The Sanctuary of the Saintess could be extended up to 900 meters at most. If a new Sanctuary was built and attached before the end of the previously established Sanctuary (3 hours), the size would increase and the duration would reset. However, the cooldown time of the Sanctuary skill was 2.5 hours. It was impossible to establish a new Sanctuary while it was still active and connect them at the current skill level.
However, there was now a new variable—the assistance of the Transcendent God’s Holy Sword.
‘I’m not alone.’
The demonic creatures’ offensive was becoming increasingly fiercer, but Ruby wasn’t afraid. The help of her constantly arriving colleagues meant she continued to expand the Sanctuary. The result:
“Ohh!!”
From the place where the hell gate opened to the entrance of the black crystal castle, this not so short distance of 400 meters was covered with the protection of the Sanctuary. It was the birth of a perfect base.
***
“Wow… Wow, amazing.” It was really amazing. The exclamations of the expedition members continued.
First, they were surprised by Ruby’s Sanctuary. Second, they were amazed by Yura’s power. Yura’s firepower and insight were impressive as she saw through the demon in charge every time tens or hundreds of demons appeared, sniping them with one shot. After losing the command system, the Overgeared members finished the demonic creatures easily. At this point, they couldn’t only explore hell. They could also conquer it.
‘The reputation of the Overgeared Guild is actually underestimated.’
‘There is no one who isn’t great.’
There was one fact that even those with good eyes couldn’t notice. It was the fact that Yura was able to play such an active role due to Kraugel and Jishuka’s merits. The flying demons and demonic creatures flying hundreds of meters in the air—they used the dark clouds as cover to approach and bombard the expedition team. The expedition team couldn’t detect their presence. It was a truly secretive maneuver, but it was powerless in front of Kraugel and Jishuka’s wide vision.
They were swept away by sword energies and arrows and turned to ash before they could enter the attack range. It was under utilized compared to the vision of a Bow Saint, which was like a satellite, but Barbatos’ Vision that extended up to 10 kilometers was one of the best search skills. Once the field of view skill was linked to it, the flying demonic creatures were forced to be helpless.
At the black crystal castle…
The exploration team had a short break and the Overgeared members gathered in the meeting room.
“What is Barbatos doing?! Go ahead and send another one!” Vantner belatedly heard of Kraugel’s hidden performance and opened the window to shout at the sky. It was an ignorant act that provoked a single digit demon.
Pon blocked the mouth of this person who was blinded by jealousy and asked Yura, “Is there no way to designate a return point in hell?”
Dantalion’s legacy, this beautiful and solid castle, was well suited to being a base. He naturally tried to designate it as a return point but the system sent him a message that it was impossible. The return system itself was disabled.
“Yes, this is the Demon Slayer’s unique authority.”
This meant it wasn’t possible for anyone other than the Demon Slayer to use the return system in hell. One of the most obvious survival routes was blocked.
“Hrmm… I was psychologically prepared but I’m still a bit scared.”
The Sanctuary weakens half the penalty of hell. Even so, their stats were decreased by 15% and there were all sorts of debuffs. This was still the hells in the 20s. The moment they went outside the Sanctuary to explore… the expedition team would taste hell.
Yura encouraged the nervous colleagues, “A lot of great people are gathered. Have strength.”
The expedition didn’t come to hell to hunt safely in the Sanctuary. The ultimate goal was to experience hell for themselves and to measure the power of the demons and demonic creatures. The stage of the great human and demon war might be the human world, but the probability of the hell penalty was very high. The demons would wage war without any countermeasures.
On the other hand, humans had very few cards they could prepare. There was Yura’s Hell Purification, Ruby’s Sanctuary, and the chorus of the priests of the three gods. At present, there were only three ways to eliminate or weaken the hell penalty. However, the scope wasn’t huge and it had to frequently be maintained. There was even a question over whether the three gods would cooperate properly. Since the birth of the Overgeared God Church, that relationship had completely broken down. Of course, they wouldn’t just suck their fingers if the demons invaded the earth, but…
“The people are waiting. We should depart.”
It was as Yura said. Many great people were gathered for this expedition. This included the people with so-called king qualifications, like Jishuka and Chris, who led a number of guild members. However, the leader of the expedition was Yura. In hell, she was the best, so she had to lead everyone.
‘It is time to change.’
Yura had almost always been acting solo. It was a great burden to lead people, but she had to overcome it. She was given a heavy responsibility as the war against the demons was foreshadowed. Now it was necessary to go beyond the stage of obsessing over individual power and to prepare, strive for, and be qualified from multiple perspectives.
It was just like Grid.
***
The magic machine was originally a great anti-evil weapon. The ancient giants made them to fight against the great demons. The surviving giant species members joined the tower and modified them into weapons against dragons, but… the essence wasn’t easily changed.
Alloys that blocked magic power, destructive power of dozens of tons, a range of operation that couldn’t be achieved with the human body, and a mental barrier technique that protected the pilots—the basic features of the magic machines were still a threat to the great demons.
‘To be exact, it isn’t only a threat to the great demons, but to most beings.’
Aside from the great anti-demonic power, it was safe to say that it was fraudulent because it combined tens of tons of weight and greater mobility than humans. There was no need to discuss compatibility. It was just that the ‘dozens of tons of weight’ mentioned here was impossible for Grid to reproduce. The magic machines production method that Grid learned was small, just based on the name. It was small in size and light in weight. The total weight was only 2.5 tons.
‘Thus, I have to get Raiders’ production method.’
It was certain that Overgeared God Grid’s Techniques was a myth rated skill. If not, the ‘you can make anything’ function couldn’t be described as anything other than the power of a god. That’s right—it was now possible for Grid to make the permanent mechanism. Even if Grid didn’t know the magic engineering technique, the Overgeared God Grid’s Techniques meant that any high-level recipe could be acquired in the ‘item production list.’
Radwolf’s way of making the small magic machine was inspired by rumors of pavranium. The body that was made of pavranium used a ‘rough’ power to move. Radwolf had been certain that it couldn’t be commercialized (he changed his mind after learning that pavranium evolved into Greed). Still, there was no reason to cling to this crude production method that was evaluated as ‘unable to be commercialized.’
‘I will make the Raiders corps, not the small magic machines corps.’
One way was to ask Radwolf to give him a new recipe. Still, that required going around. Radwolf wouldn’t do him a favor without asking for something, so there was a process of proceeding with a quest. Even if Radwolf did him the favor, Radwolf didn’t know Greed.
Grid was the only one who knew the true value of the mineral that existed only for him and how to use it properly. Grid had confidence that a mechanism made of Greed would have much better results if he designed it himself.
‘In the process of acquiring the Raiders production method, I will accumulate knowledge and even create items.’
Grid was planning to invest boldly. He wasn’t just satisfied with getting the Raiders production method. He was thinking of creating a new magic machine based on that production method.
A magic machine made of ordinary alloys that could be directly controlled by the pilot. In other words, the first goal was to mass produce Raiders that Zibal was currently using. The ultimate goal was to create a fully automated magic machine that was 100% made of Greed from the mechanism to the body.
There were both advantages and disadvantages. The automated magic machine made of Greed would be more powerful, but the large consumption of Greed was a fatal problem. Mass production was still difficult. Raiders had relatively weaker durability and firepower but it was likely to show better movement depending on the pilot’s capabilities. Mass production was also relatively easy.
Overgeared warship… what flying ship nonsense? It was a waste to pour Greed into such a place at the present time. It would be put off until later. He would produce magic machines with fighting power. Zibal’s role was important for training pilots.
Just as Grid was the role model of blacksmiths and gave birth to great blacksmiths, including Khan and Smith, Zibal was a role model for pilots and would produce great pilots.
‘For now… I have to help upgrade Raiders so Zibal can play.’
It was important to increase the operating time as well as Raiders’ performance. The method wasn’t known yet. He had to disassemble it first to get a hint.
“Summon, Raiders.” After innovating Tiramet’s Belt, Grid went to the garden and activated the Raiders summoning device that Zibal had handed over.A pure white figure entered Grid’s vision. The serene green eyes stared at Grid. Here, the summoning status could be maintained until someone boarded it. The power button was turned off so it didn’t consume energy.
‘Do the primary work until the cooldown time of Innovation is over.’
Grid lightly floated and rose above Raiders’ shoulders. All types of tools were in his arms. It was a tool for unlocking the ancient legacy.
“Gulp.”Zibal watched without leaving his spot and gulped. He had lent Raiders after knowing Grid’s intentions, but he couldn’t hide his anxious feelings. He knew that Grid had made a lot of battle gear so far. He had experienced how great the legendary blacksmith was as an enemy and an ally. Still, it was hard to say that the magic machine was a battle gear. He wondered if it was possible for Grid to understand and upgrade Raiders.
‘This damn… I believe you…’
It was already over. Now he just had to believe and wait. He knew this, but…
“Gasp! Hey! Why are you driving a stake into the top of the head?!”
Grid’s disassembly was too extreme and too fast. Zibal would really lose everything if Raiders was broken, so he had to react sensitively. However, Grid had entered a complete trance in order to increase his work efficiency. He focused on his work without hearing Zibal’s screams.
