[The Great Robber of the Red Night is interested in you. Watch out for red nights.]

This was the warning that appeared when Grid entered the secret passage in the imperial palace and obtained the imperial palace’s blueprint. Until then, Grid wasn’t very conscious of the Great Robber of the Red Night. He guessed this person was just a great thief. It might be annoying if they got involved, but that was it.

However, he started to become wary of the Great Robber of the Red Night after visiting the Tower of Wisdom. This was due to the conversation he had with Radwolf, the third seat of the Tower of Wisdom.

“The Great Robber of the Red Night snuck into the Tower of Wisdom?”

“That’s right.”

“No, this... Is he a transcendent?”

“That's right. He has been active for at least 600 years. His age rivals us. That damn guy stole Nevartan’s Necklace that was hidden here over 100 years ago.”

The Great Robber of the Red Night, who found the Tower of Wisdom that had all types of cloaking magic on it, and infiltrated it while deceiving the senses of the tower members—he was probably one of the strongest talents in existence. Such a great person appearing at this timing...

“A treasure trove has been opened. Kukuk.”

This person appeared in the imperial palace. He was an ordinary old man. His wrinkled skin had age spots and his waist was bent so much that people wanted to get him a cane. As he stood with his hands behind his back, the eyes of the officials moved to Grid. They were wondering if this was a person from the Overgeared Kingdom.

Basara shouted instead of Grid, “Surround him!”

“......!”

The knights were startled by the urgent shout and surrounded the old man. The old man’s gaze turned to Basara.“Your attitude toward guests is very poor.”

“There is no tradition in the empire about treating thieves as guests.”

That’s right—Basara was the empress of the empire and naturally noticed the identity of the old man.

“Great Robber of the Red Night.”

“......!”

“......!”

The eyes of the officials widened. The knights surrounding the old man were also shocked and they drew their swords. They knew the story of the empire and were vaguely aware of how dangerous the Great Robber of the Red Night was.

“Take this aura!” The knights threatened.

Several knights were pulling out rope to bind the criminal. The atmosphere became harsh but the old man’s expression didn’t change. He didn’t look nervous about being surrounded by the Red Knights so the knights’ pride was hurt.

“Capture him!”

The moment the 13th knight gave an order to the Red Knights, the eyes of the old man, covered by his drooping eyelids, let out a strange glow.

“Eh?”

“......?!”

The knights were tied up tightly and trapped. The surprising thing was that the ropes binding their bodies were those held in their hands not long ago. The knights had the ropes snatched from them in the blink of an eye and couldn’t comprehend the situation. The old man patted the shoulders of those who were bound and turned back to Basara. “Then I’ll leave with the right stuff. Don’t mind it and just watch.”

Stop.

The old man was able to leave the great hall only to stop in place. It was because a young man was blocking his way. He was wearing a silver crown. The old man’s eyes became interested. “Looking at the treasures on your body, you must be the Overgeared King of the rumors.”

“It is an honor to be recognized as your junior.”

“Junior? Haha. I don’t remember having a junior like you?”

The interest of the Great Robber of the Red Night lay in non-human objects. He might be a high ranking transcendent who achieved the world of transcendence and could move without the knights realizing it, but his eye for people was far inferior to Kyle. He didn’t notice that Grid was also a transcendent. It didn’t make much difference even if he noticed it. It was because the Great Robber of the Red Night wasn’t the type to build friendships with people.

The Great Robber of the Red Night entered the transcendent realm again. One second felt like tens of seconds and his senses were maximized as he moved to pass by Grid’s side. No, he tried to pass by.

“......”

For the first time, the Great Robber of the Red Night’s expression changed as he faced Grid’s hand that was blocking his way. He frowned as he looked at Grid. “I thought you were a goose laying golden eggs, but you are actually a beast hiding his claws.”

A goose that lays golden eggs. That’s right. The reason the Great Robber of the Red Night didn’t try to steal from Grid after hearing the rumors about him was because he wanted Grid to make more treasures. Grid would be wary after being robbed once. Therefore, he planned to wait until Grid made more works before stealing them all at once. Now he felt Grid wouldn’t be an easy target. “As far as I know, you aren’t an old man who lived for hundreds of years. How have you become a transcendent so soon?”

Unlike legends who became so by achieving great feats, transcendence was a realm reached after a long period of training. Furthermore, those who achieved the transcendent realm were rare among transcendents. To be honest, the Great Robber of the Red Night felt a big shock.

“Amazing, amazing. It is unprecedented to reach transcendence at such an early age like you.”

“I was just lucky.”

He was lucky enough to become Pagma’s Successor. Grid hated the public opinion that once said he was lucky but it was different now. Grid now knew that there were many people in the world who weren’t rewarded no matter how hard they tried. He was lucky to be rewarded for his hard work and to reach the position he was currently in.

“Hoh...” The Great Robber of the Red Night’s expression showed interest. All the transcendents he met so far had a high level of pride. Their noses were pointed so high that it seemed to touch the sky. Therefore, it was natural for him to be interested in Grid who showed humility. “So why block my way?”

Just as the Great Robber of the Red Night asked this question, hundreds of pillars of light fell from the sky. Every time a pillar fell, new figures appeared and filled the great hall. Piaro, the Overgeared Kingdom’s knights, the Overgeared members, and Braham had finally arrived at the scene.

The Great Robber of the Red Night got goosebumps. His eye for seeing people might be relatively lacking, but a transcendent was still a transcendent. It was impossible for him to not notice the level of magic power that Braham had. It wasn’t just Braham. Numerous legends and dozens of talented people suddenly appeared in one place, causing even the Great Robber of the Red Night to feel tense.

Grid had his colleagues behind his back as he spoke politely to the Great Robber of the Red Night, “As you already know, a great demon has appeared here. The great demons are the enemy of humanity. I would like to ask you to help us fight it.”

“......”

Why should he? He always lived alone and would continue to do so. The Great Robber of the Red Night had this idea and wanted to refuse Grid’s request. He just hesitated a bit when he saw Grid under the protection of Braham, Piaro, Mercedes, Faker, Jishuka, and Euphemina.

The Great Robber of the Red Night was interested in Grid who had so many people who could leave a name in history as his subordinates. It was the first time in his over 600 years of living that he was intrigued by a person, not an object. Furthermore, for him, Grid was a goose that laid golden eggs. He determined that there was no need to have a negative relationship with Grid.

‘Additionally, the great demon who appeared here...’

Based on this degree of resentment and hate, it was probably the great demon of curses, Drasion. If he ran wild on the ground, there was a risk that the heavens as well as hell would intervene.

'...This place might be ruined.’

The destruction of the world was something the Great Robber of the Red Night didn’t want. From his standpoint of wanting to collect more treasures in the future, it was better for humanity to survive so they could revive and make more treasures.

The Great Robber of the Red Night pondered on it for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I will help you a little bit.”

“......!” Basara doubted her ears. It was shocking that the notorious Great Robber of the Red Night would fight for humanity.

“However, I have one condition. You have to give me three treasures regardless of whether we manage to defeat the great demon or not.”

“What type of treasure do you want?”

“I’ll think about it and decide.”

“I understand.”

Grid was willing even if the Great Robber of the Red Night asked him to hand over the Fire Dragon Sword. He could always make a new and better one (although it naturally wouldn’t be easy) and this was the only chance to build up a friendship with the Great Robber of the Red Night.

‘He isn’t an easy person to meet in the first place.’

Besides, the Great Robber of the Red Night could infiltrate the Overgeared Kingdom and steal things any time he wanted. If something was going to be stolen anyway, it was much better to give it away in exchange for friendship. Grid made this judgment and it was the correct one.

“It is refreshing that you are so cool about it.”

[Affinity with the Great Robber of the Red Night has increased by 1.]

The Great Robber of the Red Night had the most difficult appearance conditions among super named NPCs. Even if he appeared, it was difficult for players to meet him because the Great Robber of the Red Night would steal from the player and run away without the player being aware of it.

However, Grid met the Great Robber of the Red Night and built up affinity. It was with one of the strongest talents currently in existence.

“A big fish bit the bait,” Braham murmured as he watched the situation. Braham also saw that Grid’s judgment was correct. It meant that Braham acknowledged the abilities of the Great Robber of the Red Night.

“Your subjects came running at Your Majesty’s call.”

Then the talents of the empire arrived at the great hall one after another. It was the first time in decades that all the outstanding commanders and single digit Red Knights defending the empire’s borders gathered together.

“Let’s go.”

Grid led the group from the forefront.

A raid team consisting of the elite forces of the Overgeared Kingdom and the empire as well as the Great Robber of the Red Night—it was a rather strange combination, but it could be described as the strongest combination ever.

***

At Asgard...

The celestial gods gathered together for the first time in ages. It was because one of the fallen angels had woken up from a long sleep.

Martial God Zeratul argued, “This time, we must directly take action. If he is subjugated by humans and our private matters get revealed, then our prestige will fall to the ground.”

None of the gods disputed Zeratul’s claims. Even the blacksmith god Hexetia was silent. For the safety of Grid on the ground, Drasion had to be defeated as soon as possible.

Zeratul rose from his seat. “I’ll send my followers still in the west to the Abyss.”