Overgeared

The Sword Saint of the previous generation and the teacher of Sword Saint Muller—Biban was one of the greatest figures in history. Not only did he play an active part individually, but he also taught the strongest Sword Saint of all time. He exerted a great deal of influence even before he became a tower member. He saved countless lives, either directly or indirectly. Those who knew him even a little bit respected him unconditionally.

This was until Braham put a strange framework around him. It was the framework of 'you were overtaken by your student because you were incompetent'…

Suspicions started to sprout in the hearts of the people after Braham harshly criticized Biban. There was the suspicion that Biban might be less great than what was known to the public. In the first place, a Sword Saint wasn't invincible. Coincidentally, Kraugel proved it. Many people had the opinion that Muller might've been special among the Sword Saints.

Yes, Biban might be weaker than they thought. It was understandable considering that most of the fame he built up was due to his disciple, Muller. Therefore, this was a crisis.

"Hmm, I was waiting for the Overgeared God."

A deformed being with a human head on the body of a lion—the beast that licked his mane with his long tongue as he slowly rose up was terribly huge. He would be several times larger even when placed beside an elephant, but the head was the size of a human. It was more bizarre than funny. It was all the more so because the dark mane fluttering in the demonic energy looked like a living snake.

The 6th Great Demon, Valefor—the force of the great demon who overwhelmed Biban from his size was terrible. The ground rumbled and thunder struck in the sky with every step.

"Uwah…"

People were at a loss for words. They recalled the strength of the 4th Great Demon, Gamigin.

Gamigin, who fought evenly with Braham. Gamigin might've been slain and killed by the late joining Grid, but by that time, she was already suffering from many wounds. Besides, they had to take into account that it was on the surface. The demons were weakened by several times when on the surface. The 6th Great Demon in hell could be more powerful than the 4th Great Demon on the surface.

It meant that Biban had met the wrong person. The situation of the other tower members and apostles who were isolated by Baal's henchmen looked better. Fortunately, there was a large gap in strength among Baal's henchmen. However, the ones who got the title of a great demon were named and had more than the basics. If it was a single digit great demon, then it was right to call him one of the main forces of hell.

"You were waiting for Grid? Why? Are the two of you friends?"

"What…? Do humans play with words in this way? It isn't funny. It is just unpleasant."

"Then you aren't friendly?"

"It is a natural thing…"

"Then why did you wait for Grid if you aren't friendly?"

"Maybe it is because you are used to those who use Dragon Words. You have a knack for words based on the way I feel irritated and frustrated every time you talk."

Valefor frowned and swung his front paw. The size of one paw was larger than Biban's body. It stretched out into several branches and it felt like a huge iron grate was approaching Biban. It felt like his body would be split into several equal parts once he was locked up.

Was he unable to find a way to escape? Biban remained still.

It was a scene that made the viewers feel dizzy. It happened when they started to close their eyes…

Eventually, a terrible exploding sound burst out. It sounded like Biban's body exploded to pieces. Someone's scream permeated the ears of those who couldn't open their eyes.

Kiyaaaaak!

It was clearly the voice of a demon. It was the scream of the 6th Great Demon, Valefor.

People's eyes shifted to the sky again. They looked at one of the many hellish landscapes filling the sky. They saw the figure of Valefor, who was trembling while holding onto one of his severed paws.

"What would you do if you met Grid?"

Biban persistently repeated the same question. Valefor's eyes that stared at him were filled with confusion rather than irritation and anger.

"What is this?"

Valefor's paws were harder and sharper than any weapon. Yet it was cut. It was by a single sword that left afterimages like it was split into dozens. It was a very strange swordsmanship. Biban only swung his sword once, but he actually struck Valefor's paw dozens of times. It vibrated, gradually dug in, and cut it off. It was also different from the famous Matchless Swordsmanship in the past.

"Isn't it very different from Muller's swordsmanship that I heard about through rumors?" Valefor, who completely regenerated his front paw, growled out. His voice had already stopped trembling.

"Of course, it has to be different," Biban kindly explained, "Just as Muller developed my swordsmanship, I developed my own swordsmanship."

The method of vibrating the blade through the high-speed operation of sword energy—this was a technique that was only possible in theory. However, Grid made it possible. It was because the dragon weapon Grid gave him could withstand the ferocity of the sword energy.

"Now, tell me."

The landscape of hell slowly changed. Tens of thousands of silver sword energy in the form of swords moved across the ground and the sky, clearing away the darkness. Each sword energy was causing a slight vibration. As a result, silver ripples were created layer by layer.

"What…?"

The mental world of a Sword Saint—Valefor felt that every single one of these sword energies had a mighty power and he stiffened. It was foolish to fight in this place. He needed to change places. He made a quick judgment and activated the teleportation, but the process wasn't completed. The ripples of the silver sword energies interfered.

"Che…!" Valefor became a bit more nervous and started to run on all fours. He moved his heavy body like a gale and approached the end of the mental world. However, he was forced to stop along the way.

A greatsword that was bigger than a mountain—it was hard to tell if the greatsword came down from the sky or rose from the ground, but it blocked Valefor's path. Valefor was startled and immediately changed course, but another greatsword appeared in front of him. Four greatswords appeared in succession. It was only a short time before they formed a wall and imprisoned Valefor.

It was the moment when Valefor, who was several times larger than an elephant, seemed smaller than a pea. Valefor reflexively raised his head. It was a gesture to confirm the only way out. However, that place was already occupied by Biban. He stood on a sword that floated in the air and spoke with his back to the silver sky, "What would you do if you met Grid?"

"This senile old man… why do you keep asking useless things? I naturally would've killed him. It is in order to prove that I'm better than Gamigin…"

"Why are you only saying this now?"

"……?"

"I misunderstood that you wanted to be Grid's subordinate or something."

"Crazy guy!"

Valefor spread out his wings with demonic energy and flew up. He crossed the cliff surrounded by swords in an instant and swung his paws at Biban. The power was unstoppable. The wind pressure caused by the outstretched movement of the paw caused the five greatswords to shake violently.

Nevertheless, Biban wasn't agitated. "It is pitiful compared to dragons."

The reason why the sky behind Biban was silver was due to the tens of thousands of sword energies gathered behind him. It was all aimed at Valefor.

The dragons—Biban's mental world was designed to bind and peel off the scales of the strongest beings who were hard to confront. It wasn't a power that a single great demon could bear.

Valefor's consciousness as he hastily crossed his arms blurred for a moment. He admitted that he couldn't win in this state after experiencing the baptism of the dragon weapon that cut off his paw and the sword energies that dug into his flesh and peeled at his skin.

He quickly compressed his body, which had been inflated enormously. It was so long ago that he couldn't remember any longer. He recovered the body he used to have when in a humanoid form. It was only now that the balance of his body was right. His face, which used to be too small for his body, was relaxed. He entered phase two.

"I will take everything away from you."

Valefor was the demon of thievery. It didn't matter whether it was an item, ability, appearance, or lifespan. It was easy to steal as long as it belonged to someone else. It didn't matter if the target was stronger than himself.

"……?"

Biban, who passed through a phase by putting the great demon into crisis in just a few minutes without taking even a single wound—his expression changed for the first time. It was a look of astonishment as Valefor broke through the baptism of sword energies and barely put a hand on Biban's cheek.

Valefor made a creepy smile. "It's done."

Just then—

"……!"

Light wrinkles started to appear around the corners of Valefor's eyes. The bridge of his nose rose and the tip came down nicely. His chin became angular and his hair shortened and turned gray. His back widened and he grew taller. His earlobes, eyes, and even the shape of his muscles changed. In short, he resembled Biban.

On the other hand, Biban became a bit ugly. His hair became sparse and dry skin cracked. The bridge of the nose sank like it was collapsing and the tip became turned up. His eyes sagged and his jaw widened. His lips were swollen and his eyebrows elongated. His height became smaller. He lost his muscles.

The handsome, middle-aged figure disappeared all of a sudden. It was the aftermath of it being taken away by Valefor. Now Biban had become Valefor.

"Hahat! What wonderful omnipotence! Is this the world that an Absolute sees?" Valefor shouted after taking away even Biban's clothes and sword. He laughed with a loot of ecstasy. The good news was that Biban's mental world hadn't been taken away.

Tens of thousands of silver sword energies pressed Valefor violently as if telling him to return the things to their master. However, Valefor had stolen Biban's swordsmanship. Every swing of the sword crushed hundreds of sword energies. The mental world quickly collapsed. Eventually, the five greatswords that stood tall started to fall one by one and countless sword energies dissipated without a trace.

'I stepped on poo.'

It was the first time he had fought a high ranking great demon, so he wasn't wary of the great demon's powers. He had received advice many times that the great demons each had their own special nature and he shouldn't take them lightly. Then once the situation really arrived, he forgot. It was a defeat that came naturally because he kept the senses that were based off of fighting a dragon.

The moment that Biban readily admitted defeat, his mental world completely collapsed. Hell regained its original landscape.

The red light from the hell moon dimly colored the night sky. It was a red night.

"I finally found you."

A certain figure quickly passed by Biban's side. Even Biban recognized it one step late.

How many beings in the world could deceive the senses of the tower members? The number was even more limited if it was a human. There was only one person Biban could think of immediately.

A thief who stole from the Tower of Wisdom despite the hundreds of barriers around it.

The Great Robber of the Red Night—he broke into the scene and stole Valefor's heart. It was as if to prove that he was the best thief in the world.