Overgeared

'I should've given them personal time from the beginning.'

There was a sufficient basis behind the apostles' personal growth.

Individual activities—they left to solve their own matters, and made remarkable development as if it was natural. Grid also somewhat expected it, but he couldn't take it calmly.

Piaro, who opened up the deity stat; and Mercedes, who acquired the fraudulent God's Descent skill—the level of development of these two people far exceeded Grid's expectations. At this point, he felt sorry for giving them orders about this and that. It would've been much better to just let them do their own activities...

'By the way, God's Descent must be a common skill, right?'

God's Descent was the perfect skill in theory. It was to divide Grid into several pieces. If it was possible for all his apostles to learn it, then Grid could always share power wherever the seven apostles were. It was without consuming anything.

'I have to ask Mercedes how she learned it.'

It was roughly expected how she would've gained it. There was no way she would've really been having a good fight...

She would've naturally awakened it while praying to him with reverence in a very sacred place. God's Descent was like the string of fate that bound a god and their apostles, so the background of the birth itself would be noble.

'Maybe it is a miracle created by a heart that loves and misses me.'

As Grid was smiling with satisfaction, Mercedes and her father were swinging swords at each other. It was a disastrous family violence. Everything was different from Grid's expectations.

***

"Hup." Mercedes gulped.

Her awareness couldn't keep up with her body. The moment she took a single step, she found herself moving tens of meters ahead. She couldn't cut Exile and repeatedly passed by him. It was the aftermath of borrowing Grid's divinity and implementing some of Grid's stats and status. It was without the process of observing and interpreting it with Keen Insight.

It was a force that her body immediately received, so it wasn't easy for her to adapt to it. It was like being dragged around in her own body.

"You are just a human being without the help of Keen Insight."

Mercedes, who interpreted the principles of God's Descent—Exile was startled by the use of her Keen Insight, which was at a level incomparable to decades ago, but he quickly regained his composure. It was because he was looking at the traces that told him Mercedes' trajectory.

The sanctuary that was tempered by Pluto's divinity was destroyed. It couldn't handle the shockwaves generated by Mercedes, who was rushing and jumping. It meant that the Overgeared God's divinity that she borrowed was very powerful.

Exile took it for granted. He was only Pluto's apostle, while Mercedes was an apostle and companion. Mercedes was in a position to borrow much more divinity.

Then what was she doing? A power that couldn't be handled became poison.

"Do you understand how unreasonable a power Keen Insight is now? There is nothing good about relying on something like that. Someday, you will be a dunce who can't do anything without Keen Insight."

"I don't think that is what you should be saying when you rely on a god's power."

"I'm not dependent on God's Descent. Communicating with God isn't an innate ability, but a discipline that requires effort. It is just like training a talent."

"The same goes for Keen Insight, even if I don't care if I depend on it or not."

Relying on something else—it was natural for those who served the Overgeared God. They were proud to rely on items. In other words, Mercedes couldn't be shaken no matter what Exile said.

"...Arguing is a detriment to me. Let's get back to the point. I can teach you how to use God's Descent properly."

Divinity was a blessing that transcended the limits of a species and it was a rule that it overcame all elements. The more effectively it was utilized, the more its value shone.

"Abandon your useless hostility and take the test to become the head of the family as you have requested. Accept and understand God Pluto's power and be reborn as the strongest..."

"There is no need. From today, the Vaintz family will disappear from the world."

"A person who isn't the head of the family has no such authority."

There was no choice but to suppress her. Exile shrugged and released his power. He decided that the current Mercedes could endure it without dying. The divinity that surrounded Exile's body truly became the night sky. Countless lights contained in the dark blue divinity started to move like stars. Each one had a strong energy.

Mercedes' eyes became bloodshot. She was overloaded while trying to understand the principle of the starlight. It happened the moment her veins burst and the world she saw turned red...

Exile swung his sword. White meteors formed a procession behind the dark blue-black sword energy that extended silently.

Tears of blood flowed from Mercedes' eyes.

'Avoid it!'

Mercedes put strength in her lower body that moment she judged this and soared to a high place. There was a loud explosion and the spot where she was standing a moment ago was devastated. It was like a thorough bombardment. It was proof that Exile might have only two swords, but he had hundreds or thousands of strike points. The meteors that followed the sword made it so.

"Pluto is a god born for the battlefield."

Exile's two swords cut through the air and the ground at the same time. The meteors that chased after the sword energy caused a series of explosions, blocking Mercedes' retreat. The more that Exile wielded his swords, the more wounds that opened up on Mercedes' body. The ultra high speed, wide-area swordsmanship that occupied all directions wasn't something that could be understood with Keen Insight. It was physically impossible to avoid.

"This was why he was stigmatized as a sub-god of Dominion. Yes, it was a stigma. Think about it. Pluto is the god of slaughter, and slaughter transcends war."

Killing and eliminating others wasn't just a concept tied to war. It was always ongoing. Even at this moment, there would be a frog eaten by a snake and a frog eating insects.

Slaughter was like light and darkness. It was infinite and eternal. Exile worshiped it. Pluto's status was absolute. It was equivalent to a God of the Beginning. He would be immortal forever, even if he was forgotten by people.

"Dominion only demonstrates his abilities in special situations like war and isn't Pluto's opponent."

It said it in Pluto's myth—the reason why he couldn't ascend to heaven was because the gods were afraid of him.

"Vaintz style swordsmanship."

Exile's two swords were held in reverse as he crossed his arms. Simultaneously, he tilted his upper body. Looking at the angle of his knees and ankles, he was clearly ready to charge.

Keen Insight made the same judgment. Mercedes saw it as an opportunity. She was confident that she could make her father half dead the moment she countered this high speed rush.

'This time, definitely.'

She must succeed in handling Grid's divinity. The power and dignity contained in this beautiful and warm divinity was only a very small part of him. She wasn't qualified to be an apostle if she couldn't even handle this much.

"The peak. Sonic Rage."

"......!!"

Mercedes prepared for Exile's charging path and extended her sword. Her posture was terribly strange. Her sword was pushed forward, while her upper body was leaned back. Her judgment clashed with Keen Insight and caused her body to fall into turmoil.

Exile's body arrived right in front of Mercedes and was cut by her sword. He was easily split in half, but there wasn't a single drop of blood. Beyond Exile's body, which was cut into the upper half and lower half, the 'real' Exile was approaching.

"...Ah."

It was the extreme utilization of divinity. It was a divinity that embodied Exile's 'killing intent.' The Exile that was just cut by Mercedes was a fake made out of divinity. It was a fake that ran at the speed of sound and deceived Mercedes' senses. It was the peak of falsehood.

The real Exile was right in front of her and wielding his two swords. It was a skill that wouldn't work more than once against an equal master, but it was also one that wouldn't need a chance to use more than once. Sonic Rage was the peak of the Vaintz style swordsmanship triggered in the God's Descent state, and it bore the power of a fatal blow.

Mercedes was cut. To be exact, it was both eyes.

"It is a skill you will learn from today."

Exile's voice rang out in the gap in time that an ordinary person couldn't perceive. It was a language that was embodied through his intentions rather than words spoken by mouth. It was delivered to Mercedes' mind very quickly. However, an ensuing sound permeated the ears.

"What...?"

Mercedes' appearance was projected on the eyes of Exile, who had stiffened. The blood at the corners of her eyes was dry. It was proof that blood hadn't spilled just now. Her body became translucent in an instant and through it, he could see Mercedes' intact figure.

The White Tiger Sword in one hand and the divine sword in the other hand were held in reverse. It resembled the Exile from a little while ago.

"Sonic Rage."

"...Kuaaack!"

Armor wrapped in dark blue divinity—the divinity that Exile honed throughout his life was disastrously crushed. The divinity that killed destiny wasn't suitable as a concept for protecting something. On the other hand, Grid's divinity changed destiny. It had always been powerful without limits, no matter whether it was protecting something or breaking it.

"Cough...! Cough!"

Exile collapsed with a serious injury and coughed up blood several times. The remnants of divinity that were mixed in the dark blood were scattered in vain. It was a sign of disconnection. Pluto disconnected from Exile. It was as if telling him that as the apostle of the god of slaughter, he should obey the rationale and be killed.

"This... monster..."

"I hear it as a compliment."

Mercedes' voice was still cold. She had no sympathy for her father, who was no longer able to hold his swords. It wasn't because he was the one who abandoned her. It also wasn't because he was trying to hurt her or because she was thinking of her mother's condition. She just couldn't look at him well because he was a sinner who blasphemed her only god.

"I told you earlier. The Vaintz family will end with your generation."

The secret technique was taken. Mercedes no longer needed the surname Vaintz.

"Too much... it is better not to be overconfident... the other Pluto apostles... won't stand by..."

"The bugs that need to be eradicated will come to me on their own. It is good."

Step step.

Mercedes took a quick look at her father before slowly climbing the long staircase. Her emotions were complicated. Her vision gradually became blurred in this dark space. It was Grid's divinity that guided her.

"......"

Mercedes stopped walking when she arrived at the top. There was a woman with old scars on both ears and a bandaged neck. Her mother was waiting for her. Mercedes saw her bowing her head silently and felt a certain emotion rising in her throat. At the very least, it wasn't sadness.

"I'm not going to be a mother like you."

It was to her mother who couldn't hear or speak. Was it necessary to say harsh words to a person she would never see again in the future? No. In other words, what she was saying now was different from a curse. It was simply a declaration and a determination to be a right mother.

It was because her concept of parents and children was warped. She had subconsciously been afraid and refused to be a mother, but now she finally overcame her wounds. She wanted to see Grid.

'I want to have a child.'

***

At the same time, Cokro Island...

Zik, who was standing on the shore and looking at the sea, felt something and raised his head.

"It has been a while."

King Sobyeol had descended. His golden earnings, which were long enough to reach his shoulders, were shiny and reflected the sunlight. The reflected light didn't spread and just wandered indefinitely around King Sobyeol. It grew and brightened at an unstoppable pace.

"Thanks to the establishment of a new divine world on the surface, it has become relatively easy to travel between continents. This is why he is pleasing to the eye."

"Refrain from frivolous words and actions."

"Frivolous? It isn't an area for you to judge."

It happened as King Sobyeol smiled...

Zik's vision started flickering. It was because the light trapped in King Sobyeol's colorless divinity was enlarged. It was like having a small sun right in front of him.

"Zik, the best among the seven apostles of the Overgeared God. I will use you as a channel of communication for an amicable agreement with the Overgeared God."

The son of Hanul, a God of the Beginning—he, who deceived his father and dropped King Daebyeol into hell, was a rare Absolute in the world.