The smile of the goddess was broken. The statues carved in the shape of the goddess of light were destroyed and scattered. Her personal image was no longer brilliant or sacred. The broken face lost its expression and the gaping eyes had no spirituality. It was unrealistic and cruel compared to the figure depicted on the stained glass.

The destruction continued. The stained glass that was fine was shattered and scattered. The light scattered due to the glass fragments was like the tears of the goddess.

“Punishment...! You will be punished!”

At the temple that had watched the ups and downs of a small kingdom...

An old priest shed tears of blood as he witnessed the end of the Rebecca Church that had taken care of people for hundreds of years.

“You are receiving the punishment now.” The man who answered looked indifferent.

The assassins of the Overgeared Shadows. They seemed to lack emotions. It was said that they were destroying the Rebecca Temples that existed all over the continent with indifferent faces like nothing was happening. They weren’t humans but weapons. They felt like a form of violence.

The priests of the Rebecca Church glimpsed a different type of madness from them.

Did they read the thoughts in the priest’s eyes?

“In our eyes, you are the fanatics.” The assassins revealed their thoughts. Even at the last moment, it was hard for them to understand the priests who believed in and followed Goddess Rebecca. Their hearts were stuffy and unpleasant. Was this anger and disgust? They were reminded of Lantier, who commanded them to regain their humanity. “You should know what happened at the Vatican. The angel sent by the goddess induced humanity’s conflict on the eve of the great human and demon war. It was sneaky and wicked. In fact, the Rebecca Church members at the scene vowed to serve the Overgeared God. If you had normal senses, you would take off that white priestly uniform.”

“It doesn’t matter whether the rumors are true or not. It was the actions of an angel, not the work of the goddess.”

“......? It is the goddess who sent the angel.”

“There is nothing meaningless. The premise of doubting the goddess itself is wrong. Did the goddess make the world and human beings for humans to doubt the will of the goddess? Additionally, the greater the trials, the more we must believe in the goddess and pray for salvation... how can murderers like you understand the charity of the goddess?”

“......”

Sure enough, it was difficult to have a conversation. There was this new understanding and an assassin struck the old priest’s throat. He wasn’t killed. There was Lantier’s command not to kill the old man.

Now, the Overgeared Shadows weren’t simple killing machines. They moved with conviction. They were educated like this by the modern day Lantier. The assassins were getting back the emotions they had lost. The emotions that made them so uncomfortable and unpleasant at times... they felt stronger than before. In particular, a power beyond their limit was exerted when protecting something.

“Burn these eyesores and take the priests away.” The group leader ordered and the nodding assassins moved swiftly. They burned the remnants of the temple and bound the priests. This event was occurring simultaneously across the continent. The traces of the Rebecca Church were gradually disappearing from the world.

There were those who were watching these scenes from high in the sky. It wasn’t the heavenly gods. Compared with heaven, there were two men who were far closer to the ground.

“I vaguely understand why Helena had such a short life.” Bunsdel—the lord of the half-draconians, the one who inherited the blood of the evil dragon Bunhelier, spread open his black wings and rose into the sky. “That child... her nose was too high in the sky. She was unaware of her strength and went on a rampage. She left the fence that the vanguard had put up for our blood relatives. It was her fate to die.”

Helena was originally supposed to be the present day lord. The last generation lord was ‘Bun,’ so the present day lord should be ‘Hel.’ However, Helena wanted to leave the fence. The moment she was going to become the lord, she revealed her ambition to move all her blood to the Chaos Mountains to build up enough strength to rule the ground. It was the same as hastening the destruction of their blood. The ‘childhood play with the empire’ that she criticized was a survival strategy shaped by the need to last.

“I witnessed a transcendent early on. The grandmaster, that monstrous guy. Our kin despised him because he is human, but I understand from the beginning why our ancestors locked our kin in a narrow fence.”

The half-draconians had the blood of dragons. They were considerably proud due to their lineage. It was an area difficult for people to understand. Meanwhile, Bunsdel was different. He was more talented than Helena and he was the first to see how insignificant the half-draconian’s sense of superiority was.

The world was so wide. The half-draconians were just food for the truly strong. Food with good bones and scales. It was Bunsdel’s belief that the half-draconians weren’t such a great species, unlike their own beliefs. They needed time. Time to build up strength.

“The Overgeared King is a transcendent. Additionally, he built up divinity. Tsk, freaking hell. He must be a lot tougher than the grandmaster. The moment I think I’ve crossed the highest wall in the world, I end up facing a bitter mountain.”

“The mountain will become a new fence to protect the half-draconians.”

“That is possible... Hao, as you say, this opportunity might not come twice for us. But...”

There was a shadow covering Bunsdel’s face as he looked over the burning temple.

“...It is too wide. I feel it isn’t wise. No matter the reason, he has trampled on the Rebecca Church that existed together with the history of humanity. Is he so drunk on power that he isn’t considering the consequences? No, thinking about how he killed Helena without hesitation, his natural temperament seems very violent.”

Helena was a candidate to be lord. Regardless of her level or talent, she was from a royal family. Killing her meant the Overgeared King wasn’t afraid of losing the half-draconians. The Overgeared King at that time wouldn’t have been as strong as he was now. Additionally, he was urging reconciliation through Hao at this moment. There was no sense of shame. It was very arbitrary.

“That man isn’t possible... he is a type of human being that is impossible to control. It isn’t reasonable. The burden is too heavy to get on the same ship. There is no reason to stick to a ship that is going to sink anyway.”

“......”

Hao’s expression darkened. Originally, the height was so high that even breathing was difficult. Now his purpose was unlikely to be achieved and it was hard to control his expression. He had to convince Bunsdel. It wasn’t because it was Lauel’s wish.

Hao was purely concerned about the great human and demon war. His prediction was that the great human and demon war would be much more difficult than people expected. Humans needed the power of the half-draconians. He wanted the half-draconians to take this opportunity to come out and communicate with humanity. The more powerful the half-draconians, the better it would be for Hao. He said, “Grid really is emotional.

“Then it is right.” Bunsdel turned around. It was a firm attitude that showed no more conversation was needed. He was just about to leave when he stopped.

It was because Hao’s upright voice entered his ears. “Every time there is a small threat to his colleagues or people, he will immediately run over and fight for them. He fights regardless of whether the opponent is a demon, angel, or even the gods.”

“......”

“Maybe Helena touched Grid’s people. One thing is for certain. I have never seen him use power and violence in order to satisfy his selfish desires.”

Hao didn’t know Grid’s personality or what he did in detail. He just knew one obvious fact—the people of the Overgeared Kingdom always smiled. There was no distinction between players and NPCs. Most of the territories where players were sworn in as lords were the same as ‘someone’s hell.’

“He isn’t a person to hold grudges. There is absolutely no possibility that Grid will be the enemy of all people. In the future, those who antagonize Grid are born evil and will be the enemies of humanity anyway.”

“For example, Bunhelier?”

“That isn’t necessarily the case...”

“Kukuk, that’s fine. Prepare good alcohol. Based on what you said, I want to meet him once. If you don’t want to, you can go and run off...”

After becoming the lord, Bunsdel didn’t directly participate in the war with the empire. He had the same attitude when the emperor changed. He silently watched the war that was child’s play to Helena. He wasn’t afraid of being defeated by the grandmaster. He was just wary that he would lose his sense of reason in the process of fighting the grandmaster and even exterminate his own kin.

He was the one who inherited the thickest amount of blood from the evil dragon Bunhelier. He wasn’t just the king of the half-draconians. He was also a transcendent. Now he turned his gaze in the direction of the Overgeared Kingdom.

***

“Aren’t we becoming really strong?” Ibellin exclaimed in an excited voice. He had a bright smile that didn’t fit this hellish life. The expressions of the other people were similar. As if to prove that humans were adaptive animals, the hell expedition had fully adapted to the hellish environment. They were no longer mentally shaken. They were able to fight the demons and demonkins without being caught by the penalty that sealed many of their stats.

“It isn't really strong. It is much stronger. I’ve already gained four levels. Ibellin, I think you’ve gained six?”

“Hehe.”

The biggest difference between Satisfy and reality was the compensation. Unlike reality where it didn’t matter how hard they tried, they would be compensated accordingly in Satisfy. Efforts and rewards were directly proportional. The expedition adapted to the cruel hell at the beginning and started to embark on the road of flowers. Level and skill experience increased at an unprecedented rate.

Every time the team faced their extreme limit, Yura used Hell Regulation and her contribution was the greatest. The support of Saintess Ruby and the existence of the neutral areas that occasionally appeared like oases were also very helpful. The neutral zone of hell was exactly like the surface. It was a space for the residents of the demon world, who were different from humans, to live in compliance with laws and order. There was morality and peace. It was a shelter for the party. It was due to the unwritten rule of no killing in the place where God Yatan’s statues existed. It was ironic that the symbol of evil had become peace.

“If we grow as fast as we are now and get new items made by God Grid...” Peak Sword was chatting excitedly with Ibellin, only to shut his mouth. It was because Yura and Kraugel’s eyes were fixed to the sky. Then Jishuka, Faker, and Euphemina shifted their gaze to the sky. Peak Sword’s expression cooled down.

Everyone in the group stared up at the sky. In the night sky where the distorted stars were tangled together, the unique energy that had spread like blood had disappeared. The stars regained their original appearance. The hell moon that had been staring with tens of thousands of bloodshot eyes, closed its eyes and shone brilliantly.

It was a skyscape in their memories—it was the night sky they had always seen. The skyscape that should only be seen on the surface was covering the terrible sky of hell.

“What is this...?”

“Don’t tell me...!”

The eyes of the party members shifted to Yura.

Yura nodded. “It has started.”

It was an omen she had prepared for. The boundary between hell and the surface was broken. A spectacular scene immediately unfolded. Thousands of portals were created throughout the vast sky. This was merely in the 21st Hell.

“Crazy!”

The group turned white as they witnessed the demons and demonkin flying toward the portals.

“Are the demons invading in this way? We can’t control this...”

“Dammit! What are those portals?”

It was from the time of the outbreak of the war. People expected to have some time to respond to it. They never imagined that many portals would open and the demons and demonkin would immediately invade the ground using the portals. It was thought they would gather in a specific connected space such as the Abyss or the Behen Archipelago. Furthermore, it was speculated that there would be a certain limit to the number that could use the passage. They predicted that hell’s armies would enter the surface sequentially.

However, reality was completely different. The situation was much more serious than they expected. Demons would appear simultaneously all over the surface...

As the party was in turmoil, Yura quickly acted. She immediately opened a hell gate. “First of all, Sehee, Jishuka, and Kraugel...”

It happened as Yura was pointing out the first group to go back to the surface...

Something huge fell from the sky and blocked the gate. It was a three-headed beast that was four times bigger than an elephant. On it was a demon in black armor.

“I’m not interested in the war on the surface... I just don’t want you to leave. You will pay the price for daring to make a fuss in hell.”

[The 20th Great Demon, Black Knight ‘Eligos,’ is guarding the river of reincarnation.]

[Eligos has denied life. Your race will change to the undead.]

[Eligos often exercises his authority to interfere in the cycle of life and death of souls. Once killed by Eligos, there is a 50% probability that you will receive the ‘no resurrection’ punishment. If this penalty occurs, you can’t reconnect for 24 hours.]

[You have witnessed the mythical demonic creature, the Cerberus.]

[Facing Cerberus’ six eyes, you have fallen into deep despair. There is a problem with your senses.]

[Your fire resistance, cold resistance, and poison resistance are greatly reduced due to Cerberus’ breath.]

The commencement of the great human and demon war—the stage of the first battle was hell.