Overgeared

The popular opinion was that it was rare for Baal to have any opponents. It was easy to guess based on Satisfy's worldview. The hundred of billions of souls caught in hell. No, he was perhaps a being that held and controlled more souls than this in his grasp.

Baal's importance was different from that of Martial God Zeratul, who simply had the setting of 'powerful.' If there was a day when Baal's death came, this would be proof that Satisfy's story was moving toward the end. He could never be an easy opponent and the real Baal was as powerful as people expected.

He was literally invincible. It was a level where he overwhelmed Grid and Bunhelier alone. It seemed impossible to defeat him even if the apostles, tower members, Hayate, and Marie Rose joined.

That had been the thought until just now. Blood rose like a fountain from Baal's right shoulder. His long arm was cut off along with the demonic sword in his hand and hovered in the air. It was done by Grid. To be exact, it was by Grid who climbed onto the neck of a giant dragon.

"...He is riding a dragon?"

People were shocked. Their response was the same, regardless of age, gender, or position. Shouting cheers was just the basics. A lot of them shot up or stomped their feet and a New York Times reporter even used the phrase that the earth was shaken. It was a truly shocking sight.

Hayate, Marie Rose, and Kraugel joined forces and barely managed to tie up the feet of the Evil Dragon Bunhelier. Grid was riding the transcendent being as powerful as the stats that were revealed in a previous National Competition. It wasn't at the level of fighting and winning. It was a concept far higher than victory and it was a shock. The expression that it was 'beyond imagination' was a cliche.

"Crazy. This is seriously crazy..."

Dragon Knight—the emergence of an only one title equal to Dragon Slayer showed a tremendous ripple effect. At this moment, Grid's appearance was nailed to the minds of everyone. The mythical figure scattering orange divinity on the neck of a dragon who was scattering black demonic energy.

People sensed it. They would never forget Grid's appearance that they saw just now. From now on, they would be plagued for the rest of their lives by the desire to resemble Grid.

『 This… isn't this more than a Dragon Slayer? 』

The commentators from different countries, who were mesmerized for a while, spoke very carefully. It was a question that denied Hayate, the Dragon Slayer who was believed to be the strongest human being. They would accept any criticism. However, no one criticized them. It was because everyone had the same thoughts. One who killed a dragon and one who ruled over a dragon. To put it bluntly, the latter would naturally be superior.

At this moment, Grid wasn't the Overgeared God.

Dragon Knight—people called Grid a new name. In fact, it didn't matter what he was called.

Blacksmith, emperor, god, dragon riding knight. No matter what, it was a name that meant Grid in the end. The present reached by an ordinary young man—in the end, he was Grid.

"Baaaal!"

Bunhelier's high speed flight. Grid completely controlled the speed that even Hayate barely reacted to. It wasn't possible just because his stats increased by three times. Grid was communicating with Bunhelier. They read each other's will and meaning.

Bunhelier responded immediately every time he felt that Grid's intentions were plausible. He flew in the direction that Grid desired. Thanks to this, Grid was able to quickly approach Baal. He safely pierced through the magic bombardment that swept in from all directions and slashed his two swords horizontally and vertically. It was a sword dance that was used on the dragon's body rather than the ground.

[The Dragon sword dance is newly interpreted.]

It was in the process of using Drop Dragon Pinnacle Link Kill Wave. It was immediately after neutralizing Baal's guard, who was using his severed arm like a sword while drawing dozens of magic circles, using the Dragon Breath. The moment he danced the Dragon sword dance after Drop, a notification window flashed in Grid's point of view. It came like a flash of lightning.

The new Dragon sword dance. Grid felt an obvious change. He had a feeling that he had to do the sword dance from the beginning again. Therefore, he retracted his sword.

[This monkey-like guy...!]

Bunhelier's rant followed. He fired the Breath according to the timing of the sword dance, but that guy Grid suddenly took back the sword. He thought this human was quite useful from the moment Grid got on his neck, but it was a misjudgment. He was ignorant like a god of insignificant human origin. He thought that missing this opportunity was like a monkey falling from the tree.

Grid ignored him and took the posture of the sword dance again. He forced Bunhelier to move forward once again. Bunhelier was forced to respond. Baal had recovered from his wound.

In the short time when Grid took back his sword, Baal stuck the severed arm to his shoulder while asking, "Are you still not in sync?"

Bunhelier took a deep breath and regained his composure while thinking that this guy was really unlucky. Once again, a Breath was fired according to the timing of the activation of Grid's sword dance. However, Baal didn't suffer from it twice. He previously confirmed that the Breath couldn't be weakened even after using all types of barriers and sealing techniques. Therefore, he slashed at the Breath this time by wielding the sword itself.

The trajectory of the dark sword changed dozens of times in the air. It was to repeatedly suppress, cut, and deflect the momentum of the Breath that was stacked five times. It was like watching a potter cutting pottery. It was enough to feel the spirit of craftsmanship.

In the end, the Breath's trajectory was completely twisted. It was divided into five stems and scattered in all directions without reaching Baal. In the eyes of people, it seemed like the laser that stretched out in a straight line was dispersed spontaneously just before it touched Baal. It meant they couldn't even properly see the sight of Baal wielding the sword.

Grid wasn't much different. If it wasn't for his transcendent senses recognizing Baal's sword energy as a threat or if his artificial senses hadn't read the flow of the wind, Grid would've also missed Baal's sword. Nevertheless, it was okay even if he missed it.

Grid had predicted that Bunhelier's Breath wouldn't have much effect. He anticipated it and was prepared from the moment Baal's arm was restored.

"......!"

Baal was astonished. It was because a Breath that was the same as the one had just faced was right in front of him.

[What?]

Bunhelier was also surprised. 'His Breath' was shot from Grid's mouth, so it was natural to be surprised. Of course, the power wasn't perfect. However, it was a reproduction of an old dragon's Breath. Even if it wasn't perfect, it had a destructive power that was on a different level than the Breath that Grid had shot earlier.

It happened as Baal wielded his sword and cut the Breath again...

Bunhelier crouched down greatly. The nape of his neck that Grid was riding was angled toward the top of Baal's head. Grid had the top of Baal's head in his sight as he swung the two dragon weapons. Once again, it was a six fusion sword dance. It was just that the action was different from before.

To be precise, the Dragon sword dance had changed. It was completely different from the old Dragon sword dance, which tried to simply reproduce a dragon's momentum, or Pagma's Dragon, which admired the noble appearance of the blue dragon. This was the sword dance of Grid cooperating with an old dragon.

[The Dragon sword dance has evolved into the sword dance of the evil dragon.]

Evil Dragon Bunhelier—one of the old dragons that had existed since the beginning of time. At this moment, his very existence that was communicating with Grid at the same level was an inspiration to Grid. It was suitable to be used as the source for the new sword dance.

[Dragon - Bunhelier]

[A sword dance that recreates the power and momentum of the evil, old dragon, Bunhelier.

It causes his 'madness.'

Charges at the designated target, causing 20,000% physical attack and inflicting at least two status abnormalities. The status abnormalities that will occur are random.

If the target's status is low, then there is a 99% of instantly killing the target.

Skill Sword Energy Cost: 800

Skill Mana Cost: 50,000

Skill Cooldown Time: 1 hour.]

"......!!"

People were dumbfounded. It wasn't because they witnessed Grid's twisted smile. Their attention was attracted by the sight of the orange divinity being dyed black and spreading like dragon wings, so they had no time to pay attention to the change in Grid's expression.

[What is this guy?]

Bunhelier's big eyes shook as well. He was evil, so he was sensitive to divinity. From the moment he first saw Grid, he was able to clearly define what type of god Grid was.

A god who existed solely for humanity. He was a noble and upright god, unlike the heavenly gods. Thus, Bunhelier felt an instinctive disgust. He was forced to work with Grid to kill Baal, but he could assert that Grid was the second most hated existence after Baal...

Yet at this moment, it changed. He felt a great sense of unity and sameness, as if he was looking in a mirror. Then Baal's voice was heard.

"I recognized it from the beginning."

That you aren't normal.

The talking Baal fell down. He couldn't fully withstand the force of the evil dragon that Grid had reproduced.

Jingle...

The sound of bells was heard.

"What is your potential?" Baal smiled softly as he asked a question. It was in the same falling position as he was hit by the six fusion sword dance.

Ultimate Martial Art—it was often mistaken for Chiyou's favor, but its identity was far from a favor. The potential that would one day blossom. In other words, it was the future.

Baal was curious. What type of future would the person in front of him have to reach this point even though Grid couldn't even handle a part of his consciousness just a few years ago?

Grid and Baal's swords intertwined in a dizzying manner. It was so dazzling that people wondered if it would be like this if color was added to the flowing wind.

"Baaaal!"

Grid didn't answer Baal's question. He had no intention of responding to the conversation. Only his anger grew. It was so pure that it could be called the influence of exaltation or madness.

Yes. Grid purely hated Baal. He had been dreaming for a long time about the moment when he would catch and kill Baal. Now—

Now he got a golden opportunity that might not come twice and felt an obligation to get rid of Baal. Wounds started to appear on both Grid and Baal's bodies. It was caused by the shock waves that occurred every time their swords collided. They weren't fatal to Grid. It was bearable. Baal's wounds were even more trivial. They were just scratches. However, these scratches were serious to Baal.

[Ultimate Martial Art has been triggered!]

Grid's ultimate move caused Baal to fall into a stunned state.

"...Hat!"

[The target has received 503,691,044 damage.]

Two dragon weapons pierced and tore at the chest of Baal, who was smiling with his eyes half open. It was Grid's six fusion sword dance, which had the effect of Dragon Knight behind him and showed the sword dance of the evil dragon. It only hit Baal at the end, but it exerted a formidable power on its own.