It was natural to defeat the Hero. One year in real time. In Satisfy time, the Hero had stagnated for three years while the contestants made steady progress. Indeed, last year’s Hero was defeated by many challengers. His fall reminded the world of how great the power of time was.

On the other hand, this year’s Hero was different. He blocked the challenges of the famous powerhouses and cruelly slaughtered those who didn’t understand who they were up against. This was the Hero’s true nature. How powerful was the Overgeared King Grid, who made even time meaningless? People deeply questioned this and shook. The huge presence of the monster called Grid was eroding the entire planet.

However, Kraugel remained calm as he competed against the Hero. His time, efforts and development were denied but he didn’t show despair. It seemed like he had been prepared a long time ago.

It was two years after becoming a Sword Saint. Kraugel, who had lost a lot and got back up, was much stronger than he was last year. He had a vast amount of knowledge and information accumulated during the process of becoming the peak of two billion users. The transformed Kraugel was like a fictional character who returned to the past and was living a second life. He started again from the beginning and was the only hope against the monster called Grid.

Kraugel neutralized the Hero’s blow with Shedding and inserted his sheath into the ground.

“...?”

At the same time, the Hero’s sword dance stopped. The skill was cancelled because the path of the footwork was blocked by Kraugel’s sheath. What happened next? The Hero naturally reacted. He started a new sword dance. Kraugel’s sheath blocked the path again. The same thing was repeated many times.

Kraugel was familiar with all of Grid’s sword dances since last year. Nevertheless, the Hero didn’t panic. Once all his footwork started being read, he responded by mixing them with false information. He corrected the path of the footwork in real time, using footwork that wasn’t related to the sword dances in order to confuse Kraugel.

The Enlightenment Sword and White Tiger Sword collided without stopping. There were occasions where black flames hit Kraugel and stone thorns created wounds on the Hero. In the midst of this continued fighting, Kraugel drew out an additional sword. He summoned two new swords from his inventory while placing sheaths in the ground to seal off the Hero’s footwork. Kraugel’s swords and sheaths kept hitting the Hero.

“Kuek...”

Anger flared in the eyes of the Hero. He was agitated enough to express his emotions, making an opportunity for Kraugel. The insight-induced predictions became dull the moment the Hero lost his composure and the experienced Kraugel didn’t miss it.

“Splitting the Sky.”

It was the technique he learnt from Great Swordsman Piaro. The sword technique that dealt a deep wound to Great Demon Belial was released from Kraugel’s sword after he avoided the Hero’s attack.

"Cough!"

The Hero coughed up blood. Three bars disappeared from the health gauge, which was divided into 10 bars. The Hero had allowed a lot of hits throughout the battle. Thus, this sword technique was a considerable burden despite the Hero’s high defense.

"...Am I seeing correctly right now?”

"What is this... Cutting off the sword dances with a sheath? How did he come up with that idea?”

"It isn’t just the idea. The body will follow.”

The majority of people didn’t understand the battle but there were some who felt admiration. In particular, the impact on Chris was great since he was pursuing the ultimate swordsmanship.

‘The range of his thinking is different.’

At this point, he doubted the heavens. What was the reason for a monster called Grid after there was a genius called Kraugel? Then Lauel’s voice was heard. “If the two of them were born in different eras, they wouldn’t be able to grow this far.”

Going beyond the limits. Grid and Kraugel recognized each other as rivals and were able to drive themselves to the limit because they were conscious of each other. They reached their present state by overcoming their limitations several times.

“Isn’t it the wish of heaven that a transcendent beyond a human is born? It is advising us to prepare for the attack of some huge enemy. Kuk, kukukuk... Sooner or later, the door of a second dimension might open on Earth.”

“Ah...? I see…”

Why did Lauel come to the waiting room of another country and talk nonsense? Chris got goosebumps.

『 Blackening...! The true power of the Hero is being shown! 』

On the monitor, the Hero facing Kraugel turned black. His black hair rose as demonic energy appeared around him. It was the precursor to Transcend. The Hero moved away from Kraugel and started releasing sword energy. He subdued the enemy from the distance while opening up Cray’s Power, which had a 100% blood-sucking effect. The blood from the wounds formed red tails that threatened Kraugel. It was a huge momentum that seemed like it would kill anyone who came near. The God Hands were trying to get rid of the swords in the air. Kraugel was busy trying to control the swords while avoiding the bombardment. 

‘Shedding doesn’t work.’

The Sword Saint’s passive skill Shedding was a technique where if he blocked the target’s attack with a sword type object, it would deflect it without him receiving any damage and had a certain probability of destroying the enemy’s stance. It was impossible for Shedding to cope with the energy blades that exploded at the moment of contact.

The duration of Transcend was approximately 30 seconds. Kraugel knew Grid and there was no way he could miss this. He planned to avoid the Hero, who increased his attack speed and attack power with Blackening and was bombarding him with Transcend.

Kraugel used True Clouds, his sword emitting a blue fog that erased his presence. Sparks of white magic power appeared in the sky above the blue fog. It was the Alarm spell. It was one of the abilities Grid could use when he had the mental power to afford it. The Hero had set the combination of Alarm + Magic Missile every time the cooldown ended since the battle started. This was an attack optimized to aim at the defenseless Kraugel.

The light came pouring down. Dozens of energy blades from Transcend came from the front while Magic Missiles poured from the sky.

‘Did he match the timing of the spell’s activation to Transcend?’

Kraugel was trapped between the magic and energy blades. He activated Super Sensitivity and retreated. He moved faster than the energy blades of Transcend. His appearance as he flew through the fog while blocking the Magic Missiles with Sword Curtain was fast and complex. The viewers found it hard to follow him.

However, the Hero utilized insight and the Slaughterer’s Eye Patch to the limit and never lost sight of the target. The fog created by True Clouds, which disturbed his view and blocked detection, didn’t show much effect. The continuous movements directly related to the consumption of stamina.

After confirming that no more Magic Missiles poured from the sky, Kraugel stopped and adjusted his sword. It was due to the ‘Reveal Sharp Teeth’ effect attached to the +8 White Tiger Sword that had grown to the unique rating. The Hero didn’t miss this opening. He sensed that the target had stopped and pulled out the Ideal Dagger. His right hand held the Enlightenment Sword and the left hand held the Ideal Dagger. 

“Quick Movements.”

The Hero’s agility was maximized. Now that it was useless, the Ideal Dagger was thrown through the air like a dart as the Hero fired six continuous energy blades at the frozen Kraugel. Kraugel twisted his back.

‘Just a bit more.’

The attack speed was very fast. The energy blades poured down with almost no break. Kraugel waited until a breathtaking moment. He waited until more than 12 energy blades reached him. The number of energy blades that reached his nose was exactly 12. Kraugel swung his sword along with six additional swords.

Even so, the timing was a bit off. It was because one of the swords dealing with the God Hands was hit by the Ideal Dagger and flew away. The God Hand was temporarily freed and struck Kraugel’s collarbone with Failure. 

“Kuek...! Tearing the Sky!”

The storm of sword energy tore into the sky like a beast’s claws. Four of the 18 energy blades pouring toward Kraugel hit him and the remaining 14 returned to the Hero. The Hero didn’t intercept or avoid them. The direction of the counterattack Tearing the Sky was limited to above. The 14 deflected energy blades passed over the Hero’s head and exploded.

『 Ah! He failed with his aim? 』

『 I think he lost his balance after allowing the God Hand’s attack. The damage done by the energy blades seems quite big... 』

The commentators watching the situation felt pity as Kraugel walked through the fog. Unlike what the commentators thought, Kraugel accomplished his intentions. The series of explosions over the head caused a massive shock wave in the vicinity and caused the Hero’s body to shake.

Kraugel stood in place and swung his sword. The distance between Kraugel and the Hero was approximately 15 meters. It was a distance that the sword couldn’t cross. Still, not one person thought that Kraugel was hitting the air. They knew about the sword that split apart the world. The neat cutting sound produced by Kraugel spread out into the distance.

The clouds in the sky...

The land between Kraugel and the Hero..

The things that made up the landscape were split in half, as if they were like that from the beginning. It was the effect of Space Sword, one of Kraugel’s ultimate techniques.

“...!?”

The eyes of the Hero widened. This guy was learning.