Overgeared

"The Only One God shall descend with the gods who serve him!"

"Comrades who were deceived by the mere human being, the Overgeared God! Open your eyes and reform after seeing the source and peak of martial ability!"

"Martial God Zeratul will lead you back to the right path!"

The followers of the Martial God were one of the monsters that represented Satisfy. They were usually treated as dirty filth and avoided. It was because the fanatics lost their sense of reason after being deceived by the secret techniques of the Martial God. They were very violent and didn't know pain and fear.

They relied more on instincts than monsters, and it was unbelievable that their species was classified as human. They also became exponentially stronger depending on the number of secret techniques acquired. The items they dropped were valuable compared to boss monsters, but it was still best to avoid them as much as possible.

There was a long procession of such disgusting people. The group started with dozens of people from all over the continent, but grew to tens of thousands at some point. Their existence itself was a threat. It was a moving disaster. It was because the absolute instinct that governed the followers of the Martial God was conquest. Regardless of whether the target was a beast, a human being, or a monster, they tended to fight whenever they made eye contact with someone.

Who could comfortably watch such people gathering in swarms? People were confused and busy fleeing. Those who knew about the physical abilities of the followers sensed death from the time they witnessed the procession. Yet surprisingly, there was no slaughter.

In a rare situation, the followers suppressed their instincts. No, there was a stronger feeling of being manipulated by someone.

They weren't in good shape, unlike the followers of the Martial God who had been seen so far. The existing followers had superior physical conditions to the point where there was the idea that they were 'chosen humans.' Meanwhile, the physical conditions of the followers in the procession were ordinary or inferior.

It was proof that it was rushed. He originally appeared in front of chosen humans and deceived them, but this time, he targeted and deceived an unspecified majority. It was purely for propaganda.

Zeratul took tens of thousands of lives away to advertise his temple. As proven in the Great Human and Demon War, the celestial gods weren't really acting for the sake of humans. The persistent claims of the Overgeared God Church were proven true every time.

"Father!"

The followers who repeated the same cries with dilated pupils.

"Mother…!"

Among them, some family members shouted with the veins bulging on their necks until they coughed up blood.

"Renold!"

"Alan!"

Lovers and friends—they desperately shouted the names of their precious people who changed overnight, but couldn't reach them. Their cries echoed hollowly.

"Without martial ability, humanity won't be able to protect itself!"

"The Overgeared God forgot the grace of the Only One God and will be severely punished!"

"This is a holy war to save you! The Only One God will descend for you!"

"Praise the Martial God Zeratul!"

"Worship Martial God Zeratul!"

The size of the procession grew endlessly. Their destination was presumed to be Reinhardt. It was Grid's base and the place where the main temple of the Overgeared God Church was located. It has grown to be the largest city on the surface and could accommodate many people. For Zeratul, who aimed to harm Grid in front of as many witnesses as possible, there was no battlefield more suitable for fighting than Reinhardt.

"Those bugs…"

The fortress city of Patrian—it was one of the gateways to Reinhardt and was a place called the 'Wailing Wall' due to its notorious reputation. Lord Ashur trembled when he saw the procession of followers who approached the gate without hesitation.

He wanted to burn the people who were shouting about a holy war and protesting as if demanding the gates to be opened right now into a lump of charcoal. However, he endured it. It was because instructions had been given from above to open the gates.

An order had come down from a distant place that even someone with Marquis Ashur's status didn't dare to disobey. It was a command given by Lauel. He couldn't refuse and he shouldn't refuse.

"The gates… open them..!"Marquis Ashur barely gave the order through gritted teeth and stared at the procession of followers like he would eat them.

These people roamed the city like it was natural and talked about the holy war. They argued that the existence of Zeratul gave rise to the concept of martial arts which allowed humanity to survive so far, but it was nonsense. Anyone could tell that the martial arts came first and Zeratul came after.

From being born bare to achieving civilization—Ashur interpreted that Zeratul was born thanks to the concept of martial arts created by humanity, who struggled to survive. However, he didn't bother to express his thoughts. None of the followers of the Martial God were sane. He could talk to them for a hundred days and they wouldn't hear it.

Marquis Ashur was better off just praying.

"Please… annihilate the bastard who gave birth to these miscellaneous things…"

***

[The sun in the sky is illuminating the procession of followers heading to Reinhardt.]

[Cheer for the temple of the Martial God with your followers. The sky will feel great joy and send down mysterious rewards.]

"Can't he identify his peer any longer?"

Lauel could only smile.

Hanul, who had entered the 'cycle'—Lauel checked the contents of the notification window that represented his subconscious. It was thought he would launch a quest to threaten the Overgeared Empire and Overgeared God Church, but now he was rooting for Zeratul. It was as if he had forgotten that the adversary of the Hwan Kingdom was Asgard.

The feelings of resentment and anger that Hanul harbored toward Grid before entering the cycle seemed to create this situation that wasn't funny.

'He must've really harbored resentment or anger.'

Grid had said it—all those he faced, except for the Evil Dragon, felt incomprehensible.

He confessed that even when sitting face to face with the Gourmet Dragon, he couldn't understand the Gourmet Dragon's thoughts. He had felt an infinite amount of fear. What about recklessly cutting a God of the Beginning? It was terribly dangerous. It wasn't known what type of trouble they would face while discussing understanding based on human standards.

'It is better not to think about them as His Majesty said.'

At least from this point, it was better to pretend they didn't exist. It wasn't really a big intervention. Hanul was very persistent about targeting them, but it was only at the level of giving quests to players. It wasn't a big threat considering the situation of the Overgeared Empire, which received great favor from the players.

However, the situation was likely to change if they were defeated in this holy war. The maniacs who were holding their breath would run wild and public sentiment would be shaken. They would be competing in front of everyone, so they had to be prepared for a devastating aftermath.

It was right to assume that defeat was unacceptable. The players' practice of 'it is okay to lose' and 'it is enough to try again if i die' was an unacceptable environment. At this point, he had to suspect that Zeratul knew and targeted this.

"It should be… okay…?"

Lauel believed in Grid. Therefore, he believed in the apostles. It wasn't easy to think about them losing.

However, fear started to sprout in his heart when he saw Zeratul's full-fledged move. How much confidence did Zeratul have in his skills? He might be a fake, but he was still the Martial God…

"Prime Minister, this is an expression that doesn't suit you."

It happened as he was watching out the window as Ke ong swore at the followers who said they would set up a 'temple' on this land…

"How can Your Majesty personally…"

Empress Irene walked into Lauel's office. Lauel hurriedly readjusted his appearance and tried to guide her to the table, but Irene shook her head.

"I didn't come here to take up your time, Prime Minister. Here, take this. It is vera tea leaves marinated in lemon juice and then dried."

[Empress Irene's Dried Tea Leaves' has been acquired.]

[Empress Irene's Dried Tea Leaves]

[They are tea leaves that Irene, empress of the great empire and wife of a god, dried using precious ingredients, sincerity, and care for a long time.

There is a vague mythical birth background.

Drinking tea steeped from these tea leaves will clear the mind and restore and give immunity to all mental state abnormalities.]

"Prime Minister, don't be troubled by this situation and trust His Majesty."

"……"

Lauel felt it once again—it was how big a role that Empress Irene, who always gave encouragement with a kind smile, played in this empire. She was the one who sustained the empire from within. Wasn't the tranquility he gained just now because of her?

"Yes, gladly."

After Irene left, Lauel immediately ran out of the palace. He approached Ke ong, who was still swearing while saying things like, 'What right do the followers of the Martial God have to establish a temple on this land?'

"Ke ong, I will empty the central square, so please make a stage that is as grand and wonderful as possible. I will call the best carpenters."

"No, what do you mean by this? What type of heart do you have to meet the demands of these shameless people?"

"We can't make His Majesty fight on the streets, can we?"

"……"

"However, I can't allow the followers to build facilities on this land, so please take care of it, Ke ong."

"Tut…" Ke ong frowned and scratched his shaggy beard. It was a habit to express his dissatisfaction. It was a few more minutes before Lauel could hear his answer. "I understand. Instead, can you entrust me to design the shape of the stage?"

"What are you trying to make…?"

"A coffin. I'm going to decorate the stage so it will become a tomb for the guy called the Martial God."

"That would be wonderful."

A few days later, the throats of the followers circling the city and praising the Martial God were sore and they started to collapse. Saintess Ruby treated their wounds with a warm light since they were originally people of the empire, and Ke ong finished setting up the stage. If viewed from dozens of meters in the sky, it was a huge stage in the form of a coffin. The scale had to be large considering that it was a great battle between gods.

The central square, which could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people, was filled with the stage. The barriers set up by the gods of the Overgeared World and Braham were wrapped around the stage.

"Grid knows that this place will be his grave."

From the rapidly darkened sky, Martial God Zeratul descended. Yellow lightning flashed and took the form of stairs for him to step on. A total of eight gods followed him on golden clouds. It was a complete trinity.