Overgeared

by Park Saenal

  Seokeok!

  Puok!

  “Kyaak!”

  The ‘5 Joint Attacks’ attached to the Holy Light Gloves and the ‘Bisect’ skill attached to Failure turned the elders to grey ash.

  [You have defeated the corrupt elder Huda.]

  [12,910,300 experience has been acquired.]

  [Advanced priest’s clothing has been acquired.]

  [A high quality emerald ring has been acquired.]

  [You have killed a human in the half demon state, so demonic magic power has increased by 10.]

  [You have defeated the corrupt elder Furell.]

  [12,552,000 experience has been acquired.]

  [Advanced priest’s shoes have been acquired.]

  [You have killed a human in the half demon…]

  …

  …

  …

  The notification windows after killing the seven second advancement elders came to a halt in Grid’s sight. The dropped items weren’t anything special, but the experience was significant. However, the fact that demonic power increased by 10 points made Grid uneasy.

  The increase in demonic power made it possible for him to go to hell, but was that really all? Perhaps he might change species into a demon.

  Chaaeng!

  A green light hit Grid while he was filled with anxiety. It was a Heal from Pascal. He had aimed it perfectly after Grid took care of the seven elders.

  [You have been affected by Great Heal.]

  [The Holy Light Armor raises the recovery magic’s power by 300%.]

  [Great Heal is a deadly poison to a half demon!]

  [You have suffered 23,640 damage.]

  “Kuak!”

  The Holy Light Armor gave Grid absolute power. That strongest armor was now his weakness. Grid’s health gauge fell by two-thirds in a single blow. Pascal identified Grid’s pain and was confused.

  ‘What? It was more effective than expected?’

  Why? Pascal didn’t know the exact reason, but he interpreted it in his own way.

  ‘The goddess is blessing me!’

  For sure! Goddess Rebecca was hoping for Grid’s death! Pascal was convinced by this and his momentum rose.

  “Now! Pour out your heals towards him! Give the goddess’ punishment to that wicked demon, who is trying to deceive everyone!”

  Flash!

  All of the survive 16 priests were third advancement priests. The power of the Great Heals they used was different from the seven elders who died earlier.

  Chaaeng! Jjejeong!

  16 rays of green light hit Grid. At first, Grid tried to avoid it, but he stopped in place as soon as one attack was allowed. Grid was caught by the light and hit by multiple healing magic. Pascal and the elders smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

  ‘Surprisingly easy!’

  ‘He sold his soul to the demons!’

  ‘Grid is killed!’

  The moment that Pascal and the elders were convinced of their victory.

  “Pagma’s Swordsmanship.”

  Rather than dying within the light, Grid started moving again.

  “What?”

  Teong!

  Grid approached the astonished Pascal. It was really a tremendous speed. It was due to Quick Movements that was attached to the +8 Ideal Dagger. A blue light shot in a straight line.

  “Kill!”

  Peeeeeong!

  Pascal’s Holy Divine Shield was crushed in a single blow. This was despite the fact that it was three times more powerful than a typical Holy Shield.

  “Y-You! Why are you alive?”

  Grid’s status wasn’t fine either. He was deeply wounded everywhere and shedding blood.. There was a hole in the vicinity of his chest. It wouldn’t be strange if he died. However, Grid had a passive skill.

  [A legend doesn’t die easily. You can resist all attacks for 5 seconds with a minimum of health.]

  Grid had long been dependent on the invincible skill, and he was now enraged.

  “Rotten bastards! How can multiple people attack one person?”

  “What now…? Aren’t you the one who came to attack all of us alone?”

  Pascal felt that Grid was ridiculous as he used Heal on himself. At the same time, his Holy Divine Shield was restored. It was double casting. Grid didn’t stay still. Evil Spirit’s Bloody Tears had been activated and his attack power increased.

  After using Wave to slow down Pascal and the elders’ speed, he was able to link Unbreakable Justice with no time difference, not giving Pascal the chance to complete the shield. Then he used his strongest skill straight away.

  “Linked Kill!”

  Puk!

  One blow to Pascal’s heart.

  Puok!

  The second blow.

  Puoook!

  The third blow. Two greatswords stabbed at the same time. Grid smacked his lips.

  ‘I would’ve been able to kill him if there were two more blows.’

  The number of strikes that Linked Kill dealt was random. It couldn’t be intentionally controlled. It was unfortunate. Pascal was struck in the heart and suffering from terrible pain.

  “Y-You cruel bastard…!”

  Grid hadn’t once frowned while persistently aiming at the heart. Now he looked like he found this delicious, so he certainly wasn’t normal.

  “What right do you have to denounce and punish me, when you are just as cruel?”

  Pascal cried out to Grid with an unfair expression.

  “The right of the strong.”

  This was enough. Pascal had trampled on many weak people just because he was strong. Now he was reaping what he sowed. Pascal felt like he had been hit in the back of the head.

  There were no apparent objections, so Grid wielded Failure successively. The elders used Heal to save Pascal, but it wasn’t enough. Pascal was directly hit by Linked Kill and lost almost all his health. Demonic power also infiltrated his body, so Heal couldn’t have a proper effect.

  “This guy!”

  The veins bulged on the balding Pascal’s head and his eyes became red and bloodshot. In one month! In one month, he would’ve become pope and reigned over 80 million people!

  “Why did you appear before me…? Youuu! Kuaaaaak! I won’t die alone! Light Blaze!”

  Pascal was level 330. His divine power was lower than former Pope Drevigo, but his level was much higher. Named NPCs grew in proportion to the average level of the users. The magic that he used couldn’t be ignored.

  Peeng!

  Pepepepeong!

  Pascal caused a divine explosion, firing dozens of magic power rays at Grid.

  ‘It isn’t a big deal!’

  There were still two seconds left on the invincible duration. Grid attacked without fleeing from the magic power rays.

  “Crazy!”

  Pascal couldn’t understand the situation at all. He meant for both of them to die, so why didn’t this person lose momentum?

  “Even if you are a zombie, you won’t be able to survive this! Goddess’ Wrath!”

  Pascal had no place to retreat anymore. He depleted all of his divine power and health to cast this spell. It was his final decision to end Grid who ruined his life.

  Papat! Pa pa pa pat!

  Two large gold circles, approximately 3m in diameter, were quickly created behind Pascal’s back. It was the magic spell that Pope Drevigo used in the past. The size of the magic circles was much smaller than when Drevigo used it, since he was lacking divine power. However, it was still enough power against the current Grid.

  Kuwaaaang!

  A brilliant flash of light was emitted from the circles. The whole room shook and cracked in the aftermath. This was the goddess’ magic that surpassed Transcended Link in terms of power. As the light shot at him, notification windows appeared in Grid’s vision.

  [The duration of Invicible is over.]

  Would he die?

  ‘No.’

  The strength of Pascal with the healing shuttles called the elders was beyond
Grid’s expectations. But the result wouldn’t change. Grid knew it from the beginning.

  ‘I will win.’

  It had been a year and three months since the fall of Pope Drevigo. In the meantime, Grid had made considerable progress. Regardless of the variables, it was impossible for Grid to be defeated by Pascal, who was on the same level as Drevigo.

  “Freely Move!”

  It was the skill attached to the title ‘Secret Hero.’ There were limits to the range of use, and the cooldown time was one hour.However, it was a top dashing skill that allowed him to avoid all non-targeting skills until he reached his target.

  Teong!

  Grid rushed towards Pascal. He turned in the air and avoided two flashes of light from Goddess’ Wrath.

  Kuooooh!

  His raging demonic power concentrated on Failure and the Doppelganger’s Greatsword.

  “This is ridiculous!”

  His magic couldn’t hit the target in front of it? The greatswords fell towards the astonished Pascal.

  “Pinnacle!”

  [The level of Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Pinnacle has increased.]

  [The amount of damage done to the target and the mana consumption will increase.]

  Seokeok!

  “Kuk…! Kuaaaaak!”

  Pascal screamed. The elders determined they couldn’t save him and used Heal against Grid.

  Flash!

  It was immediately after Invincible and Freely Move ran out. He only had one health left and 16 rays of green light were aiming at the unprotected Grid. Would he die now? No. Grid was no longer the helpless person who tasted countless deaths.

  He was careful and clever… No, it was common sense. It was easy to calculate.

  [Dark Bus’ Earrings have been turned off.]

  [The effect of Blackening will disappear.]

  [You have been affected by Great Heal.]

  [The Holy Light Armor raises the recovery magic’s power by 300%.]

  [Your health has been restored.]

  [Your health has been restored.]

  [Your health…]

  “What…?”

  Shortly before dying. Pascal was happy at the thought of having Grid as a companion on his journey of death, only for his expression to twist. Grid was close to death, only to be restored by the elders’ Heal.

  “This is crazy!”

  It was Pascal’s last call before he turned to ash.

  Chapter 281

  Chapter 281

  Earl Chirita’s third son, Pascal. He was well aware of the world’s unreasonableness, just because he was born later in the line of succession. Did he feel frustration and resentment against the world?

  No. Pascal tried hard. After looking for a path, he endured the trials and only served Goddess Rebecca. As a result, his fate changed. He could soon become pope.

  ‘Now it is my turn to reign!’

  He was ready to enjoy the end of this unreasonable world.

  Then Grid intruded.

  ‘Grid! You ruined my life!’

  He felt resentful. His heart felt like he was going to burst. Blood was ejected from his eyes.

  “Kuaaaaak!”

  Pascal’s resentful gaze penetrated Grid as he started turning grey. Grid knew that curses were contained in that gaze. But Grid wasn’t afraid.

  ‘Curse? Try it if you want.’

  He had already lived and overcame a life of hell. Even if this curse opened up a new hell, he could overcome it. It was the firm belief of the growing Grid.

  “This guyyyy!”

  Pascal witnessed Grid’s unshakable eyes and couldn’t hide his anger even as he disappeared. The scream echoed through the room, then new notification windows appeared in Grid’s field of view.

  [You have defeated pope candidate Pascal, who has caused heartbreak to numerous people.]

  [725,477,950 experience has been acquired.]

  …

  …

  The amount of experience was a huge 720 million! Pascal gave a truly huge amount of experience as a high level named boss. But Grid wasn’t satisfied. He seemed disappointed.

  ‘I thought it would be at least two levels.’

  So far, Grid always gained multiple levels every time he raided a boss. But now he was level 296, so things were different. The problem was that the amount of experience needed to level up dramatically increased. Despite having gained over 700 million experience points, the experience gauge wasn’t even half full.

  This was an unexpected result.

  ‘Now it’s impossible to raise my level with raids alone.’

  Grid had made giant leaps in level by hunting bosses alone, but now there was a limit to that method. Now grinding mobs was required. Prepare potions, go to hunting grounds, kill monsters and repeat. It was time to experience these repetitive tasks. Of course, the first hunting targets were…

  “Heok.”

  The 16 remaining elders flinched as they met Grid’s greedy eyes.

  “All of you.”

  The ‘Blackening’ effect that belonged to the Dark Bus’ Earrings could only be used once every 12 hours. The duration was five minutes and the cooldown time was 12 hours. Unlike White Transformation attached to the divine artifacts, the Blackening built into this one artifact was incomplete. It wasn’t efficient.

  Now Grid couldn’t rely on demonic power. He faced the 16 elders with pure power.

  “Holy Missile!”

  “Holy Wave!”

  “Great Heal!”

  The elders tried to resist Grid. Their determination not to suffer like Pascal amplified their concentration. Their spell casting speed was faster than before.

  “Link!”

  Grid had acquired one of the hidden pieces ‘Sealed Ability’ and his skills cooldown time was reduced by 10%. Now he was able to use Pagma’s Swordsmanship more often. After swiftly slashing at two elders, he finished with Unbreakable Justice. This was followed by Kill.

  Puok!

  Despite his companions using Heal on him, the elder coughed up blood on the Hooded Zip Up. He looked stunned at the blue greatsword piercing his chest.

  “K-Kuack…!”

  [You have defeated the corrupt elder Haiber.]

  [45,908,230 experience has been acquired.]

  [Your demonic power has increased by one.]

  [You have defeated the corrupt elder Sairus.]

  [46,441,000 experience has been acquired.]

  [Your demonic power has increased by one.]

  [You have defeated the corrupt elder Raid.]

  …

  …

  The experience of third advancement priests was terrific. It was at least 10 times more than normal monsters. It was possible because they were semi-named NPCs. It was pleasing for Grid, but the actual situation wasn’t good.

  After Blackening was gone, Grid didn’t deal much damage to the elders. It was impossible to hurt them without using a skill. Grid was stuck with his skills on cooldown, so the elders were able to hold on with Heal, while aiming attack magic at Grid.

  Pepeng!

  Pepepepeng!

  The bombardment of light continued. The number of wounds on Grid increased. The Holy Light Armor was dyed with blood and became rags.

  ‘This can’t continue.’

  Grid determined and recalled the pavranium that was protecting the prostitutes. It was an unavoidable choice.

  Jjejeong! Jjejejeok!

  The golden spear started to assist Grid. Sometimes it defended Grid, sometimes it attacked the enemy, doubling Grid’s attack power.

  “Kuaack!”

  Lifael’s Spear broke the Holy Shield and the Grid attacked, lowering the health of the elders. He took mana potions and used skills whenever the cooldown ended, dealing with the elders one by one.

  ‘It is hard to endure!’

  The faces of the elders were panicked. In the first place, priests were more suitable for secondary roles than fighting at the front. Their ability alone couldn’t deal fatal injuries
to Grid.

  “Ohhhhhh!”

  Grid’s rampage grew increasingly wild. His physical abilities far exceeded the elders. Of course, there was a moment of crisis, but Doran’s Ring saved him. 5 seconds of invincibility and Doran’s ring.

  It was like Grid had three lives. It was a fraudulent combination of his class and items.

  ‘Dammit!’

  There were eight elders left. They eventually used the worst means. They took the prostitutes trembling in the corner as a hostage.

  “Don’t move a single muscle. If you move, I will kill them”

  Innocent prostitutes. They witnessed a scene of slaughter and were now being threatened. It was regrettable. The elders smiled as Grid hesitated.

  ‘Indeed, it worked!’

  ‘Now we just need to hold on until the paladins arrive!’

  Grid had protected the prostitutes with the golden spear. Thus, the elders assumed that he cherished the life of the prostitutes. But.

  “Kill them.”

  “What…?”

  Grid once against started walking. He didn’t care that the power of the elders was aimed at the prostitutes.

  “I won’t receive any damages even if they die.”

  Of course, he felt bad. This was a moral issue. He might be called a psychopath, but who would accept an innocent person being swept away by the turmoil he caused. Thus, Grid did his best. He took care not to damage the prostitutes and supported Lifael’s Spear.

  That was enough. He didn’t want to fail the quest because of them.

  ‘This is better.’

  The prostitutes were witnesses. As the witnesses who saw Grid hunt Pascal and the elders, there was concern that she would bear testimony against Grid. It was better for them to die instead of Grid.

  Step, step.

  The frightened elders cried out as Grid approached.

  “D-Don’t come closer! I really will kill them!”

  Yiing.

  The power in the fingertips of the elders pointed towards the prostitutes became stronger. Grid snorted. “Kill them?”

  Teong!

  Grid leapt forward. The eyes of the elders widened as Grid drew his sword.

  “I really will kill them!”

  Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

  The bodies of the fearful prostitutes were swept away by an explosion of light. Grid’s eyes sank as he identified their ashes.

  “Wave.”