Overgeared

King Sobyeol’s divinity boosted the power of attack and defense. It analyzed and absorbed the infiltrating energy in detail and then returned it with greater power. It meant that it was possible to fight in an advantageous manner at all times.

He deserved to claim to be invincible. However, he continuously met the worst opponents today.

A certain assassin who turned the unabsorbable concept of ‘killing intent’ into something tangible and used it as a weapon. The Sword Saint who could cut anything and Evil Dragon Bunhelier. Coincidentally, they were beings who partially neutralized the strengths of the colorless divinity.

In particular, Bunhelier’s Breath was optimized for destruction. By the time the colorless divinity attempted to interpret and absorb the Breath, the Breath had already disrupted the structure of the colorless divinity.

It was right after Grid appeared.

This was why King Sobyeol tried to avoid Bunhelier’s Breaths as much as possible.

Now things had completely changed. King Sobyeol threw himself in the direction of the dark Breath of his own volition. It was purely to avoid Grid’s attacks. The Breath fired after Bunhelier predicted his evasion route filled his vision, but so what? He would have to endure pain and wounds if he was hit by the Breath, but he could die if he was cut by Grid’s sword.

[Arrogant guy.]

Bunhelier gritted his teeth after feeling ignored and swung his tail. The body of King Sobyeol was swept away by the Breath and bent into a deformed shape. He flew away instantly with the momentum of becoming a star in the sky. Bunhelier chased after him and swung a paw. It seemed he wanted to test the power of the claws that had been strengthened by the Imoogi’s Poisonous Fang.

[......]

He didn’t reach. King Sobyeol, who stopped and stood still in the air, stepped back slightly and dodged the swing of Bunhelier’s front paw.

“Why is it so short?” Noe asked a tactless question. It was pure doubt. No malice was felt, but Bunhelier was engulfed in even greater anger.

However, perhaps he thought that he shouldn’t show agitation toward a minor creature, so he tried not to show it. He instead fired his Breath again.

The combat style of the Old Dragons was surprisingly simple. There was no need for them to rush in and swing their tail. If they stood still and fired the Breath, the opponent would dodge it in a hurry, only to collapse from exhaustion. It was because the power of the destruction rays fired without a time difference was overwhelming. They just needed to add ‘Dragon Words’ to this and the Old Dragon would be able to secure a definitive victory.

The problem was that Bunhelier was terrible at Dragon Words.

Grid thought, ‘Well, an Absolute has resistance to Dragon Words.’

[This guy... you are avoiding me like a rat.]

“......”

If he was going to say such words, shouldn’t he stop polymorphing into a mouse?

Grid barely swallowed down the words that rose to his throat.

He silently observed the situation. In fact, King Sobyeol was just a prey that had been caught. Grid’s colleagues fought so well. The current King Sobyeol was in such an injured state that Grid could cut his throat the moment he used Shunpo and did a pincer attack with Bunhelier. However, Grid had no intention of getting off Bunhelier’s head. The goal was to maintain the Dragon Knight status.

‘It has been one minute.’

It was because it wouldn’t be unexpected for Chiyou to show up at any moment now.

King Sobyeol was also conscious of it. [A bit more... just hold on for a while...]

The baptism of Breaths started to intertwine like a spider’s web.

King Sobyeol, who was isolated in the storm of destructive rays that engulfed the light around him, was very calm. He was an Absolute for a reason. He withstood the pincer attacks of Grid and Bunhelier with pure skill.

‘If this bastard wasn’t the type to stab others in the back, I would’ve seriously considered cooperation.’

King Sobyeol remained calm even after Shunpo was blocked? This meant that he had something to believe in apart from Chiyou, whose arrival time was unknown. There was no need to forcibly approach him.

It happened the moment Grid made this judgment...

[Hahaha! It is nice to see the trapped rat!] Bunhelier’s thoughts seemed to be different from Grid’s. He rushed quickly toward King Sobyeol, who was trapped in the dark space created by the Breath’s magic power.

‘It is understandable.’

This dark space wasn’t created by accident. It was deliberately created by Bunhelier after he came up with the plan to imprison and then hunt down King Sobyeol. He had made it so he should take advantage of it.

Additionally, Bunhelier was an Old Dragon. He didn’t doubt his own strength. He might be humble if his opponent was Nevartan, Trauka, Raiders, or Chiyou. It was probably also if the opponent was a God of the Beginning or Baal, who cursed him...

‘There are actually many of them.’

In any case, the current Bunhelier was a valiant hunter, not a herbivore disguised as a mouse.

“...It is up to here.”

Grid redistributed all his stat points into strength and tugged at Bunhelier’s horn. It was just before he entered the dark space where King Sobyeol was confined.

Bunhelier stopped reflexively when his head. was pulled back and disliked it. [Do you intend to kill me?]

“You won’t die even if your neck is bent back. A great, Old Dragon won’t die from that.”

[Hmph. Why did you stop me?]

“There is no need to take risks.”

Bunhelier looked beyond the dark space. A small distortion was taking place in the heart of the space filled with Bunhelier’s magic power. It felt like the flow was twisted. The magic power that should’ve intersected in a straight line along the trajectory of the Breaths had become a winding curve.

[It is being absorbed.]

Bunhelier’s Breath has a destructive tendency. The same was true of the magic power, which was the source of the Breath. Originally, it was right that King Sobyeol’s divinity couldn’t absorb it.

But it was doing it.

‘There must still be a hidden secret,’ Grid thought in a simple manner. He had numerous items. Depending on which item he relied on in any situation, they could act as a trump card that was difficult to predict from the enemy’s point of view.

He accepted that King Sobyeol, an Absolute like him, would naturally have such power.

[He is using the divinity of Daebyeol.] On the other hand, Bunhelier intuitively grasped the situation. [The divinity dwelling in the great bow. He has combined it with his own divinity.]

The divinity of King Daebyeol was also colorless. There were differences from the divinity and power of King Sobyeol, but the performance itself was similar, so it was easy to combine.

[He is very strong. I’m glad I stopped as you said.]

Grid was surprised. Bunhelier, who was only kind to himself and was stingy with others, rated King Sobyeol as very strong.

‘It is true that King Daebyeol is a bigshot among bigshots. King Sobyeol also isn’t easy.’

Grid was convinced and asked bluntly, “Is it at a level where we might be pushed back?”

[What? If that was the case, I would’ve used Polymorph right away... no, it isn’t that bad. However, for the time being, my Breath is useless.]

“For the time being. Do you mean that the duration of that state is short?”

[Of course. You are a god. Shouldn’t you know this? It is impossible to embody the divinity of another being as your own. If that was possible, I can guarantee that Judar would’ve been hunting other gods.]

“......”

What was Judar doing? Was it okay to think of him as the Bunhelier of the divine world?

[...Why do you keep looking at me in an unpleasant way?]

Grid thought, ‘It is certain that Bunhelier has eyes in the back of his head.’

Grid shook his head and remained silent. The fact that King Sobyeol had entered a new phase didn’t change the situation.

He remained quiet while feeling wary of Chiyou.

‘If the others flee quickly, then I can run away without hesitation.’

Grid’s gaze shifted toward the ground. His apostles and colleagues were gathered around Braham and Euphemina.They were acting as guards while waiting for Mass Teleport to be completed. It was a move agreed upon in advance with Grid.

‘I’m sorry.’ Grid seemed to hear such an auditory hallucination every time he looked at his colleagues.

He told them in his mind, ‘You don’t know what a great achievement you have accomplished.’

Grid laughed.

Today, the apostles and Overgeared members fought with an Absolute. Thanks to this, Grid was able to hunt down the imoogi before Chiyou arrived. Today’s event would be recorded as part of the myth. No matter what anyone said, the protagonists of this myth would be the apostles and the members of the Overgeared Guild.

It was okay for them to be proud of themselves. They shouldn’t look like they were sinners.

‘They will find out soon enough.’

Grid was certain that as soon as this incident was over and compensation was settled, their status would rise unconditionally. In particular, Kraugel had fought head-on with King Sobyeol and Faker had inflicted a serious wound. It wouldn’t be strange if they gained a few levels of status this time.

‘After that, if they can continue to climb the tower and make great achievements in Asgard, then they can aim to be an Absolute...’

It would actually be much easier to take the route of becoming a ‘god.’ The apostles and the members of the Overgeared Guild were well worshiped by civilians.

However, Grid somehow felt that Kraugel and Faker wouldn’t do that. They would probably reject the normal route.

‘They are both secretly perverts.’

Weren’t they the ones who walked the path of asceticism and refused the easy path?

[You are running away.] King Sobyeol said. Grid woke up from his thoughts due to this intent that emanated from the dark space. King Sobyeol was moving. It was while expressing a completely different momentum from the previous time when he focused on ‘holding on’ while waiting for Chiyou’s arrival. [The yeouiju is mine.]

There was a risk that he would miss Grid the moment the humans on the ground ran away. King Sobyeol noticed this and moved actively. He threw himself toward Bunhelier. In the process, he absorbed all the Breaths that were fired several times. The increasingly thickening dark magic power spread out like a curtain around him.

“Why do you keep shooting Breaths when they won’t work anyway?”

[......]

Grid reprimanded Bunhelier and Bunhelier couldn’t refute it.

Bunhelier had expected the Breaths not to work, but he hadn’t expected it to be to this extent. His pride was hurt and his expression became dark. The divinity, which was originally colorless, retained the magic power of Bunhelier and exerted even more power.

‘I shouldn’t get hit by that.’

Grid’s tanking ability might be comparable to an Old Dragon, but he wasn’t invincible. He wasn’t confident that he could fully handle the magic power of an Old Dragon that was added to the divinities of two Absolutes.

Bunhelier’s thoughts were the same. He hastily descended and dodged the attack.

He paused for a moment in the process. It was less than 0.01 seconds, but he clearly stiffened.

‘Is he really an Old Dragon?’

Grid noticed why Bunhelier had stopped and was convinced.

‘There is no way he is an Old Dragon. He is unconditionally a mixed race. I’m glad I got the yeouiju...’

[Why are you looking at me in such an unpleasant manner?]

“Hey, didn’t you just try to polymorph into a mouse?”

[...Changing the size of my body during battle easily creates beneficial variables.]

“Looking at the way you are talking, the words must’ve stung, nyang,” Noe interjected.

[Shut up, cat.]

The pursuit of King Sobyeol continued even during the midst of their brief conversation. He shot black magic power with the great bow, disrupting Bunhelier’s flight. Finally, he stood on the same stage as Grid. It meant he got on Bunhelier’s back.

[......]

Surprisingly, Bunhelier didn’t react sensitively. The area above his back was Grid’s area.

King Sobyeol stated, [It is too much of a loss to be deprived of the yeouiju in a situation where I can’t get your cooperation. You must not escape.]

King Sobyeol combined the two divinities and absorbed Bunhelier’s magic power. It was a huge greatsword that was made from the black magic power. Maybe it was because he was conscious of Grid’s strength, but he grabbed it with both hands.

‘He is truly an intermediate boss of a dimension.’

Grid had no choice but to fight.

It happened as Noe was applying the Imoogi’s Poisonous Fang to Grid’s sword that was still in the combined state...

Jingle.

A bell was heard.

King Sobyeol’s face noticeably brightened as he said, [The variables have disappeared.]

It was an expression like he had seen a savior.

At this moment, Grid’s head cooled down.

That guy—did Chiyou know he was someone who could make another being look like this? Was this why he turned away from the people who desperately wished to be saved.

Grid recalled the faces of the people he had seen and encountered, and recalled the anger he had forgotten. However, now wasn’t the time to be buried by anger. Braham had just started to activate the Mass Teleport. For Grid, who had to wait for all his colleagues to leave before retreating, one or two seconds seemed like forever.

“Kill him.” Chiyou’s voice was heard. The Martial God slowly descended over the head of King Sobyeol. His gaze was fixed on Grid.

Kill him?

Neither Grid nor King Sobyeol understood what he meant for a moment.

[Are you crazy...?] King Sobyeol grasped the situation a bit faster. He threw himself away violently to leave this spot.

He failed.

Chiyou’s hand grabbed him by the neck and refused to let go.

[Chiyou, you...! Traitor!!]

“Kill him. He will be a good offering for you.”

Grid’s heart sank even further. The more he knew about this existence he had long admired, the more frustrated he became with the fact that Chiyou was so crazy.