At the capital of the Overgeared Kingdom, Reinhardt...
“......”
Grid woke up at the resurrection point and had a new question. How many times did an average player die in a year? He must’ve died less often than them, right? He just seemed to die a lot compared to his abilities...
‘It is an unavoidable problem because there are too many people stronger than me.’
“Youngwoo-ssi!”
Yura rushed to Grid and hugged him as he was checking his dropped items and experience. She was a ranker behind Grid. She chased the path he walked on, and fully realized the weight of Grid’s sacrifice.
“Because of me... because of me, you...”
The reason Baal appeared there was because of herself. If she hadn’t overlooked Andras’ pursuit, then Baal would’ve never appeared and Grid wouldn’t have died. Grid read Yura’s trembling back that was crushed by guilt.
“It isn’t because of you.”
In Grid’s eyes, there was no reason for Yura to feel guilty. She was chased by Andras because she interrupted Baal’s activity to help Grid. The reason Baal later appeared was because Grid fought and won against Andras. More than anything else...
“I died to Baal because I am weak.”
He didn’t have a reason or the qualification to blame Yura. Yura agreed with Grid’s a.s.sertion. “I couldn’t protect you because I was too weak.”
“...We both need to be stronger.”
“That’s right.”
The desire of a level 408 high ranker to improve was great. After opening the ranking window for the first time in ages and confirming that Yura was third in the unified rankings, Grid sent a whisper to Chris. He was interested in Chris, who was maintaining a higher level than Yura who hunted in h.e.l.l.
-What level are you?
-410.
-Isn’t this really fast?
-I’ve found a spot for solo play in the Chaos Mountains.By the way, how can it be faster than you?Grid, shouldn’t you be almost level 430 by now?
-......
He was level 417, and now he was level 416. Grid closed his mouth and awakened a sense of reality.
‘People who have pa.s.sed the h.e.l.l section are growing at a tremendous speed.’
Yura and Chris were prime examples. It seems right to say that the restrictions had been lifted. No, players needed to grow. The world was filled with enemies.
‘On the other hand, I stopped growing for a while and avoided it.’
Grid didn’t have enough time to fully concentrate on hunting. The difficulties of making items, taking care of the king’s work, and raising Noe and the Overgeared Skeletons, were all secondary problems. The reason Grid struggled with time more than others was because he was always swept away by big episodes. It was obvious just by looking back at recent events. Grid had visited the East Continent to learn how to grow the white phosphorus trees and golden walnut trees, yet he ended up in the Hwan Kingdom with the grandmaster, met Hanul, the absolute G.o.d, and took Chiyou’s Test.
‘...It is absurd when thinking about it.’
His experience in h.e.l.l was also ridiculous. Grid only visited h.e.l.l to tame the succubi. Then he ended up fighting the 1st Great Demon, Baal, and died.
“......”
It was scary at this point. Seeing the absurd coincidences repeat over and over again, it seemed the world had no intention of leaving him alone. Grid a.s.sumed they were coincidences, but this was his mistake. All the events that Grid had gone through were a result of his choices, so they were inevitable.
‘Then looking at Dragon...’
[Dragon]
[A sword dance that reproduces the spirit of a dragon.
Effect: ???
★You haven’t achieved complete enlightenment. It is in an inactive state.]
Grid already had a Dragon sword dance. To be exact, it was the ‘potential.’ The dragon’s energy that Helena, princess of the half-draconians, had shown many times was imprinted on his infinite sword energy. This opened up the possibility of a new sword dance. ‘Now it seems there must’ve been a Dragon among ‘Pagma’s Sword Dance.’
[Dragon Lv. 1]
[A sword dance that reproduces the last breath of the blue dragon that pierced the chest of the absolute G.o.d, Hanul.
Charge at a target within 10 meters, dealing 3,000% physical damage. There is also a high chance of penetration. Damage is doubled after penetration and causes the target to be unable to recover for five seconds.
Skill Sword Energy Cost: 500
Skill Cooldown Time: 10 minutes]
It was truly a sword dance with terrifying power. First of all, charging was a great strength. Hadn’t the power and utility of a charge that instantly narrowed the distance to the target already been proven by numerous players? Unfortunately, Pagma’s Sword Dance and Grid’s Sword Dance had no charge skills. Grid relied solely on the Freely Move skill obtained from an achievement.
‘There is Shunpo, but it uses a ridiculous amount of stamina. Therefore, it is a burden to use it often.’
It was a pleasure to secure a charge skill that consumed sword energy rather than stamina. It was just like how Pagma awakened Pinnacle after seeing Chiyou’s strike. The sword dance that was awakened by another G.o.d...
He liked that the damage coefficient was high because it was a sword dance that reproduced the moment when the blue dragon wounded the absolute G.o.d, Hanul.
‘It isn’t as good as Link but the limitations of Link are too clear.’
As shown against Baal, Link attacked the target by connecting several attacks. The higher the opponent’s level, the harder it was for Link to exercise its proper power. It was useless if it was blocked before all the attacks were linked and the flow cut off. Therefore, it was useless no matter how high the total attack power.
The importance of sword dances such as Kill, Pinnacle, and Dragon that boasted a high attack coefficient would become more prominent in the future.
‘The most notable thing is the penetration effect.’
Physically penetrating through the target could be interpreted as changing positions with the target. Grid had actually penetrated Baal’s chest when he used Dragon. He stood in front of Baal and changed to behind Baal. Thanks to this, the way to escape was opened up temporarily. He just couldn’t move because of his low stamina. Thus, he couldn’t escape.
‘There is no need to be disappointed just because it isn’t Splendor or Chop.’
Furthermore, there was still the potential of Dragon, a sword dance that reproduced the dragon’s spirit. It was likely to be a buff-type skill. Grid smiled as he thought about the possibility of using Pagma’s Dragon and his own Dragon together. He murmured to himself with a pleased smile, “Two dragons... Twin Dragons.”
It felt like new advertising inquiries would soon be received.
“Youngwoo-ssi?”
“Hum hum, can you send me back to h.e.l.l?”
“Are you serious?”
He wanted to go to h.e.l.l again after suffering such a terrible thing? Grid explained to the confused Yura, “Baal appeared in the middle of h.e.l.l and caused turmoil. Won’t all the demonic beasts, demonkin, and demons have shrunk back? Now is the opportunity to explore h.e.l.l and get used to it.”
“That is possible, but what if Baal is watching?”
“No, he won’t expect for me to enter h.e.l.l again right away. How would he expect someone who just died to come back to die again?”
There was a chance that Baal wouldn’t care even if he noticed that Grid visited h.e.l.l again. The absolute beings Grid had met so far generally had an indifferent personality. Baal was arrogant. It was the only weakness of this absolute existence. Grid had to dig into that arrogant personality.
“...I understand.” Yura nodded because she thought that Grid’s words made sense. “Is the purpose a simple hunt?”
“Yes, I am going to level up for a while.”
Of course, the Chaos Mountains was also a great hunting ground. Chris was proving this. Unlike Chris, who specialized in single attacks, Grid was capable of wide area skills. h.e.l.l had a large population of monsters so he liked it more than the Chaos Mountains.
“Then I’ll take you to the h.e.l.ls in the 30s. Marbas will stay in the h.e.l.ls in the 20s.”
Considering Grid’s abilities, the best hunting ground for him would be in the h.e.l.ls between 23-25. Unfortunately, Grid received a penalty in h.e.l.l and the h.e.l.ls in the 20s were affected by Marbas’ power. It was impossible to keep hunting there. It was right to send him to the h.e.l.ls in the 30s.
Yura created a gate to h.e.l.l and was entering the coordinates when Grid told her, “No, send me to the 29th h.e.l.l.”
“Isn’t it inefficient?”
A cycle of three minutes of hunting and 10-15 minutes of rest would be repeated. Of course, Yura could fill in the gap in time if she partied and hunted with him, but Yura knew Grid’s nature. He would definitely stick to solo play.
“The efficiency is enough.”
“......”
Had he forgotten what just happened a few minutes ago? Anyone other than Yura would’ve had doubts for a while. However, Yura was always more willing to believe Grid than to doubt him. “I understand.”
Eventually, Yura couldn’t break Grid’s stubbornness and entered the coordinates of the 29th h.e.l.l into the gate. After a while...
“Dragon.”
The moment Yura arrived in the 29th h.e.l.l, she was confronted by Grid rus.h.i.+ng into the crowd of monsters. Her panic soon turned into astonishment, and then the astonishment turned into trust. Grid started to slaughter the monsters without getting tired. He no longer suffered from the penalties he had to face in h.e.l.l. [1]
Of course, he wasn’t buffed like the Demon Slayer. It was just that Grid’s stats far surpa.s.sed Yura once he stopped suffering from the penalties.
“I think I can go down further in h.e.l.l?”
“......”
No monsters remained despite the effect of Marbas’ power. Yura gazed at the spectacular sight for a moment before her mind returned and she nodded.
“I think you can go down a lot.”
The h.e.l.ls in the 10s—even Demon Slayer Yura currently couldn’t handle them as a hunting ground. The place that Yura only occasionally visited to clear quests was wide open for Grid.
“As you know, the use of return scrolls are prohibited in h.e.l.l. If you feel it is a bit dangerous, then call me right away... understood?”
“Yes, thank you.”
She was a very strong woman. Grid smiled and waved to Yura as he pa.s.sed through the gate to move to the 19th h.e.l.l. Yura was soon left alone. She took a deep breath and looked back. An earthquake was occurring on the ground colored red with the blood of demons. A black hand popped out of the cracks.
“Demon Slayer, you have crossed the line.” Marchosias, the 29th great demon—he was the master of the land Yura was currently standing on. His strength... he was stronger than the 13th Great Demon, Beleth, when Beleth in the human world. “It isn’t enough to bring Baal into my territory. You had to come back immediately and act tyrannical. If you have been purposely trying to get my attention, then congratulations. You have succeeded.”
‘I didn’t know that Marchosias would move so fast.’
Yura had been mindful of the situation since she heard that Grid wanted to go to the 29th h.e.l.l again. She just a.n.a.lyzed that it had a very low probability of occurring. Marchosias was so cautious that he was often called a coward among the great demons.
However, it seemed the intensity of this provocation was too severe. In the end, they met. It seemed it would be difficult for her to survive.
‘There is no way other than to fight.’
What could she do? The water had already been spilled.
‘He is someone I have to fight anyway. Think of it as an opportunity to gauge my skills in preparation for the future.’
Even if it meant sacrificing her life in return. Yura was feeling determined when an unexpected voice entered her ears.
“Yura, did you know that your eyes curve more when you smile while hiding your worries?”
“......!”
The shocked Yura felt the heat. A sword burning with fire slowly emerged from the gap in the gate that hadn’t completely closed yet. Then it soon disappeared. The heat that warmed Yura’s skin hadn’t completely dissipated when there was a chilling cutting sound where Marchosias stood.
Yura belatedly noticed it—Grid’s sword that previously couldn’t reach Beleth in the human world properly was now cutting Marchosias’ throat.
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[1] It wasn"t explicitly stated in a notification window but Grid has indeed lost all the penalties from h.e.l.l after his previous epic. It was shown in the short line of Baal"s surprise.