Overgeared

'Is it right to use Revolve as the first sword dance?'

The second six fusion sword dance—Grid's concerns deepened ahead of the creation of a new sword dance. The late start where he watched the strength and weaknesses of the enemy before taking action. The trick was to hit the opponent first even if he drew the sword late. It was a skill that Grid had to acquire. It was because the level of his enemies was higher than Grid's level.

Grid realized it based on the information of Overgeared World. What a great penalty the angels and gods he had fought so far had to bear. Nevertheless, they were still strong. In particular, Zeratul's rank was superior in terms of speed. Replaying the battle with Zeratul revealed the seriousness of the situation.

What if Zeratul's divinity hadn't been downgraded to a level that was equal to Grid's divinity when he descended to the surface? The coincidence of Grid and Zeratul's divinity being equal wouldn't have happened. There was a high probability that Grid would've been cut with a single strike without being aware of the time of the martial god. He would've read the strike with his artificial senses only after he was cut.

'Of course, I would've thought it was a reaction.'

Zeratul's sword was fast enough to raise such suspicions. However, Grid was already near complete. It was both in terms of level and items. He had few means left to become stronger. His body was already at the limit. It was dry as if he had squeezed out the last remaining drop of potential.

The upper limit of speed currently holding him back proved it. The upper limit was so low that it couldn't be compared to his enemies. This was the limit of a player.

'Dammit.'

He couldn't help cursing. He had crossed the limits again and again and it was still lacking? Wasn't this too harsh for players? How much more did he have to try?

"Sigh…"

Just before his resentment turned into anger, Grid took deep breaths and controlled his mind. There was nothing good about losing his composure and clouding his judgment. He would make mistakes he didn't normally make.

'There is no need to worry. I still have many means to be strong.'

Right now, there were ways to create a new fusion sword dance by raising his deity. He could also grow the Overgeared World to expand the area in which he was advantageous or he could raise his status. The problem was that they boasted an atrocious level of difficulty, but… it was a problem that could be overcome with experience and effort. Additionally, he could continue to develop his items.

It was hard to say if anything better than the dragon weapons could exist, but Grid believed in himself. Wasn't he the Overgeared God?Based on the legendary skill Item Creation, he gained the undeserved reputation of the creation god. Items better than the dragon weapons? It was enough to make them. Gravurnium would help.

…Probably.

'Everything will be fine. I've kept the rest of the ancient scrolls so far.'

Grid had no doubts and first focused on the situation in front of him. Was it possible to use the late start with the six fusion sword dance? In order to find the answer to this, he had to turn away from Revolve. The late start had a different concept from a counterattack.

A counterattack was to respond to an enemy's attack. He sought to subdue the enemy's attack, so he had no choice but to be entangled in the enemy's attack. On the other hand, a late start was close to the feeling of using the overall flow. It was freer and more effective.

It was no use asking what type of nonsense this was. It was a concept that Grid had only recently learned about, so it was hard to establish it properly.

'In any case, this is right. Just as cheese and cheesecake resembled each other but were completely different, the late start and counterattack were different.

Grid was reminded of the cheesecake he ate yesterday. He had returned home from a date with Yura and found his parents and Jishuka there. The taste of the cheesecake that Jishuka bought was amazing. It was said that she bought it from a cheesecake store with 200 years of tradition in New York who commemorated its opening in South Korea and boasted a much deeper flavor compared to the cheesecakes he had eaten so far. It tasted like it would make him fat, so it seemed like it would be hard to eat it often, but anyway… it tasted so good that it suddenly came to mind.

'It might've been even more delicious because I ate it with Jishuka.'

It was just like the meal he ate with Yura tasted a lot better than the meal he ate alone.

"Overgeared God?"

He was awakened from his thoughts by a sweet voice. Garion and Debirion were looking at him with worried faces. As expected, the level of the gods was high. They seemed to have noticed that Grid's mind started wandering to miscellaneous thoughts.

"Um… I have many problems to think about."

"I understand. You are bearing Asgard's grudge while keeping hell in check, so there will be no moment of relaxation."

They were worried. They noticed that Grid's consciousness, which had been contemplating a new realm, suddenly changed its course and were afraid he was having a nightmare with open eyes.

Overgeared God Grid—it was the moment when they felt the responsibility born by the guardian god who protected the isolated surface alone…

The two gods, who were looking sadly at Grid, exchanged glances and spoke.

"We will go out for a while and look around the city."

"I hope you work hard in your contemplation…"

The more a god was worshiped, the stronger they became. Garion and Debirion might serve Grid, but they couldn't rely on Grid alone.

"Why are you naked?"

"You'll know in a moment. Debirion, you should also take off that smelly leather and put on this silk."

"……"

It was after the two gods left in order to stand in front of the people. The temple was quiet, but Grid wasn't alone. Noe, Randy, and the Overgeared Skeletons were gathered in a corner and watching Grid. The Overgeared Skeletons and Randy didn't even breathe while Noe stuck out his belly and licked his fur. Noe knew—no matter what he did, there was nothing that would interfere with his master's concentration. Their master wasn't an ordinary person (?).

In fact, Grid was raising his concentration. He thought of Kraugel during the National Competition. There were moments when Kraugel neutralized the attacks of Grid, who was far stronger than him. Reading and blocking the sword? It was simply a defense. Predicting the trajectory of the sword and twisting it one step ahead? That was pure insight. Reacting to the stab of the God Hands? That was phenomenal senses. It was a high level technique to draw a sword with overwhelming power and halve its power while bringing back the sword at a speed that was hard to discern to consume the counterattack.

Grid recalled another scene. It was a scene he saw from his own point of view. It was the moment he subdued Kraugel with pure force and items, and inflicted a blow. He realized that his vision had become uncomfortable. The debris of the shattered stones bothered him again and a high pile of dirt obscured his vision on one side.

At the same time, Kraugel's face suddenly came closer. It was close enough to hear the sound of breathing. Kraugel's movements were still uncomfortable but even so, the situation unfolded in Kraugel's favor. It felt like the whole world was disturbed.

Kraugel's kick, which rose while sweeping the ground, was probably slower than Grid's sword. Just the mere fact that he caused dirt and kicked something unexpected saved Kraugel from the crisis. It even provided the basis for a counterattack. It was the result of a combination of great agility, insight, senses, skill, and luck.

Thinking about it now, the person who was most surprised at the time must've been Kraugel himself. He probably hadn't expected that jajinmori, which was used as a means to escape from the crisis, would sweep the ground messed up by the battle and created dust which kicked the rocks hidden in the dust at the same time.

At that time, Kraugel's situation had been too urgent. Therefore, it wasn't in the realm of calculation. It was correct to interpret it as a desperate behavior linked to good luck.

Grid only recently learned this fact and had the desire to use the situation itself freely. He wasn't just talking about raising dust and kicking rocks. It was to dominate the flow of battle, thus rendering the advantage of the first attack useless. Neutralizing the attack of an enemy that he might've realized too late. What Grid wanted was all the actions that deliberately created situations like this.

Let's take a simple example…

"Number one."

Grid raised his willpower and the God Hands responded. It recreated Grid's movements and swung the Enlightenment Sword. Grid acted under the assumption that he perceived the attack late. He drew his sword only when the Enlightenment Sword got closer. The trajectory of the sword, drawn from the inventory, struck the side of the Enlightenment Sword.

The Enlightenment Sword couldn't reach Grid and was deflected. On the other hand, the sword drawn by Grid moved along the first trajectory and struck the God Hand. The trajectory of the sword, belatedly drawn by Grid, was the result of creating a 'situation.'

"So it is like this… it is different from a counterattack. Do you understand?"

"…Yes."

[Yes…]

Randy and the Overgeared Skeletons nodded from where they were standing in a corner of the temple. There were no signs of sympathy at all.

Noe waved his stumpy paws. "We understand, so stop explaining, nyang."

"Noe, do you think that I'm explaining for nothing?"

"Nyang? I just think that Master's attitude of explaining it alone when no one is saying anything is lame."

"What? This… it isn't a lame explanation. It is out of consideration that I want to educate you well while I am studying. Noe, you stayed in the tower and took the classes of the tower members, right? You just have to understand it in the same context as that."

"It seems to me that Master is trying to convince himself…"

Noe's words were interrupted halfway. His summoning was reversed. Now Grid could properly focus.

The satisfied Grid recalled the Restraint sword dance. This sword, which restrained the behavior of the target, was less effective on beings who were of equal or higher status. After constant experimentation against Ifrit, Cranbel, Zeratul, and Gabriel, he found that the average effect was only 0.1 seconds. Of course, the 0.1 second of being restricted couldn't be ignored in a battle where victory or defeat could be decided in an instant. Depending on the situation, it had the potential to have an enormous ripple effect.

However, the opportunity cost of using it had to be considered. Grid underestimated Restraint because there were often situations in which attempting to restrain the target for 0.1 seconds wasted more opportunities. In particular, he was reluctant to include Restraint in his fusion sword dance. It was because the expected damage value would drop significantly if Restraint was included in a limited sword dance.

Now he changed his mind. He decided it was right to include it in his new six fusion sword dance. It was the only way he could use the late start freely. The reason why the late start was essential was to overpower an enemy who was much faster than him.

'The value of Restraint will shine the higher the level of the enemy.'

Grid made a decision and started to envision it in earnest. First of all, he considered what order to put Restraint in. It absolutely had to be first. This was the only way it made sense. The next sword dance to be connected to Restraint was… it was better to be something quick. He had to strike fast in order to make significant use of the extremely short CC.

'Link?'

The motion required was too big. It would be better to use Kill or Pinnacle.

'It would be most effective to use Dragon.'

Dragon was the only charging skill among the sword dances. A charge was a good cornerstone for most combos. However, there were too many restrictions. It was because Dragon was a soaring charge. It was only when the user was positioned below the target that it showed its proper power. There were ways to suppress the trajectory in conjunction with Drop, but the process forced additional movements. It was too slow to subdue the enemy within the duration of Restraint.

'What if I mix Shunpo in between Restraint and the next sword dance?'

It was even worse. He couldn't attack when using Shunpo, so if he used Shunpo immediately afterward, he would waste the 0.1 second duration of Restraint. Moreover, the power to block 'space movement' was common in the heavenly world. How many times had he already been caught by it? He had to always keep in mind the possibility of Shunpo being blocked.

'…Wait. Is it possible to gain momentum by shooting the Breath at the same time as triggering Restraint?'

Grid immediately experimented. He used the Restraint sword dance while shooting the Breath from his hand that extended backwards.

Grid quickly shot forward. It was the moment he confirmed that the simultaneous use of Restraint and Breath was possible.

However, there were side effects. The balance of his upper body collapsed. It was because the Breath's repulsion force was so strong. Shooting the Breath with one hand caused his upper body to quickly twist to one side. Grid took advantage of this position. He used Dragon to naturally lift his tilted upper body.

"…This works."

Grid was engulfed in great joy as he soared through the roof of the temple.