by Park Saenal
‘Kraugel.’
The only one who brought frustration to Hao, who had believed he was the most gifted person in the world. No matter how Hao tried, he could never reach that sky. That high sky was being collapsed by another person, not him? He was bested by Grid?
“I have to confirm it… I must see it with my own eyes.”
Until then, he couldn’t understand. Like a man possessed by a ghost, Hao tried to escape the battlefield. Damian blocked his way.
“I can’t let you go. If I let you go, I will be misunderstood by people again. This time, I might be called Chinese.”
“You aren’t qualified to decide if I go or not.”
Hao didn’t understand what Damian was talking about, but he opened his true power.
Kwaang!
There was an intense wave of energy.
Jjejeok! Jjejejeok!
Hao’s muscles rapidly swelled, while the skin of his chest, back, shoulders, abdomen, thighs and other parts of the body cracked. What appeared in the cracks of the skin? It wasn’t flesh, muscles, or blood vessels. It was red scales.
Flap.
A pair of wings emerged from Hao’s back and spread wide. They resembled the wings of a dragon.
Kudu! Kududuk!
10 black fingernails protruded like blades, while the white pupils tinged with gold froze the heart of anyone who looked in them.
Kururung!
Hot breath emerged like flames. The facial features were close to that of a human, but Hao also had partial features that were similar to a dragon. Currently, Hao’s half-draconian form was level 2.
It increased his strength, agility, health, and resistance by 15%. He also got an incomplete flying ability, fire ability, and stamina regeneration ability. The disadvantage was that he couldn’t use most of the skills available to humans, but the draconian Hao was less likely to rely on skills.
He had the ultimate physical form, so he relied on this and secondary weapons to win. The transformation into a draconian maximized his combat power.
“Get lost!”
Kuwaaaang!
A breath spewed out. His feelings about Kraugel were close to pure longing. One day, in the process of gazing at Kraugel with a desire to overcome him, he became a passionate follower of Kraugel.
Kraugel didn’t know Hao, but Hao’s route in life was closely related to Kraugel. The reason why he participated in this National Competition was because he heard Kraugel was participating.
Peeng!
Damian used a shield to block the fired breath and Hao approached Damian. Then he wielded his sharp claws. It was once against defended by Damian’s shield.
Hwaruruk!
However, he was burned by the influence of the flames around Hao’s body. Damian didn’t feel great pain. He was the first paladin of the Rebecca Church, obtained the the first unique class Goddess’ Agent and was now the pope.
His swordsmanship was taught by Piaro and was comparable to Grid’s level. He boasted an overwhelming defense and endured Hao’s flames.
Sakak-!
He couldn’t dream of being a great swordsman, but he fought Hao with skills that could match a great swordsman.
Hao shook.
‘He’s even good with the sword?’
Hao knew that the pope was the ultimate priest. He was far different from the paladins that used swords and blunt weapons. But Damian had the various buff skills, healing skills and wide area attack skills of a pope, as well as the swordsmanship of a paladin.
That’s right. Damian was a fraudulent character with the potential to become the greatest pope ever. He was really top class.
Chaaeng!
The moment Damian tried to slash at him, Hao spun to minimize damage and counterattack by kicking at Damian. Using the rebound, he opened the distance and used chains to restrain Damian’s wrists.
Kkirik! Kik.
Damian’s wrists were bound and he couldn’t use a sword or shield. Hao looked at his confused expression and spread open his wings as widely as possible. Then he flapped once.
Peeng!
Hao’s body accelerated and he shot towards Damian like a lightning bolt. It would be hard for Damian to cope. The wrists restrained by chains were pulled to the left and right, and he was forced to stand with his arms wide open like a crucified Damian. The moment Hao was about to stab his claws into Damian’s chest.
“Goddess’ Wrath.”
In the end, Damian showed off the power of the pope.
Chiiiiiing!
Two huge magic circles, around 3m in diameter, were quickly created behind Damian’s back.
Peeeeeong!
Two huge pillars of light, which erased everything in a straight line, emerged from the circles and penetrated Hao’s body. The momentum was so enormous that it caused an upheaval in the earth. Thanks to this, Hao flew far away and the chains binding Damian were loosened.
After releasing the chains, Damian wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“If this was before I became the pope, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with you.”
Hao angrily replied to Damian.
“It’s the same now that you’re the pope. I admit that you’re strong, but you can’t beat me.”
Wide area magic had limits. In addition, the current state of the battle was the National Competition, where PvP damage was only at 50%. Hao wasn’t affected by Goddess’ Wrath. He was just knocked back.
Hao regained his posture and rushed to Damian again. He freely took advantage of the momentary acceleration caused by flapping his wings, showing off dazzling movements. Damian’s defenses were exquisitely shredded and his counterattacks avoided.
As the battle progressed, Damian suffered one-sided damage.
“You’re really strong.”
Damian spoke honestly. Damian had lost one-third of his health, while Hao’s health had recovered. Hao was really strong. It was difficult to hit him because his movements were so great.
“I’m going to show this skill to someone other than Grid.”
Damian sighed.
He used the ultimate skill of the Goddess’ Agent, Light’s Blessing. It was the manifestation of the highest buff skill that was comparable to the pope’s Goddess’ Blessing.
[Light’s Blessing will increase the defense attack power and accuracy of you and your party members by 80% for 3 minutes.]
It was ridiculous. The downside of this skill was the somewhat long cooldown time and high mana cost. In the case of the Goddess’ Agent, the maximum mana wasn’t high. Therefore, if a slight mistake was made with controlling mana, the skill couldn’t be used at all.
But now Damian was the pope. His mana was at least 10 times higher than it was before, so he was able to use this buff skill without any burden.
Seokeok!
“Kuk…!”
The hit rate of Damian’s sword suddenly increased. He read the orbit and moved like his body was a magnet. Hao was upset.
‘A buff that dramatically increases hit rate…!’
High accuracy was the ‘system’ that disrupted control based evasion. It was the reason why rankers valued accuracy highly. However, items or skills that increased accuracy were rare. Therefore, it was hard to find a ranker with a level of accuracy that would make Hao’s control skills ineffective.
That person showed himself now.
Damian. Thanks to the buff, even his damage and defense greatly increased.
Chaaeng! Chaeng!
The flow started to reverse. Hao went on the defensive. More importantly, the Japanese representatives started to overwhelm the Chinese side. After a while, Hao, the only survivor of China, was isolated.
This sight shocked Asia.
『 C-China…! Asia’s strongest country has been defeated by Japan! 』
『 Damian’s abilities are far too great. He’s fighting one-on-one with Hao and isn’t pushed back at all. He also multiplied his party’s abilities several times with buffs… 』
�
� Maybe Japan will cause the biggest upset of the tournament? 』
『 It wouldn’t be strange if Japan became the champion this year. 』
The stir created by Damian was even greater than that caused by Grid. On the other hand, Hao asked a final question before he was logged out.
“Despite having this much power, why do you value Grid so much?”
Damian replied.
“The one who made me who I am now is Grid.”
The defeat of the fallen pope Drevigo, the conversion to Goddess’ Agent, and the defeat of pope candidate Pascal was all thanks to Grid.
With Damian’s abilities alone, he would’ve been limited to just being the Rebecca Church’s first paladin. It was only thanks to Grid that Damian could grow and save Rebecca’s Daughters.
“Grid is my god. It’s natural that he’s much greater than me.”
“…”
Currently, Damien had the attention of the world. Hundreds of cameras were filming Damian and transmitting it to every country in real time. Whether they understood or not. Thanks to Damian deifying Grid, the world was turned upside down.
The world’s curiosity and enthusiasm for Grid deepened further.
Chapter 423
Chapter 423
Before Grid raided Russia.
As Grid predicted, Kraugel targeted South Korea. It was because among the countries that remained, South Korea had the highest score. Of course, he didn’t intend to fight to kill. He planned to keep Korea in check by preventing them from concentrating on the target processing.
Kraugel wasn’t in a perfect state. Yes, he was like a car out of fuel. It was the same as just after his confrontation with Piaro. What if he faced Grid now?
Kraugel was sure that the probability of his defeat was more than 80%. It was shocking if Kraugel was to be defeated by someone, but Kraugel knew. He wasn’t invincible. In addition, Grid was strong.
‘This?’
Kraugel stopped moving through the forest. In the sky above. The golden hands holding weapons were handling the targets.
‘…The God Hands.’
South Korea’s score was slowly but steadily rising. Kraugel realized that it was thanks to the God Hands. He looked around and confirmed that there were no signs of Grid. He had to neutralize the God Hands.
But.
Chaaeng!
‘Indeed, destroying them is impossible.’
The God Hands were ridiculously durable. After being hard by White Fang, causing them to stiffen for 2~3 seconds was the limit.
Bururu.
The God Hands’ protection system was activated. They started targeting Kraugel.
‘The Sword Mastery skill is attached?’
The God Hands had grown compared to when he faced them in Reidan. They were stronger and faster. Kraugel guessed that the God Hands could hunt level 200 monsters alone. They were really great items.
Indeed, it was the private item of Pagma’s Descendant.
‘Will a sword saint have an item only for them?’
Kraugel imagined it as he avoided the attacks of the God Hands in a relaxed manner. It was like a professional boxer facing four elementary school children.
“…?”
Once the God Hands were drawn to him, South Korea’s score had completely stopped. Now Kraugel jumped with surprise. It was because Russia had been increasing the gap from South Korea, only for their score to suddenly stop.
‘It can’t be!’
Kraugel felt like he had been hit in the back of the head. It was clear that someone attacked Russia while he was away, and that someone was likely to be Grid.
‘Go back.’
Kraugel determined that it was impossible for Russia’s representatives to deal with Grid and was going to return.
Tatang!
Around 120 meters to the rear. A sniper shot came from behind a huge rock. A bullet made of magic power. Based on the direction of the sound and the wind, Kraugel predicted the point of impact. He moved his waist and avoided the magic bullet.
Peeng!
The tree behind Kraugel exploded, the shockwave causing Kraugel’s long ponytail to become a mess. It revealed his face that was as beautiful as a sculpture.
『 As expected from Kraugel! This is the control skill of the 1st ranked user! As long as it isn’t a definitive attack, he can avoid almost all of it! 』
『 I received some statistics just now. In this target processing match, Kraugel avoided a total of 502 out of 537 non-targeted skills… Heok, is this data wrong? 』
『 He has gone beyond the realm of a human… 』
The former 5th ranked Yura. Despite her appearance and her hidden class, the world was only focused on Kraugel. Yura one of the most popular women in the world, was only a supporting figure when placed next to Kraugel, the peak of two billion users.
『 How long will Yura grab Kraugel’s ankle? 』
『 Currently, Kraugel is in a tired state. Since she was the 5th ranked user, shouldn’t Yura be able to hold on for five minutes? 』
『 No. Since the old days, Yura was vulnerable to close combat. She can only withstand for one minute. 』
As the commentators and experts speculated, Kraugel rushed towards Yura with White Fang. Kruagel was convinced that Yura was a gunman, so he focused on narrowing the distance. Yura planned to buy time while running away, but…
‘Fast!’
Kraugel’s speed was much faster than expected. The actual speed of movement was similar to Yura, but Kraugel grasped the forest terrain in an instant and minimized his movements, making it more efficient.
Kraugel caught up to Yura. At this time, the God Hands had completely left Grid’s sphere of influence. Therefore, they no longer targeted Kraugel and were forced to return to Grid’s inventory.
Chaaeng!
Kraugel wielded White Fang without any hesitation. Yura defended with Alex’s Magic Engineering Gun in rifle mode and shuddered. Kraugel’s white sword had gone over the top of the barrel and stabbed into her heart.
Puok!
“Uh…!”
A truth that everyone overlooked was that Kraugel’s greatest strength wasn’t his control skill, but his ridiculously high level. Due to the gap in level, there was a bonus to the attack power, defense resistance and accuracy.
Yura had just reached level 260 and wasn’t able to cope with Kraugel who was level 343. She suffered great damage. Kraugel was surprised by this.
“You, why is your level so low?”
Yura was 5th on the unified rankings. Half a year ago, she had already crossed level 300. But looking at the damage that Yura received, she didn’t seem to have experienced her third stats awakening yet. She was just a paper body, despite the excellent condition of her armor.
Why? What would make her level drop so drastically? Kraugel was feeling confused when Yura whispered in his ear.
“I believe that one day you will know why.”
“…!”
Kraugel hurriedly moved back. Yura’s magic gun suddenly transformed into a sword. The barrel divided into four and a blue blade emerged.
Pit!
The aim was Kraugel’s face. The sword left a wound on his left eye, causing blood to flow.
“…”
The owner of the second legendary class, Yura. Like a flower blossoming, the blue light of the sword illuminated the strong will in her eyes. Kraugel’s black eyes sank coldly while the commentators were extremely excited.
『 Yura has dealt a wound to Kraugel! 』
『 Yura’s strength can’t be ignored! 』
『 What is Yura’s weapon? How did the magic gun turn into a sword? 』
General magic engineering guns only supported rifle mode and pistol mode. But Yura’s magic gun changed into a sword, making the commentators feel disbelief. The experts speculated.
『 It’s a magic engineering gun made by dwarves. 』
『 It’s likely that Yura has travelled to the dwarf city of Talima. 』
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br /> 『 However, this isn’t a card that will upset the battlefield. 』
Yura was presumed to have obtained the gunman hidden class. She didn’t possess the Sword Mastery skill. In the first place, swordsmanship was out of the question for a black magician. This was what the experts thought, but…
Chaaeng! Chaeng!
Surprisingly, Yura’s swordsmanship was at a good level. She fought back and directly received Kraugel’s counterattacks. The spectacular effects that occurred when the two people crossed swords dazzled the viewers.
But this tense confrontation didn’t last long. Yura’s swordsmanship wasn’t comparable to Kraugel, and above all, their level and stats difference was too great.
Peok!
After throwing away Yura’s sword, Kraugel raised his sword vertically. He put his knee on Yura’s shoulder and held the handle of his sword. It was the precursor of ‘Jajinmori.’ (TL: only thing I could find was related to music, basically the fastest tempo.)
Peeeong!
“…!”
He was kicked in the chest and Yura rushed away. Kraugel tried to hit her by throwing a secondary weapon. But at this time, he felt an intense energy from the rear.
While Yura grabbed Kraugel’s attention, Peak Sword aimed for a surprise attack from the rear.
“Draw Sword, Sudden.”
Piing.
Once Peak Sword’s sword was pulled out, there was a sharp burst of energy and it suddenly flew at Kraugel. Fast. In the first place, drawing sword techniques weren’t easy to avoid. Even Kraugel, with his keen senses and insight, wasn’t able to avoid the skill that was used with perfect timing.
Seokeok!
“Cough!”
The sword penetrated Kraugel’s chest, causing him to cough up blood.
‘Dangerous.’
The moment this thought crossed his mind, the figure of his mother appeared in front of him.
‘…Stand up.’
Kraugel was at the last of his strength. Yura turned her weapon back into pistol mode and fired magic bullets at him.
Pepeng! Pepepepeng!
Kraugel’s body was consecutively hit by magic bullets. Peak Sword recovered his sword and prepared for his next attack. Then Kraugel used ‘True Clouds’. A blue cloud-like haze covered the area.