Overgeared

[You have entered Biban’s mental world, ‘Missing Heart Sword.’]

It was originally called ‘Heart Sword.’ It was the state of killing the enemy with the sword of the heart, even if he didn’t have a sword in his hand. In other words, it meant a realm that Biban had already achieved a long time ago. However, Biban’s changed mental world after he became the Sword God had the absurd name of Missing Heart Sword. It didn’t suit him at all.

‘Is it the aftermath of the giant sword hiding?’

The giant sword that was larger than a great mountain—it towered over Biban’s mental world and pierced the sky and earth. It really represented so many things. It was the sum of all the swords and swordsmanship that existed in the world. It meant Biban’s strong will and also his desire to cut down a dragon. It felt like it supported the entire world of Biban’s mental world.

Now it was completely gone. The wilderness stretching out beyond the bushes came into full view. The giant sword stuck in the center of the wilderness and the hundreds of thousands of small swords that roamed around the giant sword had all disappeared.

“As you know... the cause of the illness I suffered was the vibration of the sword energy.”

That’s right. The reason why Biban became senile was due to the vibration of sword energy. He constantly vibrated his near infinite sword energy like a chainsaw. There was no way he could be mentally or physically perfect. Inside his body, the sword energy that vibrated without stopping for a moment in the mental world caused sharp waves and destroyed his body and mind in real time. It was a sort of warm-up process. It was the process of sharpening and maintaining the sword energy to make sure to cut off the dragon’s neck someday.

In fact, it even cut down an Old Dragon’s will. This was the decisive factor in forcing Trauka to step down since his seemingly invincible, unbreakable will usually couldn’t be broken with a single blade.

The repercussions were huge. The moment when the sword energy, which had been vibrating indefinitely, achieved its purpose and stopped—Biban’s body and mind crumbled like a broken doll. He was reduced to a wasted man. No, it was right to express that it was the process of being reborn as a sword.

It was the giant sword that tried to devour Biban whole at that time.

Grid saved Biban by overpowering it, and Biban, who overcame the ordeal with Grid’s help, was reborn as a swordsman, not a sword.

“I’ve been vibrating my sword energy for a very long time. At some point, without even being conscious of it, I vibrated my sword energy as naturally as breathing. I did it subconsciously. The giant sword in the mental world has become the subject of that subconscious and became so bloated that it threatened me... no, it didn’t threaten me. It is trying to make my wishes come true.”

Biban’s expression as he explained the entire process was bittersweet.

“In fact, I can’t hate it. I will definitely cut a dragon. It is the existence created by my greatest desire to become a sword. It is the origin of my mental world. Its hostility and desire for survival are ultimately derived from its responsibility to carry out my will, so it can’t be considered an enemy.”

“So you embraced it. But now you’ve lost it.”

Grid was composed.

“Your wish might be its origin, but it is currently hostile to you and denies you. How long do you intend to favor the one who wants to become one with you, dehumanize you, and turn you into a weapon? Please let it go.”

The total amount of intent held by the giant sword was very high. It was right to interpret it as the other side of the coin and it was right to be vigilant of it. It was an insecure element that would devour Biban at any opportunity.

Of course, Biban’s status was so high that it would be impossible to swallow him forever, but being able to take away the consciousness and body of an Absolute for even one minute or one second was a great threat to the entire world.

‘He already overcame his dementia at best. This time, he might become a person with multiple personalities...’

“I know this.” Biban nodded. “I cherish it as my equal. Even though I know it is not my enemy, I will be thoroughly hostile to it from this moment on. I will completely subdue it and make it mine this time.”

It was only then that Grid noticed—Biban’s words weren’t directed at Grid from the start. It was a declaration made to the giant sword who was eavesdropping on him from somewhere.

Listen. I care about you and trust you. But in the end, you are part of me. You can’t be me, so I will subdue you and make you fully mine...

It was a neat declaration of war. Biban was talking to the giant sword.

I’m not afraid of you. But you are right to be afraid of me.

“We’re leaving.”

“Yes.”

Biban used Shunpo first and Grid followed. Then the two of them started exploring.

Shunpo—it was the power to reach the edge of their vision in a single stride. If this technique was used in real life, it would’ve been a matter of seconds for someone to move from South Korea to South Africa. Yet in the mental world, the power of Shunpo wasn’t absolute. It was because the area of the mental world was infinite. A human’s consciousness could expand infinitely and the mental world was the same.

A wilderness stretched out endlessly even after using Shunpo hundreds or thousands of times in a row.

“...You might’ve been living many years without much thought, but your mental world is unnecessarily wide.”

How long had they wandered? It was a space with no distinction between day and night, so the passage of time couldn’t be detected. After wandering there for a long time, the nervous Grid eventually complained.

Biban laughed. “You misunderstand. It is an excessive leap to say that I lived without thinking due to my illness. At that time, I just forgot anything I thought about. All the thoughts I forgot were accumulated here. It is natural for it to be spacious. This vast land proves how much I’ve been thinking in my life.”

“I don’t think you mean to sound like you’re bragging, but...”

“The person who is called a god has been mumbling for quite some time. Keep an eye on your surroundings if you have time to chat.”

“...Yes.”

He couldn’t believe he was being nagged by Biban. Grid realized that his current condition wasn’t right.

‘It is dangerous.’

This was much harder than he expected. It was fatal that he wasn’t aware of the passage of time. It was incomparable to the days when he spent several months searching for Pagma’s book. It wasn’t an environment where he could focus on the situation...

It happened as Grid’s nervousness reached the peak...

“Come to think of it, it is absurd. Why are you taking it out on me when you are the one who made me leave the easy way and come back to the hard world? Who would dare to blame someone else, rather than resent and apologize for their own poor judgment?” the sharp-eyed Biban glared and criticized him.

This might be Biban’s mental world, but Biban, like Grid, seemed to have a bad mentality due to wandering aimlessly. Grid didn’t want to escalate things, so he apologized.

“...I understand. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“What is the point of apologizing now? Is this going to end just because you are sorry? Dammit! You shouldn’t have done anything to be sorry about!” Eventually, the angry Biban even revealed a faint hostility.

At this point, Grid couldn’t stand it. “Why do you keep yelling at me? The way you are talking is just like the old days... Huh?”

The growling Grid suddenly closed his mouth. Why was he saying this now? It was hard to comprehend the appearance of Biban, who looked like the days when he repeatedly talked such disgusting nonsense over and over again. Even though Biban’s personality was still there...

Even considering that the situation was very special right now...

Was there a need to return to the days when Biban suffered from dementia?

“...It happens just as I was in a hurry.”

The atmosphere around Grid distorted like the heat of a summer day. It was Defying the Natural Order that had been pulled out from its sheath on his waist. The atmosphere couldn’t handle the spirit and divinity contained in Defying the Natural Order.

Biban frowned. “What are you doing?

“I will kill you... I will cut you.”

“You are serious. You’ve finally gone crazy.”

Biban clicked his tongue and pulled out his sword as well. It was Gujel’s Fang. It was the sword that was gifted by Grid. The blade that should’ve been aimed at the enemy fell toward Grid’s neck.

“Calm down now. You aren’t a match for me in swordsmanship in real life. Do you think you can handle me here? I’ll forgive you at least once if you obediently offer that sword to me.”

“...It is reversed.”

“It is reversed? It isn’t you, but me who will ask for forgiveness? You are too arrogant.”

“The grain of the blade and the decoration of the handle.”

“......?”

“Everything is reversed, like a mirror image.”

“......!”

Biban’s face stiffened and a deep smile gradually spread across Grid’s face. He started stacking his buff skills, while a hint of killing intent that went beyond hostility blossomed in his eyes.

“If you are going to copy it, you should’ve done it properly.”

“Kuack...!”

Biban fell to the ground in the aftermath of stopping Defying the Natural Order’s sword trajectory and was pushed back for a while. The sound of metal rubbing against metal shook the world like an explosion.

Biban’s hands trembled as he hurriedly raised his head to find Grid’s location.

“What is this power?”

“You blocked it using sheer force? If it was the real Biban, he would’ve easily blocked it with swordsmanship.”

A voice came from far away.

Biban—to be precise, it was the ‘giant sword’ in the form of Biban. It snorted like a bull and released Formless Swords from the bottom to the top, strengthening its stomach to counter the incoming Defying the Natural Order. This time, there was a roar as shells were fired in succession. It was a noise created by the body of the giant sword being pushed backward through the wilderness and piercing through several rocks because it was unable to bear the weight of Defying the Natural Order.

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“...As expected, the human body is insignificant.”

The body of the giant sword was full of injuries as it slowly stood up. The lower half of its body was mercilessly stabbed by the Formless Sword and was soaked in dark red blood. Its two hands holding the sword were horribly broken and bones protruded from various places. The giant sword forcibly twisted and fixed its bent wrist and smiled with a distorted face.

“After all, it is right that ‘I’ must be a sword. I will cut everything without breaking.”

“Where is Biban?” Grid approached and asked.

He barely managed to swallow down the sharp pain rising from his abdomen. The moment he attacked, he was hit back. Thus, Grid couldn’t track the opponent right away and gave him a chance to get up.

‘The fact that he stopped the surprise attack in the first place... did he fully realize Biban’s stats?’

He was really fast and powerful, but he wasn’t durable because he reproduced the human body.

“Who knows? I’m sure he is already a long way away. I wouldn’t have thought you were so stupid that you lost him.”

“......”

Grid couldn’t refute it. A few hours or even a few days. He had been chasing after Biban’s back for that long and at a certain point, he lost his concentration. It was to the extent where he didn’t chase after Biban’s back, but the back of the giant sword in the form of Biban.

‘It was my mistake.’

In fact, he would’ve only lost his concentration for a split second. However, the giant sword’s camouflage technique was so high, and the timing of the intervention was exquisite. In the first place, this place was the mental world. It wouldn’t be strange no matter what type of miracle occurred. He was caught in a trap that was bound to happen.

Nevertheless, Grid blamed himself. He used it as an opportunity to resolve that he needed to work harder in the future.

“In any case, it went well.”

Grid pulled out a few bottles of liquid. It was from an angle that the giant sword couldn’t see. He swallowed potions in an instant from a direction that the giant sword couldn’t see and continued talking with an expression like he didn’t know anything.

“I was nervous because I didn’t know how much longer I would have to search. Thank you for showing yourself.”

“There is no need to be conceited.

The giant sword started to melt. It took off its Biban form and regained its true form.

A shadow loomed—it was a huge shadow like when an Old Dragon descended to the ground. Suddenly, a giant sword completely covered one side of the sky and stood tall in the wilderness. It felt like the wilderness had been split in half.

-Here, I am invincible.

The huge sword declared and swung its large body toward Grid.

A sword born to cut dragons—it naturally didn’t break. No matter how many times it bumped into Defying the Natural Order, Grid’s body would eventually flatten first.

Common sense dictated this.

-......?!

The giant sword that had been talking loudly fell silent. It realized that its body was floating in the air the moment it collided with Grid.

The special buff potion made from the golden walnuts grown by Piaro and the collaboration between the Overgeared Tower and Reidan’s alchemy facility—every dose increased all his stats by 20% and his strength was at a level that transcended the mental world. It was close to physically using the power of an Old Dragon to ignore Asgard’s dimensional effect.

‘You think you are invincible in a world where dragons and gods aren’t invincible. You don’t know anything about the world.’

Grid shot forward like a thunderbolt while using the fusion sword dances in succession. The size of the giant sword was so large that it boasted a 100% hit rate. Of course, the giant sword didn’t suffer much damage. It only stumbled like it was about to collapse for a moment. Then it steadied the blade that was as thick as the trunk of the world tree. It endured it as if absorbing all the destructive energy released by Defying the Natural Order.

-Let’s see how long you can run wild! It will be the end of your life the moment you are tired out!

The giant sword cried out in an agitated manner. It was constantly pushed, but it took its victory for granted. It was because it was a given. It was mistaken. It might be different mentally, but Grid couldn’t become tired physically.

This was Biban’s mental world. Contrary to his outward attitude, Biban served Grid. He was a follower of Only One God Grid. Therefore, Biban’s mental world was judged to be similar to the Overgeared World.

The fact that he infinitely linked the six fusion sword dance without a cooldown time proved it.

Grid wasn’t the only one here.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

It was a battle between Absolutes. A great uproar ensued. It was to the point where the distant Biban could barely sense it.

-You... You have to become me!!

Holding out without becoming tired until Biban arrived? The giant sword exclaimed in consternation after glancing between the faces of Grid and Biban, who already arrived before it expected.

“No, you become me.”

Biban’s strong will engulfed the giant sword.

Thump! Thump!

The vast expanse of wilderness shook. It was the aftermath of Biban hitting the ground with the giant sword that he held ‘in his hand.’

[Biban’s mental world has started to recover.]

Then a welcome notification window popped up.

Hundreds of thousands of small swords, scattered due to the confusion of their masters’ ego being split into two, were coming from beyond the horizon.