Overgeared

The god of war—Ares was very fond of his alias.

It wasn't because he was obsessed with the title of 'god,' but because he purely liked the word 'war.'

He admired generals from an early age and watched all the movies where soldiers were active. Then he came across the classic Korean movie, The General's Son. He was fascinated by the street fighting and couldn't take his eyes off it for a while, but…

Eventually, he shifted his attention back to the world of generals commanding an army. He looked away for a while, so he realized the value and was even more fascinated.

This was when Satisfy was released. It was set in an era of war where the focus was on actual combat and not a button to launch nuclear missiles. He was naturally interested. In order to become a 'general' that didn't exist in the class column introduced by the S.A Group, he believed in Satisfy's high degree of freedom and enlisted in the military.

He might've started out as the lowest ranked soldier, but he dreamed of becoming an incomparable general. He didn't outwardly express his dreams. He didn't want to be put into the same category as the ordinary military enthusiasts. He pretended to be indifferent on the surface and acted like an uncle who lived according to the flow.

However, he worked harder than anyone else, earned the alias of a god of war, and eventually became the founding king of a kingdom. He recalled the time when he was at war with the Saharan Empire.

It was a time when Valhalla's elite 5th army was repeatedly defeated by an army led by the Red Knights. The atmosphere in Valhalla at the time wasn't bad. In particular, he judged the empire to be a much easier opponent than the Overgeared Kingdom. It was because he discerned the capabilities of the 1st knight, who was in control of the military power of the eastern part of the empire, a fierce battlefield at the time.

Mercedes—she possessed a powerful swordsmanship as rumored and was a death god in the battlefield. The incident where the 1,000 elite troops led by Scott and Luck were defeated by her alone was still talked about as a nightmare in Valhalla. Yes, it was just one person. The commander-in-chief, Mercedes, drove away thousands of troops without using any of her own troops. She took the lead and crushed the enemies with pure force.

It was at this point that Ares realized that Mercedes wasn't a good general. It was due to her own tendencies, not because she had flaws in her ability to move the troops or her strategies. She was a warrior based on overwhelming martial talent. For her, there was little reason to use the army and Ares properly penetrated her psychology.

He reduced the scope of the battlefield. He led the eastern army of the empire to take her orders on the same battlefield as her. As expected, the enemy's active force was reduced and the Valhalla Army performed better than expected. They might have been eventually defeated, but it bought enough time to fully grasp the empire's strength and gave them the opportunity to pursue the next step. In any case, the conclusion was—

"This is her essence," Ares insisted as he lay in the hammock and looked up at the sky. It was a sky that showed the violent image of Mercedes smashing everything around her with a giant sword of light.

"It is in her nature to get rid of a crisis before it happens, rather than sitting still and responding to a crisis."

There was no sense of crisis in his amused expression as he sipped on a cola-flavored drink. It was in a situation where the Asura Road opened by Baal caused chaos on the surface and the hell expedition repeatedly struggled. He had a relaxed attitude even after hearing the news that a dragon appeared and nearly destroyed the world.

It was because the rumored Dragon Slayer handled the dragon and he believed in Grid and Mercedes when it came to the hell situation. They had fought together as enemies or colleagues, so he was confident that he knew the strength of this couple better than anyone.

"Can I call them a married couple?"

"Isn't it okay as long as you are careful in front of Empress Irene and Empress Basara?"

"Haha, yes. I don't want to seem hateful to the other wives, so I have to be careful."

Ares crushed the 22 ounce iron cup with one hand and stood up. The cup crumpled like a wad of tissue paper and fell onto the sandy beach. Ares' eyes caught something 'running on the sea' as he started to make his way to the shore.

"There are 300 people who have mastered the water walking light footwork technique."

The followers of the Martial God—those who had been training in the East Continent started a large-scale activity. They crossed the Red Sea toward the West Continent and seemed to be moving under Zeratul's oracle.

It was unfortunate. A god who threatened the human world by taking advantage of the chaos caused by the worst demon called Baal.

'There is no one who is right. After this, the only god who can be trusted is Grid.'

If Grid hadn't advanced to the myth rating—

If there were fewer opportunities to get a glimpse into the reality of the gods who didn't feel a sense of crisis—

The 2 billion players would've been in a great crisis even after winning the war against hell. It was highly likely that the gods, who hid their essence, would take advantage of them. They would be divided into those who doubted the gods and those who didn't. Simply put, they would've been hit hard by the stab in the back and fall into a desperate situation. They would've only noticed the reality of the gods after losing most of their strength to resist.

"That friend, Grid, he is really amazing."

"So suddenly?"

The sandy beach started to shake as Ares reached the shore. It was the aftermath of tens of thousands of horses lining up behind him. It was the continent's strongest cavalry, armed with the Overgeared Empire's weapons and armor. They radiated the same energy like they were one. Their momentum was so great that it made the followers of the martial god hesitate for a moment.

The moment the 300 followers stopped moving unexpectedly, a tsunami occurred. Waves that soared like walls rushed toward the shore.

Ares and the mounted soldiers weren't bewildered. They stared at the rapidly approaching waves without any fear. The followers showed off the water walking light footwork technique again and were getting closer on the waves.

"Are they surfers?" Ares burst out laughing before giving a command, "All forces, annihilate."

There was one reason why Ares went to the front himself the moment he heard about the massive advance of the followers of the martial god. It was in order to win.

The army he directly commanded was four times stronger than usual. A huge 13 buffs were stacked up. Additionally, the name of one of these buffs was none other than Peerless General.

Ares made his dream come true.

***

""Catch her…!""

A demon who had been implanted with the soul of the Sword Saint—he noticed that Mercedes's sword energy had changed. No, it wasn't appropriate to say that it had simply changed. It felt closer to uncovering what had been hidden. It felt like they opened a box that shouldn't have been opened.

""Is it right to chase? Wouldn't it hate it if we invaded its territory?""

The chatter of the old demons gradually grew faster. It could be that their vocal cords, which had hardened due to long years of silence, were finally loosened, or it could be because the situation was tense.

""It isn't the time to argue about that. It is a conflict, so it is right to cooperate.""

The more the demon with the transplanted soul of the Sword Saint spoke, the more the expressions of the other demons shook. It was a bizarre reaction. It had to be so. The thing that lurked beneath them was a monster. It was a monster made up of millions of souls. It wasn't in the realm of understanding, so it couldn't be opposed. Then what did it mean by a conflict?

""Che.""

The demon with the soul of the Sword Saint eventually went out alone. He left behind the demons who weren't ready to rush forward and jumped underground. Was it because he had a strong sense of duty alone? No. His soul was hoping for a fight with Mercedes. It was an instinctive attraction.

***

Duguen, dugeun, dugeun!

At the deepest underground of hell…

A red sphere lurking in the darkness was pulsating. It was like the heart of something. However, it couldn't be. It was ridiculously huge. It would be hundreds of times larger than a dragon heart.

How long had she been falling? The moment that Mercedes landed on the ground, a shockwave shook the entire underground. She was as small as an ant as she stood in front of the red sphere. Her gaze failed to capture the sphere with the strange eyes. It wasn't a problem. Even though she knew this would be the case, she got closer. Her Keen Insight had already finished the analysis of the sphere.

'The hell moon.'

This was the original form of the hell moon. Like the moon that shone on the surface, this red sphere was being projected onto the skies of the surface and hell. It was something artificially created, unlike the real moon in space.

'It is a huge chunk of flesh.'

It was at the moment Mercedes defined the identity of that something… A faint light started to appear all over the chunk of flesh. It was a red light that flowed like blood. In the sky, an infinite number of bloodshot eyes were visible. Each one was someone's soul. Was it depicted as bloodshot eyes because there was a strong resentment?

Mercedes was thinking with a heavy heart when a red light shot at her. It was filled with a very threatening force.

Mercedes remained silent. There was no evasion or defense. It was because she knew there was no need for it.

Kyaaaak!

The light shot was the soul of a woman. The memory of a woman who lost her child screamed and pierced through Mercedes without causing any damage.

"It is a low-grade trick," Mercedes spoke coldly.

A trick—the previous attack was just a deception. If the person wasn't Mercedes, it was highly likely that this would've been perceived and reacted to as a powerful threat before being subjected to some type of linked attack. The red flesh was discreet and cunning in a way that didn't fit the huge mass.

Duguen, dugeun, dugeun!

Did it understand her words?

The flesh pulsated even more violently after hearing Mercedes' accusation and shot out multiple lights this time. It was seen as a baptism of red beams in the eyes of the people. However, each light was perceived differently with Mercedes' Keen Insight. The wave of an innocent child, the killing technique of a cruel murderer, the awkward swordsmanship of a nameless soldier, the hand plow of a farmer, the magic of a magician, the embrace of an old man who missed his children, etc. Some were threatening, some were warm, and some were sad.

Mercedes was generally expressionless except in front of Grid, but now her expression was changing every moment. She accepted the light with a faint smile and frowned slightly when it cut off. It was a scene that couldn't be understood at all from the perspective of a third party.

""This monstrous person.""

Then a sword rose from below Mercedes' feet. The demon with the soul of the Sword Saint had arrived at the scene.

""Let's fight fairly with swordsmanship,"" the demon spoke with a cracked voice and his sword energy raged fiercely.

It was a swordsmanship with a trick that made it difficult for Mercedes earlier. There were thousands of possibilities for the sword, so it was difficult to respond even after she read it with Keen Insight. It was because it was a swordsmanship that transformed in real time as soon as it was read with Keen Insight.

Mercedes' giant sword, which still contained a huge light, cut that swordsmanship in an instant and disrupted it. It was an unchallenged force, an overwhelming violence.

"Get lost."

There was nothing awkward about the harsh words that flowed from her lips. It was surprisingly well suited to her noble face—the demon had this thought as he leaned slightly to the side and kicked off against the ground. He lost one shoulder from being cut by a sword and shot out faster than an arrow. The two hilts held in one hand stood out. He used skillful hand movements and crossed the two swords like scissors. It seemed to have the momentum to work properly.

However, was it really a threat? Mercedes, who was habitually wary of any swordsmanship she had never seen before, suddenly got rid of her vigilance. It was a law that everything was relative. No matter how strange and threatening the swordsmanship, it was enough for her to suppress it with greater force.

It was a belief instilled by the conquering sword energy of a dramatic victory. Mercedes recovered her sword and swung it again. Then her sword energy cut the space horizontally this time. It cut the demon's sword energy from above and below in half and reached the demon's neck.

The demon hurriedly tilted his body to avoid it and was forced to pull out his secret technique.

""Space Sword.""