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.

by Grid, though it had been torn to pieces by Trauka, reduced to

was then that

is being driven by the will of

will of the

people understood, while others scratched

it slowly melted away, losing its shape like

and Biban reassured the

“Don't worry.”

has been

presence was rising from beyond

who vaguely

***

felt different

and distractions at bay. His heart was hammering in his chest. Energy

could grip the sword hilt better than before. It seemed that the ways with which he

reaching its peak. He felt rejuvenated, like his body had become younger, though the sensation felt much more breathtaking

[It feels strange...]

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

in the

as white as snow, though

the soul. When Hayate’s body had been reconstructed, the same could be said

this state isn’t the right choice to be made. You will most likely

confirming that Hayate had become strong enough to be

don’t you go to heaven with

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

The only ones who could reverse the death of

I felt back then wasn’t wrong.

world. Though, it was more 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

something that could

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

promise to keep you safe, somewhere out of Judar’s

Judar’s orders. The Valkyries were genuinely shocked. Then the silent

[Of course I know.]

aren’t

[Help...? My mother?]

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

for Hayate to realize that

all,

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

must be

when it comes to the god of the beginning

Dominion frowned.

the refraction dragon. It will be the same this time. Most

why he wasn’t worried about Rebecca. Since she was made of light, she couldn’t be reached. There was no way to help her because it was

Hayate sighed.

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