There was no longer a promised victory.

The 1st National Competition, the 2nd National Competition, the battle between guilds and the successive defeats to Grid and the Overgeared members led to Bubat becoming the symbol of defeat. Numerous people who praised him now turned away from him. Sometimes other people mocked him.

The honor he built up as the leader of the Yak Guild, one of the Seven Guilds, and as the strongest initiator, Crusher, disappeared like a sandcastle. But Bubat wasn’t shaken. He didn’t shake at all. As a tanker, he was accustomed to being hit. He had a strong mentality from taking blows well.

"This year I will definitely do it.”

Bubat was determined before the PvP event of this National Competition.

“I will definitely beat Grid this year.”

The reason he was so obsessed with Grid wasn’t because of personal grudges. It wasn’t simply payback for being defeated. He burned with a sense of challenge because he recognized Grid as a trial to be overcome. He had a desire to develop further.

In addition.

‘Father, have strength!’

‘This year, be sure to win the gold medal!’

He wanted to be a wonderful dad in the eyes of his two daughters, who were just beginning to grow up.

‘Huhut, tomorrow I can meet my cute princesses.’

He remembered his daughters’ appearances in the video call last night and smiled. The Chinese representative, Zhang Zheng was waiting for him. Zhang Zheng lay down in the capsule at the request of the host and provoked Bubat.

"Are all people from Turkey brainless? Or do they have no shame? Why participate in the National Competition every year when you don’t get medals? Isn’t it a waste of time for other people?”

“Tsk tsk.”

Zhang Zheng was still young and had less personality. Bubat clicked his tongue and lay in the capsule. He was 35 years old. It might be different two years ago, but he wasn’t easy enough to be provoked by a young man. The host was shouting.

“Before the long awaited first match of PvP, China’s Zhang Zheng and Turkey’s Bubat are logging in! The showdown between the two players is starting now! It has started!”

"Waaahhhhhhhh!"

The cheers of the crowd filled Bubat’s ears as he closed his eyes in the capsule.

Then.

“Um.”

Bubat opened his eyes again in the Lion’s Castle. It was the castle that had been the stage of PvP for three years already. Zhang Zheng jumped over the wall and pulled out his weapon immediately.

“Aren’t you very solid? Are you a person?”

Supak!

Zhang Zheng flew forward while making insidious remarks. His hands held one of the eight strongest weapons obtained from his workforce, the Destruction Sword. It was a powerful weapon that inflicted additional damage to human type targets, had the effect of blocking healing, and dealt damage proportional to the target’s health.

Puk!

Puk puk puk!

Zhang Zheng, who started appearing as a new star in China last year, had the hidden class of ‘fighter’ and was a master of combat. He could handle all weapons with Weapons Mastery and possessed high strength and agility. It was impossible for Bubat, who had invested most of his stats in stamina, to avoid Zhang Zheng’s swordsmanship. The black sword quickly shaved at Bubat’s rock-like body. But Zhang Zheng’s expression didn’t look good. It was because Bubat’s health gauge didn’t make sense.

‘Why does he have such high defense?’

Bubat’s tanking power last year was already enough to surprise Grid. In the first place, the reason why he could be called the strongest initiator was because he could jump into the enemy’s base with his overwhelming defense.

Snap!

Bubat succeeded in grabbing the wrists of the confused Zhang Zheng and smiled.

“I’m not called the Yak for nothing. Did you bring a small knife to catch a cow?”

"You boar-like bastard...!

Zhang Zheng sensed the crisis and attempted to shake off Bubat’s touch. But it was wishful thinking. A Crusher didn’t miss the opponent he had caught.

“Go to Hell!”

Kwajajajak!

It was the Crusher’s move that slammed the enemy’s head into the ground, causing all types of status conditions. This skill had very high attack power. His attack power was influenced by his stamina stat, resulting in a force similar to a damage dealer.

"...!"

Zhang Zheng couldn’t even scream as his head was slammed to the ground. His vision was blurred by the darkness of the ground.

"Ahat!”

Bubat wrapped an arm around the waist of Zhang Zheng, stuck upside down in the ground. It wasn’t a gesture of affection.

“It will hurt more this time. Huup!”

Bubat gritted his teeth!

Sok! Zhang Zheng’s body was lifted up like a sweet potato and descended again. It was like a gyro drop.

‘Ick!’

As his vision moved from the sky to the ground at the speed of light, Zhang Zheng felt an instinctive fear. Goosebumps crept over his skin.

‘You dare...!’

Zhang Zheng gritted his teeth. He overcame the chaos state caused by ‘Go to Hell.’

“You dare do this to me! I will slaughter you!”

He abandoned the Destruction Sword and pulled out a dagger. It was a lethal weapon that increased accuracy, had a probability of disregarding the defensive power of the target, and inflicted damage equal to the Sword of Destruction.

Puk! Puk puk puk!

“Kuk...!”

Bubat’s face distorted as Zhang Zheng in his arms stabbed Bubat’s side. Zhang Zheng’s attacks that had a chance of ignoring defense were effective against Bubat. The Crusher had a passive skill that allowed him not to be harmed over a certain level of damage, but it was scary when the low damage accumulated.

"Ohhhhhh!"

Kuwaaaaaang!

Bubat endured the pain and slammed Zhang Zheng into the ground.

“Kiyaaaaaah! Kieeek! Kyaack! Keok!”

Zhang Zheng continued to stab at Bubat’s side as he was slammed into the ground. Of course, the one who suffered the most damage was Zhang Zheng. The Descending Death boasted a damage twice as high as Go to Hell. Zhang Zheng looked like he was just about to die as his head was stuck in the ground. It was a quiet match.

Peok peok! Peok!

Bubat’s attack continued. Zhang Zheng was continuously in the ‘stunned’ state. Zhang Zheng boasted a high defense due to his items. However, his defensive power fell due to the influence of Descending Death and his health was rapidly consumed.

“This is the end!”

Bubat shouted as firmly as he could. He emitted a red light. It was the forerunner to one of the Crusher’s few attack skills, Watermelon Break.

Jeeeeeong!

The moment when Bubat’s hammer swept across Zhang Zheng’s unprotected abdomen.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Zhang Zheng’s armor exploded. It wasn’t the effect of Watermelon Break. It was the ‘there will be triple the damage reflection if you receive a certain amount of damage’ effect of Zhang Zheng’s legendary rated armor.

“Ugh!”

Bubat was caught in the explosion and collapsed, while Zhang Zheng overcame the stun and raised his body. Then he unleashed sharp attacks on Bubat’s body.

Puk!

Seokeok!

Blood spurted. Zhang Zheng swapped between eight types of weapons and started to maximize the power of various skills. The weapons had effects such as reducing defense power, dealing fixed damage, etc. The effect of the skills gradually weakened Bubat’s rock-like body.

"You damn bastard! Do you know who I am? Kyaak!” Zhang Zheng stabbed the fallen Bubat without a break. Zhang Zheng’ shining eyes as he attacked made he seem like a killer in the movies. The organizers minimized the bloody effect but it was still a cruel scene.

Finally.

“B-Bubat has been logged out!!”

Bubat turned to grey. However, Zhang Zheng kept stabbed the ground where Bubat had been.

“Kyaak! Kiyaaaaaah!”

It was a terrible thing. The sight filled the public with fear. Even the Chinese supporting Zhang Zheng felt creeped out and fell silent. Bubat’s wife, watching the competition on TV, had to hurriedly send her daughters to their room. It was an appalling atmosphere.

“Cute.”

Grid muttered as he prepared for his match. For Grid, who had the experience of meeting the read madman Agnus, Zhang Zheng was just at the level of a puppy barking.

***

"The atmosphere will rise.”

Tarma’s lips curved as he prepared for the second match in the round of 32. It was good for him that Zhang Zheng, classified as part of the new generation, had beaten Bubat. Since he was matched with Grid from the beginning, he wanted the public’s attention.

He looked at Grid and smiled. That’s right. Tarma was assured of his victory. He was confident that he could easily neutralize Grid after using Erosion to temporarily destroy Grid’s strongest weapon.

"I will take you down today and get rid of the humiliation of the past.”

Tarma lost his reputation after being defeated by Grid in just three seconds at the 2nd National Competition. He became insignificant in the industry and requests stopped coming in. He lost wealth. Was that all? After Blood Carnival was dissolved due to Grid, he became a fugitive and hid on the East Continent, living a life of hell. Life on the East Continent was very difficult compared to the West Continent. It was truly awful.

However, due to his desire for revenge, he eventually got Erosion.

"Kukuk! Grid...! I will kill you!”

There was a stir in Tarma’s body. He felt pleasure as he imagined the glory that could be gained by knocking down Grid.

『 After Bubat’s sudden defeat, South Korea’s Grid and Greece’s Tarma are on stage. 』

『 Player Tarma is notorious as a member of the former Blood Carnival. He’s an assassin who’s evaluated as being better than the god of killing, Faker. 』

But last year, he was defeated by Grid in just three seconds and his image changed a lot. Now people didn’t have high expectations for him. At least until yesterday.

『 Though the rumors about him have been overstated, Tarma has done great in the asura path event in the past few days. He beat his competitors and won a gold medal, proving that the rumors about him weren’t exaggerated. 』

The level of skill that Tarma showed in the asura path event was certainly at the highest level. He looked like a powerhouse who was above Chris, Damian, Pon, and Regas. It wasn’t an exaggeration. Once the asura path event ended yesterday, Tarma revealed in an interview how great he was.

‘I am the one who occupied the Overgeared Guild’s Cokro Island. The Overgeared members guarding the island were killed by me. Kukuk, if you think I’m lying then go to Peak Sword and ask. Peak Sword was brutally killed by me. I was just caught off guard when defeated by Grid last year!’

It was a shocking interview. The media investigated to confirm the truth and as a result, Tarma’s remarks were proven to be true. Tarma had caused the Overgeared Guild to suffer the bitter taste of defeat. There were people who thought that Tarma might have a chance to beat Grid.

At this time.

‘I want to use it.’

Grid felt a strong urge as he faced Tarma on stage. 100,000 Army Massacre Sword. It was a desire to show the strongest skill he got from the Undefeated King to the public. Why? He would wash away the stigma of a chuuni! Grid wanted to prove that the ‘Grid is a chuuni’ video on the Internet was wrong.

Thus, it was fortunate that he met Tarma in the first match. It was likely that Tarma’s level would be equal or higher than Grid’s since Tarma had been an unofficial ranker for a long time.

'After building up fighting energy, I will perfectly finish it off with 100,000 Army Massacre Sword.’

Grid lay down in the capsule. He opened his eyes in Lion’s Castle and faced Tarma.

Tarma cried out.

“I! I have been waiting for this moment! Kuahahaha!"

Taack!

Tarma moved. An assassin was a combat class with low health and defense, but it demonstrated exceptional attack power and agility. Tarma’s speed was enormous since he was considered to be at the peak of assassins. He reached Grid instantly and attacked. Of course, it wasn’t an attack with all his power. Tarma was cautious, unlike how he outwardly looked. He was planning to explore first.

Swaeek!

A quick strike with minimal movements.

Puk!

Tarma’s yellow dagger stabbed Grid’s shoulder and he moved back after confirming the damage, fearing a counterattack from Grid. At that moment.

Peeeeeong!

Grid reached the fastest speed with Alex's Quick Gloves and quickly reached Tarma. The roar of black flames, as terrible as a dragon’s breath, swallowed Tarma up.

[The target has died!]

“...?”

Grid was upset by the rising notification window.

『 Ah! This is the strongest assassin! Tarma has disappeared like a lie!! 』

『 He can’t be seen anywhere! How shocking! 』

The commentators, spectators, and viewers weren’t aware that Tarma had died. The ash pillar effect, which symbolized a player’s death, was buried by the brilliant effects of the black flames. Grid sweated as he stood alone in the castle. He had to stand there for a few seconds before the host belatedly realized the situation and announced the end of the match.