Overgeared (WN KR)

The magic power condensed in the demon sword stirred the earth and the sky. It was on the verge of exploding and devastating the entire area. There were continuous roars that seemed to urge its master.

“......”

Baal was still silent. He stood still and didn’t wield his sword.

His eyes remained on Grid. It was more like meditating. In fact, Baal’s eyelids were half-closed. He was trying to ignore Grid, who was pointing a finger at his own chest and provoking him. It was because he didn’t know what type of nonsense the epic would say if he looked at it clearly.

‘Is it the feeling of a toy?’

Baal let out a laugh. It was the aftermath of realizing that he was playing on the top of Grid’s palm. He had been wielding the fate of others at will and forcing his choices, but now he ended up in the opposite position.

All types of emotions rushed over him like a tide.

‘...It is unpleasant.’

Baal smiled and suppressed his competitive spirit. He gave an obvious answer to the choice Grid presented.

First of all, he activated the Demon’s Cradle.

The Demon’s Cradle—most of the demons and demonic creatures that inhabited hell were born there. Baal planned to summon the newly born demonic creatures and demons immediately to his side and used them as a means to attack Grid.

***

Damian, the leader of the Overgeared God Church—he, who had previously been happily looking at the portrait of the pregnant Isabel, doubtfully asked, “Uh? Isn’t it suddenly wriggling over there?”

The attention of the group who was clearing the contaminated land was drawn to one side. There was a big black hole, akin to the abyss. The entrance of the cradle, which had intermittently spewed out demonic creatures and demons, was wriggling like a living creature. It was a trivial movement, like a caterpillar chewing on leaves, but it was a clear change.

“Hik~! Demons! Demons are pouring out!” Zednos panicked as he watched the scene with Damian.

The cradle exploded. Like an active volcano erupting lava, large quantities of demonic energy were scattered everywhere. Tens of thousands of red beads flashed through the mist colored the area. All of them were the eyes of the demons who had just been born.

Yes, demons. They had strength that didn’t compare to demonic creatures. Those who were judged to be ‘elite’ monsters displayed their own powers, just like a great demon.

“What is going on all of a sudden?!”

Zednos became flustered the moment the cradle poured out a large amount of demons since it was originally pouring out of demons and demonic creatures at regular intervals. He was very nervous, so he shot magic at random. Putting aside the ridiculous appearance, the results were enormous.

As a magician who started as a wind magician, he specialized in wide-area magic. He increased his damage by dozens or even hundreds of units with every stack of his magic. His staff increased magic attack power as the number of targets attacked increased, so it helped him by scatter brilliant magic. It was a dragon weapon.

“That cradle... it thinks and judges like an intelligent creature. It seems it judged it will be troublesome when the agricultural fields are completed,” Hurent said with a serious expression. It was while plowing at the land with hundreds of hand plows made of aura. The seeds scattered by Piaro went into it.

“Can’t you hurry up a bit?”

“I’m already doing my best. You have to understand that the pace is slow because there are no nutrients in the ground.”

Even Piaro’s Rapid Growth couldn’t immediately bring the crops to full bloom. The land of hell was that barren. There was no energy not only in the land, but in nature as a whole. There wasn’t much of a difference even when Piaro used Natural State.

It happened as Zednos was becoming even more nervous...

“I’ll try to hold out as much as possible, so don’t worry and maintain your pace.”

Damian held Isabel’s portrait in his arms and stepped forward. The consequences of his action were beyond common sense. He only took a few steps, but the bodies of the demons that rushed at him shattered and turned to ash.

Damian, the leader of the Overgeared God Church—he reached the stage where every step contained the technique of the sword dance. His sword dance was endlessly perfected and circulated in everyday life. He was a genius representing Japan.

“Phew,” the admiring Hurent whistled.

In the worst case scenario, he was determined to leave clearing the land to Piaro and participate in the battle himself, but Damian’s skills were beyond imagination. At this point, he somehow felt sorry for Lauel.

Piaro, Damian, Zednos, and himself—he hadn’t been very happy when he first saw the list of party members.

Piaro was still the strongest in his heart.

Damian was an otaku who carried Isabel’s portrait on his armor and shield, while Zednos was a half-wit who was bossed around by Laella every day.

Putting aside the world’s praise of them, they weren’t that great in Hurent’s eyes. This meant he questioned Lauel’s intent behind sending them to escort Piaro, who had various restrictions while creating the agricultural fields. To be honest, he cursed a bit inwardly.

‘Now seeing this, it was purely my prejudice.’

Apparently, Hurent had little experience in joint combat with the Overgeared members. He joined the Overgeared Guild too late. Even after joining, he mostly pursued Piaro or went on separate missions with Chris and Haster. Therefore, he didn’t appreciate his colleagues.

The somewhat embarrassed Piaro told him the truth, “Damian is your senior.”

“...Huh?”

“He learned to work in the fields before you did.”

“Ah... That’s why he is so skilled.”

It was a consensus that was formed among farmers. Hurent also became curious about Damian’s skills at fieldwork.

“......?”

Damian’s sword, which had sent chills down his spine, subtly slowed down. He deliberately slowed down the pace of hunting demons. For some reason, he felt Hurent’s hot gaze.

‘He is about to make me work in the field.’

It was Damian who had been playing the role of a sandbag every time Grid made a new weapon. Unbeknownst to himself, he became very quick at noticing things.

‘The leader of the Overgeared God Church shouldn’t have dirt on his hands.’

This was when Damian became crazy and started acting like all his skills were on cooldown. He slowed down his hunting speed.

***

‘...Is it stable?’

Baal was embarrassed by the sudden extermination of the demons who had just been born in the cradle. He frowned when he realized that Grid had done something, only to become relieved. It was because the presence of demons, which repeatedly disappeared as soon as they were born in the cradle, started to remain stable. It meant that the demons had destroyed the trap prepared by Grid.

The relieved Baal withdrew his attention from the cradle.

Next, he communicated with the red lump of flesh.

The red lump of flesh—it was the main culprit who distorted hell by projecting the hell moon and was also the production material of Asura. Perhaps Baal was the only one he trusted or relied on.

‘Send things that might pose a threat to Grid.’

Baal conveyed his will to the red flesh. The reaction came immediately. Through Baal’s shadow, a ‘door’ opened and the head of a certain figure rose up.

The person who slowly emerged—he had the face of the yangban Garam. He exuded an aura that was incomparable to his lifetime. It was because Garam was helped by Baal when he was processing the energy of a God Killer. Of course, Garam didn’t want such help. Baal tore apart Garam’s soul and used it as inspiration and Garam naturally developed in the process.

“Gri...”

Garam had a displeased expression on his face, only to become filled with joy when he found Grid. His eyes were shining when he disappeared. Yes, he disappeared. He was sucked back through the door.

“......?”

Baal was puzzled. That door that had been opened in the shadow under his feet closed without a trace.

Beyond that, the Overgeared members were active underground. Yura sniped the dead people that the flesh endlessly produced and Faker assassinated them. The flesh’s ranged attacks targeted Yura first, but they were somehow blocked by Leraje and Toban.

Mir had barely managed to grab Garam and pulled him back, reuniting with him after a long absence.

“Mir, you... did you become Grid’s subordinate? Even if you betrayed Hanul, I can’t understand why you became Grid’s subordinate. Isn’t it a waste of the freedom you have gained?”

“Even if you search all over the world, there is nothing more valuable than Grid.”

“Hahat...? You are a fanatic. You are insignificant, just like a bastard who was born to be a puppet of a god in the first place.”

Mir and Garam clashed.

Blood gushed from both their bodies at the same time. Mir was superior in turns of pure sword skills, but the energy of a God Killer was a problem. The energy of a God Killer contained in Garam’s Formless Will left wounds on Mir’s body and soul just by brushing against him. If they were hurt equally, then Mir would naturally be the one who received a bigger loss.

Currently, Garam’s body was composed of the fragments of red flesh. Even if he was hurt, he would regenerate immediately due to the red flesh.

“Hey, sausage. Why don’t you summon the souls of other yangbans as well?” Garam urged the lump of red flesh.

Flinch.

Does it have a sense of reason? The red lump of flesh trembled in displeasure but soon started to form new bodies. It was the flesh of dead yangbans. They slowly opened their eyes and lined up behind Garam.

“Many of you have died. All of you must’ve been killed by Grid. Don’t you feel guilty when you see us?”

Their animosity and killing intent was directed at Mir. They were reborn as a concept similar to a demon and they were as strong as one.

A combination of a half-god and demon—they were reborn as a never before seen existence and there was a special aspect to them.

“Mir looks to be in danger. I think we need to clean up the yangbans first.”

“No.”

Yura shook her head at Faker’s opinion.

The Demon Slayer—she had been attacking hell alone and her extraordinary eyes were able to see through the weakness of the red flesh.

“Every time it separates the flesh and reduces its size in order to shape another being, its offensive stops for a moment. The offensive doesn’t stop when it recovers the flesh, it is hard to say it can’t do both things at once. I think it is right to interpret it as its attitude changing passively.”

The red flesh removed its own flesh to form the bodies of the dead. Why did its attitude change passively every time? It was because it became vulnerable. It judged that it would be dangerous if it was attacked at this time, so it was taking care of itself.

Faker was convinced after hearing Yura’s explanation.

The two people concentrated. They kept an eye on the red flesh while saving their ultimate moves for the moment when it created a new existence.

-...Kiyaaaaaaah!

For the first time, significant damage was done.

***

“......”

The red light leaking into the ruined great hall was deflected at an angle. It was the aftermath of the shaking of the moon that decorated the black hell sky. It was proof that the red flesh projecting the hell moon was shaken. Unknowingly, the humans who infiltrated the underground were playing their part...

“You... you’ve prepared thoroughly this time.”

Grid grinned at Baal, who was trying to talk with a calm face.

“It was set up by Yura. I just inserted a spoon into it.”

“The Demon Slayer...”

Yura, the present day Demon Slayer, had surpassed Alex at some point. The reason where she was more difficult to handle than Alex was that she was cautious. Yura never appeared in front of Baal, unlike Alex, who came to Baal himself under the illusion that he was far superior to a demon. She used Alex’s failures as a lesson and was always behind the scenes.

It felt like a dirty bug running through his whole house. She was a really annoying person.

“Well, it’s fine... if I kill you today and evolve further... I will be able to find and eliminate even the timid Demon Slayer without difficulty.”

This wasn’t a big deal for Baal, even without the support of the red flesh. He gave orders not only to the Demon’s Cradle, but also the great demons who served him. The rulers of hell would soon arrive here with their respective armies and would consume Grid. He just had to finish exhausting Grid.

Was it possible that Grid was truly invincible? No way. Even the Gods of the Beginning and the Old Dragons weren’t invincible. Every time the demons stabbed their blades into Grid or cast magic at him, he would surely weaken.

Buzz buzz...

Baal still held the sword containing strong magic power and silently waited for the right time. He happily thought about how to mock Grid, who would shrink back at the sight of the soon to arrive reinforcements.

However, the surroundings were quiet as time passed. There were no signs of an army coming.

“This is how I am different from you, who has grown stronger alone.”

Grid drove a wedge into Baal, who was thinking the worst.

Baal’s eyes shot up in a terrible manner.

A person who grew stronger by compressing time—right now, the one who was growing stronger in real time was talking shamelessly, so his killing intent surged.

“...There will be limits to growth.”

The veins wriggled over the back of Baal’s hand as he gripped his demon sword. The target of the sword lowering at an angle was Grid’s neck.

“Even if I suffer death in return for killing you and you repeatedly become stronger because of it, there will be limits in the end. Can you deny that this isn’t the case?”

‘Why is he suddenly in a rush?’

Another Tomb’s cooldown was still a long way from ending. If Baal really attacked now, he wouldn’t be able to deal reflection damage and Baal would see through his weakness...

It was a tense moment for Grid.

“Voila. It is the appearance of reinforcements.”

Just then, Great Demon Rose arrived at the scene. Since she was too insignificant, she could respond to Baal’s call without being kept in check by Braham.

“...Hmm.” Thanks to this, Baal calmed down. His agitation subsided and he took back the demon sword.

“......”

Grid had almost lost ten years of his life. Grid even felt a faint liking toward Rose.

Baal had no way of knowing Grid’s intentions and declared, “By my authority, I will give you the 9th throne, Rose.”

It was the birth of a new single digit great demon, and it was even a player. The world was turned upside down.