Overgeared

“How did you notice my visit?”

The reason why Baal was flustered wasn’t due to the splendid emergence of the apostles.

Grid’s apostles—Baal had acknowledged from the start that all of them was a formidable existence. This wasn’t a reason to panic.

“I prepared thoroughly to deceive even the senses of an Absolute.”

Baal smiled as if he had regained his composure. An unfamiliar magic circle spread like a shadow below his feet. It followed his steps and functioned in conjunction with the hourglass rising above Baal’s shoulders.

Braham had been keeping his eyes on them from the beginning. ‘It is an artifact that obscures the user’s presence for a limited amount of time? It has been transformed by magic to maximize its function.’

Baal’s actions had always been unconventional. Everything he showed from the time he distorted hell to the present had been far from common sense. He was no different from a lunatic running wild with no countermeasures. However, that was just the superficial appearance. Braham had long realized that Baal was clever and thoroughly planned things. If he was really just a madman, how could he have deceived countless beings, including Yatan and Beriache?

“You can’t fool me with crude artifacts. Unlike my kind mother, I’m not pure and I am deeply suspicious.”

“Crude...? I don’t understand.” Baal cocked his head. It was because the artifacts he was using were made using the skills of the craftsman Pauld. It was possible because Baal was one who absorbed the powers of the dead. He was proud that the artifacts he created had a powerful performance that was rare in history, but he ended up being denied by Braham.

Braham raised his chin and laughed. “I can be sure of one thing now.”

It was clearly mockery.

“Baal, you are inevitably a being who is behind the times.”

The image of Baal reflected in Braham’s red eyes was the dirtiest and most unpleasant filth in the world. An object made of rotten meat that made him feel disgusted just by looking at it. There was a subtle restlessness.

“I am behind the times?”

“It is obvious. Your ability to gather the powers of the dead is nothing more than holding onto an era that has already ended.”

Those who used to be the mainstream in each field died. New people were bound to create a new mainstream. New eras started. \

It was something that Baal would never experience.

“I… no, ‘we’.”

Braham—a person who only knew himself was actually discussing everyone present.

Grid’s apostles and the Overgeared members. The thing they had in common was that they opened a new era with Grid.

“There is no need to be afraid of you.”

“...Kukukuk! Kuhahahat! Braham! The son of Beriache! It is funny how a bastard who is worse than his mother, even after building up divinity, is so arrogant!” This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

In fact, there were many areas where Baal felt regret.

Insane Dragon Nevartan—if it had gone as Baal originally planned, he would’ve rampaged across the Saharan Empire and massacred humans. However, this plan went awry due to the variable of Kraugel obtaining the White Fang. Many beings who should’ve died at that time were later protected by Grid’s forces. Some of them were among the apostles in front of him right now.

Baal didn’t get as much power as he wanted. Thus, he was obsessed with Sword Saint Muller. He risked his life coming here.

Heart Killing Intent—if Muller’s power was added to his own strong will to rebel against the Gods of the Beginning, he judged that a lot of the damage caused by his plan going awry would be recovered. However, the apostles of Grid appeared to interfere. To be honest, he became annoyed.

Then at this moment, he saw Braham’s imposing appearance and changed his mind. He viewed the situation rather positively. It was thanks to the new measures presented by the killing intent he felt toward Braham.

“Today, I will have to die here once.”

A solid roar, like steel condensing, echoed throughout the space. The black demonic energy that Baal wore around his body took the form of a sword.

“It will be in exchange for killing some of you.”

For Baal, death could be overcome. Even if he died 100 or 1,000 times, he would just be resurrected immediately. Although Baal was afraid of death when Grid’s epic was working, it was different now. Not only was there no Grid, but even if his death was widely known to the world and his status damaged, it wasn’t a loss. In any case, he would gradually recover as long as he reigned as the ruler at hell. Mercedes’ Keen Insight alone had a higher value than several levels of status.

There was a thunderous sound and one of Braham’s arms was cut off.

Could multiple transcendents handle one Absolute? It was a scene where the question of the curious was answered. No one could stop Baal from approaching Braham and swinging the sword.

“You... it is better not to target you.”

Baal wasn’t very satisfied. He tried to cut off Braham’s head but failed.

The God of Magic and Wisdom—Braham had attained a high divinity and was clearly above a transcendent, even though he hadn’t reached the level of an Absolute yet. He barely held onto the time that only an Absolute could perceive and turned Baal’s attack into nothing.

“Disintegrate.” He even finished casting a spell. A spear of light appeared like an illusion and pierced Baal’s upper body.

At the same time, Zik stepped out. He used the power of the runes to stop Baal’s movements for a moment and struck Baal with an attack. Saharan’s Sword that was inserted in Baal’s chest unleashed the red energy and tried to control Baal. He even used it with the divinity taken from King Sobyeol.

The surprised Baal withdrew his energy and used physical strength. A hand grabbed Zik’s face and slammed him into the ground. Through the roar of the ground exploding, he heard a sound that shouldn’t have been heard. It was the sound of something snapping.

Zik’s neck bone had been broken. Zik’s neck was turned at an odd angle as he was pinned to the ground.

“Zik!”

Jishuka used Fly Up! It was mixed with the Breaking Evil Arrows. She sought to heal Zik while also weakening Baal. On a battlefield without Ruby, she was the healer of the Overgeared Guild.

Sure enough, Baal’s aggro changed immediately. He might covet the abilities of Muller and the apostles, but he was the wariest of Jishuka. His sword suddenly appeared next to Jishuka.

“Ohhhhh!!”

Surprisingly, Vantner blocked it. It was thanks to the ultimate skill that ‘protected the designated target for a certain period of time’ being used in advance. He predicted this situation from the moment Jishuka used Fly Up! The price was high.

“Hoh? It is quite interesting, but it is an unnecessary ability for me.”

Every time Baal’s demon sword struck Vantner’s shield, dark red blood spilled from Vantner’s nose and mouth. He started to be driven into the ground like a nail as his shield gradually shattered. He also received physical status abnormalities such as ‘internal injuries’ and ‘fractures.’ In an instant, his immortality was on the verge of being consumed.

His colleagues didn’t sit idly by. Just like Vantner, the elites of the Overgeared Guild predicted that the aggro would be directed to Jishuka. Thus, they surrounded Baal from all directions and launched an offensive.

“You guys are pretty good as well.”

Baal counterattacked without avoiding the Overgeared Guild’s offensive and slowly moved from Kraugel to Faker. Faker’s Kill List had Baal’s name written on it. Baal’s name was also engraved on the consumable dagger ‘Surprise Attack,’ which significantly increased attack power when a target was designated.

This meant that the current Faker could show off immensely powerful skills against Baal. He wasn’t at all inferior to the apostles in terms of attack power. Moreover, the strength of an assassin was to utilize skills related to tracking, stealth, infiltration, and trap installation. By attracting Baal’s aggro and disturbing his senses at every critical moment, Faker showed a transcendent-like way of fighting without the need for transcendence.

In the end, the problem was that Baal was an Absolute. Faker’s physical abilities and cleverness could embody transcendence, but this didn’t mean much against Baal.

“Cough!”

Faker failed to hide in the shadows and was blown to the far wall, getting stuck in it. He became trapped due to the physical condition of ‘bound.’ The aftermath of piercing through a thick wall by dozens of meters was great.

Damian and Katz hurriedly caught Baal’s attention. It was to buy time for their companions to rescue Faker.

Braham and Zik, who recovered before they knew it, also joined in. The sword that Baal wielded unstoppably was intercepted by Braham’s ‘fist.’ It was the fist of a monster that was wrapped in strengthening magic.

“This power... Beriache’s blood. It is ridiculous that the son of that ignorant being is worshiped as the God of Wisdom.”

Grid had judged that Beriache’s monstrous strength was the result of ‘sucking the Specter’s blood.’ In reality, it was the pure physical abilities of the progenitor.

“It isn’t ignorance. It is purity.”

Baal’s nonsensical words as he recklessly evaluated Beriache offended Braham. In fact, he was angry because Baal hit the nail on the head.

Ignorant—this was a relatively correct way to evaluate Beriache, who sacrificed herself to bear a child in the hope of getting revenge on Baal and placed all her responsibility to her children.

That’s right. Braham knew that his mother wasn’t always right. Nevertheless, he loved her.

Braham grabbed Baal’s wrist and cast a series of physical magic. The great magic, which was hard to see in his lifetime, aimed at Baal and the hourglass.

The hourglass—Braham judged that it was only by destroying the artifact that assimilated Baal’s ‘presence’ with the surrounding environment that he could convey to Grid what was happening here.

Baal made an expression of pity as he shook off Braham’s hand and cut Braham’s chest with a sword. “You talked like you could win even if you fought without Grid. Now you are trying to ask Grid for help so soon? You don’t seem to have inherited the pride of your mother?”

“Help... that isn’t what I want.”

In the endless torrent of magic, Baal’s body regenerated at super speed as soon as it was torn apart or exploded. Meanwhile, Braham’s body had turned to rags. The Overgeared members thought that Braham’s aim of taking out Baal through mutual destruction by taking advantage of his possibility of resurrection was wasted in vain.

They were mistaken. Braham had more pride than people knew. He would kill Baal if it was possible, but he had no intention of dying with Baal.

“I want to announce your death.”

“Nonsense...” This time, Baal burst out laughing at the absurd bravado.

“It is done.” Then Piaro’s voice rang out. In the aftermath of Baal’s usage of the red flesh, the space it was in developed a strange environment ‘resembling hell,’ not the No Offspring Tomb or the Overgeared World. Now this place had transformed into a golden wheat field.

“Great job.” Mercedes had been silent while reflecting on the handprints of someone left on the handle of the sword. Now she finally joined the battle. The time for patience was over. She was barely suppressing her desire to kill the enemy who dared to invade the sanctuary that Grid had stepped on.

“Sonic Rage.”

The surroundings that had been benefiting Baal were restored by Piaro and she used her ultimate technique. It was possible because Braham, Zik, and the Overgeared members bought time.

The effect was great. For a moment, Baal couldn’t distinguish the illusion of a sword made by the sword energy of Sonic Rage. He naturally cut Mercedes, who attacked with two swords, while thinking it was the real one. Then he was cut by the real Mercedes who came one step later. It was the moment when Baal, who used the red flesh to create an environment similar to hell and showed the majesty of an Absolute, showed his bottom line.

“Farmer... you...” Baal, who was split in half, glared at Piaro as if he was going to eat him.

Braham’s still active magic was grinding through the body of the bastard who lost even the power of the super fast recovery. But it was just a bit. There was a slight lack of power.

Baal somehow withstood the attacks of the apostles and the ultimate skills that the Overgeared members constantly poured out and reached out to target Piaro. Then a huge, transparent purple hand extinguished all the energy around him like a candle. It flew away and snatched Piaro by the nape of the neck.

“I told you, I won’t die alone.”

Piaro’s neck was bent. He couldn’t even scream as his body rapidly dried up like a mummy. All the energy of nature in his body was being sucked into Baal. No one could save Piaro. The unidentified, transparent purple hand temporarily prevented the Overgeared members and apostles from using all resources such as magic power and sword energy. It was physically impossible to quickly subdue Baal and save Piaro with pure physical abilities alone.

However, there was one exception. Sword Saint Kraugel cut off the transparent hand that was choking Piaro. He might’ve lost his sword energy, but the power ‘there is nothing that can’t be cut’ of a Sword Saint was still intact.

“Cheeky guy!” Baal was furious. He couldn’t hide his soaring anger at the fact that he lost the ‘Asura’s Hand That Is Being Completed’ to the young Sword Saint he hadn’t paid attention to.

The wheat field had dried up in the aftermath of Piaro being suffocated and eroded by demonic energy. Thanks to this, Baal regained the environment he wanted again and intruded between Kraugel and Piaro. He swung his sword in a wide, horizontal direction, intending to slash both their throats at the same time. The speed was so fast that Kraugel sensed death. Nevertheless, he tried to protect Piaro. He used his sword curtain on Piaro, not himself.

Unfortunately, Baal’s sword was much faster. Piaro was on the verge of being decapitated.

At this moment—

Mir, who had been silent by Muller’s side for a while, suddenly blocked Baal’s sword. It was with ‘pure swordsmanship.’ The memories he regained after seeing Muller were moving his body. This wasn’t the end.

“I was made to fight against you.”

The last apostle of the Overgeared God—Mir’s potential, which should’ve originally made him become the treasured sword of the God of the Beginning, Hanul. Now it blossomed after meeting Baal. It was similar to what he showed when he briefly competed with the 1st ranked archangel, Raphael.