“If Your Majesty wants me to fight, then I will fight! I will remain until the end and fight with Your Majesty!” Kyle’s bow and shout resembled a knight swearing allegiance to his ruler.

He didn’t even bow to Empress Basara or Prince Dulandal, the man who hired him. The fact that he regarded the king of another country as his master caused a commotion.

‘Did King Grid secretly try to gain Kyle?’

‘Was the last pillar of the empire taken away by the Overgeared King?’

The officials awakened a sense of crisis and started to distrust Grid. He was even greedy for the talent of allies! It was an act that went against morality. He deserved to be condemned. From the standpoint of the empire that trusted Grid, they even felt a sense of betrayal.

Then Grid’s words reversed the unusual airflow.

“Sir Kyle, didn’t I say I’m not going to kill you? We were enemies at the time, but not anymore. Don’t worry about it and be at ease.”

Grid announced that he and Kyle had no relationship. He implied the reason Kyle was acting like this was because of fear. It was embarrassing for Kyle, but it couldn’t be helped. It was true that he was afraid of Grid. Even now, he remembered the pain of his arm being cut off every time he saw Grid and his bladder started to shake.

‘This monster...’

Kyle was raised in Juander’s hands. He grew up among the continent’s strongest powers and there were few people he cowered in front of. Furthermore, he sublimated his natural talent with hard work and got a divine gift from the martial god. This allowed him to rise to being a transcendent. It was practically impossible for him to fear ordinary humans.

The problem was that Grid wasn’t an ordinary human.

Kyle trained in the secret techniques of the martial god while watching Dulandal under Grid’s order (blackmail). His sixth sense was improved by his transcendence and he saw through Grid’s level accurately.

‘He already isn’t human.’

It was a state where he was aware of the flow of all things. It was the world of transcendence and Grid was surely in that realm. He was a true transcendent.

‘Such a guy cut off my arm...’

Throb!

Kyle was engulfed in vivid pain as he recalled the appearance of the white-haired Grid who cut off his arm. He gritted his teeth in order to not show it. That’s right—Kyle was convinced that Grid was ahead of him a few years ago. It was a misunderstanding that could never be eliminated. Kyle had no choice but to fear Grid for the rest of his life. Thus, he had to be polite.

“...Thank you for your forgiveness.”

This person who was like a fox—this abominable person didn’t know he was the culprit who forced Kyle to split himself between three masters. Kyle was twisted up due to Grid in many ways but he didn’t show it. In order to not let Grid see it, he had endured all the humiliation so far. He couldn’t show his feelings now.

‘I need permission to leave the empire for a while, so I have to please him.’

Not long ago, there was a call from the martial god. God told his followers to go to the east. It was to trample on and severely punish a heresy who took root in a land of no beliefs and dared to impersonate the martial god. He didn’t know which stupid guy actually dared to impersonate the martial god. It was ridiculous.

‘...It is important to survive in order to follow the word of the martial god.’

He knew right away that the demon sleeping in the Abyss was a special being. He heard from the grandmaster that it was a pitiful existence.

‘It turns out he was a great demon.’

So why did the grandmaster call the demon pitiful? It seemed like a question that couldn’t be resolved. It was also a question he wouldn’t have for long. The identity of the great demon wasn’t important to Kyle. Kyle just wanted to quickly go to the east to fulfill the martial god’s will and get a new secret technique.

‘Dammit.’

The 11th great demon. 11th place...

‘I don’t think we can win at all.’

It was hard to see a chance of victory even if all the forces of the empire were combined with himself and Grid. However, they had to fight with just the troops stationed in the capital. How could they win?

‘I heard that great demons with a single digit rank or the equivalent power have a curse that burns the soul or reverse life.’

Soul Burn or Doom—at 11th place, the great demon should be able to use one of these two curses. Perhaps it would be possible with swordsmanship that even cut curses like Sword Saint Muller in the past, but from the perspective of common sense, it wasn’t an opponent that humans could face. Grid might’ve achieved perfect transcendence, but he couldn’t help being helpless to the curse of a high ranking demon as long as his species itself was human.

‘...That person shouldn’t know it.’

At first, Grid would challenge it. Then after he fought, he would soon change his mind and run away. This meant Kyle would have to arrange his strength properly so he could also escape.

‘It is a risk worth taking if I think of it as the last loyalty to the former emperor. Should I fight first?’

The empire without Juander meant nothing to Kyle. Still, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to pretend to defend the empire for the sake of Juander who was watching from the underworld. He would accept Grid’s command and fight against the great demon.

It was the moment when Kyle made up his mind...

“Do you know the identity of the great demon who woke up in the Abyss?” Grid asked a question as he stared at Kyle who was controlling his face as much as possible.

Kyle replied cautiously, “Based on what I read and the power of resentment in the waves of demonic energy, my guess is that it is Drasion...”

“You seem to know a lot.”

“There is a lot of literature related to great demons in the imperial library. In particular, there are details of the great demons killed by Sword Saint Muller. One of them was Drasion. By the way, Your Majesty, do you already know the identity of the great demon in the Abyss?”

Thanks to former emperor Juander, Kyle had acquired a lot of information. This allowed him to infer Drasion’s identity. It was honestly surprising to him that Grid was also aware of it.

Grid shrugged. “I fought him a little while ago.”

“Huh?”

It wasn’t just Kyle. Basara and all the officials listening to the conversation were shocked. How long had it been since he defeated the 17th Great Demon, Botis? Yet he fought Drasion as well? In that short time? Honestly, it felt like a bluff. Even Kyle, who had a relatively accurate understanding of Grid’s state, couldn’t believe his words.

“How did you live?”

Grid was happy after seeing Kyle’s obvious reaction.

“It seems like you know what Doom is?”

It was the power to temporarily turn a person’s race into an undead. Grid had experienced the ridiculous power that reversed all healing effects. It was a fraudulent power that couldn’t be resisted. Grid judged that uncovering the method to stop it was the key to the Drasion raid and was looking forward to Kyle’s knowledge. Kyle had studied with all types of benefits from Juander since he was young and even became a transcendent. He would surely know the method to destroy Doom. Unfortunately, the answer received was less than expected.

“Of course I know. It is a very powerful curse that creatures on the ground can’t deny. Any living being is bound to become dead while suffering from it. That’s why I’m amazed that Your Majesty came back alive.”

‘A powerful curse that creatures on the ground can’t deny...’

Did it mean that all races, not just humans, were helpless in front of Doom? If so, the Drasion raid really became an impossible story.

Grid recalled the scene where even Saintess Ruby couldn’t get rid of Doom and asked Empress Basara for her understanding, “I would like to summon troops from the Overgeared Kingdom. Can you cancel the barrier that is blocking movement magic?”

His knights summoning wasn’t affected by the barrier, but Mass Teleport was different. A large number of reinforcements could only be called when the barrier was lifted.

“That isn’t possible!”

The officials watching the situation silently were frightened. It was almost at the level of throwing a fit. It was natural—the barrier that blocked the movement magic was the most basic defensive countermeasure, and also the last bastion that protected Titan. The moment the barrier disappeared, it was unknown who or what forces would suddenly appear in the middle of Titan to attack.

Grid couldn’t be trusted. Kyle’s attitude toward Grid was somewhat suspicious. The worst picture was drawn in the mind of the officials. They imagined that after the barrier was lifted as Grid requested, the troops of the Overgeared Kingdom would come over and take control of the imperial palace.

Meanwhile, Basara didn’t doubt Grid at all. If Grid and Kyle were on the same side and the two of them wanted to take over the imperial palace, then it would’ve already belonged to them. There was no need to doubt Grid right now. The problem was the forces hostile to the empire who were closely watching the barrier.

‘It is really dangerous if the great demon appears and the enemy invades in the middle of the confusion.’

Grid smiled at the troubled Basara. “There is no need to worry about unknown dangers. It is because my knights are strong.”

“...I understand.”

Basara’s worries were quickly over. Piaro and Asmophel—they were originally pillars of the empire, and she knew and trusted their skills as much as Grid.

“Turn off the barrier,” she ordered.

“Your Majesty, once the barrier is turned off, it will take at least 30 minutes to get it back up and running. We can’t take the risk in the midst of the appearance of a great demon...”

“We need to lift the barrier anyway in order to fight Drasion.”

“Are you thinking of calling all the single digit knights and commanders scattered throughout the border areas?”

“Yes.”

The reason the empire stationed talents at every border was ultimately for the sake of peace. The moment the talented people left the borders, the entire empire might face a crisis. However, the heart of the empire was Titan. Protecting Titan was the urgent priority.

The officials felt that Basara’s judgment was right and nodded. They were convinced that if all the powerful people of the empire were summoned to Titan then they would surely be able to stop anyone who tried to invade the imperial palace. In the end...

“Then I will remove the barrier right now.” The great magician Ricilia accepted the order on behalf of the officials. Once he and the other tower members injected magic into their rings and pendants, the movement magic blocking barrier covering all of Titan started to be gradually removed.

‘Amazing.’ Grid admired it as the barrier covering Titan emitted a blue light before disappearing. Was it due to Drasion’s demonic energy? The sky was black and red.

-Lauel, now.

It happened as Grid sent a whisper to Lauel in the Overgeared Kingdom...

As they waited for Lauel and the Overgeared Guild members to appear using Great Magician Ashur’s Mass Teleport, a strange, uninvited man appeared in the middle of the great hall.

“A treasure trove has been opened. Kukuk.”

[The Great Robber of the Red Night has appeared.]

The single notification window shocked Grid.