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

“...?”

It was strange since Grid always declared that he would suppress his enemies in an instant. The bewildered commentators and viewers realized at once.

‘Grid has a high appreciation for Hao’s skills.’

‘Indeed, it’s natural. Hao’s control skills have received the ultimate evaluation of society.’

Wasn’t he called the miracle of the continent, the genius of fighting?

‘He’s one of the people mentioned outside of Kraugel. Recently, Grid’s control skills have grown to be comparable to a high ranker, but it is still less than Hao’s.’

‘Moreover, Hao has a skill to take off weapons and armor. Grid’s biggest strength isn’t available against Hao.’

‘In other words, it’s the worst... Grid has no luck.’

People didn’t forget that Grid was a strong champion. But the word champion didn’t mean invincibility. Candidates for winning had their own weaknesses. Unfortunately, Hao was the counter for Grid. Grid was an unlucky person who met Hao in the first round. The viewers watched Grid with compassion, while Hao expressed his confidence.

"Do you think you can hold onto me for one hour? You will even knock me down? Don’t speak impossible words. You will soon realize the reality.”

“Eh?”

Grid suddenly looked surprised at Hao’s provocative remark. He tried to make his eyes as big as possible, but his facial muscles seemed stiff.

‘What?’

Hao and the audience were confused by Grid’s surprised and awkward manner.

“Hey! Just released by the Comet Group! A diamond studded top of the line sound system installed on the capsule! Wonderful! I can clearly hear Hao’s voice and the sound of his breathing! It is just like talking in real life! Hey! This is amazing! I must buy it!”

"...”

Grid used PPL. He stuttered and blushed while shouting, but recited the script to the end. It was an image to show children and teenagers watching the National Competition how hard it was to make money.

"...Grabbing some advertising fees because it’s obvious you are going to lose.”

Hao frowned. This shameful guy who only cared about money was going to beat Kraugel? Lauel’s crazy words circled around his brain, making Hao angry.

‘I will step on him.’

Hao also knew that Grid was strong. But it wasn’t at a level comparable to Kraugel or Hao. Hao was qualified to have such high pride. Who was Hao? In the past, he was the monster that tied up 15 members of Overgeared alone for 5 minutes. Lauel had been amazed by his strength and wanted to recruit Hao.

“You absolutely can’t crack the sky. I will smash you before you reach the sky!”

Hao declared. Then...

『 The last match of the 1st round! Grid vs Hao, the match will start now! It has started! 』

The host shouted. That was the signal.

Taack!

Hao rushed as soon as the match started. He simply moved straight ahead, so it was easy for Grid to deal with. The Slaughterer’s Eye Patch, Iyarugt, and his high insight meant he could anticipate Hao’s point of attack and respond with Iyarugt. But at that moment, something amazing happened. Hao’s sword suddenly split into three!

‘What?’

Which of the three swords were real? Grid was confused.

Seokeok!

Hao’s sword slashed at Grid’s waist.

‘Unbelievable!’

Hao had a passive that ignored some of the opponent’s defense. Grid was amazed when he saw the rising notification window. Hao read his expression and smiled.

“It must be bad.”

"...”

Grid didn’t say anything. He just gazed at the notification windows in front of him. The shock was too great. Was it because the attack damage was too big? No.

[You have suffered 2,900 damage.]

3,000 damage. It was high, despite the fact that Triple Layers and his helmet reduced physical damage. However, this damage wasn’t enough to threaten Grid, whose health was as high as 70,000. To be honest, Grid could express it as a tickle. Why was Grid so surprised? There was a reason.

[The experience of Tiramet's Belt has increased by 0.1%!]

‘Jackpot!’

Grid trembled with joy. The growth type item, Tiramet’s Belt. This epic rated item, which increased its experience whenever it was attacked, only increased by 0.1% whenever it was struck 100 times by a vampire. Yet Hao’s one attack raised the experience! It was comparable to when Grid fought the drake!

‘Doesn’t this mean that Hao’s attack power is high?’

Grid was thrilled by Hao’s work. Maybe...

‘I might be able to increase the rating of Tiramet’s belt in this round!’

There were two main reasons why Grid planned to fight Hao for an hour. First of all, he wanted to buy as much time as possible for the cooldown of Assimilation to end. Secondly, he wanted to maximize the experience of Iyarugt, Elfin Stone’s Ring, and Tiramet’s Belt. But he had no idea the experience would increase so much.

‘The class is different.’

Grid acknowledged it. This much experience hadn’t accumulated when he allowed hits from Bondre and Alexander. Certainly, Hao seemed to be different from them. In fact, Iyarugt was also nervous. He spoke for the first time in ages since the Piaro and Kraugel duel.

[This person’s attacks are very good. They are difficult to predict.]

‘I feel it every time. You are really useless when fighting strong opponents.’

[Eek...! It can’t be helped! I can’t exert my power in this sealed form!]

Iyarugt had a strong pride as hell’s best swordsman, so his sword kept emitting petals of a bloody light as he protested. The beautiful effect dazzled Hao and the viewers.

"That sword is too much for you.”

"This guy is so cool because of me.”

He invested a huge amount of money into the alchemy facilities, but the option that was added was ‘Coolness.’ Grid shuddered as he recalled the terrible result and said to Hao.

“How long are you going to rest? Come...”

Shortly before his words finished. Hao moved in a zigzag to approach Grid and stabbed. In contrast to the earlier attack, this path was simple and easily blocked by Grid.

Chaaeng!

The moment the two swords collided.

Chwaruruk!

Hao’s chain wrapped around Grid’s waist with the aim of temporarily stopping Grid’s actions.

“...!”

The resistance to abnormal statuses didn’t work with physical restraints. Grid’s body was pulled forward and Hao stabbed with his sword. It was two attacks.

[You have suffered 2,830 damage.]

[You have suffered 2,910 damage.]

[The experience of Tiramet's Belt has increased by 0.2%!]

"Kuah! It’s true.”

It was good that his item experience was rising, but it was uncomfortable to be hit so one-sidedly. In addition, the accumulation of damage was burdensome.

‘Very strong.’

The passive that ignored defense reduced the effect of Triple Layers. No, maybe Hao had a passive that dealt extra damage in PvP. Grid frowned as he released the chains and tried to counterattack. He launched a straight and narrow attack to prevent Hao from avoiding it. The sword with the shortest orbit threatened Hao, but he easily blocked it.

But there was a problem. It was Grid’s ridiculously high strength.

Kkirik! Kkikikik!

‘What is this...?’

Was this the feeling of being trampled on by an ogre? Grid’s strong power started to crush Hao, who couldn’t bear the weight of Iyarugt.

Chwaruruk!

Hao winced, stepped back and once again threw his chain. However, Grid had rich battle experience and was unlikely to be hit by the same pattern. The moment that Hao threw the chain, he narrowly moved to the left, avoiding the chain. At this point, Hao didn’t try to hit back because he was off balance. This gave Grid the change to use Pagma's Sword Dance, Kill.

‘Let’s increase Yakult’s experience!’

Kuooooh!

The extreme sword filled with killing intent! Hao gulped at the fearsome energy and hurriedly moved.

‘I can’t allow it to happen!’

Half draconian Hao didn’t have too many active skills, but he had a variety of passive skills. Increase in PvP attack power and defense, ignore some of the target’s defense, neutralize some of the damage received, fast recovery etc. It was easy to say that he had a body optimized for combat. In a battle between players, it was possible for him to deal more than 10,000 damage. Depending on the situation, he would deliberately allow the enemy to attack and then use it to counterattack.

However, Grid’s attack power was too burdensome. Hao thought of other rankers dying in one blow and desperately moved his hands.

Teook!

It was perfect timing. Hao grabbed Iyarugt with his hand and twisted it slightly.

[Iyarugt has been unequipped!]

[This is the result of a skill. You won’t lose ownership of the item. In 12 seconds, the item will return to your inventory.]

It was the usage of Weapon Shed. A secret technique that needed to be used at the perfect spot that was marked! It was a skill with the highest difficulty, much harder to use than a counterattack, and it made Iyarugt drop to the ground.

“Haaap!”

Hao used Dragon's Breath and stabbed his sword at Grid’s heart. Grid was empty handed and couldn’t block the attack, but it was too fast to be avoided. Hao was convinced that he would deal a deadly blow to Grid.

‘It doesn’t matter if he uses the God Hands.’

Hao was ready to threw chains to constrain them. In this situation, the only way for Grid to resist was with Magic Missile. Hao just needed to avoid that and...

“What?”

Hao, who was smiling confidently, became shocked.

Jeeeong!

What gap did he pull it out of? Grid equipped himself with a blue black sword in lieu of the lost Iyarugt. The camera zoomed in on Hao’s shaky gaze as the attack was blocked.