Overgeared

‘No... they aren’t flames.’

Metatron’s energy detection was extremely developed. It was how they could endure eternal years with their eyes, ears, and nose covered by six wings. They unintentionally trained their senses to the limit and it was like the power of an Absolute.

“”It is... a sword.””

A strong presence was slowly eroding the dark vision of Metatron. A god with the energy of an Old Dragon. A god of the surface who held a sword in his hand that felt like flames.

“Grid...!”

Gabriel’s lament revealed the identity of the god. It was a very interesting event for Metatron, who had been cut off from the world a very long time ago when they were disqualified as a leader.

“”You are afraid.””

The angels served Rebecca, the Goddess of Light. She was the greatest being in the entire world. Naturally, their reference point was very high. It was structurally impossible to feel any particular appreciation for someone other than Rebecca. Yet they were afraid?

“”You were born from pure worship like Chiyou.””

As Metatron focused on Grid, Braham used magic and escaped from their grasp. He wrapped his terribly torn wrist with magic power to stop the bleeding.

“I’m so...”

Braham tried to apologize. Rather than achieving his purpose, he brought a new crisis to the surface. However, Grid was a bit faster.

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“I’m sorry.”

“......?”

“Every time I have fought alone, abandoning you on the pretext that it is dangerous. If I was in your shoes, I would’ve been sad that I wasn’t trusted.”

“...Bah, it is fine if you know.”

Braham, who felt sorry and couldn’t make eye contact with Grid, quickly became normal. It occurred to him that the mistakes Grid had made with him were far greater and more numerous than the mistakes he had made. The guilt faded like it was a lie.

Grid felt much more comfortable when it seemed like Braham’s mood eased and he quickly said, “However, I won’t apologize for proposing to Marie Rose. Her feelings for me are true and I have an obligation to repay her feelings.”

He owed too much to Marie Rose. Grid wanted to save her.

Braham stared at Grid with a frown and barely opened his mouth, “Do as you please. Let’s see how far the relationship of a couple formed out of a sense of duty goes.”

They were words that sounded like a curse, but they were more like advice when coming from Braham. There was no way they would be happy when getting married out of such a cheap mindset. It was communicated to Grid.

“I believe I will truly love her. First of all, she is pretty. She is also surprisingly kind.”

“She is kind...? Hah! Even if you are blinded by emotions, this is being too blinded.”

Braham clicked his tongue while his severed hand finished regenerating. It was a tremendous resilience due to the body of a direct descendant that allowed him to overcome death.

“Well, it’s fine. Discuss the marriage later and let’s get the goods back first.”

Braham pointed to the winges Metatron was holding in their hands.

“Raphael’s wings. I gathered them myself.”

“The wings of the 1st ranked archangel...”

Why did Braham ascend to heaven and obtain wings? Grid decided not to be curious about it. He purely noted the value of the wings.

‘I can strengthen Sariel.’

The wings of the 3rd ranked Archangel, Michael, alone gave Sariel the power of ‘Slaughter’ and greatly strengthened her. The value of the wings of the 1st ranked archangel would be indescribable. It could be seen from the fact that the archangels personally chased after Braham to retrieve the wings.

The wings couldn’t be missed.

“Let’s get it back first,” Grid said while looking at the angel with the wings.

Metatron—it was a being with an unfamiliar name, unlike the other archangels with names that ended with ‘el.’ They were unusual in appearance, but Grid wasn’t too shaken. It was because he had the strong impression that the power of the archangel was somewhat inferior compared to the Great Demons. He predicted that there must be a hidden power.

Gabriel interjected, “You are going to get it back? You talk as if it is yours.”

There was actually such a shameless robber in the world. Gabriel didn’t like Grid, but she couldn’t bear to show any hostility. She carefully took a step back to avoid offending him.

“We will take Raphael’s wings. It is a natural thing. I won’t ask your Apostle to pay for his sins, so I hope you will understand.”

Then Gabriel winked at Metatron. It was a signal to hurry up the stairs. However, Metatron stood motionless in place and stared at Grid.

“Why are you still..?”

“”I need a minimum of ten contracts.””

“......”

Gabriel was about to urge Metatron, only to suddenly shut up. The faces of the other archangels also stiffened. It was because they understood the meaning of Metatron’s words.

“”I can’t escape with anything less than that.””

Metatron was assessing Grid’s power. They calculated Grid as a strong opponent who could be countered only when at least 12 wings were spread out. This was true even considering that there were another three archangels gathered here.

Raguel muttered, “Are you seriously assessing him in the same hierarchy as an Old Dragon...?”

The aura of Fire Dragon Trauka had been felt the moment Grid appeared. However, now they knew. The source of their initial feeling wasn’t Grid, but the sword and armor Grid was armed with.

A longsword and armor surrounded by orange divinity and red flames. Surprisingly, it was supposedly made by smelting Trauka’s bones and scales. It had a relatively ordinary structure, but it must contain enormous power. Even so, it didn’t make sense to regard Grid on the same level as an Old Dragon.

The angels shook their heads, but Metatron told them, “”It requires 12 because of that dragon weapon.””

Metatron’s senses were examining Grid’s sword. They analyzed it thoroughly without looking at it or touching it. A sword with a blade that was slightly over three feet long—it was a double-edged sword that stretched out in a straight line and there was nothing remarkable about it except that the handle was slightly long enough to be held with both hands.

‘The types of swordsmanship that can be used with this sword are all within the range of expectations. The fact that they can implement Dragon Fear, Rage, and Breath are the only variables.’

Back when Metatron was the leader, the angels were different from the present day angels. They didn’t simply use their memories of their previous life as the basis for the martial ability, but acquired and honed additional skills.

Metatron had taught them directly. Metatron was different from the other archangels who treated spears and swords as ornaments and relied on their divinity, wings, and halos.

It was after Chiyou left. Metatron was so well-versed in combat that some gods questioned the Goddess’ choice of making Zeratul without liberating Metatron.

“Are you the same type as Sariel?” Grid asked while staring at Metatron. He was surprisingly calm and showed cautious words and actions toward the person who pierced Braham’s heart and severed his hand.

Grid recalled Sariel from the appearance of Metatron, whose body was restrained like a sinner. He was worried that Metatron would’ve also been falsely accused of corruption for exposing the original sins of the gods. No, it was more of an expectation than a worry. He wondered if there would be a new ally for his side.

“”Are you going to accuse me of being stupid to stand up to you? It is a confidence you deserve,”” Metatron shattered Grid’s expectations and urged Gabriel, “”Offer the conditions of the contract.””

“Kuek...! The wings of the three of us...”

“”It isn’t enough.””

“...Add the halos.”

“”Just die. There must be a lot of spare bodies anyway.””

A leader who ruled the angels beyond governing them—the essence of Metatron, who was eventually impeached as a tyrant incomparable to Raphael, was the Archangel of Contracts. In order to move Metatron, who lost the authority of a leader, a contract had to be formed first and the contract had to come with a sufficient price.

The fact that Metatron was restrained wasn’t evidence of any crime. It was a safety device made by Rebecca when he owed her a debt.

“Chiyou... I will tell you Chiyou’s whereabouts,” Gabriel lowered her head and made a final offer.

Just then—

“”That is enough.””

Metatron’s huge body trembled. They seemed to be smiling.

Gabriel hurriedly continued, “I’m just giving you the location. I’m not giving you the freedom to go there.”

“”You don’t have the authority to discuss freedom in the first place. Nevertheless, it is enough.””

Flap!

Ten of the wings that had been curled up for countless years unfolded at the same time, causing white and black feathers to flutter. The outer wings were pure white, like other angels, but the inner wings were black.

Metatron was resisting the dimensional effect of the Overgeared World in real time and was proving that he wasn’t bound by certain laws.

“Why are you obsessed with Chiyou’s whereabouts?”

Both a very powerful magic power and divinity could be felt. Grid saw Metatron unlocking their power and once again realized the other being was unusual. This caused him to ask warily. He was gradually learning that there were many beings criticizing Chiyou for being an irresponsible god.

Even so, Grid felt a great liking toward Chiyou. He couldn’t hate the god who freed Pagma, who was lonely among the yangbans, and bestowed a blessing on him.

Metatron replied without any deception, ““I want to test out being a God Killer without giving the Goddess grief.””

A chill went down Grid’s spine. It was because the magic power and divinity surrounding Metatron seemed to bounce like lightning and started to glow pure white.

Braham’s face paled and he muttered, “This... it is dangerous.”

The power to imprint death on one’s mind—the identity of the power that made even Braham, who transcended death, be filled with fear was the energy of a God Killer.

Grid felt it as well.

‘It is incomparable to what Garam showed.’

This was a strong enemy. It happened the moment when Grid was convinced...

Tears of blood flowed from Metatron’s eyes, which were revealed through the gaps in their wings.

“”I will surely destroy Yatan one day and end the Goddess’ harsh fate.””

Flash!

A ray of light was fired. It was a fan-shaped ray that reached the edge of their field of view the moment it was fired. It was a large-scale skill with the same principle as Shunpo. There were only a handful of beings in the world who could react or avoid this attack. It was a powerful attack that even Braham suffered from, but Metatron used it as a basic skill.

“”Run away now.””

Metatron gestured to Gabriel. They grasped the location of Grid, who was swept away by the rays, with their senses and fired the rays again.

‘He is great, but he can’t be compared to Chiyou. He isn’t one I should be obsessed with.’

Metatron had no intention of fighting Grid for a long time. Therefore, he signed a contract to let Gabriel run away rather than harming Grid. In the first place, the conditions Gabriel offered made it impossible to harm Grid and Metatron wasn’t very interested in Grid. There was a good subject called Chiyou and it wasn’t suitable to obsess over someone inferior to Chiyou.

“...Was I wrong?””

What was so sad and distressing? Metatron’s eyes, which had been distorted from the beginning, suddenly shot up. They watched Grid approaching through the rays. No. This was simply ‘pushing through.’ Metatron’s rays that could melt a great mountain couldn’t melt Grid’s armor and just hovered on the outside. They had to helplessly allow Grid’s advance.

“”Wouldn’t it be hard for Trauka to do this?””

The armor made from Trauka’s scales was harder than Trauka’s main body? Metatron reacted with disbelief after seeing it.

“That Hexetia definitely...!”

Gabriel glimpsed the situation while running up the staircase of clouds and gritted her teeth. She understood that Grid, who had obtained both the scales of an Old Dragon and the Blacksmith God, was much more powerful than before. His growth rate was incredible, even though she lived in the same era and saw and heard about it firsthand.

Gabriel started to feel awe toward Grid, but soon groaned. It was the aftermath of witnessing Metatron being cut. It was close to a one-sided slaughter. The dragon weapon curved like a crescent moon when Grid cut horizontally, increased its volume when it dropped, and sharpened again when it stabbed forward, neutralizing most of Metatron’s resistance.

““A sword that responds to will...!”” Metatron’s cry was like a death sentence. Just hearing the voice that was choked up with blood gave people goosebumps.

Gabriel’s steps came to a standstill. The other archangels were also like stone statues as they stared at Grid. Metatron swung their hand in an attempt at a counterattack, but it was blocked in vain. It was because Grid’s sword tilted to the side and immediately increased its volume. It felt like the walls had shrunk and wrapped around his body.

A single sword was performing a miracle.

“”Are you Chiyou?””

“You are really senile.”

Grid dismissed the suggestion that Metatron seriously made and put his intent in the sword.

The orange divinity became even darker. The surface of the smooth sword shimmered with the atmosphere of a summer day.

Overgeared—Grid’s final weapon, which incorporated Grid’s years, experiences, and ties, changed shape from moment to moment as it followed the paths of Wave, Restraint, Link, Kill, Transcend, Pinnacle, Revolve, Drop, Flower, Dragon, and Serve as it cut at Metatron’s wings.

It was irresistible. The name of the sword that terrorized the archangels was Defying the Natural Order. It was a sword that could bring down the sky.