Overgeared

Grid was in a bad mood these days. He tried not to show it, but Mercedes easily noticed. Of course, she knew it without having to use Keen Insight. There was a rough air to his usual habits. 

‘Has he perhaps seen my room? I covered it with camouflage wallpaper, but... there is no chance it will work in front of My Liege’s insight. His discerning eye is wonderful as well...’ 

Mercedes’ anxious mind was overflowing with thoughts. Of course, there was no change in her expression. She was a legendary knight for a reason. How far did her imagination go? By the time Mercedes’ earlobes turned red, Grid had made up his mind. 

‘Let’s compromise with this much.’ 

For the last three days, Grid focused on updating the effects of Gujel’s Dao. Fortunately, he could multitask with the God Hands and his summoned pet. If he was an ordinary player, he would’ve been unable to do anything for three days due to changing the effects. 

‘I wasted over 300 million.’ 

His prayer stat that exceeded 1.8 billion was reduced to 1.5 billion. The results obtained were a ‘280% rise in critical hit damage’ and a ‘low probability of weapon stealth.’ Gujel’s Dao was literally a nuclear weapon. It was easy to reach the goal with one hit. There was no need to look at probability. This meant it was a weapon that couldn’t be responded to. It was worth the investment of time, capital, and mental power. 

However, Grid was very sorry. It was because the effect of a ‘normal probability of weapon stealth’ appeared less than 50 times while he was changing the second option slot. He thought it was an easy option to update, so he renewed it, but he didn’t see it again after tens of thousands of attempts. He had to compromise with a ‘low probability.’ 

It was frustrating. 

‘First of all, give effects to other items... Gujel’s Dao can get better effects later.’

First, he needed to change his mood. For three days, he had been stressed looking at the weapon effects and he felt like he was going to die. 

Grid put away Gujel’s Dao, that disappeared intermittently, into his inventory and observed the surroundings. The deep part of the Chaos Mountains had turned into ruins. The terrifying monsters were being turned to ash after being attacked by the modified God Hands, Randy, and Overgeared Skeletons. The monsters, which formed a group on the periphery and rushed at once, were bound by the blood magic of the direct descendants who joined late. One of the hunting grounds that was currently considered the most difficult was easily raided without Grid. 

‘Noe is becoming lazier.’

As proof of the situation where there was plenty of spare power, Noe was sleeping alone in the back. It was cute to see him snoring with his belly bulging out, but it was also somewhat disgusting. 

“If we punish hell, the demons won’t be so eager for the memphis.” 

Noe’s ears moved. 

“There must be many pretty females... I wonder if they will welcome a boyfriend with a belly.” 

“It isn’t an important issue whether the belly bulges out or not.” Mercedes suddenly stepped in. She was looking at Grid with deep eyes. 

Her liege was cool in many ways. He was unconditionally good. Too good. Etc, etc. 

She summoned up her courage to express the words hovering in her mouth, but it wasn’t easy. It had been years since she received the confession from Grid. There had been no progress in their relationship, so Mercedes was afraid that Grid’s heart might’ve changed. She had no choice but to become timid. Perhaps this was why she developed a shady hobby. 

Grid’s gaze was stuck to Noe. He waved his hand behind his back and pretended to keep speaking to Mercedes, “At this rate, Noe might die as a bachelor in his old age.” 

“That is impossible!” Noe roared and rose from where he was lying. He transformed into a dignified adult like a tiger. The energy of the thunder stone accumulated in his body could be used freely on the surface. It was possible because he was constantly leveling up with Grid.

“Where in hell is there a female who will reject this Noe, the strongest demonic creature in hell?!” 

“You are the weakest one here. It is a relative comparison.” 

“I-I’m not the weakest, heung! This one will win against them!” 

Noe’s sharp claws were pointed at Overgeared Corn and the direct descendants. That’s right. Even hell’s strongest demonic creature, cherished by the great demons, couldn’t handle the God Hands and Randy, who had some of Grid’s stats. There was no need to mention Overgeared Skeleton One, who inherited the grandmaster’s abilities, and Overgeared Skeleton Two, who distorted space. 

“Your tongue is long. If you answer that you will be diligent, so that you don’t gain weight any longer, this matter will be over.” 

“I’m sorry, nyang...” 

Loyalty was loyalty, but Noe was crushed by Grid’s dignity and couldn’t move. This was the power of stats. After putting Noe into battle, Grid tested out his other new power. 

The hundreds of items left unattended on the battlefield—the items dropped by monsters gathered together and formed a huge sword. It cut through the air a few times and turned into a storm. It was a storm of steel. 

‘The utilization is infinite.’ 

It was a power that arose based on the fact that the Overgeared God was the ruler of all things. It was another version of the Item Combination skill. Unlike Item Combination, it couldn’t inherit the stats of the target item, but there was no limit to the number. It combined a large number of items to create a substance or phenomena. The power was proportional to the total durability of the combined items. It might be due to this reason that items with infinite durability weren’t included. 

‘It is a big drawback that I can’t target Greed, but it doesn’t matter.’ 

It already had a fraudulent potential. It would be very powerful if he used it in connection with the rain of battle gear...

“......?” 

Grid, who had regained his composure, became flustered. 

Mercedes’s expression was somber. She had excellent facial expression management, but this was different from her usual appearance of indifference. For the first time, the reputation of the ruler of knights was overshadowed. 

“I...” Mercedes made eye contact with Grid and struggled to open his mouth. Her long eyelashes were trembling. 

“...I don’t care what My Liege looks like. You are very good.” 

The words she barely expressed after getting rid of her hesitation were completed. Grid’s eyes widened while his mouth was twitching with happiness. 

“Nyong.” Noe’s big stomach covered the appearance of the two people who were slowly getting closer. 

Blue hair flowed down Grid’s waist. 

Hiihing~! 

The sad cry of Overgeared Corn spread along with the moonlight. 

***

‘Put players in hell.’ 

Hell was divided into 33 large areas and originally competed with each other. However, there were reports recently that they were cooperating with each other. Perhaps it was due to several crises such as losing the Great Human and Demon War and losing a lot of territory to Leraje. 

They seemed to be properly alert. It meant there would be a huge resistance the moment when Grid invaded hell. Grid would only have the support of the Overgeared Guild and it would be hard when being attacked with such a huge power difference. 

Lauel’s solution to this was the regular opening of hell. He encouraged people to visit hell like it was a normal hunting ground. 

‘It can disperse the forces while preventing the build-up of demonic creatures.’ 

The strength of numbers was useful in many ways. If people’s invasion of hell became routine and they became active throughout hell, the demons would be forced to respond. The troops that had gathered together in preparation for Grid’s invasion would be scattered throughout hell. 

Of course, this wasn’t an easy scene to occur. There were two conditions that must be done first before players could be induced to enter hell. First, the penalties of hell should be mitigated. Right now, the penalties were too high, so it was rare for someone to challenge hell. Fortunately, there was a solution. It was to get people involved in the Hell Gao raid. 

The project was already in operation. Lauel, who praised all players as the protagonists who led the Great Human and Demon War to victory, released several controlled zones to commemorate the victory. He vowed that he would yield the raid authority previously monopolized by the Overgeared Guild to the private sector and mediate so that all participants could receive a fair share of the items dropped by the boss. He even pledged to support them to ensure the success of the raid. 

The reaction was hot. In particular, attention was focused on the Cokro Island dungeon. 

Hell Gao—he might’ve lost his body, but he was still a single digit great demon. Rumors that the list of dropped items was very gorgeous started to spread. A rumor that just participating in the raid twice would remove the penalties of hell also spread rapidly. They were rumors that Lauel deliberately spread. 

“Demons, please look forward to it. From now on, you will experience real hell. Huhuhut...” 

What were the reasons why guilds insisted on controlling hunting grounds? The demons would soon know why the seeds of monsters were dried up at famous hunting grounds. Unfortunately, they would find out from the monsters’ point of view. 

“What is going on?” 

Lauel called Sticks to the castle. 

Sage Sticks—he was one of the top contributors in the Great Human and Demon War. Thanks to the warp gates he created, the distribution of troops and supplies was carried out smoothly. However... 

“It is impossible.” 

This great figure expressed frustration at Lauel’s request. The crystal castle was taken over by Demon Slayer Yura. Lauel’s request to build a warp gate connecting the surface to the impregnable fortress was too absurd. 

“It might be different if someone breaks the boundaries of the world again by cutting the Abyss, but... it is physically impossible to connect a disconnected world.” 

“What about using the principles of the hell gate?” 

“The hell gate uses the power of some great demons and the Demon Slayer. It is a supernatural phenomenon. Ask the Demon Slayer yourself. Maybe she doesn’t know the principles either.” 

It was impossible. Sticks reconfirmed it and Lauel became very troubled. He wouldn’t be able to achieve one of the prerequisites to make hell a hunting ground. 

‘It doesn’t make sense to rely on Yura every time we need to send people to hell.’ 

It was tantamount to completely depriving Yura of her freedom. It was like wasting the maximum power of the Overgeared Guild. It was putting the cart before the horse. 

Lauel’s expression gradually became darker. 

“It seems possible.” Just then, a welcome person returned. Grid—somehow, he looked like a gentleman in a romance movie as he carefully lowered Mercedes from Overgeared Corn’s back. It was different from Grid’s usual image, but it unexpectedly suited him well. He had the appearance and atmosphere to play various roles. 

‘I should tell Administrator Rabbit to prepare for the celebration.’

Lauel noticed the situation and smiled happily, while Sticks cocked his head. Grid had no knowledge of this field at all. It was hard to understand the basis for saying it was possible. 

“It is different from fighting or politics. Engineering isn’t a problem that can be resolved using momentum.” 

Grid tapped his head with his fingers. “It isn’t momentum. It is about having enough knowledge and evidence.” 

“Haha...” Sticks thought that Grid was making a silly joke in the morning. He guessed that something good had happened. However, that was it. 

It was because he didn’t yet know of the fact that one of the wise giants was with Grid.