Chapter 1855

Chapter 1855

Taang, taang, taang…

The river of reincarnation—the sound of hammer striking iron resonated in the place where the cries of the souls originally echoed. It was a sound that made one realize that times had changed.

It happened as Black Knight Eligos was immersed in strange emotions…

“…Wait.”

Madra’s soul restrained the soul of King Daebyeol. It was an obstruction that was difficult to understand from the perspective of King Daebyeol.

The disruptor who suddenly started hammering in the middle of battle—he missed the opportunity to beat this arrogant person.

Madra explained it to him, “Pagma is good at deceiving and taking advantage of others. To put it simply, he is an ill-bred bastard. You will be in trouble if you trust the openly exposed gaps he shows.”

“”Huh… How far has my father fallen…?””

King Daebyeol lamented after vaguely sensing that Pagma was a being created by his father, Hanul. He heard Madra’s words and was concerned about how many people were harmed by Hanul’s sin of creating a being who was close to a demon.

“……”

The content of the conversation between the two of them was clearly heard in Kraugel’s ears. Naturally, it was also heard by Pagma.

Kraugel could feel the emotions of Pagma, who was possessing him. Sadness, remorse, loneliness…

But there was no regret. He was certain that his choices and actions wouldn’t change even if he went back to the past. It was the stubbornness of a hero who had already saved the world once. It was a stubbornness that shouldn’t be broken.

“It is over.”

Madra’s vigilance turned into an opportunity. Thanks to this, Pagma succeeded in combining Twilight and the White Tiger Sword into one and entrusted the rest to Kraugel.

“Unfortunately, this is all I can do to help.”

It wasn’t humility.

[Your swordsmanship level is higher than Pagma’s Sword Dance.]

[All the intentions contained in Pagma’s Sword Dance can be fully accomplished with your swordsmanship.]

[Pagma’s Sword Dance is disabled.]

The system judged that it would be a loss for Kraugel to use Pagma’s Sword Dance. It forcibly prevented him from using it. The skills that were so powerful in Grid’s hands were useless…

‘Grid, what type of fights have you been fighting…?’

It was the same with Pagma’s Sword Dance and the Item Combination skill. In both cases, the original skill was far from perfect. They were badly flawed until they evolved in Grid’s hands. Additionally, Pagma’s stats were low. Apart from dexterity, most of the major stats such as strength, stamina, agility, and intelligence were inferior to Kraugel.

It was regrettable even considering the fact that Kraugel had already surpassed the legends of the previous generation. If Grid had stayed as Pagma’s Successor, Grid’s peak would’ve been Pagma and he would’ve never been able to achieve the same feats as he did now.

Using this newfound understanding, Kraugel realized that Grid was a greater person than he thought. Grid changed his destiny after crossing his limits several times.

“I have more things to ask of you. Give me Pagma’s soul, along with a way to get to the surface,” Undefeated King Madra said while inflating the muscles of his right arm that was holding the sword.

Kraugel felt it before, but Madra was a very strange existence. He wasn’t a legend and was just a soul. How could he be so strong? In particular, Kraugel had witnessed the dilemma of the ‘Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship’ several times.

An incredibly powerful swordsmanship that damaged the arms of the user—even Baal from a few months ago, as well as Grid of the past, used to have ragged arms every time they used the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship.

However, Madra’s soul casually used 800,000 Army Swordsmanship. Kraugel wasn’t convinced even considering that Madra was the original master of the swordsmanship.

‘Is it because he is a soul that he isn’t restricted?’

No, it was also problematic to interpret it this way. Right now, Pagma’s soul was in such a precarious state that he would’ve disappeared immediately if he hadn’t possessed Kraugel. It meant it was difficult for the deceased who were about to reincarnate to maintain their soul bodies. Yet Madra was doing it without any difficulty. It was like the Absolute, King Daebyeol.

“He was born a strong existence.” Eligos came to a conclusion after feeling the same doubts as Kraugel. “He is simply a being born with a strong body and soul. That guy is like that.”

“……”

Kraugel was forced to agree. There was no other way to explain Madra’s strength. In this way, some of the doubts about his futile end were solved.

The king of Lubana, a small kingdom—the man who single-handedly prevented the advance of the Empire with overwhelming force. Madra was the most powerful man of his time. However, the Empire concealed this information to prevent his reputation from spreading outside of Lubana. As a result, he lost his life in vain to a dagger wielded by his son and failed to become a legend.

It was a death with many unanswered questions. He might not be a legend, but it was hard to believe that such a strong person died in vain at the hands of his son. It was an established theory in the academic community that a separate truth related to Madra’s death existed.

But now looking at it, Kraugel thought that it was the truth.

Madra died in vain at the hands of his son. The essence of Madra was that he was simply a ‘strong human being.’ He was just strong and didn’t have overwhelming senses, so he was stabbed in a vital spot in a vain end. He wasn’t immune when he was fatally wounded. The conclusion—

‘He is a monster in a different sense.’

A powerhouse different from ordinary legends and transcendents—Kraugel’s expression was serious as he analyzed Madra.

A being who refused to reincarnate—as Eligos said, he was a variable who sought to overthrow the law of hell that had just been restored.

Kraugel couldn’t just stand by. Kraugel had an obligation to uphold the laws of hell as long as Grid was the one who restored them. That was his role as a colleague.

“You are going to fight. Yes… it won’t be easy to get back to the surface.”

Madra’s thoughts changed. The muscles of his hand and arm holding the formless sword wriggled and the blood vessels bulged. The air around the area sank heavily. It was as if he alone existed in the world. He showed an overwhelming presence and focused the attention of those around him to himself. It was enough to make the souls flowing in the river of reincarnation stop for a moment and look up at the cliff.

“One Million Army Massacre Sword.”

The ultimate move that Baal showed in the past—it was executed through the hands of its creator. The sword energy with supreme power stretched out horizontally. He was poised to cut everything around him, including Kraugel.

‘This is crazy.’

It happened as a chill went down Eligos’ spine…

A small bursting sound was heard. Then the sword energy that covered the world was lifted. It was the aftermath of Kraugel’s Space Sword cutting the One Million Army Massacre Sword. It was a very natural phenomenon.

Originally, a Sword Saint was a being who had the sword energy to cut anything and the strongest swordsmanship. Madra might’ve been classified as the ‘greatest talent of all time’ and mentioned in the mouths of Absolutes, but even he couldn’t defeat Kraugel when it came to swordsmanship.

Kraugel’s swordsmanship was judged to be unconditionally superior to Madra’s. Of course, the strongest sword that he obtained thanks to Pagma was a great help.

Madra wasn’t flustered. “In the first place, it is a swordsmanship designed to kill a million enemies.”

It was with these meaningful words. The One Million Army Massacre Sword, which had been cut in half by the Space Sword, suddenly had its trajectory twisted. It resembled a windmill. It rotated, targeted the area, and started to devastate it.

A swordsmanship designed to kill a million enemies—there was no way that the sword trajectory could be limited to one. The number of sword trajectories made by One Million Army Massacre Sword was almost infinite. This was the essence of it that Baal had overlooked. In other words, it was by no means a level that could be suppressed by blocking it once.

A large shadow rose behind Kraugel’s back as he retreated, slashed at the incoming swords, or spread out a sword curtain to block them. It was the gatekeeper of hell. It was Cerberus, a beast that appeared in many large-scale myths. Madra’s advance was blocked thanks to the guy who released flames and poison to stop the One Million Army Massacre Sword.

A cooperation with a demon and demonic creature—it was a sight that could’ve never been seen in the time when Pagma was alive.

Pagma recalled his memories of the Behen Archipelago. He remembered the time when he signed a contract with Baal and fought against demons with the power he gained. The demons and demonic creatures that Pagma experienced at that time were monsters united with hostility and the intent to kill. It was hard to imagine a day would come when humans would cooperate with them. It was to the point where he felt that there was no hope for humanity, who would forever be their target.

“If only Grid had inherited the power of someone other than me… the world would’ve been saved a bit earlier.”

By inheriting my power, his growth was slowed and the salvation of the world was delayed. It took too long for hope to take root…

The cause of Pagma’s self-blame was naturally Kraugel. Since Kraugel’s impression of Pagma’s Successor was somewhat insignificant, Pagma also realized his inadequacies.

“……”

Kraugel felt no guilt. It was because his own impression as a third party was useless. He cooperated with Cerberus to cut off Madra’s arm and spoke calmly, “It is thanks to inheriting your power that the present Grid can exist.”

It wasn’t an empty consolation.

Kraugel only told the truth as he confirmed the value in the increase of his critical hit chance and weak point hitting probability, which increased significantly due to the dexterity stat that Pagma raised, and as he recognized the power of Twilight combined with the White Tiger Sword.

“It is terrifying to imagine if someone other than Grid inherited your power.”

Some people said it—the development of players was delayed and humanity was in crisis because Grid only supplied the items he created to the Overgeared Guild.

Kraugel’s view was different. Since it was Grid, he identified people he could trust and distributed his works properly. If someone other than Grid had acquired Pagma’s Successor and monopolized the production of legendary items…

People with only money and power, but no qualifications, would monopolize the most powerful weapons. Then humanity might not have been able to overcome its many crises.

“Don’t comfort the worthless,” Madra interrupted. He pointed out Kraugel’s attitude of soothing Pagma’s soul. “He is a wicked man.”

Kraugel’s face darkened. To be precise, it was the face of Pagma, who had become one with Kraugel. Pagma’s feelings were expressed through Kraugel’s body. Kraugel didn’t hand over the right to speak to Pagma, who wanted to apologize to Madra.

“You seem to be mistaken.”

Undefeated King Madra—he had received the evaluation that he would’ve become the strongest human being if he had enjoyed his natural life. Was it really like that? This evaluation of Madra was built on the days when ‘players didn’t exist.’ It was a time without Grid, the Overgeared Guild, and Kraugel.

“I wasn’t comforting Pagma. I was just appreciating Grid…”

“……”

Kraugel had already said everything he wanted to say. His words casually inserted the knife into Pagma’s chest again while he slashed off Madra’s remaining left arm.

Madra, who had died hundreds of years ago and hadn’t developed, couldn’t be the opponent of the present day Sword Saint, who had been acknowledged by Muller. Furthermore, Kraugel was holding a dragon weapon made by Grid and strengthened by Pagma.

Madra’s soul fell off the cliff and was submerged in the river of reincarnation. He drifted away to welcome a new life.

“May you be happy in your next life.”

The king of Lubana—he, who fought to defend his kingdom and his people, deserved a better fate…

The appearance of Kraugel as he thought this and sincerely mourned gave King Daebyeol goosebumps.

“”Do you acknowledge that he is a hero and mourn for him after brutally cutting him down… hell has started to be purified and demons are regaining their goodness, while humans have become rather cruel.””

“……”

Kraugel didn’t feel it was worth arguing over. The other person might be full of wounds, but he was still an Absolute. Kraugel was busy calculating how to deal with the great enemy called King Daebyeol. His conclusion—

‘It is hard.’

An Absolute was an existence that was definitely higher than Sword Saint Muller. He wasn’t an opponent who could be defeated just by working together with Eligos and Cerberus. It happened as Kraugel’s expression was getting darker and darker…

“…gel!”

He heard someone’s voice from a distance. It wasn’t just the cries of one or two people. Many presences were approaching quickly. They were the Overgeared members, except for Grid, and the apostles, except for Braham. Biban was also with them.

“I can’t fight anymore.” However, Biban collapsed as soon as he arrived at the scene. He lay down and leaned against a rock like he was sleeping. It was fine. Except for Biban, the people who gathered at the scene were in good condition.

“I feel a bit worse about what I look like…?”

“Really? What?”

It happened as Peak Sword and Vantner were praising Kraugel, who had become more handsome after combining with Pagma…

“”Why are you disturbing me?””

Countless flowers bloomed around the lamenting King Daebyeol.