by Park Saenal
However, this only lasted for a moment. Teruchan saw through its essence and his intense counterattack poured out. The incandescent Grid was cut by the broadsword and repeatedly stabbed.
-Wow.
-Is it dangerous?
The stopped chat windows quickly updated. The viewers who had been watching Grid for years had grown attached to him without realizing it. Meanwhile, Teruchan was an opponent they had just met. He wasn’t a player. Despite Teruchan’s great charm, few people wanted Grid to lose to him.
-Yes, Grid will die.
-It is cool.
Of course, not everyone was the same. Some people were jealous of Grid and felt delighted.
-….??
Their smiles didn’t last long. Teruchan’s broadsword might be slicing at Grid but Grid didn’t shed a single drop of blood.
“Guruk?”
Was it an illusion? What type of magic had he already suffered? Teruchan panicked when he cut Grid several times but couldn’t feel it. He nervously swung the broadsword faster but Grid was like the moon in the pond. He couldn’t be cut.
“Kung! Kung kung!”
Teruchan swung his broadsword while snorting. He was eager to find Grid’s real body.
“…!”
A chill went down Teruchan’s spine. It was because Grid’s smell came from the illusion in front of him. That’s right. This wasn’t an illusion. It was real.
“100,000 Army.”
Utilizing the Lightning God’s ability to nullify physical attacks, Grid used Item Combination, which had cooled down during Teruchan’s onslaught, and joined Belial’s Staff and the Enlightenment Sword again.
“Massacre Sword.”
The swordsmanship of Undefeated King Madra. The 30 slashes amplified by lightning struck Teruchan. It was a timeless cut, like 30 swordsmen were wielding their swords at the same time. The 100,000 Army Swordsmanship contained a mystery that even Teruchan, who pursued extreme physical strength, couldn’t imagine.
“Amazing!”
He felt pure admiration and decided it was better to defend than confront it. He hastily activated a skill to harden his skin.
“…!?”
The skill wasn’t activated. It was because his mana had been burned by the Lightning Incarnation passive during his fight with Grid.
Teruchan destroyed exactly eight of the 30 slashes. It was a great achievement done with only his physical strength. There were no skills. He neutralized the Undefeated King’s skill with basic attacks? Grid was convinced by his opponent.
Name: Grid
Level: 403
Health: 152,540 Mana: 41,844 Sword Energy: 1,200
Strength: 3,590(+480) Stamina: 2,197(+800)
Agility: 3,190(+430) Intelligence: 2,657(+830)
Dexterity: 5,167(+980) Persistence: 1,632(+430)
Composure: 1,188(+430) Indomitable: 1,423(+540)
Dignity: 2,096(+430) Insight: 1,986(+430)
Courage: 1,242(+430) Political Power: 181(+430)
Demonic power: 31,590
Good luck: 631
Deity: 7
Remaining Stat Points: 590
As could be seen from the status window, Grid’s total strength exceeded 4,000 with the help of various titles. His strength coefficient had also increased since level 400. Additionally, Grid enjoyed increased stats thanks to his fighting energy accumulating as well as the extra damage from the courage stat. There was also the +4 enhancement of the Enlightenment Sword.
In conclusion, Grid’s overall damage was equivalent to a very good field boss. He was able to use legendary skills so it was accurate to say he was more powerful than a boss monster.
However, Teruchan competed against Grid without any skills. It was also with an old broadsword. Since Teruchan was calibrated by the system as the peak of his species and his physical ability surpassed Grid, it wasn’t impossible for Teruchan to neutralize the skill with basic attacks.
“I like you more and more.”
He seemed to be facing the limits. Teruchan’s breathing was very rough after 100,000 Army Massacre Sword. The end of the fight was coming.
[The duration of Blackening is over.]
[All stats will return to normal figures.]
[The maximum speed has fallen and the Lightning God has been released.]
The collected demonic energy and lightning dissipated. Grid returned to his original form and pushed back his sweat and blood soaked hair. He soared up with a handsome forehead and sharp eyes.
‘Grid should’ve appeared in the Demon King’s Subjugation with his original appearance. That would’ve made him an even darker great demon.’
This was what a famous Hollywood actress wrote on social media. There was a story that she was rushed to the hospital after getting a billion likes and becoming too happy, but let’s skip that because it wasn’t important. The most important thing was…
“A warrior’s spirit…!”
Grid’s ferocious appearance was liked by Teruchan.
[The title ‘Pangea’s Duke of Virtue’ is activated!]
“…??”
It was a title that had a certain probability of sparing a monster when hunting. In other words, the target had to be pushed to the brink of death. Why did Pangea’s Duke of Virtue appear at this timing? Grid was startled. He belatedly noticed that Teruchan had fainted with eyes wide open. No matter what Grid tried, the remaining two-tenths of Teruchan’s health were running out fast.
“Look! Open your eyes! Don’t die!”
-…Just let him go.
-Grid seems to have a new hobby.
-Not letting him die after all that?
The viewers clicked their tongues as Grid clutched and shook the dying orc lord.
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Chapter 1098
Pangea’s Duke of Virtue had a terrible chance of triggering once every few years. Grid only kept Pangea’s Duke of Virtue and didn’t expect it to actually burst out.
After fighting and winning, he planned to try and obtain Teruchan using the ‘Different Species’ King’ title, which had the effect of ‘gaining great affinity with different species’ and ‘two times the probability of creating a good impression if the target is a different species.’
Now the effect of Pangea’s Duke of Virtue was triggered.
‘It is honey. Did the odds increase after activating against Noll?’
The fire that soared due to God’s Command stopped. However—
“Look! Open your eyes!”
The joy was fleeting. Teruchan was dying. The orc lord who had endured Grid’s onslaught was trembling.
“Wake up! Get up!”
Teruchan looked confused as Grid pulled out a potion. He raised Teruchan and forcefully poured potions into his mouth. However, it didn’t work at all.
‘He can’t be healed?’
Why wasn’t he recovering? Was this trolling? Grid brought up Teruchan’s status window since they were now colleagues.
Name: Teruchan
Age: 19 Gender: Male
Race: Twilight Orc
Title: Strongest Warrior
* Strength and health stats increase in proportion to the duration of the battle (up to 30%).
Title: Usurper
* Increases attack power, defense, health and resilience when fighting ‘leaders’ (up to 20%).
Title: Indomitable Warrior
* Nullifies damage over a certain amount up to 10 times. Once these 10 times are exhausted, you will use up Origin True Energy (cumulative reset once every 30 days).
Level: 500
Strength: 4,003 Stamina: 6,130
Agility: 2,280 Intelligence: 320
Skills: Iron Arm (A), Roar of Strength (S), Instinct (S), Belief (S)
Like most twilight orcs, Teruchan was abandoned by his parents at the age of 5.
After fleeing deep into the mountains to escape the empire’s surveillance and oppression, the twilight orcs’ home was ridiculously small. Teruchan
survived alone and the twilight orcs were liberated from the oppression of the empire.
“We must not let our children experience our misfortunes.”
Teruchan claimed as he defeated the former orc lord who opposed the war. His desire to seize the lord’s position was due to the happiness of the newly born children.
“…”
The Ultimate Warrior, Usurper and Indomitable Warrior. These were the titles that made Teruchan’s stats shine. It was why Teruchan could withstand most of Grid’s attacks. Even so, Grid was paying attention to another part.
‘He is 19 years old? This terrifying giant who looks like a vicious criminal? Even though he looks 20 years older than me?’
“No, shit!”
Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Origin True Energy was the energy that was the source of life. Once it was depleted, a transcendent person would die. Teruchan’s life was at stake.
‘Right! Ask Sehee…!’
Grid was reminded of his sister, only to freeze like a statue. He was reminded of Khan’s end. Ruby hadn’t been able to save Khan. Death that occurred naturally was something that not even the Saintess could prevent.
“…Dammit!”
He couldn’t call Ruby. The weak-hearted child would suffer from guilt after being unable to save Teruchan. Putting a stone in his sister’s heart just to hold onto this rotten line… He couldn’t.
‘I wish he was a bad guy.’
Grid glanced at the dying Teruchan. If only Teruchan was simply a ferocious invader and predator, then his heart wouldn’t have been so heavy. At best, he would’ve been unhappy with and resented Pangea’s Duke of Virtue. However, Teruchan wasn’t evil. He was determined to fight for the children, not himself, and didn’t force humans to worship his power. If only Grid didn’t know this. Grid was very distressed about the information he learnt about Teruchan through Pangea’s Duke of Virtue. He felt sorry for Teruchan, who had to die before being able to fulfill his dream. He was sad to know he had lost such a person.
“Shit… Damn…”
Teruchan’s trembling voice was heard in Grid’s ears as he cursed.
“Grid. Guruk… In your hands… I will die… Spirit…”
“Shut up!” Grid shouted.
He didn’t want to feel even more pained. Of course, he knew of a possibility that could save Teruchan. It was the White Peach, an item that restored all health and vitality when eaten. A super-special hidden item that could only be taken once in a lifetime considering the absurd effects, the White Peach was likely to restore even the exhausted Origin True Energy, yet Grid couldn’t extend his hand.
Was it because Teruchan’s value was low? No. His value alone exceeded expectations. It was thrilling just imagining him at the forefront of the battlefield with Noll. He knew that Teruchan’s performance would be greater when dealing with strong opponents like the grandmaster and yangbans.
However—
‘It isn’t possible. I can’t give it to him.’
Grid already had too many precious people. Irene, Lord, Piaro, and Braham—from the time he summoned Piaro to the perilous imperial palace, Grid had already vowed to save the White Peach for them. He felt really sorry for Teruchan who was dying in front of him but the weight of the lives of those already precious to him was different.
“Glory… Guruk…”
“Shut up!”
It was rotten. He never imagined that things would be so unpleasant. He had come to the Fold Kingdom with the mindset of saving them from the orc lord. He didn’t expect to go through something like this. It happened as Grid made a pained expression and grabbed his chest.
“Overgeared King!” Someone appeared and shouted. It was Marquis Veze. He pointed to the 100,000 orc army rushing over from a distance. “Those who have lost their king will run wild! You have to avoid it!!”
Grid had broken the ‘10 blows’ promise with ridiculous logic and crushed Teruchan.
Marquis Veze had been suspicious of Grid for a while. He was concerned that the reason why Prince Shining praised Grid like a god was because he had been brainwashed by Grid, but then he soon realized—the reason why Grid wasn’t afraid of his reputation being lost was to share a ‘sword conversation’ with Teruchan, which was why he pushed for a confrontation with Teruchan.
Throughout the battle, Teruchan was uplifted and expressed joy and respect towards Grid. It was the atmosphere of becoming friends with Grid. That’s right. Grid respected Teruchan in his own way. He sympathized with the twilight orcs, who glorified combat, without scoffing at their ruthlessness. As expected, he was a great person. His intention was to persuade Teruchan to end the war but things went wrong. Teruchan was dying and the furious orcs would never forgive Grid.
“Hurry while I buy some time!”
Marquis Veze held his shattered shield and faced the 100,000 army of orcs alone.
“Marquis Veze!”
“My Lord! What are you doing not running away?”
The knights of Howl Fortress were in a hurry. Someone gave the order to open the gates while someone else had already jumped off the walls and was crossing the plains. All of them wanted to save Marquis Veze. Marquis Veze’s lion-like roar echoed through the battlefield.
“Everyone, retreat! Be sure to take refuge in the capital along with the Overgeared King!”
“My Lord!”
“It is a command!”
“…!”
The knights rushing at Marquis Veze stopped at once. It was the last command of their esteemed superior and they couldn’t break it. An old knight met Grid’s eyes and shouted at him desperately, “Your Majesty! Come quickly! Don’t let Marquis Veze’s sacrifice be in vain!”
‘Bullshit.’
Grid clicked his tongue and ignored the knights’ cries. Then…
“Uh!”
The four God Hands flying around Grid grabbed the marquis’ limbs in unison.
“Your Majesty?”
The perplexed marquis alternated looking between Grid and the orc army in front of him. The distance to the front of the orc army was now less than 200 meters away.
“I’m here to help you, not to sacrifice your life.”
“Your Majesty…!”
Marquis Veze didn’t finish his shout. It was because Grid threw him in the direction of the knights. Grid stood next to the gradually fading Teruchan and faced the orc army. The sight of the 100,000 dark-skinned orcs charging was reminiscent of a massive wave of rocks.
‘It’s garbage.’
Appearing before the orcs was a failure. He spent almost all his skills and resources fighting Teruchan so his condition was a mess. It was right to run away like this. Grid knew this but he couldn’t step away. It was due to the red-spotted leopards at the forefront of the orc army. Thousands of leopards were running with orcs on their backs and their speed exceeded that of horses. If Grid left, the soldiers of Howl Fortress wouldn’t be able to stop the leopards’ pursuit and would be destroyed. At best, the rewards from running into the army would be lost.
Grid reminded himself—his first purpose was to be the guardian of the Fold Kingdom.
“Shit… Come!”
He also needed a means to relieve his boiling anger. Grid shouted at the enemies rushing like a tsunami and aimed the Enlightenment Sword. He was conscious of the cameras and let out curse words with a mutter. A one against 100,000 confrontation. If it was anyone other than Grid, the people would’ve snorted with ridicule. It was because it was Grid that the viewers didn’t laugh and kept focused.
Noe, Randy, Tiramet and the Overgeared Skeletons appeared beside Grid, the God Hands held the Red Phoenix Box and the sky was cloudy. It was the moment when he was going to use Storm Demonic Energy Field on the front leopard. The leopards stopped running and the orcs jumped off the leopards. Thousands of orc warriors rushed to Grid without pulling out their weapons.
“Gruruk!! Great warrior!”
“…?”
“We! Lord’s body! Gur
uk! Want it!”
“…”
Grid belatedly grasped the situation. The only one who determined the orc’s policy was the lord. Once the lord died, the orcs had no reason to go to war. They had to go back home, elect a new orc lord and follow the new policy. In addition, from the perspective of a ‘warrior’, Grid and Teruchan’s fight was legitimate and they didn’t intend to take revenge on Grid.
‘…Basara.’
Her idea of liberating them was right. They weren’t beasts. Grid nodded and opened the way for the orcs.
“Take him.”
“Thank you. Grruk.”
The orcs beat their chests with their fists and bowed, then they carried Teruchan onto a leopard. Teruchan looked almost like a corpse with his blue skin and closed mouth. At this moment.
“…?”
“…?”
An intense light flashed in the sky. It was caused by Mass Teleport. Both Grid and the orcs were amazed as they turned their attention to the sky. Great Sage Sticks and Lauel came into view.
Lauel hurried to the ground and pulled out a fruit. It was a white fruit—the White Peach.
“You…!”
The surprised Grid tried to stop Lauel but it was too late. Lauel forcibly opened Teruchan’s mouth and shoved the White Peach into it.
“I know the entire situation. I think this is the only way to save him.”
“No, are you crazy? That is…!”
“I know the value of the White Peach. That’s why I’m investing it here.”
“You have to eat…!”
“It is too big a luxury for me to eat it. Don’t you know that I’m retired now?”
“That’s because you’re busy! Once you come back…!”
“No. I chose this path because I like it and I don’t want to leave this path. I will continue to assist Your Majesty with ruling the Overgeared Kingdom so I don’t need this luxury.”
The effect of the White Peach was to increase the experience, regardless of level, and thus, the higher was the level of the player, the more astronomical was the value of the item. It was given up by Lauel. Grid knew that it had required a great decision. Lauel was obviously sacrificing himself. Thanks to that sacrifice…