‘Templar!’

Niberius, Yatan’s Fourth Servant who was beaten by Grid and placed Grid on the edge of stardom—he was the original owner of Neberius’ Flute, which Grid had avoided due to the need for luck. Additionally, Niberius had left behind a question before he died. “I heard that there is a secret templar group in Rebecca’s Church that is fostering Rebecca’s Daughters and assassins... Were you raised by a templar there?”

After that, the Templar was mentioned often. The Yatan Church seemed to be particularly wary of the Templar, but Grid had never met them before. Damian hadn’t introduced him to the Templar despite it being a few years since he became the pope.

‘That’s why I thought it was a very important secret organization.’

Grid hadn’t been particularly vigilant. That was natural. It wasn’t strange that the Rebecca Church had a secret organization, so Grid hadn’t felt the need to be wary of the Templar when the Rebecca Church was one of the Overgeared Kingdom’s greatest allies.

Now, he became suspicious. Braham was known to the world as a legendary great magician. Very few people knew Braham’s identity as a demonkin or a true blood vampire. Of course, the head of the Rebecca Church might know Braham’s identity, but it was unlikely that the head of the Rebecca Church would’ve ordered Braham’s body to be found and destroyed.

Pope Damian had a strong relationship with Grid. Damian was a person who would defend Braham’s body, not harm it. In other words, the Templar’s action of coming here to destroy Braham’s body meant there was a high probability they were going against Rebecca’s will.

‘Is it an organization that can’t be controlled by Damian? Or is there an internal conflict in the church?’

Grid organized his thoughts and asked a question, “Does the Rebecca Church officially know that Braham is a vampire?”

-It is likely they don’t know. I purposely covered up Braham’s identity.

“Why?”

-It was meaningless to reject him due to his identity as a demonkin when he spread magical knowledge that benefited people.

The one who spread the magical knowledge was his disciple Mumud, but there was no need to mention this.

Grid listened to the story in silence.

-However, the templar seemed to have independently grasped Braham’s true identity. Of course, Braham is already dead, so it was a meaningless fact. Then things changed recently. Thanks to some people, the Templar started to be wary of Braham again.

“Some people? Who?” Grid asked despite being convinced that he was the culprit of this incident. The Overgeared members, who had been watching the situation quietly, stared at Grid. Grid’s expression twisted, and he started sweating. “Do you mean me?”

-Haha, yes.

“......”

-The Templar noticed a long time ago that you are harboring Braham’s soul. In the process of investigating your relationship with Braham, they discovered that Braham’s body was still intact and that it was stored here. Thus, they invaded. It was in order to stop Braham’s resurrection.

“Then they discovered your identity as the former pope and withdrew obediently.”

Currently, Franz was a sword with an attack power of 8,000. It was practically impossible for him to stop the members of the Templar, who were comparable to Rebecca’s Daughters, by himself. It was right to interpret it as the Templar withdrawing after they found out Franz’ true identity. However, the reality of the situation was completely different.

-Huh? That isn’t true. I’m a fallen sword guarding the corpse of a vampire. They let out all sorts of curses and accusations as they said they were going to kill me. I almost died. Hahaha.

“......”

The atmosphere of the Overgeared Guild members cooled down. Based on Franz’ laughter at the mention that he was going to die, they realized that he wasn’t a normal person.

‘They will be stunned when they see Chreshler.’

2nd Pope Chreshler was the coffin designed to hold Marie Rose for eternity. Compared to him, Franz was quite normal.

“How did you overcome the crisis?”

How did Franz survive and protect Braham’s body...

Franz responded to Grid’s big question, -Haha, I lived on the condition that I cooperate with them.

“I see... Huh?”

-I helped the Templar install enemy detection magic here. In a moment, the Templar will come.

“Crazy!”

Wasn’t this completely ridiculous? Grid turned his head. In the distance, a group of people were climbing the hill.

There were around 20 people. This number was smaller than the Overgeared members gathered here, but the atmosphere around them was unusual. The Overgeared members took out their weapons and sent Grid a sympathetic look.

“All of Grid’s episodes and quests are like this.”

“If I were Grid, I would’ve been fooled by Ashur and quit the game while looking for Pagma’s Rare Book.”

“......”

He was sad because he couldn’t deny it. While Grid was hit by the unexpected development, Franz was still talking.

-All the popes recognized and respected the Templar as an independent organization. This allowed the Templar to walk their own line, regardless of the pope’s power. What is the reason for it?

“How should I know?”

-It was because they were strong. The head of the Templar is particularly special. He tests the pope’s qualifications using a scale that can’t be measured with human values. That’s why most popes used to be at odds with the Templar.

“Special?”

-It is assumed that he isn’t human. His abilities are outside of common sense. Some say it is an angel.

“Angel? The angels that I know?”

-Probably. Now his current goal is to destroy Braham’s soul.

“Die!!”

Franz’ attitude of selling people to the end quickly caused Grid’s wrath to explode. Franz was very puzzled as he used his sword body to block Grid’s swinging attack.

-Why are you attacking me?

“This traitor has a long tongue!”

-Traitor? I chose the only option to protect Braham’s body. Think carefully. If I had died resisting to the end, would Braham’s body have been safe?

“...”

-Don’t become angry at me and focus on the enemies in front of you. If you knock them down, Braham will be safe. If you don’t knock them down, even Braham’s soul will be destroyed and he will perish forever.

“...Shit!”

It made a lot of sense. Grid realized why Franz was forced to work with the Templar and shouted at his colleagues, “Wait! I will first measure the level of the enemy!"

Grid took two steps forward. His shoulders swayed like he was dancing.

“Transcended Link Flower!”

“...!?”

The Overgeared members were astonished. They were surprised by the development of Grid, who was now able to unleash a three fusion sword dance with just two steps. Braham’s magic, the sword energy, and the petals struck the Templar. Simultaneously, the Templar created transparent discs in all directions, and all the sword energy and petals were invalidated.

Braham, who had been watching the situation quietly, spoke for the first time, -An angel seems correct.

“...!”

-Distant attacks don’t work on an army led by an angel. Is it ‘there is no courage to harm God’s protection?’ They make a bullshit claim that they can only be affected by melee attacks.

‘Isn’t that a complete counter to magicians?’

-Right. A magician who fights against angels is a madman.

‘But I...’

-Yes, you aren’t a magician.

Grid moved forward. Mercedes followed after him. The moment they approached, the Templar members who were armed with white masks and armor silently swung their swords. It was a swordsmanship with a lot of variation. They stretched out like a fan and then curved. The blue flames swirling at the end of the swords were a threat because they contained the ability to interfere with healing effects and caused debuffs.

However, Grid and Mercedes handled the situation well. Mercedes’ White Tiger struck a Templar member’s sword, and an earthquake struck while pillars went soaring. The moment a Templar member collapsed, Grid pierced through the gap. In an instant, three Templar members were wounded. and they withdrew. Nevertheless, Grid’s expression wasn’t great.

‘There isn’t any blood...?’

Grid had the attack power of a transcendent. Even Sword Duke Limit, a super-named NPC, had been overwhelmed every time he allowed Grid to attack, and even the Great Demon Berith had fallen into Grid’s hands. On the other hand, the Templars suffered less than 10,000 damage when they were hit by Grid. Some sort of resilience maintained their health.

Mercedes shielded the surprised Grid and pointed to the most powerful figure behind the Templar members. “That person is healing them.”

“...!”

It was real. An unidentified figure in a white robe was constantly radiating a green light. This enveloped the bodies of the Templars, restoring their wounds and stamina in real-time. It seemed like Saintess Ruby’s wide-area heal but at a sustained level.

-He is an angel.

‘Damn!’ Grid’s expression became distorted. A strange figure appeared on the verge of Braham’s resurrection and interrupted it.

“Oppa!”

“We’ll help!”

Ruby and the Overgeared members joined in. Ruby’s buffs were focused on Grid and Mercedes, while the other Overgeared members worked together to create a gap for Grid and Mercedes. Thanks to this, Grid regained his composure and broke through the front lines with Mercedes. Even if the Templars weren’t killed, they would retreat and allow Grid and Mercedes to reach the man presumed to be an angel.

‘Divinity!’ Grid elevated his existence to a level that was close to a god. It removed the casting time and cooldown time of blacksmith-related skills, and Grid used Item Combination to fuse the Enlightenment Sword and Grid’s Greatsword into one.

Then...

“Amazing,” the man believed to be an angel expressed his admiration. He took off his robe and spread out his wings, floating into the sky.

“Ah…!” The Overgeared members exclaimed.

Pure white wings and a sacred halo...

The divine being looking over the ground with a majestic appearance that was exactly the same as the angels the Overgeared members had imagined. They felt overwhelmed.

On the other hand, Grid was feeling dull. He wasn’t too impressed by a god’s apostles when he had met a god in person and even had a match against one.

‘Is it a great demon level?’

Grid was together with Mercedes, his colleagues, and Braham. Additionally, he had his knights who would answer his call at the same time...

Grid was just raising his determination when the angel behind the Templars said, “You showed great skill and bravery. I thought you wanted to resurrect Braham because you were confused by the path of sin, but I was mistaken. Braham’s soul isn’t powerful enough to worry about, and you can control him.”

-He knows that when I fought Mumud, part of my soul was permanently destroyed.

“One blessed by the Goddess of Light. I pray for you to have good luck on your path, and I will step back. We will meet again soon.”

[You have been blessed by Archangel Sariel.]

[In the event of a monster being hunted while the blessing is maintained, the drop rate of items is increased by 500% only once.]

“...!” Grid had thought the worst was going to happen, only for the development to change again. While Grid watched Sariel and the Templars leaving with a puzzled expression, Franz spoke to him, -Ohu, it ended up like this.

“You have protected Braham’s body, so ascend to Heaven.”

...!

On this day...

[Legendary Great Magician Braham has been resurrected!!]

An unbelievable world message shocked the world. All the media outlets had the headline, ‘Biggest Shock Since the Opening of Satisfy.’