Chapter 402

Two months ago, the Overgeared members had difficulty hunting in the vampire cities. But this was old news. The Overgeared members had overcome various trials in the Behen Archipelago and made remarkable progress. No vampire except for Beriache’s direct descendants could threaten them.

A vampire city.

The members of Overgeared, who became stronger in the Behen Archipelago, were massacring the vampires.

-Kyaack!

-H-Hiik!

"...”

The expression ‘the monsters have dried up’ seemed to be used in this case. Lauel frowned after seeing the disappearing vampires and expressed his doubts.

“Everybody, didn’t you buy a East Continent Portal Scroll?”

“Huh? Of course.”

“After the elixirs and skill books, I used the remaining points to buy a portal scroll.”

“Then why are you here? Why aren’t you going to the East Continent?”

Lauel was once known as the hero of the Ten Rookies. If he had chosen a combat specialist class as his third advancement class, he would’ve become much stronger. But Lauel sacrificed himself.

Rather than enhancing his individual strength, he chose the ‘Flow Master’ class. He could temporarily change the weather and terrain, but his combat power was the lowest.

“I have been lagging behind for a while and can only hunt vampires, but... why are you raising your level here? I will pass this area by releasing my sealed self and causing bloodshed. You should go on a new adventure.”

"...”

Anyway, Lauel’s tone was really annoying. The Overgeared members scratched their heads like they were embarrassed by him and explained.

“Didn’t we discover the presence of the Behen Archipelago because of Grid?”

"If it wasn’t for Grid, it would be hard to figure out how to move the East Continent.”

“Won’t it feel like a mutiny if we go to the East Continent before Grid?”

“It’s like pouring cold water on him.”

"...”

Lauel’s blue eyes shook as he heard the Overgeared members’ explanation. He was thrilled.

“You were trying to maintain your loyalty to My Lord. Isn’t this good?”

One of the basic conditions for establishing a strong force was camaraderie. And the Overgeared members already had it. Lauel smiled and proudly said, “How wonderful. Then stop your solo play and join a party with me.”

“Eh...?”

“Shouldn’t you be loyal to me as well?”

"...”

Party play had the advantage of hunting much faster than solo play, but it also had the disadvantage of sharing experience and items. It was a loss to do party play in an area where the number of monsters was limited.

But the Overgeared members couldn’t refuse Lauel’s request. They knew better than anyone, even Grid, how hard he worked for the guild.

***

[Your level has risen.]

[12 stat points have been acquired.]

[Six points have been forcibly invested into intelligence due to the influence of the second class, Legendary Great Magician.]

The 59th island.

It was a hell-like space where monsters level 420 or higher popped up on a large scale. Grid had to deal with at least three or four monsters that were 114 levels higher than him. It was a desperate situation for anyone, but Grid could earn a lot.

The 400 extra points in agility and intelligence, as well as Weapons Mastery and Magic Mastery helped a lot.

[Weapons Mastery level is beginner level 6.]

[Magic Mastery level is beginner level 4.]

[The Sword Mastery of ‘God Hand’ has increased to intermediate level 7.]

[Your memphis Noe has risen to level 202.]

[Doppelganger Randy has risen to level 161.]

‘It’s hard.’

It was big. The difficulty meant that Grid achieved a fast and steady growth.

‘It would be nice if I had more potions.

In fact, Grid couldn’t predict that the difficulty of the Behen Archipelago so much. He didn’t have enough potions in the middle of his raid.

Chaeng! Chaaeng!

Grid felt regret as he was immersed in battle. Noe and Randy kept one monster tied up, while Grid faced two monsters at the same time. He faced each remaining monster one by one, as blue flames rose around it. He activated Blacksmith’s Eyes, a skill that he acquired through a hidden piece like Item Combination.

[Blacksmith’s Eyes (Lv. 1) has seen through the target’s item.]

[You have explored the function of the armour that the Troll Lord is wearing!]

[Time Worn Leather Vest]

Defense: ???

Option 1: ???

Option 2: ???

Option 3: Reduce damage of stabbing attacks.

‘Ah, I got it.’

He felt something was unusual when using Kill and Link.

Chaaeng!

Due to his rise in agility, he could swing Grid’s Greatsword faster than before. The moment he defended against the troll lord’s axe, he used Pagma's Sword Dance, Pinnacle Kill.

Seokeok!

[You have dealt 90,300 damage to the target.]

[You have lost 4,500 health due to the influence of Pinnacle Kill.]

Kiyaaaaaah!

Trolls were monsters with high health and regenerative ability. Among them, the troll lord was at the peak. But the boss was shaky in front of the destructive power of Pinnacle Kill, which completely ignored defense. Grid hurriedly withdrew from the monster that lost 90,000 health at once and scattered yellow blood.

"Ah, really.”

Grid knew that he shouldn’t give a troll a chance to act. However, the troll lord’s blood was highly acidic. Blood sprayed every time there was an injury, so Grid couldn’t easily link combos. He had to widen the distance.

Kudu! Kududuk!

The troll lord quickly recovered from Grid’s wounds. It sent Grid a provocative smile. It was like saying ‘you can never hurt me.’ Grid thought it was ridiculous.

"You aren’t a named boss.”

What were the four God Hands doing while Grid was fighting?

Shuuuuong!

“...!”

The troll lord’s eyes widened.

Flashing golden hands came out from a cave and gave a new weapon to Grid.

“This is called Item Combination.”

Kuoooooh-!

It was a blue shark-shaped greatsword with red lights scattered around it like cherry blossoms. It was the beautiful harmony of Iyarugt and Failure.

“Pagma's Sword Dance, Linked Kill Wave.”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

“Ki...! Kieeeeeek!”

So what if it was difficult to get close due to the acidic blood? He would attack from a distance. Grid laughed as the troll lord turned to grey ash. However, he couldn’t laugh for long. His skills were on cooldown and new monsters were gathering.

***

[You have entered the 60th island.]

[This is a save point. Would you like to register?]

[You have been registered. When you enter the Behen Archipelago later on, you will start from the 60th island.]

“Heok... Heok... Wow, I thought I was going to fall behind.”

Grid broke through the 59th island and sat on the ground. He wanted to Meditate to restore health and stamina, but it wasn’t easy to enter the state.

‘I can’t adapt to the new skills.’

The condition to activate Blacksmith’s Eyes was to watch the equipment for at least 3 seconds. Was this hard? Of course it was difficult during a battle. His field of view narrowed and he often missed the target’s movements, exposing a gap.

The problems didn’t end there.

‘The information of the items covers my vision.’

During a battle, the item information window seriously disturbed his view. It felt like the navigation screen was hidden while he was driving. Anyway, it seemed like he would take a long time to adapt.

‘I can gradually adapt.’

Grid looked at his immediate problem. The islands in the 60s. Would he be able to progress through here? The difficulty of the Behen Archipelago was amplified every 10 islands. The last island in the Behen Archipelago was the 66th island.

It was possible to infer that the difficulty of the islands from 60 onwards would be incomparably higher than before.

‘Originally, I wanted to clear this place before the National Competition.’

It seemed to be an impossible task. Grid sighed as he thought about it. Did it read his anxiety? The cooldown time of Assimilation ended and Braham’s soul woke up.

[Challenge it first.]

“Braham!”

Grid had increasingly started to rely on Braham. Grid welcomed Braham’s voice and asked.

"Do you mean I can win if I challenge the Behen Archipelago?”

Braham scoffed.

[You are too arrogant. I said that this is a playground made by Pagma. You haven’t reached Pagma’s full capacity yet and don’t have the ability to clear this place. I want you to challenge it to realize that you are still weak.]

"...I wondered about this before, but what do you mean by a playground that Pagma created?”

[Do you know about the original Behen Archipelago?]

“I heard from Sticks. It was a Hall of Fame that celebrated the achievements of legends and a training ground for current legends.”

[That’s right. It’s a shameful place for those who are hostile to legends.]

"Those who are hostile to legends?”

[Great demons. They saw an opportunity to destroy the Behen Archipelago, which connects legends. In order to prevent this, Pagma installed various gateways.]

“A space created to prevent the great demons...”

Grid suddenly felt some doubts.

“How did Pagma make this space?”

Pagma was a legendary blacksmith, not a god. He could install various devices, but it wasn’t possible to summon the monsters, reproduce past trials, or clone the contestants.

‘It might be different if he was a magician.’

Then Braham spoke meaningful words to Grid.

[It’s possible for a great demon.]

“What?"