Overgeared

Susan was full of talent and enthusiasm. She just had bad luck. If only she was born in the main family. If she had competed on the same footing as Mercedes, then she would’ve been ahead of Mercedes.

“Heiro!”

Susan had been bothered for years. Mercedes and the traitor Piaro who were sent away by the former emperor. It was ridiculous that the two of them, who had as many shortcomings as their skills, were pretending to be great powers in a small kingdom.

The flames from the woman’s sword, who claimed to be the queen of the Overgeared Kingdom, swept through the long corridor of the palace. The king and the guard captain were startled and curled up while Susan and the Neo Red Knights stood firmly and faced the flames.

The carpet that was burned black filled the air with a pungent smell. The luminous ores that lit up the corridor were broken and lost their light.

“Cough, cough!”

Ironically, the intruders became a barrier. Thanks to the Neo Red Knights standing in the middle of the corridor, the king and the guard captain escaped from the flames. They opened their eyes and let out sighs of relief. The back of the intruders, alive and well, came into view.

Susan was safe without any wounds despite being engulfed in flames from the front. All of them had ice-like transparent blue runes around their bodies.

“Hey, this mentally disabled queen. Attacks that contain attributes are useless against us. If you plan to believe in that unusual sword, then I recommend that you quit immediately.”

In fact, Susan had felt a crisis. She would’ve turned to charcoal if the runes had activated only 0.2 seconds later. Even so, she pretended to be unconcerned. She was proud in her ability to quickly activate the runes so there was no shame.

The Fire Dragon Sword trembled.

-Master, is that human blind.She looked at me and called me an unusual sword?

‘She isn’t blind, she is just a madman. By the way, that is a higher level elemental shield... it is surprising.

Grid remembered Susan. She was a traitor, yet she denounced Piaro for being a traitor. She was crazy, but her stats were great. The proof was that she survived despite being hit in the forehead by Piaro.

“Hrmm.”

Grid’s blue eyes looked around at the people present. The Neo Red Knights—an organization obtained by the grandmaster after Juander’s end.

‘The fact that those who only follow the grandmaster are here...’

It meant the grandmaster was also likely to be nearby.

‘As expected, his purpose is to meet the Five Seniors?’

The grandmaster had been looking for the expelled gods, also known as the Five Seniors. He wanted to join forces with them to punish the gods of the west and cleanse the stigma of the seven malignant saints. At the time, Grid didn’t know the reality of the Five Seniors, thus he wasn’t aware of the seriousness of the situation.

‘I have to stop it.’

But now he knew—the meeting between the grandmaster and the Five Seniors must absolutely never happen. He didn’t know what the greedy yangbans would do the moment the Five Seniors came to the West Continent. In the first place, the war between gods shouldn’t occur. The moment the plague that fell from the sky struck the land, the Overgeared Kingdom and the West Continent couldn’t be safe.

‘The grandmaster is misunderstanding.’

The Five Seniors were by no means good. They were far from the ideal gods that the grandmaster wanted. The gods of the west, who were only selfish or followed their instincts, might be better. Grid looked at the Xing King. He felt sorry when he saw the haggard appearance. The reason why he was on the defensive...

Perhaps it was because he rejected the grandmaster’s request to arrange a meeting with the Five Seniors.

Grid asked, “Did they violently attack you without even attempting to talk?”

“No... it isn’t like that. They gave me a month’s grace.”

‘As I expected, he hesitated.’

The foundation of the grandmaster was ‘goodness.’ Therefore, Grid had hope.

‘If I tell him the reality of the Five Seniors and persuade him well, I can change his mind.’

Grid grasped the situation and asked Susan this time, “Where is the grandmaster?”

“What?” Susan frowned. “Why do you want to know where he is? Are you going to meet him? Hahat. You must be dreaming.”

“...It seems you have to be beaten up a bit.”

She was saying ‘you?’ Daring to talk impolitely to his lovely Irene? Grid was furious at Susan’s rudeness, despite introducing himself casually as the Overgeared Queen. Then he equipped Talsha and the Overgeared King’s Crown in turn. Of course, only the crown was visible to people.

“What? Wearing a crown all of a sudden? Kukuku! What? You? Are you protesting that I’m rude? Are you reminding me that you’re a queen?” Susan’s eyes flashed as she moved her two swords together like she was using a whetstone.

“Don’t care about how you are treated. Aren’t you just the queen of a small kingdom?”

The speed of the swords hitting against each other became faster. Grid was a blacksmith and was worried about the opponent’s swords. The two blades collided and every time they slid off each other, the acceleration accumulated. Sparks scattered in all directions and disrupted their vision. Did she intend to use the acceleration to make a surprise attack? A normal person would’ve thought this way and become wary...

‘Doing this will hurt the blades.’

It happened while Grid was uncomfortably watching the blades that started to break because they were grinding at each other.

‘Now!’

Susan didn’t miss the moment when the other person was distracted. She took advantage of the acceleration of the sliding blades and shot forward. It was close to the speed of sound. It was a scene that seemed almost exaggerated. Susan’s surprise attack was that fast. It exceeded Grid’s transcendent senses which were still growing. Grid’s shoulder was pierced.

“Hahat!”

Susan thought she had won and swung her other sword. The cloth was torn. Grid barely stepped back and dodged the attack, inadvertently exposing his flesh. The Xing King’s eyes shook.

‘It is an untrained body.’

Was she around her mid-30s? The body of the queen was younger than expected and was as beautiful as her face. The white skin had no scars and the skin without muscles looked smooth. This meant she wasn’t compatible with the battlefield. It seemed overwhelming even holding a sword. Then what on earth was this strength?

“Kuek?!”

Susan groaned. It was the aftermath of the queen's transparent sword hitting the sword in her left hand that had just been cutting through the air.

‘What is this strength?’

The sword couldn’t handle the power in the Overgeared Queen’s sword and lowered. Susan’s left shoulder naturally lowered and she got a chill down her spine. She lost her balance and the Overgeared Queen’s knee struck her face. There was the sound of a watermelon popping.

Susan wasn’t critically injured from one kick, but she was quite shaken. It was because she vaguely measured the power of the Overgeared Queen. In terms of strength, the Overgeared Queen was higher than herself.

‘It is nonsense.’

Susan had been training all her life. Her armor-covered body had strong muscles. She had been training her whole life, but she lost in strength to a woman with such a soft body... She couldn’t understand it. Fire filled Susan’s eyes as she gritted her teeth. She stretched her slightly bent knees and swung her twin swords.

The two swords that moved in different trajectories were gorgeous and irregular. It was the essence of the Vaintz-style swordsmanship. It was a skill that the Neo Red Knights couldn’t easily handle, let alone a beginner. Yet at this moment, the Overgeared Queen easily blocked it.

“......!”

Susan was ruled by chaos. It wasn’t just because her sword was blocked. This person had counterattacked and wounded her, so it was a big shock. In front of Revolve, everyone was equal. Grid connected Link and spoke to Susan, who was coughing up blood, “By this point, you understand who I am, right? Stop and take me to the grandmaster.”

“This bitch!”

She needed to be convinced to accept any outcome. In that sense, it was difficult for Susan to admit defeat. She was a natural genius who worked hard all her life. Why should she be defeated by another woman when she received ancient runes from the grandmaster? It shouldn’t happen unless the world was crazy.

“Heiro!”

The ancient runes floated in the air and permeated Susan’s body. Her colleagues watching the situation were surprised.

‘She finally crossed the line.’

Runes were a tool that created certain phenomena. It was up to the user how to use it. One method was to absorb it in the body. The runes that permeated the body dramatically strengthened the user’s bones, muscles, or mana core. This helped them exert transcendent strength or magic.

The problem was when it strengthened the mana core. The forcibly strengthened mana core expanded and overloaded the body. Therefore, it was necessary to adjust the intensity so it only strengthened some of the body. Yet at this moment, Susan strengthened the mana core.

A time limit was formed. The moment the enhancement was over, Susan wouldn’t be able to handle the storm that would come and would likely be ruined. It wasn’t a bad result for her colleagues, who always regarded Susan as offensive to the eye.

“I will kill you.”

There was no change in Susan’s appearance. However, she gave off an air that was threatening enough to generate intense air waves.

‘It is like Blackening.’

Grid wore armor for the first time in this battle. Armor made from Khan’s last work and the breath of the sacred gods quickly covered his entire body. Then the importance of appearance was revealed. The black and red armor on Grid made him look like a villain. Meanwhile, Irene wore it and looked like a divine paladin despite the colors. It was the moment when Grid, who was bothered by the hair flowing down during the battle, tried to tie up his hair again.

“Haap!”

Susan rushed to Grid like lightning. She arrived in front of Grid’s nose and swung her swords four times.

“This...!”

The Xing King rose from where he was sitting. He predicted that the queen would suffer at least serious injuries and he flew forward without thinking. The wife of his benefactor—it wasn’t right to turn away from her when she was in danger.

“Where are you going?”

The Xing King only managed to take a few steps. He couldn’t even handle one Susan, let alone 15 Neo Red Knights.

“I know! I know! I’ll tell you where the Hwan Kingdom is, so don’t hurt the innocent!”

The Xing King struggled as he was caught by the Red Knights, but it was useless.

"Yes, you should tell us the location of the Hwan Kingdom. I’m just going to kill this bitch first. It doesn’t make sense to call her innocent when she pointed the sword at us first.” Susan scoffed as she grabbed the hair of the fallen Overgeared Queen, only to be stunned.

The Overgeared Queen, who should be bleeding to death from seven holes, was staring at her with a clean face.

‘How?’

Susan’s trembling gaze hurriedly examined the queen’s chest. Then she saw it. Rather than being torn to shreds, the armor and shoulder guards were intact.

‘Overgeared...!’

There was no one in the world who didn’t know the meaning of ‘overgeared.’ There were just some people who hadn’t experienced the power of items yet. Susan belonged to the latter. Susan quickly retreated in preparation for the impending counterattack when a small whisper entered her ears.

“I won’t allow your comfort.”

“......!”

The runes imprinted on her body were peeled off. Her strengthened bones and muscles weakened sharply and the balance of her body was off. The mana core, which had expanded to the fullest, contracted. This was accompanied by a pain beyond imagination.

“Kuack... Kuaaack!”

Susan shed blood and stumbled like she was going to fall. She was going to lose her mind. It was too painful. However, she endured this pain with her tenacity and desire to kill. She barely held the two swords in her trembling hands. She discovered that the Overgeared Queen was walking toward her with a disinterested face, as if dismissing her as a mere chore.

Her determination didn’t last. The two swords fell from her hands. No one would believe it, but it was real. The swords fell from her hands like they had their own will.

“Mon…”

Puok!

“...ster.”

Puk puk puk!

It was the linkage of two fused sword dances. Susan’s body was shattered and turned to gray ash. Grid couldn’t spare her when she had killing intent directed at Irene. It didn’t matter if she was the grandmaster’s subordinate. He had to wipe out any future trouble in advance. Grid wiped the blood that splattered on his white cheeks and asked the Neo Red Knights, who were as stiff as statues, “Do you want to fight more?”

“...No.”

The Neo Red Knights, who had left the empire after the rebellion of the 4th Prince, Edan, observed the continent from the perspective of a third person. They questioned the rapid growth of the Overgeared Kingdom and were particularly curious when they saw that the new empress, Basara, was giving conveniences to the Overgeared Kingdom.

Overgeared King Grid, Piaro, and Mercedes—the reputation of the three giants was great, but did it make sense for the great empire to help a small kingdom just because of fear toward these three people? The Neo Red Knights even joked that Basara was in love with the Overgeared King.

Now they realized it. It wasn’t like that at all. There were monsters lurking in the Overgeared Kingdom. Overgeared Queen Irene—she was stronger than the famous king. No, she was someone even more powerful than Piaro and Mercedes. This was the real power of the Overgeared Kingdom.

“Let’s step back first.”

The Neo Red Knights made a decision and hurriedly left. Grid didn’t bother chasing after them. The situation had turned out like this so there was no reason to go to the grandmaster in person.

‘He will come to find me himself.’