Chapter 1581
Wouldn’t it be okay if he didn’t try anymore?
Grid thought this.
He watched Jishuka smiling brightly. A person who was happy from hearing that she worked hard. Grid was happy just watching her. He felt it was the reward for all his hards.h.i.+ps.
All the responsibilities he bore were heavy. He didn’t have enough time to share happiness with his loved ones. So how long did he have to look ahead and run like he did now? He even felt such skepticism. Of course, this was only for a moment.
Grid looked at the empire he had built up. Colleagues he could rely on, soldiers who gave their lives and were loyal, the cheering people...
He reaffirmed their appearance of trusting and following him and controlled his shaky heart.
‘The idea of wanting some relaxation... it is still a luxury.’
First of all, he had to kill Baal. There were no dreams of hope for humanity unless they could return the distorted h.e.l.l to its original state. Those who learned that death was the beginning of eternal suffering, not rest—the reason they maintained a good spirit and lived pretending things were fine was purely because they believed in Grid and the Overgeared Empire. They held out with the belief that Grid and the Overgeared Empire would help them as always.
‘...Come to think of it, I do this often.’
He had many thoughts when looking at Jishuka. At this moment, Grid clearly realized why he kept doing this.
‘I like Jishuka very much.’
He liked her so much that he thought of the future together. As a result, all types of thought overflowed and were strangely twisted. He sometimes made mistakes. It was just like when they first broke up. It was behavior often seen by novices in love.
"Calm down.’
Grid’s heart toward Jishuka was bound to be deep. Her appearance being his taste was a secondary issue. The first person to recognize and respect Grid’s value was Jishuka. She was the one who led Grid, who was clumsy when it came to human relations.h.i.+ps, onto the right path several times. Maybe Grid had a crush on Jishuka since the beginning. He was just late in self-awareness because they started off as friends.
In many ways, the timing was bad. Thanks to the incident with his first love Ahyoung, he became distrustful of real women. Then he got married to Irene. His relations.h.i.+p with Jishuka couldn’t be smooth. However, it would be different in the future.
"......!"
Grid pledged and raised his eyes.
Destroyer—Pon’s new ultimate skill caught his eye.
‘It is a level of skill that forces the use of Shunpo.’
A skill that pulled hundreds of projectiles using magnetism and then ejected them. The implied power stimulated the senses of a transcendent. It was safe to describe it as a skill that proved the potential of normal cla.s.ses.
‘The fifth cla.s.s advancement is really...’
Chairman Lim Cheolho’s words that the gap between hidden and normal cla.s.ses would be narrowed seemed to be becoming a reality. Anxiety crossed Grid’s face when he realized this. It was natural to think about Jishuka’s defeat. Grid had always hoped for Pon’s victory, but this time was an exception. He didn’t want to see Jishuka feeling depressed.
She seemed to respond to that wish.
“Whole Sky Flower Rain.”
Jishuka showed off the power of the Bow Saint. She suddenly stopped the hundreds of arrows flying at her and made a storm to counterattack against Pon. It was a move that overturned the situation of the battle.
Grid’s b.u.t.t shook from where it was tightly attached to the throne. He was so surprised that he almost shot out of his seat.
‘This isn’t just a skill that controls arrows.’
It was close to implementing a mental world. All substances and concepts in the range she designated. Stones, gra.s.s, dust, wind, mana, and even the residual air waves of Destroyer—all of them responded to Jishuka’s will. They were transformed into sharp weapons and swirled. The strength was amazing. Like the name of filling the entire sky with flowers, the blood shed by Pon spread throughout the sky.
‘Amazing. Really strong.’
This was his impression of both Jishuka and Pon. Grid had a gut feeling that he would receive great help from the two of them at every crisis he would face in the future. After that—
Regas and Damian.
Peak Sword and Euphemina.
Faker and Hurent.
Vantner and Huroi.
Zednos and Zibal.
As the compet.i.tion progressed, Grid’s shoulders gradually became lighter. He put down his responsibility little by little. Grid was the one who was the most enthusiastic about the appearance of his colleagues who steadily developed even after the great human and demon war.
‘I’m a bit sorry for Damian, but... sooner or later, he will find the answer. The opponent was too bad.’
Huroi was much more powerful than the public’s perception as he fought from a distance using the wyvern and profanities. He seemed to be making proper use of the power of his second cla.s.s.
Hurent, who had once degenerated, also regained the power of his prime. It was at the level of neutralizing Faker’s stealth with sound play. The two of them were met with enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. They crushed the noses of some people who predicted they would lower the level of the compet.i.tion.
On the other hand, Damian was weak. During his days as a pope, he had excellent survivability and magic to be likened to a c.o.c.kroach. He could tank and use swordsmans.h.i.+p. Yet these days, he was merely a swordsman. The three fusion sword dance that was completed early on as the leader of the Overgeared G.o.d Church was very powerful and it played an extraordinary role in various official appearances...
It was just that his opponent was too bad this time.
Regas. For him, Damian was close to an existence that ‘followed Grid.’ Damian wasn’t very threatening to him, who had a long good faith rivalry with Grid and had been chasing Grid’s shadow. It felt like he was fighting Grid from a long time ago. It was easy to deal with because there were enough strategies.
Furthermore, Regas had recently increased the intensity of his performance. Just like in the days when he was called the best genius of the Tzedakah Guild, he used all types of methods to hone his skills and improve. It was close to eccentricity from the perspective of others. Therefore, those who saw him would say ‘Regas has become ill again.’
The effect was big.
The secret of Regas’ relatively easy targeting of Damian, who artificially implemented ‘attack and defense in one body’ by adding the power of items to the high stats unique to the leader of the Overgeared G.o.d Church, was due to the parrying he mastered during this time.
Regas easily neutralized the sword dances of the Overgeared G.o.d Church. In the first place, the Overgeared G.o.d Church’s sword dances was a sub-compatible version of the Overgeared G.o.d"s Sword Dance. The biggest drawback of the sword dances was the long cooldown time for reuse. The compatibility with Regas was bad since he focused on ‘combos’ and unleas.h.i.+ng endless attacks.
“Uwaaaaahhhhh!”
The cheers of the crowd were growing. The scenes that were somewhat disappointing for Grid were still gorgeous to them. People were happy enough with the content of the compet.i.tion.
The Half-Draconian Lord, the Orc Lord, and the Dark Elf King. Now there was much greater antic.i.p.ation for the three remaining monarchs. Huroi and Hurent showed unexpected performances. They believed that the three monarchs would provide a level of shock that would impact the heavens and earth. They also felt sympathy for one person.
Katz—he was matched with Teruchan and it was like carrying a bomb. It could only be said that he was too unlucky.
‘I wanted to compete with the Half-Draconian Lord.’
Teruchan’s thoughts weren’t much different. He was the monarch who ruled over every orc in the world. He would’ve been the overlord by now if he hadn’t served Grid. He thought of the Overgeared members as reliable generals. It was no more than that. He judged that they weren’t his opponents, even if he could trust them and leave tasks to them.
This was why he fixed his gaze on Bunsdel, who was sitting on the waiting seat under the stage. Teruchan didn’t even care about Katz standing right in front of him. He didn’t even have the will to fight. He felt it was trivial.
At this time, Katz’ voice was heard. “I don’t have a hobby of cutting a pig’s neck.”
There were many members of the Overgeared Guild outside the normal category. Just like Grid, it wasn’t uncommon for people to have defects in their personality. Katz was the representative of this. Of course, he had become incredibly mellow compared to the past, but he wasn’t a pushover who would be nice to his opponent who was ignoring him.
Teruchan bowed slightly to Katz. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have the courtesy of a warrior.”
The Twilight Orcs were the dominant species. They dominated all orcs and at one time, they even tried to dominate humans. He respected warriors as much as he honored their armed force. Teruchan’s action of bowing didn’t mean much. It wasn’t about bending his pride. It was just a ritual greeting.
“You are also a warrior.”
It was Teruchan who gave a natural provocation. It was the unique ferociousness of a dominant species. A red light appeared in Katz’ hand and he grasped a sword. Teruchan felt a deep bloodstream.
“Good. I like it more and more. I won’t feel guilty even if I half kill you,” Katz said.
Teruchan charged. It was the instinctive act of a frightened beast. The smell of blood filling his nose was too thick.
The superior version of Failure—the dark shark-shaped sword collided with the blood sword and caused an explosion.
In fact, Katz’ blood sword exploded. The sharp sword’s shape quickly broke down and blood was sprayed like a fountain.
Teruchan’s expression hardened. He made an effort to recover his sword as he was caught in the explosion and pushed back. However, it was too late. The blood clinging to his thick arms pulled his upper body to the ground.
“Keuk!” The veins of Teruchan’s neck bulged as he gritted his teeth and held on. He used both arms to raise his head back.
Katz had the illusion of being hit by a cannon. Then his body, which was about to stab Teruchan with a new blood sword, flew far away. It was because Teruchan’s kick hit his abdomen. It was a covert attack. Teruchan had stared into Katz’ eyes and didn’t show any signs at all as he lifted his feet. For Katz, it was an attack that came completely out of the blue.
“Gasp!”
Teruchan snorted and broke the blood confining both arms. He noted that the strength of the blood had weakened the moment that Katz’ focus dropped.
“Katz! I admit that you are a great warrior!”
Teruchan’s thick veins stood out and all the muscles of his body swelled. At the same time, black magic power that was different from the demons exploded. It was a wave that generated a power unique to the Twilight Orcs. Teruchan’s steps caused cracks on the stage.
Administrator Rabbit sighed. The most expensive metal was found to make this stage with, but the specially made stage was ruined. It wasn’t worth the money he invested in it...
Teruchan completely broke the stage with his second leap forward. The sudden narrowing of the distance to Katz was Shunpo itself. Just as the transcendent Bunsdel proved, the monarchs deserved to be transcendents.
It happened the moment people were feeling admiration...
“Solar Eclipse.”
Night came. The red moon that floated above Katz’s head was the aftermath of the sun being covered.
His skin turned whiter.
His long molars.
The s.h.i.+ning red eyes and cloak formed from another person’s blood...
He was a vampire with pure blood in a different way from the direct descendants. Beriache’s Knight, who could be said to be the first direct descendant, artificially removed the sun’s constraints and regained full power.
Red blood and black power collided dozens of times. The red blood scattered and repeatedly formed waves again while the black force continued to swirl like a storm. Neither side was likely to be extinguished. It was literally an equal match. For a few minutes, countless spectacular scenes were seen. It looked like a fight that wouldn’t end. However, people gradually became aware that Katz’ blood cloak was much longer than it was originally.
Flop!
Teruchan fell to his knees. His armor was crushed and his appearance was exposed. He was skin and bones like he had starved for dozens of days. It was the aftermath of being deprived of blood throughout the battle. For Beriache’s Knight, blood absorption was done as naturally as breathing. It was very different from the other direct descendants who directly bit with their teeth or sucked blood through magic. No procedure was required. It was a near-perfect immortality created to protect Beriache. It didn’t make sense for him to fall before what he had to protect.
“...There are six more people over there?”
The Half-Draconian Lord had a stiff expression from the moment the sun was covered and now he muttered blankly. Since he decided to become the dog of the Overgeared G.o.d, he planned to be the closest and loyal dog. However, it didn’t seem as easy as he thought. He felt a great sense of crisis toward the true apostles of the Overgeared G.o.d who didn’t even partic.i.p.ate in this compet.i.tion.
“......”
The half-draconians, whose shoulders were raised after being enthusiastically welcomed by the humans, fell silent. After that—
The Half-Draconian Lord won against the Dark Elf King. Considering that Piaro and the former Red Knights had to join forces to capture the Dark Elf King, the power of the Half-Draconian Lord was at least on the level of an apostle. The Overgeared members speculated that Bunsdel would be the last apostle.
Even so, Grid didn’t say anything. His discerning eyes had risen following his meeting with Ifrit and he was planning to select the last apostle really carefully.
‘At the very least, they should be stronger than me.’
...Should he visit the No Offspring Tomb?
In any case, 12 captains were appointed on this day. Those who felt the power of the Overgeared Empire had great expectations for the h.e.l.l expedition that would begin in the future. They completely shook off their fears. This was as Lauel intended.
Meanwhile, in h.e.l.l...
“Hoh...?”
The soul of Beriache, which hadn’t moved for hundreds of years, started to s.h.i.+ne faintly.
“That person is the guardian of the White Tiger Spear... can the two of us defeat him?”
“Do you want successive deaths? I am going to seek the cooperation of the Twelve Zodiacs and the Four Auspicious Beasts.”
“What about the Overgeared G.o.d?”
“I don’t think it is a matter that requires the help of the Overgeared G.o.d.”
“Indeed. This person is a lot inferior to Mir.”
In the East Continent, Hw.a.n.g Gildong and Old Sword Demon infiltrated the Pa Kingdom.
“It is more than expected, right? By this point, he will be a better blacksmith than the Overgeared G.o.d.”
“He shouldn’t be worse than the person who rebelled against Asgard. By the way, the ones next to you...?”
“They are newcomers. Make weapons for them.”
In Asgard, the new angels were preparing for full-fledged action.