Overgeared

Ttang... Ttang... Ttang… Amidst the smoky gray of dawn, a hammering sound rang out in the serene forest.

‘It isn’t a matter to worry about.’ Mercedes shook her head in an effort to shake off her thoughts as she watched Grid sweat at dawn.

Why did Grid have Lorex’s axe? Who dropped these sets of armor?

Yesterday, Mercedes witnessed Grid putting the red armor and the big axe into the furnace, and her imagination ran wild. The feelings in her heart became complicated. However, Mercedes knew that the doubts and anxiety stirring her mind were nothing. After all, the worst things she could imagine had all happened in the past.

Indeed, she wasn’t in a position to feel angry or betrayed even if Grid turned out to be the Undefeated King’s descendant, who had slaughtered the Red Knights during the war between the empire and Valhalla.

‘The empire is a potential enemy of the Overgeared Kingdom.’

After all, the empire had the greatest potential to threaten the survival of the Overgeared Kingdom. It was the same even now. Mercedes couldn’t blame Grid for his activities which caused enormous damage to the empire. From Grid’s perspective, they were natural actions. Even if he did deserve to be blamed for it, Mercedes was now Grid’s knight. She had to understand and embrace Grid’s past, rather than hold it against him.

There was only one regrettable thing.

‘If Lorex had known about the relationship between Grid and Piaro...’

Lorex might not have died. Maybe he would be serving Grid by Mercedes’ side right now. Of course, this theory was meaningless. There were no if’s in history.

‘...It isn’t a problem to raise a fuss about.’

Mercedes was trying to control her heart when her ears heard something. It was a strange sound that came from nearby.

‘What?’

Was it because she was too immersed in her thoughts? It was shameful that she had allowed something to approach in this empty area. The frustrated Mercedes jumped up while rotating at the same time, with her hand holding a sword naturally. Then her sword hit a solid barrier, and a sharp metallic sound entered Mercedes’ ears.

Sensing the turmoil, Piaro immediately rose from his seat and was startled as he witnessed the sight before him. A huge cave cricket the size of a house was attacking Mercedes.

It belonged to an ancient species, creatures that had existed since the beginning. Having lost their homes as human societies developed and expanded, they had long since disappeared from the history of humanity. However, they were alive in the world tree’s forest.

“Urgh!” Mercedes was on the defensive.

The creature had a total of eight legs. Two of them were relatively short front legs, and there were four sharp side legs that were used as a shield and weapon. This gave the creature a combat style that was beyond human comprehension. The hunting instincts imprinted on the organism that had survived for tens of thousands of years were beyond measure.

In the end, Mercedes spread her silver wings and flew into the air in an attempt to free herself from the attacks of the cave cricket. However, the cave cricket’s long and resilient antennae detected Mercedes’ movements in real time. The cave cricket raised its legs and hit Mercedes, causing her to cough up blood as she was blown away.

“Ku....ock!”

How could a noble knight possibly be hit by an insect?

such arrogant thoughts. After all, the giant cave cricket was a monster that couldn’t be defined

in the daytime. Furthermore, its irregular attacks were hard to figure out. Therefore, the difficulty of this confrontation felt like it was on a higher ground. Mercedes wasn’t dealing with an enemy that acted thoughtlessly based on

a phenomenon caused by the giant cave cricket bending its hind legs. As this continued on, the ground caved in around the place where the cave cricket was bending down. However, at this point, the cave cricket had already

“Mercedes! Wake up!”

Mercedes was staring blankly at the cave cricket high in the sky when Piaro’s

“Growth!”

leaves. Thanks to the sudden growth of the huge trees, the cave cricket couldn’t

a white light that shook off the darkness. Meanwhile, Piaro was using Pounding Mortar without hesitation.

cave cricket’s bulging belly several times. It was a collaboration of two legends who had

However...

“Uh!”

“Ha!”

only active at night. Nevertheless, the strength of the cave cricket

Mercedes was stunned for a moment when she noticed the corpses of dozens of bear-wolves beyond the large trees that had been cut down due to the struggle. That was the cave cricket’s trail, and now it was planning to feast on the small and adorable creatures

thought of methods to deal with it. “Please restrain its actions fully. I have to clear a large field. Buy time

avoiding the frontal attack of the cave cricket. The ground shook

like it was going to collapse. Nevertheless, Grid was solely focused on his work. From the moment of the cave cricket’s emergence to the present, he hadn’t shown a

aware of the battle taking place. However, the amazing thing was that it wasn’t an exaggeration. Grid was in a world of his own, one which

‘I feel it.’

and all their potential power was pulled out, causing the black mithril’s fighting energy to surge in response. Meanwhile, the rosar

constant reoccurring effects of the Blacksmith’s Patience and Blacksmith’s Breath made Grid and the metal extremely robust.

‘Now!’

Grid saw the end.

completed the item

He says that his skill has once again

are laughing at the nervousness

god has decreased

reaches -10, any items made (above

the blacksmith god

look red or purple depending on the refraction of light, was completed. Its name was Hero King’s

***

afford to hold back her strength in front of

fought with sheer force. With the transcendent leap from those hind legs and the strength of a mountain, the fast and irregular attacks from the hard but flexible front legs, and the antennae and side legs that removed any blind spots… The cave cricket was like

as she confronted the cave cricket with White

cave cricket in order to beat it. Having made this judgment, Piaro spent a great deal of time clearing the field and using Free Farming. Mercedes only needed to hold on for three more minutes. No, he prayed earnestly that she could hold on for two

eyes, two minutes seemed like an eternity. Her White Tiger’s Attitude collapsed when the cave cricket’s side legs, which had been used for defense, suddenly switched to offense. They breached Mercedes’ defense perfectly and stabbed her in the

a new set of armor, Mercedes’ leather armor hadn’t been repaired. Therefore, it hadn’t been working properly from the very beginning. It wasn’t a set of

side legs and two front legs poured down toward her like rain. Cracks started to form on the silver wings wrapped around Mercedes’ body. Dozens of sharp hooks at the tips of the cave cricket’s legs broke through and tore

it, she couldn’t shake off the despair in her heart.