Overgeared

Braham's analysis was correct.

The power of King Sobyeol was change. It was a change that didn't stop at changing the nature of some 'energies.' It was about intervening in most concepts of the world.

There was the power of change in the background of the incident where King Sobyeol dropped King Daebyeol into hell while avoiding the eyes of the other gods and in the background of the incident there the Three Masters were assumed to be purely responsible for erasing Mir's memory.

It was easy when thinking about it simply. King Sobyeol was the flesh and blood of a God of the Beginning. He naturally exercised absolute power like Dominion and Judar. He was truly invincible according to Braham's statement. Yet at this moment, he wasn't invincible.

King Sobyeol spontaneously recalled an old memory. It was a memory of the time when he was defeated in the War of the Gods and was driven out of Asgard.

Failure—for the first time since his birth, he was feeling the same level of embarrassment he had experienced when things didn't go his way.

The transparent divinity gained different colors from time to time and gradually cracked. It was felt gradually in King Sobyeol's senses, but in reality, it happened instantaneously. It was the aftermath of exceeding the allowed capacity in the process of repeatedly changing and absorbing the magic of the infinite great number, changing the magic of the end to a 'beneficial nature.'

Divinity was the foundation of a god. It wasn't a feature that could be conveniently turned on or off. King Sobyeol could only watch his divinity, which operated and vanished at will.

'Such ignorant magic can actually exist.'

The statement of it being ignorant was justified. The principle of 'Ragnarok' was simply pouring out all types of magic at once. Braham was the only one in the world who could actually implement this simple principle. He was a magician who studied magic all throughout his life, both in his life as a direct descendant and his human life. It was only because he had mastered hundreds of different types of magic that he met the conditions to activate Ragnarok and could cast them simultaneously.

In the first place, Braham's magic had to be gathered to complete the formulas of Ragnarok. The 'mirrors,' which reflected magic and multiplied it to an infinitely great number, was also a concept derived from Braham's mental world. This meant that any magician other than Braham couldn't use Ragnarok, dead or alive.

It was meaningless even if it was possible. They would die at the stage just before the activation. It was unconditionally necessary to have the constitution of a direct descendant in order to repair the heart and brain that was burning at the same time that Ragnarok was used.

'Um.'

A world that had come to a serene end—trapped in a world full of an infinitely great number of magic, King Sobyeol naturally showed the majesty of an Absolute. He moved at a speed that no one could recognize and avoided the realm of the end over and over.

It was a feast of exquisite skills. Every smallest move had an intention behind it and acted as a stepping stone for evasive maneuvers. If Mir or Kraugel had seen the current King Sobyeol, then they would've been inspired at every moment. This would only apply if they could follow the movements with their eyes.

'This... it is a crisis.'

King Sobyeol struggled with the moment that stretched out for eternity and finally accepted reality. It was shortly after a few large cracks appeared in his luminous divinity. The mirrors that still formed the dome were Ragnarok's origin. His fate was set the moment he was trapped in it...

The end times would continue until the target was extinguished.

'Now that this has happened, I have no choice but to aim for mutual destruction.'

King Sobyeol just wanted to leave a message for the Overgeared God, but it looked like he was going to lose. He had to endure an unexpected loss, but the loss was too great to just back down like this. It was necessary to take Braham's life to make up for it even a little bit. It was naturally right to sentence him to a complete death where he couldn't be resurrected.

King Sobyeol realized that keeping Braham alive would pose a great threat in the future. Therefore, he stopped resisting and spread out his senses widely. He intended to find Braham's location and kill him in exchange for his own life.

It happened at this time...

There was a loud roar and the mirrors that reflected the magic of an infinitely great number started to shatter. Something must've gone wrong. These mirrors were the medium for Ragnarok. However, they were broken because they couldn't withstand the wave of magic power from Ragnarok. Parts of the end world disappeared.

It was a sight that gave King Sobyeol a glimmer of hope.

'It was imperfect magic.'

It was obvious with common sense. It was magic that could threaten even a true god. It went against providence if such a thing really existed. King Sobyeol judged that the chain of magic would soon stop and started moving again.

The magic that declared the end times for parts of the world—he focused on surviving by finding and avoiding the small gaps in the magic flooding toward him. He judged that it was enough to get rid of Braham after Ragnarok ended.

It was a miscalculation. The broken mirrors hadn't disappeared yet. The fragments of the mirrors were divided into hundreds or thousands of pieces and reflected even more magic from various angles.

"...Hah."

Was it finally completed? It was only after losing his path of retreat that King Sobyeol laughed in vain. It was a look that completely shook off any lingering regret. He neatly admitted defeat once the situation got to this point.

[You were the treasure of the Overgeared God and the number one among the apostles.]

His thoughts flowed out randomly.

[I really envy the Overgeared God.]

King Sobyeol's heart as he was swept away by the magic echoed inside Ragnarok.

"What nonsense,"Braham's voice followed. It meant that Ragnarok's trigger was over.

The great magic that devoured Braham and King Sobyeol without even a trace gradually disappeared. From the magic triggering to the ending, literally only an instant passed. King Sobyeol had retreated to the Hwan Kingdom before the seagulls, who twisted their heads to avoid the scene, could finish flapping their wings once. Just as Dragon Slayer Hayate repelled Martial God Zeratul with just one swing of his sword, Braham repelled King Sobyeol with only one magic.

There might be a difference between before and after the Overgeared World was established, but in terms of firepower, Braham wasn't inferior to Hayate. Of course, Zik's help was great.

"...Th... thank..."

The medium through which the magic was triggered and maintained couldn't withstand the waves of magic and was broken? It meant incomplete magic. Meanwhile, Braham was the greatest magician in the world. He never relied on incomplete magic. He thought that there was no magic that he couldn't predict.

In other words, Ragnarok was a completed magic. Originally, the mirrors shouldn't have broken. The reason for them breaking was Zik's intervention. He quickly figured out how to amplify Ragnarok's power and intervened in Ragnarok's formula by using runes.

It was possible thanks to Braham's acceptance. The reason Braham accepted it was naturally because he trusted Zik. He thought that Zik would be able to see through the formulas in a short time, and as usual, he expected to be greatly helped by Zik's runes.

In conclusion, Zik repaid his faith. If Zik hadn't broken the mirrors, Braham's head might've been cut off by the time Ragnarok defeated King Sobyeol.

'I can resurrect if I die, but it is naturally better not to die.'

The back of his neck that had been crushed by King Sobyeol—Braham's expression softened as he touched the back of his neck that had regenerated. He was grateful to Zik and happy to have a colleague who could match his cooperation at a level equal to him. However, he felt too awkward to express it. After all, didn't he help out first before he got help from Zik?

There was a sense of resistance and he was embarrassed to express his feelings honestly. It was still hard for Braham to be honest with anyone who wasn't Grid...

Then Zik smiled softly and bowed his head. "Thank you. If it wasn't for you, I woud've been taken hostage and caused trouble for the Overgeared God."

"...Bah, it is fine if you know this."

Zik was one of the few people Braham respected. Zik's candid appreciation made Braham happy. The smile was about to leak out at first glance, so he had to crumple up his expression. He nodded with a frown, only to feel a sudden sense of strangeness.

"By the way, what happened...?"

Runes hovered around Zik. They originally had different colors depending on the meaning of the character. He hadn't seen a case where there was no color. However, the one character rune that smashed Braham's mirrors a little while ago was transparent and colorless.

"Rio."

"......?"

"It is an ancient character that means to observe, to learn, or to take away."

It was also a character that was sent to King Sobyeol's divinity when the sword energy and runes were absorbed. Things felt like it ended too quickly due to Braham's intervention in the middle, but this was enough time. The character vaguely gained King Sobyeol's divinity. If he used a word or sentence that meant King Sobyeol's divinity, then it would be expressed.

"......"

Braham's red eyes widened slightly and shook. Zik, who was talking nonchalantly after doing something huge, looked like a madman to him.

***

The battle ended before the soldiers of Cokro Island arrived at the scene. Due to this, the fight between Braham and King Sobyeol wasn't witnessed by the public and the following world message appeared.

[Someone unknown has defeated a great god.]

It was about someone anonymous who had been active. In the old days, Grid and Kraugel had a de facto monopoly on this, but in recent years, quite a few people were the anonymous protagonists. This meant it was hard to be specific about who it was.

However, this situation was different. Wasn't the opponent a 'great god'?

'It is Grid.'

'It must be Grid.'

People took it for granted, but...

"...What is this?"

The truth was different.

[Your apostle, 'Braham,' has been acknowledged by 'King Sobyeol,' the son of the god of the sky.]

[Your apostle, 'Braham,' has defeated 'King Sobyeol,' the son of the god of the sky.]

[The great achievement of 'Braham' is added to every myth in which the hydra appears.]

[Your apostle, 'Braham,' has achieved a high divinity. If certain conditions are met, he will develop into a myth class.]

"This... what is this...?"

The notification window that appeared in Grid's field of view made him startled and at a loss for words. Then it was updated.

[Your apostle, 'Zik,' has learned some of the power of 'King Sobyeol,' the son of the god of the sky.]

[It is possible for Zik's name to be recorded in the myth of King Sobyeol.]

"...What?"

Grid was still in the East Continent. At a time when the Four Auspicious Beasts, Mir, and Hwang Gildong were active in various fields to revitalize the East Continent, and he was producing holy swords—at this point, he felt like he was on vacation. However, too much happened in the meantime. It was like... he felt a bit left out...

'It feels like they're having fun without me?'

...It was probably his illusion? No, unfortunately, it might not be an illusion. Was it necessary to go hiking with his apostles to develop a sense of unity...?

Grid seriously thought about it.