Overgeared

“Ugh!”

Something huge and ugly was the method to create primitive fear. The black tortoise merely cried out to the sky but the high rankers shuddered with fear. They felt threatened by the enormous size of the black tortoise and disgusted by its appearance. Grid was the same. No, the confusion he felt was much greater. It was a side effect of knowing many things.

‘Is this one of the Four Auspicious Beasts?’

Grid knew—the Four Auspicious Beasts were the guardian gods of humanity, born from the aspirations of humanity. It was their role to help with the stability and prosperity of humanity. Naturally, they were favorable to humanity and their existence itself was beneficial for humanity. This wasn’t speculation, it was real.

Grid had witnessed the resurrection of the red phoenix enriching the south. Now the current black tortoise was completely different. The resurrection of the black tortoise didn’t help the north. A black, sticky liquid oozed from the snake scales and eroded the civilization of the earth. The smoke that came from the fire spout protruding from the tortoise shell covered the sun in the sky.

[Death is coming!]

[Death is coming!]

[Death...!]

The transcendent senses that detected and warned of danger drove Grid to great confusion. The warning messages steadily rose and Grid was dizzy.

‘...This isn’t the guardian god.’

Grid watched the growing size of the black liquid puddle and was convinced.

‘A wounded god.’

It was completely different from the red phoenix. The black tortoise was a god that stifled human life and destiny just by its existence. Was it originally like this?

‘No, it is impossible.’

The Twelve Zodiacs had told him that the black tortoise was the gentlest of the Four Auspicious Beasts. They said the reason the black tortoise denied and got rid of artificial substances was for humans.

‘By preserving nature, it is protecting the human race.’

It was extreme logic comparable to the claim that there was no war without an army. In any case, most of the actions of the black tortoise came from its heart or instincts for humanity.

‘It is different now.’

Night came to the world because the poison that the black tortoise emitted completely covered the sun. Was this darkness that withered life, for humanity? Not at all.

‘Something is wrong.’

It was strange from the beginning of the resurrection. It appeared that the yangbans had deliberately released the black tortoise.

‘Did they make this type of black tortoise?’

It happened when Grid was constantly thinking.

“Dammit! They hid a monster instead of a treasure!”

by the yangbans! We have

fail the quest then we

to protect the treasure but we don’t even know

moved. They were very skilled and avoided the black liquid that fell from the black tortoise’s scales. Whenever the poison touched their skin, they quickly took out an antidote to drink it. However, the situation of some magicians wasn't good. They had relatively low physical abilities due to their investment in intelligence. They were overwhelmed by avoiding both the black pool and the liquid falling from

“Hey! Come this way!”

help the magicians. They hid the magicians behind them while raising their shields to stop the black liquid

“Gasp.”

corroded by the black liquid and turned to scraps. The tankers found it unexpected that objects meant for self-defense would melt without defending them. The black tortoise had no idea of the situation on the ground. It was still roaring at the sky without looking at the humans it needed to take care of. Every time it roared, new

"Damn...!"

tankers who lost their shields and the magicians behind them all paled. A black drop

“Shield!”

“Anti-magic!”

but it was useless. Shield couldn’t handle the mass of liquid and Anti-magic didn’t work at

‘We’re going to die!’

between the black drops and the rankers. For some reason, his armor and helmet were removed. He was only wearing a shirt, shoulder guards, gaiters, and boots. The

“H-Hey!”

“Kyaaak!”

melt and die without a single bone left

shoulder guards, boots, and gaiters recovered immediately after the black liquid touched it. They repeatedly melted and regained their form. The process was quickly repeated dozens of times and the body

and disappeared. The half-naked blond man spoke, “This liquid only extinguishes artificial substances and is harmless to organic things.

“Eh?”

took off their items without hesitation. Then they yelled at the blond knight. “You’re our enemy! Why

"I never

them enemies then he would’ve killed them the moment he saw them. He would’ve gone beyond the level of piercing their shields and

and get out of here,” Grid urged them. He had noticed why

here by a call from the heavens,

yangbans and the Five Seniors. Sooner or later, they would regret it. There was no need to inflict pain on them. Grid recalled the blacksmiths who had

“Uh...?”

attitude and were rushing to leave this spot when they suddenly stiffened like statues. They stared blankly at the blond knight without being able to close their

durability of Berith's Skin Mask

ranked 22nd, couldn’t be compared to a god. It meant the skin mask made

black hair and the cool eyes became sharp. The muscles

“...Grid?”

were astonished. Then their faces soon distorted. The emotion that

front of the black tortoise. Bubat, Shane, Ronam, etc.—they were representatives of their countries. If they

Why are you

their goal. Yes, their goal. No matter if they liked Grid or not, they had been struggling to

we are really

was due to Grid’s declaration that he wouldn’t attend. Bubat became determined after seeing Grid’s interview about how he wouldn’t attend the event because it was boring. He was going to be stronger. He would be sure to become stronger so that Grid wouldn’t

and Grid was the one trying to overcome

hindering us...! Does it mean we’re not even your

They were angry. They were mortified by their pitiful selves, who could only be angry at Grid for doing them a favor. It was a complicated feeling that the rankers themselves couldn’t

wrath of the black tortoise is directed