Chapter 1617

“Zeratul? He is a weird guy.”

The defeat of the martial god was also a topic in hell.

“Why did he descend to the surface and fight unfavorably? On the surface, the rank of the Overgeared God is by no means easy,” Amoract asked like she didn’t understand.

The 3 evils of the beginning—they were the absolutes of hell created by Yatan himself. Even the 4th Great Demon, Gamigin, who reigned with fear during the Great Human and Demon War, feared them. However, an absolute appreciated Grid.

‘Considering Grid’s achievements, even Yatan would appreciate him. It isn’t just Amoract.’

Rose was surprised, but she was understandably convinced. On the other hand, she also felt sad.

‘By the way, Amoract has been courting Yura as well, right? Is she just treating me poorly?’

Endurance of hardships—it was a phrase that Rose had been reminded of hundreds or thousands of times. By the time she was aiming for the black magician rankings, Yura had already been reigning as the most supreme magician. She surpassed the 1st ranked black magician rankings to dominate the overall rankings and became Yatan’s Servant.

The gap had widened by the time Yura betrayed the Yatan Church. She started to cooperate with the Overgeared Guild. The best rankers in each field gathered around Grid and created a synergy beyond imagination. The Overgeared Guild was literally active in all directions. They established a kingdom and reigned.

Hostile forces were brutally trampled on and the targets included the Yatan Church. The Overgeared Guild might not even remember it, but Rose had clashed with the Overgeared Guild again and again. Every time, she suffered defeat, failure, and bitness as if it was natural.

There was a time when she cried because she was sad. In particular, whenever her hidden quest was interrupted and failed, she got caught in her pent-up resentment and tossed and turned through the night for a few days. She felt so resentful that she even went on air and played the press.

She never lay sick in bed. She never had the thought of giving up or running away.

The experience of competing with Yura made her stronger. A gap that was difficult to narrow even with bloody effort. She had experienced such a desperate situation from the beginning and quickly adapted no matter how difficult the environment around her.

Satisfy was inherently difficult. It had never once been easy. This suffering was a matter of course… it was with this mindset that she endured the suffering.

She suddenly had a thought. She thought it was better that the enemy was strong. Rather than being tangled up with those of a similar ability and fighting a muddy battle that no one knew about, it was better for her to compete with those whom everyone approved and envied. That way, her value would rise regardless of the outcome.

It wasn’t just self-rationalization. In fact, she had been offered many opportunities. By gritting her teeth and holding on, she quickly became the hope of the Yatan Church.

A group where everyone had left. She became the only high ranker left in the Yatan Church, which had become as precarious as a shipwreck that might be swallowed up by the sea. It was natural for all the hidden pieces related to the Yatan Church to revolve around her. Eventually, she met Amoract and was reborn as a great demon.

At first, she thought she had received enough rewards. She believed that the golden road to her future life was unfolding in front of her.

…This was until she was defeated by the Overgeared Guild. She was the first player to achieve the feat of becoming a great demon, but her life didn’t change. She was defeated every time she met the Overgeared Guild and the shadow of Grid standing in the distance was the same. More power was needed.

Yes, like Katz, she would only be competitive at the level of the three evils. Rose hoped to be chosen by Amoract. Ever since she moved to hell, she served Amoract with the utmost sincerity. She believed that her heart had been sufficiently conveyed. It was because Amoract was kind to her. She was looking forward to being something special to Amoract, just like Katz became Beriache’s Knight.

It was an illusion. She noticed Amoract’s attitude toward Yura. Amoract didn’t show real kindness to Rose. Compared to her obsession with Yura, Rose was treated like a stone on the side of the road.

Rose tried to understand. From Yatan’s Servant to Demon Slayer. Wasn’t Yura’s background really special? She thought it was natural for Amoract to show interest. There was no need to talk about Grid.

“Trauka’s daughter, Ifrit, regarded him as the one who overshadowed the years. It must mean that the Overgeared God’s growth rate is against common sense, but only the uselessly arrogant Zeratul overlooked this and suffered humiliation.”

The supreme player—there was no way Amoract couldn’t know him or underestimate him when he was powerful enough to change the worldview.

‘I understand everything. I understand, but isn’t it too much to not be interested in me?’

It was Rose who felt left out. Then she laughed because a thought suddenly came to mind.

Grid and Yura—she was the one who had been competing for more than 10 years with the two people acknowledged (?) by Amoract. In recent years, the armed conflicts had been frequent. Of course, she was always one-sidedly defeated and the two of them might not remember her name, but… in any case, it was amazing that she fought with these two people.

‘How can she not acknowledge me?’

Amoract. Even if you neglect me now, one day you will eventually turn to me.

Rose was already ecstatic when imagining that moment.

“…Huhut! Kekekeke!”

“……?”

Amoract looked strangely at Rose, who was suddenly laughing alone, before looking away. This great demon with a human origin was incomprehensible in many ways…

She often laughed even after failing every mission and she seemed to have lost her mind due to the side effect of losing too often.

‘At first, I thought she was a pretty talented kid.’

Then Amoract realized it was unreasonable the moment she saw Yura again. If Yura was a star shining in the universe, then Rose was a pearl in the mud. Rose wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t at a comparable level.

Ahh, Yura.

Poor child who doesn’t know that being a Demon Slayer is useless. You don’t know what it means that Baal targeted Alex’s soul. The Light of Destruction that you depend on has already been thoroughly dissected.

Baal is lowly and he enjoys the suffering of others. He has been digging into the bottom of Alex’s soul for a long time. In the first place, Alex’s strength doesn’t even reach the toes of the 3 evils. If you really want to purify hell, you shouldn’t be satisfied with being the Demon Slayer. You must hold onto the hand I reach out…

Once again, Amoract sent a whisper to Yura today. Her body was tied to the throne, but the mimicry using her magic power flew to Yura’s place and conveyed her consciousness.

‘…Um?’ Amoract, who had a sad expression on her face, cocked her head. It was because her mimicry was cut too easily. This had never happened before. The level of the human beings who invaded hell had quickly risen due to Baal’s meaningless tricks, but it was unlikely that they had already reached this level.

‘Who cut me? Don’t tell me…?’

The Overgeared God—did he use the momentum of winning the fight against Zeratul to go straight to challenging Baal? It was excessive overconfidence. He would be defeated.

‘It is a pity, but this is a good thing.’

Amoract’s wish was the return of hell, or purification, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a grudge against Grid. Grid was the culprit for suppressing the Yatan Church and desecrating God Yatan. She was reluctant in many ways to sit back and watch him become endlessly strong after he received the recognition of the dragons. Honestly, she felt intimidated.

‘Yet if he loses to Baal today and loses his divinity… it will be balanced. Humans will rely on me, not the Overgeared God.’

What Amoract desired wasn’t the complete independence of humanity. He hoped that humanity would triumph over Baal and reclaim hell, but in the process, they would surely borrow her strength. A great demon was inherently strong and the more humans they contracted with, the stronger they became. The ideal picture would be for humans to receive her help when coming to hell, but… the advent of a bizarre device called the hell elevator made it impossible to hope for that much.

‘Sooner or later, I will restore my father’s lost honor and I will be the only one standing by my father’s side.’

A smile spread across Amoract’s face as she positively accepted the early appearance of the Overgeared God.

***

“Wow…”

It was soon after the offensive of the demonic creatures sensed by Baal ceased. Amoract’s mimicry broke into the Overgeared Guild’s camp. It seemed to have aimed for this timing. It was a great crisis for the greatly tired Overgeared members. This was when Yura stepped forward and slashed at the mimicry.

That’s right. Contrary to Amoract’s expectations, the one who cut her mimicry was Yura. Thanks to this, the members of the Overgeared Guild could breathe and they couldn’t help admiring it.

They noticed the Light of Destruction. Light of Destruction was the ultimate technique of the Demon Slayer, who acted to counter evil beings. Unconditional critical hits, attacking the weakness, increased damage of critical hits, ignore attribute resistance, penetration damage, overlapping damage, demonic energy weakening, incurable, etc. It had all types of beneficial effects. It was unreasonably powerful, but it had the terrible restriction that the full power could only be exerted against targets with demonic energy.

Instead, there was one more drawback. It was a ranged attack. It was easy to load a gun and shoot the bullets, so it was fast and easy to snipe targets. It was just difficult to use in a close-ranged battle. The Demon Slayer showed enough fighting power to discuss being called the strongest in hell, but that was when her teammates supported her. In a one-on-one situation, her strength was sealed and she was relatively vulnerable.

Now it was different. Yura, who at one point had attempted to use Light of Destruction like Aura, had evolved completely after becoming accustomed to Nothing Stone. Light of Destruction, which normally refused to be overlaid over armor and couldn’t exert its full power, was mixed with Nothing Stone and overlaid on her armaments. It was possible because Nothing Stone was the Elemental King of Nothingness.

Nothing Stone had no attributes, so it was able to embrace all attributes that were incompatible with each other. It meant that the power of the Elemental King of Nothingness and the ultimate technique of the Demon Slayer had become one, so it naturally exerted transcendent power.

The power of Light of Destruction had risen several times more than before. It transformed into a continuous skill and became useful in many ways.

-It is rewarding to have a contract with you. The Overgeared God will be delighted as well.

‘Thank you, Nothing Stone.’

The sight of Yura smiling brilliantly like she was with Grid was extremely beautiful.

Vantner looked at her with a pleased expression and said emotionally, “It is a predetermined fact that Yura will build up transcendence… additionally, won’t she be aiming for level 600?”

The wave of demonic creatures sent by Baal gave him dozens of times more experience points than the undead that inhabited Galgunos’ Temple. Moreover, the number was thousands of times greater. In effect, it was actually a wave of experience. At this point, he almost couldn’t help wondering if Baal was helping on purpose.

“Yes, if this goes on for a year or two, it will be easy to reach level 600. Yet before that, won’t Baal come to us in person or we will go to Baal? Level 600 is nonsense. Even Grid isn’t level 600 yet,” Pon refuted it. He didn’t mean to pick a fight. In the first place, Vantner knew that his words weren’t realistic. He was just excited after admiring Yura and talked about anything.

However, Vantner objected to one part of Pon’s words. “What do you mean by Grid isn’t level 600? He is naturally over level 600. In my opinion, um… he would be at least level 602.”

“Of course. Grid is always beyond our imagination!” Huroi immediately agreed.

Unconditional faith that was close to a faith beyond loyalty. There was more than one person like that. Regas and many others, even Katz, nodded in agreement.

Surprisingly, Peak Sword denied it. “Even if it is God Grid, he can’t be level 600. He hadn’t hunted for almost half a year.”

It was a conviction that came from the confidence that he knew Grid better than anyone. He was the president of the Korean Patriotic Association, which worked for the motherland, so Peak Sword placed great importance on Grid’s personal safety. He knew Grid’s schedule and knew almost everything Grid was doing and where he was doing it. He naturally knew that Grid had only focused on the work of a blacksmith for over half a year.

Of course, he had challenged a super named boss raid several times, such as fighting the dragons and repelling Zeratul, but he only won the Zeratul battle. This meant that Grid could only gain experience from the fight against Zeratul. So what means would he use to pass level 600? It was a fantasy that could only be embraced by those who didn’t know God Grid.

“Why can’t he do hunting? Grid can hunt while making items, right?”

“You mean by using the God Hands and Overgeared Skeletons? Heh, you really don’t know God Grid very well. The items that Grid has made recently are the dragon weapon and armor. He needs an extra large furnace, just like when he made Gujel’s Fang. This means it is almost impossible to do blacksmithing work while hunting.”

Peak Sword’s nose gradually rose higher. He seemed to regard his words as the truth. It was a sight that proved the Overgeared Guild was close to a Grid cult. There were those who believed that Grid surpassed level 600 and those who believed they were a Grid expert and thought this wasn’t the case. The thing they had in common was that they didn’t know the benefits of being the Pioneer. They also vaguely counted the fact that the level of enemies that Grid fought was beyond imagination, but they didn’t intuitively understand it.

Yura and Jishuka just found the situation interesting. It was because the women who met and talked to Grid every day knew Grid’s exact level.

It was a huge 691. How surprised would their colleagues be when they found out… they were already looking forward to the reactions.

***

[Your level has risen.]

‘I have eight levels left until the 7th awakening.’

His level rose again in the process of disassembling and smelting the 14 divine weapons. Even so, his experience gauge was almost full. After defeating Martial God Zeratul, he actually gained over 50 levels.

‘It is fun.’

There was a time when his level really didn’t go up. This was especially the case in the late 300s and the 400s. He got a few experience buffs from his items and titles, but he felt it was far from enough. Then a lot changed after he became the Pioneer. The enlightenment effect gave wings to Grid.

Enlightenment was a perfect match for Grid, who was prone to being targeted by strong enemies. The effect of enlightenment was maximized the higher the enemy’s level and status. It was also important that he made dragon weapons and armor. Perhaps it was because the system decided they were ultimate items, but they gave a lot more experience points than killing a bunch of named bosses. The fact that Xenon’s scales would be steadily supplied in the future made Grid even more excited.

He enjoyed seeing his level soar up.

‘Indeed, the taste of leveling up in games is the greatest.’

In particular, Satisfy had stats awakening in increments of 100 levels. Every time he entered a new level unit, he was given a sense of purpose. Therefore, there was no room to get tired of growing.

“…Um?”

Grid had been concentrating on his work with Lord when he noticed something unusual. The air had changed. It was different from Braham’s sanctuary. Braham’s sanctuary had increased the destructive power of mana in the atmosphere, while the current air was gentle and warm.

Grid belatedly noticed it. The beginning of this change came from the ground. The overflowing vitality of the land had changed the ecosystem and even the climate had changed.

‘Piaro?’

Did he have good compatibility with the new secret technique?

Grid felt overwhelming emotion, so he stopped working and left the smithy. He saw Piaro integrating with nature. It was accompanied by a strange notification.

[Garion, the god of the earth, is cheering and clapping while saying that he believed Piaro could do it.]

“……”

A god who originated from Rebecca, but stayed on the surface, not in Asgard. Although he was always on the surface, the earth god Garion was respected by all humans like the world tree and he seemed to have been watching Piaro for quite some time.

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