Overgeared

In the records of hell, it was said that Beriache, one of the Three Evils of the Beginning, dealt with the power of thousands of demons. It was because she had the power to fully reproduce the abilities of the targets whose blood was consumed.

Marie Rose proved that this history wasn't exaggerated. Didn't she ingest Hayate's blood and use the power of a Dragon Slayer? This absolute power led to the cooperation between Baal and Amoract, and they ultimately expelled Beriache from hell.

Baal wielded the power of all the dead at all times. There were times when he, who usually had the upper hand over Beriache, would be easily defeated under certain conditions.

King Sobyeol had also heard of Beriache's reputation. It was beyond just rumors spread across the world. She felt familiar, like a friend he had met in person. It was the influence of King Daebyeol. He had fallen into hell innocently, got to know Beriache, and sent communications from time to time.

'...There is no need to be wary.'

King Sobyeol was reminded of Beriache through Braham's appearance, but he soon felt at ease. The second of the Overgeared God's seven apostles—King Sobyeol appreciated Braham, but he didn't perceive Braham as a threat. Braham had a clear flaw compared to Marie Rose, Beriache's rightful heir. He lacked the most important power of the thousands of demons.

'A monster.'

On the other hand, Braham was very nervous. The sense of smell of a direct descendant exceeded the transcendent senses. In particular, he was sensitive to the scent of blood he was smelling for the first time. Therefore, Braham flew to the scene at once, but once he actually faced King Sobyeol, he couldn't help getting the chills. It was because King Sobyeol had the highest hierarchy among the many beings he had faced so far.

Dominion naturally came to mind. A monster who imagined death toward Grid as he threw a spear from a high cloud—Braham had no idea at the time, but later on, Grid confessed that he had been overwhelmed by Dominion's killing intent. He thought Grid was bluffing after dealing a big blow to Dominion, but at this moment, he empathized and understood Grid's heart.

"It is incompatibility."

Braham, who was observing King Sobyeol while maintaining his unique arrogant expression—Zik noticed that he was actually nervous and gave him advice. Zik's image was projected on one side of Braham's red eyes. There was a loss of the runes that usually symbolized him. It was a shabby appearance that didn't suit him.

"A colorless divinity that is hard to identify..."

"Absorption, amplification, or divergence."

Braham didn't need an explanation. One of the many names that symbolized him was Duke of Wisdom. The power of Duke of Wisdom came from understanding. Based on the circumstances created by Zik's sacrifice, he quickly analyzed the power of King Sobyeol.

'An all-rounder.'

The remnants of the energy circulating around King Sobyeol—they were the remnants of Zik's sword energy and runes, which were familiar to Braham. He had met many existences who could absorb or invalidate sword energy or magic power, but it was a shock that even the runes had become useless.

Runes were literally letters. They were an ancient language that combined words or sentences to make them a reality. To use an analogy, they resembled the Dragon Words. It didn't magically use 'energy' as a medium, but was a product of wisdom and will. Nevertheless, the divinity of King Sobyeol absorbed the runes along with the sword energy. It was as if to dismiss it as all the same concept.

'The same concept... is it..."

Braham pondered on it and quickly came up with a hypothesis. Then he immediately released purple magic power. There was only one magic power like this in the world. It was the ultimate in enlightenment that utilized the experience and wisdom of a great magician and the lineage of a direct descendant.

Magic Missile, which was simply an act of releasing flying magic, exerted a power that could devastate a garden with one shot. Then, like raindrops falling on a lake, it was absorbed by the divinity of King Sobyeol. No, it was more like dye than raindrops.

It was because King Sobyeol's colorless divinity turned purple.

"This is really... it is great."

King Sobyeol had been watching the situation silently, as if testing Braham. Now he admired it. It was because he recognized that the purple magic power he just absorbed had infinite potential.

"It is said that you got victory after victory with your excellent bloodline and personal connections. You even usurped the myth of the hydra. It turns out that it is a true story. The two of you are uniquely special among the Overgeared God's apostles."

Braham let King Sobyeol's praise enter one ear and go out the other. He used the point of gaining victory after victory. Braham would admit that his mother's lineage and Grid's connections were great, but gaining victory after victory? It had been hundreds of years since he had been stabbed in the back by Pagma. Pagma was also dung from the Hwan Kingdom.

Braham recalled this while starting to use magic. It was from the four elements of fire, water, wind, and earth, to nothingness—all types of attributes were put into the magic power and embodied in various forms.

Then he confirmed it—the scene where they were absorbed by King Sobyeol's colorless divinity. Indeed, any form of magic was absorbed. It was even the buff magic of the blessing type.

Zik fell into thought.

It was because King Sobyeol served as a greater counter to Braham than expected. Fortunately, Braham's magic was really large and splendid. The soldiers patrolling the outskirts of the island would've already detected the disturbance. Soon, news would be sent to the Overgeared members and reinforcements would come. They just had to hold on until then.

Zik judged and raised his sword.

"...Change,"Braham murmured. He showed no signs of agitation that the magic he cast as an experiment was destroyed. It wasn't acting this time. His unique habit of acting like he was calm didn't appear.

"It is adsorption and change before it is absorption. It is an incredibly fast process and it is hard to notice."

Braham recalled one of Grid's powers and saw through the core of King Sobyeol. It was the correct answer.

"I am envious of the Overgeared God."

Braham saw through it in an instant. King Sobyeol was feeling admiration again when Braham created dozens of mirrors with magic power. Hundreds of huge mirrors that were two meters wide and five meters high formed a dome. It started spinning around and around with Zik, King Sobyeol, and Braham in the center. Any gaps were forbidden.

"Any form of attributes is treated as a unified concept... it is really invincible, but... there seems to be a limit to the capacity, especially in a low status condition like now."

Hundreds of magic circles appeared around Braham. It was the ultimate in multiple casting using Memorize and even orbs. These hundreds of magic circles quickly increased to thousands and from there to tens of thousands. It was the aftermath of a series of projections on the huge mirrors. Braham named this technique 'Infinite Chanting.'

"Can you afford it?"

It was a situation in which hundreds of types of magic multiplied into an infinitely great number. The sand, the sky, the sea, and the shining sunlight were losing color. It was while being deprived of energy by Mana Drain, which was included in the infinitely great number of magic.

The reason why Braham's mana was considered to be infinite wasn't because it was really infinite. It was because his mana recovered as soon as it was consumed. A significant reason behind the recovery was 'mana that exists in nature'. This meant the world lost its energy and was dying.

Braham also paid the price that was deserved. His brain and heart was burned in the process of his mana being depleted, restored, and repleted again. The brain was the source of the spell and the heart was the source of the mana—they couldn't handle the birth of magic and the depletion of mana that was repeated thousands of times in just a few seconds. If he was an ordinary legend or transcendent, not one of Beriache's blood, he would've died without being able to endure for even six seconds.

"I'll eat your blood and myth."

Braham smiled while bleeding from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, and he struggled to snap his trembling fingers. At the same time...

━━!

Parts of the world disappeared silently. To be exact, the part trapped in the giant mirrors was removed.

Ragnarok—it was magic named after the War of the Gods that brought about the end of the world. It was the new ultimate technique of Braham. From the beginning, it was large-scale magic aiming at a God Killler and Dragon Slayer.

The problem was that King Sobyeol was an Absolute. His movements easily transcended Braham's perception. It was possible for him to escape the realm of the mirrors in a gap that Braham didn't know about and this was indeed the case.

His position was outside the mirror. It was out of the range of the magical influence, just like Braham and Zik, whose positions were shifted the moment Ragnarok was triggered.

[Braham, apostle of the Overgeared God.]

The thoughts of King Sobyeol directly permeated into the minds of Braham and Zik.

[It was rude to define you as simply being from Beriache's lineage.]

The realm of the Absolute—King Sobyeol's will originated from a gap in time that even transcendents couldn't recognize, let alone normal people, and it was conveyed to Braham very quickly but clearly.

[You are truly a great magician. It is to the extent that it is dangerous.]

There isn't the confidence to control you. I'm sorry, but I don't think we can keep you alive.

The moment he came to this conclusion, King Sobyeol appeared behind Braham and his hand aimed at the back of Braham's neck. The terrible sound of flesh being torn apart and bones being crushed echoed next to the world that had come to a silent end.

A voice continued "I have been told... that I am a troll."

It was Braham's voice. He replaced his crushed spinal cord and vocal cords with magic power organs, but he was shaking because he couldn't immediately adapt. The sound of air being lost came one after another.

"Grid... he often likens me to such an incompetent creature... I can't deny it."

In recent years, Braham had been weighed down by a tremendous sense of helplessness. It was even after making countless achievements and regaining the power of a direct descendant. His past few years had been marked with regret. He couldn't forget the scenes where he made mistakes at critical moments, so he broke his coffin several times while sleeping. He always vowed that he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes in the future. He came to seek perfection in everything he did.

This will was captured in Ragnarok.

The son of the God of the Beginning, Hanul, and chief god of the Hwan Kingdom—King Sobyeol was a god with the highest hierarchy and in the realm of the Absolute, so he didn't miss the movement in Ragnarok, even if Braham might've missed it.

The scenes of his escape, the route, and the destination were captured in numerous mirrors and bound up in eternity.

"What...?"

King Sobyeol's eyes widened when he noticed the situation.

━━!

A chain of silent ends followed. It was toward the point where Braham and King Sobyeol were standing side by side. The magic that followed King Sobyeol along the path reflected by the mirrors devoured them without leaving a trace.