Grid had no intention of staying away from Khan’s final work. It was only when he wore Valhalla on his body that he felt secure. The affection and goodwill of Khan, contained in the work, were used as a type of protection. It was ever since becoming emperor. It was common for him to take off Valhalla when wearing traditional clothes from all over the world as a courtesy, but this was why he always wore Valhalla in wars.
However, he knew from the very beginning that maintaining the original form of Valhalla was foolish stubbornness. Didn’t he have a hard time when he ought Baal this time? Unfortunately, Valhalla’s performance was far below that of the dragon armor. It was necessary to break this stubbornness. He couldn’t commit the mistake of losing the current Khan by clinging to his memories of Khan.
‘I can’t let Khan be used by the heavenly gods forever. I have to become stronger and help him reincarnate by any means and methods.’
Taang, taang, taang…
Valhalla of Infinite Affection—the main intention of this work was the safety of the wearer. Khan designed Valhalla just for the safety and convenience of Grid. This affectionate heart was imprinted on Grid’s subconscious mind and became the source of his mental world.
Grid had no intention of changing the basic structure of Valhalla. It was already complete and there was no need for it. He planned to maintain the shape so it didn’t go against Khan’s intentions, but he would replace the material with dragon scales. At first, he would start with the vital points and then progress little by little, savoring the traces left by Khan as slowly as possible. In any case, the quantity of dragon scales that he could obtain was limited.
‘We’ve been making frequent eye contact since last time.’
Grid felt a presence when forging Xenon’s scales and glanced out the window while waving.
Elnithana—she was one of the thousands of members of the Overgeared Guild. Her ranking was very average, but she was especially noticeable. It wasn’t just because she was beautiful, but because the background was special. She came from the Ryan Merchant Group, a subject of intensive observation. She was heavily used by Lauel because her mind spun quickly. It had only been a few months since she acted as Lauel’s aide, so she couldn’t help standing out. Additionally, the name Elnithana was obviously taken from the name Nathaniel.
‘It is the name of the Rothschild family of this day.’
There was no way she could be Nathaniel, but since she was from the Ryan Merchant Group, there was a good chance she had something to do with it. Lauel had repeatedly insisted that he needed to keep her by his side to watch her. He had reached the stage where he was convinced that Rothschild was beyond the Ryan Merchant Group.
For Grid, everything felt unrealistic.
The greatest victim of Nazism—Rothschild was a family that declined greatly in the 21st century after suffering from massive wars and assets being divided. Many years later, rumors circulated that it had revived and regained its old wealth and power, but they were just rumors. Even if the rumors were true, why would they approach Grid through Satisfy? Originally, there were many conspiracy theories related to Rothschild in the past. There was even a saying that they were the dark curtain that dominated the world.
There was something absurd about being blatantly wary of them and doubting them.
‘In any case, Lauel said he would take care of it so I won’t worry.’
Elnithana had proclaimed herself a fan of Grid. It wasn’t just her. Those who hoped to join the Overgeared Guild had a great liking for Grid and the main figures of the Overgeared Guild. There was less chance that the word ‘fan’ was false. Grid didn’t dare to doubt her behavior of often watching him from afar.
‘She must want to find peace of mind by looking at me.’
How much would she suffer while working under a chuunibyou boss like Lauel? He could fully understand her desire to look at him and purify her eyes and heart.
That’s right—Grid was now used to people’s goodwill. Additionally, perhaps it was due to Insight, but it was possible for him to vaguely see whether a person had disrespectful intentions just by looking into their eyes. In his opinion, the way that Elnithana was looking at him was very favorable and pure. He felt curious because she often looked very pitiful, but he didn’t feel uncomfortable.
Nefelina, who was spinning in place with an anxious expression, stopped and asked, “Are you really going back to hell right away?”
Grid nodded. “Of course.”
Baal weakened and Grid became stronger. The aftermath of the 20th epic was great. This wasn’t the end. Grid got the strongest dragon weapon of all time, Twilight, and was in the process of upgrading Valhalla. He could trigger the Dragon Knight effect at any time.
Nefelina’s Transcendent Dragon effect was limited to just one minute, but it wasn’t a big disadvantage. After all, Grid was in a position to aim for a short-term showdown. The only means by which he could kill Baal was the six fusion sword dance. It took a few seconds to perform a six fusion sword dance rather than a minute.
‘Of course, Baal had multiple lives, but the more he is killed, the weaker he will become.’
Grid was a player. His lives were endless.
‘It isn’t a loss at all if I die in exchange for taking Baal’s life one or two times.’
He didn’t have to worry about his level decreasing for now. Baal’s level and status were very high. The experience value gained in the process of fighting Baal exceeded the experience value lost by death. The fraudulent nature of the enlightenment effect acted as a shortcut.
‘In the first place, the chances of dying are low.’
Grid’s immortality was long. The emergency escape was also possible, so there was plenty of time to escape. In the worst case situation where he died, he was unlikely to drop items. The probability of dropping items was proportional to the infamy. This was why PK criminals were afraid of death.
Grid had a very high luck stat. The luck stat increased the probability of beneficial things happening and lowered the probability of harmful things happening. It was such a vague concept and was hard to trust because it was based on ‘probability,’ but Grid had been through too much. He now readily admitted that he was lucky. It was a bit bittersweet that even his luck was gained through effort rather than being born with it, but in any case, Grid believed in himself.
On the other hand, Nefelina’s anxiety was extremely high. “By what means should I escape?”
Let’s say that Grid escaped urgently… even if he died, he would be revived. Yet for Nefelina, death was the end, Once Grid died and she was left alone, what means could she use to escape from Baal’s grip and to escape from hell?
“Believe in Yura,” Grid reassured Nefelina, who was trembling as she imagined something terrible. Yura’s Hell Leap had a different concept from the usual movement magic. Unlike magic such as Teleport, which used coordinates as a reference to move around, the dimension itself was distorted to connect the desired location and current location together. As such, Baal’s ability that sealed all movement skills and magic couldn’t block Hell Leap.
“She will protect us.”
Somehow Yura would move them to the crystal castle. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to get the timing right, but Grid believed in Yura. It was because the Demon Slayer’s senses would clearly feel the moment that Baal weakened.
***
The lake that exposed its bottom every time Nevartan released a Breath was filled with water again. The temples that had been destroyed by Nevartan’s tail and feet also clearly mirrored the process of restoration.
“……”
Kraugel was holding Twilight as he sat in the middle of the lake and meditated. It looked rather gorgeous compared to Grid’s Twilight. It was because Xenon’s scales were forged by being folded hundreds of thousands of times and layers of metal formed on the blade. The orange divinity that stained each of the layers reflected each other. It looked like the setting sun had been cut to the size of a blade and separated. It was so gorgeous that it caught people’s eyes.
Every time the people rushing back and forth in the Overgeared World passed by the lake, they stopped and exchanged whispers. This sword was one of the two divine swords that Grid made a week ago and the beautiful appearance matched very well with Kraugel’s appearance. They were full of praise. People’s liking toward K raugel, who was second only to Grid, was sky high.
‘…Yes, let’s stay here a bit longer.’
Kraugel, who was blocking the outside noise with deep meditation, slowly opened his eyes. In fact, his heart wanted to head to Muller’s grave right away. He felt the need to protect the tomb from the subordinates of the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb, who seemed to be searching for Muller’s body. He didn’t know what was the worst case scenario that would happen if Muller’s body was put into the No Offspring Tomb.
However, there were two things that bothered him. The first was the blind swordsman who claimed to be Muller’s student. This ignorant and uncouth person might also know Muller’s grave.
‘In the course of tracing my tracks, he might’ve figured out that I was fighting the evil spirits of the No Offspring Tomb. He might’ve noticed that I will go back to the grave.’
There was a high probability that this person was waiting for him in the midst of the evil spirits and monsters of the No Offspring Tomb that rushed in like the fog. He didn’t want to face this person yet.
The second thing was Reinhardt’s safety. The tower members had returned to the tower and the apostles were immersed in their own matters. Piaro went on a trip with Laella and the Fruit of Good and Evil, while Braham left to meet Marie Rose. Mercedes left to visit her home, and Zik somehow moved to Cokro Island. Nefelina was scheduled to embark on the Baal expedition with Grid. The Overgeared members moved to their respective hunting grounds. Perhaps it was due to what they felt in hell, but everyone was desperate to grow stronger.
It meant that the only power remaining in Reinhardt was probably Sariel. Everyone seemed to have the vague belief that Reinhardt would be safe, but Kraugel’s idea was different. The days when he was the sky above the sky—he used to experience a crisis in every one of his most reassuring moments.
Satisfy would never allow the player’s carelessness. Of course, the Overgeared Guild was a thorough organization. Grid estimated that the time it would take him to fight Baal and return home was approximately 40 minutes. Lauel had plans in place for any eventuality that would occur in those 40 minutes.
Looking at the structures of the barracks that had been relocated around the Overgeared World in the past two weeks, he was reminded of the expression ‘a heavenly fortress.’ It was a form in which the troops could fight as much as possible with the buffs of the Overgeared World. It was a level that was impenetrable by any great demon or archangel.
Then what if the intruder’s status was higher than expected? The Overgeared members would return immediately and join the battlefield, but it wasn’t easy to communicate with the apostles unless it was Grid.
“Teacher!” Lord spotted Kraugel and ran over with a smile on his face.
Kraugel wanted to protect the bright smile of the family member of a precious friend.
