[The subject is too busy and can’t check their whisper.]
There was only one case where the whisper couldn’t be transmitted due to such a reason. It was when the target was raiding a dungeon boss.
“s.h.i.+t, it’s already started.”
Lauel had asked him to trust Grid, but Pon felt uneasy. Pon naturally believed in Grid’s skills. Were there any Overgeared members who doubted that Grid was the strongest? It was just that the timing this time was too bad. Grid wouldn’t be able to handle h.e.l.l Gao if he had obtained his seventh fire stone.
‘It is hard even if he is stronger than Mercedes. It is impossible for two people to raid the boss based on the pattern.’
Pon wanted to give Grid some advice, but became nervous when he couldn’t even send a whisper. Lauel caught up to him as he was hurrying away. “Are you going to support?”
“I have to go. I can’t let Grid and Mercedes die.”
The pillars of fire that were summoned the moment h.e.l.l Gao appeared grew stronger as the number of fire stones increased. The moment six fire stones appeared, the damage range was widened to the point where the entire dungeon would burn.
Additionally, the summoning position of the pillars of fire was random every time. The only way to find the places the pillars of fire didn’t damage was purely by luck. Then if they avoided a pillar of fire, they were exposed to the ‘b.a.l.l.s of fire’ falling from the sky. It was inevitable to take some damage from the moment h.e.l.l Gao appeared.
‘Of course, Grid and Mercedes will resist the debuff that lowers fire resistance, but they will still be injured.’
It was very painful even if the fire resistance was 100%. Just because attribute resistance was 100% didn’t mean that no attribute damage was received. This was because all attribute attacks had basic damage. The damage could be kept balanced with defense and resistance, but h.e.l.l Gao’s fire attack power was truly unstoppable. It might be blocked by resistance and reduced by damage and resistance, but the damage was still beyond imagination.
Additionally, all of h.e.l.l Gao’s attacks had a certain amount of true damage applied. It completely ignored defense and resistance.
‘You will go straight to h.e.l.l the moment you start taking damage from h.e.l.l Gao.’
h.e.l.l Gao’s scariest attack pattern was the tentacle of magic power that occurred when more than half of the people partic.i.p.ating in the raid lost a certain amount of health. It was a skill that dealt 100% of their true damage to five targets and unconditionally inflicted a critical hit.
‘The skill that triggers every time 20% of our health is reduced is the most dangerous.’ Therefore, it was important to keep their health.
Once health started being lost, a vicious cycle started repeating itself. The damage that occurred when h.e.l.l Gao first appeared had to be recovered immediately to withstand the pattern. Potions alone had their limits. The h.e.l.l Gao raid required a healer or a buffer.
It happened when Pon started gathering team one...
[Overgeared King Grid is writing the eighth epic.]
An epic was triggered. The contents of the epic were also very serious. It wasn’t Grid but Grid’s knight. It described Mercedes confronting the flames of h.e.l.l. It wrote that she shared the burdens that Grid had been carrying alone so far. Grid was dependent on Mercedes when he valued the lives of NPCs a hundred or thousand times more than his own? It was Mercedes who was like a precious object that couldn’t be exchanged for anything...
It was proof that Grid was being overwhelmed.
“Che!”
In the middle of the corridor, Pon summoned a white horse. Lauel shouted as Pon threw a spear, broke the window, and mounted the horse, “Go to Sticks. He will guide you to the warpgate.”
***
The epic was Grid’s footsteps. It focused on the person himself rather than his feats. This time, the system focused on the changes in Grid who started relying on his colleagues. He became the light guiding humanity because he knew his own limitations. Nevertheless, he still saw others as precarious.
Grid, who had always been fighting alone, finally trusted others. It was a scene that proved the development of humanity. It was a moment that hinted at a generational change. It was right to write it as a narrative that would become a myth.
Mercedes stepped forward with the s.h.i.+eld over her head and blocked the flames pouring down like rain. Grid followed behind her.
[Every time he followed in his knight’s footsteps, the responsibility that oppressed him was washed away layer by layer.]
“This way!”
[It was with the courage to face all types of injustices and threats to lead the way.]
“The river in this direction is fake.”
[A resolution to protect everyone.]
“Now!”
[A foolish obstinacy and arrogance.]
“Ridiculous guys!”
[He realized it under the protection of the s.h.i.+eld.]
“Sky.”
[The knight’s s.h.i.+eld that defeated the flames of h.e.l.l accelerated his sword.]
“Kuuack! River, flood!”
[The new epic effect has increased damage by 10% during party play.]
“Knight’s Divine Protection.”
[The knight’s gaze looked at places he couldn’t see and protected his back.]
“What...?! Your eyes are impossible!”
[The new epic effect has increased defense by 10% during party play.]
“Shunpo.”
“Silver Wings.”
[A branch that dreams of being a tree to support the world.]
[His efforts and struggles to lead humanity as a lantern.]
“Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle.”
“Galaxy Wave.”
[The distinction between the previous generation and the present is removed.]
“You guys...! Le...gends! Kuaaack!”
[Overgeared King Grid has completed the eighth page of the epic!]
[Due to the influence of the epic, the stats of all the legends of this age are slightly increased.]
***
[The eighth page of the epic has been completed.]
[Your status has risen by one level as a reward for completing the epic.]
[Resistance to skill damage has slightly increased.]
[Resistance to weapon damage has slightly increased.]
[Skin of Transcendence has become even harder.]
[The t.i.tle ‘Protagonist of the Legend’ has been created.]
[Your knight ‘Mercedes’ is deifying you.]
[Your Deity stat has increased by 1.]
[Skin of Transcendence Lv. 2]
[Pa.s.sive
* There is a certain chance of resisting physical damage below 3,000.
The skin of a transcendent is very tough and hard.
It is a process of peeking into the domain of imperviousness to the sword.]
[Protagonist of the Legend]
[The protagonist who leads other legends.
You will gain more experience than your party members when hunting in a party with legendary cla.s.ses.
There is a chance of acquiring better items than your party members when hunting in a party with legendary cla.s.ses.]
‘Good.’
The epic was accompanied by great growth. His defense and damage was increased during party hunting and his resistance to skill damage and weapon damage increased. Additionally, Skin of Transcendence was strengthened and he obtained a t.i.tle. He was so happy that he wanted to cheer.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to cheer.
“Your Majesty!”
“Shunpo!”
The momentum of the flames that h.e.l.l Gao wore on his body became much greater. Under Grid and Mercedes’ onslaught, his health was decreased and he entered the second phase. h.e.l.l Gao’s eyes were burning red as he gazed at Grid and Mercedes, who were fleeing like rats. “I thought all humans of the present day are trash. It is shocking.”
This was bad. Looking at his manner of speaking, the guy who had just gone berserk had regained his composure. This meant his attack accuracy had returned to a normal level.
“You wouldn’t be inferior even if you were living in the same era as Muller.”
How many people in the world had been praised by a great demon? h.e.l.l Gao highly praised Grid and Mercedes, and he even mentioned Muller who sealed him. He was at ease. h.e.l.l Gao rotated the staff he had been holding as an ornament and created dozens of reverse pentagrams around him.
“However, you are still young. Muller was in his later years when he sealed me.”
The 9th great demon, h.e.l.l Gao, was a powerful presence in the worldview, but he was surprisingly used to a sense of helplessness. It was because he experienced a sword that couldn’t be broken, a sword that couldn’t be blocked, a sword that couldn’t be avoided. This was why he quickly regained his cool despite Mercedes’ use of Keen Insight.
For the last hundreds of years, he wandered h.e.l.l in a spirit form and repeatedly thought about it—how could he combat such irrationality? The answer he found was surprisingly simple. It was to face irrationality with more irrationality. Flames intersected over dozens of inverted pentagrams and then blazed.
“It is still an incomplete magic, but can you afford to handle it when you, too, are incomplete?”
“......!”
This was magic that was created to kill Muller. Mercedes glimpsed the ident.i.ty of the magic circle with Keen Insight and pushed Grid away.
“Run away!”
“What?”
Grid hadn’t taken a proper hit since entering phase two. It was due to his high agility that allowed him to react as soon as Mercedes’ Keen Insight predicted it. Mercedes suffered damage, but it was inevitable because she was in the tanker’s position. Even so, she only suffered minor injuries. Neither of them had gone below 90% of their health. It was fine like this, yet Mercedes was telling him to run away?
‘What is that magic?
33 magic circles that repeatedly generated dark flames and condensed them. It seemed that it could carry out a bombardment that broke through ‘all defense.’ Grid suggested, “If the two of us block it together...”
“It is impossible. He has infinitely overlapped guidance magic with acceleration magic.”
“What...?!”
It was the moment when Grid stiffened...
“This should be enough to deal with you.”
There was a big smile on the goat head. Then there was silence as if someone had pressed the mute b.u.t.ton. The flames burning in the magic circles suddenly disappeared.
“......!”
Mercedes was already moving. She tried to hug Grid as she opened her mouth to say some final words. Her large s.h.i.+eld was only covering Grid’s body. She even used her body as a s.h.i.+eld as she sacrificed herself for Grid. In the world that had stopped—
[There are no attacks that you won’t recognize.]
Every one of Grid’s senses stood up. The ‘world that a transcendent sees’ unfolded before his eyes. He could see the 33 sparks that were hidden. They were approaching him and Mercedes fiercely. He could see how each and every one of Mercedes’ hair was moving. Her face was sad like she was just about to burst into tears.
‘It’s fine.’
Just as you are protecting me, it is natural for me to protect you.
The back of Grid’s hand wiped at Mercedes’ eyes.
“Flower Revolve.”
All the 33 sparks filled Grid’s field of view and petals of sword energy were scattered. In Mercedes’ vision, it was Grid’s cloak pa.s.sing by instead of Grid. Then h.e.l.l Gao was bombarded by his own magic.
“......!!”
“......?”
Mercedes and the great demon didn’t know what Grid had done and their astonished gazes met. h.e.l.l Gao fell steadily and saw the blue petals fluttering in the flames. Every petal reflected the nightmare from hundreds of years ago.