After the introduction of the Demon King’s Subjugation event in the National Competition, there was a rule that the previous demon king would appear in the first match of PvP. If the former demon king didn’t appear in PvP, then an event match with them would be held (except when they didn’t participate in the National Competition). It was a type of courtesy toward the strongest, who proved their skills and became qualified to be the demon king.

Damian was the protagonist of the first stage of PvP this year. The opponent who was chosen as a scapegoat to face the former demon king would be nervous or desperate, unless they were a skilled player on the same level as the former demon king. However, the Korean ranker facing Damian was relaxed instead of nervous. He wasn’t particularly famous or highly ranked, but he had high confidence.

‘Is he a new rising power like Zelos?’

Time was fair to everyone. Everyone with passion tried hard in the same manner. Yesterday’s weak could be today’s strong and yesterday’s loser could be today’s winner. This was providence. Damian held his sword, but he took a posture reminiscent of Grid. It was completely different from when he was the pope.

‘Ryu Jin.’

Damian thought about the information of the opponents that he secured in advance. His class was a linker and he had a legendary weapon called ‘Sanao’s Offense.’ His period of activity in the coastal area near Siren was very long and there was a high probability of being a pirate. If so, he should be quite familiar with PvP.

‘Sanao’s Offense is a guandao. Does he use linker skills to bind the opponent and then approach to defeat them?’

Most linkers operated from a distance, but the combat style was more influenced by the player’s tendencies, not their class. Damian thought about it and shook his head. Poor information just led to unnecessary speculation. He shouldn’t be blinded. He planned to explore carefully to see the source of the other person’s confidence with his own eyes.

The Korean ranker, Ryu Jin, shouted toward the concentrating Damian, “I have good luck.”

“......?”

“I get to fight against the person who changed classes and went backwards.”

“......”

Was this the source of the confidence? Damian sighed as he understood the other person’s heart.

‘This confidence isn’t because he believes in his own skills.’

He was a human being who competed based on the skills of the opponents. It was pathetic.

‘Not all Koreans were influenced by Grid.’

“It is clear that the Japanese can’t play games. Did you lose your senses after being a superstar due to the power of your class? You gave up the pope’s position without understanding yourself. Hahat! Haven’t you been really regretting it these days?

“......”

Was there a need to speak for so long? There was no need to associate with a person with racial discrimination.

“Grid’s Sword Dance.”

“Bah.”

The moment Damian used his skill, Ryu Jin scoffed and triggered the skill Doll Display. It was one of the ultimate skills of the linker class that could link up to 10 people. It had a very high probability of binding the target. He knew the surest way to block Grid’s sword dances. Damian stopped in place. He couldn’t take a step forward.

Ryu Jin smiled with satisfaction at seeing him completely neutralized and linked the next skill.

“Transcend.” Damian’s purple hair soared upwards and his sword was filled with a strong sword energy. It was a sword dance that increased damage and transformed short-range attacks into long-range attacks.The sword dance that helped Grid’s Sword Dance be expressed in various forms was triggered without taking a single step. It meant it ignored the binding effects.

However, Ryu Jin didn’t panic. ‘Have I never seen Transcend before?’

It was just a bit unexpected.

“Dancing Doll!”

He calmly engaged in battle. Dancing Doll—it was a skill that made the bound target dance for a minimum of two seconds to a maximum of five seconds, making them uncontrollable.

“......?” Ryu Jin maintained his smile while linking his skills, only for his eyes to widen. It was because he was going to be cut with sword energy. The linker’s greatest weakness was that they couldn’t attack while controlling the target. Dancing Doll was released and Damian regained his freedom.

‘This is shit!’

Doll Display was a technique that bound the target’s feet. It can't restrict their entire behavior. The 0.5 seconds gap that occurred when connecting Dancing Doll with Doll Display was enough time for Damian to release several sword energies.

‘Is it because my stats are lacking?’ The attack speed was too fast. It was dangerous if this continued. Ryu Jin’s head spun as he witnessed the sword energies filling his field of view. ‘Defend? Counterattack?’

It was up to here. Damian’s sword energies pierced Ryu Jin’s heart before he could make a judgment.

[You have suffered catastrophic damage!]

‘...What?’

The power of this sword energy was different from the one earlier. Ryu Jin died a mysterious death. It took only four seconds.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

People who didn’t believe in Damian’s skills cheered.

Transcended Link Kill—they were enthusiastic about the three fusion sword dance that symbolized Grid.

『 The higher the number of sword dances that are combined, the better the utilization. A single sword dance and a two fusion sword dance are rather simple and it is easy to be attacked. However, it is a completely different skill from the three fusion sword dance. It can be applied in many ways to attack, defend, evade, and counterattack... 』

『 He just used three. 』

『 ...Yes, that’s right. As you just saw, it was three. This is Grid’s sword dance that we know. 』

The commentators were also excited. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the world was excited to get a glimpse of Grid, who hadn’t been to the National Competition in several years.

On the other hand, PD Seichi’s expression distorted. “What is this? How is he already using the three fusion sword dances?”

The potential of the Overgeared God Church was already well known. It had long been known that the higher the level of Grid’s Sword Dance and the higher the faith toward Grid, the more diverse the fusion sword dances that could be acquired. No one would’ve predicted that a person could reproduce the three fusion sword dances in just a few months.

Zelos spoke like it wasn’t a big deal, “He isn’t a regular believer, he is the leader of the church. It is natural for him to receive benefits.”

“Still, this is too fast. If he is already using the three fusion sword dance, his growth rate in the future will be beyond imagination. Isn’t it unfair at this point?”

“Since when was it a fair game? In the first place, there is no fair game in the world. No matter if it is through luck, talent, or skills, those who are ahead will stand on top.”

What was the fun of a game that was equal for everyone? Zelos became a ranker by trying harder than others and he thought this.

“Well... Don’t worry too much. No matter what, it is the end with that three fusion sword dance.”

Based on the way that the always smiling Damian’s expression became cold, the other player seemed to have talked nonsense. Due to that, he became excited and unintentionally revealed his power.

‘Good.’

It was a fight with high odds from the beginning but now the winning rate was even higher. Transcended Link Kill—a ranged attack that continuously fired powerful sword energies that pierced and cut. It was obviously a powerful sword dance but it was useless against Zelos.

Due to the characteristics of a guardian knight, while wearing sheet metal armor, he was highly resistant to long-ranged attacks. He also had the legendary rated item, Mirror Armor. It was armor obtained by winning Player 55. The damage taken would be reduced by half, there was a very high probability of being immune to ranged attacks, and it inflected reflection damage once the immunity occurred.

‘The first three fusion sword dance he learned is the one with the worst match against me. Damian is really unlucky.’

Of course, if Zelos was in Damian’s place, then he would’ve also created a fusion sword dance based on Transcend. It was because the versatility of Transcend was really good. The only problem was that Damian would meet Zelos in the second round.

‘My value will rise if I beat Damian and rise to the round of 32... No, it will skyrocket even if I make it to the round of 64.’

He would be in the top 64 among the high rankers who entered PvP this year. This alone was enough to raise global awareness. From then on, it would be a smooth road. He would become a bigshot that a TV station PD wouldn’t even try to breath on.

『 Victory! Zelos!! 』

He passed the first round. Zelos barely won over the monk ranker, who swung a heavy wooden club that delivered shocks inside the armor. Then he returned to the waiting room and raised his concentration. He simulated a battle against Damian, whom he would meet in the second round, several times. He thought and thought again to seek victory.

Two hours after his first match, Zelos stood on stage as the second round finally began. He wore armor with dozens of disc crystals that acted as mirrors. It was an item that made it impossible for the target to look straight ahead. This structure reduced accuracy by making aiming itself difficult.

“Damian, I will be honest with you. I am a fan of Grid. However, I didn’t have the courage to join the Overgeared God Church. It is extraordinary courage to abandon your original self and start over.”

Zelos aimed for the top. To be honest, he wanted to join the Overgeared Guild. He didn’t want to be an enemy with Damian, who was obviously a member of the Overgeared Guild.

“Damian, I admire your courage. As a fellow Japanese person, I am proud of you. Thus, I will do my best to fight even harder. I will face you with my full power. That is the polite thing to do.”

“Yes, I will try my best as well,” Damian responded with a smile to Zelos’ polite greeting and moved. He took a step.

[The effect of Grid’s Sword has activated part of Grid’s Sword Dance.]

[Grid’s Sword]

[Rating: Myth

Durability: 1,938/1,938 Attack Power: 2,959

* Attack speed will increase by 50%.

* Attack power will increase by 50% when using Grid’s Sword Dance.

* Hit rate will increase by 30% when using Grid’s Sword Dance.

* Evasion rate and defense will increase by 20% when using Grid’s Sword Dance.

* The growth rate of the proficiency of Grid’s Sword Dance will increase.

* Instant activation of the single sword dances Wave, Link, Restraint, Kill, Transcend, Pinnacle, Revolve, Drop, and Flower.

* Depending on the number of times you pray to the Overgeared God statue, you can activate up to the three fusion sword dances. However, only one fusion sword can be activated and the cooldown time is six hours. The activated sword dance will disappear once used.

★ The deeper the user understands Grid’s Sword Dance, the more powerful the fusion sword dance that could be activated.

This is the first divine artifact of the Overgeared God Church. It is a sword that exerts more power as the owner grows.It is said that the Overgeared God Grid personally created it for the first leader, Damian.

Conditions of Use: Overgeared God. The leader of the Overgeared God Church.

Weight: 5,500]

“......!!” Zelos’ expression became as stiff as stone.

Damian wanted to come close without using Transcend so he used Linked Kill Pinnacle.

Clang!

There was a sharp sound as the mirror was broken and Zelos turned to gray ash. It was a match that clearly showed the difference between the first generation high ranker and the younger rankers.

Damian was perfectly resurrected. He reached the fourth round of PvP and fought Chris. It could be called a miracle that he reached the fourth round while only being able to use the three fusion sword dances once. The winner of PvP for this year’s National Competition was Chris.

As for the demon king who appeared in the Demon King’s Subjugation that was the finale of the National Competition...

“......”

He melted into the shadows and was invisible. People couldn’t guess the identity of the demon king this year. It was natural. This year’s demon king, Faker, had never participated in the National Competition. It was hard to think of the name Faker.

Players couldn’t break through the four castle doors guarded by shadow knights and soldiers.