Overgeared

Chapter 1853

[The culprit of the hell distortion has disappeared.]

[The distortion of hell is released.]

[The demon energy infesting hell has started to be purified around the areas where you and Demon Slayer ‘Yura’ have left traces.]

[Your divinity flows through the veins of hell where flames flow.]

[Your divinity takes root in the desolate land of hell.]

[Green sprouts are blooming everywhere in hell.]

[The malice and madness of the demons and demonic creatures are slowly subsided.]

[Hell has regained its original form.]

[You are deeply praised for fighting against the oppression that could have lasted forever.]

Regaining the ‘original appearance’—that was the most important conclusion. It was over. Following Baal’s death, the red piece of flesh also perished. The wishes of the world and Grid’s purpose had been fulfilled.

It was the result of Grid, the Overgeared members, the apostles, and Biban working together. In the future, death would be a respite for humanity, not the beginning of eternal suffering.

“Everyone... I’m glad everyone is safe.”

They had struggled so much. They fought really well. Etc, etc.

He had a lot to say but this was all Grid could barely spit out. It was enough. The affection that Grid and his colleagues felt for each other was naturally conveyed without words.

“You should rest.”

In any case, now wasn’t the right time to start talking. The most important enemy still remained.

Evil God Asura—Grid left the scene immediately to kill him, followed by Yura’s group.

“What do you mean by rest? Let’s fight and get it over with.” Those were Toban’s words.

Grid chuckled. Personally, he was grateful to Toban. Toban had naturally declined with the fall of the Judar Church. Later, he became a paladin belonging to the Overgeared God Church and was stronger than he was during his prime, but he didn’t rise to the ranks of the 10 Meritorious Retainers. His position was rather low despite his seniority.

In particular, he was exploited a lot by Lauel due to his experience as a staff member during his time in the Tzedakah Guild. He was responsible for guiding the new guild members while also being in charge of all sorts of tasks, such as supervising the territories in each region. He even participated in this expedition without receiving a dragon weapon.

Since he wasn’t a transcendent or an angel, he was unable to handle a dragon weapon. This meant he wasn’t actually a candidate for the expedition. After Vantner, it was difficult to find a player who was more of a pure tank than Toban, so they hurriedly recruited him in the end.

It must’ve been very embarrassing. He seemed very anxious. However, he survived to the end and proved that he was still on active duty. He fought really well. Yura, who was alive and well, was the proof.

“Yes, let’s fight together and go back together.”

Yura, Faker, and Mir were all on the taciturn side. Leraje seemed very nervous. Perhaps she was affected by the news of Beriache’s resurrection. At the very least, the atmosphere felt relaxed because there was Toban.

‘Asura.’

It was right to see him as stronger than Baal in terms of the current flow of events. Honestly, Grid was really tired. He remembered the difficulties he had throughout the fight with Baal and his eyes darkened a bit.

However, he gradually felt relieved when he remembered the faces of his colleagues. No matter how strong Asura was, he was different from Baal. Unlike Baal, who overcame death using people’s fear of him, it was the end once Asura died. Just in case—

Even if he had the setting of inheriting Baal’s power and overcoming death, it was just the setting. The fear of humanity had already been erased. People no longer feared Baal or hell.

Grid made this happen. The source of fear had been removed. There was no reason to fight alone against Asura. There were Yura, Faker, Mir, Toban, and Leraje here. There were also Biban and the angels who were currently fighting Asura. Additionally, there was Bunhelier, who was still hiding in Grid's cloak, and Grid's other companions, who would come running after completing their respective missions.

They would join forces and fight.

‘There is no suspense in many against one.’

Was it the usual many against one?

Grid, Biban, Braham, and Bunhelier—there were four Absolutes in this place.

Mercedes, Piaro, Mir, and Zik also had the potential to aim to become an Absolute and they had indeed developed at a tremendous rate. Most of the rest of the Overgeared members were transcendents. There were also strong allies called Leraje and Eligos. Even Fire Dragon Trauka couldn’t handle a pincer attack of this magnitude.

‘...Isn’t this too strong?’

He realized it once again. If they finished the expedition safely today and returned to the surface.

First of all, all the dragons in the world, including the Old Dragons, would erase their presence. They wouldn’t be able to act recklessly as long as the Overgeared World was in good shape.

‘The gods of Asgard will also be watching us with bated breath.’

Hell, who had been opposing the surface, had been destroyed. Asgard couldn’t hope for the Overgeared World’s self-destruction and would obviously be nervous.

Once he thought up to here, he naturally thought about what to do next.

‘The Seven Malignant Saints.’

The Seven Good People were Asgard’s disgrace. They were the ones who proved the sins committed by the gods. Perhaps the celestial gods would try to erase everything related to the Seven Malignant Saints after carefully watching the epic of how he brought down hell. It was in order to not give an excuse for an invasion. It should be stopped.

“......?”

The underground area where Yura’s group had struggled—it was the deepest and most secretive place in hell, befitting the place where the culprit that distorted hell was hidden. The road was so narrow and winding that he couldn’t even use Shunpo. Therefore, Grid was barely able to reach the ground after running a long time, only to witness an unexpected sight.

[...It is over.]

Evil God Asura was crumbling. He was turning to ashes while surrounded by Regas, the angel who threw off his silver mask; Hao, the angel who threw off his gold mask; and Sword God Biban.

[Baal... his trick grabbed me by the ankle.]

Asura stared in disbelief at Regas, who barely coughed up a bloody breath. Then he soon found Grid and laughed.

[Well, these are all excuses. My defeat became inevitable when I failed to secure my origin.]

Asura’s origin—it was the mass of red flesh. Asura’s true power was only displayed when combined with it. However, he failed to achieve a union. In his imperfect state, there was no way to defeat the mighty enemies, Only One God Grid and Sword God Biban. He wanted to avoid a fight because he knew it clearly, but Grid’s vigilance was too strong.

[But we will be reunited soon.]

“......?”

Grid was relieved to witness Asura dissipating in real time, only to frown. They were going to be reunited? Asura’s meaningful words bothered him a lot.

“On what grounds are you saying this?”

[...Kukuk.]

Slowly. Very barely. Asura barely raised his hand that was limp in death and pointed to the sky. The hell moon had disappeared and the sky was clear. Above it was the surface and beyond that was heaven.

[There is a call from heaven.]

“What?”

“......!!”

There wasn’t a single person who couldn’t understand the meaning of Asura’s words.

The sky.

Heaven.

Asgard.

There was only one authority. It was to summon the dead and make them angels. But surely not, the gods—

They even wanted to take away an Evil God born in hell?

[It is no use trying to call the Saintess. The existence made from Yatan’s subconscious can’t suppress me, who was born to transcend Yatan.]

Asura read Grid’s thoughts and laughed. He turned to ash at a faster rate. It was the result of responding to Asgard’s call.

[Rest assured, Grid. The greatest god.]

The greatest god—Asura wholeheartedly acknowledged Grid. He saw Grid as a better being than any other god in heaven. It was because he witnessed the process of Grid defeating Baal from Baal’s side.

[I have fighting spirit by nature. I am different from Baal. I don’t care about trash. My target is only you and the other strong existences.]

No matter what I will become when I ascend to heaven, I won’t be a threat to the surface, unlike Baal—the reason why Asura revealed this fact was simple. He hoped that the opponent who would one day receive his challenge would be relieved and devote himself to moving forward.

Of course, Grid didn’t believe it at all. There was no reason to trust an Evil God born from Baal.

[Besides, what the heavenly gods want from me is probably to get rid of Chiyou...]

Asura had inherited the power, knowledge and intelligence of Baal and Amoract. Whatever conjecture he had made, he disappeared before he could finish saying it. He soared into heaven without leaving the slightest traces behind.

“...Chiyou.”

Grid was reminded of the archangel, Metatron. He was also obsessed with Chiyou. Maybe all the heavenly gods were. To them, Chiyou was the enemy who helped Hanul escape and was the only threat to Rebecca.

‘Considering Asura’s background, it is suitable to make him Chiyou’s opponent.’

Zeratul’s position also needed to be taken into account. Didn’t he become a sinner and was locked up? As a result, the position of Martial God was vacated. If the existence of the Martial God was essential to heaven, then it made sense to make Asura the new Martial God.

‘...So Zeratul is completely abandoned?’

Grid wasn’t very comfortable because he remembered the moment when he received help (?) from Zeratul. However, it was only for a moment.

Now was the time to rejoice. Asgard’s collection of Asura was an unexpected variable, but somehow, there was little anxiety. It was because Asura didn’t have the personality to be easily used and there was no reason for him to be swayed by Asgard’s tricks. As he said earlier, the Overgeared World was so strong.

Just then, Piaro and Mercedes were seen rushing toward them. They had neatly completed the mission and came back. Additionally—

[You have encountered Pagma’s soul.]

[You have encountered Alex’s soul.]

A personal meeting came to Grid and Yura.

The class quest—it was a quest that ordinary people had completed years ago, but it was different for legendary class users. The level of difficulty was so high that they wondered if this was correct, especially when it came to the difficulty of Grid and Yura’s class quests.

The goal of the quest was to free the souls of Pagma and Alex, who had been held captive by Baal. It was a crazy quest even when looking at it now. How could a mere legend get rid of Baal and free the souls of Pagma and Alex? It was especially the case when Pagma's Successor was a blacksmith. There was no way to kill Baal through normal methods no matter how hard they tried.

‘...Damn.’

He was so sad that he was on the verge of tears.

Pagma held out his hand to Grid, who was laughing in disbelief. “My petty talent... dear friend... I don’t know if it will help... but other than this, there is no way to express my gratitude... I don't have...”

Pagma’s voice was muffled. In the first place, the form of the soul itself was blurry. It was the same as Alex’s soul. It was distinctly different from Beriache, an Absolute. They didn’t have the ability to retain their soul form.

Soon, they would arrive at the river of reincarnation, completely lose their form, and prepare for reincarnation in a new appearance.

[You have freed the soul of the hidden hero who has suffered forever.]

[The class quest for ‘Pagma's Successor’ has been completed.]

[As a reward for completing the class quest, you have learned a new sword dance.]

It was really long. The emotional Grid felt it again and spoke to Pagma’s soul, which had become even more blurred before he knew it.

“Take a good rest now.”

What more could he say?

Pagma was arguably a hero. However, it was a position that shouldn’t be celebrated. In some cases, people could judge him as a bad person. It was all irrelevant. It might not have been Pagma’s will, but he was Grid’s benefactor.

Grid had no desire to judge him. Therefore, he greeted Pagma without praise or criticism, only respect.

“……”

Pagma read Grid’s thoughts and smiled slightly. His form grew paler. The faded old dopo finally became completely transparent. Then it was revealed.

The soul of the girl hiding nervously in the dopo—it was a girl who looked exactly like Randy.

“Ah.”

Pagma had protected someone even in death. He tried to make up for some of the sins he committed in his lifetime. Grid realized this fact and finally couldn’t stand it. He shouted.

“Thanks to you... many people were saved because of you.”

I am the biggest proof standing in front of you.

The moment that Grid said this, Pagma completely disappeared. In the end, he didn’t open his mouth and just scattered with a lonely expression on his face. It was clearly the look of a sinner.

May my existence be a small comfort to him.

Grid mourned and summoned Randy. He gave Randy a chance to meet a precious friend and say goodbye properly this time. Then a little more time passed and Wendy’s soul was also gone.

“Grid!”

Peak Sword, Huroi, and Laella rushed over while shouting. There was no Braham. Come to think of it, Kraugel also hadn’t been heard from.

“It is better to search than wait here.”

Yura quickly judged after saying goodbye to Alex and she expressed her opinion. What type of conversation did they have? Her eyes were also red.

“......?”

Grid wondered for a moment before taking the handkerchief Mercedes handed him and giving it to Yura. Then he said, “Let’s go.”

Grid, the apostles, and the Overgeared members gathered in one place. It was a power that would astonish the Old Dragons and make the heavenly gods nervous. They raced through the hell covered with green vegetation at great speed.