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.

was the dragon armor created by Grid, though it had been torn to

that Zeratul understood the

body is being driven by the will

will of

people understood, while

armor, it slowly melted away, losing its shape like a

Biban

“Don't worry.”

lord has

enormous presence was rising from

who vaguely sensed it

***

felt

trying to keep his mind clear and distractions at bay. His heart was hammering in his chest. Energy flowed throughout his body. His bones were of different thickness and length.

he felt strength resurge in his joints, and he could grip the sword hilt better than before. It seemed that the

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

[It feels strange...]

also sense the changes occurring to Hayate’s body. Just by looking at the way his fingers wrapped around the hilt of the sword, he could tell that Hayate’s

like your body was reconstructed when the body was in the process of joining with your soul... Isn’t

Hayate’s ankle length coat. It was as white as snow, though it appeared red in Dominion’s

glimpse at the 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 the armor maintained Hayate’s

choice to be made. You will most likely hear

He was confirming that Hayate had become strong enough to be able to bring

go to heaven with

things had changed right from the very beginning. Hayate had regained his body. Of course, this didn’t make it impossible to take his soul to heaven. Killing him again and subduing his soul would have been

hard to kill Hayate, but Hayate was still a human being. However, he resurrected. The only ones who could reverse the death of humans were Rebecca, a god of the beginning,

then wasn’t wrong.

world. It originated from the time when humans had a sincere faith in the three religions. Dominion

something that

remove himself as

to keep you safe, somewhere out

were genuinely shocked. Then the silent Hayate asked a question. “Do you know that the

[Of course I know.]

aren’t you

[Help...? My mother?]

in his expression, but his reaction showed that

realize that Dominion saw Rebecca as

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

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

must

loneliness when it comes to the god of the

Dominion frowned.

history of sealing the refraction dragon. It will be the same this time. Most importantly, she is the embodiment of light. No one can touch her,

more reason why he wasn’t worried about Rebecca. Since she was made of light, she couldn’t be reached.

Hayate sighed.

you going to turn your back to what’s really happening?” Hayate rarely raised his voice. His deep, gentle eyes