——!

In the warm sunshine, Haster’s scream leaked through the window. Maybe it was because it was too low and deep that the scream wasn’t bad to hear. It sounded like music, in the same way as a bird’s twittering. Grid was standing in front of the furnace in distress. In just a few days, Haster had improved significantly and succeeded in winning against seven God Hands, but Grid couldn’t afford to admire this.

‘I need flame strength like never before.’

The form of the dragon weapons had been determined. He planned to forge the blade with a gentle curve. It meant he would make a dao rather than a sword.

During the duel with Biban, Grid felt his limits when performing the sword dance while pulling out the Falling Moon Sword. The act of taking out weapons from his inventory—this was possible in 0.1 seconds for Grid. The average person couldn’t react this fast. It was due to years of conscious training. He had to swap items much more frequently than other people.

However, Grid determined that this was too slow. Biban’s level was too high. If Biban had been aware of the existence of the Falling Moon Sword and was wary of it, he could’ve thwarted Grid’s item swap.

‘I will fight many strong enemies like Biban in the future.’

Grid felt the need to prepare countermeasures. At the same time, he recalled the drawing sword technique and battojutsu that Peak Sword gained from his fourth class advancement. The sword was a useful weapon for cutting and stabbing. It usually had a straight line shape to exert full power. It was slower to pull out of the scabbard compared to drawing a curved sword. It differed according to the length or shape of the blade, but it was also due to the need to stretch the arm longer and that the friction between the sheath and blade was relatively lacking.

In Satisfy, battojutsu, or drawing the sword, was a technique that accelerated the attack by using the sheath. It was why Peak Sword wore a sword and two knives on his waist. It was so he could draw the sword purely to pursue this.

Grid didn’t have any sword drawing skills, but it was fine. Battojutsu was a means of connecting drawing the sword with ‘cutting’ as an attack method. Grid had no need for it when he planned to use it simply as a means of drawing the sword. If he thought he needed it, he would’ve tried to get it from the ‘martial god’s secret technique book’ sold in the sun carriage, but it was unlikely that he needed it.

‘I had better change the Falling Moon Sword to a dao shape during the second innovation.’

Many of Grid’s sword dances took the form of cuts, not stabs. The same went for the swordsmanship of the Undefeated King. Of course, Drop and Kill, which had the highest coefficients, were a fall and stab. This meant that a ‘sword’ couldn’t be thrown away completely. However, weapons that were easy to cut with like the Falling Moon Sword should be in a dao shape.

“......”

Grid drew a picture in his head. Assume it was the moment he was connecting Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle to the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship.

The sword energy of Transcended Link Kill was expressed through a stab and was carried out with the existing divine sword. He would move his left hand, which could be freely controlled after upgrading to a myth class, and place it on the sheath at his waist. He would immediately draw the Falling Moon Sword from the sheath. At the same time as the rapid development, he could use Item Combination. In other words, integrate the gap in Wave with the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship.

At this time, the Falling Moon Sword’s penalty of ‘cutting once’ would be dealt and the combined items would be released. The divine sword would be held in his right hand and the Falling Moon Sword in his left hand. Release the Falling Moon Sword and let a God Hand recover it. He would swing the finishing blow with the divine sword in his right hand and complete the Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle sword dance.

The empty left hand would go to his waist again. After releasing the dragon weapon used alongside the Falling Moon Sword, another sword dance or the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship would be used. The other party wouldn’t be able to react easily to the sword light that extended. At the same time, the other divine sword held in his right hand needed to be removed.

Grid had no passive skill for dual wielding. The moment he pulled out a sword from his waist, he must throw away the divine sword in the other hand to preserve the power of the attack. The abandoned divine sword would be retrieved by a God Hand, just like the Falling Moon Sword. If it was the Fire Dragon Sword, it could move by itself to support Grid. Another way was to reset the cooldown time of Item Combination with Divinity and merely combine the two swords.

No matter what method he used, he had to make sure a sword remained in either hand. This would get rid of the penalty of not having dual wielding.

‘The most ideal way is to obtain the passive skill to use dual wielding from the martial god’s secret techniques, but... in any case, I can fight faster as long as I implement the drawing sword technique. It is better to maintain focus and keep the battle flowing.’

There was only one conclusion—it was easier and more efficient to swap items through drawing them from the sheath than taking them out of the inventory and swapping them. This fact alone was enough to make a dao. Sure enough, the form of the first dragon weapon was set as a dao.

There was only one problem left for Grid after deciding for certain: flame strength—he needed enough flame strength to melt the fang of Stone Dragon Gujel. Was the white phosphorus wood lacking in flame strength? No. The name of a sacred tree wasn’t in vain. However, it seemed like he needed a lot of white phosphorus wood. At least 8 tons of white phosphorus wood had to be burned at one time in order to produce enough flame strength to barely melt the hard fang.

He knew it intuitively. It wasn’t based on insight and class effects, but an awareness based on accumulated experience. The quantity of white phosphorus wood was sufficient. It was because his allies in the east were constantly sending them.

‘I need a big furnace.’

It needed to be built up like a fortress. It had to be huge enough to fit 10 tons of white phosphorus wood. It would be a very big construction.

‘The top must be a hemisphere to catch and circulate the hot air as strongly as possible.’

Grid glanced to the side. Picasso was in the corner and drawing his figure on the canvas. She held her breath out of fear of interrupting his concentration.

“Excuse me.” Grid borrowed a pen and paper. The shape of the furnace in his head was drawn in real time. He tried to express his inspiration that was spreading like wildfire. The picture was a mess compared to his effort. Nevertheless, the structure was relatively accurate, so it was easy to see what type of furnace Grid wanted. He could’ve used Item Creation here to give birth to the perfect design of a huge furnace.

Grid deliberately didn’t consume his skill. He turned the picture over to Ke ong. The dwarf, Ke ong, was especially talented in architecture, so Grid was going to leave the rest to him.

“Can you do it?”

Long words weren’t necessary. Ke ong saw Grid’s intentions from the picture and solemnly nodded. “Of course. I will make you my first furnace. If you support the technical experts to the maximum extent, then eight days is enough.”

Thinking about the structure and size of the furnace, eight days was very fast. This was enough, more so given the lack of stone in Reinhardt due to fortresses being built all over the kingdom. Most importantly, it was a furnace for manufacturing dragon weapons and armor. It was very important, so it made sense for it to take several months, not eight days, to make carefully.

However, Grid felt it was too long. The problem was that he didn’t know when the great human and demon war would take place. “I hope we can save time by working together on it as much as possible.”

“Um... If Your Majesty helps...” Ke ong calculated it. He took into account the capabilities of the 30 God Hands, which had a considerable amount of Grid’s dexterity. “I can reduce it to four days, four days. It is hard beyond that. In order to burn a large amount of firewood at the same time, the bellows need to play an effective role. Complex techniques need to be used here...”

Grid and the God Hands didn’t have architectural skills, yet the time was cut in half. The Overgeared God’s Techniques skill that was involved in production played a role. Even so, Grid wasn’t satisfied.

‘Four days... then it will take at least a week to make the weapons and armor.’

It would be terrible if the great human and demon war broke out in this period...

‘Well, it is fine.’

How likely was it for the great human and demon war he had been waiting for to happen in the moment when he was stuck? The S.A Group might’ve restrained him countless times, but they rarely did it so blatantly. It was futile to worry. Grid controlled his heart and nodded. “I will convene the technical experts, so please start straight away.”

“Okay.”

The two people headed to the open space. It was the large field where he sparred with Biban. There were no separate facilities, thus there was only little material damage. The damage was so slight that Administrator Rabbit didn’t shed any tears of blood. He just sniffled. It was evidence that Grid and Biban observed the surroundings while fighting. If they had fought back and forth, the entire Overgeared Castle would’ve been destroyed. The possibility of complete destruction was very small.

Grid had invested billions to make the castle’s level MAX and Ke ong had renovated it personally. It was enough to say that the durability of the Overgeared Castle made it the best fortress in the world. This was one of the reasons why the Overgeared Kingdom was now the safest place in the world.

“Haster, I’m sorry, but for the next four days or so, can you train with that scarecrow in the corner? Or maybe you can go to a hunting ground.”

“...I understand.”

Grid was quite satisfied with Haster. The first impression wasn’t bad and his personality was really diligent. Additionally, the potential was very high. Above all, he was a legend in the game industry, so Grid hoped to treat him comfortably as a brother out of courtesy. However, Haster couldn’t be comfortable with Grid. He noticed something and slowly stepped back. He didn’t even ask to be sent to hell if he was going to be left alone for four days.

‘Why is he moving like a crab? Is this a new training method?’ Grid watched Haster, who gradually disappeared from view, and smiled happily. He felt even fonder of Haster, who worked hard to connect effort with training no matter the situation.

“Let’s get started.”

“I will do my best and devote my soul.”

Grid rolled up his sleeves along with Ke ong and started working. The airlifting of building materials and technical experts had already been requested from Lauel. There was just one fact that Grid didn’t know. The S.A Group. No, to be precise, Morpheus was much more blatant than Grid thought.

***

“Have you made a big mistake in the past?”

At the Overgeared Sword Tower...

Biban became the first sword tower master and he asked this question as he confronted an upright woman. The woman’s eyes shook slightly under her elongated eyelashes. She recalled the incident where the trivial merchant dared to blow King Grid into the distant sky.

“Your swordsmanship is only for protection. You were born with an extraordinary talent, but you’re wasting that talent. I guess you lost something because you failed to protect your precious one.”

“...I didn’t lose it.” Mercedes’ eyes were on display as she answered.

Only her eyes were recognized for a moment in Biban’s consciousness. He seemed to have the illusion that the lights that illuminated the darkness of the deep tower were turned off.

‘Keen Insight.’

The eyes that would be able to control everything in the end. There was no doubt that even the gods feared this ability. It was the power to discipline absolute beings one day. The possibility of qualifying as a dragon killer or god killer was absolutely certain. However, it was on the premise that she was safe until then.

“You look uncomfortable, so I won’t ask you about the past. There is just one thing you have to remember. A sword that sacrifices itself to protect others is a weak sword. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself when you protect someone who is truly strong.”

Biban had witnessed it a countless number of times—the geniuses who were gifted with brilliant talent dying before they could blossom. Mercedes was also determined to be one of them. Now she was only a sword to protect others. Even if she was heading to a certain death, there was no hesitation. It was as if it was not a problem at all.

Tsk. Biban clicked his tongue and made a decision. “Be prepared. This tower master will strengthen you as part of my duty.”

It was as the Overgeared Sword Tower Master. It was only a week of duty, but Biban didn’t want to watch on idly. It was a waste of Mercedes’ talent. Today’s choice might result in the loss of his qualification as a tower member, but he was confident that he wouldn’t regret it for the rest of his life since it was to protect a pillar of the future.

...It wasn’t a choice made from a noble spirit. It was just that Biban’s personality was simple and clear. It was an essence that wouldn’t change.