“I’ve been delayed. Then I will ask you to clean up the aftermath.”

“Grid, take care. I think my life is over, so if you want to see me, go to the tower... Oof! Oof!”

Hayate exchanged a few more words with Grid before taking Biban away. He jumped silently and disappeared into the sky. It was such a mysterious sight that it eclipsed Biban’s words. It felt more elegant in contrast to the martial god who stormed in and lost. It seemed they would never forget this for the rest of their lives.

“Forget everything you saw today.”

...They would forget it.

“Yes.”

People who weren’t loyal to the Overgeared Kingdom were rare. Additionally, the people gathered here were the ones closest to Grid. If Grid wanted them to die, then they would die. If he wanted them to forget, then they would forget. The moment Mercedes took the lead and answered, the others took it as an example and copied her.

“......”

Piaro and the knights looked at Mercedes strangely. The girl Piaro had brought in when he was leader of the Red Knights—the knights vividly remembered her past before she grew up as a lady and became the king of knights. She was a pure and straightforward child. She was a lovely child in both talent and personality.

Now it was quite different. The cold voice and eyes when she told the martial god to shut up was completely imprinted on the minds of the knights. They thought about the situation at that time and once again got the chills.

“Captain, will that child be okay?”

“Um...”

Amelda asked anxiously and Piaro sank into thought. His expression wasn’t comfortable. A courage and belief that didn’t shrink back at all against the martial god. He was anxious that the moment when Mercedes’ unique nature would put her into a crisis would surely come one day.

However, he wasn’t in a position to advise her. Mercedes had done her duty. On the other hand, he failed to do his duty. Unlike Mercedes, he didn’t go out to protect Grid even though he was Grid’s messenger.

Of course, it wasn’t just due to fear. He made a rational judgment. The situation at that time was when Hayate... no, it was just before the sword tower master and Zeratul collided. He thought that he would get in the way if he stepped forward hastily, thus he just watched.

It was definitely the right choice. However, Piaro wasn’t happy. It was true that he had been intimidated by Zeratul. The moment when Sariel and Mercedes broke the curtain of sword energy, he was completely overwhelmed by Zeratul’s presence. It wasn’t just him. Everyone at the scene was the same. The only exception was Mercedes.

‘I should’ve stepped up as well.’

It was purely an excuse that he didn’t need to step up. He was actually scared. So what about Mercedes’ personality that brought herself into a crisis? Why was that a problem? It was natural for knights and farmers to jump into a crisis for their master.

‘I turned a blind eye to that natural duty...’

Piaro’s mind was dazed. His beloved wife Beniyaru was holding his hand, but his body trembled and nausea rose. He was falling into a heart demon.

Then Grid grabbed him by the shoulder. “Piaro.”

As evidenced in the battle, the cognitive abilities of Hayate, Zeratul, Mercedes, etc, were developed and specified for combat. On the other hand, Grid’s cognitive ability was a bit wider in category. The evidence was that he acted with Biban as his top priority. Grid’s cognitive ability shone not only in combat, but also in interpersonal relationships. It was still limited to those he had good feelings toward, but he responded sensitively to the changes and crises of the people around him.

It wasn’t enough to simply describe it as good senses. The process of guessing and understanding people’s psychology and circumstances was extremely fast and accurate. It was impossible for him to not read Piaro whom he had a deep bond with.

“Don’t think it was futile. Your judgment and choice were perfect. It would’ve made the situation even harder if you acted with reckless bravado.”

“...Yes, My Liege.” This was enough. The fog that was eating at Piaro’s vision cleared up and his confusion stopped. He erased his lack of confidence and was motivated. He couldn’t wait to go over the lesson from Biban and the enlightenment he just got from the battle.

That’s right. It wasn’t just Piaro. Mercedes and the other knights haven’t fully absorbed Biban’s teachings. It was natural. Within minutes or hours of learning it, Zeratul had appeared and led to the current crisis. They lacked the time to study.

Grid read the enthusiasm in Piaro’s eyes and laughed. ‘I am reminded of the days of Reidan.’

It was Piaro in the days when he tried to become the Sword Saint. At that time, he had been shining brilliantly. It was just like right now.

“Piaro, lead the troops out with your knights.”

The martial god retreated, but his remnants remained. The number was at least 200,000. The first thing Zeratul did when coming to the ground was to make 230,000 followers. Additionally, there must also be followers who had been brought separately. In fact, there was news of the appearance of the Triad.

“Yes.” Everyone responded energetically. They had experienced the strength of the martial god followers and the Triad several times in the past and they weren’t afraid of it. It meant they were confident in their skills. In particular, Asmophel’s expression was full of confidence. There was just a small change in the way he faced himself, but Asmophel grew significantly. Moreover, he was inspired by the battle between Zeratul and Hayate.

Grid intuitively knew it. It was because he remembered the system message that popped up.

‘The stats have increased by 2% and the skills have evolved.’

This applied to everyone present, not just Piaro, Mercedes, and Asmophel. It was even Lord and his royal guards. They seemed to have been corrected by their talent since they were all at least semi-named. Of course, there were differences depending on their ability. The Red Knights and Lord had their skill levels increased by one and modifiers added to their major passive skills, while others only had a significant increase in skill experience.

In any case, it was a leap forward. They were likely to grow at an unprecedented rate in the process of wiping out the martial god followers.

***

Reinhardt was calm. It was unbelievable that this city had been invaded by the martial god.

It was because Zeratul’s defeat was so fast. He suddenly appeared on the outskirts. Soon after his appearance, he was trapped in the curtain of sword energy and then after the sword curtain was removed, he soon turned to ashes and disappeared. In the meantime, many casualties occured, but it wasn’t enough of a disturbance to be recognized by ordinary people.

[Grid’s Combat Techniques that Depicts the End of the Martial God (?) Advanced Level 5]

[Passive

When equipped with weapons, physical attack power and magic attack power are increased by 38% and the hit rate of all attacks is increased by 21%. Additionally, magic casting time is reduced by 11%.

★If the combat target is a god, all gains will increase by 10%.

★You can choose to increase physical attack power or magic attack power.

★If you choose to increase physical attack power, then the magic attack power increase effect, hit rate increase effect, and casting shortening effect are deactivated. Meanwhile, physical attack power is increased by an additional 15%.

★If you choose to increase magic attack power, then the physical attack power increase effect, hit rate increase effect, and casting shortening effect are deactivated. Meanwhile, magic attack power is increased by an additional 15%.]

‘It is huge that the passive skill has been enhanced.’

Grid’s Combat Techniques gained a modifier—Depicts the End of the Martial God. It was much more valuable than the modifier ‘Witnessed the Defeat of the Martial God’ that was attached to Mercedes, Piaro, and the knights’ mastery skills. The increase in effect was as great as the name—not only were physical and magic attack power increased by 5% and the hit rate by 10%, these figures would further increase if the combat target was a god.

‘Is Zeratul actually an angel?’

The survival of Isabel and Marquis Ashur had been confirmed. Few people died directly from Zeratul. Most of them were just seriously injured. It was due to the struggle of Damian, Zednos, and Laella, who sacrificed their lives to protect the people.

Grid’s response was extremely fast as well. Technically, Zeratul came and died for nothing. He just greatly increased the growth of key people in the Overgeared Kingdom. Grid was sorry for the dead Damian, Zednos, and Laella, but it was true.

“Hum hum.”

The players killed by Zeratul received a terrible penalty of not being able to resurrect for two hours and not being able to fight for 12 hours after resurrection. Grid honored their sacrifice and recalled Hayate’s advice. Pouring out the maximum firepower was the truth.

Hayate’s teachings helped bring Grid back to his origin. Grid remembered the time when he dreamed of attaching Meteor to the Falling Moon Sword. He had been so innocent back then. He vividly remembered the disappointment and deep despair he felt when he realized it was a ridiculous dream.

...He was probably depressed for a few days.

‘I was young then.’

He was still young, but in any case, the current Grid had Braham. The dream he had in his innocent days was coming to life. It wasn’t Meteor, but he would soon make a sword with Disintegrate. It wasn’t an exaggeration that it wasn’t far away.

‘This time, Belial’s Staff was innovated well.’

Belial’s Staff was originally a god-tier item. It was one of the few myth items dropped in the field and both the damage and effects were excellent, even years later. Belial left behind such a great treasure that he had to wonder if she was a hidden daughter of Yatan.

The additional option after the large staff was innovated was also great. It was the option to multiply up to two cast magic. It was based on probability, but the probability of triggering it increased based on intelligence. For example, if Grid used Magic Missile, there was a 70% probability of triggering three Magic Missiles. Add Magic Spray and Magic Missile would seem like legendary great magic. Of course, the power dropped significantly.

‘The higher the rating of the magic that is cast, the higher the effect.’

Unfortunately, Grid only had basic magic and he wouldn’t experience the effect of this option. Meanwhile, it was different for Braham. The newly reborn Belial’s Staff could be said to be a weapon made for Braham.

‘If Braham uses Disintegrate, won’t there be an extra four or five?’

...This wouldn’t happen no matter how fraudulent Braham and the staff were. It would be more accurate to say that it would multiply by at least three and at most four.

That’s right—Braham’s Greed magic forging project would be three to four times faster than before. He could get his hands on Greed with Disintegrate by next year at the latest. From then on, he would be able to practice the extreme damage that Hayate had taught.

‘No, it is possible from now on.’

Grid opened the design of the dragon weapon that was still in the design stage. The structure that considered the detailed effects was impressive. The dragon fang was designed to leave the power of the ultimate material while supporting the utility.

Grid started to modify the complex design that he had made with all his heart and soul. It was simple like the Falling Moon Sword and enhanced convenience and power.

‘And...’

He thought of a new way to use Greed. The embodiment of physical magic using Greed. Hayate had given this advice directly so it would be effective enough.

Grid took out Greed from his inventory. Greed had been left to proliferate since creating the 30 God Hands. It had already accumulated enough mass to make six God Hands.

It was thrown high into the air. The rapidly rising mass of Greed stopped at 1.5 kilometers in the air. That was the extent that it could be controlled. If the distance between Grid and Greed exceeded 1.5 kilometers, Greed would return to Grid’s inventory according to its instincts. This distance had also increased a lot. The higher his willpower stat, the more the range of control was expanded.

'Fall quickly.’

Keywords were important when moving the God Hands. The keywords that Grid entered became the God Hands’ will. The 80 centimeter diameter mass of Greed fell with the will to ‘quickly fall,’ shattering the ground and causing it to shake. The greater the mass of Greed, the more threatening the form of the sword and the more exponentially the power would increase.

‘In the future, I should carry Greed over my head, not in my inventory.’

The distance of 1.5 kilometers was not short. Greed was a substance, so its presence was very small. It was difficult for other parties to recognize it.

‘The key is to steadily train the willpower stat.’

He would find out how to give items the willpower stat. Grid was full of motivation and started to construct the furnace again, when a notification window appeared in his vision.

It was a message that he had two hours remaining until the end of his connection time limit. Grid remembered Lauel’s instructions and logged out.