Overgeared

It was the case with all the gods who descended with Zeratul.

Velma, the God of Regret, wasn't well known. Very few people knew of her and even they gave her a bad assessment.

The God of Regret—wasn't this name sinister? It was a name like she would nag at them to realize their mistakes and repent.

Velma—in fact, her role was to help humans live a 'life without regrets.' She took on a mission that was practically impossible. She suffered from too many failures and was deeply troubled.

Is my role right?

It isn't right.

To eliminate regret from human life is just arrogance from now knowing human beings…

From the moment she realized this, Velma changed her ways. She didn't help humans to stop feeling regret, but she cared for humans suffering from regret. To do this, she had to focus on the lives of individual human beings. Other great gods exerted their influence over many human beings, while she communicated with every human one by one.

"Zik… you have experienced me, so you know best. I am a very incompetent god. Please don't be disappointed too much."

She learned swordsmanship because she wanted to give the lone swordsman the will to live. Yet was it really possible? Could the swordsmanship she learned instill a new will in the strongest swordsman? She didn't dare to doubt the swordsmanship of Martial God Zeratul. The problem was with her. She had never fought in her life, so she wondered if she could fight well…

"If you don't trust yourself, why don't you use your power?"

It happened as Velma's heart shook as she faced Zik…

The God of Magic and Wisdom—the new god who was just born advised her from offstage.

"In any case, this confrontation will end in a victory for the Overgeared World. The thing you should be obsessed with is the content, not the outcome of the fight." Braham was being cautious. He showed a polite attitude to Velma when he belittled almost all his opponents, except for Hayate. It was out of respect for Velma. He respected her essence, not her old and dwarfed appearance. "Surely you didn't intend to compete in pure swordsmanship against the strongest swordsman?"

"……"

That's right. It was arrogance to compete in pure swordsmanship against the lone swordsman. Arrogance was what Velma hated the most. It happened as Velma was almost persuaded…

"You don't have to listen to him." Zik poured cold water on her. His eyes were unusually sharp as he glanced at Braham. He looked somewhat aggressive, unlike his usual calm eyes. It was because he read Braham's intentions.

Braham snorted. "I think it is too late."

It was true. Velma had already taken out her power. She generated dozens of clones. The facial expression of each clone was different. It was because they were clones that embodied the human regrets that Velma had been carrying. It wasn't glamorous like the power of the other gods, but rather had a gloominess to it.

"Thank you, Braham. I have realized a lot thanks to you."

The lone swordsman and Zik in front of her—they have been honing their swords all their lives. It would only bring shame if she asked them to compete in pure swordsmanship.

Velma abandoned her hesitation after thinking about it and took a step forward. Then the dozens of clones followed her movements.

Thump.

Dozens of steps took place at the same time and the stage vibrated slightly. Velma's clones grew from dozens to hundreds. Hundreds of steps were taken simultaneously again and there was a loud noise this time. Then Velma's clones increased from hundreds to thousands. This meant there were so many regrets from humans that she had witnessed.

"…Braham." Zik let out a small sigh. People thought Zik was frustrated.

Zik was in a crisis because Braham provoked Velma. Yes, it was a crisis. Each of Velma's thousands of clones had different regrets.

One was the regret of a great magician.

His young days. The mistakes he made in order to learn magic more easily stained his later years with pain. Velma's clone recreated his magic as he regretted and lamented his past choices at the end of his life.

One was the regret of a middle-aged composer.

He was blinded by greed and plagiarized his precious friend's work. This caused him to suffer from terrible nightmares every night. His friend committed suicide because he couldn't handle the sight of the song he had sung to a childhood friend becoming his friend's work and spreading all over the world.

Ahhhhhh!

Velma's clone recreated the screams of the middle-aged composer, who produced the melody stolen from his friend with a scream. There was the regret of an ordinary head of the household, the regret of a young girl , and the regret of a brave warrior.

Countless regrets were recreated by Velma's clones and caused powerful waves. They were wavelengths that gave Zik both physical pain and heartache. It was a level of pain that the Zik from a short time ago would've never been able to handle.

In fact, everyone off the stage was suffering. Many people groaned as their minds were devastated by the indirect experiences alone. Even Grid frowned. It was the ultimate mental attack accompanied by physical attacks. He thought that even he wouldn't be safe if he was hit by this from the front.

However, Zik endured it casually. A colorless divinity enveloped him. It was a divinity that absorbed all the regrets that Velma reproduced before they reached Zik, integrating and transforming them into a single concept. All the physical attacks caused by the warriors' regrets, the rampaging magic caused by the magicians' regrets, and the melancholy and status abnormalities caused by the regrets of ordinary people were turned into Zik's sword energy.

"This…?" Velma's eyes trembled as she witnessed the unbelievable scene in real time and she shifted her gaze to Braham. She realized that it had been a trap.

Braham just shrugged.

"It is a pity."

The colorless divinity that Zik reproduced with runes was a clumsy imitation of the divinity of King Sobyeol. It adsorbed any concept and transformed it into a single concept. Then it absorbed, amplified, and released it. The greater the force of the target, the more light it exerted. As Braham's method of destruction proved, this was actually a poison when the power of the target was infinite. However, Braham could be certain that there were few beings in the world who could use such an ignorant method of destruction.

Kyaaaak!

Velma's clones were destroyed. All the regrets were turned into sword energy and they couldn't handle Zik's attack power. Velma's main body struck at Zik's sword energy several times. Her swordsmanship had been honed for the lone swordsman, so it was as good as her mindset.

"Zik… I think you have become more shrewd."

"……"

Velma's voice had become calm again as she raised her sword with her bent back and blocked Zik's attack. There wasn't the slightest sign of resentment toward Zik, who had involved (?) her with Braham and caused her to fall into a trap.

"It is good. You experienced the end of an upright life in the previous world. I hope you have no regrets in this life."

"……"

Zik tried to open his mouth several times. He wanted to protest that there were some unfair parts due to Braham, but Velma didn't give him a chance. The victim, Velma, had the right to complain, but Velma's attitude was favorable throughout.

"Heh."

What was so good? Braham was smiling arrogantly…

Velma's wrinkled mouth slowly curved in a smile as she saw Zik frown slightly. "You've made good friends in this world."

"…Huh?" There was a rare, shocked look on Zik's face. He honestly couldn't believe his ears.

Velma chuckled. "Your face shows your emotions. It is just like the days when you were with the other good people."

"This… I'm just angry…" Zik finally got a chance to protest, but he shut his mouth along the way. The very fact that he was angry with someone came as a shock.

A half-god—Zik was different from ordinary humans. He couldn't easily communicate with others, so he always kept his distance. However, there was no such distance with Braham. It happened naturally without him even realizing it. It was because Braham's position was as special as his own. The same was true of Grid and the other apostles.

"The other good people will surely be happy to see you now."

Just then—

"My companions are definitely alive."

Zik was certain of it.

Velma didn't answer hastily.

Zik knew the reason why.

"They have become demons."

"…Did you figure that out?" Velma couldn't remain silent any longer. She asked about it with an expression of surprise and Zik demanded an answer.

"Aren't my companions the great demons sealed by the lonely swordsman?"

Muller—Zik no longer pretended not to know the identity of the lonely swordsman. In the first place, Velma had no intention of hiding it.

"He… he believed that great power came with great responsibility."

Just like most legends, Sword Saint Muller was a great being.

"He always sacrificed himself for others. He was the strongest, but there were times when he was weak."

As evidenced by the story of Muller helping Mountain King Grenier, the legend didn't capture all of Muller's achievements. In the first place, only a part of Muller became a legend.

"Yet in the end, he couldn't die… I wonder if you can help him."

Before they knew it, the battle was coming to an end. After temporarily absorbing the regrets of humans, Zik's sword energy was strengthened and Velma could no longer handle it. At this moment, Velma realized it. She didn't have the ability to help Muller.

Meanwhile, she had hopes that Zik and Braham could be different. Of course, there was no need to mention the Overgeared God. Nevertheless, she didn't mention the Overgeared God casually. It was because the hierarchy was different. Wasn't he the one who defeated Zeratul? He wasn't someone Velma dared to mention.

"If you have a chance some day, please go and see the lonely swordsman. He is a hero who deserves to be saved, but he is also a person who can solve the questions you might have."

"I'll definitely find him." It was Grid, not Zik, who replied to Velma's request.

Velma, whose eyes were half-covered by thick eyelids, bowed her head. "I am relieved that a great god has made me a promise."

A god who made other gods give a deep bow—the 23rd epic ended by restating Grid's greatness.

The world message that followed announced the end of the holy war.

[The first holy war between the Overgeared World and Asgard has ended.]

[Martial God 'Zeratul' wasn't able to compete with Overgeared God 'Grid.']

[The apostles of the Overgeared God have cut off Zeratul's passed down martial arts.]

[This has been notarized by humanity.]