“I know that everything in the world was born in my will. All things exist only for me.”

They were words that Garam heard as soon as he was born.

“The reason I created you is for you to help me, so that you may live for me just as all things do.”

Hanul’s words were clearly imprinted on Garam. Garam had never forgotten it, even if the weather was clear or cloudy, whether he opened his eyes or closed it. In the tens of thousands of seasonal changes, Garam recalled these words and worshipped them. Only then did he believe that his existence was meaningful. Then one day...

“It seems wrong.” Garam saw a brother who contradicted Hanul’s words. “Even the little birds and powerless deer know that their lives are precious. We work hard every day to survive from bigger birds and mighty beasts.”

It was Pagma, the incomprehensible person who made crude objects and gave them as gifts to his siblings. This stiff-necked person dared to talk to Hanul in such a manner. “Hanul, you say that all things are born according to your will and all things exist for you, but if that is the case, why do those little children take care of their own bodies? I think Hanul is misinformed. I think that all things exist not for Hanul but for themselves.”

“You!”

“Hanul, if this beautiful feast is all for Hanul... rather than talking about how yangbans are better than beasts and humans, why not take care of everyone equally? Then won’t all things naturally honor and love Hanul, living for Hanul?”

“Pagma! Shut up!”

Garam felt a great anger toward Pagma. He established an eternal hostility toward Pagma. Why did he want to deny Pagma’s words so much? Why did he hate Pagma so much? Garam realized it the moment he faced Grid.

‘...I knew he was right.’

I am me.

He was a being with his own will. He wanted to think for himself, choose for himself, and live for himself, rather than by someone’s coercion. However, he didn’t dare express this. Unlike Pagma, who left to correct what was wrong, and Grid in front of him, who came back to correct what was wrong, he only became obsessed with becoming a god and ignored his own desires. A god—he felt that if he became one, he would be able to shake off his fears and become perfect.

‘These guys...! What is so great about you?!’

How dare they resist providence when they weren’t even gods?! The yangbans weren’t going to change the way they did things!

Garam advanced forward through the Storm of the Fire God. He cut Grid with the sword covered with the deadly poison of the black tortoise, forcing Grid to the brink of death. Then Garam entered a realm he had never known before. He incorporated all the skills, experiences, and learning he had accumulated since his birth, into a single move.

This was a glimpse of a god killer. It was the blow that Chiyou, who taught the yangbans out of a desire for his own extinction, had eagerly discussed.

“...!”

Grid’s face was white. In a world separated by 0.1 seconds, he felt a strong threat from Garam’s dark sword that was completely unavoidable. He knew that the defense of the damaged Valhalla, the indomitable effect that still remained, and his immortal power, would become meaningless as soon as he was stabbed by Garam’s sword that suddenly flew toward him.

[Death is coming.]

His transcendent senses were warning him. It was the ultimate form of a god’s will that had the power to make the concept of stats and the rules of the system meaningless.

‘Request to Stand With Me!’

Grid had no time. He recalled the lives and futures of the millions of people he now carried on his back and instinctively thought of a knight. An absolute skill that wouldn’t put the person into any danger if they lent it to him. The continent’s greatest knight who had ‘Keen Insight’ that even the gods were wary of.

A legend—it was Mercedes.

[The power of Duke of Virtue is requesting help from your knight, ‘Mercedes.’]

[Mercedes is happy to respond to your request.]

[Mercedes’ Keen Insight is implanted in your eyes.]

The landscape that Grid could see changed. He found a road he couldn’t see before and shifted his stride to the side while lowering his upper body. At the same time, he swung the Enlightenment Sword. It was a move that integrated attack and defense. Garam’s move, which could be considered as ‘perfect,’ collapsed from Grid’s blow that contained Mercedes’ power. Garam’s sword, which should’ve pierced Grid’s heart, was shattered and torn from Garam’s grip.

“Kuek...?” Garam’s eyes shook. It wasn’t the pain that came from his tattered right arm that shocked him. Grid’s deep eyes were bringing a pained confusion to him.

‘Isn’t this unbelievable?’

Everything was dug up. His destiny and life were thoroughly analyzed. A mere mortal. He was being stripped bare by human eyes.

“...It isn’t possible!”

The stronger the red phoenix became, the more difficult it was to control the Red Phoenix's Breath and it suddenly exploded. A hole was created in Garam’s lungs and his blood started to evaporate. The pain transcended imagination but Garam didn’t show any signs of it. He used the Black Tortoise's Breath to restrain the Red Phoenix's Breath and the White Tiger's Breath was used to block the holes in his lungs.

Meanwhile, Grid was indirectly peeking at Garam’s state. It was the power of Keen Insight.

[The effect of the ‘Forgotten God’s Curse’ will disperse the target’s concentration and action.]

[All recovery effects are forbidden and all reaction speeds are reduced by 58%.]

[All of your skills that are currently active, except for Linked Kill Flower Pinnacle, will be sure to hit the target and will result in a critical hit and weak spot attack.]

Grid didn’t move randomly once the notification window first popped up. Keen Insight gave Grid full information on the target’s stats, skills, and condition and recommended behavior based on them. The term was ‘auto.’ It was similar to when blacksmiths used auto production when making items, all his movements were taken care of.

All of Grid’s sword dances slammed sequentially into Garam who had been weakened by the interference of the red phoenix. Garam didn’t dare to resist. It wasn’t just because of Keen Insight.

[Keen Insight has found your restrained power.]

[The effect ‘Ecstasy of Desire’ has been awakened in the Lightning Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires.]

[Your attack power will increase by three times for 20 seconds and evasion rate will reach 99%. However, defense is zero.]

It was a conditional passive that had a low probability of activating when fighting an enemy with a higher level than himself, allowing him to enter a ‘selfless’ state if his health dropped below a certain point. It had been suppressed due to the danger. Now that it was activated by Keen Insight, Grid’s attack power was far beyond Garam’s attack power.

Garam couldn’t dodge Grid’s attacks and his health gauge continued to fall, dropping to the bottom in an instant. He tried to resist somehow but his vicious counterattacks never hit Grid. The remnants of Braham’s magic carved through the sky like a galaxy as Grid’s sword dances never stopped.

All the people of the Cho Kingdom witnessed the scene and temporarily lost their senses.

“...Beautiful.” Hera, who was taking care of patients in the palace, heard the sudden explosion and murmured as she looked up at the sky.

“A god killer...” The scholars and academics who rushed over at the king’s call to revive the red phoenix couldn’t help gulping.

“Pangea’s Duke of Virtue!” The officials who were grateful to Grid since he rescued Han Seokbong’s family and the people of Pangea and secretly helped him were stunned.

Finally...

“Please... please give strength to Grid.” The king prayed earnestly. He wanted to rush out with his warriors to help Grid but he was obliged to defend the resurrecting red phoenix. He had to stand still in preparation for an attack from the Hwan Kingdom. Just like Grid who was tying up Garam’s feet, the role of the Cho king was also important. The Cho king was forced to pray for Grid without leaving his spot.

Then he was suddenly engulfed in doubts. ‘Who am I praying to?’

Was it meaningful to pray to the gods who deceived humans? Could the red phoenix respond to prayers when it wasn’t resurrected yet? It happened when the Cho king was filled with increasing confusion...

One of the young men fighting in the distant sky flew toward the palace and crashed.

“P-Pangea’s Duke of Virtue!”

“King Grid!”

The people of the Cho Kingdom knew that Garam was a god. Since a human couldn’t handle a god, all the people of the Cho Kingdom knew that the existence who had just fallen to the ground was naturally Grid. They thought the presence chasing him down from the high sky would be Garam. However, reality was different. The bloody figure revealed by the scattering smoke was Garam, not Grid.

“Linked Kill Flower Pinnacle.” The identity of the person who descended while surrounded by blue-black petals was Grid.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Grid was overwhelming Garam. It was only for a moment...

“Ah...!” The Cho king placed his hands together and started to pray again. He didn’t pray to the Five Seniors and the yangbans, who had deceived humans, or the red phoenix who hadn’t resurrected yet. The subject of the new prayer was Grid. He glimpsed the birth of a new god through the appearance of Grid who caused Garam to crash.

On the other hand...

‘Kuk...! Damn!’ Grid’s face was rapidly hardening as he rushed toward Garam on the ground.

[The duration of Ecstasy of Desire is over.]

[The duration of Request to Stand With Me is over.]

[The effect of Keen Insight will be wiped out.]

It was because he heard a series of bad news. Once the auto effect that originated from Keen Insight stopped, Grid subtly slowed down as he descended. This was a great opportunity for Garam.

“You!” Garam had experienced a one-sided humiliation from Grid for two minutes. He had been unable to find gaps in Grid. Now he quickly captured the changes in Grid and started to fight back. He maintained the effect of the Black Tortoise's Breath on his breathing, and the White Tiger's Breath suppressing his wounds, while opening the Blue Dragon's Breath. He broke through the petals and flew toward Grid, stabbing his sword.

“Kuock!”

First, the difference in stats was the decisive reason why Grid couldn’t win over Garam. Even if Grid had higher stats than his level, it couldn’t be compared to the stats of a named NPC who reached the realm of a half-god. Of course, it was possible to narrow the gap with all types of buff skills, Duke of Fire, and Fenrir’s Strength. However, this was a story that was only possible when the buffs were maintained.

The gap between the end of the buffs and the reuse of the buffs was a fatal weakness for Grid. Grid failed to hit Garam with Linked Kill Flower Pinnacle and allowed a counterattack, causing him to plunge to the ground. Garam immediately followed him down, trampling on Grid’s neck.

“Those who are ignorant and weak always discuss hope. You seem to think that resurrecting the red phoenix will resolve the current situation but it is a big mistake.”

“...?”

Grid’s body twitched. Garam slowly removed his feet as Grid struggled like a worm to raise his head from the ground. Grid could finally raise his head and reflexively turned his gaze in a certain direction. Then he saw it...

There were two men floating above the palace. They were dressed in a blue dopo and stood with their arms folded as they bit the smoking pipe in their mouths. They looked exactly like Garam.

“Yangbans...!”

It was also clear that they had passed Chiyou’s test and were in the top seven. Like Garam, they were in the process of becoming gods.

‘This can’t be...!’

There was no hope. Garam was merely one of the problems. Grid lost hope and a dark shadow crossed his face.

Then a familiar voice was heard. “If you are ignorant and weak and don’t even feel hope, then you are just trash, just like these guys.”

A huge spear of light fell from the sky and pierced the bodies of the two men standing with arms crossed.

“...!?” Garam’s face was filled with amazement. He was more shocked than when he was overwhelmed by Grid.

The spear pierced them and the yangbans fell while bleeding. A handsome silver-haired man appeared along with the wavelength of magic. The red phoenix who was being resurrected, the people of the Cho Kingdom, and the yangbans struggling to heal their wounds...

Despite clearly knowing that all of them were focused on himself, the silver-haired beauty was merely watching Grid.

“Nasty worms are twisting.”

“Braham!”

Braham didn’t speak for a long time. He stared at the two yangbans struggling to heal and reached out to use poison. It was magic that poisoned the target. It was magic that couldn’t be used against a half-god. However, Braham’s poison now contained the hydra’s venom.

“Cough!” The two yangbans fell down, bleeding and with foam coming out of their mouths. Garam, all the people of the Cho Kingdom, and even Grid, looked at Braham with an expression of incredulity.