Overgeared

Reidan Desert.

Hayate’s body lay neatly in the middle of those who were still recovering after the battle. His eyes were closed, and his chest was unmoving.

Hayate’s body wasn’t breathing. It had lost its soul, no longer serving any purpose. It was nothing more than a corpse.

“...It will soon start to rot,” Zeratul told the others. He grimaced, despite the high levels of arrogance he, as the Martial God, displayed.

Thanks to sharing drinks all night, he could somewhat grasp how the people around him felt. Just as the eight gods who had descended alongside Zeratul to challenge Grid had already demonstrated, gods were surprisingly capable of empathizing with others. It was just that, most gods didn’t even get the chance to socialize with humans. For many, the idea of living alongside humanity wasn’t even conceivable. For them, Asgard was the core of their world, their most valued place. Therefore, they rotted for the rest of their lives in Asgard, like frogs in a well.

“It can’t be too late to save him...”

The tower members didn’t disagree with Zeratul’s opinion. However, they also noticed that Hayate’s condition was perilous, and they couldn’t conceal their anxiety.

Nevertheless, no one suggested going to find Hayate right away. They trusted and respected Lauel’s advice, that the right thing to do was leaving the search for the soul to Knight.

They also understood the importance of their task. They were to focus on the body’s recovery, and they kept wondering to what degree they needed to recover in order to help Grid.

“......”

The people’s reactions were making Zeratul feel disappointed. Humans, ephemeral beings with such short lives. Even he, who had been born with eternal life, was always anxious and obsessed over the title of Martial God. Meanwhile, humans appeared to be more altruistic and wiser than him. This was because they managed to overcome their own limitations by trusting others and cooperation with their people.

Zeratul believed the humans’ way of thinking was worthy of imitation.

‘Should I try contacting them...?’

His mind wandered in the direction of the eight gods who had cooperated with him when he had publicly challenged Grid. Maybe they had opened up their hearts to him a little bit. Of course, it could be mere sympathy. It seemed very likely that they would only accept cooperating with him if there was some type of reward to be earned.

Still, it was true that they did him a favor. However, he never considered their feelings. He just struggled on his own to be recognized as the Martial God.

He was only ever focused on himself, and never paid attention to others...

“......!”

Zeratul was startled from his thoughts, eyes suddenly widening at the sight before him.

The others reacted similarly.

Hayate’s body, which had been lying dead, suddenly jumped up from his seat.

“I-Is he back?”

The tower members, the apostles and the Overgeared Guild all felt skeptical before allowing themselves to feel thrilled.

Hayate’s eyes were unfocused. The people couldn’t detect breathing, let alone life.

“Something’s wrong.”

Zeratul frowned and slowly rose from his seat.

Step.

the dragon armor created by Grid, though it had been torn to pieces by Trauka, reduced to nothing but a lump of

that Zeratul understood the

driven by the will

of

while others scratched their

it slowly melted away, losing its shape like a painting submerged in water.

and Biban reassured the

“Don't worry.”

has been

rising from

vaguely sensed it

***

body felt

in his chest. Energy flowed throughout his body. His bones

that the ways with which he could grip the hilt had increased considerably from

to achieve the best form possible, was now reaching its peak. He felt rejuvenated, like his body had become younger, though the

[It feels strange...]

wrapped around the hilt of the sword, he could tell that Hayate’s swordsmanship was changing in real time. The Valkyries being pushed back was good enough

the process of joining with your soul... Isn’t this type of transformation unheard

length coat. It was as white as snow, though

essence of the soul. When Hayate’s body had been reconstructed, the same could be said about the dragon armor he’d been wearing. This configuration of

state isn’t the right choice to be made. You will most likely hear the sound of

Dominion was talking about Chiyou’s appearance. He was confirming that Hayate had become strong enough

go to heaven with

make it impossible to take his soul to heaven. Killing him again and subduing

Hayate, but Hayate was still a human being. However, he resurrected. The only ones who could reverse the death of humans were

wasn’t wrong.

accurate to say that he was trying not to be interested. This was because Judar wanted Dominion not to care about the world. It originated from the time when humans had a sincere faith in the three religions. Dominion felt Judar’s jealousy intensify every time the power of his religion managed to surpass the

that

time their mother entered the ‘cycle’. Dominion didn’t care about matters involving other gods, nor did he care about ruling Asgard, so would decide to remove himself as much as he could from such issues. After all, he was the god of war. His duty meant overseeing the army, not handling politics. Therefore, his

very large. I promise to keep you safe, somewhere out of

directly disobeying Judar’s orders. The Valkyries were genuinely

[Of course I know.]

aren’t you

[Help...? My mother?]

his head to the side. He had a certain rigidness in his expression, but his reaction

for Hayate to realize that Dominion saw Rebecca as the embodiment of

way, it made sense. After all, he owed his very existence to

matter whether it was famous gods or everything in this world, Dominion

must be

the

Dominion frowned.

It will be the same this time. Most

wasn’t worried about Rebecca. Since she was made of light, she couldn’t be

Hayate sighed.

children. Truth of the matter is, my god is fighting for the goddess. Are you going to turn your back to what’s really happening?” Hayate rarely raised his voice. His deep, gentle eyes became fierce. “Or are you working behind the scenes with the