‘He also used hiding as a means of attack when fighting against me. The specs are excellent. He can’t escape from the innate limitations of an assassin?’

Surprisingly, Grid was appreciating this battle between Kraugel and Tarma. It was testament to the fact that Grid’s thinking ability had evolved to another level after competition with the high rankers and elites during the National Competition.

‘I don’t know about assassination, but using stealth as a means of attack isn’t advisable in an all-out war. It was obvious that the assassin would eventually reappear, and if they could predict where he would reappear depending on the situation, the strength of the hiding ability would become meaningless. It can be dealt with using a wide range attack.’

Tarma was a shadow assassin. Since he could use shadows as a means of attack and defense, it was better to leave it as a hidden card than to use it to attack. Just like the shadow assassin Grid once met in Winston. Wasn’t he called the king of shadows, Kasim? He utilized not just his own shadow, but all the shadows from the NPCs around him.

‘His ability to utilize stealth was also great...’

When he first heard the name ‘King of Shadows,’ he thought it was a bluff. Now that he thought about it, Kasim was a really strong man.

‘...A named NPC.’

What if Kasim at that time had pointed a knife at him?

‘There is a 100% probability I would’ve died. He didn’t run away because he was afraid.’

He let Grid off. It was questionable.

‘Why?’

Grid thought deeply, but he had no way of knowing the truth. That’s right. Despite how high his stats and insight rose compared to the past, Grid still didn’t know. The great king of shadows was guarding his son, Lord!

***

PvP.

The area of one-on-one matches where no one was allowed to intervene. Only an individual’s ability controlled the game. The victors of PvP could enjoy the feelings of joy and pride, while the losers felt the shame of defeat. A scene where hearts intersected.

"Waaahhhhhhhh!"

The crowd shouted loudly. The spectacular battles of the greatest representatives of each country was making the crowd excited.

“Hey, who is this? Isn’t it the 3rd ranked user who ran away from me with his tail between his legs the other day?”

The 31st match that occurred after dozens of matches.

Chris vs Seuron. Two men who were the masters of one of the seven guilds stood on stage. Soul Predator Seuron started talking.

"Watching your weak self, I once again realized that the concept of ranking is pointless. Isn’t that right? No matter how high your level, your skills are weak.”

The meeting of the seven guilds that occurred a few months ago. Seuron and Chris had fought after an argument. The result was Seuron’s one-sided victory. Chris was defeated without being about to strike back at Seuron. Was Seuron stronger than Chris?

No. It was because Chris hid his power. At the time, Chris had refused to join the alliance of guilds and they were suspicious that he was allied with Grid, leaving him isolated in the middle of enemy territory. He was in danger of being killed, and accepted the shameful defeat because of that.

But now the situation had changed. This was one-on-one, not the middle of enemy territory. No one could intervene in the battle.

“As you said, rankings aren’t an absolute measure of strength. Otherwise, Zibal wouldn’t be ranked second right now. However, I’m different.”

"Kukk kuk, you have already been one-sidedly crushed by me. What are you going on about?”

“Then take a look.”

Clink!

Chris pulled out Grid’s Greatsword, which he used 1.2 billion won to strengthen to +9. The blue-black sword was covered in a white fog, looking overbearing, yet beautiful. Seuron frowned at the sight.

“You’re using the same weapon as Grid! The rumor that you’re allied with Grid is true!”

“Who says my weapon is the same as Grid’s? It isn’t. Isn’t it completely different?”

Chris spoke a lie that seemed absurd. Seuron raised his voice.

“Nonsense! The greatsword you are holding right now looks exactly the same as Grid’s greatsword! It is the same weapon!!"

Chris shrugged.

"It’s different. Grid’s Greatsword is only +8, while mine is +9."

"...”

Grid bowed his head with a grim expression as he watched the match from the standby seat.

“Hah.”

Grid could only sigh. The legendary blacksmith, Pagma's Successor, had a passive that increased the chances of item enhancement. Grid should have more highly enhanced items than anyone else. But Grid had only been able to enhance items up to +8 around 15 times. In particular, he only enhanced 3 items to +9.

Reaching the maximum enhancement that was +10? It was a product of his imagination.

"...There is no chance with my bad luck.”

Grid couldn’t lift his head because he was ashamed. The other players looked at him with sympathy, while Chris and Seuron pointed swords at each other.

“I will show you the power of a unique rated combat class!”

Seuron had already trampled on Chris once, but he couldn’t help shouting angrily at Chris. On the other hand, Chris was calm.

"It’s useless if you don’t support your class with skills.”

No more words were necessary.

Peeng!

The moment the host called the start of the match, Seuron used Soul Explosion as a driving force to narrow the distance between him and Chris. At the same time, his sword moved at a fast speed. The number of people who could react to Seuron’s sudden attack could probably be counted on one hand.

But Chris was 3rd on the rankings. He didn’t raise his level quickly because he got a special class optimized in hunting like Zibal. Chris was comparable to Kraugel, not Zibal. He was a man who came to his present position with his swordsmanship and skills!

Peeeeeong!

“...!”

Seuron’s eyes widened with surprise.

‘He blocked it?’

Setting aside Grid, the majority of people who used greatswords had slow attack speeds. It was the same for Chris, who was at the peak of greatsword users. He distributed stats based on strength and stamina rather than agility, and the greatsword itself caused a decrease in attack speed.

But for Chris, the concept of attack speed was meaningless. He overcame the disadvantages by extracting maximum efficiency for minimal movements. It wasn’t enough to stop Seuron’s sword, so once the two swords collided, Chris concentrated his strength and threw Seuron’s body back before counterattacking.

‘Using attack and defense at the same time...!’

Seuron was amazed as he summoned Soul Armor to minimize the damage caused by Chris’ counterattack. Then he fired Soul Arrows.

Pepepepeong!

Using a ranged attack while moving backwards was a very effective way to keep an enemy in check. Especially if an attack motion wasn’t used. Seuron’s attack skills used souls, so he was able to use them without any motions and his casting time was also fast. This was the tremendous ability of a combat specific class!

"Hup!"

Chris couldn’t catch up and stopped the Soul Arrows with his greatsword. Seuron secured the desired distance and used Soul Transformation to strengthen the Brutal Heavy Sword.

Wuuuong...

Just like Chris, the Brutal Heavy Sword had been enhanced to +9 and it was wrapped in a strong blue light. Then the light shot out.

Swaeeeeek!

Grid was convinced.

‘It should unconditionally be avoided.’

It was a powerful attack where the damage couldn’t be completely adsorbed, even if a tanker blocked with a shield. If Chris blocked with the greatsword, he would receive a heavy blow and his greatsword would be damaged. Grid would unconditionally avoid it instead of facing it head on. The attack was so sharp and quick that it would be hard to use Revolve.

But Chris thought differently. In the first place, for a greatsword user with low agility, avoiding was something they were bad at! He boldly gave up on defense and swung the greatsword to counterattack!

Seokeok!

Puok!

“Ack...!”

"Hup!"

Chris and Sueron groaned at the same time. However, the one who suffered greater damage was Chris. Chris’ greatsword had struck Seuron’s shoulder, while Seuron’s sword was pushed deep into Chris’ heart. At this moment, Seuron was sure of his victory.

He recovered his shield, summoned Soul Spear to block Chris’ movements and cause additional damage, and tried to stab forward again. However, Chris’ toughness was beyond imagination due to the unique rated second class, Tyrant. He overcame the stiffness that occurred due to the deadly blow. Then he ignored the soul bombardment and sent more power into the hands gripping the greatsword.

Ttududuk!

"Kuaaaaak!"

Chris’ greatsword dug further into Seuron’s shoulder, causing him to scream and bend his knees. Due to this, the orbit of his sword was twisted and he couldn’t reach Chris. The battlefield sharply tilted. Chris used the oppression of a Tyrant to deal a fatal combo. Sueron deployed Soul Prison to block Chris and try to fix the situation,. However, his health quickly became depleted because of Chris’ strong power.

『Victory! Chris!! 』

"Wahhhhh!”

"This is a high ranker!”

"Different from Zibal!”

The fierce battle heated up the atmosphere of the Stade de France.

『 Now! Let’s introduce the players who will be fighting in the next round! 』

『 The miracle of the continent! The dragon of China! ‘Genius at fighting’ Hao!! 』

『 A monster who won four gold medals and raised South Korea to the top of the overall rankings! The first legendary class! Pagma's Successor, Grid!! 』

“The protagonist appears.”

Grid climbed up on stage. The beautiful sword Iyarugt dazzled the spectators as it scattered jewel-like blood red light. Hao declared in front of everyone.

"10 minutes. I will knock you down in 10 minutes.”

Grid wanted to be the new sky? It wasn’t even funny. Kraugel was the only sky and someday, Hao would break him.

Grid replied to Hao, who was burning with fighting spirit.

“I will take one hour. I will knock you out shortly before the time limit.”

“...?”

Why did it feel like the two people had changed? Grid always took down his opponents in a short amount of time, so his declaration made the commentators and crowd feel bewildered.