Overgeared

The duel between Asgard and the Overgeared World—as some people used this provocative expression, countless people flocked to Reinhardt.

"Can Grid and the apostles fight well against Asgard?"

"The opponent isn't Asgard. It is a battle with the Martial God's faction. Well, this doesn't mean that the odds are high, but…"

People from all walks of life gathered.

It was from simply interested spectators to merchants sensitively affected by the situation of the Overgeared Empire, the heads of the forces who ignored the divine messages of Asgard and followed the Overgeared Guild, the rankers who hoped to find some inspiration from the confrontation of Absolutes, and the ordinary people who believed their fate was at stake in this confrontation.

Apart from the ridiculously huge stage that filled the square, there was plenty of space for them to sit and see the stage. It was from the inside of the high rise buildings overlooking the stage, the rooftops, the walls and spires, and the facilities equipped with magic tools to transmit images of the stage.

Reinhardt was such a huge and developed city.

"Ah…" Those who were nervous sighed.

"Ohh!" Those who were excited cheered.

"Crazy…"

The rankers who tried to gauge the level of an Absolute were astonished. It was the aftermath of the emergence of the Martial God.

There was a momentary and intense flash of lightning. Zeratul's movements as he stepped down the stairs was beyond common sense. It wasn't enough to physically intervene in the phenomenon of lightning. It was at the level of catching up with the speed of lightning that flashed and then dispersed with seemingly slow steps.

"Grid knows that this place will be his grave."

Zeratul, who had appeared at a high place, suddenly came closer to the ground. It felt like he was sliding down the lightning. It was instantaneous.

[Martial God Zeratul has descended.]

There was the final sound of a thunderclap and the dark sky lit up. The golden clouds covered in waves and refracted the light in all directions. The pillars of light formed throughout Reinhardt created a sacred atmosphere. It was the moment when Reinhardt, the city of humans, was transformed into a truly transcendent space even though it was the origin of the Overgeared World. It vaguely resembled the appearance of Asgard that people imagined.

They couldn't help being overwhelmed. It was because the world changed with just Zeratul's descent.

"God…"

This was a true god, not a level that the player called Grid had reached step by step. The rankers who witnessed the Martial God and the eight gods who followed him felt dizzy. It was the sensation of facing an endlessly high wall.

"If I was Grid, I would feel like I was drifting alone in the ocean," Asuka muttered as she sat beside Teddy and watched the stage.

The Grid produced items that she purchased with a great deal of capital and effort—it had only been a few weeks ago when she was full of confidence because she saw that some of the legendary weapons had gained ridiculous effects. Yet at this moment, she was intimidated as if it was a lie. It was because she decided that the ability to 'inflict fixed damage on a god' wasn't of much significance. There was the conviction that most players, except for Grid, would be in the same position.

In other words, Grid would be the only player who could fight against these nine gods. How terrible and frightening was the reality of not being able to depend on anyone? He might even feel resentful.

'There aren't enough apostles to rely on.'

It wasn't like he called the tower members. What method was he trying to use to handle the nine gods? It happened as Asuka was looking at the situation…

"Grid… he isn't here."

On the stage, Zeratul's expression crumpled. The atmosphere cooled down in an instant when the god, who looked like he had popped out of Greek-Roman mythology, made a grim expression. The people from all walks of life, who were making noises from different positions, shut their mouths for a moment.

"Is he afraid to fight in front of everyone? So he ran away in an ugly manner?"

Zeratul clicked his tongue and stretched out his large hand into the air. The guandao with a three meter long pole appeared and fell toward the stage. The huge stage that was like a few football fields joined together shook. The spear was mounted like a flag on the stage.

"That insignificant guy, doesn't he know it is better to die than to run away in front of everyone? Well, it is fine… it is enough to make him come back." Zeratul's gaze shifted to below the stage. His eyes were drawn to Sariel, who had just arrived at the scene. "He will come back eventually if I slaughter the apostles one by one."

The surprised Sariel's expression stiffened. It was because she recalled an old memory.

The gods who drove her out of heaven—Zeratul was among them. He watched the situation with a frown, as if he was staring at dirty filth.

The memories of her infinitely helpless moment intimidated Sariel. She was distressed that she had the cowardly idea of wanting to escape. The demonic feelings that she had barely been suppressing were about to spring up.

"It is funny how a trivial fallen angel is serving a trivial god." Zeratul snorted as he read Sariel's expression.

"Why do you keep saying absurd words when you show up willy-nilly?" A man standing close to the stage and watching the situation opened his mouth. It was Huroi, the propaganda officer of the Overgeared Empire. "Is it a law of Asgard to come and go without setting a time appointment and to pretend that there is no owner of the house? Are most of those living in Asgard homeless vagrants, so you haven't learned what procedures to follow when visiting someone else's house?"

"……"

Zeratul didn't respond because the hierarchy didn't fit.

Instead, the lowest of the eight gods who followed him spoke, "The fact that we are coming today has been fully communicated through the mouths of our followers. The evidence is that many spectators have already taken their seats here in advance. How can you be unreasonable?"

"You simply said you would come here. You didn't notify us of the exact time, did you? My Liege is so busy that even having ten bodies is lacking. Every minute and second is more precious than gold to him, so he needs to keep to the precise time for activities. Can't you fathom this? Looking at your attitude, you are idle gods who don't value the concept of time."

"You… you are a complete lunatic."

The halo of the lowest god shook and vibrated. Before anyone knew it, he came down from the stage and held Huroi's neck in his hand. Then he quickly let go again. He felt threatened by the sword that rose like the dawn and cut at his hand.

"Using violence right away just because you are falling behind in the argument? It is also against the human you claim to not care about."

Long ebony hair was flowing.

Sword Saint Kraugel—the existence that everyone admired was next to Huroi.

"The present day Sword Saint…"Zeratul frowned on the stage."Are you also a participant of this holy war?"

"That's right."

The people stirred at the amazing response. The face of Asuka, who had been worried about Grid, brightened, but Zeratul shook his head.

"I won't allow it." Zeratul looked displeased. "Even your superiors couldn't handle my blow. What qualifications do you have to stand on the stage? Your status doesn't match."

"It isn't up to you to decide."

Just then, Kraugel experienced the world of an Absolute. No, to be precise, he was swept away by it. He was very surprised to suddenly see Zeratul standing in front of him. Once the Super Sensitivity of a Sword Saint reached the peak, it exceeded the senses of a transcendent, but this was still far from enough. He couldn't follow any of Zeratul's movements.

"If I can't decide, then who can decide? Do you want to say it is Grid?" Zeratul's huge hand seized and crushed the sharp blade of Twilight. He slowly lowered it without shedding a drop of blood. The colorless divinity that Zeratul wore for self-defense quickly analyzed the structure of Twilight and neutralized the spirit.

The Martial God had mastered all types of martial arts. He was naturally familiar with cold weapons. This meant it was possible for him to counter the opponent's martial arts and weapons by rewriting the standards of his self-defense in real time.

"Keep this in mind. Regardless of where the goddess is, my will is the law that you should follow,"Zeratul declared so that all humans could hear and the form of Twilight in his hand was gradually crushed.

"Let go of that hand and go up on stage."

An orange divinity spread in the sky that was covered with golden clouds. It was a scene where twilight seemed to encroach on the brilliant sun. A beautiful melody flowed in the ears of the players.

[Overgeared God Grid has appeared.]

"Ah…" Asuka realized it. It was the fact that Grid's presence was not small when compared with the celestial gods. She only realized it when she saw this outright comparison.

"You dared to make me wait." Zeratul's eyes flashed. The distorted smile that spread across his face combined with his dizzying white hair gave a sense of intimidation that weighed on every human being in the city.

Grid's eyes watching him were cold. It was as if Zeratul's spirit that intimidated people was very offensive. It was as if he immediately wanted to cut Zeratul's hand that was brutally crushing the sword he made with Kraugel.

"I don't think we need a stage at this rate."

"You aren't even apologizing after being rude? It is wrong to expect a rational judgment from someone who will soon lose everything. Pick a vanguard. Who are you going to send onto the stage first?"

"Are my words entering one ear and exiting the other?"

The same was true of both parties. The conversation between Grid and Zeratul was obviously out of the ordinary. They didn't listen to each other and focused on their own words. Even the conversation itself was short. It was because Grid drew his sword without saying anything else. It was a sword that resembled Kraugel's Twilight that was being held in Zeratul's hand.

For Zeratul, it was seen as prey that entered on its own. It was a sword with the same structure as the weapon he had just finished analyzing. The need to change the self-defense power by operating the colorless divinity had disappeared. This was a huge advantage in a momentary and important confrontation.

Zeratul maintained a distorted smile and reached out. It was with the intention of grabbing and crushing Grid's approaching Twilight. However—

"……?!"

Blood spurted from Zeratul's hand. He was trying to grab the sword, but was cut in reverse, causing the angle between his index and middle fingers to become strangely twisted. It was the same Twilight, but it was on a different level. It was right to say that the difference between the sword made with the fang of an old dragon and a sword made with the scales of a low grade dragon was like the difference between heaven and earth.

[This cowardly guy set a trap…!]

A world that only the Absolutes could perceive. Zeratul's will echoed in the gap of time that divided one moment into segments. It was close to astonishment.

Grid also had a long cut that stretched from his shoulder to his waist. Zeratul stretched out his hand and Grid was cut before his artificial senses could read the trajectory of the swung guandao. The shock that would've split his body in half if he hadn't been protected by Valhalla made Grid feel dizzy.

The pain didn't end there. The guandao swept over Grid's chest one more time as it changed direction in a circle. Then it was slammed toward Grid's face.

Zeratul predicted victory based on the way Grid looked like he had just become aware of the wound on his shoulder. It was a natural result. It would've been the case if Nefelina hadn't arrived at Grid's feet. Zeratul's martial ability, which was finished after completing the isolated training and achieving the trinity, was greater than what Grid had prepared.

"Why didn't you wait?!"Nefelina's resentful cry sounded through the space very slowly.

"I want to get rid of him quickly." Grid's voice filled the space at a normal speed. It meant that his speed of speaking matched the world of the Absolute.

[As expected, you…]

He reached the hierarchy of the Absolute. The guandao, which pierced Grid's nose, couldn't pierce his face and grazed his cheek. It was the aftermath of Grid activating the Crazy God and Crazy Dragon effect, allowing him to follow the flow and twist his head to avoid it. His nose was hideously torn, but it was fine. It was a very cheap price to pay for stabbing Zeratul in the heart.

"……?"

"……?"

People doubted the situation. Grid and Zeratul, who flashed and disappeared, reappeared. Zeratul fell to the center of the stage and was bleeding from the chest, while Grid was still floating in the sky. The result was different from what they expected.

"The grave suits you well." Grid immediately changed the setting of 'Cloaked Dragon Cranbel's Head' so it was visible and barely suppressed his trembling voice. The blood dripping out of his helmet was fortunately hidden by his divinity. It was an advantage that Zeratul's colorless divinity didn't have.

"…Waaahhhhhhhh!"

The cries of the eight gods were buried by the shouts of the people.