Overgeared

Earth God was a skill that had a probability of triggering when touching the ground. There was no guarantee that this probability would also apply to earth magic. Nevertheless, Grid tried it without hesitation. The waves of mud made by Braham this time were too broad. It was difficult to find places to escape, but there were many places to use as a foothold.

His foot was sucked in every time it touched the mud, but this didn’t matter. Grid’s movement speed was faster than the speed at which the mud swallowed Grid’s ankles. He repeatedly left before his ankle was swallowed.

[Earth God has activated and allowed you to gain control of the earth.]

It happened precisely when he stepped on the waves of mud the 37th time. The wave of mud that was constantly moving in a curve to draw a circle and eventually become a giant sphere trapping Grid froze for a moment. Then it poured back toward Braham.

Grid had seized Braham’s magic. Grid tried to use the time while Braham was responding to take the steps of the sword dance.

“......?!” As Braham destroyed the mud pouring toward him, Grid saw the hundreds of magic missiles aiming at him and stiffened.

Braham had continued to cast magic during the time when Grid had been avoiding the waves of mud. The magic missiles poured down. It was a rain of light. Avoiding it in the usual way was physically impossible. It would also be difficult to use Shunpo. The baptism of magic missiles covered most of his field of view so it was hard to detect a section to break through using Shunpo.

The moment Grid was hesitating, the 10 God Hands rotated and blocked some of the magic missiles. It was just that this couldn’t last long. Braham’s Magic Missile was far more powerful than Grid’s Magic Missile. The damage that the God Hands could receive was exceeded in an instant. Grid watched the God Hands stiffening when they collided with the magic missiles and his head spun quickly. Should he just focus on defense like this?

‘No.’

It was the worst thing to have his feet tied up when facing a magician. The moment he stood still to stop the magic missiles, he would become the target of more advanced magic.

A counterattack?

Smashing the magic missiles with Flower Revolve or 200,000 Army Crushing Sword and then counterattacking was... it was a tactic that would work against ordinary magicians. However, the opponent was Braham. HIs transcendent senses were wary of every magic missile.

‘Did he attach trap magic to each magic missile?’

Hundreds of magic missiles were created in the few minutes when Grid avoided the waves of mud. Could Braham attach trap magic to them as well? The opponent might be Braham, but some people would wonder if Grid was overestimating him too much. Even so, Grid knew Braham’s value.

One of Braham’s spells was called Enhanced Memorize. It was magic that literally reconstructed previously used magic formulas. Simply put, it was duplication. Legendary magic couldn’t be copied and it took some time for advanced magic to be copied, but low level magic could be copied instantly. It was a simple matter for Braham to multiply the magic missiles and attached trap magic to them.

‘I can only avoid it.’

It took only one second for him to reach this conclusion. Braham was already performing his next spell. He spread out water balls in between the magic missiles and exploded them. Then an extensive water curtain covering the entire area started to form. He seemed to want to create a water curtain so that Grid couldn’t escape using Shunpo, leaving him exposed to the bombardment of the magic missiles.

Grid moved urgently. He looked at the areas the water curtain hadn’t reached yet and proceeded to use Shunpo.

‘It is obvious,’ Braham thought.

The reason Braham dominated Grid’s field of view with overwhelming numbers was to limit Grid’s movement path. Braham was currently in a state of control with the magic missiles and water curtain that blocked most of Grid’s field of view. In order for Grid to escape this area, it was necessary to use Shunpo while aiming at the fine gap between both spells.

—Just like now. Braham was able to predict where Grid would appear next and prepare for it.

“......?”

The moment he appeared in any direction, he would be caught by Braham and his prepared magic...

Braham was casting magic in a relaxed manner and waiting for Grid to appear when a chill went down his spine. It was because Grid used Shunpo but he didn’t appear at any of the locations that Braham predicted. He completely disappeared. It was right to say he ‘disappeared.’

‘What?’ Braham’s expression was flustered. ‘I don’t know about this?’

Grid had linked Barbatos Vision and Shunpo to appear ‘10 kilometers outside.’

“Rain of Battle Gear.”

Then he used the combo that sank the orc’s rebellion. The connection between Barbatos’ Vision and Request to Stand With Me struck at Braham.

“......!!”

Braham witnessed the thousands of battle gears pouring down from the sky and felt like he was possessed by a ghost. The current situation was incomprehensible even with the wisdom of the Duke of Wisdom. Therefore, he was thrilled. How long had it been since he encountered something unknown?!

“Absolute Shield!”

Braham was happy at experiencing something unknown after hundreds of years. His shout as he cast a spell rang out. His voice reached the ears of Grid, who was approaching while inducing Lightning God.

‘Braham!’

A person who was building up a myth despite losing his vampiric power and the power of his prime. He might not be close to Baal or Marie Rose, but it was undeniable that he was one of the world’s potential powerhouse. He had the unique characteristic of absorbing mana from the outside world and using it as a resource. He was a monster who could be the strongest in special spaces such as the Abyss or the Red Sea. Anyone would fear him, yet Grid was pushing him.

[You have assimilated with the energy of the blue dragon and Lightning God is activated.]

[Your body has turned into lightning. All attacks are converted to lightning. Every time you hit the target, a lot of mana is burned (10% of the total mana).]

[You are immune to all physical attacks, but you will take twice the damage from magic attacks without any defense or resistance. It also leaves a current that deals damage equal to 10 times your intelligence in the movement path. The duration of the electric current is 2 seconds.]

[It won’t be released until the speed drops and will be released immediately once you deviate from the maximum speed.]

“100,000 Army Massacre Sword!”

“......!”

Grid kept a thorough distance from Braham. He moved around at a distance beyond Braham’s reach and kept Braham in the center. He maintained Lightning God and kept moving so he wouldn’t be spotted by Braham while pouring out all of the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship. It was a good opportunity to seize victory while Barbatos’ Vision was maintained. He never narrowed the distance because he didn’t want to allow a counterattack in the Lightning God state.

“300,000 Army Stealth Sword.”

How many times did the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship dig into the gaps of the Absolute Shield created in exchange for blocking the rain of battle gear? The sword energy also dealt lightning damage. It struck invisibly from a long distance in a way that resembled Mir’s swordsmanship and it was difficult for Braham to react.

Since he wasn’t a transcendent, it was impossible for him to read it with his eyes or react with his senses. He could only defend by creating shields in advance, but even this gave him a sense of pressure. Every time there was a conflict between the sword energy and shield, his mana was greatly reduced.

‘What is this... how many powers have been fused together?’

The long distance shooter’s vision, the power of the blue dragon, the swordsmanship of the Undefeated King, and Divinity that helped him use it in succession...

The ‘lightning’ that gradually weakened Braham was a technique that fused together various forces and it contained Grid’s life trajectory. Braham, who claimed to know Grid the best in the world, felt like he had only seen a part of Grid. Meanwhile, Grid stopped turning and moved straight forward. The duration of Barbatos’ Vision was over so he had no choice but to approach. His Divinity had already been consumed by the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship.

‘I have to win here.’

Due to the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship, Grid had succeeded in consuming all of Braham’s mana. Braham’s mana fell to a low point while maintaining Absolute Shield and he experienced mana burn.

‘Braham will spend some time using Mana Drain.’

Now was his chance to grab the win. Grid felt Braham getting closer and started dancing. The strides of the five fusion sword dance in the air was reminiscent of a dragon swimming in the sky.

“Drop Dragon Pinnacle...”

Drop Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave had already been activated and Grid’s body shot unknowingly at Braham who entered his field of view. It meant it was irreversible.

Kuooooh!

The atmosphere heated up. The shadows covering Grid’s face gradually deepened. Grid’s sword pierced Braham’s chest, but it ended with just one strike. The Drop Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave sword dance that consisted of a powerful stab and dozens of slashes wasn’t completed. It was because a meteorite fell from the sky and smashed into Grid’s body.

[A legend doesn’t die easily.]

A notification window indicating the activation of his immortality along with all types of warning messages covered his field of view. It was the destructive power of a single blow that didn't give a chance to his recovery skills that were activated under certain conditions. It was the power of the legendary great magic, Meteor.

“T-This is ridiculous...”

Grid crashed into the ground along with the meteorite and muttered blankly in the midst of the chain of explosions. He didn’t understand how Braham could trigger Meteor when he had completely run out of mana.

Braham slowly descended from the sky covered in ashes. He summoned hundreds of water balls with this recovered mana and calmed down the hellfire caused by the explosion of Meteor. Then he asked the dazed Grid, “What are you surprised about?”

“No... where did you suddenly draw enough mana to use Meteor?”

“I didn’t use mana. It was just a spell I set with Alarm before my mana was depleted.”

“You set it using Alarm? How did you know I was going to approach at that timing?”

“Every time your attack hit me, I lost one-tenth of my mana... it is easy to anticipate at which point you will want to approach me.”

“Wow...”

Grid had Fenrir’s power that could fill the gap in levels. Therefore, the difference in level with Braham didn’t affect this duel. It was purely due to a skill difference. However, Grid wasn’t frustrated. Rather, he was happy. He was relieved and felt reassured by the fact that Braham was in good shape. Braham didn’t like the sight of Grid smiling happily.

"Why are you smiling when you lost a fight you could’ve won? Absolute Shield is legendary defense magic that can block any attack but the moment the attack is blocked, the durability of the shield runs out and it takes time to cast again. Rather than using the rain of battle gear and aiming for a long battle, it would’ve been better to link Shunpo and Drop Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave to gain the upper hand. You were too passive.”

“I will do that the next time we fight.”

“Bah, there will be no second opportunity today. Today I was at a disadvantage because we fought right after I used Disintegrate.”

“No, Disintegrate should be used for the magic forging.”

“Are you a beggar...?”

The two people were happy while quarreling. Today’s duel was a great help for both of them. Braham learned that it wasn’t very effective to limit a transcendent using quantity, while Grid learned that Shunpo and the tactic of fighting from a distance shouldn’t be blindly trusted. They also figured out how strong they had become.

It was enough to fight this evenly with Braham. At this point, he deserved to regain his confidence. The two people were vowing to train and improve when a face appeared between them...

“Yes... you shouldn’t do the same thing again today...” It was a face full of sadness. It was Administrator Rabbit. He ran all the way here and pushed up his glasses with trembling hands as he looked around. “I... I thought a great demon was invading here.”

“......”

“......”

Grid and Braham shut their mouths. The entire area was completely scorched in the aftermath of the duel. Several mountains had collapsed, forests were burning, dozens of large and small craters had formed on the ground, and new roads were probably needed.

“I would recommend you to duel in the middle of enemy camps in the future... no, how about going to hell and reducing the number of demons?”

“......”

“......”

Rabbit was the only one in the world who could shut up both Overgeared God Grid and the legendary magician Braham.