Overgeared

The blind swordsman, Cabelon—he sometimes forgot about the absence of his vision. It was because his ridiculously superior senses replaced his vision. In fact, he built a high level of transcendence and was a skilled person worthy of being Muller's self-proclaimed disciple.

'I have been properly humiliated.'

The blade was damaged the moment he hit Kraugel's sword. Five centimeters from the end, a scratch of around 6 millimeters was made. This finely broken balance was captured by Cabelon's senses. It was to the point of being uncomfortable.

Cabelon clicked his tongue and changed his grip. He slightly raised his index finger up to restore the balance of the damaged sword. At the same time, he accelerated the circulation of the sword energy which further strengthened the blade.

"You've shown ugliness. You have been wearing your sword energy all the time, so you revealed a gap."

He hadn't expected that the sword would be damaged. It was natural. It was a sword made of black iron that a craftsman of the distant past had hammered for 100 days, and was wrapped in sword energy. It was believed that it wouldn't be damaged even if it was quenched in the lava boiling in Trauka's nest.

"The world is wide. Master always said that I should live with the sense of being in a well. I should've engraved his words in my mind, not my ears."

"...Are you truly Muller's disciple?"

The other time when they met, Kraugel failed to communicate properly with Cabelon. He had been in the process of a time attack quest where time was running out and he couldn't communicate well with the opponent who suddenly attacked him. Additionally, his skills were strong. At that time, Kraugel had no choice but to fight Cabelon with the feeling of avoiding dirty poop.

However, things were different now. Kraugel had grown and there were many allies around him. Garion, the goddess of the earth; the former Red Knights; and the young knights and soldiers of the empire...

Unlike before, he wasn't alone. It was no longer a strange thing to Kraugel. There was a feeling that his deficits were naturally filled up. He felt reassured.

Cabelon was also active in conversing unlike before. He seemed to have judged that the level of the enemies was too high to stick to his attitude of silence.

"That is a silly question. If you had obtained Master's secret technique, then you would've seen that my swordsmanship is very similar to my master's."

Kraugel knew that Cabelon must've learned the Matchless Swordsmanship. However, there was too much of an ambiguous aspect to be certain he was Muller's disciple. It was because most of the Matchless Swordsmanship used by Cabelon was deformed. It was a form that hadn't evolved in a better direction, but regressed in reverse. He wondered if it would've been like this if a great genius had learned the Matchless Swordsmanship over his shoulders.

"If you are really Muller's disciple, why are you obsessed with his secret technique? The swordsmanship you've already learned firsthand will be better than one recorded in a book."

"It is a ridiculous question again. It is the duty of a disciple to get back my master's relics."

"However, I am the owner of the secret technique."

"What...? What type of sophistry is that?"

"I found something that has been buried for hundreds of years, so it is naturally mine."

"You are a great person who doesn't intend to return the money bag he picked up on the street to the owner, but is going to take care of it. It is deplorable that the Sword Saint of the present age is equivalent to a beggar. It is a fault that will discredit all swordsmen, including Master and myself."

"Isn't this thief's tongue too long?"

A shadow was cast over the ground and a strong wind blew. It was the appearance of Huroi, a member of the 10 meritorious retainers and a propaganda officer. He had returned from a mission to the territories of the local nobles who were executed by the inspectors in order to inform people about their crimes and condemn it. His sharp gaze examined Cabelon up and down as he pulled the reins of the wyvern and descended.

"Your master in hell will be quite saddened when seeing your sword dancing to take away other people's things. He will say that he raised a ruthless robber, not a swordsman."

"My master is in hell?"

"Then is he in heaven? It is either hell or heaven."

"Your continuous thoughtless remarks..."

"Where are the thoughtless remarks? Don't the dead go to either hell or heaven?"

"Why do you treat the living as the dead? Even if you cross the line, this is crossing it too much!"

Cabelon's face was already red. Few people would withstand Huroi's provocation, which was close to the level of abusive words. It was because the more transcendent a person was, the less resistant they were to swear words. It was right to say that it was a different level of attack from ordinary mental attacks.

"You are acting like a lunatic so you will naturally disgrace your dead master... Huh?"

Huroi, who had been talking continuously, closed his mouth. He cocked his head and his eyes widened like he was reflecting on what he just heard. Soon after, Kraugel stepped up on his behalf because he was too shocked and couldn't open his mouth recklessly.

"Is Muller alive?"

There were many doubts about it. There were many times when he doubted Muller's death as he walked on the path of a Sword Saint. A little while ago, the lich Lopero also spoke the words 'Muller, that boring guy is still here...' as if he was alive and well. However, he couldn't find any basis for survival, so he couldn't assume that Muller was alive. There was no evidence of death, but there was also no evidence that he was alive. In retrospect, those from the No Offspring Tomb also seemed confused.

Lopero believed Muller was alive, but the No Offspring Tomb group itself searched for Muller's grave, as if they were searching for Muller's body.

"Of course he is alive." Cabelon's answer was straightforward. He didn't bring up rumors of Muller's survival to create unnecessary confusion. Instead, he shouted like Muller was really alive. "He can't be dead."

"......"

Why did it suddenly become ambiguous?

'Does this person just want to believe he is alive?'

It happened as Kraugel and Huroi were thinking this...

"The truth is so shocking that you might not believe it, but... in fact, the heavenly Martial God is a fake. The real martial god is called 'Chiyou'... I clearly witnessed the moment when he came to the surface to see Master. Master is so great that the true Martial God came down to see him. There is no way that he would've died... I am nothing more than a piece of trash compared to him and even I have lived for hundreds of years..."

"......"

Grid had also said it—Muller wanted to die on his own, but he wouldn't have been able to die in the end. He must've learned the truth along the way that death wasn't the end. Would he have died smoothly when he knew that he would be reduced to being Baal's toy or a soldier of the gods?

It was impossible. Grid's recent interpretation was that he must be alive somewhere.

"Looking at your stiff expression, it seems that you are quite surprised by my excellent information. It must be surprising since there are fewer than 10 people in the world who know Chiyou's name. Who else besides me who knows Chiyou's name... I can only think of a monster in the north sea who wears snow caps like they are clothes."

"I wasn't surprised to hear Chiyou's name. There is no one in today's world who doesn't know it."

"Hahaha! They are foolish words. Well, it's fine. I have to take away the secret technique and leave before the skeletons of the No Offspring Tomb can't stand it any longer and fall."

"Let's talk about Muller."

"I don't have much to talk about. I'm also in a position of searching for him, so I can't provide you with any clues that can help you. I wouldn't provide it even if I had a clue."

"Isn't this subtly honest?"Huroi whispered into Kraugel's ear. It was a reaction that showed that it was hard to grasp Cabelon's personality.

Kraugel pulled out a hair tie and tied up his long hair.

"He isn't a good-natured man."

He had cold eyes and a cold manner of talking. There was a willingness to continue the conversation at any cost, even through violence.

Huroi laughed and took a step back. "I'll assist you."

"Thank you."

"Even if the number of novices increases from one to two...?" Cabelon's expression was stiff as he shrugged and gripped his sword. It was because the energy of the deceased, which had been filling his surroundings, disappeared without a trace in an untimely manner. Lopero had retreated.

"...I have a lot to say about Master."

Cabelon immediately put down the sword and raised both hands, showing that he had no intention of resisting. As expected of someone with strong senses. His ability to read the battle situation was excellent.

***

-Divinity is similar to magic power.Just like magic power that doesn't become magic due to the magic formula is nothing more than ineffective energy, divinity is nothing special if it isn't utilized properly.It is just used to bring out the feeling or atmosphere.Forming divinity into divine power is a completely different realm.

Let's turn back the time to a little while ago. It was when Kraugel and Huroi were dealing with Cabelon.

Lich Lopero was talking nonsense with Asmophel. He still mistook Asmophel for Piaro. Asmophel was vaguely recreating Piaro's divinity and Lopero dismissed him as insignificant. It was based on Dante, who had run over with Asmophel.

-Look at him right now.You are at most a worthless human who bears some divinity.Piaro, the apostle of the Overgeared God.You aren't much different from that guy.Kukukuk...

"......"

Asmophel's group had no idea which part to start tackling. Eventually, they ignored Lopero and started to talk among themselves.

"Why is he calling Asmophel Piaro?"

"It is too much to dismiss magic power that didn't become magic as trivial energy... Lord Braham's Magic Missile smashed a small mountain..."

"Lord Dante, please refute something! The divinity that His Majesty instilled has restored your youth! The empress has the same divinity! Are you going to keep quiet when he is demeaning such precious divinity as no big deal?"

Irene and Dante had regained their youth thanks to Grid, who was active with the skin mask. They now knew that the concept of divinity was behind it. For them, divinity was a very precious and sacred blessing that Grid himself had gifted.

"I can't stay silent. Lord Asmophel, can I come forward?"

Dante had taken off his appearance of old age and became a middle-aged man, but his experience hadn't disappeared. The quiet tone and calm attitude felt heavier than when he was a swordsmanship instructor of the Red Knights.

Asmophel thought for a moment and nodded. "I will learn a lot."

"Huhu, since when are you saying that?"

-Don't tell me, right now...are you going to deal with me alone?

Lopero was dumbfounded. He had a hierarchy where he tracked and hunted human gods. It wasn't a threat at all even if humans attacked in a group. Now a human swordsman who built up divinity, but wasn't an apostle or famous, was moving forward to deal with him. It was so insignificant that he couldn't even snort.

Asmophel muttered, "The prime minister said that the invasion of the No Offspring Tomb at this point should be treated as a bonus game..."

It was a few minutes ago. The 'guiding feathers' that triggered after a long time made Asmophel very nervous. It was an attack that occurred when His Majesty and the apostles were absent. It felt like they were thoroughly targeted. He judged that scary guys had invaded with definite preparations.

This was when Lauel insinuated something.

Don't be nervous and have fun.

At that time, he had been wondering what Lauel was talking about...

-Kuack!You are also one of the seven apostles...!You are surprisingly pretty strong!!

"......"

The invaders were in a very bad state. Despite their ability to hunt down 'weak human gods,' as they themselves claimed, it was impossible to handle the elites of the Overgeared Kingdom. Thanks to this, Reinhardt secured a large amount of loot.