Overgeared

The tower member, Betty, succeeded in healing the wounded memphis. Later, she encountered Chepardea while escaping with Agnus and Noe. It reemerged right after his death was confirmed, so they wondered if it was a setting where they were brothers. However, based on the consistency of his abilities and habits, they confirmed it was the same individual.

The appearance of Chepardea, who scoffed at Agnus and Betty for being 'broken toys,' was different from his miserable appearance just before he died. He showed a strange appearance of praising Baal, who killed him a little while ago, before being killed by Betty and Agnus.

Meanwhile, the tower member, Abellio, joined the tower member, Ken, by chance. The great demons avoided Ken and the demons who advanced without hesitation were annihilated every time Abellio made a stroke with his brush. Looking at the movement path, it was estimated that they would soon encounter Grid's group in the south.

Meanwhile, the tower member, Jessica, was in pursuit of the great demon Barbatos. Barbatos, who was sniping at Abellio, fled shortly after Jessica appeared and showed a weakness in his sniping ability. It seemed that an effect of Echo Magic acted as a counter.

The tower member, Radwolf, succeeded in taking over the sky. The magic power bombs from the army of magic machines covered the dark sky of hell with a pure white light... all types of flying demons folded their wings and died. A total of three great demons set out to intercept Radwolf, but they failed. The instantaneous acceleration ability of the magic machine that Radwolf was boarding was at the level of a transcendent and he was presumably using Shunpo. Additionally, based on the level and firepower of the armor, there was no disagreement in the assessment that it was an anti-dragon weapon.

The tower member, Fronzaltz, killed the 9th Great Demon. He stayed in the 9th Hell and searched the area. It looked like he wanted something...

Several demon armies rushed out to suppress him, but he didn't care. Several experts agreed that Fronzaltz' strength was likely to be the second highest among the tower members.

The tower member, Jurene, was having a long conversation with the great demons in the 20s. The conversation couldn't be listened to, but it had a very friendly atmosphere that didn't fit the bloody landscape of hell.

The tower member, Biban, continued to wander around the remote regions. He was personally proving that there were many different types of landscapes in hell and didn't show any battles for a long time. It couldn't be confirmed if the demons were avoiding him or if he was avoiding the demons.

The apostle of the Overgeared God, Zik, joined the Overgeared members and succeeded in ensuring the safety of the crystal castle. The atmosphere that cooled down after Baal's brief appearance was restored (?) quickly due to Vantner and Peak Sword.

Huroi spread propaganda through Euphemina's magic and succeeded in communicating the situation to the people. Players who were hiding all over hell started to move to the crystal castle in droves.

The Overgeared God's apostle, Nefelina, was lurking in a corner of hell. Her location was similar to the location where players were hiding, so it seemed her intention was to help people escape...? Maybe it was due to the Dragon Fear that the hatchling could release imperfectly, but the demons didn't come near her.

The Overgeared God's apostle, Piaro, was engaged in farming in hell... There were already four areas of hell filled with golden wheat fields and acted as milestones for players. It was confirmed that one of the trees he planted was exceptionally large and had a red fruit that demons were obsessed with.

The Overgeared God's apostle, Braham, had an encounter with the great demon, Leraje. He wasn't at all intimidated by Leraje, who proclaimed to be the Supreme King. In the face of an unpredictable and fierce battle that was expected, Leraje instead guided Braham to her palace. Her expression of ecstasy and submission after placing Braham on the throne made her look quite silly. Of course, the experts argued that there might be some other hidden setting, but it was difficult to be convincing because they couldn't provide any evidence.

Overgeared God Grid and the apostle, Mercedes, succeeded in escaping back up to the ground after a great battle underground. It seemed that the raid of something huge and red would be saved for a later date. The demon swordsman who had a close battle with Mercedes followed Grid, so it seemed that Grid had succeeded in taming another monster.

...This was the current situation in hell. It was due to this that the shock and horror that Baal brought to people after he briefly appeared soon calmed down. The overall situation was good, except for the fact that Baal was too strong and the red chunk of flesh was too sinister.

The performances of the apostles and tower members were great. There wouldn't be any major problems as long as they didn't run into Baal. Yes, unless they encountered Baal...

However, was that really a normal wish? The master of hell was Baal. He was the goal of Grid's party. No, humanity's end goal would eventually come down to defeating Baal. So why assume that they wouldn't encounter Baal? It was too... maybe it was due to this vague wish?

The victory announcements repeatedly rang out, but on the contrary, people's anxiety grew. This couldn't continue.

"We will join the war."

Large crowds started to be attracted to Reinhardt. The rankers and players who were going to use the hell elevator rushed in like a tsunami at the last minute. The Overgeared Guild didn't stop them. Why would they refuse volunteers to fight with them?

The fact that Grid's group didn't intend to fight Baal right now wasn't particularly important. Those in hell needed help right away. They needed manpower so that players could safely evacuate to the crystal castle. The latecomers had stayed on the surface and closely watched the situation in hell so they could perceive the players' current positions and situations. It meant they could plan enough to know how to evacuate them.

"However, please keep this in mind. At best, you who are going as reinforcements shouldn't die."

Laella, the master of the Overgeared Magic Tower—she was Reinhardt's acting lord and cautioned the people.

"Your death will create a stronger demon."

Contrary to her worried expression, Laella's magic power was burning like a flame. It was as if she was going to burn and kill them if they went to help, died, and made things worse. It was actually a threat. Was it because she was an idol? There was a perception that Laella was almost the only kind person among the Overgeared members. Maybe it was just people's wishes.

Laella was also a member of the Overgeared Guild. She was even part of the former Tzedakah Guild. She also had a temperament of ruling by force. If she was kind and gentle like her external image, then she wouldn't have been able to become a ranker in the first place, nor would she be able to mix in with the rough Tzedakah Guild.

The people realized it again and hurriedly nodded.

Laella smiled gently at them and gave them one more piece of advice, "I am going to hand out anti-magic seals from the Reidan Alchemy Facility. The effect is strong, but it only lasts for 0.2 seconds. Use it the moment the elevator arrives in hell and the doors open. Then you won't be forcibly transferred."

They wouldn't be forcibly transferred... there was no certainty about this. The anti-magic seal created by the Reidan Alchemy Facility and the Overgeared Magic Tower was very powerful in return for being very restricted, but there was no guarantee that it would perform perfectly in hell. There was no forced teleportation during the time Laella was with the hell expedition, so there was no room for experimentation.

'If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have come back first.'

Just before Baal came to the surface, Laella had returned there first. It was because the workload of the magic tower was so heavy that she couldn't be away for a long time. The reason she participated in the first place was to secure resources she needed for an experiment. It was a well-known fact that there were quite a few types of resources that could only be obtained in hell.

In particular, it was estimated that there were many beneficial resources for magicians. It was obvious from the constantly appearing magic tower quests where they could study new magic if they secured a certain resource. Among them, the 'fruit of good and evil' stood out in particular. Despite being a material item, it was classified as myth rated. It was said that the fruit was very red at night and green during the day...

Wouldn't it resemble that one?

"...Eh?"

Laella's eyes widened as she looked up at the sky again after putting the new volunteers into the elevator. Her eyes were drawn to a particularly large tree in the video of Piaro. It was a tree that was half as large as the world tree. At first glance, the great tree that seemed to support the sky had only one fruit. It was very red. She saw the demons rolling their eyes and rushing at the fruit. It was even though they knew they would be Piaro's prey the moment they stepped into the surrounding wheat fields.

"T-That...!"

"C-Crazy!!"

Laella was feeling astonished when the screams and groans of people rang out. Laella was surprised by the intense reactions and noticed it one step late.

A dragon appeared in hell. It was the Evil Dragon Bunhelier. One of his wings and his tail had been ripped off. The appearance of an Absolute that he had shown during his fight against Hayate had faded away.

Kurarararara!

"......!"

"......!"

The faces of Laella and the people turned pale.

"God!" Sariel screamed out a prayer while clasping her hands together. The place where the dragon appeared was above Grid's head. The dragon even fired a Breath at Grid's group the moment he appeared. It was such a quick surprise attack that they were worried if Grid would even be aware of it.

Grid's party was swept away by the Breath. The faint smoke completely obscured the screen.

The situation was worse than people thought.

[Baal...!]

It was because Baal appeared in the spot where Bunhelier had emerged. He seemed to have rushed over after reading Bunhelier's energy. It was shortly after killing Chepardea. It revealed why he ignored Zik and the Overgeared members on the scene and left in a hurry.

"You are a very unlucky guy." Baal laughed when he found Grid, who had been hit by the Breath and turned into rags. He seemed to be enjoying the situation itself.

Grid's response wasn't much different. Grid hadn't been able to hide his fear during his previous encounter with Baal on the surface, yet now he was smiling in this desperate situation.

"Let's see who is the unlucky one?"

He was grateful for his high luck stat. Grid shook off the dust and raised his body. Then he tapped on his armor with a hammer. Mercedes and the demon swordsman weren't by his side. They had left the scene with the God Hands the moment Bunhelier appeared.

"I've been thinking about it ever since I heard the words 'Crazy God and Crazy Dragon.'"

The sight of Grid pulling out two dragon weapons and holding them caught the attention of Baal and Bunhelier at the same time. No matter how weak he might be, the figure armed with dragon weapons and armor was bound to shine in a special way.

"The most suitable dragons for the tale of the 'Crazy God and Crazy Dragon' are Nevartan and Bunhelier, the craziest dragon and the second craziest dragon. Isn't that right?"

Grid's gaze shifted to Bunhelier in the sky. Bunhelier's eyes, which had been filled with anger and killing intent, slowly stabilized.

[I can't deny it.]