Chapter 167

Exactly 24 seconds ago.

‘Damn.’

Grid stiffened as he saw Hell Gao create dozens of black spheres in an instant. Could he withstand the huge bombardment of spheres that did 3,700~4,200 damage each?

‘29, 30... Surely he doesn’t intend to throw them all at once?’

The flames shot by Hell Gao were fast and explosive. If 30 spheres were fired at once, it was almost impossible for Grid to completely defend or avoid them.

‘In the worst case, I might need to rely on my invincible passive.’

He thought realistically and changed his mind about concentrating on defense.

‘I heard that a crisis is an opportunity.’

Pepepepeng!

Grid concentrated on the 30 fireballs. He saw a face that was a mixture between a monster and a male human face. A thick smile could be seen on Hell Gao’s bizarre face beyond the flames.

‘That monster, he will be off guard because he’s certain that he won.’

Grid had been through countless battles and was aware of the moment of greatest weakness. He decided to boldly confront Hell Gao rather than react timidly to the current crisis.

‘If I assume that I can’t rely on the invincible passive, it’s wiser to fight back rather than defend.’

This was a chance to overcome the crisis.

In his low level days, he had face the knight Leo of Winston. During his middle level period, it was Malacus and the Guardian of the Labyrinth. After that, it was Shay’s party, the pope, the Awakened Guardian of the Forest, and Neberius.

Grid had faced all types of enemies, so his eyes sharpened.

'I have to take some damage.’

Pepepeng!

It was good if simple fog or poison fog was generated, not so good if it was an explosion. Hell Gao’s vision needed to be blocked. Therefore, he prayed while throwing Kenen’s darts and fog appeared.

‘It is good.’ Grid smiled with satisfaction and commanded the pavranium. ‘Protect me as much as possible.’

The seven golden blades moved at his command. They defended as the 30 black fireballs penetrated the fog.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The golden blades showed superior mobility, but it was impossible to defend against all 30 fireballs. Some fireballs broke through the barrier of blades and hit Grid.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

[You have suffered 3,870 damage.]

[You have suffered 3,920 damage.]

[You have been hit by a lethal blow!]

[You have suffered 8,100 damage.]

“Ugh!”

He used the Divine Shield to minimize damage, but the areas that could be shielded were limited and his health fell sharply.

Gulp gulp. Grid hastily drank a potion and wore the Hooded Zip Up.

Suuuk.

The Hooded Zip Up perfectly reproduced the unique function of the invisibility cloaks made by the legendary tailor Kruger. As explosions occurred in rapid succession, Grid’s body became completely invisible.

And.

“Kuahahaha! That cockroach like man has finally been turned into ashes!”

Grid equipped the Ideal Dagger and used Quick Movements to run towards Hell Gao at a fast pace. The weakened Hell Gao’s detection ability was very different from when he first appeared.

[You have been detected by Hell Gao, the master of hellfire.]

[Stealth has been turned off.]

“...What!?”

Hell Gao detected Grid once the distance was narrowed to 3m, and the stealth was released.

“Pagma's Sword Dance.”

Grid had already summoned the red lightning bolt to surround Failure, used Blacksmith’s Rage and hit Hell Gao’s heart with his strongest skill.

“Kill!”

Puoook!

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 538,000 damage to the target.]

The red lightning, Blacksmith’s Rage and the +9 Failure showed overwhelmingly dominant damage. Hell Gao’s health gauge, which had lost three-tenths of its health, now fell to half. But Grid was disappointed. He was disappointed because neither the ‘5 Joint Attacks’ skill attached to the Holy Light Gloves or Failure was activated.

‘If both had been activated and there were 10 strikes, I could’ve killed him...’

It was a pity, but it had already passed. Grid was successful in approaching Hell Gao, so he shrugged his disappointment off.

“Cough! You bastard...!”

Hell Gao suffered damage that couldn’t be overlooked anymore. His face stiffened as he sensed the danger.

Chwaack!

Grid twisted Failure that was in Hell Gao’s chest and declared.

“Now it is your turn.”

As the battle continued, the cooldown time of all his skills except for Transcended Link had ended. He just used Kill, but he still had Link left.

“Pagma's Sword Dance, Link!”

Pipit! Pipipipipit!

Grid skillfully used Pagma's Sword Dance, and dozens of energy blades appeared.

[The level of Pagma's Sword Dance, Link has increased.]

[Your damage will increase. The number of times a target is hit will increase by 5 times.]

[Link Lv. 3]

A dazzling sword dance that is like the wings of a butterfly.

Deals 1,100% of your attack power to a single target.

Skill Usage Conditions: Have a sword type weapon equipped.

Skill Mana Cost: 500

Skill Cooldown Time: 100 seconds

It had been five months since he killed the pope. After that, he used Link hundreds of times, and the level finally rose. Grid smiled joyfully and Hell Gao’s face distorted horribly.

"Kuaaaack!"

[You have dealt 154,600 damage to the target.]

Hell Gao had been weakened two times, but 150,000 damage wasn’t enough to kill him. Hell Gao recovered his poise and fired flames all over the place at Grid.

"Where are you aiming?”

Grid got as close to Hell Gao as possible. He used Pagma's Sword Dance, Wave to cancel out the flames. Then he subsequently used Restraint and made Hell Gao unable to do anything for three seconds.

‘Looking back, the fusion of Transcended Link was only possible after Link reached level 2.

Grid’s brain rapidly spun at this moment. He stepped towards Hell Gao who was shrinking back from Restraint, and triggered two skills in succession.

‘Now that Link is level 3, is it possible to combine it with other techniques?’

He would give it a try. First, it was an attempt at fusion with the most anticipated Kill. If that didn’t work, he would try it with Wave.

“Pagma's Sword Dance...!”

Grid started to dance and killing intent once again gathered at the end of the greatsword. Meanwhile, Hell Gao escaped from the influence of Restraint and summoned a flame in his left hand and hot wind in his right hand, then he combined the two forces together.

‘It is a technique that I can’t stand again.’

Hell Gao fired the attack in a straight line.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The ground burned and the whirlwind of flames hit Grid. Then Grid’s dance finished.

"Kill, Link.”

If these skills failed to combine, Grid’s current health would fall and his invincible passive would activate.

‘Please...!’

It was less than a second. Grid hoped that the fusion of Kill and Link would be successful, and Hell Gao hoped that Grid would die.

And.

Kwajak!

Grid’s Failure collided with the whirlwind of flames. The flames were swallowed up by Failure, while the light around the greatsword became more intense than before.

'I did it!'

Grid was delighted. It succeeded.

[The new skill fusion has succeeded.]

[Fusion skill ‘Linked Kill’ has been created.]

[Your intelligence has increased by 10 due to the successful fusion of a new skill.]

[Linked Kill]

It is a sword dance that combines hatred with the dazzling flapping of wings.

Due to the weight of Kill, the dazzling style is reduced, but the strength of Kill is overpowering.

A minimum of three to seven blows will be randomly generated that will deal 1500% damage per hit (the current damage of Kill -300%).

* This skill doesn’t share a cooldown with Kill and Link.

* Please note that your stamina will be depleted if there are seven strikes.

Skill Mana consumption: 90% of the maximum mana.

Skill Cooldown Time: 1 hour.

It was a skill where the power of Kill was weakened.

It might not have compared to when 5 Joint Attacks was triggered with Kill, but the big advantage was that three strikes were always guaranteed, while it wasn’t certain that 5 Joint Attacks would be triggered.

Duguen! Duguen!

Grid’s heart beat wildly from joy. The first Linked Kill crushed the power of the fire whirlwind.

Jjejeong!

‘He still has that much power left?’

The current Grid was clearly injured. Nevertheless, he unfolded powerful attacks in succession, so Hell Gao was forced to feel confused.

‘Is he human?’

A tenacious vitality. Indeed, he was similar to Muller. Hell Gao was forced to acknowledge Grid as the blue greatsword penetrated through the remnants of the flames.

[You have suffered 215,000 damage.]

The second blow.

[You have suffered 219,800 damage.]

The third blow.

[You have suffered 214,600 damage.]

The fourth blow.

[You have suffered 220,100 damage.]

The fifth blow.

[You have suffered 218,700 damage.]

The sixth blow.

[You have suffered 219,200 damage.]

The end? No. Was it like a Chinese restaurant offering good service when it was just opened? Even if he ordered one bowl of jajangmyeon, they would give a second bowl for free as a service. Grid received a lot of service for his success in a new skill fusion.

[Failure’s option effect is activated, causing the skill ‘5 Joint Attacks’ to be generated.]

A notification window constantly popped up as Grid’s attack hit Hell Gao.

[You have dealt 1,057,300 damage to the target.]

[Failure’s option effect is activated, causing the skill ‘5 Joint Attacks’ to be generated.]

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 2,230,900 damage to the target.]

“...!”

Hell Gao couldn’t even scream. The black flames around him turned to jade and were then extinguished. The strongest skill was used and the option of the strongest item was activated, meaning Grid drove Hell Gao to death in an instant.

He once again told the kneeling Hell Gao.

“I am in the same class as Muller.”

Pisik.

Hell Gao nodded for the first time, “I admit it.”

He saw and felt this human called Grid grow in battle. He would eventually follow Muller’s course.

“I lost. I will put off my purpose of ingesting the souls of humans to increase my strength for the moment.”

Hell Gao admitted his defeat. The body of the demonkin was destroyed and turned to fog.

At the same time,

Pepeng! Pepepeng!

The two fire stones that hadn’t been mined yet exploded at Hell Gao’s disappearance.

“T-The fire stones?”

Peak Sword panicked because he had been so busy watching the battle that he forgot about mining. Grid was looking at the notification windows and didn’t see him.

[You have defeated Hell Gao, the master of hellfire, who seizes human souls.]

[Memphis’ Egg has been acquired.]

[118,411,132 experience has been acquired.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has...]

He gained 11 levels at once. Now Grid was level 253. It was a level comparable to the top 300 rankers, but it was still the lowest among the Tzedakah Guild. Furthermore, the reward was a strange item.

“In the end, only two fire stones were mined... It’s big damage."

Hell Gao was the most powerful boss he had ever met. Grid didn’t receive enough rewards for the effort he put in, and he flopped to the ground in disappointment. His stamina was depleted and it was difficult to even lift one finger.

Peak Sword ran up to him. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Grid frowned and glared at Peak Sword. "What will you do if I’m not okay? Will you give me the fire stone you mined?”

"Of course.” Peak Sword confidently replied and pulled out the fire stone he obtained. "I will give this to you.”

The value of the fire stones were so high that it was difficult to price them. But Peak Sword’s life and ranking were saved by Grid, so this was his way of showing gratitude.

“I need one more...” Grid grumbled as he grabbed the fire stone. “Sigh... I tied Hell Gao up for 10 minutes, so how did you only obtain one fire stone in that time? Perhaps your level isn’t good enough... It is pretty pathetic.”

"..."

Peak Sword was 16th on the unified rankings.