Overgeared

Kraugel always had one goal—going beyond his limit, transcending one’s own limit to face the true limitations. It was about reaching the peak.

‘There is no need to be shaken.’

The reason he was weak was because he didn’t learn Muller’s swordsmanship...

Kraugel silently let Saleos’ provocation go as the great demon stepped on him. It was because he knew—the moment he followed Muller’s footsteps, he would lose his qualification to discuss the limit. Kraugel’s desire was to ‘transcend’ Muller. If he was going to be overshadowed by Muller anyway, he would’ve taken the easy road of following Muller’s path from the beginning.

[The reputation of the Sword Saint is in danger of falling.]

[The world doesn’t tolerate the Sword Saint’s frequent defeats.]

[In order to maintain the Sword Saint’s reputation of being the strongest in swordsmanship, you must memorize the Matchless Heart Technique.]

The Matchless Heart Technique—it was the trace of Muller obtained from completing the Sword Saint class quest. It was said that Muller obtained it from the previous Sword Saint and it also discussed infinite sword energy. Kraugel consumed sword energy with every skill he used. The stronger the skill, the more sword energy that was required. From Kraugel’s position, the shortest way to become the most powerful person was to obtain the Matchless Heart Technique.

However, if Kraugel learned the same technique as Muller, then he would become the ‘second Muller’ rather than ‘Sword Saint Kraugel.’

[You have already suffered a few defeats. A new defeat will cause your qualification to be doubted...]

Kraugel skipped the rising warning windows and used True Clouds. The blue clouds of sword energy stretched out temporarily and took away all of Saleos’ senses. Kraugel raised himself up in the gap and flew into the sky.

““Hahat! Do you have no shame?””

Saleos overcame the chaos caused by True Clouds in just one second and identified Kraugel’s position. He immediately jumped out of the range of True Clouds and chased after Kraugel.

““....!?””

Saleos was flying forward with great force only to stop in a flustered manner. He was confused because a sword was floating in the place where Kraugel was supposed to be.

“”This human tricked my senses?””

Saleos once again confirmed that the energy felt from the sword floating in the sky resembled that of Kraugel and gritted his teeth. A chill went down his spine as he determined the location of Kraugel who had escaped like a rat. A strange and ferocious roar echoed from the ground, reminiscent of the roar of a beast of immense size.

Saleos, who lived without fear as one of the most powerful beings in the world, shrank back for the first time in his life. The waves of sword energy swept over his vision as he hurriedly twisted his body and crossed his arms.

“Bunhelier’s Scream.”

The evil dragon Bunhelier—it was a sword technique created by expressing the obsession of the being who plagued him for a long time. Kraugel’s new ultimate technique took advantage of all attributes. It dealt peak damage even if the target’s attribute was ‘nothing.’ It utilized the potential of swordsmanship to the extreme to reproduce the irrational power of the dragon.

“”Kuock...! Kuaaack!”” He felt like he had been struck by the damn Rebecca’s divinity. Saleos screamed and shuddered as he suffered the pain of his skin peeling off and his muscles being ripped off.

『 P-Perhaps? 』

The broadcasters from various countries were dumbfounded after noticing that Kraugel was going to die earlier. Now they finally woke up. The viewers had clenched fists and couldn’t talk in the chat windows. All the broadcaster’s live chat windows stopped updating. It was a time when all the people of the world were focused on the beginning of the reversal that would remain in history.

“”This... it isn’t enough!”” Saleos cried out struggling with the pain. The sight of him staring at Kraugel with red eyes reminded them of a demon. No, he was a great demon. “”More...! Make it more interesting!””

Did he finally get rid of the pain? Saleos’ momentum was different from before as he moved his rigid body. Every time he narrowed the distance to Kraugel, explosions broke out that caused the sky to distort. If he fell to the ground like this then one corner of the continent would be blown up. On the other hand...

“Gasp...Gasp...”

The screen zoomed in on Kraugel—standing in the center of the True Clouds, his chest heaved and his eyes shook as he stared straight ahead. His cramping arms and legs touched the hearts of the viewers.

『 Is this the aftermath of using the skill? 』

『 It is a skill that frightened the 19th great demon. It is serious and the penalty will naturally be high. 』

The commentators didn’t dare say what was going to happen. Even if they didn’t say it, all the viewers knew what would happen in the future. According to Saleos, Kraugel hadn’t made as much progress as Muller. The limit of the ‘incomplete’ Sword Saint was here.

The moment that everyone thought so, a pair of wings, made out of light, appeared behind Kraugel’s back. They were unspoiled, pure white wings that were gradually dyed with darkness, causing it to lose its purity. Saleos’ fists finally reached Kraugel and they were swung at an invisible speed. His fists transcended the physical concepts and stretched out dozens of times, penetrating and tearing at Kraugel’s body.

Viewers witness the terribly scattered remains of Kraugel and their hearts sank.

““....!?””

Saleos stopped the offensive. He realized that he had not felt the sensation of hitting anything with his fists. That’s right—the Kraugel that Saleos tore at was just an afterimage left by Kraugel, who raised the full potential of Quick Command to the fullest extent and managed to avoid all the attacks directed at him. He returned to his spot and drew a full moon with his sword. It was a sword that dealt critical damage on Saleos, who was still suffering from Bunhelier’s Scream and exposed weaknesses.

““Yo... u...””

Saleos’ body was once again split in half. His organs spilled out from the cut. Then tens of thousands of blood vessels once again started to tangle together. It was an immediate process of restoration, just like when he was cut by Space Sword.

Kraugel didn’t just watch quietly. “Transcend Storm Sword.”

It was a multi-hit skill that inflicted dozens of hits within a specified area. The storm of sword energy tore at all the blood vessels that wanted to restore Saleos’ body and rendered his restoration useless.

Thump!

““...Yo... u””

Saleos’ body once again collapsed and the blood vessels emerged again.

Flash!

The use of the strongest wide area skill ‘Heaven and Earth Rupture into Nothingness’ once again disrupted Saleos’ restoration. Kraugel still had many techniques left. They were the essences of Kraugel’s experiences when he had overcome as many trials and tribulations as Grid.

““...You!””

Saleos failed to restore his body once again and felt anxious, causing him to detonate his magic power. He only relied on his strength to suppress others and hadn’t learned magic. Right now, he just exploded his innate magic power. Even so, it was more destructive than great magic.

The rankers who grasped Saleos’ characteristics during Kraugel’s battle and rejoined the front lines were swept away by the blast and collapsed. On the other hand, Kraugel used Sword Curtain and Impenetrable Skin to endure the explosion. Then he successfully linked the next attack to the side of Sales’ body.

Jajinmori—the thousands of blood vessels trying to restore Saleos’ body stretched out like rubber bands as half of Saleos’ body was hit by the ultimate kick and was blown away dozens of meters. In the end...

“”Kuaack!!””

Saleos gave up on restoring his body. He cut off his blood vessels himself and the two halves of his split body stood up. Then he hit Kraugel at the same time from the left and the right. Kraugel had already used White Light Steps. After inducing the movements of both halves of the split body to overlap, Kraugel used Heart Sword and cut them at the same time.

Saleos lost 20% of his health and was the first to notice it. Did this person call himself a new Sword Saint? If he met this person a bit later then it would be too late.

““...I would’ve lost.””

Twitch, twitch.

Thanks to the overlapping movements, Saleos’ bodies finally reconnected.

“Pant...Pant...” Kraugel was experiencing the chronic disease that Grid had suffered before visiting the Tower of Wisdom. His stamina was completely lost and he couldn’t hold on any longer. He sank down in his place.

“”...Not Muller, but the Sword Saint.””

Step.

Saleos knew this was the end and took a step forward. “”The name Kraugel, I will remember it.””

Step.

At his second step, he reached Kraugel and punched. Immortality was lost. Kraugel received the big hit and his health was fixed to the minimum. The time allowed for the collapsed Kraugel was only five seconds.

“Run away!” Most of the rankers who only joined Kraugel to complete the quest, such as the Black and White sisters, had already abandoned the fortress and started to run away.

“Kraugel!” Some rankers who joined Kraugel to protect the players’ homes and rights, including Knight, remained in their place until the end. Even though they knew they were going to die, they charged Saleos in order to give Kraugel time to recover.

“”Kuhahahahat! Your courage is admirable!”” Saleos burst out laughing. He had experienced the strength of the new Sword Saint and from his point of view, the intervention of other humans was insignificant. It was funny. Saleos laughed as he smashed the heads of the rankers like watermelons every time he swung his fists.

The rankers felt despair at their limitations, the commentators gave up on relaying the situation, and the viewers left the TV to head for their capsules. It was because they wanted to use their own weak power to save Kraugel. Then they stiffened like stone statues. It was due to the shouts of the commentators.

『 ...Epic! 』

“...!”

The viewers rushed in front of the TV again. The screen showed the ‘rain of battle gears’ bombarding Saleos. The supreme one, Grid, was descending through the rain of battle gears. Was it because many people were witnessing it, just like his first epic? This time, the system didn’t hide the identity of the epic’s protagonist.

[Overgeared King Grid is writing the seventh epic.]