Chapter 1830
Chapter 1830
‘She knows how to be nervous.’
Grid’s expression was bright when he returned to Reinhardt. It was because the emotions he felt while dating Marie Rose were pleasant in many ways.
Marie Rose’s outstretched hand—her hands, which were icy cold when he first held it, gradually turned warm. Finally, it was sticky with sweat. It was a pleasant stickiness. A strange sense of connection was formed after knowing that she was as nervous as him. The appearance of her being outwardly calm while feeling awkward and nervous felt quite pure.
He thought she was an untouchable Absolute, but he realized that she was a person like him. Besides, her bodily fluids smelled good.
It was a fact that he had known since she stole a kiss from him in the past. The kiss, which had been filled with a dizzying pain and pleasure through the blood shed, was still strongly imprinted on Grid’s mind. Her hands smelled like flowers…
Grid, who had been sniffing Marie Rose’s sweaty hands, soon made up his mind.
‘Let’s kill Baal and then go and see her often.’
The source of Marie Rose’s anguish lay with Baal. She thought that her act of hostility toward Baal was for her mother’s sake and she seemed to feel some anxiety about it. The cause of the anxiety was unknown.
However, one thing was for certain. If Grid succeeded in defeating Baal, then Marie Rose’s anguish would naturally end. From then on, Marie Rose would regain her freedom in the true sense of the word. She would be able to face the world as ‘me’ instead of as ‘Beriache’s daughter.’
This was one more reason for Grid to get rid of Baal.
“Did you have fun?” A voice came from behind him. It was Piaro. He was carrying a pretty girl on his shoulders.
The half-elf born to Piaro and Beniyaru—their growth rate was slower than that of humans, but this was a story from a physical point of view. Piaro’s daughter possessed a powerful magic power that didn’t match her youthful appearance. Perhaps it was due to the combination of the human and elf race, but the growth of her various skills, magic, and stats also transcended the ordinary range.
“Hello, God!” The girl jumped off her father’s body, placed her hands in front of her belly button and bowed politely.
Grid got down on one knee so he was eye level with her and smiled. “Have you been well, Cecil? You’ve grown a lot in the last few months. You must’ve listened to your parents and ate well.”
“I-I’ve only grown a centimeter…” The complexion of the girl, Cecil, darkened. Grid’s greeting was painful for her since she already had a complex because she was shorter than her peers.
“…You have grown one centimeter, so you’ve grown a lot. It is great. One step in anything is great.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I also learned that from your father.”
It was an old story that felt like a long time ago. At the time of his appointment as a duke of the Eternal Kingdom, Grid learned swordsmanship while crossing the desert with Piaro. At that time, Piaro had always said it.
You really aren’t talented, but take comfort in the fact that you are a bit better than yesterday. Consider it fortunate that you have taken one step forward.
In fact, it was close to sarcasm. It must’ve been frustrating and Grid felt some sympathy for Piaro in the past.
“Cough…” Piaro remembered the old memory and coughed in embarrassment. Looking back now, it was shameful that he dared to teach Grid and that he lamented about Grid’s talent.
It was a memory for Grid. It would be nice to go back to those days. At that time, he only dreamed about a brilliant future without any experience of losing his loved ones. It was also a time when he didn’t dream of the demons of hell and the gods of heaven. He could be happy every day without worrying.
‘No, going back is to cancel everything.’
In those days, Piaro survived only for revenge. His heart was a rag filled with deep anger and sadness. Grid didn’t want to see the current Piaro, who had regained his friends and even a new family, go back to the past and suffer.
“Really? Father, did you teach God?”
“Cecil, My Liege is busy, so stop…”
“Yes. Your father was my teacher.”
“Uwahhhh!”
“……”
Eventually, Piaro kept his mouth shut.
Grid’s face was as bright as the sun as he recalled the past, and his daughter’s eyes were shining like stars—Piaro couldn’t bear to disturb the two of them. He kept quiet and maintained the peaceful time between the two of them.
Then he suddenly realized—even when he thought about the past, it was very rare for Grid to be a bright and carefree person. It was even before he despaired after encountering a great demon for the first time.
Even before he was disappointed and angry with the celestial gods. Even before he grieved knowing that humanity didn’t find rest in death.
Grid always lived fiercely like a man chased by something. In fact, he was always threatened. It was by the monsters of the desert, his enemies, his nation, the churches, Braham, the Saharan Empire, and the people of various societies.
‘He became his current self because he has never been comfortable?’
Ascetic practices—Piaro summarized the path Grid had taken and recalled his recent self. He wondered if he was too comfortable. It was ever since he became a farmer, regained his friends, removed the stigma, and got a family. He was satisfied with life. He wasn’t fierce compared to the time when he lived in anger and desired only revenge. Therefore, he fell behind.
‘…No, it can’t be.’
Piaro shook his head. It didn’t make sense that being satisfied with life meant he didn’t progress. By that logic, people could only progress if they were happy. In the first place, Grid wasn’t unhappy either. His asceticism was a stepping stone for a happy life, not a struggle to endure misfortune.
“…Hah.”
Something that never existed in Piaro’s mind started to take hold. It was in the form of a house. The house where his wife and daughter were waiting. Fields stretched out around the house. It was an agricultural field surrounded by huge walls. Beyond the walls was Grid’s towering castle. It was a place where countless people lived.
These were the things Piaro had to protect. It was the source that made Piaro live. The more he became aware of it, the clearer the landscape in his mind became. The responsibility to protect it grew endlessly.
His heart became firm and the muscles of his body wriggled as if responding to his heart. It tightened up.
“…I guess I have to remake the farming equipment.”
How much time passed? Piaro’s mind returned at the sound of a voice and his eyes widened. Dusk had come without him noticing. His daughter was lying on Grid’s back and she was already asleep with a small breathing sound.
Grid extended a fist toward Piaro, who was making a puzzled expression. “Congratulations.”
The creation of the mental world—Grid was extremely proud of Piaro, who achieved great things in his daily life. Piaro’s heart skipped a beat. He bumped fists with Grid and smiled brightly.
“Thank you.”
An ordinary person—among Grid’s apostles, who were extraordinary from birth, Piaro was at a disadvantage. Thanks to the acquisition of Natural State, his potential didn’t fall behind much, but his growth rate was clearly behind. Even though it was slow, it was steadily improving and narrowing the gap.
Grid thought that the current Piaro looked like his past self. “I always believe in you.”
“…I will live up to it.”
***
“Shouldn’t Miss Cecil grow up more? I think it would be a good idea for her to join Prince Lord’s adventure. She will be safe enough by the crown prince’s side,” Lauel said as he stared at the back of Piaro and his daughter, who were on their way back home.
Grid didn’t like it.
“Forget it. The education of children should be left to their parents. Are we in such a desperate situation that we need a child’s hands?”
“It is a tough position, but it isn’t to the point of borrowing a child’s hands.”
“…Yes, we don’t have enough power.”
In terms of the empire as a whole, Grid had tens of millions of troops at his disposal. However, the number of troops that could accompany him to invade hell was only a hundred at most. It was because there were several conditions attached to entering hell.
First of all, they must’ve gained the title that allowed them to ignore hell’s debuffs by raiding Hell Gao several times. Next, they needed to have enough stats to not be ‘one shotted’ by Baal. To be honest, it was difficult for most humans to withstand the attacks of ordinary great demons, let alone Baal. The great demons in hell were very powerful. Grid could easily kill a great demon, but that was just Grid.
In any case, the reason why the number of people participating in Baal’s slaying expedition was reduced to the tens of units was because of Grid’s demand that all the above conditions be met, and they had to be ‘a person who can die.’
He didn’t want to sacrifice the wrong people and he didn’t want to watch Baal become stronger as more people died. In the end, only the apostles and players who could be resurrected after death could participate in the hell expedition. Other than that, he could add ‘powerhouses who can escape death on their own’ such as Biban.
It was a daunting task in many ways to handle Baal, dozens of great demons, and millions of demonic creatures with this number of people. It was simply physically difficult.
Grid fully understood Lauel’s desire to nurture new talent as soon as possible.
“There is nothing to be nervous about. The moment we invade hell, Leraje and Eligos will respond and they will have quite a few armies with them. In the first place, the rest of the people only need to block the advance of the great demons and demonic creatures while I kill Baal.”
The situation that Grid wanted to establish was a one-on-one fight with Baal.
…It was 1v2 to be exact. Of course, his side was the 2. He would be riding Bunhelier.
“You are sure that you can kill Baal, right?” Lauel managed to express his long-held worry.
A war that might be the last one—this operation would be the most important battle in Satisfy’s history and it was planned by Grid, not Lauel. Grid relied on Lauel in most situations, but he prioritized his own judgment at the most important junction. It had to be so. Grid was the only one who could provide evidence that he could kill Baal.
“Yes. As I said before, Baal’s life will be finite if we erase humanity’s fear of him with the epics.”
“But if you fail…”
“I can’t fail. This is the only way to kill Baal, but it doesn’t work? That means we can’t kill Baal at all costs and human life itself will be meaningless. Humans must die one day. What is the meaning of life if there is only an ending where they die and become Baal’s plaything?”
A world of only despair would make people give up. Players would leave one by one. The S.A Group might be perverts who bothered people with probability manipulation, but Grid was certain that they didn’t want such an ending.
“I think the same. I just wanted to ask you one more time just in case.”
The genius Lauel thought the same thing. Therefore, Grid couldn’t lose his courage.
“Looking back now, My Liege was chosen as a hero from the moment you became the Magic Swordsman of the Epics.”
The epics—it was the key to killing Baal. Of course, the epics couldn’t be the only arrangement. It was a high possibility that there would be a number of systems that performed similar roles to the epics. The problem was that the players who got them would be in the stage where they couldn’t use these systems properly yet, or they would be living a normal life without even imagining that they had obtained the key to kill Baal.
“That’s right. Even if I hadn’t become a god, I would’ve definitely fought Baal one day.”
No matter whether he was an ordinary transcendent or an Absolute like a Dragon Slayer or God Killer. It was destined to be like this. The moment he thought this, Grid felt a strong pull to Baal. In any case, he couldn’t wait to meet Baal. But it was still a bit early. It was really just a little bit.
Grid suppressed his excitement and left meaningful words as he turned to the smithy. “Oh, the condition for creating a mental world. All the people participating in the expedition meet the conditions. However, I think the system will respond only when they become aware of it through certain opportunities.”