment.

-Ihavetohelpthem.

-TherelationshipwithMotherorheavenisn'timportant.

A great god. He was worthy of worship.

Grid, who had slight doubts even after realizing Garion's essence, nodded. There was a slight smile on his face. "Then I will protect you."

-………..

Countless dots were engraved on the ground. It continued constantly. Wasn't he worried that the land shouldn't be hurt? Why was he suddenly abusing it?

A notification window popped up in front of the bewildered Grid.

[Garion, the god of the earth, has blushed and fled.]

"……"

There was a high probability that he was an uncle. Grid intuitively sensed it when he recalled past memories and frowned.

At his feet, there was a sentence saying goodbye.

***

The number of temples for the Overgeared God had exceeded 5,000. This was even despite the fact that they were built gorgeously and magnificently. The huge empire operated as a device to supply faith to Grid. There, Grid inserted something. The Garion Temple was built next to the main temple of the Overgeared God where a large number of believers came and went.

It was small, but it wasn't shabby. It was just small compared to the Overgeared God Temple. Additionally, there were quite a few craftsmen among Reinhardt's architects and sculptors. They had a lot of experience in building temples, so Garion's Temple was beautiful from anyone's point of view.

"The appearance of God Garion… it was very different from what I imagined."

Lauel looked a bit disappointed. The statue of God Garion on the left side of the Overgeared God Temple resembled the stone statue of Khan on the right side. The appearance was of a large, old man. Like Khan, his belly stuck out and his shoulders were wide. He looked generous and reliable.

"Really? What did you imagine?"

"It is the appearance of a benevolent and beautiful goddess. An appearance that fits well with a smile, just like Sir Sariel?"

"Isn't that too stereotypical?"

Sariel had been smiling brightly beside him and now his expression stiffened for a moment. He looked shocked by something, but unfortunately, no one knew. Sariel had always taken a male appearance in front of Grid. The male appearance was beautiful, but he received less attention than when he was a female. Additionally, people's attention was currently focused on the statue of God Garon.

"Even so, I think the appearance I imagined would fit well given the things God Garion has been doing."

"That is true, but… it isn't the case."

"How can you be sure when you haven't seen his face or heard his voice?"

"Well… it's fine. Isn't it better to lower expectations in advance rather than being disappointed when seeing the real thing later? Huh? Sariel, why do you have a stiff expression? Is your relationship with Garion bad?"

"No. God Garion has never stayed in heaven, so I've never seen him. I just know that he is a god worthy of respect."

"Yes, I'm glad."

The fact that there was a god that humans could trust and rely on. Grid was smiling happily when he remembered something.

'Aren't must human gods on the side of human beings?'

Like Grid, they were humans. Then they were worshiped and became gods. Most of them were difficult to meet because they had been eaten by the myth predators or were hiding from the myth predators. However, he was convinced that he could find them if he borrowed Garion's power. He was the god of the earth, so his gaze would be on the entire continent. Would there be a great synergy if Garion collaborated with the Skunk Expedition?

'I gained a great ally.'

Grid's expression brightened. He felt like he had found light in a word full of unbearable enemies.