Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!
The clone hammered at the Holy Light Armor, and the shape of the armor changed rapidly. In just a few seconds, it evolved into Valhalla of Infinite Affection.
‘This...?’ Grid was horrified when the clone armed himself with Valhalla.
Of course, he had expected it to some extent. From the first time Grid met his clone in the Behen Archipelago, he had known that the clone could copy all of his abilities and items. In the process of losing to the clone again and again, Grid had found he could learn things from the clone and also gained Blacksmith’s Eyes after defeating the clone. Yes, he understood it was a relationship where they both took things from each other and had predicted this variable. However, this was serious.
‘XX...? Isn’t this a scam?’
In just a few seconds, the clone managed to copy the items Grid was wearing...? Moreover, it was done without a production method and materials? This was the precious work that Khan had left behind!
“Die…!” Grid couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t forgive the clone for undermining the legacy that Khan had left behind. Yet Grid, who was furious and had bloodshot eyes, stopped in the middle of his shouting. “ ... Eh?”
It was like black paint. The clone’s Valhalla was melting like a liquid. The molten armor soaked into the clone’s body and then it hardened again.
“Recognition. I am you.”
Valhalla of Infinite Affection became the skin of the clone, and the clone was now Valhalla of Infinite Affection itself. The clone had instantly assimilated with the armor.
‘This...?’ Grid, who had been blinded with anger, barely grabbed onto a rope of reason. He noticed what the Valhalla clone was doing right now. “Moving Fortress! Avoid it!”
[Moving Fortress]
[It can be activated if the wearer’s health drops by more than one tenth (Enable/Disable can be selected).
-Converts the durability of Valhalla of Infinite Affection to defense (one durability= two defense).
-Immune to all conditions (including physical statuses).
-It will last for one minute and the current durability of Valhalla of Infinite Affection will be set to 30 points (at the end of Moving Fortress, the current durability will be restored by a third of the maximum durability).
* Please note that if the durability falls to zero, the item will be permanently destroyed.
The wide range skill ‘Impregnable’, which deals half of all damage received in the last five minutes in a 50-meter radius, can be activated.
Skill Resources Consumption: Valhalla of Infinite Affection’s maximum endurance will drop permanently by 200.
Skill Cooldown Time: 10 minutes.]
Moving Fortress was an ultimate skill with high utilization. However, the result was a reduction in Valhalla’s durability, and Valhalla could be lost. It was a skill that Grid could never use as he vowed to be with Khan’s legacy forever. However, the clone was different. He had Grid’s appearance, abilities, items, and potential, but he didn’t share Grid’s memories. The meaning contained in Valhalla meant nothing to the clone.
“Question. Why do I exist if you exist?” The clone’s ego was developing. He had been born as something to harm Grid, and now he wanted to replace Grid. Flash! The clone’s body glowed red as it approached Grid and his colleagues. No, to be precise, it was the Valhalla on the clone’s skin that was heating up.
“ Ah! ” Grid shouted to everyone to avoid it while the 10 meritorious retainers were already taking evasive action. J ishuka was constantly shooting arrows from the sky, keeping the clone in check while her teammates took cover. However, the clone used Quick Movements attached to the Ideal Dagger and showed a speed which surpassed that of the 10 meritorious retainers. Additionally, Jishuka’s arrows couldn’t destroy the defense of Moving Fortress.
“What is needed? Your death. Perish.”
Grid, Chris, Pon, Regas, Katz and Peak Sword were still within a 50-meter radius, and they were hit by half the damage that the clone had accumulated in the last five minutes. The dust from the impact of the consecutive battles started to disperse. All the objects affected by Impregnable—like the tiles, houses and people—were unable to withstand the powerful damage. Yet Grid and the 10 meritorious retainers were fine.
“...?” A question mark emerged over the clone’s head. A bald head was shining. “Did you think I was a folding screeeeen?!”
It was a great success for Vantner, who had only invested all his stats into stamina late in the game. Shields rose from the ground and protected the 10 meritorious retainers. It was the Sacrifice Shield which consumed 90% of Vantner’s mana to summon a shield to protect all party members.
[Party leader Grid has suffered catastrophic damage!]
[The effect of ‘Transfer Damage’ has shifted the damage to the Sacrifice Shield.]
[Serious damage was dealt.]
[The user of this shield will die the moment the duration is over.]
[Party member Chris has suffered catastrophic damage!]
[The effect of ‘Transfer Damage’ has shifted the damage to the Sacrifice Shield.]
[Party member Regas...]
[Party member Pon...]
“ Cough! ”
[The duration of Sacrifice Shield is over.]
[Your flesh, which has crossed the limit to protect your colleagues, will collapse.]
“That bastard... Get revenge... for me...”
[You have died.]
[You have lost 36.1% experience.]
[The item ‘White Pauldrons’ has been lost.]
[Two batches of the item ‘Super Limited Resource Recovery Potion’ has been lost.]
[The durability of the ‘Taldran Mace’ has dropped by 103.]
[The durability of ‘Belial’s Shield’ has dropped by 209.]
[The durability...]
[......]
[......]
“Vantner!” The 10 meritorious retainers screamed as they witnessed Vantner’s death.
Surprisingly, Pon was angrier than anyone else. “You dare...! You dare!”
Pon was Vantner’s colleague and rival who had been playing all types of games with Vantner for 10 years before the release of Satisfy. They always argued because they couldn’t determine who was a better gamer, but they had a precious friendship with many memories.
“The poor guy who worked day and night for a few months to gain one level...! His effort was in vain...! Gail!”
Hihihing! The white horse responded to Pon’s call and jumped off the wyvern. Pon quickly got on the horse, received all types of compensation effects, and threw the spear at the clone. The spear flew so quickly that the clone couldn’t react to it even with Quick Movements, and his heart was pierced. Pon had rushed forward from the moment he threw the spear, and he pointed another spear at the clone’s heart. Then he tried to use the ultimate technique ‘Take the Throne’ that connected with Mach Spear.
However, the clone’s counterattack was quick. He resisted the physical injuries of being hit by the spear and avoided the ‘stiffness’ state thanks to Valhalla. Then he unleashed Pinnacle at Pon.
[You have died.]
[You have lost 36.8% experience.]
[The item ‘Prototype Lantier’s Cloak’ has been lost.]
[The item ‘White Rose Gloves’...]
[......]
[......]
“Pon!” The 10 meritorious retainers were shaken by the back-to-back loss of their colleagues. The Murray Kingdom players watching the battle felt great panic. They couldn’t accept this scene where the strongest rankers were being overwhelmed by a single enemy and dying. It didn’t seem real.
“Your Majesty...” Asmophel was saddened while still being kept in check by the God Hands. The helplessness of the 10 meritorious retainers, who had gone through all types of adversities with Grid, was a sight that made Asmophel nervous. He wanted to quickly shake off the God Hands and help his king.
Singuled approached Asmophel at this moment and asked, “That is your king?”
“That’s right.”
“...The king who Piaro also serves.” Singuled watched Grid. Singuled didn’t know him, but he wondered what actions Grid would take after losing his companions to the monster who resembled him.
Haster was the same. ‘If he is a wise king, he would realize that the 10 meritorious retainers have been defeated and pull out Knights Summoning.’
Haster evaluated that the clone was several times more threatening than Grid. The clone had a health that far surpassed Grid’s, and his power was difficult to gauge because he could copy Grid’s items instantly. Could Grid and the 10 meritorious retainers deal with this monster? There was no chance of that. It had been proven several times in the past National Competitions that the 10 meritorious retainers were no match for Grid. Consequently, it was impossible for them to fight the clone who was much stronger than Grid.
‘A victory can’t be guaranteed. In the end, you have to rely on Piaro.’
Great Swordsman Piaro was the person whom Master Winfred had missed all his life and the strongest subordinate of Overgeared King Grid. Haster judged that this was the only way to beat Grid’s clone and expected Grid to summon Piaro as quickly as possible. He also hoped that encountering Piaro would give him a hidden quest which would help him become a Red Sage.
However, Grid didn’t meet his expectations.
“Vantner, Pon...” Grid walked on the ground of ashes made by the clone. Dark red and purple fighting energy surrounded his body. It was the Hero King’s fighting energy that the clone hadn’t copied yet, or maybe couldn’t copy.
“...” Broken pauldrons and a torn cloak—Grid carefully picked up the items Vantner and Pon had dropped. Then Grid told his colleagues, “Buy me some time.”
“...?” Haster doubted his ears as he watched the situation. Rather than summon Piaro, Grid depended on his colleagues.
‘He is willing to sacrifice his colleagues when there are other options...?’
Was he worried about losing Piaro?
‘I understand how he feels, but... He is a shockingly selfish person.’
Grid chose to sacrifice his colleagues rather than risk losing his best knight. Haster scoffed. ‘He won’t keep his position for long.’
Grid had been able to become the first player king because he was the leader of the Overgeared Guild. By relying on his colleagues, he had managed to overthrow the Eternal Kingdom and set up a new kingdom. Yet he was now sacrificing his colleagues at this crucial moment. Haster thought a crack would form between Grid and his colleagues. Then Grid would lose his colleagues, and his position would weaken.
“...$#[email protected]#!!”
Jishuka and Lauel attacked continuously from the wyvern, while Huroi was verbally abusive. The colleagues on the ground took cover and hindered the clone. At this time, Grid was in the rear. He supported his colleagues using the white light sword and golden blade, as well as Noe and Randy, but he wasn’t acting himself. Haster analyzed his actions, ‘Is he waiting for the altered armor to return to its original state so that the extreme defense will be lost?’
While Grid’s colleagues were buying time, Grid was preparing a deadly blow. It was a simple plan.
‘The clone is a named boss. It is intelligent enough to prepare for the gap that will appear when the armor returns to normal.’
It was futile. Grid was forcing his colleagues to sacrifice themselves for nothing. By the time Grid attacked the clone, most of his colleagues would be on the verge of death and the clone would still be able to cope with Grid’s strike. This was what Haster thought.
Lauel, who was on the wyvern, was thinking the same thing. ‘There is a high chance that the clone is prepared for the timing His Majesty is aiming for.’
That’s right. Still, Haster and Lauel didn’t know the details of Moving Fortress. Grid was the only one who knew the effect of the absolute armor that the clone was currently showing.
[Fighting energy has reached the maximum.]
[Strength, stamina, and agility has increased by 50%.]
“100,000 Army.”
“...!?” Lauel in the sky...
“Using that now?” ... and Haster on the ground—the two men watching Grid became shocked at the same time. Grid was moving much faster than they had expected as he attacked the clone. Regas’ kicks and Chris’ greatsword...
Tatang!
Jishuka’s arrows and Yura’s magic power bullets... Katz’ blood magic and Peak Sword’s Draw Sword...
The clone performed a sword dance as he endured the onslaught of the Overgeared Kingdom’s 10 meritorious retainers.
“Massacre Sword.”
----
-----!!
“...!?”
Energy blades, which contained a fierce momentum, poured out. Why did Grid attack the enemy while Moving Fortress was still active? It was to destroy Valhalla as its durability had fallen to 30 in the aftermath of Moving Fortress.
“Judgment. Dangerous,” the clone responded when the armor couldn’t endure the enemy blades and cracked. He judged that he wouldn’t be able to endure the 100,000 Army Massacre Sword, which posted a higher speed than Transcended Link, and called the God Hands to his side while using Flower. The clone had learned from Grid and Randy to not use Revolve first.
A beautiful and fierce sight unfolded. Energy which resembled flowers formed and started to shatter the energy blades of 100,000 Army Massacre Sword. However, it was too late and was lacking. Valhalla had already endured the onslaught of the meritorious retainers, and now it was being crushed by 100,000 Army Massacre Sword. The cracks in the armor grew bigger, and its shape was soon lost.
Grid immediately used Quick Movements and Blacksmith’s Rage and rushed to the clone. “Son of a bitch! Be prepared!”
Grid had thought about it. Why had the clone been able to copy the armor that Grid was wearing in seconds? First, it was a unique skill possessed by the clone. The clone had a fraudulent skill that analyzed and copied the item in a matter of seconds. Still, something didn’t fit. If the clone had such a perfect copying skill, then Grid would never win.
Was this really right? He wouldn’t able to beat the clone who had a grasp of his location and could track him at any time...? Then wasn’t his life in the game completely over? The S.A Group might be swindlers, but would they do something so unreasonable? What would happen if Grid went to the media and exposed this absurdity?
As such, Grid came to a conclusion.
“Overgeared jerk! Pinnacle Kill!”
It was the power of items. Yes, it was the items. Grid remembered the armor, sword, and God Hands that the clone had first appeared with. Were these items the source of the clone’s power? Wasn’t the clone’s fraudulent copying skill possible because of a power contained in the clone’s armor? He didn’t know if this speculation was correct or not.
[Critical!]
[The effect of the title ‘Death in One Shot!’ has been activated, adding 30% critical damage!]
[The Vital Spot Detection of the Slaughterer’s Eye Patch has activated!]
[The weak spot has been attacked! Further damage will be dealt!!]
[You have dealt 9,195,700 damage to the target.]
However, he ascertained this through seeing the damage that the clone suffered after his armor was destroyed. The clone didn’t make a new armor or copy one. He just lost health helplessly. Grid laughed at the clone, “Yes, this is the power of items.”
“...”
‘Then what about you?’
The onlookers were stunned as they watched Grid using ‘the power of items’ in a derisive manner to mock the clone. On the other hand, the people who were more freaked out than anyone else were the employees of the S.A Group.
“Did Grid understand the structure of the clone from the beginning?”
“The reason he unleashed an offensive at the start was to make the clone copy Valhalla and use Moving Fortress?”
“The moment he realized he would be reunited with the clone, he must’ve figured out how to take advantage of Valhalla.”
“He truly is one of the Five Miracles...”
“God Grid...”
This was the moment that the S.A Group called an ordinary (?) player a ‘GOD’.