It was obvious by his name, but Knight was a player who originally dreamed about becoming a knight. Since the opening of Satisfy, he had devoted himself only to training and quests to become a knight. However, that dream was unfulfilled. He even received a curse.

The knights division that Knight had an apprenticeship with met an unexpected enemy and were then wiped out. He moved cities and kingdoms, but things always turned out the same way. Knight’s companions always died. This was the result.

[You have opened the power of a death god.]

[The spirit of life is perceived as an enemy.]

[The energy of death covets the soul of the target.]

Knight obtained the growth type hidden class, Death God. Compared to his original target of being a knight, this was a class with an unparalleled power. Yet Knight wasn’t pleased. It felt like the stigma of a death god was mocking him.

“12 minutes... The reputation of the First Knight is real after all. This is the first time I’ve seen such a solid soul.”

“...”

“You will die if you don’t hurt me in 12 minutes,” Knight warned Mercedes, smiling bitterly as he saw her soul gauge being consumed slowly. The dark curtain that fell over the area veiled his appearance.

***

‘These dogs aren’t strong like Immortal.’

Almost half of Immortal’s members had endured Grid’s basic blow. He had to hit them two or three times for them to die. This was despite the fact that they were necromancers. It was estimated that their high rated items and the increase in stats given by their titles were quite high. They were truly a group made of rankers.

Then what about Kir’s Company?

“Keok!”

“Ugh!”

They were one shot one kills! The members of Kir’s Company turned to gray with just one blow from Grid. They were incredibly weak compared to the Overgeared members, Valhalla, and Immortal.

‘It’s funny.’

Why did so many players nurture their characters carefully? It was because they wanted to become stronger than other people. They felt the greatest joy when boasting absolute invincibility… just like the current Grid.

[The target has died!]

[The target has died...]

[The target has...]

Grid drew a sharp line with the Enlightenment Sword, and three members of Kir’s Company turned gray simultaneously. There were also members who couldn’t approach due to the Magic Missiles being fired from the God Hands floating to the left and right of Grid.

‘The hands are good.’

Grid’s joy kept rising as he overwhelmed hundreds of enemies alone, and a smile spread across his face. However, even so...

“Now!”

“These dogs.”

He didn’t become careless. Grid maintained his extreme concentration and swung his sword without leaving a gap for the enemy to strike. So, why did he bother wasting power to defend against the trivial attacks? It was in order to hide his hidden card. Grid wanted to conceal the poison being emitted by the +1 Valhalla of Infinite Affection as much as possible.

‘There will be rankers present.’

The top rankers were like hyenas seeking the right time to aim at him. It was inevitable that Grid would be wounded when they started to act, so he was certain the poison fog would be a significant variable at that time.

“Kuaaaack!”

Grid’s fighting energy increased gradually. Then as he became stronger during the fight, his red and purple aura rose up. His basic attacks wreaked greater havoc, and his improved agility made the cooperation between level 250 players meaningless.

“Hup!”

“Hiik!”

His flashing eyes caused the hearts of the Kir members to freeze. Grid smiled throughout the battle and realized the gap that existed between those with high strength and those with low strength.

‘It isn’t enough...’

This was beyond their imagination. The Kir members had watched Grid fight against the giants of other worlds and Great Demon Belial dozens of times on the TV and Internet, but he hadn’t been this strong. To think there was a gap of over 100 levels...?

They had thought they would be able to overcome the gap somewhat with their control skills. Now, they realized the control skills they were so proud of was at the level of an elementary school student. What about the difference in items? They had thought they would be able to overcome the gap with the various unique items they’d received after joining Kir’s Company. Now, they clearly realized that Grid’s strength wasn’t just in his items.

What about their numerical superiority? A confrontation of one person against hundreds would naturally be advantageous for them. However, now they were experiencing it. There was a limitation of having a great number of people. Hundreds of people couldn’t attack a single person at the same time. The space was too limited.

‘This won’t do.’

‘Who can win against that monster?’

It was admirable that Kraugel had been able to compete with this monster for a short time.

“What are you doing?” Grid said, suddenly appearing right in front of their noses. The members of Kir’s Company flinched.

“Why are you so absent-minded? Should I beat you like you did the elves?”

“T-That...”

There were few people who could resist the mob mentality. Once one member started to step back from Grid, the other members around him started to retreat as well. Grid took one step forward, while they took three steps back. Then he took one more step, and they fell over each other’s feet.

The pride they’d felt about belonging to the huge Kir’s Company had long been lost. Just as the Kir members sank into despair, a voice entered their ears, “Use the elves as a shield!”

It was the call of Merchant King Kir.

“Swap to ranged weapons! Those who know how to use magic, don’t save your mana potions! Push at Grid without resting! Don’t shrink back! You will be safe if you use the elves as shields!”

‘Safe.’ This one word raised the morale of the Kir members.

The members of the company hid among the thousands of elves and pulled out weapons like bows and throwing daggers. The magicians, who hadn’t been able to perform their roles due to the Magic Missiles fired by the God Hands, also started to cast magic.

A total of 32 rankers, including Boutian and Arisa, started to act as well.

“Stone Shower.” Boutian’s magic dumped a pile of stones onto Grid. Meanwhile, Arisa reached Grid’s side and swung her scimitar.

“Heh, I didn’t expect you to block it. Did you get better after the National Competition?” Arisa smiled with admiration as Grid blocked her attack. “But won’t this be more difficult?”

Quick Movements—it was the buff skill that Grid or the God Hands developed using a specific ‘dagger’ as a medium. Due to watching hundreds of Grid’s battles, Arisa knew that its duration was about to end, and it was just as she expected. While avoiding Boutian’s continuous spells, Grid avoided Arisa’s second and third attacks before being hit by her fourth one. Arisa’s scimitar fell like lightning and cut Grid’s chest as Arisa’s subordinates joined her belatedly.

“The timing is perfect.” Grid laughed with ridicule as he faced Arisa’s colleagues.

“...?” Arisa’s eyes widened in confusion after hearing Grid’s murmur.

[You have become affected by poison!]

[It is an irresistible poison!]

[You will receive 4,300 damage per second!]

‘What?’

Where had this poison fog suddenly come from? The poisoned Arisa began to panic. Her subordinates joined her one step late and bombarded Grid. The swords and spears stabbed at Grid’s body. Every time it happened, a dark green fog was released from Grid’s armor.

“Cough!”

A crazy situation unfolded as the health gauges of the dozens of people attacking Grid simultaneously started to decrease significantly.

“Isn’t this a scam? What type of defense mechanism is this?”

There was poison in addition to the high defense? Arisa moved backward with a frown and hurriedly drank an antidote. However, it was a foolish act. Taking a potion in front of the target without restraining their actions was no different from committing suicide.

Grid asked, “Don’t you have experience dealing with enemies much stronger than you?”

He mocked Arisa’s stupidity as his sword pierced Arisa’s chest. This was the moment when the health gauge of the level 352 ranker, Arisa, was reduced by one-fifth with a single strike.

[You have suffered 14,900 damage.]

[The durability of the Organ Armor has decreased by 20.]

“Huh?”

Why did a basic attack contain so much power? Arisa’s face hardened as she suffered great damage despite the legendary armor she wore. She sensed her impending death and closed her eyes, expecting the black flames that killed Tarma in the National Competition to engulf her.

However, the flames didn’t explode. Instead, Grid recovered his sword and quickly left this place to avoid the Earthquake spell that Boutian had used. The other rankers chased Grid. During the time in which Arisa had been taking an antidote, the rankers used all types of buffs that increased their power by 200%.

No matter how strong Grid was, the power of 30 rankers with levels in the 300s wouldn’t be easy to handle. Therefore, he used a skill for the first time. “Pagma's Sword Dance.”

That’s right. So far, Grid had only been using basic attacks, and no one in Kir’s Company had noticed this until now.

“Wave.”

“Avoid it!"

Link, Kill, Wave, Pinnacle, Transcend, and so on—most of Pagma's Sword Dance had been exposed to the world. As such, all the talented rankers were prepared to cope with Pagma's Sword Dance and were quick to respond. They hurriedly moved their bodies away from the range of Wave’s sword energy.

“Over here!” Boutian cried out as he hid among the elves like a rat and continued using magic. Arisa and the rankers rushed to his side and hid among the elves, grabbing and threatening them with blades to their necks.

“There is a limit to the power of an individual, no matter how strong.”

“I don’t know how you happened to be with the First Knight, but can you rescue all the elves?”

“Stop fighting right now. Then we will give you a few elves as gifts. Let’s leave each other on good terms.”

The selfish members of Kir’s Company deluded themselves.

“XXX.” Grid wasn’t greatly concerned about the elves. The reason Grid didn’t use a wide area skill wasn’t because he was afraid of harming the elves. He just didn’t feel the need to use skills to handle these small fries. “Now it is annoying.”

The Kir members ignited Grid’s rage again by taking the elves as hostages, and the cost for it was disastrous. The Enlightenment Sword was filled with a red and purple energy as the Hero King’s fighting energy sublimated the power of the Undefeated King. Grid used 100,000 Army Massacre Sword—a skill which had been used against the dragon that had suddenly emerged in the National Competition.

“You—!”

The company members were astonished that such a ruthless skill was being used. Arisa hurriedly shouted, “Are you insane? Are you planning to kill all the elves?"

“What?” Grid jeered but his eyes weren’t smiling. “The elves won’t die from this.”

His sword tilted, and the intense aura around his body shone like a sun shortly before exploding.

“100,000 Army.”

Boutian was the person Grid viewed as the strongest in Kir’s Company, and that’s why he was the target. Grid’s sharp sword aimed at Boutian.

“Wait! Wouldn’t you rather use that power to help the First Knight?” Kir’s voice suddenly rang out. “I don't know what the story is but isn’t the First Knight accompanying you right now? Her life is being threatened by the Death God.”

Grid paused the activation of the skill and spoke in a tone that was as calm as possible, “Death God?”

Then Grid’s gaze shifted and saw that Mercedes’ bright hair had lost its pigments as she was trapped in the dark curtain. A scythe held by a bone-white hand aimed for her neck.

“That player is a master of defense and has the power to deal a definitive death to the target. I am convinced that his special way of fighting is beyond the most powerful NPC...” Kir looked at Mercedes and Knight while explaining, only to close his mouth before finishing.

Mercedes suddenly unfolded bright wings of light and raised her sword. The darkness surrounding her on all sides was broken, and a pillar of gray soared up.

[Your party member Knight has died.]

“...What?” Kir approximately knew what Mercedes’ and Knight’s skills were like, so he hadn’t expected such results. Unlike what he bragged, he hadn’t thought that Knight would win, just that he would buy more time. However, what was this result?

Kir couldn’t shut his mouth as the landscape turned red. It was the aftermath of the massacre.

“100,000 Army Massacre Sword.”

There were 30 strikes in one second. The strongest energy blades poured down at a speed that couldn’t be pursued by the eyes, damaging Boutian and everyone in the area. Blood soaked the forest.