The bones were the last bastion of an animal. The skin might be easily damaged by sharpness, but the bones were resistant.

However, Overgeared Skeleton One destroyed the bone itself. It was a reaper.

‘I need to make a rapier-type weapon suitable for it!’

Grid’s eyes were full of affection as he looked at Overgeared Skeleton One, who disabled the bear-wolf that even threatened the elves.

The affection Grid displayed was enough to make Noe feel jealous.

“

Bah,

I don’t like skeletons. They can’t compare to the best demonic beast of hell.”

“Of course.”

After all, his affection for Noe was already close to infinity! Grid stroked Noe’s fur while trying hard to calm his heart.

‘Permanent debuffs...!’

The system clearly said so. Overgeared Skeleton One paralyzed the bear-wolf by destroying the bones of its lower body.

The reason was obvious. How could it move with broken bones?

‘This is on the level of a scam.’

Of course, recovery wasn’t impossible.

It was a condition that could be restored immediately with a skill like Bone Sticking. However, how many monsters would have a skill like that?

Boss monsters could restore broken bones when recovering, but regular monsters couldn’t escape the Overgeared Skeletons. The players were also similar.

‘Broken bone’ wasn’t a common condition, so the number of players who could endure their bones breaking was surprisingly small. Given that damaged bones cost 100 gold to restore, the use of Bone Cracking alone could cause serious damage.

‘Well... the heals of a priest can restore it. So, this isn’t a problem to worry about.’

Did Grid need help from Overgeared Skeleton One to deal with ordinary monsters and players?

No, Grid alone could handle them.

Overgeared Skeleton One was only worthy when going against a more transcendent being.

For example…

‘Agnus!’ Grid thought of the mad dog.

Agnus, Baal’s Contractor, was a sun-grade player who pretended to be the king of the living and the dead, and had a large number of liches and death knights.

Like Grid, Agnus far transcended the category of a player and was one of the few opponents who could cause Grid to tense up.

Grid had felt both regret and relief when he hadn’t met Agnus while hunting Immortal in the empire.

Now, he would no longer feel any fear as long as he had Overgeared Skeleton One!

‘Agnus, where are you hiding now?’

Grid’s anger toward Agnus, the head of Immortal and the source of Khan’s death, revived again.

The eternal war between Grid and Immortal had yet to end.

The Overgeared Skeletons continued hunting the bear-wolves. Of course, the speed of the hunt wasn’t very different from before. Overgeared Skeleton One’s Bone Cracking skill only had a low chance of activating. So, it was very rare for the Overgeared Skeletons to deal a fatal blow to the bear-wolves.

However, Grid wasn’t worried.

He had no doubt that the Overgeared Skeletons’ level and skill levels would rise quickly with Mercedes as a bus.

‘I have to give a reward to the bus driver.’

Before he knew it, the portable furnace reached the temperature he wanted. What material should he make Mercedes’ armor out of...? Fortunately, there was no need for Grid to fret about that as he had the items he acquired when he went to support Valhalla!

[Red Knights’ Red Armor]

[Rating: Unique

Durability: 599/599 Defense: 501

* Strength increased by 20%.

* Two of the wearer’s highest stats will increase by 10%. If strength or intelligence increases at this time, there will be 200 additional attack power. Physical defense will increase by 200. An increase in agility will raise accuracy and evasion by 10%.

* Increases magic resistance in proportion to the wearer’s intelligence.

* The wearer’s highest level skill will increase by 20%.

* The cooldown of the wearer’s two lowest level skills will decrease by 10%.

* Durability and defense will slightly increase when the wearer’s level increases. However, this number is reset when the wearer changes.

* Unlocks a unique characteristic every time the level increases by 100. This characteristic is permanently maintained.

A heavy armor made of black mithril filled with the red energy of the Saharan emperor, ogre bones and rosar tin.

It increases the armor and strength of the wearer, as well as enhancing their unique ability.

As an armor given to the Red Knights ranging from 10-30, it is a treasure worthy of stimulating the Red Knights.

Weight: 1,000

Conditions of Use: A Red Knight.]

[Lorex’s Red Armor]

[Rating: Legendary

Durability: 599/599 Defense: 501

* Strength increased by 20%.

* Two of the wearer’s highest stats will increase by 10%. If strength or intelligence increases at this time, there will be 200 additional attack power. Physical defense will increase by 200. An increase in agility will raise accuracy and evasion by 10%.

* Increases magic resistance in proportion to the wearer’s intelligence.

* The wearer’s highest level skill will increase by 20%.

* The cooldown of the wearer’s two lowest level skills will decrease by 10%.

* The power of all wide-range skills is increased by 20%.

* When a large weapon is equipped, attack power will increase by 10% and attack speed will increase by 5%.

* Durability and defense will slightly increase when the wearer’s level increases. However, this number is reset when the wearer changes.

* Unlocks a unique characteristic every time the level increases by 100. This characteristic is permanently maintained.

Red armor that has grown with Third Knight Lorex.

After Lorex’s death, the growth figures for the durability and defense were reset. However, the other unique characteristics remain. The new Red Knight who inherits this armor will become stronger over time.

Weight: 1,000

Conditions of Use: A Red Knight.]

[Lorex’s Large Axe]

[Durability: 1,000/1,000

Attack Power: 1,200~1,500

* 20% drop in attack speed.

* When attacking more than 10 enemies at once, weapon damage will increase by 3% for 10 seconds. This effect will accumulate up to 30%, and the duration is reset whenever a damage boost occurs.

* Every time more than 10 enemies are attacked at once, 5,000 health will be recovered.

A special axe made out of rosar tin, produced for Lorex due to his distinguished military service.

The more enemies the wearer faces, the more powerful they become.

Weight: 5,900

Conditions of Use: Lorex]

This was the list of items he had gotten from slaughtering Lorex and the Red Knights back when he became the Basic Attack King.

Grid’s knowledge of these items were 100% due to constantly disassembling, assembling, and repairing them.

However, he hadn’t used them directly.

He might be able to exert a high level of attack power if he used the armor, but its inherent defense was too low. Grid didn’t regret this since he aimed for greater attack power with his swords. He would prefer the guaranteed high defense of Triple Layers over the red armor.

Mercedes was in a different position. As a legendary knight, she received a correction effect when wearing heavy armor. Rather than make something like Triple Layers which was classified as chain mail, it was better to boost her potential with the red armor.

‘Moreover, Mercedes is familiar with the red armor since she has been using it until now.’

This was truly a big issue. Wouldn’t Mercedes’ red armor clearly be better than Lorex’s red armor?

It would’ve been perfect if she hadn’t returned it to the empire...

‘I don’t know if the emperor is generous or stingy. If he is going to give her to me, he should give everything.’

Grid thought too much!

He planned to recreate the red armor and axe all in one order.

The higher the content of the ore, the higher the durability and defense of the armor would be. Of course, there was the problem of the increased weight. However, considering Mercedes’ fighting method, it should be okay.

‘Mercedes’ battle style is similar to mine.’

Rather than avoiding the target’s attack, she defended and fought back. Mercedes relied on weight for her sword attacks instead of speed.

As such, Grid decided that Mercedes’ armor should be in a form that could protect all of her without any gaps, even if her agility was somewhat limited.

The Overgeared King—a man who had skills that even the gods admired—started concentrating deeply.

The two sets of red armor and the large axe had already melted in the blast furnace.

“Let’s start the production.”

Inside the elven forest that humans hadn’t entered for hundreds of years:

Kyak kyak!

Skeletons were laughing as the cries of bear-wolves were continuing unabated...

“Vaintz’ Swordsmanship 1st style!”

The legendary knight was fighting...

“

Hahaha!

The air is clear!!” The legendary farmer was pruning branches...

Ttang!

Ttang!

Ttang!

And the legendary blacksmith was hammering away.

It was an unusual sight that no one would believe.

***

“Why did the ward disappear?”

A group of people was entering the forest of the world tree.

It was Merchant King Kir and his subordinates. The weighed-down donkeys and carriages made them seem like an ordinary merchant group, but that wasn’t the truth. Among these hundreds of people, Kir was the only one classified as a merchant.

Kir spoke to the person who asked about the fully exposed forest, “They probably removed the ward because they knew it was time for me to come back. The stupid naive elves trust me completely.”

Approximately 10 days ago, Kir had managed to infiltrate the elves’ village thanks to his successful act, and he poured the Yatan Essence on the world tree. When the elves witnessed the sudden illness of the world tree, Kir turned the cause of the illness onto the other humans and declared he would retrieve healing medicine for the world tree.

Today was the day he had promised to come back, and it was currently at the three-hour mark before the Yatan Essence would lose its effect.

Kir returned to the world tree. He was very excited about being able to exchange the elves’ treasures for the fake medicine.

“What about after you get what you want?”

“The elves specialties are the branches, leaves, and fruit of the world tree. If they don’t give all of it... Then isn’t there only one choice?”

“

Huhuhu

, that is good news.”

Kir smiled wickedly and disappeared deep into the forest with his procession.