Haicyen Saharan—he was from the bloodline of a destroyed kingdom and was the incarnation of revenge. He devoted his life to punishing the kingdoms that persecuted his kingdom from generation to generation, and eventually destroyed it.

This was the background of the birth of the first empire in history. The empire was close to a symbol that proved the success of Haicyen’s revenge.

“If one of my descendants breaks their promise... prove your qualifications and rights with this sword and directly ascend to the throne. Turn the empire into yours in the long-term to achieve your desire. Definitely... be sure to regain your body...”

Zik recalled the end of Saharan. Having lost his passion since becoming the emperor, he chose annihilation rather than corruption. He poured his Origin True Energy into the sword that symbolized himself and fell into an eternal sleep. His last will was left only for Zik. He seemed to have no nostalgia for the empire he devoted his life to, and actually handed it over to Zik.

Zik had no choice but to misunderstand Saharan. He interpreted it as Saharan abandoning the empire after achieving his purpose. This was why Zik endured for hundreds of years while watching the descendants turn away from the promise and forget about him. Zik pitied Saharan’s descendants.

However, his feelings became dull due to the Curse of Sloth and he didn’t realize this. Yes, his emotions were dull. Therefore, he didn’t recognize it—how warm Saharan’s eyes were.

“......”

Zik’s hasty return from Cokro Island was because he felt Saharan’s energy. He felt it naturally because the source of red energy in Saharan’s Sword responded to the same source.

Zik was angry. He thought about his deal with Saharan.

“Make me the emperor. In return, I will help you with your resurrection.”

Zik kept his promise. On the other hand, Saharan left his promise to the future generations. It was because at that time, it was impossible to keep the promise in that environment. Zik had no choice but to accept it. He let Saharan go smoothly. Then what about now? Saharan had returned. It meant he arranged his own resurrection, while failing to keep his promise with Zik.

“...I was only recently resurrected. I even got rid of the curse.”

Zik slowly descended and became eye level with Saharan. It was just like when they went to the battlefield together. Zik’s anger melted away like snow. The misunderstanding was resolved when he saw Saharan’s youthful appearance.

‘It isn’t a resurrection. I can see why the flow of red energy is so strange.’

The Saharan in front of him was a being of the past, not the second coming of a ghost. It was estimated to be around the time when Saharan had just risen to the throne.

‘At this time, Saharan was so strong that he didn’t need my help.’

Even though he placed Zik by his side, he somehow tried to keep his promise to the end. Zik could see facts that he didn’t know in the past...

“My dull emotions have also been fully restored,” Zik’s voice trembled slightly as he described it.

A bright smile spread on Saharan’s face when he felt it. He was still tearful and rejoiced as if Zik’s resurrection was his work.

Zik realized it—the reason why Saharan chose to die wasn’t because he lost his passion. In order to keep the promise, he devised a way to fully preserve his power so he could help Zik at any time.

“...You were also my friend.” These were Zik’s words.

“Ugh.” It caused Saharan to be unable to speak. The appearance of him covering his face with a big hand because he couldn’t handle the pouring tears was pure and didn’t match his fierce appearance that was like a flame.

“Thank you.” Zik just gave thanks.

Your descendants broke the promise...

Such truths weren’t conveyed. It wasn’t just for Saharan’s sake. Zik didn’t want the past to change. If he told the truth, Saharan would never end his life. It was clear that he would endure for hundreds of years in order to keep his promise. It meant that the past would change dramatically. No one knew how the present would be affected by the change. Therefore, Zik concealed the truth.

Saharan’s red energy, which was filling all of Reinhardt, started to disperse. Red petals seemed to flutter. In the pouring petals, Saharan’s gaze turned to Zik’s sword. He noticed his fate based on the sword that contained his power.

‘As expected, I chose death on my own.’

He wasn’t ashamed or afraid. The great conqueror—Saharan, the only existence in the world, was very proud of himself. He was proud of his future self, who tried to keep his promise even if it meant committing suicide.

“The willpower of this era is pushing me out. I think I have to leave now.”

“...Goodbye.”

“Yes.”

Saharan nodded and whispered to Zik, “It might be a shameless request, but I hope you look at the kindness of my descendants, who kept the promise, and protect the empire. I can feel that the human god is trying to swallow the empire by force, but I can’t handle him.”

“It isn’t about taking it with force.”

“......?”

“It is purely the free will of the empire and other nations to become subordinates of the Overgeared God. There is no coercion.”

“Hah...” Saharan doubted his ears. Zik was one of the seven malignant saints. He was one of those who fought a war against heaven. He distrusted and hated the gods. Saharan was forced to notice this when he founded the empire and sought the blessing of the goddess.

That’s right. Zik hated even one of the first gods and the creator, Goddess Rebecca. Yet now he was saying favorable things about a human god. It was hard to believe.

“There is actually a god you respect and appreciate...”

“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t dare to evaluate him.”

“...What is this? Who is he that makes you go so far?”

“He is my only god.”

“......”

Then a magic earthquake occurred behind Saharan and a portal was opened. It was a bizarrely small portal that was connected to the past. A presence that the current timeline didn’t allow—in other words, it exerted its strength against Saharan.

Saharan’s gaze was stuck to Grid as he was slowly sucked into the portal. His eyes had changed greatly. “Thank you.”

Saharan would’ve noticed through Zik’s attitude who truly resurrected Zik. The great conqueror was wise.

“The moment I go back in time, everything I’ve experienced here will be forgotten... it was nice to be happy for a while. Please...”

Please take care of my friend...

Unfortunately, Saharan couldn’t continue to talk. Time didn’t allow it. Even so, his heart was surely conveyed. This was why his willpower left a mark.

[The title, ‘One who was Acknowledged by the Founder,’ has been acquired.]

[One who was Acknowledged by the Founder]

[The founder of the empire, Haicyen Saharan, acknowledges and supports you.

★ Easily discover the legacy of the Saharan Empire buried all over the continent.

★ The probability of discovering resources like mines in the Saharan Empire has increased significantly.

★ The effect of the dignity stat is doubled when used against the imperial family and nobles of the Saharan Empire.]

“......”

Players must go on adventures in order to develop. It was hard to get new encounters or quests when staying in one place. Yet recently, new connections and stories came to Grid on their own. Biban, the king of the dark elves, the half-draconian lord, and Haicyen Saharan were some examples. It was the power of strength and reputation.

Now a lot of the story flowed through Grid with him as the core. The rewards for his long-time efforts were belatedly coming to him. Could he take a day off today?

“...Let’s have a drink.”

“It is an honor.”

My only god.

Grid was very happy as he realized what type of existence he was to Zik. He sincerely wanted to live up to Zik’s expectations. It was the same for Zik. The two people were strongly drawn to each other.

‘No... the Hell Gao raid will begin in a few minutes...’ Lauel couldn’t say anything. It was a fact that people often got wrong, but Lauel’s top priority was Grid, not the Overgeared Kingdom. Everything he sacrificed for the Overgeared Kingdom was just a stepping stone for Grid.

This meant it was hard for him to break Grid’s excitement.

***

Cokro Island’s dungeon was filled with people. The capacity was at the limit. The group was gathered for the Hell Gao raid that would take place a short time later. It was only a small amount of money, even if a mythical item dropped. The Overgeared Kingdom had promised to distribute the items dropped by Hell Gao fairly to all participants.

“Won’t Hell Gao melt as long as all these people hit him once?”

There was no sense of tension in the expressions of those whispering to each other. They developed in the Great Human and Demon War and their self-confidence increased. However, the high rankers were nervous. It was the influence of predicting the difficulty in the process of getting familiar with the Hell Gao strategy distributed by the Overgeared Guild.

‘It is an unbelievably powerful pattern for someone who has lost his body to Muller and was sealed. Is the seal weakening? I feel he is stronger than the early rumors.’

The high rankers took deep breaths to relieve their tension. They had something to believe in. The heroes of the Great Human and Demon War including Piaro, Braham, and Zik, and the top powers of the Overgeared Guild were helping in the raid. At the very least, they wouldn’t die if they followed the instructions well.

‘Yes, as long as we don’t die...’

The first purpose of those participating in the Hell Gao raid was to get the title that eliminated the hell penalties. It was fatal to die in the raid because it delayed the opportunity to get a title. They wanted to hunt in hell as soon as possible. That’s right. The players were very passionate about going to hell. For the sake of the future of humanity and revenge for the Great Human and Demon War. There were many elements that motivated them.

“It is in one minute’s time!” Vantner’s cry rang out loudly. He deployed a wide-area shield in preparation for the air strikes that would occur with Hell Gao’s appearance and looked very cool. He built thousands of shields alone and was the peak of a guardian knight. There were many rumors criticizing Vantner for investing all his stat points in strength, but now they were convinced it was just false rumors.

“What?! Zik has disappeared?”

The commotion had subsided due to Vantner’s call that it would start in a minute started up again at these words. Additionally, his voice was so loud. This caused his voice to echo through every corner of the dungeon. It was enough to dampen people’s morale.

“There is no Zik?”

“Isn’t Zik the next strongest in the Overgeared Guild after Grid and Braham?”

“I think he is better than Braham...”

“What is this? What is going on?”

It happened as there was a lot of confusion…

“It’s fine. We are enough to protect you.”

Jishuka, one of the rankers with the biggest growth in the Great Human and Demon War, came forward with the vestige of the red phoenix behind her. The moment some of Hell Gao’s wide-attack attacks pierced part of Vantner’s shields, they were intercepted by her arrows and destroyed. Additionally, the group of 50 cavalrymen led by Pon broke through the wall of fire and drew Hell Gao’s attention. This allowed the raid participants to glimpse the gap between them. They poured attacks toward Hell Gao.

Braham and Piaro didn’t go out much. They just found people likely to be caught in the aftermath of an attack and built shields or trees to protect them.

The situation was more relaxed than the Overgeared Guild predicted. Hell Gao wasn’t weakened. Rather, it was a change caused by the Great Human and Demon War. Compared to before the war, the post-war Overgeared members were several times stronger.

-Is this the market floor or something?

Hell Gao’s furious voice shook the dungeon. Now anybody was coming to fight him...

He resented that he had become a punching bag. Muller faded from his memories. Rather than Muller, who destroyed his body, he was more resentful of Grid, who forced him to fall to this point.

[The Hell Gao raid has succeeded.]

“Uwaaaaahhhhh!" After dozens of minutes of fighting, the raid participants defeated Hell Gao and cheered while hugging each other. The death toll was zero. The miraculous achievement quickly spread to communities around the world. There was a series of predictions that the players’ invasion of hell would accelerate.

At the same time, Basara received the news that the founder had acknowledged Grid before leaving. She was very pleased and discussed the merger with the nobles again. There was little backlash to the idea. In fact, there could be no backlash. Most nobles were positive about the merger with the Overgeared Kingdom, and the minority who felt negative about it were intimidated by Kyle. Behind Kyle’s threats was the desire to be seen in a good manner by Grid. It was more of a survival instinct than ambition for success.

On the other hand...

“I can’t stand by any longer.”

Damian, the leader of the Overgeared God Church, was preparing to go out. The winds of change were blowing all over the world.