Overgeared

A direct descendant—it referred to the 10 children of Shizo Beriache, and as owners of a lineage of purity and integrity, they were called nobles and reigned over the vampires. It was the Blood King who was qualified to lead such a direct line. There was only one condition to becoming the Blood King—by force.

Unlike the direct descendants, it wasn’t based on lineage. The strongest being who defeated the direct descendants would be qualified to be the Blood King, regardless of lineage.

Braham once explained the reason why—“There is no future for the vampires as long as there is the Curse of Sloth. My mother knew this as well so she made rules for outsiders.”

The reason that the rule gave outsiders the chance to become the Blood King was simple—the vampires couldn’t move forward with just their own power. As long as there was the Curse of Sloth, the vampires couldn’t try hard and couldn’t develop. Since they couldn’t develop, they didn’t have the strength to defeat great demons. Vampires alone couldn’t achieve Beriache’s wish. Of course, the story would be different if Marie Rose became the Blood King, but Beriache didn’t have confidence that Marie Rose could overcome the Curse of Sloth, so she made sure there was insurance.

[The condition has been met and the first blood magic will bloom.]

Along with the rising notification window, Grid felt a dizzying pain from his left shoulder. It was pain beyond the level of a sting. It was sharp pain, like he was cut by a knife. The perplexed Grid took off his armor and looked at his left shoulder. The power of blood magic was erupting from his left shoulder and a pattern—reminiscent of blood droplets—was being engraved there.

“Keuk...!” Grid dropped to the ground as a strange feeling wrapped around his left shoulder. He vividly felt the process of his magic power being changed by an energy he had never experienced before.

[Your mana is strengthened by the blood magic blooming effect.]

[The maximum mana amount has increased by 1.5 times.]

[Mana recovery speed has doubled.]

[In the case of lifestealing, mana is restored along with health. The mana recovered at this time is classified as ‘blood magic’ and the damage when using blood magic is increased by 1.2 times.]

“......!!”

The unexpected additional effects thrilled Grid. His left arm turned red before soon returning to normal.

[New blood magic ‘Extreme Blood Transfusion’ has been acquired.]

[Extreme Blood Transfusion Lv. 1]

[Deals damage equal to twice your maximum mana value to the target while absorbing 100% of the damage. If your health is at the maximum, the lifesteal will be reversed and additional damage will be dealt to the target as vampiric energy. The additional damage isn’t affected by the target’s magic resistance and attributes resistance.

Mana Consumption: 10,000

Cooldown Time: 24 hours.]

Hit others and absorb health. If full, convert the amount of health absorbed into damage...

The effect of Extreme Blood Transfusion was very simple. The problem was the damage calculation—Grid’s maximum mana after the blood magic blooming effect was 140,000, and double that was 280,000. This meant that even a ranked player could be killed instantly in one blow. Of course, the damage would be deducted according to the target’s magic resistance. However, if Grid used it in his full state then there was a high probability of instant death no matter how high the other person’s magic resistance.

‘If I use Elfin Stone’s Ring to absorb health and accumulate up to 10,000 blood magic power, the damage will be higher...’

1.2 times 480,000 was a bit less than 580,000. It was difficult to expect a high destructive power against monsters. However, he must not forget that the essence of Extreme Blood Transfusion was lifestealing. Grid gained approximately 240,000 additional health.

‘Good...’

Tankers were divided into two main categories—tankers who invested more in defense than health, and tankers who invested more in health than defense. There were pros and cons to each one. Tankers with high defense were vulnerable to true damage since they focused on greatly reducing damage instead of reducing health consumption. Meanwhile, tankers with high health were the complete opposite. As a result, most guilds raised both types of tankers. Depending on the situation, there were times when a tanker with high health (a meat shield) was put on the front lines, while other times a tanker with high defense was put on the front lines.

It was safe to say that with 400,000 health, Grid currently had the highest health across all players. He also couldn’t be distinguished from a meat shield because his defense and resistance were as high as his health. He also possessed all types of shields and recovery skills. Grid confirmed that it would be hard for him to die while fighting in the future.

Honestly, he thought that dying in the current state was like trolling. Then a few days ago, Grid realized that he was still lacking. Putting aside the issue of control, he was overwhelmed when it came to stats against Baal.

‘I have to become stronger.’

It was lacking. Betty stared at the greedy Grid, who was eager for greater power, and slowly opened her mouth, “Runes aren’t everything.”

“Huh?”

“People praise runes as artifacts with infinite potential, but they are different from creatures. There are limitations.”

“......?”

How ominous.

Betty warned the tense Grid, “Your rune has too much power. Sooner or later, the capacity will be exceeded and the moment of choice will come. Don’t blindly believe in your rune.”

“Capacity... is there a moment when I will have to choose to abandon some of the powers in the rune?”

“Yes, your rune has received divine intervention, so it has a greater capacity than normal runes. The powers you have absorbed are so vast that the limits will probably come soon.”

“Around when?”

How much more strength could be absorbed in the future? What power should he give up at the moment of choice?

Betty replied to the deeply troubled Grid, “If it continues like this, then perhaps 20 years?”

“...Ah, yes.”

20 years—it might be a fleeting moment for Betty, but it was a time span that felt vague for Grid.

‘I have collected 14 powers so far. Then there should be approximately 40 powers in 20 years?’

If 40 was the limit, then it seemed convincing. Could the power of the great demons and vampires fill up the 40 slots? The restless Grid reclaimed the soul of Elfin Stone that returned to the ring. For a while, he was going to focus on hunting. He would stay in hell with the succubi and focus on the upbringing of Noe, Randy, the Overgeared Skeletons, and the vampires, while also leveling up.

‘I would be able to hunt indefinitely if I had enough stamina.’

Of course, infinite hunting was still possible now. During the times when Grid were exhausted, the God Hands could move on their own for automatic hunting. It was just that he would have to lower the level of the hunting ground in order to easily hunt with only the God Hands. It was best for Grid to hunt by himself if he wanted to increase the experience rate.

‘I’ll have to quickly gain the Demon God’s heart.’

The 12th Great Demon, Sitri—could Grid really succeed in raiding him? Grid was making plans with a confused mind when he expressed the question he had been curious about, “Betty, what is the Demon God?”

What was the reason that the 12th great demon received the title of god when even Baal didn’t have it? Perhaps Betty, being Baal’s Contractor, would know? Grid’s guess was correct. Betty naturally knew about Sitri. “A monster created by the soul of chaos.”

“Soul of chaos?”

“Originally, Sitri was the soul of a great demon. His soul has a magnetism that attracts the souls who have lost their body and are wandering.”

“......”

“Tens of thousands of souls roaming in hell have been absorbed by Sitri’s soul over the years and Sitri’s soul has become infinitely enlarged. The growth of the soul is directly connected to the growth of the body and divinity. Sitri eventually became a god.”

“......!”

Indeed, a god was correct. Still, there was something strange. “It seems he isn’t a god. It is safer to call him a beast.”

“It is a gathering of tens of thousands of souls. There are too many thoughts mixed in and he couldn’t maintain his sense of reason.”

“Is that why he isn’t worshipped as a god?”

Grid had visited the neutral zones of hell and witnessed the identity of the god worshipped by the demons. Evil God Yatan—all beings in hell served Yatan. He had never seen anyone who worshipped Sitri as a god. It was as he expected.

“Yes. Who would worship a beast as a god? That doesn’t mean you can think of Sitri as an imitation of a god. He might not have believers, but the power of his divinity is real.”

“Is he stronger than Baal?”

“It isn’t like that. He is probably weaker than most single-digit demons. No matter how strong, there are limits without skills and wisdom.”

“Then why are the great demons ignoring Sitri?”

Even a single digit great demon would eventually die. Hell Gao proved that. Now the soul of a dead great demon was roaming hell. There is a risk that reincarnation will be impossible if they are absorbed by Sitri’s soul. So why ignore Sitri?

“Great demons can control their own souls even if only their soul was remaining. It is so to say that there is no chance of their soul being absorbed by Sitri.”

“Ah...” It wasn’t just Braham who could move his soul according to his will.

“Furthermore, Sitri’s concerns are all focused on the human world, so there is less chance of an accident in hell. From the standpoint of the great demons, there is no need to touch Sitri.”

“I see...” Grid got a chill down his spine as he recalled Sitri’s eye staring at the human world through a crack in hell. He was troubled by the fact that he couldn’t target Sitri according to his plan.

‘It is premature to target the heart of the Demon God.’

Now it seemed he had to focus on leveling up without any feeling regrets. He could plan his next step once he had grown. Grid decided on his route and bowed politely to Betty. “Thank you for your help today.”

“Yes.”

“That... I will surely punish Baal one day.”

Grid was ashamed when saying this. What method would he be able to use to defeat Baal? At this point, he hadn’t found it yet. Betty smiled at the blushing Grid. It was the first smile she showed. “I’ll cheer for you. Come again if you need help.”

Baal’s death was directly related to Betty’s death since she became immortal after contracting with Baal. It was what Betty wanted.

[Affinity with the tower member ‘Betty’ has increased by 30.]

“Then goodbye...”

He only one-sidedly received her help, but affinity with her rose. How lonely had she been to be so thrilled with a bit of encouragement? Grid recalled Betty’s skeletal body with mixed feelings and burned with more hostility toward Baal.

‘I will be sure to get rid of him.’

Grid hadn’t forgotten Pagma’s screaming soul. Baal’s madness as he laughed at the screaming soul could never be tolerated. Grid pledged again and came out of Betty’s room, only to be startled.

“It has been a while.” It was a blond-haired man—a handsome man who boasted the appearance of a noble was waiting for Grid.

“Hayate, I greet you.”

Grid fell to one knee. The master of the Tower of Wisdom and a dragon killer—he was also the mentor who handed over the infinite sword energy, and Grid felt great respect for him.

Hayate gazed at Grid with affectionate eyes. “You’ve met the Martial God. It is also the real one.”

Hayate was the ultimate transcendent and could perfectly see the changes in Grid.

“Do you know Chiyou?”

“I’ve always noticed his gaze.”

“Gaze...?”

“The gaze that is looking at me from that place.”

The ceiling of the tower—to be exact, Hayata was pointing at the sky beyond the ceiling. Was this the greatness that allowed him to even sense the eyes of the gods peeking at the human world...

Hayate made a suggestion to Grid, who was more flustered than admiring, “I want to entrust you with one task. Will the time be okay?”

“Of course.”

He had to level up, but he couldn’t miss out on a quest. This was a quest given by the first seat, Hayate. There would surely be a huge reward.

‘I should agree even if there are no rewards.’

Grid didn’t forget the duty of the Pioneer. Rather than gaining the favor of the tower members, he was a person who contributed to the peace of the world by resolving the tasks given by the association members. This was the Pioneer.

‘...Wait.’

Grid had a new question—what would happen if Agnus became the Pioneer?

‘It will be a mess in many ways...’

Grid felt his role and responsibilities.

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