Overgeared

Chapter 1822

Talima.

It was a city of dwarves that had been isolated for hundreds of years due to the lair of Fire Dragon Trauka. Not long ago, it was an unfamiliar land for people. Only a few people accidentally entered it, and most players couldn’t get any information about Talima. They heard rumors that the blacksmiths of Talima sold legendary rated battle gear and ego items on stands, but they dismissed it as absurd.

“...It wasn’t just a rumor.”

The players exploring the city surrounded by rocks were dumbfounded. It was while watching weapons such as swords, axes, and maces rise up from smithies all over the city and fly somewhere. They were ego items that judged and moved on their own. It was probably an exaggeration that they were sold on the stands, but the smithies of Talima all had a few ego items.

Dozens of ego items dove toward the hill behind Talima Castle. They were aimed at four intruders. Not a single one hit. The intruders with extremely trained senses evaded the surprise attack of the ego items with swift movements. If they wanted to claim themselves as Baal due to having the same appearance as him, they needed to have the minimum qualifications.

“I haven’t even adjusted to the peace that has come...”

The dwarf standing in the center of the fallen battle gear murmured with a gloomy face. It was the one with superhuman strength, Antrino. He was a transcendent who freely wielded the strength of a short body.

Until Talima was isolated by Fire Dragon Trauka, he was the hero who protected the lives of the dwarves for hundreds of years. Then not long ago, Trauka moved his lair and Talima joined the world again. Antrino felt a sense of responsibility to reclaim his reputation as a hero. Now that the natural disaster of an Old Dragon had left, he vowed before King Charles and his people that he would surely protect Talima in the future.

However, they were facing a new disaster without a break.

The 1st ranked Great Demon, Baal. Seeing that there were four of him, it didn’t seem to be his main body. Even so, each one of them had strong skills.

“Are we to be forever swayed by the wishes of the Absolutes...?”

Antrino sighed.

Dwarves were a species with exceedingly high dexterity. They had a habit of honing their natural dexterity to the limit. Thus, he was a suitable existence to be targeted by other beings. As Ke ong proved while being active in the Overgeared Empire, a nation could enjoy a strong military force with just one dwarf. Even Fire Dragon Trauka built a lair here because he coveted the technology of the dwarves. The natural talent and instincts of the dwarves could be likened to honey for all types of insects.

Therefore, Antrino’s sense of responsibility was great.

One of the rare warriors of his species—he was the only one to have built up transcendence among them, and he had a duty to protect his species. Throughout Talima, he was the only one who could do this.

However, even a transcendent was powerless in the face of a natural disaster. Just as he couldn’t do anything against Fire Dragon Trauka, he felt incredibly helpless against the 1st ranked Great Demon. If this was the real Baal, he wouldn’t even have the will to fight.

‘Even if I’m lucky enough to defeat these guys... eventually, I will see Talima being dominated by the real Baal one day.’

Antrino couldn’t think of the option of relying on Grid. Talima had been isolated until just a few days ago. They were ignorant of the outside news. In the first place, it was far from common sense to think about relying on others just because a crisis had come.

‘Well... it is worth fighting compared to an Old Dragon.’

He thought as positively as possible. Antrino floated dozens of ego items centered around him into the air. Unless they were out of control ego items sealed in Pandemonium, Talima’s ego items moved according to his will. They respected Antrino, the strongest dwarf warrior. At least here in Talima, Antrino was able to control the swords equal to the Sword Saint.

“A stupid dwarf dreams of resistance.”

“His thoughts are as stupid as his ugly looks. Stupid guy.”

“What warrior?”

The four Baal had subtly different speech patterns. They seemed to have different personalities based on the way they showed different reactions to the same scene.

‘Is each person derived from a different ego?’

There was no end to Baal’s powers...

Antrino remembered a story that had been passed down since ancient times and took a deep breath. He held the equipment in his hand like a pot lid and completely combined his consciousness with the ego items floating around him. The fierce battle immediately began. It was fortunate that all four Baals were bare-handed. The strongest warrior of the dwarves used a number of weapons and had a natural advantage.

“Useless things.”

One of the Baals used the blade of the large axe blocking his path as a stepping stone and clicked his tongue. He had the attitude of treating the other three Baals as subordinates. He seemed to believe that he was the real Baal. His figure shot up into the air.

“You can’t have a hard time with just one dwarf.”

Dozens of magic circles floated around the Baal in the sky. He intended to use ranged attacks to easily intercept Antrino, who had a distance advantage from using various weapons. As a bonus, he intended to devastate all of Talima. He was going to kill all the dwarves and transfer their skills to hell. It was why Baal sent as many as four clones to Talima. It wasn’t because Antrino was particularly strong. From the beginning, his goal had been all of Talima.

“I’ll see you again in hell.”

The Baal in the sky laughed. He didn’t realize that he was only a day old and promised the future without knowing anything. Punishment immediately fell.

“......!”

The magic circles that had started to activate the magic were instantly erased. It was by a pillar of red flames that was just like an eraser. The pillar of flames that shot in a straight line erased everything in its path without a trace.

“Groan...

Cough. Cough!!”

At almost the same time that the magic circles around him were erased, the Baal was swept away by a pillar of fire and fell to the ground. He was in a ragged state. His limbs had vanished without a trace.

“Fire Dragon...”

“...Trauka!”

Antrino and the Baals on the ground were shocked. They stared up at the sky with expressions that were close to contemplation. The pillar of fire must’ve been the Fire Dragon’s Breath. However, the appearance of the Fire Dragon that should’ve filled the sky was nowhere to be seen. In the first place, the Fire Dragon had just moved his lair. There was no reason for him to come back here again.

Antrino watched the sky nervously only to realize one step late.

‘No, was that a real Breath just now?’

The energy was similar, but wasn’t the power quite weak?

It happened as Antrino remembering Trauka’s Breath that he had witnessed in the past and questioned it...

Flash!

There was a flash of light from the edge of the sky. His transcendent status responded. Antrino moved instinctively and hurriedly left his position.

Just in time, a second bombardment hit the ground. Another Baal was turned into rags. The first Baal was a fragment born from his arrogance and the second Baal was a fragment born from his laziness. It was the weakest of the four fragments. Still, it shouldn’t have been so easy.

The two remaining Baals took out the ‘Asura body part' that was with them and were convinced.

“It was Trauka’s Breath.”

However, it was very weak. Perhaps a Breath fired from hundreds of millions of kilometers away had reached this point.

“Is it a warning not to target the dwarves because they are his...?”

The interpretation of the two Baals made Antrino frown.

“......”

Then some traces got closer. It was so weak that they were ashamed to mistake it for Trauka. It belonged to Bow Saint Jishuka.

“This...?”

Antrino’s eyes widened when he confirmed the appearance of the woman who got closer.

A dragon—it came from a greatbow made from the scales and bones of Fire Dragon Trauka. The bow held by the woman was something that even the dwarves of Talima had never imagined. It was an object that forced a change in their common sense.

A dragon weapon—he couldn’t believe that such a thing was real.

“You dodged that? Even if you are the same fragment, is there such a big difference in level?” Jishuka said as she soon came to Antrino’s side. She compared the two dying fragments with the intact ones. There was a sense of relaxation in her lively voice. The fragments of Baal noticed that it was nothing but an exaggerated performance.

‘Only two shots... that is the limit.’

The sniper shot that was like a Breath. Surprisingly, the present day Bow Saint armed with a dragon weapon gave up the sniper point she had secured and came close to them. It meant she couldn’t snipe them any longer. In fact, her hands were bloody. She seemed to have restored her wounds using regenerative potions and other means, but based on the amount of blood on her hands and clothes, it was presumed that her hands had completely exploded before. She paid a severe price for embodying the Breath of an Old Dragon with a human body.

“The distance is too short for an archer. Are you going to wield a sword?” one of the fragments spoke in a leisurely manner. Asura’s shoulders were spinning and hovering around him. The flames of the Fire Dragon around Jishuka’s bow slowly dissipated. It was the same with Antrino’s power.

“What... is this?”

Antrino, who was in daze for a while, belatedly noticed the difference and was wary.

An object that looked like it was cut out of a giant’s shoulder—every time he got close to it, strength drained from his body. The endless energy rising from his dantian disappeared without a trace. He easily noticed that these shoulders were a very ominous and dangerous object.

“This is the message of Only One God Grid,” Jishuka spoke to Antrino, who was backing away.

“......?”

“From now on, Talima is protected by the Overgeared World.”

At the same time as Jishuka’s declaration, the world darkened dramatically. It was due to the shadow that filled the sky. A huge object could be seen approaching through the thick clouds. No, it was too big to be described as an object. It was more like a city.

It was the Tomb of the Gods. It was the advent of the moving Overgeared World.

“Hurry up.”

This huge object gave a sense of intimidation just from its size. The Baal fragments felt a sense of crisis and moved urgently. They gave up on securing Talima and aimed for Jishuka and Antrino in front of them. It was one step too late.

The Tomb of the Gods started firing. The Overgeared Cannons had greatly increased in number due to actively utilizing the proliferation characteristics of Greed. Disintegrate and Meteor fell from hundreds of cannon barrels and hit Baal’s fragments.

“It is useless...”

Disintegrate was a magical spear composed of magic power. The magic power scattered and disappeared the moment it got close to Asura’s shoulders. The fragments smiled when they saw this, only to stiffen.

Meteor—it was a simple meteorite. In other words, it was a physical power that the power of Asura’s shoulders didn’t work on. After being crushed again and again by the meteorites, the mangled fragments turned to ash.

The aftermath was great. All of Talima shook. The castle’s tall spires finally started to fall.

The regi stone—the door of Pandemonium, made from the heaviest stone in the world, also became wide open from the shock. The ego items like Talima's Shame, that were sealed due to their dirty personality, popped out into the city. This gave the already chaotic dwarves a greater sense of crisis. There were going to be victims everywhere.

‘First of all, save King Charles...??’

Antrino was flustered but he quickly made a judgment and moved. However, he soon stiffened like a stone statue.

The gods who were believed to only exist in heaven—he watched in amazement as the people of the Overgeared World poured out of the Tomb of the Gods and protected and restored Talima with various powers.

Jishuka smiled.

“I told you. From today onwards, this place is protected by the Overgeared World.”

The domain of the Overgeared World was about to expand again.