[Dantalion’s Knowledge Fragment]

[★Fighting Knowledge ★

-A fragment containing the fighting knowledge of the 25th great demon, Dantalion.

Most of the knowledge is lost, but it is far beyond the knowledge of an ordinary human.

Martial arts will evolve one step further.

Knowledge Acquisition Conditions: A martial artist type profession.

Knowledge Acquired: All skill level +1. 10% increase in attack speed, 20% increase in evasion.]

‘This is a great demon’s ability?’

Four years after becoming Pagma's Successor, none of Grid’s skills had reached the master level. It was extremely difficult to raise skill levels, which meant that the value of the Dantalion’s Knowledge Fragment was unreasonably high. This wasn’t even all of the knowledge.

Despite the two levels he gained from killing Hill, Grid had been disappointed when only one old booklet dropped. Then his thoughts changed after reading the description of the booklet. Rather than disappointed, he was now satisfied, and his admiration for it was far beyond his satisfaction.

‘Is there something like a blacksmith’s knowledge fragment? In any case, this knowledge would be a great help to Regas.’

Grid didn’t think about how much it could be sold for and the people it could be sold to. He had no intention of taking anything from his colleagues. Right now, he wasn’t frantic about immediate gains. It wasn't because he had become a pushover who easily gave things to others. Instead, it was because he was certain that the stronger his colleagues and friends became, the more they could be of great help to him and his precious ones.

Grid judged that the benefits gained from Regas acquiring Dantalion’s Knowledge Fragment were much higher than the value of a few coins. In the first place, he could get money easily.

‘Regas will pay me back like Jishuka and Yura.’

That’s right. Grid was unconsciously making a project where the Overgeared members would be indebted to him.

[The duration of Item Combination is over.]

[Belial’s Staff and the Lightning Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires have been separated.]

[The cooldown time of Item Combination is reset by the effect of the skill ‘Divinity’.]

The spear reverted back to the form of a sword and a staff. Aliburn was stunned as he watched Grid kill Hill and return the staff to his inventory. It was due to the familiar earrings hanging from the black-haired man’s ears. Aliburn was sure that the tasteful ivory earrings were Dark Bus’ earrings—the ones he'd worn during the mission to infiltrate the Saharan Empire. It was the strongest artifact with the Blackening ability, which turned the wearer into a half-demonkin once every 12 hours...

‘Is it him?’ Aliburn had heard the name of the Overgeared King.

It was impossible not to know the famous person who built up a new kingdom. Yet he was also the person who killed Dark Bus…?

‘No, it is strange to think that he killed Dark Bus. Dark Bus was performing a mission to drive the empire into chaos. There was no reason for him to be killed. It doesn’t add up...’

Aliburn denied it only to be surprised again. He noticed the ring that Grid was wearing on his finger. It was a thin black ring. This was Dark Bus’ Ring, which consumed the wearer’s mana and exploited the dispel function. Aliburn could no longer deny it. Dark Bus’ killer... He had to acknowledge that the Overgeared King was the Yatan’s Servants’ Slaughterer that he had been searching for.

‘He is a more famous person than I expected!’ Aliburn was ready to chew on Grid’s skull.

Simultaneously, some people cheered after seeing Grid kill Hill while others felt desperate.

“Overgeared King! The Hero King and Yatan’s Servants’ Slaughterer!” Aliburn’s scream soared into the sky.

It had only been two minutes. Despite seeing Grid take care of Hill in that short amount of time that the items were combined, Aliburn didn't shrink back. Grid was able to sense that Aliburn was a tough opponent.

‘He knows that I’m tired.’

Grid had already exhausted skills like Blackening on the way to the Vatican and then shortly after arriving there. Having placed Irene and Lord’s safety as the top priority, he had used most of his trump cards at the beginning. It also meant that Hill was strong and Grid wanted to get rid of some of the enemy’s overwhelming numbers.

In fact, the battle was going as he intended. Pope Damian's appearance had demoralized the black magicians earlier, and now they were on the verge of losing their fighting spirit after witnessing Hill’s death. Currently, the black magicians attack power and defense were lowered.

However, Aliburn’s momentum had risen. He wasn’t weak enough to be shaken by Hill’s death, and he was aware that Grid had consumed a lot of power.

“You just caught me off guard with your divinity skill. But even the Hero King can’t exert divine skills consecutively.”

Aliburn didn’t care about the power of a divine skill because he was familiar with them. He pointed a finger at Grid. The tips of Aliburn’s long fingernails were blackened, but it wasn’t nail polish. His fingernails had been stained by the blood of countless humans. Just like most of Yatan’s Servants, Aliburn was a terrible murderer. He could slaughter innocent children for his own ambitions and for the church.

“Warning Cannon.”

It took only 0.5 seconds for the black magic power to focus on his fingertips. Then took him another 0.5 seconds to fire it. It was one second in total. The focused magic power gun that Aliburn fired destroyed all the Rebecca paladins in its path. Its ultimate target was Grid.

Warning Cannon, Warning Curtain, Warning Sphere, and so on—this transcendent black magic had been presented to Aliburn by the true First Servant, Amoract. It allowed Aliburn to overflow with confidence.

“This is a treasure that I kept as a means to harm Rebecca’s Daughters! It is an absolute power that can’t be sustained even by the Hero King!” Aliburn shouted even before it hit.

Soon after, Grid was swept up in the explosion. The wall of the banquet hall where Grid was standing couldn’t withstand the shock and collapsed. The ground was broken, and dust filled the whole area, hiding everyone from view.

“Grid!”

“Your Majesty!”

Shouts rang out from all over the place. They witnessed the power of Aliburn’s magic cannon and thought it was unlikely that Grid was safe. Pope Damian and Lord were the same even though they were people who knew Grid’s skill and trusted him more than anyone else in the world.

“Father!” Lord yelled in a trembling voice while feelings of anxiety rose within him. The child wanted to run over to his father.

“He is okay,” Irene said as she grabbed onto Lord. Her hands were no longer trembling. All her fears from the past had been wiped out the moment Grid appeared. Her trust in Grid was absolute, and Damian and Lord were unable to argue against it.

“Phew.” As if rewarding them for their faith, Grid emerged safe and sound. His ring shone red as soon as he escaped from the dust. It was Dark Bus’ Ring, which dispelled the attack and became hotter as it devoured Grid’s mana. This was the sign of an explosion that was soon to occur. Once the ring absorbed 5,000 of the wearer’s mana, Skill Dispel had to be used two times in 10 minutes or it would cause enormous damage to the wearer.

‘I need to dispel another attack,’ Grid grumbled inwardly and sent a provocative gaze to Aliburn. He was planning to fight back after neutralizing Aliburn’s next round of attack. However, Aliburn was unexpectedly calm and just stared at Grid silently without using any magic. It gave off a creepy feeling.

‘Since when?’

The other black magicians had also stopped using magic. They remained silent and were being hit one-sidedly by the Rebecca members and their knights. The momentum of the Rebecca members rose, but Grid’s spine was cold.

‘Do they know about Dark Bus’ Ring?’

That’s right. The members of the Yatan Church knew the characteristics of Dark Bus’ Ring and were inducing it to explode. So, of course, they wouldn’t give Grid a chance to dispel a skill.

[The amount of magic power accumulated in Dark Bus’ Ring is too high. Dark Bus’ Ring can’t endure it.]

[Warning. There are 30 seconds left until Dark Bus’ Ring explodes. The explosion will permanently destroy Dark Bus’ Ring, and the wearer will lose their life.]

“F...!” It was a terrible situation! Grid barely contained the curse when he thought about Lord and Irene’s presence and shouted urgently, “Damian! Attack me with a skill!”

The Skill Dispel attached to Dark Bus’ Ring was difficult to use. He had to directly block the skill by making the ring come into contact with it. Dark Bus’ Ring rating was not legendary but unique because its utilization was low and the penalty was high.

“Hah? U-Understood!’

Grid suddenly wanted Damian to attack him…? Damian found it hard to understand, but he followed Grid’s orders anyway. However, he failed to activate the skill.

“Warning Curtain.”

It was due to Aliburn’s intervention. He created an enchantment that made all living things in it unable to use skills.

[Warning. There are 20 seconds left until Dark Bus’ Ring explodes.]

“Damn!”

In the end, Grid was forced to take special measures. He had to give up the ring. Although the ring was definitely a valuable item, Irene and Lord would be in danger if he were too greedy. He had no choice, but avoiding the penalty wasn’t that easy.

[You can’t take Dark Bus’ Ring off.]

There were 15 seconds left until the ring would explode, yet he couldn’t remove it from his finger. 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds...

“Shit!” Grid’s nervousness reached the peak. Then a skeleton emerged from beyond the collapsed outer wall and used magic. A total of six magic power pillars sprang up, sweeping through the black magicians surrounding Irene and Lord. Grid instinctively reached out toward a pillar.

[The Skill Dispel option of Dark Bus’ Ring has been activated!]

[Dark Bus’ Ring has removed the target skill. All the mana accumulated in Dark Bus’ Ring has been consumed, and it has entered the resting state.]

The ring fell silent four seconds before it was going to explode.

“Pant... Pant... Pant...” Feeling like he had regained 10 years, Grid looked away. He held a killing intent toward the lich who suddenly appeared and shot magic toward Irene and Lord.

“Mumud!” Agnus was hiding somewhere and watching the situation…?

“Crazy jerk!” Grid’s mind was filled with anger when he heard another voice.

“Warning Sphere.” Aliburn used new magic. He was upset about losing a great opportunity to get rid of Grid. Dozens of black spheres formed around Aliburn. The number of spheres wasn’t something that the Overgeared Knights, the God Hands assisting Kasim, and the already summoned Noe, Randy, and the Overgeared Skeletons could handle.

“Get out of the way!” Aliburn’s purpose was to destroy the Rebecca Church and increase the influence of the Yatan Church. It was a bonus to warn the kingdoms all over the continent by killing their royal families. Yet the king of a small nation was grabbing at his ankles? The spheres of darkness, which were flying in all directions, threatened not only Grid’s group but all the other royalty as well. Aliburn planned to accomplish his purpose after cleaning up everyone around him.

He still had power. The new power that Amoract had given him prior to the invasion could achieve his purpose. The Hero King? The Overgeared King? Hill had already weakened this unexpected variable—Grid. So, Aliburn judged that Grid wasn’t a big threat.

‘It is the end.’ Rose smiled.

Agnus’ sudden betrayal, the little prince's unexpected skills, the imperial prince’s ability, Damian’s escape, Grid’s appearance, and so on—she had felt uneasy about these unexpected variables which occurred in succession but not anymore. She believed that Yatan’s Third Servant, Aliburn—the powerful and clever NPC who planned out this Vatican raid—would trample on Grid, Damian, and Agnus like they were insects.

In fact, Grid felt a serious crisis.

‘There are too many!’

The number of dark spheres reached several hundred. He used Freely Move to reach Aliburn, but Aliburn didn’t stop casting. Instead, he endured Grid’s swordsmanship with his high health and defense and continued to create more spheres. Once the spheres—which contained magic power—exploded, the whole area would be devastated.

Grid could somehow survive with his various titles, item effects, and passive skills, but Irene, Lord, and the young Overgeared knights were the problem. He might lose all of them.

‘I can’t summon any knights because of the ward blocking outside summoning. What should I do?’

The enemy was too strong, and the situation was the worst. Grid was at a disadvantage since he had to protect everyone.

‘Maybe...’

From beginning to end, had the Yatan Church’s victory already been decided? The players couldn’t put up a resistance anymore, and it was the worst ending...

‘Am I destined to lose Irene and Lord?’

Grid turned pale at the thought and looked around. His gaze fell on the hilt that suddenly showed up through Aliburn’s robe.

[Sword Stuck in the Rock]

A quest arrow appeared above the item with the golden name. It looked exactly like the arrow which had floated above Raphael's Spear the first time he saw it a few years ago... Grid instinctively grabbed the hilt. Aliburn had been watching the dark spheres with satisfied eyes when he suddenly panicked. “You, what are you...?”

“Legendary Blacksmith’s Appraisal!”

[The blacksmith who became a legend can appraise items with an excellent discerning eye. If a hidden feature exists in the target item, it will be found.]

Ttiring~

[You have discovered a hidden feature in the item!]

[!!!! The first holy sword of humanity. It was sealed in the stone by the original seven malignant saints!]

[★Hidden Quest★ Crossroad of Good and Evil has occurred!]

[The power of God's Command has shattered the Stone of Original Sin!]

[The quest item First Incomplete Holy Sword has been obtained!]

“What?”

Light exploded, and the darkness was cleared. The hundreds of black spheres floating in the air vanished like they were a lie. Aliburn’s face filled with consternation for the first time.

“Grid!”

“I...”

Grid’s and Damian’s gazes met in the air as Grid confirmed the contents of the hidden quest while Daman confirmed the contents of the newly updated Recapture the Holy Sword quest.