Peeeeeong!

“....!”

A sudden explosion! Alex shook while aiming the sniper gun at Grid. Grid had a wide smile on his face.

“Heh, how about this?”

This might not be his field of confidence, but Grid took an attitude of trying to learn no matter the circumstances. He even studied the domestic affairs that were handled by Lauel. It was a habit resulting from the serious obsession of not going back to being a loser. Of course, his learning ability was slow due to his innately low intelligence. However, this wasn’t a big problem. No matter how stupid, he would improve a little bit if he kept trying.

A desire to be better than he was! Grid was filled with hot aspirations during his battle with Agnus. Then he developed.

Jiing.

Pepepepeng!

There was no guarantee of victory in a confrontation with the strong. He had to induce constant variables and the skill most suitable to cause a variable during his battle with Agnus was the Alarm spell. Thanks to this, Grid was conscious of the Alarm spell since the beginning of the fight with Alex.

He predicted that Alex would once again open the distance after becoming alert to the powerful attack of Link and arranged the Alarm spell in Alex’s predicted movement path. Of course, Grid wasn’t smart and couldn’t predict the exact path. As a result, he wasted a lot of mana placing magic over a wide range.

‘I only have enough mana to use the ultimate skills two more times... Eh?’

Just like all rankers, Grid’s flow of consciousness sped up during a battle. The proper eruption of adrenaline had a positive effect. Thus, Grid’s judgment was quick.

“Pagma's Sword Dance!”

Alex hadn’t let go of the sniper position despite Alarm being triggered and Magic Missile being fired.

Kuwaaaaaang!

Alex fired the sniper rifle at Grid.

“Revolve.”

Grid immediately used his strongest counterattack skill that could ‘deflect all types of attacks.’ But it was useless. The sniper mode of the magical engineering gun had the option of ‘make sure to hit the target’ in exchange for taking a significant amount of time to aim. This was the same concept as reality. It wasn’t a question of speed. A human’s body was already pierced with a bullet by the time they heard the gun being fired.

It was the same with Grid. He couldn’t expect the protection of the God Hands right now.

Peeng!

“....!”

The bullet from the sniper rifle left a jade afterglow as it pierced between Grid’s brow and the sound of a watermelon bursting was heard. In a sense, his head had burst. The psychological fear that Grid felt was enormous.

[You have died!]

[A legend doesn’t die easily. You can resist all attacks for 5 seconds with a minimum of health.]

"Ah...!”

Grid’s body instantly became soaked with sweat. It wasn’t an exaggeration when he said he was like a drowning rat. Didn’t he feel his head bursting like a watermelon? Grid’s first action was to touch his head with trembling hands. He was worried that he might be suffering from a body that lost its head. Fortunately, Grid’s head was fine. The head drilled in his forehead had also been restored. There were some cases of monsters or NPCs’ heads being cut off, but even the S.A. Group avoided players having their heads burst.

“Pant... Pant...”

Grid’s breathing became rough from the terrible experience while fear also rose in him. Normally, he would’ve acted with all his strength during the five seconds of immortality. But he already wasted two seconds recovering his soul. Alex didn’t miss this gap.

Tang tang! Tatatatang!

Alex was convinced that the intruder had suffered deadly damage and was embarking on a more aggressive offensive. The sniper was converted back to a pistol and bullets were constantly fired at Grid.

“...”

The intruder was a great demon. Protect the Behen Archipelago from the great demons and save humanity. This was the command that Pagma, his summoner, gave him and was the driving force behind Death Knight Alex. Alex wouldn’t stop attacking until he died. The result?

Tatatatang!

As only two seconds remained for the immortality passive, Grid’s body had already become riddled with bullets. Alex used quick fire skills without a sense of reason. At this point, Grid’s fury reached its peak.

"...Making me consume my immortality.”

It meant he couldn’t immediately challenge the next island.

"Thanks to you, I have to grind for another day. Blackening!”

Kuwaaaaaang!

A whirlwind emerged and covered Grid. Grid’s skin turned pale and the whites of his eyes became black. Even his visible breath was black.

Your black magic power has increased.]

[You don’t have any black magic power. It will be replaced with demonic power.]

[While Blackening is activated, your species will change to half-demon.]

[As a half demon, your maximum health is reduced by 50%. Your attack power, magic power and agility will increased by 30% each.]

[All attacks will be converted to the dark attribute.]

His body was already in the immortal state! Grid didn’t need to be afraid of taking additional damage from Demon Slayer Alex. The key to ending this battle as soon as possible was Blackening. But.

[There is one second remaining on the immortality passive.]

Could he beat Alex, with two thirds of his health gauge remaining, in one second?

“Blacksmith's Rage!”

Tang tang!

Tatatatang!

Grid used a buff and rushed in a straight line. There was no need for evasive behaviour and Grid succeeded in quickly narrowing the distance to Alex. His agility also rose due to Blackening.

“Item Transformation! Raphael's Spear!”

Kuooooooh!

The God Hands turned into golden spears and pierced Alex at the same time.

[The duration of immortality is over.]

Grid’s life became finite.

Clink!

Alex’s skull seemed to be smiling as he pointed the pistol at Grid. Grid hadn’t been able to enjoy the effect of Tiramet's Belt and the First King title due to an instantaneous death with nearly 50% of his health remaining. He only had 1 health point left and was facing Alex’s pistol...

‘...He is calm?’

The 60th island. Sticks was startled while watching Grid’s battle. Grid was on the threshold of death and facing Alex who had almost half his health left. Yet Grid’s eyes didn’t shake at the pistol aiming at him. An unbelievable calm had settled over him. Sticks thought that Grid’s composure was abnormal.

‘The one who is blessed by the gods.’

People were small in front of death. The countless challengers who stepped onto the Behen Archipelago felt frustration and despair when facing death. Yet Grid didn’t seem fazed at all.

Taaang!

In the crystal ball. Alex’s pistol fired from in front of Grid. The sound of the gunshot caused Sticks and Bini to close their eyes. Both of them was expecting Grid’s death. But Grid didn’t give up. He didn’t feel frustration or despair. The worst scenario?

‘How many times did I not experience the worst?’

Grid was already very familiar with it.

Taaang!

The moment Alex fired his pistol.

“Freely Move!”

It was the skill attached to the title ‘Secret Hero.’ It was a high level dash skill that avoided all attacks until it reaches the ‘desired target’ within 200 meters.

“...!!”

Alex’s purple light shook. He was confused that the four bullets fired from right in front of Grid were avoided with easy movements of the head.

“Heok...!”

Sticks and Bini were astonished as they watched Grid through the crystal ball. In particular, Sticks was so surprised that he felt a recurrence of his heart disease. Then Grid...

[The option effect ‘Ecstasy of Desire’ has activated from the Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires!]

[Your attack power will increase by three times and your evasion by 99% for 20 seconds.]

[Your defense has become 0.]

Teong!

Grid dodged all the bullets thanks to the close deployment of Freely Move. He shoved Alex with his shoulders and then followed Alex, who was moving back.

“Pagma's Sword Dance...!”

Was it the strongest skill Pinnacle Kill? It was insufficient. Grid wanted to use a higher damage skill in order to take advantage of the 200% option attached to the Enlightenment Blade. But Pagma's Sword Dance had the deadly disadvantage of a long cooldown time and Link was still on cooldown.

Yet Grid didn’t have anything to worry about. For Grid, Link’s higher skill Transcended Link was still left!

“Transcended Link.”

“.....!”

Kwa kwang!

Ku kwa kwa kwa kwa! Ku kwa kwa kwa kwa!

A turbulent storm of energy blades at short range! Alex’s body became mangled.

Kuwaaaaaaaaang!

The energy blades appeared many times and swallowed him up. The 62nd island shook several times. It was enough momentum to make someone fall down. On the other hand, Death Knight Alex was occasionally healed by the dark damage...

“Kiyaaaaaaaaaaack!”

The power of Grid’s buff skills and Ecstasy of Desire was overwhelming. It wasn’t a level that could be withstood with a certain amount of recovery. The 62nd island was purified.

[Death Knight Alex has been defeated!]

[You have succeeded in beating the 62nd island!]

[Alex’s Magic Engineering Bayonet (Produced by Pagma) has been acquired!]

[Alex’s Quick Gloves (Produced by Pagma) have been acquired!]

[As a reward for cleansing the island, you have gained one level!]

Shaaaaaaah-

Then a light fell from the sky. The desolate 62nd island was filled with grass and flowers.

“Hah...”

Grid narrowly won. His smile was filled with relief and joy. In fact, it wasn’t necessary to give special meaning to playing the game. The game itself was fun and enjoyable.

“Grid! Thank you Grid!”

Sticks made a fuss as he came running from afar. The fairy Bini was flapping his wings beside Sticks. They remembered forgotten dreams and hopes as they saw the increasingly purified Behen Archipelago.