Overgeared

There was no reason for gods to hate humans unless they were driven by arrogance, jealousy, or desire.

In particular, Dairine was the god who created the first human soul. He made it as beautifully as possible in the hope that one day, when the human died, they would ascend to heaven and be happy. He knew and loved the fact that human nature was as good as the Goddess.

Dairine believed that the nature of the yangbans was also good.

Half human and half god—one of the materials that Hanul used to make the yangban was a reference to the human soul made by Dairine. In fact, the Mir in front of him had a wonderful soul. It was warm and beautiful like the first human soul Dairine made. It was like a flower he didn't want to break.

This was just a personal sentiment.

Mir's sword slid down the blade of the thick greatsword. He deflected the weight of the greatsword as if shaking it off and inserted his sword into an open gap.

Dairine's deep eyes were dyed orange. It was like facing the sunset. It was Twilight that slashed him. It was even Grid's Twilight. Mir was wielding it in the capacity of an apostle.

Dairine held his slanted greatsword upright and endured the weight of Twilight. He gulped as if it wasn't easy.

Mir didn't end it with just a single attack. Regardless of the direction in which his wrist was bent, the sword moved in all directions and rushed in like turbulent waves. It was as gorgeous as Grid's divinity contained in Twilight. It was nearly impossible to follow with the eyes.

It was especially the case now that it was interlaced with Grid's divinity. Grid's divinity spread like wildfire every time Mir swung his sword and it obscured the complex trajectories of Mir's sword. It was the same as when it was combined with Sword Saint Kraugel earlier.

The problem was that the speed of Mir's sword was gradually accelerating. Every time Dairine recreated Muller's swordsmanship, he touched Mir's subconscious. Little by little, the memories that had sunk beneath the depths were pulled out.

Countless people noticed it. Mir was becoming stronger in real time.

Dairine read Mir's sword with his senses and struck it. Then he exhaled his stopped breath and spoke, "Am I your benefactor?"

The divinity that spread along with the breath was translucent. It was a nearly colorless form. It seemed to imply that one day, he would reach the same hierarchy as Zeratul or King Sobyeol.

However, Dairine knew—there was no ascension for himself. Helping the Goddess was both his pride and the bondage that imprisoned him. It would never be revealed that he supported the Goddess with his great power when she was creating life. This was the right thing to do in order to spread the great virtues of the Goddess to humans in an intense and reliable manner.

"Yes, meeting you was also part of my destiny."

"……"

Am I your benefactor?

Dairine had said this with a feeling of being somewhat tired. The words were never serious and it was more like a complaint. However, Mir nodded with a serious expression. It was as if to say he was really indebted to Dairine.

Just then, Dairine's heart was filled with a certain emotion. His translucent divinity became even more transparent.

He, who wasn't known to anyone—he wasn't remembered by the world even though he worked so hard to shape the souls when the Goddess created so many beings. At this moment, he influenced someone and was remembered. It was in a form that wasn't too bad.

"…You are also my benefactor,"Dairine spoke with a rather strange expression and his greatsword made an even louder, thunderous sound.

As he accelerated, the weight of his sword also became heavier. It evolved into something more powerful than Muller's swordsmanship from hundreds of years ago that Mir remembered.

Mir blocked the greatsword that had pierced through his sword path and his body was pushed back tens of meters. He immediately tilted and rotated his upper body. If it had been a decision he made after careful thought then his head would've been blown away. His long hair was severed by the greatsword. This meant that the status of a yangban that was in each strand of hair was helplessly broken down.

The thick blade of the greatsword was exuding an extremely strong energy by the divinity that was approaching being colorless. At first glance, the level of the offensive and defensive battle started to exceed the category of transcendence. Every time the orange divinity that spread from Twilight was split into several parts, a late explosion and shockwave occurred and shook the huge stage.

Only Mir's body was wounded. People couldn't capture the moment he was cut. They could just see the blood splattering around.

[Yangban Mir, it might be different in the future, but I won this time.]

Dairine's thought that filled the space penetrated Mir's mind.

Mir, who was feeling perplexed by Dairine's increasingly imperceptible attacks, focused his senses on the hand that held Twilight. He allowed attacks that penetrated his vital points without any resistance. In return for that sacrifice, he predicted Dairine's next attack and deployed his swordsmanship.

It was a swordsmanship that used all the powers of the Four Auspicious Beasts at the same time. It had the meaning of worshiping the Yellow Dragon of the Overgeared God, whom the Four Auspicious Beasts served and whom he also served.

Dairine's greatsword slashed Mir's upper body diagonally.

[Now, Yangban Mir is definitely dead by your hands.]

Mir's Twilight depicted the image of a roaring yellow dragon and sliced at Dairine's throat.

[Next time, call me apostle of the Overgeared God.]

Mir's thoughts were communicated to Dairine in real time. It was evidence that his stream of consciousness had started to follow the flow of the space. Mir was barely adapting to Dairine's space, which was just before achieving the realm of an Absolute.

Then blood spurted from Mir like a fountain. His upper body leaned forward as if he was about to collapse, but that was because he had been cut. His feet were firmly nailed to the ground.

On the other hand, there was only a small amount of blood flowing from Dairine's neck. Not only did Mir regain his old skills, but his attack, which was transcendent for a moment, didn't work properly. It was a step later and was too shallow.

Dairine healed the wound on his neck with divinity.

"If I was Baal or Raphael, then I would've been cut. That is your natural disposition."

It was inscribed in the epic. The heavenly god, who was the second strongest after Zeratul, proved Mir's ability and value.

"I, the apostle of the Goddess, barely defeated Mir, the apostle of the Overgeared God."

Dairine took back his greatsword and used the nature of the epic in reverse. By honoring Mir, he increased the value of the Overgeared God and ultimately, the honor of the Goddess. He actually excluded himself. He identified himself as an apostle of the Goddess, but he didn't give his name. After all, he was an unknown god and this would be the same forever.

He was just satisfied and grateful for Mir's recognition. This was why he didn't separate Mir's upper and lower bodies, so as to not shock people. He held Mir's wounds together with a divinity that had become hard to see. Then he descended the stage, only to stop walking.

"The great Overgeared God praises Dairine, the God of Souls, for his excellent performance." It was due to the cry of one man. It was the cry of Huroi, Grid's spokesman. This further strengthened Dairine's divinity, but it also strengthened Overgeared God's epic. The Overgeared God praised the apostle of the Goddess and preached the meaning that he wasn't inferior to the Goddess.

"…I was hit." He felt happy yet resentful. Dairine went down from the stage with an ambiguous smile.

Wahhhh!

In the midst of the cheers of the people, Grid, who was in the sky, felt exhilarated.

'Zeratul must be crying right now.'

For Zeratul, it was a hard-won and precious victory. Yet Dairine acted as if he didn't care about Zeratul's honor. Of course, this didn't invalidate the victory, but it would hurt Zeratul's pride a lot.

"…Please punish me for losing even though I have borrowed God's power."

Mir rose to the sky before anyone knew it and bowed to Grid. He returned the Twilight that was respectfully placed on both hands and stuck out his neck as if begging for it to be hit.

Grid grabbed his shoulder. "Raise your head. What's wrong with you after you fought so well?"

"I was defeated…"

"It is fine as long as you come back safely. It was really cool."

"……"

The yangbans of the Hwan Kingdom were treated as sinners whenever they suffered any failures. Didn't Mir get his precious memories erased? However, it was different in the Overgeared World. Failure wasn't a sin here.

The yangbans in the agricultural fields saw this.

***

"Let go…! It isn't over yet!"

At Asgard…

Zeratul shook off the hand of Archangel Raphael and issued a threat. He glared like he was going to kill Dominion, who had taken the top seat at the table where the Goddess had vacated a spot.

"It will be a tie if we win the remaining two matches. I'll be able to descend and have a justification to fight Grid. I can get revenge at that time."

"This isn't the place to talk about your revenge," Judar, the God of Health and Wisdom, said.

"Don't blur the essence and try to bury the sin of helping give birth to a god with a demonkin origin."

"Nonsense…! Don't talk nonsense when you don't care about evil gods! Isn't it Asgard's honor that you are obsessed with? Everything will be resolved if I defend that honor!"

"Why?" Judar cocked his head and interrupted Zeratul, who had raised his voice. "Even if your birth is late, why are you so emotional when you are a god? Is it really due to the inferiority complex you have toward Chiyou? If so, what makes you different from humans?"

"inferiority… complex? I look like humans?"

Zeratul's sense of reason was broken. Judar touched his reverse scale. His pupils were erased and only the whites of his eyes were shone. Then he immediately ran forward. Before he knew it, he reached the stone table where the gods were sitting and swung his sword at Judar. Of course, it got stuck. Judar didn't step forward, but a barrier erected by the gods serving Judar blocked it.

"Martial God… in the first place, it isn't a name that anyone else can bear."

No one except for Chiyou could handle it. Therefore, Chiyou was the Only One God.

Judar realized that the weight of Zeratul's sword was endlessly light and shook his head. Blood poured from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of the gods who served him. It was the aftermath of stopping Zeratul's sword. Zeratul was naturally very strong here in Asgard. He was different from when he was on the surface and received no blessings. Nevertheless, he wasn't acknowledged by the sons of the Goddess.

Zeratul felt tremendous shame and gasped heavily as his face was dyed red. He couldn't run wild any longer. He realized his gap with Judar.

Judar looked at Raphael. "Why aren't you locking him up?"

"Haha… Yes, I'll hurry and do it."

In the end, Zeratul was captured by Raphael and Gabriel and taken to the prison where Hexetia was being held. It was a measure done out of concern that he might descend to the surface again and act as he wanted. In the heaven that the Goddess gave to them, Dominion and Judar were the law, but they knew how to maintain the line, unlike Zeratul.

Zeratul was created by the Goddess so they wouldn't harm him, no matter how many sins he committed. They simply bound him.

In fact, they were indifferent to most things. This was why Raphel could be so active in secret.

"Shit…! Dammit! Gridddd!"Zeratul shouted as he was being dragged. He resented Grid until the last moment, even as many gods glared at him like he was pathetic.

"It is great~" Venice, the God of Money, smiled as she watched the entire process while hiding behind a pillar.