‘It must be a series of pain.’

Pagma had fought against an army of hundreds of thousands of demons in the Behen Archipelago on his own. He had glimpsed the essence of Hexetia and realized that his distinction between good and evil had been wrong. Then he regretted the damage he’d done to Braham. In retrospect, perhaps Pagma felt betrayed by the martial god. Every time he discovered a new truth, he would’ve been in shock and pain. In the end, he would’ve felt skeptical about his own life.

‘...He is pitiful.’

Braham and Pagma—they were both pitiful people. It was the same for Piaro and Asmophel. Grid thought seriously about friendship and trust.

‘I won’t betray a friend, even if I have a blade at my neck.’

They were precious and hard-earned friends. He couldn’t betray them. His heart touched Braham’s sleeping soul. Feeling hopeful, Grid brought up the list of Pagma's Sword Dance. A new option had been added to every sword dance.

[Wave Lv. 1]

[★ Braham’s Shield will wrap around the caster’s body when Wave is deployed. The shield will absorb 10,000 damage + the intelligence numerical value, and the caster’s defense will increase by 300 while the shield is maintained.

Mana Consumption: 500]

[Restraint Lv. 1]

[★ Braham’s Grease is activated when Restraint is deployed. The range of Grease is the same as Restraint and the deployment time is equal to the duration of Restraint. Since the friction coefficient of the ground in contact with Grease will disappear, the target must slip. However, this effect is limited to when the target is standing on the ground.

Mana Consumption: 2,000]

[Link Lv. 1]

[★Braham’s Wind Cutter will be released when Link is deployed. Wind Cutter is created between the air currents that occur with every fourth strike of Link. The damage of Wind Cutter is fixed at 5,000. Wind Cutter will cut the target with a low probability. The probability of the cut is affected by Wind Cutter’s hit rate and the target’s defense.

Mana Consumption: 1,800]

[Kill Lv. 1]

[★Braham’s Detect Force is activated when Kill is deployed. Detect Force has the nature of chasing the target. The hit rate of Kill will increase greatly.

Mana Consumption: 1,000]

[Pinnacle Lv. 1]

[★ Braham’s Weapon Enchant will activate when Pinnacle is deployed. The weapon’s attack power will increase by 50%. This effect will disappear with the end of the sword dance.

Mana Consumption: 1,200]

[Revolve Lv. 1]

[★ Braham’s Shield will wrap around the caster’s body when deploying Revolve.

Mana Consumption: 500]

[Drop Lv. 1]

[★ Braham’s Fire will be released when Drop is deployed. All targets within range of Drop will receive 3,000 damage and three seconds of burn damage.

Mana Consumption: 800]

[Flower Lv. 1]

[★Braham’s Lightning will occur when Flower is deployed. A target hit with Flower will have a low probability of being shocked and receiving 3,000 damage. During the electric shock, their body will be paralyzed.

Mana Consumption: 800]

[Transcend Lv. 1]

[★ Braham’s Detect Force is activated when Transcend is deployed. The hit rate of Transcend will greatly increase.

Mana Consumption: 1,000]

[Flower Revolve]

[★ The Lightning and Shield effect will be applied.

Mana Consumption: 1,300]

[Pinnacle Kill]

[★ The Weapon Enchant and Detect Force will be applied.

Mana Consumption: 2,200]

[Transcended Link Flower]

[★ The effect of Detect Force, Wind Cutter and Lightning will be applied.

Mana Consumption: 3,600]

[Linked Kill Flower Pinnacle]

[★The effect of Wind Cutter, Detect Force, Lightning and Weapon Enchant is applied.

Mana Consumption: 4,800

* The magic spells have been greatly reduced in the process of simplifying the magic formulas.]

“...”

The power decreased due to simplifying the process. This was clearly stated, but Grid only felt admiration. What did it mean by having weakened spells? As a simple example, the Weapon Enchant used by common magicians improved the power of the weapon by 20%. Of course, this was based on the skill being at level 1. However, each increase in level only increased the effect by 6%. It meant the level 5 Weapon Enchant increased the weapon’s power by 50%, and the mana cost was also higher.

‘Instead, the duration is three minutes.’

In any case, Grid was satisfied. It was a power gained by sheer virtue of Grid’s favor. If he wasn’t satisfied, then he would be shameless.

‘One drawback is the mana consumption...’

Currently, Grid’s total mana at level 398 was less than 18,000. This was due to the second class Duke of Wisdom, which caused half his stat points to be forcibly invested in intelligence.

‘Wait?’

Grid opened his status window and confirmed his second class. Since the possibility of Legendary Great Magician was removed, he thought the second class would change. The second class was still Duke of Wisdom.

‘Duke of Wisdom is one of Braham’s powers. Duke of Wisdom was still present since the possibility of Braham’s Successor was available. Huh? Don’t tell me?’

Grid got chills. The disadvantage of the newly changed swordsmanship was the mana consumption, and this could be controlled through activation and deactivation. Additionally, the help of the Ring of Absurdity meant there would be no shortage of mana.

He thought it was simple, but he was mistaken. He thought a bit deeper and found there was a fatal problem. In the future, it would be impossible for him to temper minerals with magic. Grid had been hitting minerals with Magic Missile instead of the hammer depending on the situation. In the future, he wouldn’t be able to use the spells, and this would weaken his blacksmithing skills as a result.

‘Ah, this isn’t good.’

...No, was it really bad?

The frustrated Grid looked back at the results of the hidden piece. Was there any phrase that said the spells he previously used would be deleted?

‘There is nothing.’

Grid’s complexion improved as he called up the list of available spells. Then...

....

[Magic Missile]

[Alarm]

....

The previous spells that Grid favored were still in place.

‘Indeed. The genius Braham wouldn’t have overlooked this.’

Good. There were no problems with the hidden piece he obtained this time. Once again, Grid was filled with joy. He clenched his fists in a delighted manner. Grid wanted to run around and cheer, but then he would lose his dignity in front of the dukes and the imperial knights. He tried to calm and soothe his excited mind.

“E-Excuse me. Overgeared King...?” The dukes approached him. Their recovery speed was extremely fast, and most of their wounds were restored. Despite this, their expressions weren’t good. They looked half insane. They spoke with great care.

“Were you hiding your power?” Duke Morse asked with a polite attitude, speaking with honorifics. He normally lacked manners and was a bit of a rogue compared to the other dukes. Now he was so polite that Grid was embarrassed. Still, it was only for a moment. Grid didn’t miss this opportunity.

“I didn’t have to hide it. You were so strong that I didn’t have to reveal it.”

Could he be this strong? Yes... No, Braham helped. However, they were nobles of an enemy nation, and he couldn’t confess honestly. Grid decided to take advantage of the dukes’ misunderstanding, and the method worked properly.

“You are the best blacksmith of this age, a swordsman, and also someone who deals with magic... It is very respectable.” This came from Beast King Morse. He had a strong and rowdy temperament but he was polite to people he acknowledged. It was because he deeply appreciated and respected the strong.

The knights of the empire were buzzing. This was natural. It was hard to remain calm when a duke of the empire was technically wagging his tail in front of the enemy king, Grid. In fact, it was almost treason. Even so, Grenhal and Basara didn’t rebuke Morse’s attitude. As they watched Grid, their shining eyes were similar to Morse’s. In particular, Basara’s face was red.

“Do you usually hide your beauty on purpose?”

“...?”

“I understand. There must be many flies buzzing around you because of your beauty. You had to disguise yourself as if you are ugly.”

“...”

Wasn’t he handsome? Grid had an aggrieved expression on his face as he glanced at Yura, who avoided his gaze. Although Grid was clearly handsome, he was merely a squid when compared to Braham. The comparison was too bad. The heartbroken Grid had a gloomy expression.

“I really appreciate it.” Grenhal bowed deeply in place of the half-insane Morse and Basara. “Thanks to your help, the three of us were able to preserve our lives. Additionally, the 300 knights and 5,000 soldiers could be safe. Your Majesty is a benefactor of the Saharan Empire.”

Grid himself... No, he realized how big a deal it was that Braham had saved the dukes. Grid had saved the lives of three of the Seven Dukes who supported the empire, and as a result, he was now a benefactor of the empire. They were the dukes, and the empire couldn’t turn away.

“Just a few days ago, Your Majesty’s kingdom was one-sidedly invaded by the empire. Yet you saved us with a generous heart and reached out to the empire first. A small person like me doesn’t dare to judge your scale.”

The atmosphere of the imperial knights softened. They had been puzzled by Morse’s attitude a moment ago, but now they bowed deeply to Grid.

“Once again, I am deeply grateful. I swear by the name of Grenhal, the empire will never forget the grace of today.”

Following Grenhal’s oath...

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

The 300 knights shouted. Morse and Basara were also courteous.

“...”

It was a scene where the king of a small country was praised by the dukes and knights of the great empire. This was a scene that would go down in history. If news of this were leaked outside, the world would be dominated with news of Grid rather than Great Demon Berith, and Grid’s reputation would be many times greater than before.

‘He is on a different dimension.’

Lauel, the 10 meritorious retainers, Hurent, and Skunk got goose bumps. In particular, Hurent and Skunk didn’t know about Braham, so their shock was huge. They thought all of these situations were created by Grid.