Overgeared

[The heavenly gods can’t take their eyes off you. Your dignity can be compared to a god after making three sets of battle gear that even the gods will covet.]

This was the notification window that rose when Grid made the myth rated White Tiger Sword. It was the first of the ‘special event’ that would happen every time he made three myth rated items. The reward was a skill, Divinity.

[Divinity - Blacksmithing Version]

[-Raises your existence to a level close to a god.

The casting time and cooldown time of all blacksmithing skills will be removed. It can be used up to two times whenever the skill is activated.]

Resource Consumption: None.

Cooldown Time: 23 hours.]

Grid thought of a number after he got this skill—18. The ‘F’ word came out. (The pronunciation of 18 in Korea sounds a lot like the F word in Korea.)

Think about it. A blacksmith’s skills were almost always related to production. So, if Grid’s blacksmithing skill was considered an active skill like ordinary blacksmiths, then it would be possible to show the merit of Divinity by completing one item the moment the ‘production’ button was pressed. 

However, Grid’s blacksmithing skill was passive. He didn’t have a production button. Furthermore, Pagma’s Swordsmanship was classified as a sword skill and it wasn’t affected by Divinity. This meant that the benefits Grid gained from Divinity weren’t very large. 

Grid’s anger had skyrocketed for the first few hours.

“Item Combination.”

On the day that he got Divinity, Grid had controlled his mind and recalled all the skills related to blacksmithing which he had obtained from hidden pieces.

They were Item Combination and Transformation. The skills exerted a transcendent power depending on the use. However, the cooldown time was too long for Item Transformation, and the casting and cooldown times of Item Combination were long as well. It was difficult to use them in practice.

However, Divinity could now get rid of these shortcomings. It was a skill that removed casting and cooldown time. Grid was confident that his upgraded power was at a level close to ‘invincible.’

[Belial’s Staff and the Lightning Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires will be combined!]

Grid usually merged items of the same type. Typically, it was a sword and a sword. Why? That was because he found it difficult to manually devise what types of items should be combined. However, it was now possible for him to depend on the Divinity system. If he used Item Combination after Divinity, the system would assemble the items with care.

That’s why he was able to challenge it. He combined a sword and a staff, which were completely different types of items.

Flash!

Belial’s Staff and the Enlightenment Sword flew into the sky by themselves and merged together, accompanied by a bright and splendid light which captured everyone’s eyes. However, the lightning gods rushing toward Grid showed no response to that. After all, they were weapons with no emotions. They only wanted to get rid of Grid. Then...

[Item Combination has been completed!]

The staff and the sword joined together within the light and returned back to Grid’s hand. Appearance-wise, there was no major issue. The staff had become a handle with a length of two meters. The total length of the combined weapon was three meters.

[Belial’s Staff + Lightning Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires]

[Rating: Myth (Transcendent)

Durability: Infinite

Physical Attack Power: 3,490   Magic Attack Power: 2,253

* 30% increase in intelligence.

* 20% increase in physical attack power.

* 40% increase in magic attack power.

* 30% bonus fire attribute damage.

* 30% bonus dark attribute damage.

* 15% bonus lightning attribute damage.

* Deals an additional 50% damage to sacred beings.

* There is a certain probability of flames (large) being released when attacking.

* There is a low probability of illusions being released when attacking.

* There is a low probability of summoning a red lightning bolt when attacking.

★ There is a certain probability of a black flames explosion when attacking.

* 30% increase in magic casting speed.

* You can cast three types of magic at the same time. However, proficiency is required.

When fire and dark magic are cast simultaneously, the magic power of each one was increased by 200%.

* Every time a spell is cast, a shield that absorbs 5,000 damage is automatically created. Targets that strike the shield are subjected to the fear and slowed stats.

★ When triggered, the options such as fire emission, hallucinations, red lightning summoning, black flames explosion, and so on are considered as casting a spell.

* 20% increase in magic critical chance. 

* 150% increase in magic critical damage.

* The skill ‘Enlightenment’ is generated.

* The skill ‘Ecstasy of Desire’ is generated.

* The skill ‘Belial’s Power’ is created.

“...??”

The attack power and magic damage were slightly lower than those of the individual weapons. It seemed there was a negative aspect because the sword and staff had lost the ideal balance. There was also no significant change in the option values.

There was only one change.

[* Every time a spell is cast, a shield that absorbs 5,000 damage is automatically created. Targets that strike the shield are subjected to the fear and slowed stats.

★ When triggered, the options such as fire emission, hallucinations, red lightning summoning, black flames explosion, and so on are considered as casting a spell.]

The newly added option made the Belial’s Staff + Enlightenment Sword reach a new level of fraudulence. It was more than Grid had expected. The power of myth + myth combined...

[The blacksmith god is very surprised. He feels jealous of a human’s skills.]

[The other gods are laughing at the blacksmith god.]

[Affinity with the blacksmith god has decreased by 1.]

[If affinity with the blacksmith god reaches -10, any items made (above legendary rating) will be cursed.]

“Ah, ****...” Grid cursed after a long time. Every time he got something new, he always felt both joy and loss. There were big profits but also a big worry. One example was when he was nerfed every time he created five legendary items.

‘Jealousy? Curse? What type of god is this?’

It was a really serious situation that when he combined two myth rated items, his affinity with the blacksmith god would reduce. If Grid didn’t know how to increase the affinity, he would only get a penalty and wouldn’t be able to avoid the curse.

“Wow, this sucks! Really annoying.”

‘Damn bastard!’

The lightning gods came closer as Grid was cursing the unknown blacksmith god. However, Grid’s response was simple. He drew a full moon with the weapon he held, hitting the five lightning gods simultaneously. One was struck by flames while another was struck by a red lightning bolt. Then Grid’s body was surrounded by a translucent dark shield.

[A shield with 5,000 health has been created due to the effect of Belial’s Shield.]

[A shield with 5,000 health has been created due to the effect of Belial’s Shield.]

They were overlapping shields! In the blink of an eye, Grid obtained an extra 10,000 health. The other three lightning gods, that were not exposed to the flames and electricity, counterattacked.

[You have suffered 3,900 damage.]

[The target you have attacked has resisted the ‘fear’ state and failed to resist the ‘slowed’ state.]

[You have suffered 3,710 damage.]

[The target you have attacked has resisted the ‘fear’ state and failed to resist the ‘slowed’...]

[You have suffered 4,050 damage.]

[The target you have attacked has resisted the ‘fear’ state...]

Grid looked at the lightning gods losing their unique speed and was thrilled.

‘A scam!’

The opponent being unaffected by the status conditions was a secondary problem. Grid just enjoyed the overlapping shield effect which didn’t consume any mana.

‘More in the future...!’

Grid’s motivation boiled up. He attacked the lightning gods with the ‘spear’ which combined physical attack power and magic attack power.

‘I want to make more items in the future!’

This desire lay in Grid’s heart. Grid thought about the combination of items he could actively utilize due to Divinity, and his anticipation for the infinite overgeared state he could show pierced the sky. The five lightning gods exchanged blows with Grid and gradually turned to rags, suffering damage from the magic attack power that Grid displayed.

On the other hand, Grid was fine. The fire emission, red lightning, and black flames—the options attached to the item frequently appeared, and the shields accumulated in number. As the battle progressed, he didn’t lose any health and increased his protection instead. It went up to at least 50,000.

“Hat..! Kuhahahahaha!” A feeling of pleasure exploded within Grid.

It felt like he was cheating while playing the game. This was the joy of being overgeared. He was so excited that he felt like he would burst into pieces. If the lightning gods were creatures with emotions, they would complain about Grid’s absurdity.

“Nyahahat!” Noe also had a smile on his face while he was binge eating. Every time he swallowed a piece of the thunder stone which was the core of the lightning god, Noe’s level rose quickly, and it was now close to 100. This wasn’t strange since Noe was eating five lightning gods.

Grid shattered the head of the last lightning god. The duration of Item Combination finished, and he recovered the two separate weapons. Then he looked up at the glass ceiling. 

“The thunder stone...”

It was emitting massive thunderbolts. Grid stabbed it with his sword. Then...

Kuwuong.

The clouds covering the sky disappeared like they had been a lie, and the thunder and lightning stopped. The heavy rain subsided as well. Light returned to the world that had faded to grey.

***

“...!!” Goldhit opened her eyes.

She hurriedly raised her body and looked around, wondering if she had dreamed everything. Then Goldhit saw the scene of Gyuratan and Bain competing against each other. It wasn’t a dream.

‘Dammit!’

To think she had shown such an ugly appearance to the emperor...? It was a disgrace. Goldhit was stunned because she had been so confident at first. Now, her face was flushed red. She was confused. Why hadn’t she used Teleport to get to the palace? It had been to analyze the power and techniques of the great demon.

Goldhit had inferred that Astaroth was familiar with darkness and lightning magic. There was also the high possibility that swordsmanship was involved. Therefore, Goldhit had used magic to significantly increase her body’s defense and physical strength.

Had that been all? After her splendid appearance, she had immediately deployed a barrier in case the great demon counterattacked. As a person who explored eternal life, Goldhit’s desire for survival was really great. Yet she had allowed an attack to hit her almost as soon as she arrived.

Goldhit clutched her head and recalled her last memory. ‘I didn’t get hit by him.’

Yes, the great magic that hit her body hadn’t been from Gyuratan. She winced as she remembered his appearance.

‘There is another enemy somewhere here.’

Goldhit was finally convinced that she had been hit in the back.

‘The enemy’s level is significant.’

They had the ability to use magic capable of penetrating a shield made of all attributes and the ability to hide so that she couldn’t detect it. Maybe it was another great demon... Could another great demon be hiding somewhere here? Goldhit gulped nervously.

A lightning bolt fell from the sky.

“Uh...?” A chill ran down Goldhit’s spine. She realized once again how clever the enemy was. The lightning storm itself was magic... The source couldn’t be found because this was magic without attributes.

“Is this Astaroth’s field…?!”

It was an enormous monster. Maybe Astaroth was a single digit great demon when he was complete? 

It was at this time that Bain’s sword was unable to pierce through the demonic energy and floated in the sky. Bain missed the sword flying away from his head and was unable to block Gyuratan’s next attack.

“...”

At the collapsed great hall, the First Knight was in rags, and the Five Pillars present had been defeated. The corpses of the soldiers and knights that formed a mountain in the background were meaningless. This was the overwhelming power of the great demon.

Astaroth was about to speak. There was no hope for humanity. At that moment… 

Swaaaah!

The rain pouring from the ceiling suddenly stopped. The lightning storm subsided, and the demonic energy around Gyuratan’s body became a haze.

‘Don’t tell me...?’ 

The frustrated Goldhit remembered a certain man—Overgeared King Grid. Then...

Clink.

Mercedes used a broken sword as a cane and raised her body. It was a dangerous situation. Mercedes was severely wounded and seemed like she would die at any moment. It seemed like it was hard for her just to breathe. So, why? Why did the emperor feel infinite trust in her? This was the value of a knight’s existence.