Chapter 1952

The items dropped by Judar, the God of Wisdom, had unimaginable value.

[Multiple Weakening Barriers]

[Rating: Mythic

Deploy ten layers of fortifying barriers that reduce damage received.

Every time damage is taken, the caster’s mana is consumed.

Cooldown Time: None.

Acquisition Conditions: A god.]

Grid examined the magic glowing book using a jade light. He shivered as he recalled the power of Judar’s blue barrier.

Ten layers of barriers that weakened the damage received by 90%! The less damage was taken, the less mana was consumed. Grid, who had high defense, aimed for extreme efficiency.

‘I think I will be almost invincible if I use it... Do I need to learn it?’

Grid wondered for a bit if he should hand this over to Braham. In the end, he decided not to. After all, he would be able to cast barriers for others as well, not just for himself.

Grid didn’t find the mana usage that bothersome, since he had a lot of it. Thinking this was for the greater good of his team, he decided to go forward with his decision. Furthermore, Braham was able to create new magic.

‘Braham can just watch me use it and figure it out for himself.’ \

[Separation of Consciousness Book]

[Rating: Mythic

Learn how to use your consciousness.

Acquisition Conditions: A god.]

‘This... The explanation is so vague. I can’t exactly tell what it does.’

If this was Grid from the past, he would’ve hesitated. However, he immediately used the Separation of Consciousness Book because he realized something.

[The passive skill ‘Consciousness Extension’ is created.]

[The skill ‘Consciousness Separation’ is created.]

[Consciousness Extension Lv. 1]

[Gain access to up to four branches of consciousness.

You can cast multiple skills or spells at the same time.]

[Consciousness Separation Lv. 1]

[Can remove and utilize up to one branch of consciousness.]

‘Multi-casting!

Grid grinned as he recalled the experience of being able to speak and think separately while double casting. As an experiment, he used several spells and skills. Up to four spells or skills could be performed simultaneously.

‘The reason why other Absolutes can cast hundreds of spells at the same time is because they have expanded their consciousness endlessly.’

This alone was a great reward, but Grid was more attracted to the Consciousness Separation skill. When he infused the separated consciousness into a God Hand, he could move it as he wanted without having to enter any control commands. It looked as if it was injected with an artificial intelligence that had the same thought process as Grid, so it acted just like Grid would have ordered it to, but this time it didn’t require any commands.

It was like there were two versions of himself.

‘If I infuse my consciousness into a clone, it will have the same effect as me becoming multiple people.’

He truly felt like a god. Grid was both delighted and horrified. If it was as Nathaniel speculated and someone intended for the phenomenon of abilities in the game to be assimilated into reality...

If Ghamid really collided with Earth and a cataclysm occurred, he would be able to use these abilities in real life... Wouldn’t this make him somewhat of a superhuman?

“Haha...”

Grid laughed as he dropped this absurd idea. He looked at the rest of the loot.

[Book of Wisdom]

[Rating: Mythic

Learn magic that allows you to ‘study’ and evolve the target for a period of time.

There are no restrictions on the target of the study. It can be a building, a spell, a skill, an item, a monster or a civilization. Just—

The better the condition of the target, the less likely it is to evolve.

Conditions of use: A god.]

[Book of Leadership]

[Rating: Mythic

If you issue a ‘command’ to the target, you will gain magic that will amplify the target’s abilities for the duration of the command.

Conditions of use: A god.]

These were the skill books.

There was also a necklace that reduced casting speed and the cooldown time of magic and skills by more than half, a bracelet that amplified the power of resources, a cloak that increased the efficiency of passive skills, a net that changed size depending on the target, water from the Golden River that activated clairvoyance when washing one’s eyes with it, a potion that restored all resources to 100%, and many more.

The power of Judar’s keepsakes was beyond what he could have ever imagined. Grid meticulously checked their effects.

He learned all of the skills from the books. Among them, he immediately used the spell he learned from the Book of Wisdom.

[You have designated the targets for study as ‘Trauka’s Scales’ and ‘Trauka’s Bones.’ Starting to look for the possibility of evolution.]

‘If the evolution succeeds, I will be able to make stronger items.’

The equipment he was currently wearing could be designated as a target for study, but he decided to put that on hold for now. If he studied them, they would become unusable for a period of time that could last between two weeks and two months. In addition, the items on Grid were close to complete, so the possibility of evolution was low. Right now, there were other problems that required his immediate attention.

Grid ran without stopping. If a wall or rock appeared in front of him and blocked his path, he would smash it and continue onward. The moment he exited the lair, he saw lava flowing from the peaks of the collapsed mountains. The lava had turned into monsters which were ferociously running around.

The monsters were named ‘Trauka’s Grudge.’ Each one was just as strong and intelligent as a boss. Normally, the Overgeared members would’ve been able to defeat them without breaking a sweat. However, they were all exhausted or severely injured. The number of enemies was so high that they were struggling to keep up.

“Um...”

After examining the situation for a while, Grid performed the Link sword dance. There were endless connections that came to mind, but thanks to the Consciousness Extension skill, he was able to focus on every single one clearly.

Grid focused on Jishuka. His vision became like a satellite, allowing him to get a bird’s eye view of the entire mountain range. He could now see just like a Bow Saint. He hadn’t expected it would feel like this. He performed a series of fusion sword dances that combined Link. Thousands of sword energies containing Annihilation energy spread out.

[The Annihilation energy has neutralized the enemy.]

This new power was extraordinary. Regardless of the enemy’s level, race, or hierarchy, critical hits would always land against their weak points. On top of that, there was a 99% chance of triggering continuous attacks and splash damage.

The thing he liked most about this Annihilation energy was that it unconditionally disabled one of the target’s defense skill.

“Hah...”

Sounds of alarm rang out all over the battlefield. The people were surprised when purple sword energy flew in without any warning whatsoever and killed the monsters. They looked in the direction that the sword energy was coming from and noticed Grid, who was the size of a dot. He sniped at hundreds of enemies simultaneously from an enormous distance.

“Isn’t it almost like Jishuka?”

Jishuka was embarrassed by Vantner’s insensitive exclamation. She corrected him while pinching the bridge of her nose. “This power feels very different from mine.”

The Overgeared Guild advanced, shouting. They noticed that their leader was much stronger after defeating the God of Wisdom and Fire Dragon, and that fact alone bolstered their spirits. They no longer feared the enemy they were facing. They released an onslaught of attacks on the grudges, who had lost the heat surrounding them like a protective shield after being hit by Grid’s attacks.

Grid flew into the sky and briefly checked the situation. He gave a command to Kraugel and Hurent. The order was simple: kill all enemies. However, the attack power of the two people became twice as strong. The bodies of the grudges, formed out of hard stone, lava, and magic power, were sliced apart as easily as one would cut through tofu.

“Hey, this is getting scary...”

Hurent couldn’t calm down. He was filled with a rare burst of excitement and swept through the battlefield. Kraugel smiled and nodded in agreement.

A member of the artillerymen was in danger because of his relatively low combat capabilities, but he still somehow survived. He noticed a grudge approaching him and swiping a hand at him, so he thought this was it, this is how he would die. Suddenly, a navy blue barrier appeared and protected him.

As he was looking around, confused, Braham observed from a distance and sent a sound transmission to Grid.

-I need to study that barrier as soon as we’re done here.

-Of course, I’ll help you out with it. Do your best.

Kiyaaaaak!

Some of the grudges rushed at Grid. They knew he was responsible for the sudden turn of events and reacted quickly. Grid just stared at them. He didn’t bother to fight back.

When the fists of the grudges slammed into his body, purple Annihilation energy burst out and clung to the bodies of the enemy like wildfire. The energy also had a defensive effect. Grid returned the damage of the first attack back to the target. Considering the inherent power of the Annihilation energy, he actually returned it twice or thrice as stronger than he’d received it.

The energy reacted to magic and mental attacks, not just physical attacks. This meant it countered any type of surprise attacks.

Grrr...

Trauka’s grudges, which were just as intelligent as a boss, quickly noticed the large gap of power between themselves and Grid. They exchanged looks before turning into flames and fleeing in all directions.

Grid snorted as he unleashed magic and sword dances to block their paths. The God Hands poured down like rain. Among the over three hundred black-gold hands, one in particular stood out from the rest. Surprisingly, it performed a sword dance just as quickly and efficiently as Grid would have done, critically injuring the grudges.

Thanks to this, the sword dances used by the rest of the God Hands were able to slice through the enemies and turn them to ash.

“......”

The battlefield became silent. The Overgeared members, Grid’s apostles, the tower members–not a single person had expected this outcome.

Under their gazes, Grid smiled and said, "Let's go back.”

***

After receiving the location of the treasure trove from Grid, Lord set out on an adventure with Rebecca's Daughters, having many empty carts at his disposal. Lord treated the God Hand that hovered beside him with great politeness. It was very similar to how he treated his parents, so Rebecca’s daughters tilted their heads, confused.

Meanwhile, Grid picked up Hayate, who was fighting the old dragons at Reidan. The old dragons knew full well that Grid had killed Trauka, but they didn’t dare show how they truly felt about what went down. They saw the purple aura around Grid and left the scene with wide eyes.

Afterwards, Grid politely escorted the tower members to their base. He didn’t forget to warn them of Chiyou.

“You should be mindful of him.”

Hayate nodded silently, while Biban reacted like what Grid was saying was absurd.

Grid laughed it off and went to find Marie Rose. The world was abuzz due to the deaths of the God of Wisdom and the Fire Dragon’s. The Overgeared members were busy dealing with the aftermath of the battle but, as always, these were problems for Lauel and the Overgeared Guild to take care of.

Grid didn’t care one bit about that situation and devoted himself to Marie Rose and prenatal education. He felt that his body and mind, exhausted from the battle, were healed thanks to Marie Rose and the baby in her belly.

He learned a lot when he saw Lord, so he visited Titan after leaving the desert. First, he summoned Kyle and gave him a new dragon weapon, dragon armor, and some treasures. As the large and minor officials looked at him with envy, Kyle trembled and suddenly fainted. No one knew the reason.

After throwing the treasure to the unconscious Kyle, Grid focused on Basara and prenatal education. The sight of him whispering to her belly to be as good as Lord made Basara laugh.

A few days later, Grid finally returned to Reinhardt. He designated the Overgeared Palace as his research target, and met with Irene and Mercedes.

In the meantime, he told Lauel what he’d found out from Judar.

“Are you serious?”

Lauel was shocked when he heard the name of the dimension that Judar had left behind.