Overgeared

He was born unwanted. He didn't know who he was and he didn't learn how to live. He had no choice but to be shocked when he barely reached the surface after wandering aimlessly through the hell filled with violence and malice.

Society, culture, nature, and affection. Things that weren't in hell. The surface was overflowing with concepts that he had never learned or experienced.

It was unfair. Anger boiled up on its own and burst out.

In the end, he was killed. It was the end of the filth that emerged from nothingness. It was a life he never wanted to go through again.

However, the world was cruel to him. He had a soul. Due to that, his death wasn't the end. He was once again stuck in hell. He was swallowed by the ball of red flesh. He lost the sense of self that was his only comfort and became a part of the chunk of flesh rather than 'I.' This caused him to develop greater resentment and anger.

It was at that time that the Great Human and Demon War broke out. He became one of the eyes projected on the surface's moon and was able to observe Grid's life. A perfect life that he couldn't even imagine. He envied Grid.

[I will, take away your life.]

The Sanctuary of Metal used by the blackened Grid was red. The canyon, which seemed to have been built out of hardened blood rather than metal, spread out everywhere. There was no straight path. The hundreds of thousands of paths that stretched out like blood vessels were all precarious slopes. A vast majority were cut off along the way, while others were blocked by the walls of the canyon.

It was different from Grid's sanctuary, where there was a path that passed through the canyon rising to the left and right. Grid had firm convictions, so he knew the path to go. Meanwhile, the blackened Grid was going through chaos. He was blocking his own infinite possibilities.

"That… he is inferior."

It was on a road that was too cramped for even one person to stand upright. Mercedes stood with her back to Grid and spoke calmly. She was releasing pressure that was howling like a beast and it seemed like she would curse, but her breathing had calmed down. She barely persevered.

How dare this person imitate her liege's mental world and divinity, defiling her liege's life? It felt like her ears would rot at the heinous declaration of the blackened Grid and she wanted to spit out curses that told him that he was trash. The problem was that Grid was nearby. She put up with it because she wanted to look innocent as much as possible in front of Grid…

'She is cute.'

Grid stared at the back of the trembling Mercedes and smiled. Now, he was close to being sensitive even in relation to the opposite sex. He was able to see through Mercedes' inner thoughts because he had experienced it with Yura, whose eyes shone on rides even though she tried not to show it outwardly.

Grid took a step forward. He stood boldly on the crumbling slope that couldn't even withstand the weight of light steps.

"You tried hard."

"……?"

[……?]

Both Mercedes and the blackened Grid looked bewildered. It was because the person that Grid praised was the blackened Grid. In this moment of silence, Grid reviewed Mercedes' report again. It was information relayed through sound transmission as soon as he arrived at the scene.

First of all, this mass of red flesh was the body of the hell moon. It was projected onto the moon through some magic, while the souls held in the chunk of flesh acted as eyes that looked all over the surface. It seemed that the souls used their instincts to chase after the memories of their lives. It wasn't known if the hell moon was like this from the beginning, or whether it took away the role of the hell moon from a certain point onward.

Additionally, there was a type of inconsistency in the type of soul caught by the flesh. From infants with a weak self-consciousness to famous, great figures in history, all types of human souls were trapped in the mass of flesh.

Why use an unspecified number of souls instead of selecting the souls of powerful beings? It was easy to guess. It was simply to gain the 'eyes' to look at a wider variety of places. Thinking a little deeper, it would be to build up divinity. The reason why the blackened Grid had divinity after separating from the chunk of flesh was because it was highly likely to be worshiped by those souls.

The blackened Grid was simply a being derived from Grid and the concept of divinity wasn't something that could be easily built up. Therefore, Grid could tell that the blackened Grid had been working hard on its own.

"You… you must've tried to become like me while observing me. The other souls worshiped you because they witnessed you acting like that."

What effort could be done while in a soul state? Mental discipline? Did he make Grid a virtual enemy and repeated the shadow boxing? In any case, it wouldn't have been an ordinary effort. He must've been worshiped as a hope and an example to the other souls.

'If you resemble me, then you deserve it.'

Grid was feeling a strange sense of pride when the blackened Grid growled out toward him.

[Don't talk, nonsense.]

The blackened Grid didn't seem to know his condition. He didn't understand the essence of divinity, so it was natural that he didn't know it. He seemed to believe that everything he had came from Grid. It was like denying himself.

"It is bittersweet."

Grid drew his sword. He stared at the red chunk of flesh that was behind the blackened Grid.

'How many gods are inside it?'

There wouldn't be much of a reason behind the fragments of the chunk of flesh turning into the blackened Grid. It wasn't that it watched the blackened Grid carefully and gave him a chance. It was closer to the feeling of simply taking out a card that suited the situation. Grid made a guess while feeling the mental world of the terribly indifferent chunk of flesh and used Item Combination.

The blackened Grid responded immediately. Swords made from fragments of the chunk of flesh—they were put together one by one and looked exactly like Grid's divine swords. The sight of a bunch of veins protruding from the swords that intertwined with each other and wriggling at the end of the sword was bizarre.

[You, are smiling.]

Did he have the awareness that this was nothing more than trivial imitation? The complexion of the blackened Grid became even paler. It was as if he couldn't bear the shame. Yet soon, his eyes sharpened like a knife. Unlike his fierce air, the hand holding the hilt loosened. The posture of standing quietly with relaxed shoulders seemed good for performing a sword dance at any time.

Grid didn't feel any dislike toward him. When they met in the past, Grid was displeased with the way this person looked like him, while also feeling sympathy and disgust for the way the clone resented him. Now the blackened Grid was just pitiful. The fact that he had become a god in some form was also a bit praiseworthy.

"For your sake as well, I will surely purify hell."

There were countless souls who hadn't been reincarnated and were bound to hell. It wasn't just Pagma and Alex. The vast majority of those Grid knew directly or indirectly were suffering the same pain as the blackened Grid. The soldiers who had fought alongside Grid, and also their families, were screaming as they were trapped in this chunk of flesh or the river of reincarnation. The existence of the blackened Grid harshly showed that reality.

"Sky," Grid declared himself as the sky.

He rode the Breath that was shot backwards and rushed toward the blackened Grid. He took the lead using the Serve sword dance, which depicted the sacrifice of the Overgeared God. It was a sword dance he only recently learned, so it was unfamiliar to the blackened Grid.

Grid seemed like he was stumbling, so when the blackened Grid saw Grid approaching, he responded with surprise. He also used the Sky sword dance before starting to unfold Pinnacle. He lowered his sword with all his might, while hoping to make Grid regret the distance he had given up.

However, his sword couldn't reach Grid. He was overwhelmed by this secret technique and froze for a moment. Then he was pushed back. The Pinnacle sword dance was canceled at the casting stage.

Grid ascended. He pushed his shoulder forward against the blackened Grid's solar plexus and at the same time, he swung the sword in the opposite hand from the bottom up. The great power of the dragon weapon, which couldn't be replicated even by the red chunk of flesh that produced divinity on its own, combined with the Dragon sword dance to erode at the dark energy of the blackened Grid.

He was soon cut.

[……!]

The blackened Grid became dizzy. It was the sense that its existence was cut off after being denied. It was the pain he felt when his divinity was damaged.

Grid had always endured. It was from the moment he became the Overgeared God to the present. There were few moments that were comfortable for him, who fought until he was ragged every time. The luck that others saw as being easily obtained was actually gained because he endured such pains.

Therefore, only Grid could understand the blackened Grid. Had all the souls caught the red chunk of flesh developed like the soul of the blackened Grid? He was certain it was a no. It would only be a fraction of the blackened Grid. This guy deserved respect.

"I will let you ascend to heaven later, so stay dead until then."

[You…!!]

The canyon melted away. The blood that was flooding it changed into hundreds of thousands of weapons. They all aimed at Grid and fired. It targeted the rear of the defenseless Grid, who was exchanging blows in real time with the blackened Grid.

Of course, Grid was in a state where he had spread out his artificial senses in all directions. He was using the God Hands orbiting around him to operate the particles of silver thread in real time. He felt the traces of the approaching weapons. He grasped the form, trajectory, and intent behind them.

The blackened Grid also knew it, so he swung his sword more and more. He used the Revolve sword dance to buy as much time as possible. He forced Grid to focus on him. He calculated the fact that Grid had a total of 30 God Hands.

Divine objects that couldn't be realized even with the Sanctuary of Metal—no matter how freely they moved, how could they handle the heavy rain of weapons, which was dozens of times more than them? It was physically impossible.

'I can inflict heavy damage or cause him to consume the rain of battle gear.'

That's right—the blackened Grid was inducing a war of attrition. He planned to take advantage of the fact that his physical strength was infinite as long as he had the red chunk of flesh behind him. There was just something he overlooked.

[……?!]

It was that Greed multiplied infinitely. The mass of Greed that Grid always floated above him was enough to make a flying ship, so depending on the altitude, it could appear as a black sun. Yet in order to get a flying ship, it was better to receive help from the giant brothers. It had to be set as a long-term project.

Therefore, Grid consumed the surplus Greed in a different manner. An additional 70 God Hands were produced. Now there were a total of 100 God Hands that Grid possessed, including the God Hands spreading out the artificial senses. The sight of them spinning at the same time and releasing a sword dance… it was spectacular.

The blackened Grid seemed to see the power of a 'ruler,' which was different from that of transcendents or Absolutes. It was overwhelming.

[Re, ign…]

Thousands of swords were stabbed into the body of the blackened Grid, who was watching the sight with wide eyes. The sight of him being stabbed like a hedgehog by the weapons he made in his own mental world proved that his mental world was imperfect.

However, in the end, he didn't fall. It was because the source of the blackened Grid was Grid. He was filled with persistence. He started a five fusion sword dance with his pierced bodies and Grid told him in response, "One day, start over as 'you.'"

[Shut… up! I…! You will be…!]

They were the same. If they fought with the same sword dance, then Grid wasn't a match for him. The opportunity would come to him, who had the upper hand in recovery. It happened the moment when the blackened Grid noticed that the strides and sword path of Grid were the same as his own and completed the sword dance with hope…

Step.

Grid took a further half a step.

[……!]

Grid's six fusion sword dance swallowed up the blackened Grid's five fusion sword dance, splitting apart the dark divinity and cutting the red canyon in half.

A glowing sunset divinity flooded the world.