Overgeared

Not long ago, Hayate had told Grid, “I only recently realized that most of the top dragons, who are inherently threatened by the old dragons, can make rational decisions.”

He said he learned a lot based on the story of the Crazy God and Crazy Dragon and he planned to leave the tower to embark on a long journey.

“I will visit and talk to the top dragons who have maintained their dignity and settled in one place for a long time.”

He would persuade them to understand and coexist with each other. It would not be easy, but he smiled as he said it would be better than blindly confronting them. He even promised to help with the recruitment of the human gods during the journey.

Then today, the situation changed rapidly. Baal caused a proper incident. Hayate was forced to return to the tower in a hurry and the tower members told him that they wanted to help Grid.

He naturally allowed it. The essence of the Tower of Wisdom was to protect the world from threats that humanity couldn’t respond to. It wasn’t just about being obsessed with dragons. In his heart, Hayate also wanted to go to hell with them. However, he couldn’t leave the surface empty, so he stayed alone in the tower. He didn’t express it to the tower members, but he was worried about the evil dragon Bunhelier.

A dragon that cooperated with Baal in the distant past and swallowed demonic energy—Hayate was concerned that the Asura Path that spread on the surface might provoke him. That concern became a reality. The energy that blossomed from the end of the world—the unbelievably powerful and ominous aura captured Hayate’s mind.

‘He has woken up.’

An elegant demeanor—a bitter smile spread across Hayate’s face as he placed his hand on the pommel of his sword.

‘It must be Baal’s intention.’

A thousand years after the tower was born, he had a new dream and planned a trip. It was a pity that he would die before he could even start properly. Still, it was fine. Even if he died, Grid remained.

He felt some lingering regrets, but there was no worry. For the first time since he was born, he wasn’t afraid of death.

***

Time was running out.

Grid’s party clearly recognized the situation. Just before boarding the elevator, they saw hundreds of humans in a crisis on their own being broadcasted in the sky. They had to hurry to save even a few more lives. The lives of those currently trapped in hell weren’t just their own lives. The more they died, the stronger Baal’s power became. Therefore, it was necessary to rescue them, even if it was just for the sake of the cause.

“It is said that logging out is possible within hell.”

Immediately after the incident, Lauel logged out without hesitation. The quick-witted Yura logged out in advance and had been waiting for his call. He received a lot of information thanks to this.

“However, as you know, it is impossible to log out during a battle. They said that it is very difficult to find the timing to log out.”

It meant that the enemy’s offensive continued non-stop.

“In the first place, avoiding the crisis by logging out isn’t the solution.”

Baal set a new law in hell. The beings who entered hell couldn’t escape from hell through any means or methods. It meant that even if they avoided the crisis in front of them by logging out, they would be stuck in hell for the rest of their lives.

“The only method identified to get out of hell so far is to die. Yet when looking at the reviews left by the deceased players, there is a 100% chance that those who are killed will lose their skills. This means it is hard for them to offer up their lives blindly…”

This was why the players trapped in hell couldn’t die. The skills of the dead were absorbed by Asura’s fragments and transferred to Baal or Baal’s subordinates.

“It is known that the skills will be taken away, so I guess there will be a fuss.”

“Yes, there are many people looking for flights to the S.A Group’s headquarters in order to protest.”

‘It serves them right. Those beggar jerks.’

What S.A Group? Please be surrounded by protest trucks and have the entrance of the parking lot blocked…

Grid cursed sincerely. It was absurd no matter how much he thought about it.

The last class quest of Pagma’s Successor. It was to save Pagma’s soul. How could he clear this? If Grid hadn’t reached the myth rating and if he hadn’t obtained the apostles, tower members, and human gods—if he was just an ordinary Pagma’s Successor, he would’ve tearfully given up the quest.

‘At least 10 years… no, I would’ve only set up a large group in 20 years to attempt it.’

It was a class quest that most players could only challenge when they reached a high level. Was this really the right design? Grid didn’t think so. He suspected that they were aiming for him and raised the difficulty of the class quest. The S.A Group had long been obsessed with balance and would block a player’s path. Although maybe he grew to this point because of the backlash he received from the S.A Group…

“It is said that the neutral areas throughout hell have lost their safe zone function as the statues of Yatan were destroyed… that doesn’t mean there are no answers. The crystal castle is still in good shape, so we can use it as a shelter.”

Inside the elevator that descended quickly, Lauel stood beside Grid and communicated the situation non-stop. They were companions for many years. Lauel had lost his combat capabilities in the aftermath of investing his stats in political power. He was reluctant to fight on the battlefield, but he couldn’t help it this time. It was an urgent situation. Time was running out to organize the information that Yura had obtained and to pass it onto Grid. It was best to do it himself and deliver it.

“We need to rescue people, gather them in the castle, and then reorganize our power. However, most of the groups have been pushed out of the front lines and dispersed. This means the difficulty will be very high. Rescue is possible only when we know where they are located, but it is difficult to find where they are hiding…”

“Don’t worry about searching for people.”

The elevator felt cramped because it was loaded with magic machines. Braham cut in proudly from where he was standing proudly alone in the center.

“You’ll be able to find them with the magic of me and that woman.”

He glanced at Jessica. He showed that he was willing to cooperate with Jessica. It was a very surprising attitude considering Braham’s usual personality. He seemed to be acknowledging Jessica’s skills. However, the tower members weren’t at a rank where they needed Braham’s acknowledgment.

“That guy has no courtesy,” Biban whispered in Jessica’s ears, but his voice was so loud that it entered everyone’s ears. Well, he wouldn’t have deceived the hearing of the people here even if he spoke in a low voice in the first place.

“It is understandable. He is the child of Beriache and the strongest magician of all time. It is natural to be arrogant considering his background. He is probably around the same age as me.”

“What does age have to do with having no manners? Tsk tsk.”

In the end, Biban clicked his tongue. In fact, he didn’t like Braham from the start. Didn’t Braham proudly cross his arms and occupy the center the moment he boarded the elevator? This habit would’ve been corrected right away if Braham hadn’t been Grid’s apostle.

Braham snorted.

“You are frivolous. It seems there is a flaw in your wisdom that doesn’t match your rank. I can see why you were overtaken by your disciple.”

Braham had a strong first impression of the tower members.

Previous legends and transcendents—weren’t they the ones who supported the Dragon Slayer? Additionally, he was told that they had helped Grid several times. He naturally appreciated them and liked them. However, his heart became cold the moment he saw Biban’s sword.

The dragon weapon created by Grid—his stomach cramped at the thought that this bastard occupied the most precious treasure in history that even he hadn’t been gifted with yet. It meant that his liking disappeared like it was a lie when it came to Biban.

“What…? Frivolous? There is a defect in my wisdom? Say it again.”

“You are frivolous and ignorant. Now you also have bad hearing? Once again, you deserve to be overtaken by your disciple.”

“Y-You…!”

From his strong body to his intelligence, magic, and appearance, Braham was perfect in every way. There was just a problem with his reactionary personality. He had improved to the level of a gentleman compared to when he was a scumbag in the past, but he had a bad personality from a general point of view. He used his innate intelligence and magic power enhanced senses to analyze the weaknesses of his opponents and dig into them without hesitation.

Biban couldn’t handle him. He would have to use violence to beat Braham.

“This vampire, demonic bastard…”

The tower members eventually had to restrain Biban from grabbing his sword and Lauel whispered to Grid, “Will it be okay? They seem to be on bad terms?”

“It’s fine. Agnus and I are getting along well. Will those who are older than us be more childish than us?”

“……”

“……”

Braham and Biban clearly heard Grid’s voice and took back their killing intent. They knew it was shameful. The situation seemed to have calmed down, but this was actually a miscalculation.

“Your eyes… Shall I dig them out?” Agnus suddenly growled. He seemed annoyed that from before the elevator until now, Betty had been staring at him without blinking. His attitude of swallowing down his swear words was quite commendable. He wasn’t intimidated because Betty was a powerful being. It seemed he was unable to treat her like that because she was a girl.

“Eyes. Shall I give them to you?”

“……!”

Agnus was frightened. He would be abnormal if he wasn’t surprised when seeing a girl shoving her fingers into her eyes.

“…Will it be okay over there?”

“Probably…”

By this point, Grid was also slightly exhausted.

Nefelina was clinging to his arm and trembling because she was overwhelmed by the spirit coming from the tower members.

Abellio had drawn a puppy with a brush with the sense of playing with a grandchild, but he fell into deep thought after seeing the puppy disappear when it was read by Mercedes’ Keen Insight. Zik was discussing runes with the giant brothers and raised his voice in a rare manner.

The fighter Ken was proposing to Garion. It was questionable if he was doing this even though he knew she was a god.

It was complete chaos. It was no different from a market.

“They… they are great people, right?” Lauel asked again for confirmation, but Grid couldn’t answer.

He just smiled slightly. He felt very reassured by his colleagues, who didn’t show any signs of nervousness despite descending to hell. He was convinced that once they joined the expedition active in hell, they would create a party that didn’t fear anything in the world. Yes, they wouldn’t be afraid of Baal either…

Ding!

At the same time, the elevator stopped descending. The automatic opening and closing device made by the giants activated and the door opened. The group led by Grid stepped proudly into hell.

[A random teleportation has occurred.]

It was a large magic circle that greeted them. The black magic that only fully functioned in hell activated as soon as it read the aura of the visitors. Apart from Braham, who quickly grasped the structure of the magic and destroyed it, everyone in the party was engulfed in light and scattered throughout hell. The place where Grid fell…

“Overgeared God…?”

It was the river of reincarnation.

The blood-red eyes of the hell moon watched him.