“Sir Piaro and the orc lord are fighting?”
“A legendary farmer and a pig are fighting!”
Rumors quickly spread as Grid’s group sat in the agricultural fields. In just a few minutes, the fields were full. From ordinary villagers, merchants, soldiers, nobles, and players…
Among the figures who flocked to the fields was Lauel.
“Don’t allow players who aren’t part of the Overgeared Guild to enter.”
“Yes!”
Lauel gave an order to Coke and the surroundings started to clear up quickly. Coke and the knights took control of the soldiers to drive out all outsiders from the fields. Heavily armed soldiers circled the outskirts and players were unable to see inside the fields.
“Why aren’t you showing it to us?”
“We want to see Piaro fighting!”
“We have the right to watch! The Overgeared Guild doesn’t own this land…! Ah, it is their land…”
“Piaro, fighting!”
The players driven out of the fields made a fuss. Many of them were fans of Piaro and were filled with disappointment, but none dared to cause trouble or try to infiltrate. It was the skill of the Overgeared Kingdom’s knights that they controlled tens of thousands of players with only thousands of troops. In the first place, there was no idiot who would cross the Overgeared Guild.
“You can release your stealth now,” Lauel spoke to the air after Sticks cast an enchantment to completely block the view of the outside world. Braham, who had become invisible with magic, gradually emerged.
The silently watching Grid finally opened his mouth. “Why did you chase out the people? Are you afraid to expose the guild’s power?”
“Correct.”
“Hrmm…”
Grid was convinced.
“Well done. There is a saying that even a stone bridge should be tested by banging on it before crossing.”
“Banging… I don’t like the feeling but it is correct.”
For example, Piaro and Teruchan. Grid’s knights were clearly strong but they weren’t invincible. There were definitely weaknesses such as skills, stats, or personality. If this was exposed, it could be an opportunity for someone to target them. Of course, no one wanted to become a second Veradin but the world was always unknown. It was best to avoid exposing power as much as possible.
The reason why Braham was hidden was to avoid attracting aggro. The second reason was that the media and public would be too annoying. Unpredictable beings such as Magician King Goldhit could become entangled with Braham so there was no reason to reveal Braham’s identity and cause an accident.
“I think it would be good to give Berith's Skin Mask to Braham.”
“Is that a good idea?”
Grid pulled out the skin mask.
[Berith’s Skin Mask]
[Rating: Legendary (Transcendent)
Durability: 10/10 (can’t be repaired)
A mask made by Berith processing human skin.
It boasts a perfect degree of completion because it contains Berith’s magic of lies and distortion. It isn’t only the face that is disguised but the body shape and voice as well. Thus, it transcends a simple mask.]
The skin mask was a very useful artifact. No one had noticed when Grid disguised himself as Empress Basara. The downside was that the cooldown was 12 hours. However, it wasn’t a problem if it wasn’t removed after wearing it. Fortunately, Braham was also intrigued. “Good. My face is annoying in many ways.”
“Why is your face annoying?”
“Whenever females see me, they scream or lose their souls. The same is true for some males.”
“Oh, you’re right. That would be annoying.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. It isn’t only humans but also other races as well, to a certain level. They all react equally to me and I have experienced many serious things.”
“Hrmm…”
He thought about it. Even Grid had been flustered at the sight of Braham turning his head.
‘It isn’t good to be too handsome…’
He was glad he didn’t look that great. Feeling strangely relieved, Grid handed Braham the skin mask and Braham immediately put it on. Then the uniquely beautiful man turned into the common appearance of a villager. His name was Lux. This was the knight identity that Grid had Braham borrow. Braham adapted to his altered body and voice and spoke with satisfaction, “It is better than I thought. It might be the 22nd place but a great demon is a being who has personally been given power by Yatan.”
“It’s no wonder… the falsehood that distorts reality is the power of a god. Yet a 22nd great demon can be ignored? Are the single digit great demons completely different?”
It was something he had been paying attention to since he heard Noll’s words. Wasn’t it too exaggerated that the 3rd ranked great demon, Beriache, could overpower the great demons outside the top 10 alone? The power balance was too off for Grid who had to be afraid of even the 10th great demon.
Braham nodded. “They are strong. The gap between power is large but their physical ability itself is unparalleled compared to the top 10 great demons.”
“Then how strong was Muller to seal Hell Gao by himself?”
“You’ve already told me about him. I have to admit that he was the strongest human being.”
“Stronger than you?”
“Shut up.”
“…Please tell me exactly how strong you are.”
“The more simple a person, the more they like to quantify things.” Braham complained. Still, it was a pretty interesting topic for him to ponder on. “The sealed Hell Gao was 9th ranked. Hell Gao couldn’t be hurt even if all the great demons outside the 15th rank came at him simultaneously… well, even if there were 10 guys like Berith, they would’ve been beaten by Muller.”
“…!”
“There are too many variables in battle. I’ve never seen Muller’s real skills so it is hard to quantify him. I can only use a rough reference. It is also important to note that the Hell Gao who fought Muller is the summoned Hell Gao. He would’ve never beaten Hell Gao if he met Hell Gao in hell.”
“It would be a suicide attack for humanity to invade hell.”
“That won’t happen. Hell is a desolate land and there is no reason for humanity to go there. That’s why the great demons are obsessed with taking over this world.”
“Hrmm…”
Grid was suddenly reminded of Yura. He felt she was bold for hunting alone in hell.
Meanwhile, Piaro and Teruchan were ready for battle. Teruchan’s muscles were swollen after doing 500 push-ups and he cried out, “Great warrior! Guruk! I! Teruchan! Guruk! Let me enjoy it!”
“I’m a farmer, not a warrior.”
Piaro’s hand plow and Teruchan’s Failure collided in the air, creating a deafening sound. Piaro was pushed back in strength. It was natural. Teruchan’s growth as the peak of his species exceeded even the growth of named NPCs. Teruchan’s level itself was far ahead of Piaro. This meant he needed to consider the stats difference.
In addition, Teruchan was now equipped with items. Failure Honoring the Strongest Warrior had a high base attack power and it amplified Teruchan’s damage by 20%. On the other hand, Piaro’s hand plow was a tool focused on farming. It enhanced Free Farming in many ways but the damage itself was considerably lower. Piaro judged it was hard with just the hand plow and took out a sickle, crossing it with the hand plow to block Teruchan’s attack.
He used this chance to sow some seeds. The bean trees grew rapidly. A wooden column soared up and hit Teruchan’s ass. Then Piaro grabbed Teruchan’s collar and slammed him into the ground. It was an impactful attack but Teruchan had more stamina and strength and became stronger as the battle continued. The momentum was so intense that even Grid had to take a few steps back.
‘I don’t know who will win…’
In fact, Grid thought that Piaro could easily win. Teruchan’s physical abilities were superior to Piaro but Piaro was far ahead in experience. Teruchan might have high physical abilities but Grid predicted that Piaro would lead the fight because he had so many skills available.
‘The Indomitable Warrior passive that consumes Origin True Energy isn’t activated in sparring mode so I thought Teruchan would be at an extreme disadvantage.’
However, the reality was that it was too fierce to guess. For NPCs, the concept of level wasn’t just about stats. Teruchan, who had gained three more levels in a month, was more skilled than before. It felt like his beast instincts had become sharper. The wild beast was adapting to the turbulent changes in the field in real time and was strongly pressuring Piaro.
‘It is a dream that I beat him…’
Of course, Grid could beat Teruchan because he was lucky. He fortunately made the Blue Dragon Boots and he fortunately was able to get the upper hand in the match against Teruchan. However, it was a different matter for Piaro. Now that the advantages of his experience had become obsolete, it was safe to say he had little advantage over Teruchan.
‘Is Piaro losing?’
Grid’s heart sank. Piaro and Teruchan were both precious companions but he became strangely anxious at the thought that Piaro might lose. Grid didn’t want to see Piaro fall when he had always stood as a great mountain. Was his heart conveyed?
“Strong!” Piaro, who had been resisting Teruchan’s onslaught, suddenly smiled and shouted. “Free Farming Hidden Style.”
‘Natural State?’
“Sprinkling Pesticides!”
A new technique was shown. It was a terrifying and deadly technique that had the will to eradicate all pests eating at a farmer’s sanctuary.
“…!”
The astonished Teruchan took a breath and swung his sword. The strong particles spread like fog and took control of all the fields. Any insects who inhaled it would die.
“That orc has too few skills,” Braham murmured.
“Free Farming 5th Style, Harvest.”
Piaro harvested all the crops he had planted throughout the battle. The crops were cut off by a sharp suppression energy and their leaves were shaken. At this time, the scattered seeds…
“Free Farming 8th Style, Polishing Rice.”
Piaro exploded the seeds and Teruchan couldn’t even scream. Teruchan’s great body fell feebly on the field where new buds started to sprout. Grid expected Teruchan, who grew stronger during battle and boasted troll-like regeneration, would soon rise again. Surprisingly, the collapsed Teruchan didn’t move. His mouth was foaming and his skin slowly turned black. It was the aftermath of inhaling the pesticides.
“Sehee!”
The surprised Grid shouted and Saintess Ruby, who had been waiting in advance, rushed over.
‘This toxicity is very strong…!’
Ruby was startled. Usual poisons were instantly removed with Purification but the pesticides that poisoned Teruchan weren’t easily detoxified. She barely managed it after using Purification several times in a row. It was a tremendous toxicity. Piaro murmured sadly as Grid and the knights stared at him, “I wanted to stick to organic farming until the end… it turned out there were limits. Still, I believe this is also a farmer’s path.”
“……”
After that, Amelda’s party—unmotivated from the beginning—quickly abstained. Singuled, who was a belligerent person and wanted to beat Piaro this time, also waved the white flag and said that pesticides weren’t allowed. Mercedes was the same. As the master of Keen Insight, she noticed that her skills were still relatively insufficient. She abstained, stating it was too early to challenge Piaro and Braham.
Asmophel and Noll, who had already been defeated by Braham, also pledged to fight in the future. The only three remaining were Braham, Piaro, and Jude.
“I’ll give you some time to rest,” Braham spoke meaningfully to Piaro.
He beckoned to Jude using Lux’s appearance. Then he used illusion magic the moment Jude entered the stage. It was more effective the lower the target’s intelligence so Braham was certain that Jude would be exhausted after running around uselessly for an hour.
“Bah.”
Braham confirmed that Jude was standing there with a dazed expression and turned back calmly. He planned to gather as much mana as possible while Piaro was resting. The next moment, Jude’s stony fist struck Braham’s back.
“Kuek… what?”
Braham’s eyes widened. He looked back with a trembling gaze and could still see Jude’s dazed expression.
“Jude. First. Knight.”
‘What is this guy?’
Unknown. The Duke of Wisdom encountered something unknown he had never experienced before.
