Overgeared

It was impossible to track Raphael. A golden cloud from the sky blocked the approach of Hayate and the apostles. It was an attitude that stated those who weren't allowed should withdraw.

Braham snorted.

"Presumptuous and arrogant."

Braham's ridicule wasn't to release emotions. It was a rational sentiment based on obvious grounds.

Heaven—Asgard had reigned because it was the only world of the gods. It was naturally worshiped and accumulated divinity. Now it wasn't the only sanctuary. It was the aftermath of Grid unveiling the Hwan Kingdom and the establishment of the Overgeared World on the surface.

The Overgeared World—from the moment it was named, the mysterious sanctuary was coloring the surface with new divinity. It was easy to sense, unlike the divinity of Asgard that was far away. It was clearly seen and felt. It was an energy that would benefit all beings on the surface.

People would gradually move away from Asgard. Now the symbol of Asgard, a mere cloud, was acting arrogant? It was unsightly. It was like a beggar begging to make a living swaggering around.

Braham shrugged and looked back. He saw a blond-haired man. The man who arrived at the scene before him. It was impressive that he had a dignity comparable to Braham, who inherited a noble lineage.

Braham knew who he was. "Dragon Slayer."

The only absolute on the surface and the protector who defended humanity for many years. Above all, he had achieved killing a dragon. It meant that Braham's wish, the ultimate pursuit of Braham, had been accomplished a long time ago.

"It is an honor… to meet." Braham greeted him. It was at the level where Braham didn't even bow his head, let alone his waist, but his choice of words was shocking.

An… honor? Piaro had a pleased expression on his face while Mercedes was astonished. It was because she had never seen Braham show such a humble attitude. Of course, the shock was only brief. Mercedes also recognized Hayate's identity. She judged that his level was far away from her. Even with this type of power, he carried it on his back without using it to reign.

A person who could've ruled the world the moment he wanted, but he had been silently defending the world without ever appearing in history. She couldn't help admiring it.

Mercedes and Piaro bowed to also show their respects and Hayate looked troubled.

"People misunderstand me as a hero. I'm just a coward. Grid… I have only been living in secret, unlike you who have protected the world with the Overgeared God. Please correct your attitude."

"Grid deserves to be liked…" Braham muttered with a frown. A feeling of being defeated by inferiority flashed across his rapidly darkening face.

"Your humility is excessive," Mercedes felt better at Braham's reaction and said with a smile.

Some time ago, humanity had experienced the greatness of dragons. They saw that a dragon's meaningless exhale and a single flap of its wings destroyed a huge city built by humanity in an instant. It was Hayate who had been keeping such monsters in check. Without him, humanity would've experienced the disaster caused by dragons several times and despaired.

In the midst of the unexpectedly harmonious atmosphere. Something happened in the golden cloud that was moving away. It created a sudden lightning bolt that bombarded Hayate and the apostles. It contained a great deal of power. The ground was devastated in an instant.

"That guy."

Braham covered himself with a red-purple shield and stared up at the sky. A presence armed with translucent armor could be seen through the scattered clouds. It was a god. The hierarchy seemed very high. The goosebumps that appeared on Braham's skin and the puncture in the shield proved it.

"Dominion." Zik's voice was heard. One of the decisive factors that caused Raphael to retreat. He stood in the distance and looked at the 'strongest man in this world.' Now he couldn't sit back and watch and entered the scene.

"It was the beginning of the creation of the concepts of consecutive wins, being undefeated in 100 battles, etc. Armed with impenetrable armor and a spear that can pierce anything."

"It is an unreasonable existence."

"Yes."

Dominion was the god of war. Additionally, Asgard had never been defeated in any war so far. Dominion was the reason why the rebellion of the seven malignant saints failed in vain.

"……"

Hayate couldn't take his eyes off Zik. As the strongest person in this world, he felt a certain special appreciation for the strongest person in the previous world. It wasn't something fateful. He simply judged and marveled at the armed might.

'He is indeed one of the seven good people.'

The seven good people, in other words, the seven malignant saints, were the history of the previous world. It was originally impossible for them to be spread to the present world. Yet it was recorded and spread throughout the ages. It was the arrangement of the daoist immortal, Bentao. As a result, the people of this time knew about the seven malignant saints and it was the same with Hayate.

Thanks to this, the conversation proceeded quickly. Hayate silently listened to Zik's words. It was an attitude toward an elder.

"There is no way such a great existence would come for a light reason. I'm nervous about Reinhardt." Zik discussed returning.

Braham didn't like it. The enemy was right above them. He was a threat and it was right to strike right here. What if they were tracked when returning to Reinhardt? It was nothing more than expanding the battlefield. So why were they talking about returning?

Braham wanted Zik to provide a convincing rationale, but he couldn't ask for it directly. It was a big burden just dealing with Zik, but now even Hayate seemed sympathetic to Zik. Therefore, he couldn't open his mouth at all.

'I… how did I become like this…?'

Originally, Braham treated everyone equally. He belittled everyone except himself and perceived himself as the center of the world. That changed with Grid. He watched Grid from the side and realized the greatness of a hero. He regretted and reflected on himself in the past for not taking good care of his disciples. He learned to respect them.

Therefore, he couldn't resist these two heroes and followed them silently. He used the return scroll while trying to ignore Raphael, who was laughing behind Dominion's back. Then he saw it the moment he arrived in Reinhardt. The sky over Reinhardt was glowing with a golden color. It was due to the heavenly clouds that gathered without leaving even a small gap.

A huge presence was seen at the head of the clouds. An opaque armor was wrapped around his entire body and a spear was held with both hands. Dominion, the god of war, was here as well.

"What is this?"

There couldn't be two Dominions. It meant that the Dominion they saw a while ago was either a clone or an illusion, which was unbelievable. To say that was a fake… it was hard to fathom.

While wrapping the runes around himself and accelerating, Zik explained to the bewildered Braham, "Dominion is on every battlefield."

The voice faded away in an instant. Braham used Teleport and caught up with ZIk.

Zik explained, "In other words, this is already a battlefield."

Zik knew the habits of the god. They enjoyed 'warnings' and their warnings had always caused natural disasters.

-Overgeared God Grid.

Dominion opened his mouth and thunderbolts struck. Explosions occurred all over the ground and flames soared. It was due to the thunderbolts pouring down. There were many people present. It was a crowd that gathered to celebrate the birth of the Overgeared World.

'Um.'

Braham was about to deploy a wide-area shield when he stopped chanting the spell. Piaro, who seemed invisible, was plowing the ground before he knew it. His plow made a wall by pulling out the rocks buried deep underground. It was like looking at a small mountain range. Sariel even used the magic power of light. There were few casualties thanks to this, but the apostles were in a hurry.

Dominion on the cloud was pointing a spear at Grid, who was standing alone in front of the temple. The blue divinity that was spreading was a threat. It was much darker and greater in range than Grid's divinity. It was clear that the spear he threw would be faster than lightning.

-You will sooner or later pay for the sin of building a false world and destroying the order of the world with your vain greed.

Dominion's rant spread throughout Reinhardt. All humans heard his heavy and ferocious voice that pierced through the thunder. Some people recalled the order of a general while others recalled the roar of a wild beast. They instinctively stiffened and their complexions turned white.

Grid's expression also stiffened.

'This fox-like bastard.'

The god of war who came out of nowhere was huge. It wasn't an optical illusion created through a combination of strong divine power and ferocious momentum. It was actually a massive body with a majestic air to him. His features were noticeable even when he was at a very high altitude, but what he was doing was delicate and didn't match his size. He was talking while maintaining a distance where he didn't reach the Overgeared World.

This was normal. Unless they were an idiot, there was no one who would step into other people's territory to fight. Still, he couldn't help feeling that this size was a waste.

'I'm glad there are the apostles.'

Grid didn't move hastily. Dominion was a chief god. He was even one of Rebecca's two sons. Besides, he was cautious. The evidence was that he had never appeared before and now appeared for the first time. There was no way he was weaker than Zeratul or Gabriel. Considering his prudence, he must've descended after accumulating a stronger force than the two of them.

'The people will be guarded by the apostles.'

At the temple's entrance…

Grid stood on the boundary between the Overgeared World and the surface and was ready to draw his sword at any time. He thought he would take advantage of the opportunity when Dominion was targeting people and the apostles blocked him.

He didn't really question why Dominion had come now. Asgard was an obvious enemy. There was nothing strange about Rebecca invading the surface right now. He would just fight as always.

"……?"

Grid was quietly focusing when he became startled. Dominion's divine power was gradually getting stronger. The more it was overlaid over the spear in his hand, the more there seemed to be no limit to the divinity that was building.

Grid realized it. Dominion had no intention of hurting people. His target was Grid from the beginning.

'Does he intend to hurt me and lower my status?'

If Grid was pierced by the spear despite being in the Overgeared World, he was bound to lose his status, even if he didn't die. It was because it seemed to be proving the uselessness of the Overgeared World in front of a large number of people.

At the same time, Dominion threw the spear. It was precisely toward Grid. A spear larger than the spear of magic machine Raiders was shot at Grid, dividing the sky into two.

Grid reacted immediately. He didn't hesitate to use Revolve. Two swords interlocked with the huge spear tilted at an angle. Eventually, they would draw an arc and twist the trajectory of the spear. They had to do so. However—

[The counterattack has failed.]

The power in the spear was unstoppable. Revolve was naturally canceled and Grid's chest was pierced by the spear. Grid's upper body exploded. Flesh and blood were sprinkled in all directions. Dominion's spear literally flew to the temple of the Overgeared God and was embedded in it. It pierced Grid's body and used the remaining power to cause the temple to collapse.

It was pandemonium. The people who had been staring blankly at the terrible sight came to their senses one step later and screamed. Then—

"…Cough."

Grid lost his status.

……

…

"……?"

Grid suddenly came to his senses. The pain that made his head blank disappeared like it was a lie. The collapsed temple behind him was still intact. There was no wound on his chest. Dominion in the sky was just throwing the spear.

What was that just now? 'Deja vu?'

The confused and relieved Grid hesitated.

A spear full of huge power at first glance. Was it really right to block that with Revolve? In the first place, Grid's enemies had always evolved. It was natural as long as this world was a game. He didn't dare compare the rabbit he hunted at level 1 to the enemies he was fighting now at level 719.

'There is no guarantee that Revolve will work forever.'

The Overgeared God's Sword Dance wasn't invincible. The level of the enemies was too high for Revolve to always have the upper hand. Could the deja vu he experienced a while ago be created by his subconscious mind?

Grid thought about it and quickly made a decision. He used the Serve sword dance. It was a dance move where he staggered like he was going to collapse. He expressed his determination to die to protect someone.

The giant spear that reached the tip of his nose stopped. It was weighed down by Grid's power. It was a side effect of containing divine power. This dragged it down. The large spear, which was connected to Dominion through divine power, was communicating with Dominion. It had feelings.

Therefore, under the influence of Serve, it stiffened and stopped. It was only 0.2 seconds. This was enough. An object worked as a target as long as the conditions were met.

Grid learned something new and opened the Sanctuary of Metal. He dominated the still spear and fired it at Dominion.

A divine warning—due to its absolute intention, it couldn't be avoided or prevented, but it could be reversed.

Dominion and Zik understood what this meant and their eyes widened.