High ranker—it was a world-class hierarchy that ordinary people would never reach in their lifetime.

On the Internet, there was a culture of mocking high rankers and comparing them to Grid, but the actual perceptions were different. A significant number of people respected and took high rankers as their goal. Recently, many people had achieved their goals. It was the aftermath of a significant increase in the number of high ranked players.

In the past, according to different media or regions, the top ranked players were classified as high rankers. Then recently, it had been argued that the top 100,000 rankers were defined as high rankers. It wasn’t intended to undermine the value of high rankers. As the overall level of players increased, the top 100,000 rankers showed a dignity that was almost equivalent to or above the past high rankers.

In the first place, the number of players was close to 2.2 billion. 100,000 was not a large number. It was a super-ultra elite group of the top 0.0045%.

The two men at the peak of that group were right here. Sword Saint Kraugel, who went beyond the limits with a sword, and Lantier Faker, who used all types of shadows to create soldiers—the two men were fighting against Chepardea while Kasim, Glant, and the succubi escaped with Leraje.

The goal was to buy time. It was until Leraje reached the basement of the castle. They didn’t think of fighting and winning against Chepardea at all. It was a wise judgment. Chepardea was Baal’s subordinate. It was evaluated that his strength was just below a single digit great demon.

“Croak.” Chepardea’s tongue moved in a spiral. He ignored Faker, who was hiding in the shadows, and attacked Kraugel first. Every time this tongue touched Kraugel’s sword, it would stretch out longer despite being cut. It was the same no matter how much it was sliced. There seemed to be no end to the length. In the first place, Chepardea’s tongue was protected by slippery mucus. It was hard to cut even for the Sword Saint. Unless he could handle fire like the fire demons, he would have to consume a lot of mental strength with every cut.

Chepardea’s tongue, which had been relentlessly tracking Kraugel, finally took control of the interior of the palace in a dizzying manner. It spread out like spider webs through the rather cramped bedroom and outside hallway to block the other side’s movements.

“......”

There was no guarantee that a party filled with luxurious members could achieve results in a raid. The key to cooperation was mutual understanding. However, Kraugel and Faker weren’t close normally. They didn’t know much about each other. Just their individual competence was outstanding.

If the battle had been broadcasted, then the commentators would be sighing right now. The odds of winning might be low, but the problem was that they didn’t cooperate with each other. It was an interpretation that would make Grid snort if he watched the broadcast.

“......!” Chepardea’s eyes opened wide as he watched the target. He naturally expected Kraugel’s response to be a ‘slash.’ He expected a slash that would cut all the tongues blocking the path and prepared. It was because this was the existence of the Sword Saint that Chepardea heard about.

However, Kraugel was different. He ran over without cutting the tongue. He looked like a monkey, not the Sword Saint. Still, it was hard to laugh at. It was because Kraugel had noticed that poison was injected into his tongue.

‘No, he couldn’t know. It is a matter of skill.’

He avoided it because he didn’t have the confidence to bear the energy consumed when cutting the overlapping tongues at once. Thus, the situation was lucky.

Chepardea kept an eye on Kraugel’s movement. He checked the horizontal trajectory. ‘He is moving like a rat. He is so careful that I’m sick and tired of it.’

Throughout the Great Human and Demon War, the only offensive means that Chepardea showed was his tongue. The tongue covered the walls, floor, and ceiling dozens of times, and as a result, they were tangled together like a spider web. From the other side’s point of view, it seemed to be a structural barrier. It deserved to be interpreted as Chepardea focusing on defense.

However, Kraugel wasn’t positive about this at all. He was wary of Chepardea and speculated that Chepardea would have a method of attack other than the tongue.

‘If this was Muller, he would’ve cut it in a single slash and detonated it!’

Frogs easily hunted flies. However, Kraugel wasn’t easily caught, so Chepardea’s tongue started to shake like it was in sync with Chepardea’s annoyed feelings. The shaking was so aggressive that it slightly ruined the balance of Kraugel, who was running on the sticky and slippery tongue.

Chepardea captured this moment accurately. Chepardea’s tongue swelled up. He quickly filled the empty space like he was going to crush Kraugel. Tens of thousands of taste buds moved closer together and emitted smoke. It was light brown and had a terrible odor. It was the precursor to a poisonous explosion.

The explosion was terribly large. It was enough to cause worry that the castle could collapse. This was even though they knew the crystal castle could never collapse. It was a disaster caused by Chepardea’s one strike. This was indeed Baal’s power of destruction.

“I feel relieved. Croak.”

It wasn’t just the colorful wallpaper and carpet. All the bedding and furniture had disappeared as well. Chepardea was the only one who was unharmed in the bedroom that was burned black. The Sword Saint and Lantier were gone along with the shadows.

There were no doubts as Chepardea moved toward the entrance to the hallway. It was to track down Leraje, who had fled earlier. The mirror demon was chasing her, but he needed to make sure. Agnus was far behind, so he had no choice but to come forward...

“......?”

Chepardea flinched with surprise. It was because the black ash coloring the bedroom turned into a rope and wrapped around his legs. He turned his head and the view of the intact bedroom filled his vision. There were no signs of the explosion. The bedding and furniture he thought had disappeared were also intact.

Chepardea belatedly noticed that the shadows had swallowed up the aftermath of the explosion. The identity of the ashes that covered the bedroom was actually the shadows.

‘It isn’t just the Overgeared God who is a problem. He is also crazy as an enemy? Croak.’

Chepardea remembered the Lantier of this era. It was the human who killed Agnus before the start of the Great Human and Demon War. Since then, Agnus started to fall lower and lower, and experienced hell. This human was a threat. Lantier’s assassination ability and his shadow techniques were extremely famous. As for the personal competence, well...

It wasn’t very impressive. It felt like he had just inherited the name of Lantier and was at a level where he didn’t have smooth control over the shadows. It was insignificant compared to the Overgeared God. However, not too long after that, his shadow control ability was extremely developed.

The state of invalidating a phenomenon. It might transcend the reputation of the previous generation Lantier.

Chepardea’s suspicion was valid. Just now, Faker used the skill Greed taught by Kasim to swallow the explosion while simultaneously unfolding a curtain of shadows. At least at that moment, it was a scene that the previous generation Lantier couldn’t reproduce. Of course, it was possible with the help of Kraugel. He took advantage of the instant gap when Kraugel cut part of the explosion and this was the result of the perfect cooperation between the two.

Kraugel and Faker trusted each other. It was trust that originated from respect, not friendship. The two people never questioned each other’s choices and actions. They trusted and responded to each other in complete cooperation. So gradually, they understood each other.

“It is close.”

Step.

Kraugel was muttering to himself as he walked out of the shadows.

Chepardea was cocking his head due to not understanding the words. Then his expression soon hardened. It was because he noticed that Kraugel’s transparent sword, which had produced huge shockwaves during the battle, had calmed down. He instinctively felt an ominous feeling.

“The rapport is finally over.”

Kraugel had no experience dealing with myth rated items. Therefore, he was inwardly flustered by the resistance that occurred from the time the White Tiger Sword grew to the myth rating. Since ancient times, the Sword Saint was an existence that could use all sword-type weapons. Perhaps the White Tiger Sword resembled the parents who made it, but it was very arrogant and refused Kraugel’s touch.

It was quite a huge shock. He was disappointed from the perspective of a parent who raised it, not the Sword Saint. Grid had made it with the potential to become a myth and it was actually the Overgeared God’s divine object after it reached the myth rating. Even so, Kraugel was the real master. He just hadn’t expected it to rebel...

In any case, he was glad that it was resolved.

“Let’s start now.”

Kraugel cut at the tongue aiming for his heart without hesitation. He no longer avoided it or crossed it. There was no need to do these things. Now he could cut the thick tongue surrounded by mucus like it was a radish without using any skills.

Kraugel moved using the shortest distance. He went straight without turning.

Originally, the Sword Saint was such an existence. The Sword Saint cut everything that blocked their way and broke through. He repeatedly cut off Chepardea’s thick tongue surrounded by slippery mucus, which could originally only be dried and suppressed by the fire demons. Every time the tongue was cut, there was a poisonous explosion. The White Tiger Sword shining in the hands of the Sword Saint showed its full power.

Chepardea also noticed this fact. “Overgeared God...!”

This guy was ahead of the times. He promoted the growth of humanity, which had always been slow, and consequently threatened hell.

Kraugel read Chepardea’s resentful eyes and whispered, “Grid doesn’t even care about you.”

Chepardea wanted to refute it, but he couldn’t do so. It was because his head was cut off from his body and fell to the ground. A shadow quickly rushed up to the big, round head, grabbed it, and threw it out the window. Kraugel kicked the body, which had lost its head and was staggering. This was one of the most popular gimmicks for killing small monsters. It was a way to target the ‘light weight’ and break through the front.

“This...! You cowards! Croooooak!” Chepardea’s roar as he fell out of the castle echoed in an empty manner. He was kicked out of the castle and there was only one thing he could do now. It was to wait for the return of the mirror demon left alone in the castle.

***

To put it simply, fighters were brawlers. It was possible to use everything in their hands as weapons. This meant they had the Weapon Mastery skill and there was a high probability that the condition of use for skills didn’t have any weapon restrictions.

However, Grid’s mind wasn’t changed. He was going to hand over Tzudan’s class change book to Chris as planned.

‘Tzudan’s main weapon was the greatsword.’

The skills that were opened when reaching a certain level or completing class quests were likely to be truly powerful, especially when the ultimate skills were used with a greatsword. Now he didn’t want to regret choosing someone other than Chris. Of course, there was no option for Grid himself to learn it.

Why? He couldn’t learn it. If he could learn it, he would’ve learned it right away, just like the skills he received from the Mountain King.

‘Chris is overflowing with qualifications.’

The only problem remaining was how much to charge for it. Grid didn’t have the desire to have 100 trillion won worth of assets like the world-class chaebols, but he intended to receive a proper price. He wanted to be friends with Chris until they died of old age. He was worried that there would be a sense of distance if he handed over a precious item for free and Chris felt a sense of debt in his heart.

‘Hmm... 10 billion won? Is this too cheap?’

The value of a legendary class change book was different than what it used to be. It was because it was clearly revealed that the acquisition path was unclear and the quantity was limited. Rich people in the Middle East, whose assets exceeded 1,500 trillion or 2,000 trillion won, offered thousands of billions in won for them, and it was the main reason for the rise in market price. It was hard for ordinary people to realize, but the world was full of rich people trying to become the second Grid with money.

‘...I think I’ll have to get at least 100 billion won for it.’

Chris was a top ranker for a long time and served as the lord of a big city. He represented Canada and had shot many shows and commercials. He also participated in various event competitions and swept up the prizes. Grid was sure he would have 100 billion won.

The unsuspecting Grid didn’t know that his economic concept was completely out of step with the ordinary. There were so many rich people around him and he was in a position to become a chaebol at any time.

‘Let’s hurry and change classes.’

Using the class change book meant the level was likely to reset to 1. Time was gold. For Grid to make a second debtor... no, he started right away for the future of his precious colleague.

His destination was the Abyss. It was a battlefield where a new crisis had arrived.