“Wow, this is really scary.”

“He bought me 43 seconds more than I required.”

2 minutes and 23 seconds—this was the amount of time it took Noll to break in and out of the middle of the enemy camp. There were at least tens of thousands of attacks that struck Noll at the same time, but he didn’t die.

He had an excellent tanking ability and recovery ability, while the Valhalla of Strong Trust that Grid had made for him increased his health, reduced the damage he received, gave him additional defense against multiple enemies, and strengthened his physical defense and magic defense in dark places. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call him a zombie. 

“He is almost immortal because of his blood-sucking and tanking ability.”

Noll’s defense and recovery were overwhelming and unique, beyond a fraudulent level. The attack power of ordinary soldiers who had yet to receive their third advancement couldn’t damage him. Of course, among the 250,000 imperial troops, there were a large number of third advancement elites and fourth advancement nobles, but most of them were at the forefront. They couldn’t immediately respond to Noll breaking into the center of the formation, allowing him to slaughter the enemies without hesitation.

Noll proved that the saying about direct descendants being a ‘disaster’ wasn’t an exaggeration.

Simultaneously, it proved the limitations on the concept of military force. He was active for 2 minutes and 23 seconds. It wasn’t a short amount of time considering that he fought alone against 250,000 soldiers. However, from a general point of view...? It was shorter than the time it took to go in and out of the bathroom once.

In other words, even such a strong Noll could only be active for that time. During that short time, Noll only fought 2,000 enemies, but those 2,000 out of the 250,000 soldiers turned to dust. That’s right. There was a clear limit to the number of armed people that could be fought at once.

“...”

It was a play that made time for Faker and Kasim to assassinate enemy targets. Euphemina watched Noll's fierce and desperate battle from beginning to end and was greatly inspired. She once again realized the truth behind the power of her duplication. Although she had been focusing on slaughtering as many enemies as possible by copying great magic, she decided this time should be different.

‘This time, there are too many enemies.’

No matter how massive the high-level magic she copied was, the number of enemies she could kill by herself was limited. She wasn’t able to demonstrate her full strength against hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were thoroughly prepared.

‘I needed something other than force.’

Aside from military force, the most important strength in a war was having abilities. What was the power? How could she use it to gain the advantage in this war? Euphemina, who had gained full trust from Grid and her colleagues, thought and thought about it. She didn’t want to disappoint her trusted colleague and worked hard to defend the Overgeared members and Overgeared Kingdom that were now the most precious things in her life. In the end...

“Huroi.” 

Euphemina recalled one man—an orator who only looked at Grid’s back, thinking and acting for Grid’s sake. He was a loyal speaker who came forward every time a big scandal occurred. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the reason why Reidan’s soldiers had been able to fight against the imperial army without becoming frustrated over the past month was due to Huroi’s verbal skills. Indeed, it was easy for him—the first-ranked orator who could save and kill people with his words—to boost the morale of the soldiers.

“Excuse me. Huroi?”

“What?”

On one of the oasis trees, the person who was looking at the imperial army in the desert with a telescope turned his head. The hen sitting on his shoulder stiffened, but Euphemina ignored it. She just stared at Huroi. 

It was quite awkward. Unlike his colleagues, Huroi was only dedicated to Grid and didn't care about others. Euphemina didn’t talk to him too often and didn’t have much experience being alone together with him. In particular, his gaze toward her had become thornier and thornier ever since Euphemina started associating with Agnus. Euphemina barely managed to shake off the awkwardness and opened her mouth, “Have you ever heard of the disguise class?”

“I’ve heard of it. It is a hidden class that disguises the subject with excellent makeup and molding skills.”

“I was interested since I first heard rumors about it two years ago. Thus, I checked its identity.”

“Just like you dug into Agnus’ background and approached him?”

“...Huhut.”

This man was too intolerable. Euphemina smiled awkwardly as her thin eyebrows wrinkled. The girl with twin ponytails only looked cute when she was angry. Euphemina was one of the few people Grid was afraid of, and that was precisely why Huroi didn’t like her. She was a colleague that his liege—Grid, the master of the Overgeared members and Overgeared Kingdom—felt fear toward. Consequently, Huroi could only see Euphemina as a less popular personality.

‘In the past, she committed sins against My Liege...’

Of course, it was a thing of the past. Euphemina had countless achievements since joining the Overgeared Guild. Still, Huroi didn’t like Euphemina. He really hated her. It was particularly annoying that she had a relationship with Agnus, whom Grid had an aversion to.

Huroi clicked his tongue and urged Euphemina, “So why did you bring up the disguise class?” 

Euphemina had no intention of talking for a long time with Huroi. She quickly suppressed her irritation and explained, “I’ll copy the Disguise skill. Then I will disguise you as a member of the imperial army. I want you to infiltrate the enemy’s camp, incite them, and destroy them.”

“Is this Lauel’s plan?”

“No. It is a plan I thought of myself, and I need your cooperation in this plan. If you say that you will cooperate, I will go back and explain it to Lauel.”

“Hrmm.”

Propaganda and fabrication, swearing and talking about people’s parents, chaos and collapse—these were all Huroi’s specialties. However, the empire had already figured it out. During the war, Huroi wasn’t given a chance to say anything. Huroi failed to play a significant role and had to be satisfied with encouraging the troops from the rear. It was a different story if there was a disguise skill. There would surely be a chance for him to use his mouth.

“It sounds like a good plan.”

“Is that so? The problem is that Disguise lasts for up to three days. After three days, your original state is restored and Disguise will be released. If your makeup is erased within the three days, the details of the disguise will disappear and the chances of it being discovered will increase.”

“Three days...”

Was it possible to spread lies, incite the enemy, and cause trouble in three days? Moreover, in an army of 250,000...? Wasn’t it impossible even for the 1st ranked orator? Huroi made an upset look. Meanwhile, Euphemina laughed, “You can’t do it? Then give up. What can I do if you don’t have the ability?”

“...What?”

It was annoying. He was so angry that he almost asked about her parents. The ‘Swearing’ and ‘Spiteful Tongue’ skills of the orator were all expressed as language. He had already talked too much about people’s parents that the words naturally fell from his mouth. It was a habit. This was truly a dangerous phenomenon. If he talked about other people’s parents in his daily life in reality, he could be sued...

“...Umm.”

If this continued, it might become a hobby to write malicious comments on the Internet like Peak Sword. Huroi had a great deal of respect for Grid. Grid controlled his strength and dexterity while walking in the middle. He was a good man who would never appear again in history.

“...” Huroi thought about his liege and controlled his thoughts.

‘Let’s aim to resemble his liege,’ Huroi vowed and regained his composure. Then he responded to Euphemina with clear eyes, “I’ll do it, but the premise is that your disguise is perfect.” 

“That’s a good answer. Then I’ll try to copy the Disguise skill as soon as possible. In the meantime, you should ask Faker to collect as many characteristics and information of the targets as possible.”

“Yes.”

The two of them teamed up for the first time in ages. A great crisis was brewing because of the new camaraderie.

*** 

The white garment symbolizing the pope was torn. The holy sword, which should be shining brilliantly, had lost its light and was worn out. Surrounded by the Yatan Servants, Pope Damian was dying. He was a helpless figure compared to the first pope who destroyed all evil.

“Are you an idiot?” It was the 1st ranked black magician, Rose. As one of Yatan’s Servants, she participated in the Fourth Religious War and mocked Damian. No, it was more of an absurd reaction than a mockery. “The church that doesn’t have much fighting power apart from Rebecca’s Daughters is fighting head on against our Yatan Church? Why risk your own life when you can use Rebecca’s Daughters for guerrilla warfare? Won’t you be stripped of your pope’s position because you are responsible for this defeat?”

Rose poked at the core of the matter. From the very beginning, the Rebecca Church had no chance in the war against the Yatan Church. It was natural that the responsibility for the defeat would be borne by Pope Damian. This war was obviously foolish to everyone. Nevertheless, Damian didn’t regret it.

“Even if I could go back to a month ago, I would still declare war on you again.”

He wanted to help Grid. In any case, his position as pope had been handed to him by Grid. He could put it down at any time for Grid.

“Great. I guess the rumor that you started this war on the pretext of rejecting the empire’s support request is true.” Rose recalled the war of the past month.

From the beginning, Damian had no intention of winning. He focused on minimizing the damage to his allies and committed to leading this war for a long time. Damian had thrown his life away at least 20 times for the NPC priests and paladins.

“Haven’t you died at least 10 times in this war? Isn’t it strange to sacrifice so much for others?”

“...No.” Damian restored his holy sword. He used a small amount of magic power to heal himself and got up. His ripped clothing flapped and interfered with his vision. He took off his robe and stared at the holy sword that was emitting a feeble light. “It isn’t strange at all.”

Damian couldn’t forget the days when he first met Grid. He had been an extra, one-sidedly marginalized in a vast world. Then he rose to a leading role through his meeting with Grid. The landscape of the newly changed world was beautiful and brilliant. The emotions he had felt when the dying Isabel was restored to good health still remained deep in his heart.

The glory and happiness he received in the past were only thanks to Grid. It wasn’t too bad to put them all down for Grid. There was only one regrettable thing.

‘I can’t see Isabel-chan closely anymore.’

He wouldn’t be able to meet Rebecca’s Daughters if he were driven out of the church. It was sad and scary. Still, he had no regrets. Damian couldn’t turn a blind eye to the empire trampling on the Overgeared Kingdom that Grid and his colleagues had been building for years.

“I see. I can’t understand why you would abandon the pope’s position or why Yura would give up on being one of Yatan’s Servants.”

What the hell was that person called Grid? Rose shook her head and gathered magic power at the end of Belial’s Staff. She was looking forward to achieving the accomplishment of killing Pope Damian and felt blissful. Yet she failed to kill Damian. It was due to the intrusion of an uninvited guest.

There were lightning fast moves. The monster, who just entered the religious war, quickly slaughtered the Yatan black magicians and reached Rose’s side. The heavy blow damaged Rose’s waist. “Keeok! Cough, cough!”

Her spell casting was canceled. Rose’s eyes were red with anger and pain. 

“This bastard!” The other Yatan’s Servants, who had been planning to watch the pope’s end with folded arms, shouted in anger. 

After going through them, the uninvited guest arrived at Damian’s side and said, “I am called Oasis.”

Then drumming sounds rang out on the battlefield. The surprised Yatan’s Servants turned their heads and saw tens of thousands of people on the hill. The middle-aged man sat on a red horse that was larger than normal horses. He had a bushy beard and gave off a fresh impression. Damian and Yatan’s Servants instantly recognized the identity of the person.

“King of Valhalla!”

It was the God of War, Ares. He waved to Damian. “Hey, we want to get along with the Rebecca Church.”

“Ha... Hahaha...” Damian started laughing. In fact, he had been feeling sad. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Isabel, and he was afraid. It would be terrible to lose everything he built up and be alienated from the world again. 

Then he heard the voice of the young man who introduced himself as Oasis, “I have read your articles thoroughly, Damian. I deeply sympathize and respect your past life.”

He had been like Damian in the past. Oasis was only an ordinary person. However, the person who couldn’t bear the weight of the Undefeated King’s Descendant no longer existed. Oasis abandoned hesitation, trusted in himself, and overcame fear. He had been growing steadily with the help of War God Ares and was now also qualified to become a leading role in the world.

“10,000 Army Swordsmanship.”

Simultaneously, in the capital of the Overgeared Kingdom...

“The West Continent still hasn’t developed breech-loading guns? Loading the bullets from the back will significantly improve the speed...”

“Let’s combine it with the shipbuilding technology of the East Continent. It will boast an incomparable accuracy rate to existing sea-land cannons.”

“It is good to standardize the calibre of the artillery. It will be difficult but we can manage if we make it with the insane dragon iron.”

The blacksmiths from the West Continent and East Continent were constantly exchanging opinions about the design of the new cannon. Things could become messy if there were were too many cooks, but there was no problem if the king was controlling the cooks.

Grid had the blueprint in front of him as he occasionally co-ordinated the opinions of the blacksmiths or filtered them out, making his own food. The media outlets from various countries didn’t know what was going on and expressed their opinion on Grid’s absence.

[Grid, the protagonist has retired.]

[The Overgeared Kingdom’s war without Grid.]

“...”

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