by Park Saenal
Grid was approaching every visible tree and inserting a key. The traps of the jungle started to be released one by one under his hand.
“W-What?”
In the previous conversation, Grid seemed completely unaware of the key pieces. He gave the absurd answer that he originally had the key. That’s right. Grid’s key was completely different from those available at the ruins.
Was it effective? What the hell was this?
“Wait a minute! W-What the hell is that key?”
“This? A universal key.”
“…?!” Skunk belatedly recalled something. Grid was the Overgeared King. It was the reason he became king, not because of other exceptional talents.
“O-Overgeared…”
Yes, overgeared. Grid was the most overgeared person in the world.
“Hmm?” Grid was curious about Skunk’s reaction, only to suddenly pull out a sword.
Then he started a sword dance. “Pinnacle Kill.”
There was a follower who approached Grid while hiding in the vines. Grid’s high insight and Slaughterer’s Eye Patch meant he saw the follower before the attack. The two fused sword dances didn’t consume a lot of sword energy, and some of the sword energy was recovered by the subsequent basic attacks. It took only 10 seconds for the follower to turn to gray.
“Hey, you said they were basically wandering on their own? Don’t we just have to kill them as soon as we see them?”
The followers in the Galgunos Temple were classified as elite monsters while the followers at the ruins were classified as normal monsters. The followers might be stronger, but their health was low. Thus, it was easy to kill them in a few blows. This was Grid’s opinion.
“…” There was an awkward silence.
Chapter 1025
The 300 knights were stunned. They were truly amazed by Grid killing the follower in a matter of seconds.
‘There is a reason Lord Grenhal respected him.’
The knights had been thinking that Grenhal’s attitude was too much. They might need his key, but Grid was the enemy king. He was a rebel who had killed Duke Rigal. However, Grenhal expressed a subtle liking toward Grid. Why did he do this? In the end, there was a reason. Overgeared King Grid was better than the rumors said. Grenhal might’ve been fighting many followers, but Grid hunted a follower in a matter of seconds. He was faster than the dukes!
The knights felt fearful of Grid and were unable to believe there was such a strong man outside the empire. They were already worried that he would be the second coming of the Undefeated King.
The 10 meritorious retainers were also surprised. A humanoid normal monster might have the weakness of ‘less health’, but the follower was still level 400. Grid’s fighting power, which knocked down such a monster with a skill and a few basic attacks, had risen significantly compared to just a few months ago. The 10 meritorious retainers respected Grid’s constant development. The impact on Hurent was particularly large.
‘I used all my skills just to catch one…’
Hurent hadn’t participated in the meeting. Unlike the 10 meritorious retainers, he wasn’t a noble and it was somewhat uncomfortable to take part in the meeting with the dukes.
Thus, he had taken the time to look around the coast. Piaro, who had farmed in the underwater city of the water clan, had said he’d created a crop that grew in sand and ate seawater. After sufficient verification, Piaro had given some seeds to Hurent. How pleasant would it be to farm in such a beautiful coastal area…?
Hurent looked around the coast with sentimental feelings. However, being sentimental was a luxury. He should’ve used that time to train. Now, he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to reach Grid’s toes in his lifetime.
“…” On the other hand, the dukes showed no reaction. They didn’t feel admiration at all despite seeing Grid easily taking care of the followers.
Grid was also feeling a bit suspicious. ‘Isn’t the experience too little?’
The amount of experience given was the same as the amount of experience received from killing a level 300 monster. The follower only gave this much experience and left. It was a strange thing.
“…!” Grid was cocking his head only to quickly raise his sword. A fist flew out and collided with the Sword Aiming at the Gods. There was an intense explosion. Grid’s two feet left the ground. It was evident that the strength contained in the fist was superior to Grid’s strength.
Grid was pushed his sword against the punch and kicked out. The war god follower, that was attacking Grid, lowered his elbow. The follower’s elbow headed toward Grid’s knees. Thanks to this, Grid’s leg couldn’t go up and his kick was rendered useless.
“You…?” Grid identified the face of the follower and was astounded. The facial features of this follower were completely in line with the follower he had just eliminated. The moment Grid felt some doubts, the follower split into two, three, four, or five followers. They were clones. The initial follower Grid killed was just this guy’s clone.
“When they first emerge, the followers who mastered cloning will throw out their clones as bait to distract the opponent,” Grenhal murmured.
The followers of the war god were the strongest enemies who threatened even the dukes. There was no need to mention those who had learned dozens of secret techniques, but even the followers who had learned five secret techniques weren’t easy opponents. It was difficult to eliminate them in just a few seconds. That was impossible for the dukes unless they used their ultimate techniques.
Grenhal remained alert as he silently watched how Grid would cope. Grid had become the Hero King through certain achievements. Grenhal had a pure curiosity about whether Grid desired to be called the hero among heroes.
‘He will naturally have a hard time in the beginning.’
The cloning technique that the followers used was different from traditional cloning. The original cloning reproduced 30% of the user’s abilities, showing a weaker presence. Meanwhile, the cloned followers boasted a powerful destructive power. It was due to the characteristic of ‘momentarily exchanging stats with the main body’.
Of course, since it was an exchange, the power of the clone became stronger while the main body weakened. This weakness exposed them to danger, and the key was to capture the weakness. However, there was no difference between the appearance of the clones and the main body. It was impossible to find the main body and kill it.
Grenhal wondered how Grid surrounded by five followers would break through the crisis. For reference, the first time they fought a follower with the cloning technique, Grenhal took four minutes while Morse took five minutes.
“Um?” Grenhal’s eyes grew slightly wider. It was due to the blue sparks that appeared around Grid’s left eye hidden by the eyepatch.
“…?!”
At the same time, all the clones surrounding Grid exploded and disappeared.
“W-What? What is this ability?” The cries came from Morse, who had been repeatedly yawning out of boredom. He regarded Grid as weak and showed little interest in his battle. The follower who lost his clones was also baffled. The followers of the war god were truthseekers. In order to achieve ultimate nothingness, they detached themselves from their emotions even before death. Their confusion was an unfamiliar and surprising sight for the dukes.
Basara exclaimed, “Evil eye…!”
“What? An evil eye?”
An eye that exercised power—it was a privilege only for the evil eyes species. It didn’t make sense that the human Grid was using an evil eye, but Grenhal and Morse couldn’t deny Basara’s interpretation. There was no error in her vast knowledge.
Grid’s struck the follower, who only had the main body left. However, the follower’s skin hardened like steel and crossed his arms to block Grid’s attack. The follower’s defense was so strong that normal attacks couldn’t hurt him.
“…?!” The follower’s arm was cut off by Grid’s sword, and blood spurted out. The face of the follower distorted
with pain.
[Contempt of the Weak]
[Inflicts a fatal blow to a target who isn’t in the realm of transcendence.
Deals a blow that consumes 80% of the target’s current health.
Skill Mana Cost: 5,000
Skill Cooldown Time: 1 hour.]
This was the skill attached to the Blade Aiming at the Gods. It was a skill that didn’t apply when the opponent was named, but it was like a nuclear warhead against an ordinary monster. Grid dealt eight more basic attacks to the follower who was stunned from suffering great damage. Then the follower of the war god turned to ash.
Grid was able to gain a large amount of experience, unlike when he killed the first clone. His experience gauge increased by 0.01% despite being level 398.
“…”
“…”
This time, the dukes were astonished and closed their mouths. This was the first time Grid fought a follower that possessed the cloning technique, yet he managed to easily eliminate the follower…? Honest admiration sprang up at the sight of Grid’s skills.
‘He didn’t manage to kill Rigal because he was lucky.’
In the minds of the dukes, Grid’s presence started to grow. Grid succeeded in dominating the atmosphere. It was worth using Contempt of the Weak.
[The Castration Eye is triggered. Mana is being constantly consumed.]
[The Castration Eye has been closed.]
Grid closed his left eye and approached his companions. “The followers seem stronger than I thought. Everyone, be careful.”
“…Yes.”
The 10 meritorious retainers were heartbroken. They had to be careful of monsters that Grid hunted in seconds… They realized how big the difference between them was and felt a far bigger gap than the one they used to feel with the sky above the sky—Kraugel.
‘This can’t continue.’
‘We will end up being a burden if the gap keeps widening.’
The 10 meritorious retainers were burning with motivation. They would fight when they were afraid and become stronger by overcoming it. They looked around with determination. They had the eyes of predators.
***
The jungle wasn’t large. Thanks to Grid releasing all the traps, the struggle of the 10 meritorious retainers who longed for growth, and the overwhelming combat power of the dukes, the party reached the end of the jungle easily. A valley emerged before them, and the sound of the pouring waterfall entered their ears.
“How about camping here?”
Lauel confirmed the topography of the valley and nodded. “This would be good.”
They had started at dawn, and it was currently nighttime. It had taken them 14 hours to break through the jungle. Lauel, who set up the camp with his colleagues, approached Skunk and asked, “There was nothing unusual on the way?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, no clues or treasures could be found. There were only a few murals telling me how to release the jungle traps.”
The jungle was just the first gateway of the ruins. The jungle itself was low in importance. Lauel nodded and handed Skunk a piece of jerky. “Aren’t there many troublesome things running a guild by yourself?”
“It is a bit troublesome if there are more than 100 people. However, there are no big problems. In the first place, our guild runs according to the concept of conducting an expedition. We don’t settle in one place, and there isn’t any political fighting. Of course, the difficulty means that many guild members often desert…”
“It seems time to settle down. You’ve explored almost all the West Continent and crossed the Red Sea.”
“Um… That’s true.”
“Come to the Overgeared Kingdom. We will provide you with many conveniences. If you want to explore the Red Sea, you can borrow the warship at any time. If you want to explore the East Continent, we will help you cross the continent at any time.”
“Haha, I can cross to the East Continent at any time? That is an irresistible proposal,” Skunk laughed.
The remark about being able to go to the East Continent at will was absurd.
Lauel spoke with a serious expression, “You might not know this, but Sage Sticks is serving Grid.”
“…?”
“We can create magic scrolls that enables intercontinental movement.”
“Huh? What?” Skunk’s eyes widened.
“Is that really…?” Skunk was about to ask for confirmation, only to close his mouth. It was due to the waterfall behind where Lauel was sitting. He glimpsed the human lurking behind the massive waterfall falling in the distance. The person had his eyes closed like he was training, and he wasn’t paying any attention to this side.
However, the party was forced to feel worried. The name of the person seen through the waterfall was ‘war god follower who has learned 10 secret techniques.’
Skunk sensed it. This was the guardian. It obviously existed to protect some treasures.
Chapter 1026
‘Just this?’
Grid was troubled as he walked through the jungle. The Ruins of the War God…
It had been six years since Satisfy was released and a new area opened. Wasn’t it normal for the difficulty level to be very high? To be honest, he had determined that the expedition itself wasn’t possible. Yet once he actually embarked on the expedition, it wasn’t a big deal. There was the universal key, and the work was too easy.
‘Rather, the Galgunos Temple is harder.’
The followers at the ruins were 50 levels higher than the temple followers and had more skills. However, they weren’t threats because they were normal monsters, and they appeared one by one. Rather, he perceived the difficulty of the undead-infested temple as higher.
‘…Indeed. I heard that Galgunos was also revered as a god.’
It was impossible to establish a hypothesis that this place was more difficult just because it was in the Red Sea. Before dividing the world into the West Continent, the Red Sea, and the East Continent, the settings were different from place to place. Dragons lived on the West Continent.
‘Let’s not jump to conclusions.’
The jungle was only one gateway in the ruins. After that, the difficulty might rise significantly.
“Hrmm.”
In the private barracks, Grid was busy thinking as he patted Noe’s fur, which was gradually becoming darker. What item could the Overgeared Skeletons make using their bones? He thought about what to create. The system set up Overgeared Skeleton One to make a sword and Overgeared Skeleton Two to make a helmet, but it was purely Grid’s responsibility to decide the type of sword and helmet. Grid wanted to present the best items for them since the Overgeared Skeletons would use the items for the rest of their lives.
“Ah, it is hard.”
At present, the Overgeared Skeletons could only learn one production method each. This made it harder.
“Nyong.” Noe licked Grid’s hand.
He noticed that Grid’s expression was distorted with worry.
‘A cute guy.’
While Grid was smiling with a warm expression of affection, it happened.
“King Grid!” Lauel ran in and shouted, “Come out for a second!”
***
Their ears were ringing. At the valley that existed at the end of the jungle, there were 53 large and small waterfalls pouring down in the centre. In particular, there were two very big waterfalls. They were only 30 meters wide, and the water pressure was strong enough to drill a hole in the bottom of the valley.
Therefore, no one noticed the existence of a follower hiding behind the waterfall. It was purely a coincidence that Skunk found him. The two waterfalls collided, and a crack was formed. Finally, the falling moonlight illuminated the follower.
“A follower who mastered 10 secret techniques.”
Some of the 10 meritorious retainers couldn’t gulp. It was hard enough to deal with a follower who had mastered five secret techniques. No one knew how strong one with 10 secret techniques would be. In particular, Vantne
r had received a great deal of damage from the followers who had acquired the ‘Force Palm’ technique that penetrated through defense. He prayed that the follower who had learned 10 secret techniques hadn’t learned Force Palm.
Grid belatedly arrived at the scene. “How long has he been hiding in there? Is he planning to ambush us when we are off guard?”
To put it bluntly, the follower was an insidious person who was equipped with a named-grade level artificial intelligence. The color of the name couldn’t be seen because of the disturbance of the waterfall and the distance, but it was likely to be a boss monster.
“Since he is still there, he doesn’t know that he has been caught by us?”
“It seems so. From inside the waterfall, the sound of the waterfall will be louder, and he can’t see this side very well.”
The follower seemed to be in training. He stood as still as a statue with his eyes closed, as a waterfall cascaded over his body. Surely, he didn’t know the situation.
“We should get rid of him quickly. Assist me.”
Grid felt that the jungle was boring, but this was just an individual impression. He was hoping for some thrill, but he didn’t want a crisis. Consequently, he judged it was better to handle the risk factors quickly. The Pulling Device was used on Sword Ghost. Grid attached the Blade Aiming at the Gods to it and then used Fly. The distance to the waterfall was around three kilometers long. He planned to fly over as quickly as possible, use the four fused sword dances to critically damage the follower, and then kill the follower using the assistance of his colleagues.
However, Grenhal stopped him. “It is dangerous.”
Grid paused. “Dangerous? Isn’t it an opportunity to attack when he has yet to notice us?”
“He is watching us.”
“What are you talking about? Isn’t his eyes closed? In the first place, would he be so still if he has noticed us?”
“Your Majesty, do you know why he has detected us? It is because he has achieved Natural State. We can’t capture him with our senses because we haven’t unified with nature. Meanwhile, he shares the senses of nature and knows what we’re doing and what we look like.”