Overgeared

[You have entered the 61st island.]

[The island is already purified.]

Immediately after stepping foot through the gate. Grid warped to the 61st island and faced the expected situation.

‘Indeed, the bosses of the 60th islands don’t regenerate.’

It was easy to infer since Bini said that the 61st island had been cleared. In the first place, this was the end content of the Behen Archipelago. For the development of the story, the bosses of the 60th islands had to be finite. If the bosses infinitely regenerated then the story of the Behen Archipelago wouldn’t come to a conclusion.

‘This means that the person who eats the islands in the 60’s first...’

Preemption was important. From Grid’s viewpoint, he missed out on Lantier.

‘It’s likely that Agnus obtained Lantier’s cloak and dagger...’

It would be lucky if he only obtained items. Considering Agnus’ personality, there was the possibility of him securing Death Knight Lantier.

'No, isn’t that too much of a leap? If he got Death Knight Lantier, wouldn’t he have used in when he fought me in the Belto Kingdom?’

The landscape that unfolded in front of the deep in thought Grid was very beautiful. A cool breeze blew through the wide meadows and spread dandelion seeds. The horizon beyond the meadows looked like a jewel. It was an unbelievably spectacular sight compared to the desolate wasteland Grid had come to before. 

Step, step.

Grid hastened his pace. He didn’t have enough free time to watch the scenery. Someone else would be challenging the Behen Archipelago at this moment. He was nervous at the thought of them possible reaching the 60th islands.

'The remaining bosses are all mine.’

Grid’s greed was burning! He moved to the gate of the 62nd island without any hesitation. At the same time.

[You have entered the 62nd island.]

Tang! Tang tang!

The moment the scenery changed. The moment Grid’s darkened vision was restored and he faced the notification windows, four jade light bullets flew towards him. It was the surprise attack of the guardian of the 62nd island, Demon Slayer Alex. In fact, Agnus encountered this surprise attack as soon as he entered the 62nd island and proceeded to fight in adverse circumstances. Most players, not just Agnus, would’ve allowed the surprise attack.

Alex’s attack speed was 0.25. It meant he could fire four bullets per second, meaning he could attack four times per second. It was impossible for an ordinary player to cope with Alex’s surprise attack, as a gun had the highest accuracy of all weapons.

But who was Grid? He was the peak of the overgeared people. Grid was different.

Tatatatang!

The battle ready Grid had summoned the God Hands and their effect was fraudulent. The God Hands moved around Grid and protected him from Alex’s bullets.

“You have no manners.”

Grid accused Alex after calming down his surprised heart and rushing forward.  Alex used guns, so Grid’s top priority was to narrow the distance. It was a textbook judgment. It was too obvious. 

Clink!

Death knight. Their reasoning abilities might be lost, but their fighting skills in the past were fully preserved. Alex was skillful. As soon as Grid narrowed the distance, he converted the magic engineering gun into sword form and responded to the attack.

Chaeeeeeng!

“...!”

Grid swung the Enlightenment Blade attached to Sword Ghost. He was surprised while defending against Alex’s counterattack.

‘Why is his speed so fast?’

Grid thought it was a characteristic of the weapon or a skill when Alex fired four shots in a row. But Alex managed to swing his sword four times a second.  It was really a basic attack. There were no precursors to using a buff or skills.

‘Human’ players and NPCs had a basic attack speed of 1 (1 per second. Of course, this figure might increase depending on the type of weapon used). Given that the attack rest was estimated to be 0.25, Alex’ agility must be at least 8,000.

‘No, it’s impossible.’

Based on Yura, a Demon Slayer’s core stats were strength and intelligence. She also needed to invest a few points into stamina for survival. The Demon Slayer class didn’t have enough room to invest points in agility.

‘Is the lack of agility covered by the gun?’

Due to the nature of the weapon, guns had a lot of options that would increase the attack speed. However, it was a different story for a sword. It was highly probably that the attack speed option wasn’t available when the magic engineering gun was in sword mode.

Alex must have a passive or attribute that allowed him to swing a sword four times per second.

‘Like assassins or swordsmen, does a Demon Slayer have a passive that increases their attack speed?’

For example, an assassin’s attack speed was increased due to the class characteristics as well as a passive skill. On top of that, the assassin steadily increased their agility stat so they had the fastest attack speed among all classes. As a simple example, Faker hit an average of two times per second and occasionally three times.

‘Instead, his attack power is weak!’

Jeeeong!

It wasn’t just Faker. Most assassins had to cover their lack of damage from their low strength stat with active skills. Once an active skill was used, the assassin’s attack power was extremely high. But Alex?

Jjejeong!

Jjeejeeeong!

Every basic strike that he aimed at Grid was as powerful as an assassin. Alex combined the attack speed of an assassin and the attack power of a swordsman!

‘Che!’

Fortunately, Alex’s attack power wasn’t high enough to stiffen the God Hands. Grid was able to hold on thanks to the God Hands and counterattacked from time to time. But.

Kuaaaaang!

Not surprisingly, Alex didn’t just use basic attacks. The moment he aimed four bullets at Grid, the unique jade light of a Demon Slayer also covered Grid in an explosion. It was an explosion that only occurred when Grid grasped the chance for a counterattack.

‘His control is good...’

Grid became irritated as he started accumulating damage with every explosion. He desperately felt how powerful Alex was. It wasn’t clear how strong Alex must’ve been when he was alive.

Chaeng!

Chaeeeeeng!

But there was still hope, as Grid didn’t allow any critical attacks. He had the four God Hands. They blocked most of the four attacks that Alex unleashed in one second. Grid once again felt awe at the God Hands.

‘This game is truly about items.’

An opportunity came in the midst of the crisis. The God Hands were steadily building up experience while blocking Alex’s strikes. Now the experience of the God Hands was at 70%. If he fought for a whole month with Alex, the rating of the God Hands would rise to legendary. But.

"I will be behind if I wait a month...! Pagma’s Swordsmanship!”

Grid ignored Alex’s intermittent explosions and started a sword dance.

Hwaruruk!

Flames sparked from the Enlightenment Blade and followed Grid’s movements. It looked like a red dragon’s black tongue.

“Link!”

Four basic attacks per second?

This was the strongest skill that attacked 20 times per second!

Jjang! Jjeejeeeong!

Pit!

Pipipipipit!

“....!”

The alert Alex was ready to defend, but it was meaningless. Alex could only defend against Grid’s first four strikes. Then he was hit by a Mjolnir wielded by a God Hand and his body was bombarded by sword strikes. The original Link had the drawback of not having enough attack power to threaten boss monsters.

[You have dealt 240,555 damage to the target!]

[You have dealt 235,900...]

...

...

[The option effect of the Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires has added 5,000 fire damage!]

[The option effect of the Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires has added 5,000 fire...]

...

...

[The option effect ‘Black Flames’ has activated from the Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires!]

[You have dealt 3,673,800 damage to the target.]

[The option effect ‘Black Flames’ has activated from the Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires...]

[You have dealt 4,392,220 damage to the target.]

[The option effect ‘Black Flames’...]

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 9,215,090 damage to the target.]

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The chance of activating the black flames with every attack was demonstrated when combined with this skill. The black flames that constantly exploded was enough to cover the lacking attack power of Link, making it worthy of the strongest attack skill Pinnacle Kill.

“...Amazing.”

When Grid first used Failure, the overwhelming attack power of the Holy Light Gloves combined with Kill was still intact in his mind. The thrill when he used Failure to defeat the field boss was enormous. At this moment, that thrill completely disappeared from Grid’s mind. Grid was able to experience a new level with the Enlightenment Sword that Failure couldn’t give him!

Duk.

Alex suffered continuous explosive damage. He lost one third of his health and his left arm bone fell off. It was a scene proving that the undead was vulnerable to explosions. Now Alex had one hand.

“...”

Silence filled the desolate 62nd island. The only speaker, Grid, had shut up. He was in a trance as he admired the power of Link and the Enlightenment Blade.

‘...Is this real?’

He felt invincible! He felt like he could also win against Piaro... No, this was an illusion.

Clink!

Did Alex feel a sense of crisis after losing one arm? While Grid was lost in thought for a moment, Alex transformed the sword back into a gun.

Tang!

Tatatatang!

Alex fired four bullets every time he stepped back. He occasionally used the Continuous Fire skill and the God Hands couldn’t keep up with the  bullets. A heavy rain of bullets broke through the God Hands’ defence and wounded Grid’s body.

“Kuk!”

Grid regained his mind as he became bloody in an instant. He realized that it wasn’t the time for admiration. This was the Behen Archipelago. It was an instant dungeon that cause Grid to complain about the difficulty several months ago. Grid reminded himself that it wasn’t the time to be thinking about items. He took out the Ideal Dagger, used Quick Movements and caught up with Alex.

[You have suffered 5,200 damage.]

[You have suffered 4,880 damage.]

[You have suffered 5,150...]

...

...

Despite giving up the Holy Light Gloves and arming himself with Triple Layers, Alex’s bullets were powerful. He continued to fire at the approaching Grid and considerable damage accumulated.

Grid’s health gauge, which was still less than 100,000, quickly disappeared as he narrowed the distance to Alex. Grid’s goal was to defeat Alex before the immortal passive kicked in. He thought it was possible with the attack power of the Enlightenment Sword.

But Alex didn’t repeat the same mistake. After realizing that Grid’s approach could threaten him, he didn’t let Grid near.

Peng!

Pepepepeng!

[You have suffered 15,900 damage.]

“Kuaaaaak!”

Suddenly? No, was it planted in advance? Grid was rushing towards Alex, only to step on a mine and was swept up in an explosion. The force of the explosion was so big that Grid’s body flew back one metre. It was a mine that contained the unique magic power of a Demon Slayer. Despite Grid wearing Triple Layers, the mine contained so much attack power that it would’ve been deadly if he used Blackening.

“Shit...”

The fallen Grid quickly got up.

Clink!

Alex switched his magic engineering gun from a pistol to a sniper rifle. It was the sniper mode that Yura couldn’t use yet. 

Peeeeeong!

An explosion occurred right when Alex was aiming at Grid. It was from Alex’s head!