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!”

deceived by the yangbans!

the quest

was to protect the treasure but we don’t even know where the treasure is! It

skin, they quickly took out an antidote to drink it. However, the situation of some magicians wasn't good. They had relatively low

“Hey! Come this way!”

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

“Gasp.”

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 black liquid

"Damn...!"

shields and the magicians behind them all paled. A black drop of water, the same size as a house, was

“Shield!”

“Anti-magic!”

Shield couldn’t handle the mass of liquid and Anti-magic didn’t work

‘We’re going to die!’

person someone claimed was Grid’s knight appeared 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 water droplets that should’ve soaked the rankers splashed all over the blond man. The

“H-Hey!”

“Kyaaak!”

and die without a single bone left

person help them? The stunned rankers were screaming at the blond man’s incomprehensible sacrifice only to close their mouths. The blond knight’s shoulder guards, boots, and gaiters recovered immediately after the black liquid touched

melted and disappeared. The half-naked blond man spoke, “This liquid only extinguishes

“Eh?”

their items without hesitation. Then they yelled at the blond

with Asmophel’s appearance. "I never thought of you as

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

of here,” Grid urged them. He had noticed why the rankers

drawn here by a call from the heavens,

it. There was no need to inflict pain on them. Grid recalled the blacksmiths who had been killed by Garam before looking up at the black tortoise. In

“Uh...?”

felt puzzled by the blond knight’s 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

of Berith's Skin Mask

the skin mask made

hair and the cool eyes became sharp. The muscles that made up the chest and the thick waist was reminiscent of the

“...Grid?”

blond knight and were astonished. Then their faces

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

Why are

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

we are really nothing to

reason Bubat didn’t participate in this year’s National Competition 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

Grid was the one trying to overcome it. Bubat

us instead of hindering us...! Does it mean we’re

the other rankers. 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 understand. However, Grid understood—he knew the feelings of the weak. “You

wrath of the black tortoise is directed at the