Pagma—the world remembered that he was a great blacksmith. His immortal works deserved to be praised forever.

Pagma—sometimes he was accused of being a bad person. He could be called this because he betrayed his only friend in the world and sacrificed many people.

Pagma—the moment the world faced a crisis, he glimpsed the reality of the gods and was isolated. He didn’t know who to believe in or to rely on. He was already alone.

Pagma—he eventually signed a contract with a great demon in exchange for his soul. He dug up the graves of heroes. It was the only way to save the world.

(Uhh... uwoooh...)

Grid—he inherited Pagma’s skills and gained a new life. Therefore, he felt deep gratitude to Pagma.

Grid—every time he learned about Pagma’s works, he felt infinite respect for Pagma.

Grid—he was disappointed with Pagma when he learned about Braham’s murder.

Grid—he encountered the death knights of the former legends on the Behen Archipelago, and felt disgusted with Pagma.

-Look, unlike you who relied on me to the end, that guy has crossed the limits by himself. Maybe you could’ve been like that too? Hahat! Kuhahahat!

(Uwahh... uhhh...)

Pagma—he fought alone in the Behen Archipelago. He fought days and night against the forces of hell that pushed in like a tsunami before falling down.

Grid—he gradually understood the feelings of Pagma who fought for humans and the weak despite being born as a yangban (half-god). No, it was because he was born as a yangban. However, he still disliked Pagma’s choice of sacrificing others on the pretext of righteousness, and was determined not to become like that.

Pagma—he repelled the forces of hell and defended the world. Therefore, he believed that all his choices in the past were rational. To be precise, he tried to believe it. In the end, he couldn’t hide his regret. In solitude, he shed tears of remorse. The moment he felt confusion about the world, he deeply resented his weakness, distrust, and instincts that caused him to betray his friend, a demonkin.

Grid—he faced Braham’s body that was treasured in the ice wall and read Pagma’s regret, sympathizing with it.

Pagma—he fell to hell when he died and he didn’t resist. He accepted the pain and sorrow that would be repeated during eternity as the price to be paid.

Grid—he...

-Pagma! Your life is a thorough failure! This guy is proving it! Kukuk! Kuhahahat! Sob! Scream! Howl some more! Constantly regret and struggle forever in the confines of pain!

Was he enjoying a pleasure that was unmatched in the world? Baal’s expression was full of deep pleasure as he grasped the screaming soul. The soul was burned black due to the demonic power that Baal discharged. Every time smoke rose, the shape of the soul collapsed. Then it soon regained its original shape.

A soul—the soul that was presumably Pagma worked hard not to forget his sins for a single moment. He held onto reason and endured the pain that was worse than death.

-Hahat! Kuhahahahat!

Pagma’s soul that endlessly maintained its shape made Baal’s laughter grow louder. If Pagma let go of reason, then he would be liberated from the pain. The sublimeness of the soul that tried to accept the pain instead of escaping from it made Baal happy.

Baal once again realized the unchanging truth. In the end, it was more enjoyable to harass the good guys.

-You are stupid! Truly foolish! That is why it is even more enjoyable!!!

(Uhh... uweohhh...)

The pain of the soul increased in proportion to Baal’s laughter.

“Who are you laughing at?”

At this moment, the silent Grid finally opened his mouth. Baal saw Grid’s eyes fixed on him and his laughter stopped like it was a lie all along. The dark eyes that showed no distinction between the whites of the eyes and the pupils shone—facing a coward who never spoke a word out of fear, Baal thought he could suppress Grid with just his eyes, but he was wrong. The reason Grid was silent wasn’t because he was afraid. He was just overwhelmed by the helplessness that attacked him after his mental picture was broken.

“How dare a bastard like you...”

[Overgeared King Grid is writing the ninth epic.]

“...You dare to laugh at a hero?”

[Pagma.]

[The blacksmith who left behind an immortal legend.]

[The people of the world only mention his works.]

-Hero? The person who turned his back on the morality and trust that you humans attach so much importance to is a hero?

[Some people blamed and criticized him.]

[But...]

“Even though there were many mistakes in the process, he saved the world.”

[Overgeared King Grid praised him as a hero.]

[He might’ve sacrificed many people, but it is true that he saved the world.]

“Pagma,” Grid quietly called out to Pagma’s soul as he took off the crown and Talima’s Shame. He brushed back his hair, soaked with blood and sweat, and bowed deeply. “I am always grateful to you.”

(......)

-....?!

Baal’s eyes widened. The soul’s screams that should’ve lasted forever stopped for a moment. Baal glanced between Grid and the soul with an expression of disbelief, while Grid made a promise to the soul, “Wait for me. I will surely give you a chance to apologize to Braham.”

(...D-Dragon.)

[The past of Pagma, who fought alone in a place no one knows.]

[It intersects with the present of Grid, who is fighting with his people.]

[The origin of Grid has been absorbed as a part of Grid.]

-How did you do this?

Baal was shocked by the willpower that came from Pagma’s soul when it should be just trying to maintain its reason and was temporarily distracted.

[You have acquired Pagma’s Sword Dance, ‘Dragon.’] [1]

[A skill that belongs to the sub-category of Grid’s Sword Dance. Once you become completely proficient in the use, you can evolve it to truly belong to Grid’s Sword Dance.]

Grid clearly received Pagma’s will.

[Overgeared King Grid has completed the ninth page of the epic!]

[The legend of Pagma has expanded in the aftermath of an unknown secret story being revealed.]

[All items made by Pagma will have their rating upgraded by one.]

[The light of salvation shone on his soul as he was confined to eternal hell and felt repeated regret. The identity of the light was Overgeared King Grid.]

[The final chapter of Pagma’s legend has become part of the narrative of Overgeared King Grid.]

-...What the hell are you doing?

Baal’s eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared at Grid. Pagma’s soul suddenly showed willpower and Grid’s presence became stronger. He felt that the demonic power and heat filling hell could no longer suppress Grid.

“Yura.”

“Yes.”

The scene where Grid and Pagma met for the first time—Yura carefully engraved the historic moment she would never see again in her heart, and changed her pistol into a sniper rifle. Grid shook his head as she prepared to fight. “Run away.”

“......”

“I don’t think I can get away. Let’s not die together.”

Certainly. Baal’s attention was only focused on Grid. In particular, he was expressing an emotion close to anger once Pagma’s soul stopped screaming. It was safe to say there was no possibility of Grid surviving here. However, Yura had no intention of withdrawing. “I don’t want to. Who knows? If we fight together and create opportunities, then we might be able to find a way out.”

It wasn’t regret and stubbornness that made her refuse to let Grid die alone. She sincerely intended to create opportunities and she had the skills to make Grid feel expectant.

Grid grinned. “It is reassuring.”

Grid no longer intended to carry everything on his own. It was because he always experienced many incidents that he couldn’t do alone. Even the grandmaster, an incarnation of the seven malignant saints, wanted to rely on Grid. The opponent in front of him was the 1st great demon, Baal. There was no reason to shake off Yura’s hand when it was necessary to grab at any life-saving straw.

“I’m sorry, it is three minutes. I can only move for three more minutes.”

Fire Queen was on cooldown and his stamina was running out. The risk was too great to use Storm of the Fire God. His mental power really wouldn’t be able to stand it if it collapsed again. Fortunately, he still had some things left. Grid gritted his teeth in a determined manner and Yura stood next to him.

“Three minutes is enough. Hell Regulation.”

The entire 29th Hell was suppressed by the power of the Demon Slayer who denied evil. The demonic power that was mixed into the atmosphere scattered like a mirage and disappeared. The infinite magic power that Baal exhaled seemed to have decreased a bit. Of course, it could just be his imagination. It was good if this was the case. Grid and Yura would try their best as always.

“Lightning Speed.”

The Blue Dragon’s Boots immediately glowed as it was surrounded by lightning. Grid soared high into the sky, reached the maximum speed, and entered the Lightning God state.

“Sky.”

It was a ridiculously fraudulent sword dance that ‘deployed every single sword dance’ without sharing the cooldown. Grid had confirmed the power of this sword dance several times. The only downside was that it couldn’t be fused. Grid didn’t pay attention to his physical strength.

The effect of Incarnation of Lightning prevented stamina from falling while in flight, so he rushed forward with all his strength. Every time Sky reproduced a specific sword dance, he used Shunpo to change his position and attacked Baal from all directions. All these sword dances were blocked by the shield that surrounded Baal.

Wave was blocked by only one shield while Pinnacle and Kill were blocked by three layers of shield. Even Link was blocked by a shield created in the trajectory and he couldn’t connect it to the end.

“Gasp, gasp...! Gasp!”

The operation of the shields that flowed like water reminded them of Malacus, whom they fought a long time ago. Of course, Baal’s shields were created much faster than Malacus and not only that, they were dozens of times harder.

‘Did he read my weaknesses?’

Baal used a wide area skill that spread demonic power across the sky and Grid was forced to land on the ground while feeling disbelief. From the moment he landed on the ground, he was no longer protected by Incarnation of Lightning, and his stamina started to be consumed again.

Grid used White Tiger’s Posture Engulfed in Flames and built a barrier with the earth. This allowed him to somewhat endure the lightning strikes of demonic power.

“Block Evil Desires, Vengeance Bullets. Light of Destruction.”

Yura used the Demon Slayer’s unique buff skills and fired her sniper rifle. Jade-colored flashes crossed the darkness and broke through Baal’s shields before reaching Baal’s heart. This was worthy of the Demon Slayer, a demon’s natural enemy. She delivered a good blow to one of the final bosses... Grid just had this thought when his face stiffened.

Baal’s health was unchanged despite being hit by a flash of energy that denied all evil. Baal didn’t even let out a small moan. He formed a spear by collecting the scattered lightning bolts of demonic power and threw it. The barrier of earth collapsed and Grid lost one arm.

[You have suffered catastrophic damage!]

[A legend doesn’t die easily.]

‘...Shit, I couldn’t avoid it.’

He momentarily entered the world of transcendence, but he couldn’t respond properly because his physical strength couldn’t catch up.

-It is really trivial. I don’t know what trick you did with Pagma’s soul, but your current strength can’t even entertain me. Go away.

He looked extremely bored. Baal raised his hand and it became enlarged like Sitri’s hand. It soon covered the entire sky. He showed the desire to crush both Grid and Yura together.

‘I might be able to endure it once by using Revolve...’

However, it was meaningless. Grid really only had a bit of health left. His next sword dance would be the last one. Revolve sent the attack back, but it was useless looking for a way to live if he couldn’t move a few steps.

‘Kill and Pinnacle won’t work...’

As expected, he could only rely on Transcend. He took Yura away with Shunpo and could only leave the future matters to Yura. Grid suddenly thought of the Dragon sword dance. There was no time to read the description of the skill so the exact function of Dragon wasn’t yet known.

However, didn’t receiving Dragon now mean it was a hint to overcome the current crisis? Satisfy had always been like this.

“Pagma’s Sword Dance.”

Pagma—Grid called out the name he used to call out dozens, if not hundreds of times a day, in the past, but the sensation now felt very new and even refreshing.

“Dragon.”

The smiling Grid’s body was literally fired forward. It was the ascension of a dragon. The scene of an eastern dragon piercing Hanul’s chest was reproduced here in hell hundreds of years later.

-What...

Baal's body tilted slightly. His chest was pierced and Grid rose into the sky. Yura, who had chased after Grid without missing a gap, opened a gate leading to the human world. However, Grid couldn’t take a single step. No, he couldn’t even move his fingertips. The resource consumption of Dragon was high enough to be compared to a fusion sword dance. The massive bleeding from his severed arm might’ve increased his physical strength consumption.

“Youngwoo-ssi!”

“Go first.”

Baal’s hand moved through the air and struck Grid’s head. Grid forced Yura into the gate and started to turn to gray ash. His wounded gaze followed Pagma’s soul.

‘Just wait.’

He would keep his promise.

A huge hilly area was formed in the 29th hell. It was a trace left behind by the 1st Great Demon, Baal, just to destroy one human being.

[1] Yes, I know there is another sword dance called Dragon. This Dragon is correct and they are both called Dragon. It will be explained in a later chapter