Overgeared

The relationship between Kraugel and the yangbans slowly reversed. Now, Kraugel wasn't the prey busy escaping. He was a seasoned predator who held his breath as he watched the yangbans searching the desert and canyons for him before ambushing them in reverse. Of course, it wasn't easy to kill the yangbans.

The problem was that even if his surprise attack succeeded, it took quite a while to deal enough damage to 'kill.' The yangbans were half-gods. Every single one of them was named. They had tens of times more health and higher stats than Kraugel, so it was impossible for them to die easily.

Breathtaking situations had occurred several times over the past year where the yangban had run away before Kraugel could kill them, or the yangban was rescued by his colleagues and Kraugel barely survived by fleeing. Still, it wasn't always the same. There were often lucky days.

Today was that type of day. His super sensitivity stat was especially effective today after it had risen by four in return for being killed by Mir a few days ago. In this case, was it because they didn't have the ability to learn beyond their arrogance, or was it because Kraugel launched a surprise attack on one of the three yangbans who were searching the canyon and the weakness and critical hits burst out in a row?

Kraugel had been planning to retreat after moderately increasing the experience of the White Tiger Sword, but he changed his mind. He poured out skills to link the combo even after seeing the other yangbans running at the screams. His calculations were perfect.

"Groan!"

Every yangban was strong. However, there were only seven yangbans who had built up their divinity. Apart from them, the rest of the yangbans couldn't handle Kraugel one-on-one. After a series of frantic cuts, the yangban that was hit by the Space Sword turned to gray ash.

[The half-god has been defeated.]

[Once again, you've made a remarkable achievement.]

[You have become the protagonist of the 'Humiliation at Kaya' myth.]

[In the future, when fighting against half-gods or gods, all stats will increase by 10% and the power of your sword techniques will increase by an additional 20%.]

[You understand the concepts of 'legend,' 'transcendence,' and 'status,' and you are in the harmonious 'heart, body, and skill' state.]

[The transcendence that has been suppressed due to a lack of opportunity is blossoming.]

[......!]

[......!!]

[!!!]

"Gasp...Gasp...?"

It was a series of amazing rewards. Despite the urgent situation, the thrilled Kraugel became flustered. It was due to the notification windows that only repeated the exclamation points. An error? It couldn't be...

Crash! Kraugel moved his sword to the side and the yangban's formless will collided with the blade and dispersed. The yangbans who arrived at the scene shouted. "Kraugel!"

The name Kraugel was now clearly imprinted on the yangbans. The one with the power of the former Sword Saint whom Mir acknowledged but who never showed a single one of the matchless skills—he was insignificant prey, the same human being.

The incarnation of talent who seemed a match for ten thousand enemies, he transcended humans without the matchless skills, murdering half-gods with his sword. He wasn't in the common sense... Pungsa and Usa had personally pointed out that he was 'dangerous.'

Today, another colleague was killed. They didn't intend to mourn the death of a colleague. However, they were aware and alert to the fact that they could die. This man must be eliminated. Even if he was a legend that didn't die due to the power of the oral traditions that were immortalized, he would eventually weaken and disappear if he was killed again and again.

The yangbans attacked Kraugel fiercely. They put down their honor and self-esteem and did their best to cooperate. Kraugel had just killed a yangban and most of his skills were on cooldown, so it was hard for him to find the opportunity to counterattack. He saved his life by using thorough defense tactics such as blocking attacks, avoiding attacks, and buying time with grappling techniques.

"A person called the Sword Saint is using the sword as a decoration!"

The yangban mocked Kraugel who ran away instead of staying to fight. Their faces were red, but the provocation didn't work. Kraugel was silent as he observed the sensations in his body.

'I need a bit more time to adjust.'

His body had changed. To be exact, his stats had changed. It was the aftermath of his stats rising and gaining new passive skills as the protagonist of a myth and a transcendent. It was a pretty abrupt change from Kraugel's position when he believed that the super sensitivity stat was the superior concept of a transcendent's senses. Additionally, the system was strange. Rather than listing the newly acquired abilities and skills, only the exclamation marks were still being used.

Kraugel needed time to identify and adapt to the changes. He wanted to accurately control himself rather than blindly leaving his body to his strength and speed while wielding the sword. This was the only way he could win.

"You are like a rat!"

The faces of the yangbans turned redder. It was enough to question if they would die of a brain hemorrhage. Kraugel used Sword Curtain to block the sharp wind. Then he turned his chin and used the sheath to guard against the sword before using jajinmori.

The yangban let out a weak groan as his body flew far away. The reason his expression distorted wasn't due to the pain. His one-edged sword—he was robbed of his weapon. It was impossible for yangbans to have the awareness of warriors, but he understood how humiliating it was to be deprived of his weapon.

['Snatch the Sword' has succeeded and you've successfully got your hands on the 'Yangban's Zhanmadao'.] [1]

In response to the movement of the rotating sheath, the sword that flew into the air fell precisely into Kraugel's hand. The duration of Snatch the Sword was five seconds. It would fall from his hand after five seconds. This was never a short time given that he could interfere with enemies trying to retrieve the weapons. In an ordinary battle, the entire battle would've been overturned.

However, the opponent was a yangban. It made no difference if the yangbans had weapons or not. Weren't they proficient in all martial arts? No. Rather, it was because the depth of all the martial arts was shallow. The yangbans were powerful only due to their innate physical ability and the power of the four gods, not because of their skills. Of course, there were exceptions like Mir.

"Youuuu!" The yangban who had his weapon robbed came rushing with the aura of the blue dragon. The lighting disturbed the desert sand and caused a storm. Meanwhile, the other yangban acted covertly. He appeared behind Kraugel without a sound and stabbed his sword. Kraugel defended against the attack of the yangban and swung the White Tiger Sword in his right hand.

Increased stats and new skills—he had finally accurately identified and adapted to the changes caused by these.

Kraugel's sword moved lightly. The movements were smaller than before, but he was more powerful than ever before.

"Ugh!" The dopo of the yangban who had his attack deflected and was counterattacked became covered in blood. Kraugel retrieved his sword and turned backwards. The blade of the yangban who approached with the energy of the blue dragon faced the transparent blade of the White Tiger Sword.

"......?!"

The eyes of the yangban widened as he thought he was going to smash Kraugel's sword and head. It was a sword with medium thickness, but it was as transparent as glass, making it look fragile. The yangban thought it would break easily, but not only did it stop the blue dragon's energy, it also damaged his skin, flesh, and bones...!

"Kuaaaaaack!"The yangban screamed as his hand was cut off.

It might be different if he was a yangban who had accumulated divinity, but it was the worst thing for the body to be damaged when the red phoenix had been unsealed. He was pulling up the feeble amount of red phoenix energy left to somehow try and regenerate the wound when his companion grabbed at the back of his neck. Thanks to him, Kraugel's sword just cut through air.

The yangban who saved his colleague spoke while increasing the power of his lightning, "It is more than I heard in the rumors."

They knew in advance that Kraugel's sword contained the energy of the white tiger, but they never heard it was this powerful. Wasn't it right to describe it as a divine object rather than a normal sword? Moreover, Kraugel's potential was more than imagined. Of course, the result wouldn't change. Kraugel had a limit. He did well for a while, but his weariness was high and his wounds noticeably increased.

"I'll finish it quickly."

The two yangbans simultaneously invoked the aura of the blue dragon and the white tiger. It was fairly burdensome for them who had failed to accumulate divinity. They weren't confident about controlling this explosive force. However, they knew that drawing things out wouldn't lead to good results. The passing of the sword and one-edged sword increased the wounds on Kraugel's body. Nevertheless, Kraugel's resistance was fierce. His sword skills finished their cooldown and he unleashed them one by one.

"Groan...!"

"Don't stop and push forward!"

The bleeding of the yangban who lost his hand was severe. The one-edged sword he wielded gradually became dull. He felt scared when he noticed that Kraugel's sword skills persistently seeking him out had become incomparably powerful. This fear turned into anger. Me.I am afraid of a human when I qualify to be a god?

"Ohhhhh!"

Clang!

"......!"

It was tricky to deal with opponents who were ready to die. Kraugel's momentum weakened as the man who lost his hand started attacking without caring about his body.

'It will be hard to survive.'

There was no choice but to aim for mutual destruction. The best thing he could do now was to take even one person with him to the underworld. Kraugel knew this and hesitated. His fear of dropping the White Tiger Sword shook him. He never thought he would be afraid of death because he didn't want to lose an item. Kraugel felt strange about himself and smiled bitterly.

His shoulder dropped as a sword pierced his chest. He squeezed the blade with his bare hands so that the enemy couldn't take it back. His hands weren't cut off due to this body that had 'Sword Immunity,' but the pain was vivid and blood flowed. As he released the blade and bent down, the sword stuck in his shoulder broke his collarbone, cut through, and soared into the air.

The immobilized sword suddenly soared upward and the flustered yangban lost his balance for a moment. Kraugel shoved the White Tiger Sword into his heart. The heavy one-edged sword that stabbed Kraugel's side made him dizzy, but he persisted.

"This...! This terrible guy!"

The yangban was stricken by the sight of Kraugel stabbing the sword in the heart of his colleague while one arm was cut by the sword and his intestines were pouring out due to the zhanmadao cutting his waist. In his eyes, Kraugel wasn't the Sword Saint, but a sword demon.

[A legend doesn't die easily.]

The notification window that only displayed exclamation points finally changed to a sentence. The content wasn't very welcome, but Kraugel didn't waver. He boldly accepted the coming death and deployed his last sword energy. He heard a howling auditory hallucination from the 'Matchless Swordsmanship' that was kept in his inventory, but he turned away from it and aimed his sword technique at the heart of the yangban.

The yangban didn't die. He survived in a breathtaking manner. The damage was lacking. He wanted to take one with him, but he failed. Still, Kraugel didn't regret it. His body was damaged, so there was less strength at his fingertips. The reason for not killing the yangban wasn't because his swordsmanship was too weak.

Look. The system recognized it.

[No signs of the Matchless Swordsmanship have been found in any of your achievements since becoming a Sword Saint.]

[Nevertheless, you killed six half-gods and became the protagonist of a myth.]

[It has been judged that the skills you have been using and the sword techniques you have created have the potential to surpass the Matchless Swordsmanship. The rating of all the skills you have will be increased to legendary (transcendent).]

"Haha..." The bloody Kraugel let out a faint laugh.

"Crazy guy!" The yangbans hated it. One lost his hand and the other had a damaged heart. They got goosebumps that the man who was going to die soon in return for making them look like this was laughing.

Kraugel's body received the attacks of the yangbans and flew far away. A final notification window emerged in his vision as he lay weakly in the desert.

[The duration of immortality is over.]

'It is up to here.' Now all he could do was hope the White Tiger Sword was fine. He was quietly accepting death when a familiar voice entered his ears.

"K-Kraugel?"

Flinch!

Kraugel's body trembled. He looked up slowly, checked Grid's face, and turned his head away. "...You recognized the wrong person."

His moment of defeat was witnessed by Grid, not someone else. For Kraugel, it was more painful than dying.

"Who are you?!" The yangbans growled at Grid. They had half lost their sense of reason after suffering from all sorts of humiliation and being seriously injured. They couldn't afford to read Grid's energy so they didn't notice Grid's identity. They wouldn't have changed their attitude even if they recognized Grid. It was because new colleagues were starting to arrive at the scene.

Grid was confronted by five yangbans while throwing a potion to Kraugel. It was the very expensive potion made by Reidan's alchemy facility.

"I think it will be a bit intense alone?"

"I'll help you."

"What type of concept is that..."

"......"

"Ack! This human...! Are you ignoring us?!"

These bastards hadn't changed their lines. Grid clicked his tongue, pulled out the Formless Sword, and swung it. The sword stretched out like a whip and wrapped around a wounded yangban's body. It tightened and sliced at the wounded yangban.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhanmadao