Overgeared

[Cloaked Dragon Cranbel's Head]

[Rating: Myth (Transcendent)

[A set item.

Durability: 24,600/24,600 Defense: 3,510

* Stamina and charm increased by 300 each.

* The probability of defending the weak points is increased by 50%.

* The probability of a critical hit resistance is increased by 30%.

★ Immunity to blindness, silence, and beheading.

★ If fighting a great demon, archangel, god, or dragon, a portion of the durability is replaced by defense and critical hit resistance probability.

★ The power and activation probability of skills used through the eyes, nose and mouth will increase and the casting time is decreased.

★ There is a 20% chance to activate Stealth when hit on the head.

★ There is a 10% chance to trigger 'Absolute Defense' when hit.

★ There is a 25% chance to activate Dragon Blessing when attacking or hit.

★ The skill 'Somewhat Incomplete Breath' has been generated.

★ Dragon Armor Set Effect

Every time additional armor made of dragon scales is equipped, defense will increase further and the probability of Absolute Defense will increase significantly.

Wearing Conditions: Grid, Dragon Slayer, Dragon Knight.

Weight: 520]

[Dragon Blessing]

[Passive

The horns of an absolute species have a powerful meaning.

When the skill is triggered, the effect of either one of the 'Symbol of Strength,' 'Symbol of Authority,' 'Symbol of Life,' or 'Symbol of Eternity' is applied. The symbol effects can be stacked.

Skill Cooldown Time: 5 minutes each.]

[Symbol of Strength]

[Both horns are dyed red and the attack will have a 'crushing' effect.]

[Symbol of Authority]

[Failed to open due to the lack of status. The information can't be accessed.]

[Symbol of Life]

[Failed to open due to the lack of status. The information can't be accessed.]

[Symbol of Eternity]

[Failed to open due to the lack of status. The information can't be accessed.]

A great piece of work beyond what Grid hoped for was born. Grid felt so much joy it was like he was going to fly away. He wanted to cheer, but he couldn't. He was conscious of the gods who were chatting and looking this way. In front of the noble gods, the chief god who would lead them forward couldn't lose his dignity.

'No…'

They were companions who would be with him forever. Was it right to lie about his feelings in front of them? It was only by showing his true self that it would be possible to become a true family…

"…Aaaaaah!"

Grid thought about it before honestly expressing his feelings. He clenched his fists tightly, shouted, and even did somersaults. Debirion was dumbfounded, while Lars cheered and clapped. Garion smiled with a kind face. Each of them reacted differently according to their personality, but the three gods fully accepted Grid's true face. They were happy without recklessly judging between right or wrong.

The dignity of the chief god? That sort of thing didn't benefit those around him. Grid's attitude of smiling when he wanted to smile and spreading joy and happiness around him would be far more beneficial to the world.

It was as orange divinity spread like a polar light around a clear lake.

The gods of the Overgeared World communicated and became close to one another like long-time friends and family. They weren't suspicious or wary of each other. They only hoped for peace in the world and for humanity to be without any darkness in their hearts. They were pleased with each other as they faced each other honestly and glimpsed the other's sincerity.

Peace—the present safety gained only after meeting Grid, and the possibility of the future that they saw through the works created by Grid, relieved the anxiety in the hearts of the surface gods.

***

'I'm afraid people will misunderstand.'

It was four days later…

Grid invested all the remaining scales and finished Fire Dragon Ifrit's Shoulders when he suddenly became worried. Grid had a total of three types of Breaths. First, the Breath of the fire dragon attached to the Fire Dragon Sword. From the perspective of Grid, who actively utilized Item Combination, the Fire Dragon Sword was one of his inseparable symbols. Every time he attacked, there was a 5% chance of releasing a Breath.

Second, there was the Small Breath attached to Ifrit's Arm. The status correction effect meant the strength was much higher than that of the fire dragon's Breath. He used it habitually because it was so versatile that it became the trigger to creating a sword dance.

Third, there was the Breath attached to Cranbel's Head. It was the most powerful Breath. The particularly noteworthy part was the release location. It was right to say that enemies who fought at eye level with Grid would always be exposed to danger because the Breath was fired from Grid's mouth or helmet. The moment they weren't aware of it, a hole would be drilled into their forehead and they would suffer a proper loss.

Everything was good. It was all good, but…

'I feel like I'm shooting too much.'

The ripple effect of the Breaths used by Grid lay more in the directing effect than the power. A beam that stretched out in a straight line. The effect was so gorgeous that it caught people's attention and left an intense impression. If he shot a Breath from the helmet instead of his sword or gauntlet…

He was worried he would get a nickname like Beam Man. It was because people loved nicknames.

'…It is a useless worry.'

After all, Grid was the most famous person in the world. He got nicknames even if he stayed still. There was no point in worrying about a new nickname.

'In the first place, Beam Man is a bit… it sounds cool.'

Grid thought positively.

Ifrit's Shoulders were waving in line with his movements. The shoulder guards of red scales. It was in a state of being integrated with Ifrit's Arm. Like the White Tiger's Shoulder Guards, it had a round shape that wrapped around the shoulders, so there was no inconvenience in movement.

The performance… it easily transcended the Shoulder Guards of the White Tiger with the Protection of the Red Phoenix. Despite being an area of weak defense, it had a huge 2,100 defense. There was also a further increase in defense when attacked on the upper body, a shoulder injury immunity effect, etc.

It was perfect armor. Just as Ifrit's Arm had Dragon Fear, Cranbel's Pelvis had Dragon Rage, and Cranbel's Head had Dragon Blessing attached, this also had some of the dragon's powers embodied.

[Dragon Charging]

[The power of an absolute species.

Strongly push a target in the specified range to shake the insides.

A strong internal injury will be dealt.

Resource Consumption: 20,000 mana.

*None when hitting directly with the shoulders.

Cooldown Time: 1 minute.

*None when hitting directly with the shoulders.]

It was powerful. The increased defense from the dragon armor set effect couldn't be ignored either. However, it was necessary to use it often while swapping it with the White Tiger's Shoulder Guards. It was impossible to completely abandon the White Tiger's Shoulder Guards, which had features such as Earth God that changed the terrain. Swapping items to use a skill that required meeting certain conditions to be activated had a difficulty level high enough to be called an area of luck, but this wasn't a problem for Grid.

The Shoulder Guards of the White Tiger with the Protection of the Red Phoenix had been used by Grid as a part of his body for the past few years. He had confidence to activate the desired skill at the desired timing. In the first place, Grid was a specialist in swapping items. There was no need to consider the problems that occurred when swapping items.

"Are you idle?"

After almost 10 days, it was time to leave the temple and get some fresh air. Then Mercedes approached and asked him a question. Her expression was terribly cold. Cold air seemed to cover his skin and it gave him goosebumps.

Grid couldn't help looking behind his back. It was in the direction that Mercedes's gaze was focused. It was where Garion was smiling. She treated Mercedes, who was staring coldly at her, kindly, like Mercedes was an adorable child. "I can't be idle when I am taking care of the land all the time, right?"

"Indeed." Mercedes nodded slightly.

Pretending to be busy while chasing continuously after His Majesty.

Judging by the look on her face, such words might pop out. However, she surprisingly closed her mouth and seemed to accept it. It seemed to be the power of Keen Insight. She predicted that she would suffer a loss if she said one more word here.

Grid was paying attention to the war of nerves between the two women when he remembered what happened not long ago. It was the time of his confrontation with Dominion. Grid had predicted a future where he would explode due to Dominion's spear and die. Did his high level of transcendence combined with his high insight manifest the power of Keen Insight? Or was his evil eye strangely deformed?

Grid thought about it seriously, but it was only for a moment. 'It isn't a superpower.'

It was a future he predicted based on his accumulated experience and information. It was a level that anyone who played the same game thousands of times or for thousands of hours could reach.

Predicting the timing and path of the enemy's skill and avoiding it in advance—such an extremely ordinary phenomenon just came to him in an unusually specific and clear manner.

He didn't know why it was unusual. It could be a simple coincidence or it could be influenced by something special about a virtual reality game.

'…Let's not think too deeply about it.'

He would just be wasting his mental strength if he gave useless meaning to the experience of that time and immersed himself in it. Grid felt it intuitively and grabbed Mercedes' hand. He clasped their fingers together in a gentle embrace. He thought that the shy and red-eared Mercedes was cute.

"Did your training go well?"

Mercedes had immersed herself in training while Grid was creating the new dragon armor. Looking back on the magnitude of the commotion he vaguely sensed, she seemed to have fought the apostles.

"Yes, I have gained valuable experience."

The expression was full of the confidence of winning. She seemed to have a high win rate. It happened the moment he was stroking Mercedes' head while feeling proud of her…

-Beings, on, the surface, listen, well.

A clear voice was imprinted on everyone in the field, no, on the surface. It was a voice that penetrated directly into their heads. It felt like their brains were being stirred.

"Ugh…!"

The knights who were following Grid groaned. The soldiers held their heads in a tormented manner while the people on the streets sat down with pale faces. Grid swallowed down his nausea.

[You have resisted the demonic energy that has permeated the world.]

He didn't feel any pain.

There was just extreme disgust. It was a wicked, ominous energy that he had never experienced before. It was disgusting because he felt like he was facing something he never needed to know in his life.

-I, am Amoract, the 2nd monarch of hell.

"What type of mysterious phenomenon is this? There are no traces of Amoract entering anywhere on the surface."

Garion cocked her head. She was taking care of the people along with the other gods. They gave priority to using their divinity to restore the well-being of the suffering people.

"She… is in hell."

Mercedes' Keen Insight gleamed as transparently as ice. Her gaze peered underground and glimpsed into another dimension beyond the underground. The two eyes that even the gods were wary of faced Amoract in hell. Then they were dyed red.

The sword that Mercedes drew and wielded in a dazzling manner was blocked by Grid just before it cut Garion's neck.

The Great Demon of Conflict—Amoract's power was strong and vicious.

Grid had no time to hesitate. He immediately spread out the Sanctuary of Metal. It squeezed in between the interlocking blades and dominated Mercedes' shield. Then he took away the sword and held the frantic Mercedes in his arms.

-I will, save you. You, desire, my advent.

Amoract's nonsense continued.

It happened as he was gritting his teeth…

"I'm sorry." Just then, Mercedes woke up. She activated her Keen Insight and looked at hell again.

"It is foolish…! Amoract's power is a catastrophe on the scale of destroying the world! No one can afford it!" Garion sighed. She couldn't understand Mercedes, who was repeating the same mistake.

In fact, Amoract, who was in hell, was ridiculing it. She laughed and deceived the human being who hadn't grasped the target and once again met Amoract's gaze.

Mercedes's transparent eyes once again turned red. Garion and the gods flinched and stepped back. On the other hand, Grid's expression was calm. It was because he believed in Mercedes. A notification popped up as if responding to his belief.

[Your apostle, 'Mercedes,' has partially deciphered some of the causes of the conflict.]

[Your apostle, 'Mercedes,' has resisted the power of conflict!]

-What…?!

Amoract hurriedly shut her mouth, but it was too late. Her bewildered cry spread throughout the world.

The world that used to be dyed in darkness was torn apart. The sky that resembled a bleak winter night had its blue color restored. It was spring. There was the ruler of the knights in the center of the scattered petals.

"…Our spring is a spring that is right," Lauel muttered with a bewildered expression after belatedly arriving at the scene. It was a poem by Paul Eluard.

She, who wasn't tainted by darkness and didn't tremble in the cold—Mercedes' spring was a spring that is right.