The whole world was stunned.

The great archdemon Gremory.

They had finally burned through a whole slew of skills, Hyun’s summon, and several of Bahala’s powers, and worn her down—only for her to sneer.

A great archdemon did not die easily.

What had the experts all over the world been doing while that old story passed down in literature became reality?

They were trying to inform people that Bahala’s chance of taking down the great archdemon Gremory was under 1 to 3%.

Because no matter how strong Bahala was, she was still a being far above him.

And on top of that, after recovering so easily all the way back to 100% like that, there seemed to be no way to hunt Gremory down.

In fact, this move by the experts was not the kind of fucking-expert nonsense people usually mocked at all.

The amount of HP Bahala had taken off Gremory, in the end, was only in the 20% range....

Even the commentators watching him started to say, “As expected, a great archdemon is...” and then swallowed the rest.

KRAAAAAABOOOM—!

The demon’s head exploded.

With her head gone, blood burst upward like a fountain from the gap where head and body had been connected.

The people of the world, who had gone silent, snapped back to themselves.

A single comment posted by one viewer.

-Anyone see the process...?

-......

-......

The reason they were shocked was what had happened after Bahala told the great archdemon Gremory she was stupid.

They had no idea what process they had just seen.

Because it had been as fast as a flash....

Inside the game Ares, Bahala’s physical abilities were transcendent.

His strength and speed were several times greater than a real human’s.

Even so, did every user move like this?

-Holy shit, this is the first time I literally couldn’t track something with my eyes... damn...

No.

Even for people who watched JoyTube, all kinds of game broadcasts, famous rankers’ raid footage, and PvP videos, this was the first time they had ever experienced something like this, so they were bewildered.

The commentators, after checking the slowed footage, spoke.

-“Three swaps happened in the span of eight seconds.”

Swapping artifacts.

That was what it was called.

You had to put away the sword you were using into your inventory, then take out a new sword from your inventory.

An act that took ordinary users at least several seconds—Bahala had done it three times in eight seconds.

Of course.

-“And within those eight seconds, while swapping, he made Gremory’s HP plummet with that unknown power called Destroy Evil, then immediately used a charge skill and pulled out the buff-type Twin Dragon Sword lodged in her chest.”

-“Then, in that state, he used Awaken and grew massively stronger, finished an instant calculation in a split second, triggered the Twin Dragon Sword’s hidden principle, Accumulation, and immediately activated Sever in Two. Bahala’s casting time there was practically only 0.3 to 0.4 seconds.”

Casting time.

Every user went through that process.

For mages, if it ran long, it could take several minutes.

For swordsmen, it ranged from a few seconds to several dozen seconds.

And the more skills were linked in a Combo, the harder that casting became.

-“Even in ordinary computer RPGs, once you start chaining several skills together, your fingers are bound to get tangled.”

Yet Bahala’s casting time was at least several times faster than ordinary users’.

And the advantage that created?

He could cut the enemy down before the enemy attacked him.

And he could kill the enemy before the enemy tried to kill him.

-“What’s truly shocking is that after Destroy Evil went off, do you know Puppet Devil triggered on Gremory one more time?”

-“...What did you just say?”

The whole world was stunned all over again.

-“This Puppet Devil appears to revive her to 100% the first time her HP drops below a certain threshold. Normally, it ends after one use. But the shocking thing is, the moment Destroy Evil dropped Gremory’s HP to 20%, it triggered again. However, this time it didn’t refill her all the way to 100%. It only brought her back up to 80%.”

-“But right now Gremory’s HP is only at 30%.”

-“Exactly. The instant it rose to 80%, the Twin Dragon Sword’s hidden principle, Accumulation, triggered, and then he cut her with Sever in Two.”

-“But isn’t Accumulation supposed to store the amount of damage received and then release it?”

-“Bahala, fitting the title of the greatest swordsman, appears to be capable of instantly tuning any sword-related skill to suit himself. He likely changed it from the damage he received into the damage he dealt. That too is astonishing beyond words. To use some kind of skill to shave 50% off a great archdemon’s HP in an instant?”

-“And what’s more, Bahala’s current Twin Dragon Sword is under the influence of Awaken, and it’s clearly showing that the quality of the Accumulation wielded by the blacksmith Hyunsoo and the Accumulation wielded by the greatest swordsman are on entirely different levels.”

Only after hearing the commentators’ words did the viewers finally understand the situation before them.

And the words that came out of their mouths were:

-That’s fucking insane...

The whole world plunged into a frenzy of excitement.

Bahala, revealing himself in an official setting for the first time, was more than enough to captivate the entire world.

At this very moment, the only thing the whole world was doing was showering Bahala with praise.

And with the power of Awaken making his hair whip wildly while blue mana spiraled around him, Bahala was simply too compelling.

And Bahala—

“......”

The whole world was going wild over him, but in truth, goosebumps were rising all over his body.

He made this... before the continental war?

In games, you got stronger by growing step by step.

Even Bahala at level 1 could not hunt a level 100 boss monster.

And yet Hyun, at level 1, had been able to create an artifact countless users of various levels would want and still never be able to obtain: the buff-type Twin Dragon Sword.

That crazy... bastard... hah...!

In Bahala’s eyes, the buff-type Twin Dragon Sword overwhelmingly surpassed the attack-type Twin Dragon Sword in certain moments.

And that exact moment was now.

[Awaken.]

[It reacts to the potential and tale you possess.]

Potential.

Bahala was one who walked the path of the Sword God.

In this game called Ares, there was not a single user who possessed potential higher than his.

As if proving that—

[This is absurd potential.]

Bahala stood at the end of a notification Bella had never heard when she held it.

[You surpass your limits.]

[You surpass your limits.]

[You surpass your limi...]

That notification changed.

[You transcend your limits.]

[You transcend your limits.]

Between the blue mana spiraling and blazing from Bahala’s body and the overflowing power—

SKRRRCH—!

Gremory appeared with her head growing back out, almost like Piccolo from Dragon Ball, but even in front of that sight, he did not feel fear.

Thank you, Hyunsoo.

And he was only more amazed that he himself had been included in all of Hyunsoo’s planning.

For the first time, this was the moment Bahala acknowledged Hyunsoo.

I’m sorry.

And it was the moment he apologized to him.

Because in the plan he had laid out, the one who would stand at the highest place was Bahala himself.

Because from today onward, the gap between him and Hyunsoo would only widen further.

The reward for solo-raiding the demon Gremory.

It would be astronomical, and for him, a man who bore the duty of protecting the world from evil, it would become the path to reaching the true Sword God.

That was how it was.

Hyunsoo would fail to become the God of Blacksmiths.

And today, he would become the Sword God.

Forged by Hyunsoo’s hand, with the blade Hyunsoo had driven into her chest and placed into his grasp, he would reach first the realm Hyunsoo himself would only attain long afterward.

The boiling power within him, and the control needed to keep up with that transcendent power, were both ready.

Just as he was about to use a charge skill on Gremory and close the distance in an instant...

-“A new story is beginning.”

“...!”

Bahala’s pupils widened.

A new story that activated only for special users when they advanced to an absurd level of clear.

A story where the rewards were amplified even further, but the difficulty rose even higher.

A new story can break out from a demon too!?

And this new story was also a kind of warning.

Your strength.

Your overwhelming power.

It meant that existence had realized something.

A warning bell announcing that, sensing a threat to its life, even that being would now use every means at its disposal.

Just as Bahala and Hyunsoo had begun laying down every card they had.

It was the worst possible hand, in which even Gremory brought out every card she possessed.

“People said I gave birth to the Twenty-Two Legions.”

The ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) clear sky stained itself with despair.

“They were wrong. I selected twenty-two who excelled, and shared my power with them.”

That was why Gremory could use all of those traits, and why she had come to be called the Gremory of the legion commanders.

“They died. So where did that power go?”

The power she had divided and given away.

“M-Mother?”

BWOOOOM—!

The head of Fuoruo, the surviving legion commander, exploded.

The twenty-two things that had once been “their faces” were sucked into Gremory.

Bahala hurried to move.

[You cannot attack.]

Gremory absorbed the Twenty-Two Legions.

The woman who, because she commanded the Twenty-Two Legions, had only displayed half her strength, was reborn complete.

[All stats increase by 27%.]

[The level of all traits increases by 3.]

[The great archdemon Gremory regains the trait Mother of Demons.]

[The great archdemon Gremory’s level is updated.]

DING!!!!

[Great Archdemon Gremory Lv.694]

[Trait. Mother of Demons is activated.]

[You receive a penalty.]

[She offers immortal life to the Evil God.]

[She can no longer resurrect.]

[All demonkind living in the territories of the 22 Legions begin descending to the surface, while Gremory takes the penalty in their place.]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

In that instant, the warning that appeared in the notification windows of users all over the world was now also flashing red before Bahala’s eyes.

KRAK—!

[The demon realm and the human realm are connected!]

From the sky, demonkind superior to humans came crawling out without end.

Their levels ranged from 400 to 420, but that was not the point.

They were battle species to begin with, and because they delighted in killing, it was more accurate to regard them as level 440 mobs.

As he watched them keep falling, endlessly, endlessly—

“This is because of you.”

“......”

The demon, Gremory, lashed out in arrogant rebuke.

Bahala unconsciously looked down at his own hand.

There was the Twin Dragon Sword Hyun had placed in his grasp.

In that instant, his mind, his heart, the whole world had collapsed—but—

“...You weren’t stupid in the head. You were just an idiot.”

“......”

Did you know being called an idiot felt worse than being called stupid?

In front of the place where viewers all over the world were watching him projected live—

KRAK—!

It was proven that the idol called Bahala was not broken.

BWOOOOM—

Bahala vanished in an instant, and the next moment he was standing in the sky.

[The tale of saving a nation reacts to you.]

Holding a single Twin Dragon Sword, he became the protagonist of a tale.

That tale was the story of one who chased the Sword God.

“Moon Fang Burst.”

With a single swing, one thousand demons and demonic beasts that had forced their way out exploded.

BWOOOOOOM—!

And when every demon and demonic beast turned their eyes toward him—

“Answer.”

SHRRAAAAAAK—!

After imprisoning the torrent of them in one place, just as Hyunsoo did with Pull them in—

“Annihilation.”

KRAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAK—!

A power granted only to one qualified to wield the authority of the Sword God butchered them all.

And while he cut them down without end, again and again, in that gap—

[You have used all your MP.]

CLACK!

He raised the sword upright and recovered through the power dwelling in the Twin Dragon Sword.

[All HP and MP have been restored.]

“Blind ones.”

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOM—!

Hundreds of raining arrows, skills, attacks—even Gremory’s pillar of fire.

KRAAAAAK—!

He manifested a skill that let him evade them all and charged forward.

And he annihilated every last being that had forced its way through the gate of the demon realm.

“Spider’s Tail.”

He seized the thread-thin line connected to Gremory.

BWOOOOOOM—!

He descended from above and cut down.

“Combo Knight.”

He linked one strike.

[Attack power is added.]

He linked two strikes.

[Attack power is added.]

At the 3rd, 4th, and then the 50th—

[It is upgraded to Combo Sword God.]

Receiving the x2 damage privilege for fifty consecutive successful Combos—

THUD, THUDTHUD, THUDTHUDTHUDTHUNK—!

Even as Gremory ceaselessly shaved down his HP, lowered it further, and exploded demonic energy, he clung to her side and swung like mad, forcing one knee to the ground.

BWACK—!

“KYAAAGH!”

BWACK—!

“KRAAAAAAGH!”

BWAAAACK—!

“STOOOOP!”

He brought the blade down on Gremory’s neck sixteen times.

The end was approaching.

If he killed her, the gate would close.

Drip, drip—!

With blood running down the Twin Dragon Sword through the tears in his palm,

at the moment he moved to bring it down for the seventeenth time—

[Awaken is canceled.]

“......”

That was when he learned Awaken’s weakness.

In an instant, all the power dwelling in him vanished like a mirage, and everything fell with it.

And at that point, his HP had already been racing below 10%.

Slump—

Bahala dropped to his knees.

...I’m sorry, Hyunsoo.

Bahala felt that he no longer had even the strength to twitch a finger.

“...Die.”

Before viewers all over the world, the hand of Gremory moved to tear the head from the neck of the one man who had been humanity’s hope, its idol, its lamp.

Then Bahala was startled.

This is...?

Just like him—

-“W-What is that sound?”

-“We’re hearing a strange sound.”

-“It sounds like a monster crying.”

Kr... uh... ung...

A mysterious sound had begun to rise from far away.

And then, as that cry grew clearer—

KRAAAAAOOOAR—!!!!

The roar of a tiger began filling the entire world.