The fortified city of Patrian.

Pepeng!

Pepepepeng!

The night passed. Fire arrows relentlessly poured all over the place, lighting up the darkness.

“Shit...! This is nonsense!”

The players belonging to the 4th Patrian Reclamation Army. They believed that the 1st to 3rd armies would’ve been able to limit the power of Overgeared and that the war would end the moment they arrived. Instead, they became desperate in just half a day.

The woman called Jishuka. She held the Red Phoenix Bow and became a true godly archer. She transcended the strength of a player. An infinitely strong firepower that could be used from a distance! She was the worst weapon of mass destruction and the Eternal army turned to ashes in front of her.

“How do we defeat that?”

The Eternal army fell into a panic. It was hard to think about breaking through the fire arrows that killed hundreds of them with multiple shots.

“What are the archers and magicians on our side doing? Turn Jishuka into a corpse! Don’t give her a chance to attack!”

Someone shouted with frustration in the frozen atmosphere. There was a cynical response in return.

“Don’t you know that Jishuka is a godly archer?”

"Her archery skill level is unrivalled. Her range and accuracy are on a different dimension from us.”

“We have to get within 200 meters to attack Jishuka. But Jishuka won’t allow us to get there.”

“...”

Patrian was the largest fortress in the Eternal Kingdom. The wall that Jishuka was on wasn’t just strong, but high as well. Jishuka’s power was maximized. Her Hawk Eyes allowed her to see the entire battlefield and kill the dangerous elements first. Eternal’s odds of victory became smaller.

[The morale of the soldiers has decreased!]

[The stats of all soldiers will drastically fall!]

“This is crazy.”

The players saw consecutive notification windows talking about the weakening of the the soldiers. They realized they would have to abandon recapturing Patrian. They couldn’t accept it. What was this absurd balance where one player blocked tens of thousands of people?

"It doesn’t make sense that an existence that makes the existence of the army pointless actually exists.”

"Jishuka needs to be nerfed. She is OP enough to block 20,000 troops alone.”

The players grumbled.

Some players refuted it.

“That is nonsense. Jishuka put a lot of effort into becoming strong. Don’t you think it’s better to do your best instead of not working as hard as her?”

This was a fact that players couldn’t overlook.

"We are players like her. One day we can be as strong as her. We shouldn’t be feeling jealousy right now. We should be admiring her.”

Unlike NPCs, a player’s potential was infinite. The Eternal players were reminded of this by Jishuka and dreamt of one day becoming rankers.

***

"Why did he ask this?”

15 minutes ago. Grid had asked questions in the guild chat window. The question was about where all the people protecting Bairan were. After that, there was nothing. The Overgeared members including Pon and Yura were worried about Grid.

"Judging by the tone, he’s in Bairan...”

“Don’t tell me that he is isolated among 100,000 troops?”

“...It seems so.”

“...”

The reason why Grid didn’t say anything in the guild chat window was because he had no time to talk while being attacked.

“I’ll go there.”

The Overgeared members worried about the worst situation. One of them was Yura. But she stopped the Overgeared members who wanted to go to Bairan.

“Don’t be so hasty. It isn’t clear yet.”

What if Grid wasn’t there when they returned to Bairan? They would just suffer a meaningless death from the 100,000 troops. It was correct to wait for Grid to talk again.

“In the first place, Grid would’ve summoned his knights if he was really in danger.”

“...”

They were convinced after hearing about the knights summoning.

‘Youngwoo-ssi, I believe in you.’

Yura’s beautiful face was filled with a strong trust.

***

[Your demonic power has reached 10,000!]

[Your coordination with dark magic power has increased!]

[Resistance to dark magic will increase by 10%!]

[Resistance to divine magic will fall by 10%!]

[The functions of the Blackening skill has been upgraded!]

[One of the conditions for the memphis’ evolution is satisfied!]

His demonic power naturally rose due to the mass killing. Grid was relieved when he saw the notification windows.

'So far, it’s positive.’

Demonic power was a stat that had opened since the best demonic beast of hell, Noe became his pet. Grid always felt anxious about going to hell if it rose to a high value. He thought he might change into a demon if his demonic power increased. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a species change just yet.

'In the first place, it isn’t that easy to change species.’

In addition, it said that he could ‘freely’ access hell if his demonic power increased. This didn’t mean he would be forced there. Looking back, he wondered if his fear of demonic power had no basis.

‘I have Blackening and Noe, so it might be better for my demonic power to rise...’

As Noe and Blackening became stronger, his force would increase by one step. The penalty of divine power resistance falling? It was worth it. Grid had a high rapport with most religions, including the Rebecca Church. On the other hand, he was a complete enemy of the Yatan Church.

It meant Grid was more likely to be attacked by dark magic than divine magic. The effects of the increase in demonic power were appropriate for the current Grid.

Pa pa pa pa pak!

Hundreds of arrows fell towards Grid as he thought this. The magicians were destroyed by the five consecutive red phoenix summoning so the archers tried to slow down Grid. Grid instinctively avoided them and checked his health gauge.

[You have suffered 250 damage.]

[You have suffered 190...]

...

...

The arrows fell on Grid who was wearing Triple Layers. He ignored the arrows as he took a potion, rotated his body like a windmill and swept his greatsword through the hundreds of soldiers.

“Hah...”

Duke Lucilliv expressed his admiration. Grid swept through the formation in an instant. The biggest problem was Grid’s stamina. The duke thought Grid would become tired after some time, but he was still fine.

‘There’s no end to this damage. I have no choice but to send them in.’

Kkuok!

Duke Lucilliv made a decision.

"My brave soldiers! Cut off the head of the rebel!”

At the same time.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

The soldiers of Duke Lucilliv that were on the walls. The soldiers in golden armor jumped down from the walls. They rushed wildly towards Grid. The moonlight shining on their golden armor was spectacular.

-Finally, the elite troops!

-It’s the real battle from now on.

The soldiers in the golden armor were different. Their strength seemed different from ordinary soldiers and the actual movements wasn’t ordinary. They moved through the allied soldiers and quickly reached Grid.

“For the glory of Duke Lucilliv!”

“Die!”

The golden soldiers aimed their weapons at Grid. The players belonging to Eternal didn’t miss this gap.

“Now is the perfect time!”

“We will go!”

These players were highly trusted by Duke Lucilliv. They believed that Grid would show weaknesses during the process of fighting the golden soldiers. The moment that the golden soldiers were about to hit Grid.

“The timing is great.”

Kakiing.

There were 113 white spheres hovering around Grid. They became rays that shot in every direction. This was the effect of Alarm.

Pepepepeok!

“Kuaaaaak!”

“Cough!”

The golden soldiers in the lead screamed.

“Pagma's Sword Dance, Wave.”

Kurururung!

A blue wave of energy swallowed the area around Grid. Grid’s eyes widened as the golden soldiers died.

[You have defeated an elite soldier of Duke Lucilliv.]

[A Sharp Longsword has been acquired.]

[A gold nugget has been acquired.]

[A gold nugget has been acquired.]

[A gold nugget...]

...

...

“...Wow.”

The soldiers Grid killed so far only gave old weapons or leather. However, Duke Lucilliv’s golden soldiers gave him gold. Soldiers giving him gold? Grid’s eyes became larger.

[Gold Nugget]

It is worth 50 gold.

Weight: 5

A gold nugget worth 60,000 won was in his inventory! Grid became too excited and revealed a gap. The players mixed in among the golden soldiers and rushed towards Grid. The third advancement players succeeded in approaching Grid.

“Grid, I have no hard feelings towards you!”

"Please understand that it is because of the quest rewards!”

The rankers made excuses as they used skills.

Kwarururung!

The intense skills of the third advancement users would kill Grid.

"I don't have hard feelings towards you either. But please leave your items behind.”

“...!”

Did he really relax and allowed a surprise attack? Question marks appeared over the heads of the high rankers.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Grid’s health fell by one-third after being hit by the skills of the high rankers. Yes, one-third. Grid’s defense and health was ridiculously high, making it rare for him to lose a lot of health in one go. But the high rankers had thought differently. They had been determined to put Grid in at least a critical condition with those attacks. But Grid only lost one-third of his health?

‘What is this defense?’

‘Crazy overgeared!’

The high rankers turned pale. Something glittered when they were trying to link up with the following skills. It was a very thin thread. It shone in the moonlight.

‘What is this?’

The moment they had that question.

“You will be my shield.’

Kwack!

Grid’s grim voice was heard in their ears as a silver thread wrapped around them and restrained them.

[Your body is bound by something unknown!]

[It is a powerful binding! It isn’t easy to escape! This will last for 5 seconds.]

“What...?”

Five seconds of captivity? The bodies of the high rankers floated in the air. They were tied up like a spider web and were beaten by the golden soldiers.

-Wow...

-Look at Grid’s smile.

Grid used the silver thread with dazzling hand techniques and five high rankers hung behind him as a barrier. It was in stark contrast to his expression. Grid was smiling while the high rankers were crying. This sight could only be seen as disturbing.

One of the rankers who was bloody from the golden soldiers’ attacks couldn’t help asking.

“Overg... is it possible to join Overgeared?”