by Park Saenal
“…” Grid got goosebumps.
The formula of ‘being forgotten is true death’ was unusually cruel. He imagined Muller dying in solitude. Then Chreshler laughed. He was aware of what Grid was thinking. -Haha, it doesn’t make sense to be completely forgotten just because the number of times he is talked about has decreased. Aren’t we talking about Muller now? How many times have you heard Muller’s story while you’ve been alive?
Grid had heard it dozens or hundreds of times. Yes, Muller wasn’t completely forgotten nor did he die in solitude. It would be stranger if he couldn’t die after being talked about for every minute and second. Muller had been lonelier and more bitter when he was alone. He would’ve been the happiest at the end of his life.
Chreshler’s voice was mild throughout Muller’s story. Even Chreshler sincerely respected Muller. Maybe it was because Muller’s story made him feel better but Chreshler comforted Grid.
-The great blacksmith you mentioned. You called him ‘Khan’?
“Yes… That’s right.”
The name ‘Khan’ emerged from 2nd Pope Chreshler’s mouth. Grid felt somewhat overwhelmed and excited as Chreshler kindly told him, -The fact that he couldn’t overcome the limitations of life means that he enjoyed his natural life. It would’ve been a great blessing for him to leave when he had to leave. Imagine if he was forced to live as long as Muller. How old and lonely would he be?
“…Your Holiness is right. Khan was happy at the last minute.”
Khan had become a legend and fallen asleep in Grid’s arms. He had also been reunited with his family. Yes, he would’ve been satisfied. He would’ve been happy.
‘Khan. Are you watching? Chreshler is talking about you. You have really come a long way. You must feel good.’
Grid gained consolation thanks to Chreshler and smiled warmly. Simultaneously…
[Affinity with Chreshler has increased by 10.]
An unexpected notification window popped up.
-You seem to have no concept, but your nature is good. I like it a bit.
Chreshler gave him a good (?) evaluation. Grid was happy. Chreshler might be a coffin now, but he was still one of the greatest figures in history. Grid felt reassured about gaining affinity with him.
-Now I really will go to sleep.
Grid was about to bow to Chreshler when he suddenly had another question. “He isn’t a legend. Then what is a person who has lived for hundreds of years despite humans not speaking of his feats? Is he not human in the first place?”
-You are really annoying, Chreshler grumbled. Still, he explained, -He is either non-human or a transcendent.
Transcendent…! Grandmaster Zikfrector was close to a transcendent.
“What exactly is a transcendent? How are they different from legends?”
-The thing that both legends and transcendents have in common is that they have talent that transcends the category of humans. However, legends build up a presence through their feats while transcendents only concentrate on their own discipline. They can get a long life depending on what they trained and studied.
“Is a legend better than a transcendent?”
-If it is merely a discussion on their abilities, a transcendent is generally better than a legend. The legend wanders around here and there, wasting their time on solving problems. Meanwhile, transcendents only spend time on their own development. Of course, a legend’s experience is a strength, so there are many legends that are overwhelmingly stronger than transcendents. A typical example is Muller.
“…Then that means transcendents are usually selfish?”
-Who knows? Are they selfish because they don’t fight for world peace or development? Don’t you know? Sometimes it isn’t good to be conspicuous? Well, I’m sure they’re missing some screws.
“Missing screws?”
-Most things that aren’t consistent with their purpose are ignored. From a general point of view, they might seem like a person who isn’t motivated or gives up easily. If it wasn’t for Marie Rose, I wouldn’t have received the position of 2nd Pope.
“…”
Why did the grandmaster simply retreat in the evil eyes’ village? One question was resolved, but Grid had a new question. Transcendent Zikfrector… Why did he serve the empire if he had no loyalty to the empire?
‘What is his purpose?’
It was uncomfortable. Grid was locked in deep thought when he saw the guild chat window. An exclamation point had popped up. It meant there was a notice.
“…!”
Grid’s eyes shone as he verified the contents of the notice.
***
“Whose statue is this?”
Sky King Rigal occupied Bairan in less than half a day. He stood in front of a large statue in the square and cocked his head. It was the statue of a kind old man. His eyes were blazing like flames, but he had a friendly smile. The old man’s hand was holding a hammer.
“My lord is asking you something!”
When no one answered, Rigal’s soldiers lashed out and started beating the prisoners. The prisoners were the Overgeared soldiers who had been defeated and captured in battle. They had failed to fulfill their duty to protect Bairan and had to suffer the humiliation of being taken prisoner. Still, they felt determined not to answer the enemy’s questions, even if they were beaten to death.
Rigal scoffed, “Isn’t a statue meaningless? A country with no history is putting up a statue of a fictional person?”
When Rigal touched the statue in a mocking manner, one of the prisoners roared, “Hand. Put it away. Now!”
It was an Overgeared knight bound by chains. His name was Jude. He was great in battle, and catching him had been one of the hardest challenges in this battle.
“Hrmm.” A smile emerged on Rigal’s face. He looked gorgeous in the air force uniform with matted silver hair and blood-like red eyes. Rigal looked favorably at Jude. “If I listen to your request, will you become my subordinate?”
Rigal coveted Jude, who was a knight with excellent physical abilities, despite his low intelligence.
Wasn’t Jude a great person to have as a subordinate? An alpha dog who wouldn’t bite his owner no matter what…
Jude shook his head. “Jude. Only master. Overgeared King. One minute.”
Look, just like this.
“I will give you better treatment. It will be much better than the Overgeared King.”
It was impossible to give better treatment than the Overgeared King. Jude could become strong thanks to Grid’s efforts and attention. It was Grid who had discovered and trained his talent. If Grid hadn’t made items suitable for Jude’s characteristics, the current Jude wouldn’t exist.
Jude existed because of Grid. Without Grid, Jude was like a flat steamed bun, an account without any balance. However, Rigal didn’t know the situation. After all, he was one of the strongest powers of the Saharan Empire. So, he believed that he had the best resources and power on the continent and was much better than the Overgeared King.
One of the Overgeared members laughed. “You don’t understand the subject.”
The youth shouting in a loud voice was Ibellin. He was in charge of Bairan on behalf of Jishuka, who was in Reidan. Ibellin had fought desperately throughout the battle but was eventually captured. He had sacrificed his life to cut down the enemies, died, resurrected, and fought again. However, Bairan was still occupied.
Ibellin couldn’t forgive himself. He cursed Rigal for trampling on Bairan’s land.
“You will give more than Grid? It is impossible even if you cut off your head and offer it…”
Ibellin’s words didn’t last long. It was because Rigal approached and cut off Ibellin’s head. Notification windows popped up as Ibellin’s vision turned gray.
[You have died.]
[You have lost 35.6% experience.]
[You have lost an additional 10% experience from the war penalty.]
[The person who killed you has applied the ‘Poison to Immortal
’ effect. You have lost 10% more experience.]
[You have died twice in 24 hours, resulting in a restricted access penalty.]
The war penalty was expected and convincing. It wasn’t unreasonable to lose experience because they were able to gain experience in the war. However, Poison to Immortals was unexpected and the worst poison. A total loss of an extra 20% experience. It was like hell.
‘It is dangerous. It is really dangerous. Everyone, be careful…’
Ibellin turned to gray. Anger appeared on the faces of the Overgeared members while the soldiers and residents were terrified. Jude roared, “Kill you!”
It was a meaningless struggle. Jude’s struggle just caused the chains to become tighter. Rigal dismissed him and directly read the words on the statue.
[Bronze Statue of Khan, Legendary Blacksmith]
[A great blacksmith who dedicated his life to creating countless weapons and armor for the Overgeared Kingdom.
My teacher, friend, and family.
-Overgeared King Grid-]
“Hoh? The rumored person…”
The empire’s intelligence network was excellent. It was impossible for them to not know about Khan, who had been closest to Grid.
‘It wouldn’t be strange even if statues of him were placed all over the kingdom.’
The person called Khan had very great meaning for the Overgeared King and his people. Rigal knew this fact and ordered, “Break the statue and throw it into the river.”
“No! Don’t do it!” Jude was becoming more and more berserk. His skin that was touching the chains was red, blood flowed onto the iron, and his hair became matted. Now even the soldiers and residents felt anger instead of fear. Someone begged him not to do this, but Rigal didn’t take back the command.
As the statue crumbled, Rigal declared, “The empire will thoroughly restructure this place. All symbols of the Overgeared Kingdom will be burned, and your spirit will be trampled on. Resent being born into a powerless nation and conform to the will of power.”
Chapter 1000
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* Urgent Notice *
The imperial air forces have raided Bairan.
The altitude of their air force is higher than the information we had stated.
The anti-air surveillance and defense facilities throughout the Overgeared Kingdom are useless.
The imperial air forces have occupied Bairan.
The contents of the notice listed sequentially were short but contained the essence. The worst situation was clearly depicted to be currently happening in Bairan. There were currently approximately 1,000 Overgeared members. Most of the members scattered throughout the kingdom rushed to Bairan as soon as they confirmed the notice. They hoped to be of help.
However, the result didn’t change.
‘It was captured in only half a day?’
Originally belonging to Winston, Bairan had developed into a city larger than Winston and gained independence. Bairan had geographical advantages and was a special place for Grid and the early Overgeared members. This meant it received a lot of investments. Piaro had stayed there for a while to develop the agriculture, making it the most important supply base for the Overgeared Kingdom apart from Reidan. It inevitably meant there were many troops stationed at Bairan.
Although it could be classified as the outskirts of the north, Lauel knew the importance of the supply base and had 8,000 troops stationed in Bairan as preparation for unforeseen situations. Additionally, he had deployed 25 mid-to-upper level Overgeared members led by Ibellin. Yet, Bairan had been occupied in only half a day.
‘The strength of the empire’s air force exceeded expectations.’
Of course, they knew that one of the strongest armies in the empire was the air force. It was a terrible sight to see 5,000 griffons and 300 wyverns. How powerful would it be when the scary monsters were used as a systematic army? Lauel had identified the air force as one of their greatest challenges and carefully reviewed the performance of Sky King Rigal, who had been promoted over the years.
He had concluded that only the elite members could go against the air force and proceeded to install anti-air facilities across the kingdom. For a long time, enormous capital was invested in anti-air surveillance and defense facilities. The levels of facilities such as watchtowers, anti-air cannons, magic watchtowers, magic turrets, and so on were all level 10. Nevertheless, this was the result. Their money was spent in vain.
‘Dammit, this is X.’
The maximum level of the facilities recognized by the administration system was 10. All facilities in the kingdom couldn’t exceed level 10 unless the kingdom was upgraded to an empire. That’s right. The anti-air facilities of the Overgeared Kingdom were the best possible, but they were useless against the imperial air force…? If Grid had known this, he wouldn’t have spent money in the first place.
‘Was I feeding the company money again?’
Wasn’t setting the imperial air force—the strongest air force on the continent—against players a scam? Grid cursed the S.A Group before soon rebuking himself.
‘No, it is my fault in the end. Lauel emphasized the dangers of the air force. This wouldn’t have happened if I made my own cannons.’
Grid did not know how to make magic turrets, but he could produce anti-air cannons. The power of the cannons produced by Grid was naturally stronger than ordinary ones. Yet Grid had turned away under the pretext of being busy. He should’ve expected that the empire’s air force was called the strongest on the continent because they contained a power that overwhelmed existing air defense systems, but he hadn’t felt that way. Instead, he had believed it was more efficient to strengthen the guild members’ items than to construct facilities. His way of thinking was too narrow.
“There is an urgent matter, so I have to leave. I am grateful to you. I wish you all the best until the next time we meet.”
-I am already dead. Bring Marie Rose or don’t come back.
Grid respectfully said goodbye to Chreshler and used the return scroll. However, the scroll didn’t work because of Marie Rose’s evil influence. In the end, he left the cave and moved to a place that wasn’t affected by Marie Rose’s evil influence. He was in a hurry. Then a person suddenly popped up in his mind. ‘Jude!’
Grid’s first knight—he wasn’t a named NPC, which meant he had few unique stories. Born in Winston, Jude had strong bones but his intelligence was low. Jude’s setting was summarized with this simple line. Therefore, Grid wasn’t deeply involved in Jude’s life unlike how he was with Piaro, Asmophel, and Mercedes. Jude’s intelligence was too low, and a normal conversation couldn’t be shared.
However, they shared a lot of time and memories. There had few conversations with each other, but they had a deep spiritual connection and knew each other well enough to read their hearts with their eyes. Jude’s power and potential were low compared to the other knights’, but Grid treasured and trusted him. It was proof of Grid’s trust that he left the security of an important city like Bairan to Jude. That faith had become poison.
“Knights Summoning!”
Jude was in danger. Maybe he was dying right now. Grid was on the verge of losing his reason at the thought. The days he had spent with Jude passed through his mind like a kaleidoscope.
[Please select an article to summon.]
“Jude!” Grid’s big shout rang out through the forest. Grid desperately wanted Jude to appear before him. However, it was impossible. Jude didn’t respond to his summons.
“Jude?”
Grid became more and more irritated as he quickly escaped from the scope of the evil influence. Immediately after using the return scroll, he went to see Sticks.
***
The statue of Khan rolled across the ground as dozens of fragments, and Rigal stepped on them one by one. Rigal’s ruthless violence crushed Khan’s hammer, arms, feet, and legs in front of the people.
>
“Don’t! No!” Jude’s shaking became worse. Every time Rigal erased part of Khan’s image, Jude struggled, and more blood poured from his body tied by chains.
“I can’t do this? No, I can do it. This is already the empire’s territory. I have an obligation to cleanse this city prior to offering it to His Majesty the Emperor, and you—the loser—have no right to exercise your will.”
Rigal’s air force served as the vanguard of the empire. Just like in most battles, he captured the enemy and destroyed their will before the main force came forward. Rigal was a veteran. He knew how to break down the spirit of the enemies and adapt to change. The very first step was the destruction of a symbol. Mechanically, Rigal trampled on the shoulders of the statue as he turned his eyes toward the granary on the ridge far away.
Rigal’s next target was the life, sweat, treasure, and hope of the Bairan people.
‘It is a shame, but burning it is better.’
During the war, it was ideal to take food from enemy camps to replenish their own supplies. However, Rigal’s air force was few in number and had to carry prisoners. They couldn’t afford to transport food as well. There was no guarantee that they could definitely defend this place until the empire’s main force arrived. He couldn’t overlook the fact that this city was in the middle of the Overgeared Kingdom.
Therefore, Rigal chose destruction. The tied-up knight was shaking more fiercely as he tried to break the chains binding his hands and feet. Rigal looked at the scene. Then he raised his foot over the last remaining piece of the statue. It was the head—the head of the statue that represented a person called Khan.
“In the near future, your king’s head will be at my feet like this. Discard your foolish expectations and surrender to the empire. The people who surrender right now won’t be enslaved and will be accepted as a person of the empire, receiving proper treatment from the soldiers. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy the mercy and protection of His Majesty the Emperor.”