Sword Saint was the strongest combat specialized class. History proved it and in fact, the current Kraugel felt it. Sword Saint Kraugel was level 259. It was 100 levels lower than when he was a white swordsman, yet the current Kraugel was several times stronger than when he was a white swordsman.
The amazing thing was that there was still room for Kraugel to grow. Just like Grid and Yura, Kraugel hadn’t completed his class quest. In particular, one of Kraugel’s class quests was to find Muller’s swordsmanship and inherit it. If he acquired Muller’s swordsmanship, Kraugel’s power would grow exponentially stronger.
But Kraugel refused. He was a person who had no contact with Muller, who became a Sword Saint on his own. He didn’t want his reputation to be buried in the shade of the former Sword Saint. He wanted to carve his own path.
“Thus, I looked for you.”
“...”
The best spearsman on the continent, Kirinus. He didn’t belong anywhere on the continent, but visited a certain place once every three years. It was Empress Aria’s palace in the Saharan Empire. However, Empress Aria died five years ago. Now Kirinus was looking at a cemetery, not a beautiful palace that resembled Aria.
"I thought I would meet you if I waited here.”
Kraugel greeted Kirinus politely. Kirinus looked at him with striking eyes.
"Surrounded by the ultimate sword energy... You’re the one who has pierced the peak of swordsmanship.”
"Just as you have peeked at the peak of the spear. I would like to ask for your teachings.”
"The peak swordsman is asking me to teach... This means you are admitting that the sword is less than the spear.”
“No. Regardless of the sword or the spear, I am inferior to you. For now.”
"For now... It will be different later.”
Kraugel had two class change methods. The first was to succeed in Muller’s swordsmanship as mentioned above. The second was to fight and defeat the best warriors in each field. Of course, it was unlikely that Kraugel, who hadn’t reached level 300, could win against the strongest warriors in each field like Kirinus. No, it was a close to zero chance. Thus, Kraugel pledged that things would be different in three years.
“In return for teaching me today, in three years I will teach you.”
“Hah!”
Kirinus burst out laughing. The ultimate swordsman, who hadn’t yet ripened, was speaking nonsense. But there wasn’t any feeling of animosity. Rather, there was some liking.
"You will teach me... How interesting. Then shall I teach you in anticipation of three years from now?”
------!
There was no sound. Kirinus’s blue spear was only a dot. It was reminiscent of a dot that a brush made on white paper. But the impact that Kraugel received was powerful. Despite defending against Kirinus’ spear, Kraugel’s body flew 10 meters away.
[The impact was too big! Your perfect defense has failed!]
[You have suffered 8,130 damage.]
'I couldn’t avoid it?’
Kraugel wiped the blood flowing down from his mouth and was convinced.
'Indeed, the strongest warriors in each field obviously have the super sensitivity skill.’
It was unknown if the super sensitivity was applied passive like with the Sword Saint, or actively like the great swordsman. But those who had super sensitivity gave off a tremendous pressure.
‘Grid, what enemy are you facing right now?’
On this day. Kraugel saw a bigger world and his passion became greater. It was the same for Hao and Alexander who were watching from the side. This short experience held huge value for them.
***
What was the Behen Archipelago?
As soon as the world message appeared, many media outlets started to gather information about the Behen Archipelago. They needed to get the information rapidly so that it would be a scoop. As a result, the public was able to grasp the identity of the Behen Archipelago relatively quickly. The Hall of Fame and succession place for legends.
But now it had changed for some reason. It had a brutal difficulty even for the top 100 rankers and was one of the few ways to move to the East Continent. Rumor had it that the top rankers and Pope Damian had failed to capture the Behen Archipelago.
Then who was it? Who had reached the last gateway of the Behen Archipelago? This was a huge topic. The media outlets around the world were busy guessing the main character of the world message. And the most likely candidate was Kraugel.
Grid, Agnus, and Ares, who showed skills beyond common sense in the Belto Kingdom war, were also considered candidates, but the sky above the sky Kraugel overwhelmed all of them. It was natural. Kraugel had won against Grid when he was just a normal class. Now that he was a Sword Saint, it was estimated that he was much better than the three players.
‘They can’t imagine it.’
The Overgeared members who saw the news could only laugh. Kraugel had already failed to break the Behen Archipelago and Grid was actually the main character of the world message. They were excited about the turmoil that would once again happen once the news got out.
The Overgeared members didn’t know either. The impact of capturing the Behen Archipelago wasn’t just at this level.
***
[You have entered the 66th island.]
[You deserve praise for reaching this place.]
[Give rest to the last remaining hero...]
“The notification windows are very interesting.”
The guardian of the 66th island was the last remaining hero. It was right to interpret that the legend who became a death knight was also in a painful position.
“Umm...?”
Grid was slightly confused when he saw the 66th island. It was just flat ground. That’s it. The 66th island was a stage without small stones and bushes. There was no place to hide and the terrain couldn’t be taken advantage of when facing the enemy.
-A place where you can’t use shallow tricks.
Grid was convinced after hearing Braham’s voice.
"A stage where pure combat is prioritized... Indeed, the owner of this place is Madra right?”
Braham agreed.
-Right. He was the ultimate warrior before he was a genius strategist. A place for a one on one match with no variables is the best for a guy like him. In the first place, he can achieve a perfect victory on any terrain.
'A genius? The ultimate? Perfect? Braham is praising him so much...?’
Braham’s evaluation of Madra was at least equal to Muller and Mumud.
“...Sigh.”
Grid felt his heart pounding. Was it due to fear? Yes. Did he want to run away? No. Grid was glad to be enough to fight against an opponent that caused fear. He didn’t want to run away.
Sticks would be amazed if he found out about this, but since winning the First King title and quickly becoming powerful, Grid didn’t have experience with fighting with all his strength. He hadn’t met the right opponent. It was the same in the Behen Archipelago.
‘In that sense, I want to fight the first knight. Even if I would’ve lost.’
But he couldn’t fight Mercedes. If he fought with her, it would be the end of the Overgeared Kingdom. However, now things were different. There weren’t any external factors involved. He just had to fight with all his strength to obtain the rewards.
‘If I can figure out my skills here, it will be a big help in the National Competition.’
The schedule for the 3rd National Competition was later than usual. One of Grid’s goal was to win against Kraugel in the National Competition that would be held in three months. In order to face that day in a perfect condition, Grid was happy to fight strong opponents.
Step.
Step, step.
A death knight wearing majestic armor was slowly approaching. There was an amazing sense of power from the gait, despite it only being a body made of bones.
‘Sword... I thought he could use a variety of weapons because he is the ultimate warrior.’
The name ‘Madra’ clearly appeared in gold above the head of the death knight in majestic armor. He held an ordinary long sword around one meter in length and looked Grid up and down with a purple light.
“It has been 100 years since a human guest appeared. One day, Pagma died, my strength weakened and the invasion of the great demons was over.”
“....!”
Grid was startled. He held that Madra was likely to maintain his intelligence, but he hadn’t expected Madra to speak clearly like a human. Madra asked the confused Grid.
“Did you beat the halflings guarding the previous islands?”
“...?”
The halflings guarding the previous islands? Who were the halflings? Grid cocked his head and replied firmly.
"All of them except for Lantier.”
“I see...”
Indeed, the halflings that Madra spoke of were the death knights of past legends. He called the legends halflings! How strong was Madra?
‘Will this be tougher than I imagined?’
The tense Grid grinned. Madra, who was still looking him up and down, nodded like he understood.
"Well, it’s Pagma’s fault. Their names are legends, but they fell after becoming death knights. Once Pagma died and the supply of power was cut off, they couldn’t exert their strength properly. But you’re still pretty good. For a human to hurt those halflings... You’re also a present legend... Hrmm?”
Madra cocked his head. It was because he found it hard to determined Grid’s identity.
"Despite being armed with a sword, you aren’t the peak swordsman. You bear the soul of a hybrid vampire, but only have this much magic power? But you have the dignity of a king...?”
A human who reached the 66th island. Madra called Grid a present legend. But he wasn’t a swordsman nor a magician. It was difficult to gauge his true identity because only his high dignity could be seen. In the end, Madra couldn’t resolve the question and asked openly.
“What do you call yourself?”
"Call myself...”
What did he want the world to call him? Shin Youngwoo? Grid? Pagma's Descendant? He was all of them, but more so...
“Overgeared King... I am the Overgeared King.”
“Overgeared King...? Hoh, a king!”
Madra showed great interest in Grid’s answer. Since he was also a legend and a king, he felt a strong sense of kinship with Grid.
"Yes, what does overgeared represent?”
Madra was never defeated, which was why he was called the Undefeated King. Then was why the human in front of him called the Overgeared King? Madra waited for the answer like a kid filled with pure curiosity. Grid was thinking about how to explain being overgeared and summoned the God Hands. The God Hands were armed with Mjolnir.
“Hoh?”
Grid explained to Madra, who was surprised to see the golden hands moving by themselves.
"Overgeared is being able to make the best use of these tools. That is why I am called the Overgeared King.”
Best? A person who knew Grid would say that ‘he has no conscience.’ But the only ones here right now were Grid, Braham, and Madra. Madra didn’t know the truth.
"I see. You have the ability to make good use of battle gear... Um?”
Madra nodded with interest, only to suddenly frown. Looking back, there weren’t any legends who didn’t have this ability. In other words, is was a basic thing for all the legends to be overgeared. But the human in front of him was speaking as if this basic thing was his own outstanding ability.
“This... Maybe you are mocking me. Well, you don’t need to reveal your identity if you don’t want to. It is reasonable to be reluctant to show it before a fight.”
This conversation was coming to an end.
“Your purpose is to purify the now useless Behen Archipelago. If you want to cleanse it, then you have to beat me. As a death knight, my existence is to repel all intruders. A fight is inevitable. In addition.”
Supaak!
“Whether alive or dead, I have never experienced defeat. Not even once.”
“...!”
The voice of Madra, who was in front of him just a moment ago, was suddenly heard right beside him. Madra in front of him had suddenly disappeared. The moment Grid realized this.
[You have suffered 11,200 damage.]
“Kuk...!”
Grid was sliced in the side. Death Knight Madra recreated the top level footwork that Garam showed. He had never been defeated, became the Undefeated King and maintained this position in the Behen Archipelago. He had become weaker after becoming a death knight and weaker again after Pagma’s death.
"100,000 Army Massacre Sword.”
Chukak.
Chukakakakak!
Madra’s majesty remained. The sword technique that was twice as fast as Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Link cut at Grid’s body 40 times per second.