Where to go and meet someone, how to get this item...

Satisfy had few guidelines like this. It was a phenomenon that became more obvious as it entered the second half. The higher the level and understanding of the player, the less information that was provided to the player. The reason was obvious—freedom.

Satisfy is a world where you could do anything. Don’t rely on quests or the system to narrow your choices and carve out your own life.

There was a heated debate about the S.A Group’s attitude, but the atmosphere was mostly positive. It was because the less intervention there was from the game company and system, the more immersive the world became. If the S.A Group’s management policies were similar to those of ordinary game companies, people would’ve recognized Satisfy as a simple MMORPG, not another world.

Yes, people tried to understand the S.A Group’s attitude as much as possible. However, they thought it was too much this time. The great human and demon war—compared to the Eternal Kingdom’s golem invasion and the great demon invasions that occurred without notice, this time there was ‘advance’ notice, but... the information was too poor. People didn’t know why, when, and where the great human and demon war would occur.

Now they realized why the S.A Group had given this advance notice. The difficulty was higher than ever.

20 minutes after the war began—in just 20 minutes, hundreds of millions of people across the continent were experiencing crises everywhere. Of course, there were deviations according to location. Some people resonated with the idea that ‘the crisis is an opportunity’ and enjoyed the war. It was because the enemies in their area were at a level they could endure. Many people cheered about the experience and items that poured it as they hunted the demonic creatures that appeared through the portals.

Nevertheless, the number of those who felt despair far exceeded the number of those who cheered. In particular, the players belonging to the empire.

“Shit! Is this real?”

At the capital of the Saharan Empire, Titan...

Many players now knew there was an underground dungeon called the Abyss, but only a small number of players knew that it was the boundary at the end of the world. People were shocked by the demonic creatures and demons that poured out of the Abyss in large quantities. It was an overwhelming number and strength compared to the demonic creatures coming from the portals.

They had to question if the Abyss was the entrance to hell.

Titan was trampled in an instant. The army couldn’t exert their strength and demonic creatures easily entered the urban areas. The demons at the forefront were too powerful. There was no sense of realism as they killed the imperial forces with a single blow. They couldn’t believe they were experiencing such a crisis in the middle of the imperial capital, which was believed to be one of the safest places on the continent.

“It is strange,” the demon, Zepar, whose name was dyed black—proof that this name was at least on the same level as a great demon—mumbled as he slaughtered the crowd. Every time Zepar swung his sword, flames soared and buildings collapsed. The equipment and objects in the building exploded and ignited, burning the glorious civilization of the empire.

It was a time when the people’s screams increased.

“Throw down your weapons and surrender.” A group of knights appeared at the scene. They protected people from the debris and the aftermath of the explosions.

“Do you deserve to say that to me?” Zepar cocked his head at the words of the knights and swung the sword. The sword emitted amazing sword energy that was naturally mixed in with demonic energy. Dark flames poured out like a tsunami.

In the empire, destructive forces that transcended sword energy were relatively common. The man leading the knights blocked it. The figure on the carriage led by the large beast was Immortal King Grenhal.

“Keuk...!”

A swordsman who cut high-rise buildings like they were tofu—the wavelength of sword energy mixed with demonic energy was very strong and Grenhal had to pay a price for blocking it. He acted almost instinctively and succeeded in reacting to it. However, even if he blocked it, he still had a large injury on his chest. In addition, the foreheads of several knights around Grenhal were cut and blood gushed out. The horses that were suddenly covered in their owners’ blood ran away in surprise.

“What is this...?”

The knights’ voices shook. Immortal King Grenhal—he was one of the dukes of the empire and a symbol of the imperial armed forces. Yet he was overwhelmed by the strike of a common demon, not a great demon? It was an unbelievable sight to see. No, it was a nightmare they didn’t want to believe.

Grenhal tightened his muscles and blood vessels to stop the bleeding before reaching out behind him. It was a gesture to dissuade the knights who were agitated and to step up and protect him. “Leave this to me and spread out. Protect even one more person.”

“...Yes!”

The carriage knights served Duke Grenhal. Their number one priority was Duke Grenhal, not the people, the empire, or the empress. They naturally wanted to protect Duke Grenhal. The reason for suppressing their hearts and accepting the order was because they knew Duke Grenhal’s heart.

Duke Grenhal called the capital the heart of the empire. He said that even if everything in the empire collapsed, the empire would recover as long as the capital was safe. Therefore, he handed his family’s territory to his heir and he stayed in the capital.

“What a strange thing.” Zepar tilted his head at an angle. The half-white hair hanging down had a subtle red color. The moonlight was red. “It tastes bad.”

Zepar’s cold eyes observed Grenhal’s thick armor.

“You weren’t cut much.”

Zepar’s sword was the sharpest in hell. He could even slice the flesh of the monarchs that was stronger than steel. Then after crossing the Abyss and reaching the ground, he felt the strangeness of a dull blade. Some human bodies weren’t cut well. The same was true of the humans in the large carriages.

“Hmm... Are the clothes made of adamantium?”

Did the gods of Asgard already take the side of humans? Zepar was naturally suspicious. The performance of the armor was too excellent.

Duke Grenhal’s mouth curved up. He looked at Zepar with bright eyes and smiled. “This is a mixture of mithril and black iron.”

“You are treating me like a country bumpkin because I’m from hell.” Zepar was interested in swords and was well-versed in minerals. He knew mithril and black iron. Mithril weakened the power of demonic energy, while black iron was harder than steel. However, Zepar knew it was impossible to smelt it hard enough to stop his sword energy.

Duke Grenhal’s smile widened. “Are you truly doubting it? Hahaha, you don’t know anything.”

“What?”

Duke Grenhal didn’t say anything else. He just smiled and leaned his upper body forward. His body bent at a right angle and the muscles of his back were wriggling.

“Tsk.” Zepar frowned. He clicked his tongue at the bad heart of human beings who didn’t answer the question to resolve the curiosity they aroused. At this time, a large amount of blood gushed from Duke Grenhal’s shoulder. The sword energy that tore at armor and dug into flesh occurred without any indication, cutting deep into Duke Grenhal’s collarbone.

It was aiming at the neck, but Duke Grenhal headed to the ground regardless. He jumped from the carriage and fell in a diagonal line. The Immortal King—the more he was injured, the stronger the endurance of his body and the more explosive his charge forward. The airflow was twisted, but Zepar didn’t feel much inspiration.

He just swung his sword without any expression. The waves of demonic energy and sword energy produced a subtle wave. All the matter present in the way of his sword was torn to shreds. Naturally, Duke Grenhal was included.

“......”

The bloodshot eyes of Duke Grenhal turned white as his armor and flesh were torn apart. The ferocious charge ended in vain. He stopped without reaching Zepar. The gap between the two of them was only one meter, but it was like a distance that could never be crossed. It was strangely unpleasant.

“Indeed... it tastes bad,” Zepar muttered as he passed by Duke Grenhal in a nonchalant way. There was no vigilance. There was no reason to care about those who died standing without even a scream.

“......?” He was a bit surprised. Just then, the guy he thought was dead reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He almost wondered who turned this person into an undead.

“I...”

Some people were often confused because the world focused on Grid’s epics. Grid wasn’t alone in this world. It had been repeatedly stressed that time was fair to everyone. Every time Grid achieved results or became stronger, there were those who made similar efforts and growth in areas others couldn’t see.

“...am the Immortal King.”

There was a time when the dukes of the empire were considered the pinnacle of humanity. Among them, Duke Grenhal had the highest reputation. He just couldn’t play a big role when fighting the great demons. The problem was that he was still considered one of the strongest humans.

People had lamented. They felt skeptical as they realized how weak the physical level and talent that most humans were born with. They thought that due to the low level of human beings, talents who could surpass the dukes of the empire didn’t easily appear.

It was a miscalculation. There was a reason why the dukes of the empire, including Duke Grenhal, were considered the strongest human beings. It wasn’t due to talent, but because they kept getting stronger. Duke Grenhal trained every day in order to fight against the great demons and become an existence that could support humans. He was different from the demons who were content with their innate power.

“......!”

Zepar received an uppercut from Duke Grenhal to the side and his body rose high into the air.

Berserker—those who could hone all weapons to the limit, they also treated their body as a weapon. The more wounded they were, the more powerful than any weapon in the world they became. Just—

This time, his opponent was too bad. The one who defeated the 13th great demon with a sword. After the single digit great demons, Zepar was one of the most powerful demons.

“...Excellent.” Zepar’s body soared without resisting the shock and he smiled the moment his body stopped. The blood red eyes of the hell moon were near. “How hard is it to train the human body up to here?”

He turned around and descended. The human figure, which was smaller than a dot, grew larger in an instant.

“I respect you and will give you a chance to see my swordsmanship.”

Zepar restored his breathing and took a posture as he fell. Rather than simply wielding the sword, he used the technique of cutting the world’s boundaries. It happened just before his sword and Duke Grenhal’s fist collided in the air.

“Shit... Why did you come this way? It is troublesome.” A very fast voice that wasn’t in a relaxed tone entered Zepar’s ears. He had a few words in the tenth of a second when he couldn’t take a breath. It meant the speaker lived in a different time from others.

It was the moment Zepar felt a sense of numbness. His vision, colored by a blue light, was filled with walls hundreds of meters away. They were the walls of the empire that had been built much higher and harder since they collapsed several years ago for some reason. Some of them collapsed terribly. It was because Zepar’s body was struck by lightning and flew into them.

With a unique constitution that embraced lightning since birth, the incarnation of talent that Martial God Zeratul sent the Triad Lee Jeong to protect, a transcendent and the only remaining pillar of the empire—‘Single-armed Kyle’ stood by Duke Grenhal and spoke bluntly, “I just helped you because I thought it would be hard to handle it on my own if you died.”

“Haha, I see. You are thinking of dealing with that demon. Good. Protect the empire with me.”

“Nonsense... Che.”

When was he cut?

Kyle looked like he was chewing on shit as he wiped at the blood flowing from his eyelid. He had no interest in whether the empire perished or not. He just had no choice but to step forward out of fear that Grid would cut off his remaining arm.

Behind them were Beast King Morse and the Red Knights. Peak Sword also arrived through the warp gate at Lauel’s command.

“Summon Iyarugt!”

A hidden piece occurred.

***

At the capital of the Overgeared Kingdom, Reinhardt...

“...I would rather go on an expedition!”

Many portals were also opened in Reinhardt. However, players had little chance to step up because they were intercepted by soldiers. Players in other regions were struggling to death while players in the Overgeared Kingdom were starving to death. They couldn’t just sit still and suck on their fingers like this...

It happened as the determined players started leaving the city one by one...

“Your servant Piaro is back from the expedition.” Piaro and the knights came to Grid and reported. The dark elf king, who had been taken prisoner, gritted his teeth and bowed to Grid the moment their eyes met.

The eyes of Piaro’s group shone. The dark elf king who had struggled for days since they captured him—he became a gentle sheep in front of Grid and Piaro’s group indirectly realized how strong Grid had become once again.

“I have set up the Overgeared Sword Tower.”

“If you say sword tower...”

“It is literally a tower where you study swordsmanship. I’ve invited a great person to be the tower master, so I recommend that you stop by later.”

Singuled looked like he didn’t understand it.

“I wonder if there is a swordsman in this era who can teach us...”

Sword Saint Kraugel of this time hadn’t fully grown. Apart from him, there was no swordsman better than them. Then who surpassed them to become the tower master?

The response from the knights was strange. Dante, the former swordsman instructor of the Red Knights, felt competitive toward the master of the sword tower.

“Who knows? Wouldn’t it be faster to go and meet him?”

Biban’s identity couldn’t be revealed, so Grid didn’t speak for long. He managed to close his itching mouth.

Piaro’s eyes turned cold. ‘What type of ghost confused His Majesty’s heart?’

The Overgeared Kingdom was peaceful...

Grid abandoned his nervousness. Lauel, Sima Qian, and the other excellent strategists were working on all types of measures. The allied forces currently in crisis would be saved by the arriving reinforcements. Grid was just focused on his own work.