Most of Lich Mumud’s high-level spells had a mix of two or more attributes. The same was true for Explosion. Mumud first summoned strong winds and then ignited the flames. These flames boasted a higher accuracy and destructive power than normal Explosions. According to Agnus’ experience, even a third advancement paladin, who would have higher magic resistance than the other classes, would lose half their health with one shot.

‘She’s fine?’

However, Yura emerged from the explosion with no wounds on her body. Her health gauge was stable too.

“You aren’t harmed? Kik!” Agnus’ eyes shone with joy again. He briefly forgot his purpose for coming here.

Duguen! Duguen! His heart was racing. The only moment he could feel alive was in urgent situations when he found breathing difficult! 

“Yuraaaaa!”

“Agnus!”

It was a lie to say they didn’t know each other. Until the comet known as Grid appeared and disturbed the rankings, Yura and Agnus had been at the forefront and were quite conscious of each other. A Yatan Servant and Baal’s Contractor—the two of them originally walked a similar path that might’ve linked their destinies.

Now it was all in the past. The weight of the evil that the Yatan Servants were responsible for was too big a burden for Yura. Consequently, she abandoned her foolish thought of fighting against Grid and became enemies with Agnus, the leader of evil.

Agnus had to be evil in order to achieve his purpose, which pitted him against Yura. This meant one of them had to defeat the other. They had to devour each other. It was impossible for them to coexist. The two of them fought with serious determination as dozens of skeletons rose and fell in the dungeon.

Every time a blue light burst, a demon was destroyed. Then every time a new demon appeared, it was swallowed up by a blue light. A landslide occurred inside the mountain every time Lich Mumud used a spell, while Agnus was injured every time Yura’s magic engineering weapon changed forms.

“Kik! Kikikik! Kuahahahahat! Interesting! I’m happy! It is exciting! You are strong!”

“Ugh..!”

The shock wave of the force was too big. Gerad Mountain was the 23rd tallest mountain on the continent, but it was too small to be the stage for the clash between two legends. The mountain started to completely sink.

“Bokja! You should leave!”

“B-But...!”

Eat Spicy Jokbal no longer paid attention to his niece’s stubbornness. He just hugged her and ran down the mountain. Did Elizabeth want to stay here to help Yura and be crushed to death by stones?

‘Was Yura that strong?’

Eat Spicy Jokbal noticed the difference between the Yura back at the National Competition and the present Yura. To be able to fight Agnus for 10 minutes, wasn’t this a strength comparable to Grid? He wondered about the secret behind Yura’s rapid growth over just a few months.

‘Or was I mistaken?’

Was Agnus not at Grid’s level in the first place? This couldn’t be. It was impossible to predict who would have the advantage when comparing Grid’s strength to Agnus’ strength.

‘Maybe it is simply a difference of attributes...’

The blue light Yura generated was fatal to Agnus’ undead and demons. It was right to interpret that the Demon Slayer class had the advantage in attributes. Nevertheless, Agnus was well-matched against her.

‘There really are many monsters in this world.’

Agnus was on a totally different level. Eat Spicy Jokbal felt the same motivation toward Agnus as he did toward Grid. He was filled with the desire to be shoulder to shoulder with them. However, this motivation was soon broken. He felt it was impossible as a person fell from the sky. The surprised Eat Spicy Jokbal and Elizabeth stopped running. The person who fell before them was none other than Yura.

“S-Sister!”

“Ugh...!”

Yura’s health gauge was depleted. She was barely alive by depending on the legendary class’ immortal passive skill where they couldn’t die for five seconds. Then a voice was heard from the sky, “Is this the end?”

“Agnus...!” A chill went down Eat Spicy Jokbal’s spine as he confirmed the identity of the voice. In comparison to the dying Yura, Agnus’ health was at the maximum. To think that the result of the 10-minute battle was so one-sided...? Eat Spicy Jokbal felt a terror that went beyond his admiration, and his determination to stand on the same level as Agnus was quickly broken. In the midst of the silence...

Snap!

Agnus landed on the ground and grabbed Yura’s small face with one hand.

“Well, it was fun.”

The fight with Yura wasn’t easy for Agnus. Three demons that he contracted with had returned to hell, and he had exhausted the remaining time of Lich Mumud’s summoning. He had even used the skill, Bentao’s Mockery, which exchanged health with the target. It was regretful that he had used Baal’s Eyes on Eat Spicy Jokbal.

“It would be more comfortable if you had jumped at me. Isn’t that right?” Agnus shifted his gaze while holding Yura’s face. This forced Eat Spicy Jokbal to step back. It was instinctive behavior. He felt greatly fearful toward Agnus who beat him and then Yura sequentially.

‘Who can win against this monster?’

Grid? Kraugel? Ares? Was it possible? Grid alone could exert enough firepower to destroy a city, but this was also true for Agnus. Agnus also had Kraugel’s power and senses to neutralize most of the enemy attacks. An example was how most of Yura’s bullets were blocked by the skeletons. Then what about Ares’ army? Agnus had the demons and the undead army.

‘It’s a scam no matter how I look at it...’ Eat Spicy Jokbal gulped and completely shrank back. He was overwhelmed by Agnus and couldn’t take any action. The moment Agnus’ sword aimed for Yura’s heart...

“Wait a minute!” Elizabeth shouted. “I’ll listen to your request! So stop your hands!”

“...”

Agnus, Yura, and Eat Spicy Jokbal gazed at Elizabeth. Elizabeth demanded with confidence, “I’ll work on the Stone of Life. Instead, please guarantee my uncle and Yura’s life.”

“I’ll do that,” Agnus didn’t hesitate to accept her request. He was confident that he could defeat Yura and Eat Spicy Jokbal at any time, even if they recovered. Just as Yura’s ego was shattered, an angry voice rang out, “Why are you bargaining for the life of my colleague?”

Yura, Eat Spicy Jokbal, and Agnus were shocked. A man with black hair was standing in the location where everyone was looking at. The man who had sharp eyes and exceptionally broad shoulders was Grid.

‘Why is he here at this time?’ Agnus was puzzled, instead of pleased, as the situation got worse. It was the first time anyone had seen him so confused, including Bullet who was the third leader of Immortal!

“Agnus...” Bullet’s mouth gaped open at meeting an unexpected person in such an unexpected place. Agnus looked relieved when he saw Bullet standing next to Grid, but no one saw this change. A Sword of Light struck Agnus’ face. In shock, Agnus barely blocked it with a skeleton and let go of Yura.

“Are you okay?” Grid hastily caught the stumbling Yura.

“...” The rescued Yura wasn’t pleased, bowing her head with a red face as Grid’s fingers touched her. She bit her lips. “I...I’m...”

‘Weak.’

This terrible reality hadn’t changed, despite the fact that she had trained in hell for several months. Unable to be of any help to Grid, she couldn’t stand side by side with him. Yura swallowed back her words.

“You are strong,” Grid said, but he wasn’t merely consoling her. “All you’re lacking in are items.”

The sniper rifle didn’t have any effect on Agnus who constantly summoned the undead, so Grid guessed that Yura had likely fought Agnus with her weapon in pistol mode to guarantee an attack speed.

“You don’t have any runes. On that other hand, that Agnus has completely fraudulent specs.” Grid knew since he had fought with Agnus before. Agnus possessed skills which were hard to resist, and his items weren’t easy to combat. Grid still trembled when he thought about Bentao’s Mockery. How strong would Agnus be when combined with a transcendent talent?

Compared to Agnus, Yura had excellent talent, but her lack of skills and items inevitably placed her at a disadvantage. Still, this was just when looking on the surface!

This was Grid’s conclusion.

“Fight again.”

Yura wasn’t weak at all, and Grid wanted to give her confidence. Grid felt a strange heartache when he saw her looking so uncertain. He missed her imposing figure from the past. As a friend, colleague, and benefactor, Grid wanted to restore confidence in Yura.

[Player ‘Grid’ wants to hand you the Lightning Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires.]

[Do you want to accept it?]

“Y-You?”

Following Alex’s Magical Engineering Bayonet created by Pagma, Grid was going to hand over a new myth-rated weapon? Frightened, Yura refused it. Yet Grid handed her the item again. “I’ll lend this to you. I don’t want to turn you into a debtor like Jishuka.”

“...” 

Grid’s meaning was conveyed to Yura. After being troubled for a moment, Yura accepted the dark sword and stared at Agnus. 

Agnus scoffed, “A dog who is already down is returning to the battle?”

His anger soared every time he saw Grid. Wasn’t Grid also someone living with a terrible past? Didn’t he want to pay back the pain from being trampled by others and a life of suffering?

“Why are you...” Rather than giving pain to others...! “Annoying! Kik! Kilkik! It is annoying!”

Was there only one accessories maker in this world? Why did Agnus need to go through all this trouble? At this moment, Agnus lost the string of reason that he was barely holding onto. He let out a roar, “Just die!”

Then there was an explosion of demonic energy. Grid protected the injured Eat Spicy Jokbal and Elizabeth with the God Hands and moved them to a safe distance away.

Flash!

Yura pierced through the demonic energy in front of her. She reached Agnus in an instant, firing her gun to break Agnus’ skeleton shield while swinging the Enlightenment Sword at the same time.

“...!!”