When did he get cut? The blood flowing from his eyelid kept trickling. The fact that he was hurt without knowing it brought a great impact to Kyle. He had steadily built up his transcendence and there should be no attacks he couldn’t ‘perceive.’

Kyle had a body of lightning. Lightning flowed along with the blood in his body. He was abandoned by his parents due to it, but the lightning became a blessing to him, not a curse, after he gained complete control of it. Every time Kyle assimilated with the lightning, he moved as fast as lightning. His thinking ability accelerated in proportion.

It meant the compatibility between the transcendent senses and Kyle was the best. It was fair to say there was no wound Kyle didn’t discern.

Kyle actually calculated it—he calculated that he would never be killed by anyone unless he disobeyed the will of Overgeared God Grid or used the ‘arm’ that was filled with Martial God Zeratul’s obsession. Now at this moment, he thought his calculations were wrong. The demon, Zepar, brought him a strong sense of crisis.

“Human transcendent...” Zepar crawled out of the remnants of the collapsed wall and laughed energetically. He was clearly laughing at the man staring at him while surrounded by blue electric currents. “Why don’t you gather back that electricity power? A transcendent looks like a frightened dog.”

“This fucking crazy guy should fall down.” Kyle let out curse words. Zepar’s impression of him looking like a scared dog wasn’t wrong, so he became angry.

Zepar shrugged. “In any case, it is nice to meet you. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a transcendent other than myself.”

“You... are a transcendent? A demon?”

“I was born weak. To be strong, I had to push the limits time and time again. Then I naturally became a transcendent.”

Step, step. Zepar continued to walk as he talked to Kyle. The gap between himself and Kyle was reduced from hundreds of meters to tens of meters. Then it disappeared without a trace. It would be a stunning sight for anyone who didn’t know about Shunpo.

However, Duke Grenhal knew about the concept of transcendence. Additionally, Kyle was a transcendent. They expanded their senses to the fullest and kept an eye on the direction Zepar’s gaze was facing. The electric currents surrounding Kyle’s body split into tens of thousands of branches, covering the air. It rose like a dragon and spread out like a net, as if a barrier was forming. The whole process was very rapid. It was natural since lightning was fast.

“Um.” The moment he appeared in the sky, Zepar was trapped in the network of electric currents and stuck out his tongue. He stretched out his tongue as long as possible and placed the tip covered with saliva on the tip of his nose. “The numbness still won’t go away.”

“Jerk demon. What do you see my lightning as?”

“Haaap!” Duke Grenhal’s voice rang out loudly. He ignored the bleeding of his huge body and his fist aimed at Zepar’s face. It was transcendent in speed and power.

Kyle carefully controlled the electric currents and was activating Duke Grenhal’s brain and muscles. The battle intensified as Zepar started to fight back. It was a battle between transcendents that surpassed the concept of space. The moment Kyle’s swiftness was added, thousands of war-like aftereffects swept through the area.

Light flashed. The infinitely dividing lightning caused destruction.

Titan, the largest city on the continent, was completely destroyed by the two men who took the city as a stage. The cries of the demonic creatures killing in various parts of the city and the humans running away from them continued.

“Keuk!” Duke Grenhal was unable to sit back and watch people helplessly dying, so he left the battle. He ordered Beast King Morse and the Red Knights who arrived just in time to rescue the people.

Morse clicked his tongue. “It is right to get rid of the main culprit first.”

Duke Morse decided that getting rid of the demon was a priority over saving lives. He rolled up his sleeves to help Kyle, but he couldn’t rashly enter the battle. Putting aside the strength of the demon, Kyle’s lightning that dominated the entire area gave off too much pressure. If there was a god of lightning, it might look like this.

“...I can’t enter.” He thought it was better to prioritize saving lives first. Goddess Ruby prioritized taking care of people. As a member of the Sanctity Church, how could he ignore those who were in trouble?

The moment Morse whistled, the horses and livestock scattered throughout the city moved in unison. Some of the low intelligence animals also accompanied them. They played a big role in pulling people out of the rubble of the building with their mouths or putting the injured on their backs to escape.

***

“Film it! Don’t miss a single scene!”

The class of the reporters was usually an assassin. In a world of violence and killing, it was necessary to hide their energy in order to spy on or interview targets safely. However, the reporters gathered in Titan had no intention of hiding their energy. They ran around blatantly in order to act faster.

Kyle—a super named NPC of the empire. He often appeared on formal occasions with former emperor Juander, so he was well-known. This was awareness that led directly to popularity.

Pale skin that was beyond white and dark circles around the eyes. Lonely eyes that seemed to have a story... The combination of degenerative beauty and haggard appearance meant he was selected as ‘the number one man I want to protect’ by women. He was always in the top 10 of popularity votes for male NPCs.

This celebrity was fighting for life or death against the demon swordsman who turned Titan into hell. How strong would the last remaining pillar of the empire be? This was a great concern to the world, so the reporters had an unyielding spirit. They didn’t care about their lives as they scattered around the scene and conducted a live broadcast.

“Viewers, look! Kyle, the last pillar of the empire, is fighting against the demon who is trampling on Titan... Ah...”

The reporter couldn’t continue. It was because he couldn’t think of a comment to relay the situation. The world they saw was just tinged with blue light. Every time the tens of thousands of lightning bolts flashed, the landscape of the damaged city turned pale, but Kyle and Zepar couldn’t be found anywhere. They both moved too fast.

“Wow, this is crazy... he is called the god of lightning, and in terms of speed, doesn’t he seem to be faster than Grid? I acknowledge it.”

The private streamers used more direct expressions to interact with viewers. It was 30 minutes after the start of the great human and demon war. The promotion of Kyle excited people amidst rumors of the imperial army at the scene dying helplessly. Of course, they didn’t see Kyle in their eyes. Still, the constant lightning was Kyle’s power, so the demon must be on the defensive.

Viewers cheered enthusiastically for Kyle. From the time when the great demons continuously invaded, people always blessed the appearance of a strong person. They hoped that more strong people would appear on the side of humanity. Many people wanted to live a safe life like before.

“I hope Kyle wins... Ugh!”

“Eh? The building is shaking... Keuk!”

The streamers communicating with the viewers died. It was because they looked at the chat window to communicate with the audience and failed to observe what happened around them. Of course, the result wouldn’t change even if they looked around carefully. The deaths of the reporters continued in the midst of the chaos.

The impact of the tens of thousands of lightning bolts that bent like a whip and shot forward like an arrow, as well as the shockwaves, reached every corner of Titan. At the very least, the barriers set up at the major strongholds meant catastrophic damage was avoided. However, the barriers wouldn’t last forever.

It was indeed a disaster. Kyle was conscious of this fact as well. ‘I need to move the battlefield.’

Kyle’s inability to feel any sense of belonging or responsibility to the empire didn’t mean he was a murderer. It might be different in the days when he moved according to the orders of the martial god, but now he had no interest in killing innocent people. His heart became more uncomfortable as more people died in battle.

He attempted to lure Zepar outside the city, but Zepar didn’t want to move the battlefield. He didn’t get caught up in the temptation. Even though Kyle pulled away like he was fleeing, Zepar didn’t chase and just released sword energy toward the ground.

“This damn jerk...”

Wounds were engraved all over Kyle’s body. Kyle noticed the reason. Zepar’s sword energies were often ‘added’ over time. There was a wave of sword energy that followed the sword energy released immediately with a strike. His transcendent senses didn’t perceive the wavelength of sword energy as an attack. It was similar to not responding to sunlight or the wind. It was estimated that the wavelength of sword energy that occurred with a time difference was judged to be the aftermath of a simple technique. It was like the wind pressure that followed an attack.

This was a tricky opponent.

It happened as Kyle’s dark circles became darker...

“Summon Iyarugt!” Just then, a new voice was heard on the battlefield. The gazes of the reporters and streamers focused on that side.

Kyle didn’t miss Zepar’s startled look. The moment Zepar’s attention was dispersed, he accurately aimed at the left arm. This short act was willpower and magic. In an instant, a spear of lightning pierced Zepar’s heart.

“Where are you looking?”

“Keuk!”

‘There is something.’

Kyle was a key member of the imperial armed forces. In particular, he had the authority to access a lot of information during the days of Juander’s rule and he naturally knew the identity of Iyarugt. This sword was once used by Overgeared God Grid. It had the soul of the demon, Iyarugt, embedded in it. The moment Kyle heard this name and saw Zepar’s agitated reaction, he was certain there was a relationship between the two of them.

“Zepar! This XX bastard, I’m glad to see you!”

“......”

“......”

The emergence of Iyarugt was impressive. The sword that blossomed in the world tinged by lightning. The old demon entered the stage with a release of sword energy that prevented the light from invading his surroundings. He seemed to have built an invisible wall with a radius of five meters.

He was the only one with a different color in the pale world where the blue lightning flashed. He revealed his unique presence. His presence was more than enough to thrill the reporters and viewers. It was just that the way he spoke was too frivolous. It didn’t go with his noble demeanor.

The cause soon followed.

“Do you know the Overgeared Guild?” It was Peak Sword.

Iyarugt was a growth item, but the low performance (by Grid’s standards) meant it was raised by Peak Sword instead of Grid. In the past few years, he had instilled the wrong values into Iyarugt and succeeded in disciplining Iyarugt, a demon without blood or tears.

“Look, Peak Sword. Don’t cancel my summoning and stay out of it.”

“You want permission to fight? If you want it, then shout!”

“I-In this situation...”

“You don’t want to? Then go back to the sword...”

“Do you know God Griiiiid?!”

“Ohhhh!”

“......”

“......”

The hunchbacked old demon—the demon who caught people’s attention by blocking the light of the world lost his dignity in one moment.

“Xck... ShX...” Iyarugt’s face distorted like a demon and he shivered. In fact, he just shouted the words he was told. He didn’t know the meaning of the words Peak Sword always forced him to say, but he felt shame. It was because the reaction around him became subtle every time he shouted it. It was clear that the meaning and intention was strange nonsense.

Peak Sword smiled brightly and patted Iyarugt on the shoulder. “Hahahat! Well done! Succeed with this momentum and come back!”

‘Kill! I will be sure to kill you!’

Iyarugt’s dark eyes shone with killing intent as they focused on Zepar in the air. The one who colluded with a great demon to seal him. The first goal was to kill Zepar. The second goal was to kill Peak Sword one day when the seal was released.

‘...No.’

Demon—in hell, demon meant a species. The nobles of hell who were born with powerful demonic energy. They were the great demon candidates. There were also those who evolved into demons later. Demonkin who evolved into demons because of wickedness—one of them was Iyarugt. He was never a good existence. It was why he had stuck with Grid for such a long time.

However, perhaps it was because he had been with the idiot for too long.

‘He won’t die anyway if I kill him. Just beat him up...’

A small change was occurring in Iyarugt’s heart. He was becoming less evil. Of course, that didn’t mean—

[The hidden piece ‘Sword Demon’ has occurred.]

[The resentment and killing intent toward Zepar has become a trigger and the soul of ‘Iyarugt’ has awakened.]

[’Iyarugt’ is now regaining the power of his prime. The side effects will permanently damage the soul.]

His feelings toward Zepar hadn’t changed. This resentment and killing intent were the same as an immutable truth.

“Kukukuk... Zepar, you disgusting bastard. You seem to be ousted from power as I predicted. I made sure of it three times.”

“This old demon’s way of speaking has become vulgar.”

During the conversation, two swords suddenly collided.

Iyarugt jumped forward and attacked Zepar during the gap. The smile disappeared from Zepar’s face. Sublime Sword—Iyarugt’s swordsmanship had reached a higher level and was different from Zepar’s half-sword technique, which only worked when entering the absence of self state.

Iyarugt’s sword spun using Zepar’s sword as an axis and blood rained down. The world was in shock.

A Grid admirer just as bad as Peak Sword—it was natural to be surprised that the old demon, who seemed to have a screw loose somewhere like Peak Sword, was overwhelming a powerful demon with swordsmanship.

[(Breaking news) The Overgeared Guild has a strong summons...]

[(Breaking news) The actual master of Iyarugt is reported to be Grid...]

[(Breaking news) Grid’s summons has gone wild in a place with no Grid.]

Breaking news poured out in the news reports around the world, which had previously been filled with desperate news. It was a hymn of hope.