[You have been discovered by a magic power detector!]

[The effect of the Hooded Zip Up has been rendered ineffective and Stealth has been turned off.]

[The magic power detector is looking at you, and any actions considered dangerous in the next three minutes will cause it to strike.]

He had seen this happen dozens of times since he first entered Titan. Grid became a person in a plain white hooded outfit.

‘How much money do they have?’

It wasn’t just the palace — the magic power detectors were installed in ordinary stores, even including the slums. Just this was a small glimpse of the great wealth and technological prowess of the empire that ruled the continent for hundreds of years.

‘I can’t draw any attention to myself.’

Grid barely escaped the palace, suppressing the urge to rush as he headed to the north gate. He boldly walked down the street without covering his face and ID. Satisfy had a huge player count of two billion: wouldn’t there be at least one or two people with the ID of Grid? When he walked by on the street, he looked like a passerby to the people around him. There wasn’t a single person who observed him closely. If he hid his identity and acted suspiciously, he would become more noticeable.

Kwaang!

“...?”

The relatively quiet north street. Grid entered a new area without much difficulty since people were concentrating on the south wall. Grid suddenly stopped, hearing a loud sound at the end of the quiet street. Grid had heard this sound thousands, if not tens of thousands of times.

‘Combat? Who is fighting here?’

Grid could ignore it. He needed to get away from Titan as soon as possible, and not get caught up in an unknown fight. But Grid found it hard to just walk away. This was because a golden exclamation mark shone in the direction where the fighting was heard.

A quest signal!

‘A quest at this time?’

Who in the empire would give him a quest in this turmoil?

‘Who is associated with me?’

Grid found it hard to imagine, but he didn’t give up and kept thinking. As a result, he could recall one person with surprising speed.

“...Mercedes!”

The First Knight who shared a secret with Grid. She was committed to revealing the truth about what happened 12 years ago. In some cases, there was the risk of being exposed. The moment he thought about this, “Quick Movements!”

Grid didn’t delay and rushed over. Since Blackening was on cooldown, he used Quick Movements to greatly increase his agility and ran over to the scene of the battle. From there...

“Thank you for digging your grave yourself. Watch in limbo. Scream in pain and sorrow at the sight of the empire that you wanted to protect so much.”

A middle-aged man, who looked like a more bizarre version of Grid’s Blackening form, was threatening Mercedes. She was wearing a white dress and coughing up black blood. Grid received a notification window.

[A new quest has been created!]

[For Piaro]

★ Hidden Quest ★

First Knight Mercedes, who was digging into the truth about what happened 12 years ago, is experiencing a great crisis.

If you are unable to save her, Piaro will forever be labeled a traitor.

Save Mercedes!

Quest Clear Conditions: The survival of Mercedes.

Quest Reward: 50 increase in affinity with Mercedes. An event with Mercedes will occur.

Quest Failure: Mercedes’ death. All quests related to the Red Knights will be deleted.

‘Isn’t this funny?’

Grid couldn’t understand what was happening. Why was Mercedes in such trouble despite being comparable to Piaro? And where in the world was her iconic red armor?

‘In any case, this is a game.’

He was sick of the formula of a strong enemy being nerfed as soon as they turned friendly. Grid transformed one of the four God Hands into Raphael’s Spear. In the battle with Immortal, only one God Hand transformed so the remaining three God Hands were available to be transformed into items.

“Ugh...”

The moment Mercedes moaned and was on the brink of death.

“That woman is mine,” shouted Grid as he gave an order to Raphael’s Spear.

Puoook!

[You have dealt 26,900 damage to the target!]

The enigmatic man threatening Mercedes coughed up blood and stepped back. The fact that Raphael’s Spear caused enormous damage showed that he was obviously a demonkin. And demonkin were helpless in front of Rebecca’s divine artifacts. Grid expected the demonkin called ‘Gyuratan’ to not be able to move for a while. He planned to use this gap to save Mercedes.

However.

“Overgeared King...?”

Gyuratan was fine, unlike Grid’s expectations. He pulled out Raphael’s Spear that pierced his waist. His health gauge was also intact.

‘Transcendent named?’

A chill went down Grid’s spine. After running as hard as possible, he was almost at Mercedes’ location. This meant he was close to Gyuratan.

“Mercedes! You were in league with the Overgeared King! This has made your betrayal clear!” Gyuratan shouted excitedly.

There was a smile of joy on his face as he stabbed towards Grid, who was reaching for Mercedes. The weapon that Gyuratan wielded was a twisted, bizarre looking sword that was similar to its master.

Kwaaaaang!

“...!”

Gyuratan was shocked. He thought that he had stabbed Grid while Grid was paying attention to Mercedes, only for two golden hands to fly and block his sword.

‘Autonomous artifacts?’

One person passed through Gyuratan’s mind. He made a strange expression as the God Hand armed with the Ultimate Enhanced Mjolnir flew towards him. Raphael’s Spear, which had fallen onto the ground, also aimed at Gyuratan. Gyuratan allowed an attack from another golden hand and Raphael’s Spear, which flew from behind. Despite the numerous attacks, he was fine and only became stiff for a moment. Gyuratan withdrew the golden spear from his chest and didn’t release it.

“I see. Overgeared King and Templar... No, Overgeared.”

Over the past few years, there was the unprecedented event in which Yatan Servants were slaughtered throughout the continent. The culprit was Overgeared. He was a strong man who had artifacts that moved by themselves.

“Kukuk, you aren’t an ordinary person. You managed to build a kingdom. It is no wonder that you can kill the Yatan Servants.”

"Who are you?"

Few people knew that Grid was the Yatan Servant Slaughterer. Braham and Yura were the only ones who knew the relationship between Grid and the Yatan Church. Yet this demonkin grasped Grid’s identity at once, meaning that he had a close relationship with the Yatan Church.

"Are you also a Yatan Servant?”

Gyuratan nodded at Grid’s question. "You could say that. All creatures under heaven are the servants of God Yatan.”

This wasn’t the answer he wanted. Grid started frowning.

“Be careful!” Mercedes was staring at Grid only to suddenly shout, “He will use black magic!”

"What?"

His opponent quickly neutralized the two swords wielded by the God Hands, Raphael’s Spear, and the stiffness of Mjolnir, just to use magic? Grid became alert, but it was too late. Gyuratan had started casting the magic circle from the moment he began the conversation with Grid. A spell started forming under Grid’s feet.

“Naive guy,” Gyuratan ridiculed.

Kuwaaaaaah!

A big explosion occurred at Grid’s feet, causing a gigantic hellfire to billow out and swallow Grid and Mercedes at the same time. The momentum reminded Grid of Hell Gao before the fire stones were mined.

"It is my unexpected luck to be able to handle two troublemakers at the same time.”

Gyuratan was delighted. He believed that Grid and Mercedes would vanish without a trace after being swallowed by the black flames. No humans could survive when hit directly with this magic.

‘Now how should I weave these two together?’

Sururuk.

His pale skin started to fill with rosy color as his whites appeared amidst his pitch-black eyes. He returned to his human form, no, disguised himself as human and wondered how to report today’s events to the emperor. He never imagined that he would be hit back.

“What is your weakness?”

“...?!”

Did Grid use his body as a shield? Through the smoke, Mercedes was held up in Grid’s arms and didn’t have a single scratch on her. It felt like Grid alone had endured the explosion. Yet there was a problem.

"Why are you fine?”

Grid didn’t have any outstanding injuries, an unbelievable fact given that he had just encountered hellfire.

“Don’t you know why I am called the Overgeared King?”

Grid’s sword struck Gyuratan.

Puoook!

Gyuratan had exposed a gap while caught off guard. He couldn’t defend himself as his heart was pierced with the Enlightenment Sword. A human’s weapon was powerful enough to compare to the divine artifact of Rebecca, Goddess of Light.

“Cough!”

Gyuratan’s coughed up blood and Raphael’s Spear in his hand returned to being a God Hand after the duration of Item Transformation ended. Gyuratan grabbed the God Hand that was fiercely trying to escape.

Kwajijik!

That’s when he was struck by the red lightning that fell from the sky. Gyuratan’s body shook while Grid performed a sword dance.

“Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle!”

Puok!

Puk puk puk!

Powerful stabs started continuously piercing Gyuratan’s body.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Black flames exploded. The flames contained a destructive power that was comparable to the hellfire that Gyuratan summoned, but without any casting delays. Gyuratan and Mercedes were shocked.

“Kuk...! Y-You...!”

Gyuratan started emitting demonic energy again. Grid didn’t shrink back at all despite facing bizarre black eyes.

"You must be a scum who has already lost his body to Muller.”

Kwarururung!

Linked Kill swallowed up Gyuratan. As Gyuratan’s flesh scattered and body was torn apart, Grid’s sword energy skyrocketed. There were also the four God Hands armed with Failure, the White Tiger Sword, Iyarugt, and Grid’s Greatsword.

"Isn’t it too early to be elated?”

A cynical remark.

Seokeok!

Grid’s Pinnacle was deployed. As it cut from head to groin, the four other top weapons pierced Gyuratan.

Kuwaaaaaang!

Black flames once again exploded and swallowed up Gyuratan.

“...”

Mercedes was unable to say anything. She had seen Piaro and the great dukes, yet Grid’s firepower was one step above theirs. The power of Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle was unrivaled.

“Hurry.”

“...Huh?”

Would Grid defeat the unidentified great demon like this? Mercedes was filled with expectations only to become confused. It was because Grid, who was overpowering Gyuratan, started retreating. Grid explained, “Wake up. People will be coming soon. I’ll be in trouble if I’m caught up in this mess.”

In the first place.

‘I can’t win.’

Despite being weakened and sealed by Sword Saint Muller, the opponent was still a great demon. Grid had no chance in a 1:1 or 1:2 confrontation. In the past, the reason why Grid was able to raid Hell Gao was because he found the weak point of the fire stones. In fact, Gyuratan’s health hadn’t even decreased by one-tenth.

“By the way, where did you sell your armor?”

Grid grabbed Mercedes’s hand and asked a question while running.

“I-I didn’t sell it! How could I sell such a noble symbol for money?" Mercedes shouted with a red face.

Grid could see that she was a serious person who didn’t know jokes. Yes, she was serious. For her, the touch of the ‘man’ tightly holding her hand was very special.