Overgeared - Chapter 1011

Chapter 1011: 1011

The better the skill, the higher the potential . The higher the potential, the harder the application difficulty .  It meant that a user’s competence was important in pulling out all the potential of a skill .  Nevertheless, there were skills that couldn’t be solved with the problem of competence alone .

Super Sensitivity was a representative example of this .  It was a skill to predict upcoming crises and the behavioral patterns of targets .  It predicted when someone became a target of a skill already used, when to target the opponent, when they would encounter the opponent, when to move to a specific place, and so on .

The skill functioned under all conditions and was given the ‘system assistance . ’ The system alerted users to the predictions through a notification window or voice message .  It was hard for even a genius to handle the flood of information that came in real time . How many people would tolerate the voice guidance or notification windows in a sober manner?

As such, there were restrictions .  A great swordsman’s Super Sensitivity only had a duration of a few seconds while Kraugel’s Super Sensitivity had many functions limited . Every time the stat increased, the limits of the functions would gradually unlock, giving the player time to adapt .

The same was true for the Shadow Technique that belonged to Lantier’s Methods .  This top-rated skill that had to partially control the shadows and their weapons reduced the player’s burden by limiting the number of weapons and shadows that a player could raise .  Previously, Faker studied the skill from Kasim, and only six shadows could be raised when the skill was level 3 .

However, Kasim was different .  Just as Mercedes could handle Keen Insight which was the higher version of Super Sensitivity, Kasim was able to control the shadows perfectly .  It was the ability of the named-grade NPC with the setting of ‘King of Shadows . ’

Hundreds of thousands of shadow troops filled the battlefield .  They emerged from the feet or from the back, stabbing the imperial soldiers’ necks and backs .  The basic characteristic of the Shadow Technique where the ‘power is weakened when summoning a large number of soldiers’ also applied to Kasim, and it was rare for an imperial soldier to be fatally wounded or killed by the shadows .

“Uh . . . Uwahh . . . ” Still, the morale of the imperial forces sank completely .  The sudden appearance of hundreds of thousands of troops was more shocking than any natural disaster .

Just one person . . .  The center of the stage, which had been naturally created, contained the calm Drunk Duke Diworth . No, he was amused .  He precisely captured Kasim’s image hiding in the darkness .

“You were a black cat survivor . ”

Diworth threw Noll, who was held in his hand, to the ground .  Noll coughed up blood .  He was unable to recover . The unidentified alcohol absorbed into his body prevented his magic power and organs from functioning .

Tong! Diworth kicked Noll in the direction of the knights and shook his head .

“There weren’t any duty officers at headquarters at the time, so it was my job . I used my brain . Unfortunately, I was too excited and made a mistake . You will die by my hands and won’t be able to get revenge on the empire . . . ”

“Take back those words,” Kasim interrupted Diworth in the middle of his speech .  Kasim’s stealth disappeared, and his eyes shone with killing intent .

Diworth scratched his head . “What words?”

“Don’t call me black cat!”

‘Black cat’ was the name the empire used to refer to the Nero .  The skin of the Nero was black and their actions were clandestine, so they were nicknamed ‘black cat’ .  There wasn’t a ‘demeaning’ intention behind it .  Why would they demean insignificant beings? It was just easy to call them by this name .

“We aren’t black cats but the Nero! We are humans, not beasts! Humans!”

Then the empire trampled on the Nero, brutally murdering them regardless of whether they were adults or children . Only Kasim survived .  Kasim’s shout rocked the battlefield .  In the midst of the imperial soldiers, the shadow soldiers poured toward Diworth .

 Diworth swung his hand .  “Trivial things . ”

The magic shield destroyed all the shadow weapons that flew at it .  The scattered shadows returned to their places .

“In order to deal with a duke of the Saharan Empire, did you increase the number of shadows to this point?” Diworth didn’t know Kasim, but he knew the King of Shadows .  The empire’s intelligence network which spanned the entire continent was well aware of the fact that the King of Shadows was Lantier’s disciple and that he used shadows .  “The more shadows that are dispersed, the more cloudy they become . If you intend to kill a duke of the empire and get revenge on the empire, you should’ve gathered all the shadows at one point and aimed for my heart . Like this . ”

Magic power condensed around Diworth’s fingertip and aimed at Kasim .  Goosebumps appeared on the skin of Noll, who got caught by the imperial knights .

“A human has such power . . . !”

The desert split apart .  A straight line of magic power pierced Kasim’s heart and didn’t stop as it disappeared beyond the desert horizon .  No one knew where it flew to .  There was no sound .  Then Kasim fell to his knees .  He looked like a broken doll .

“Kasim!!” Chris, who had been hopeful after Kasim appeared, shouted desperately .  He belatedly realized things had gone wrong and used the Tyrant’s power .  Chris hoped that Kasim would be alive and that Noll would escape while he attracted Diworth’s attention .  He rushed through the imperial forces toward Diworth .  Then a hand protruded from a gap between the soldiers and stopped Chris .

A voice rang out, “Teacher didn’t die . ”

Kasim lived due to his desire to get revenge on the empire .  He had protected a baby’s side for years while only thinking of revenge, and it wasn’t easy for him to lose his composure .  Kasim’s fury when creating the shadow army was an act .  It was a sacrifice to announce that there was a Nero survivor .  He attracted Diworth’s attention and didn’t reveal that this was a falsehood .  It was all for one purpose .

“ . . . ?”

It was to rescue Noll .  Knights fell from a few flashes of light as Kasim appeared among them to grab Noll .

“Catch him!”

The great knights fought back against Kasim . The magicians also supported them .  However, Kasim was the best assassin, and ordinary knights and magicians couldn’t stop him .  Kasim was faster than anyone else as he held Noll in his arms . The Shadow Technique combined with the Nero characteristics meant it was more covert than normal shadow skills .

“Disappeared?”

Kasim appeared and disappeared like a ghost .  He rescued Noll and hid in the shadows, making it hard for even Duke Diworth of the Seven Dukes to detect him .

“I was tricked . ” Diworth was less intoxicated after releasing his magic power .  Once his drunkenness was gone, he lost interest and handed matters over to Marquis Fulbas . “Catch the one you can grab . ”

He was going to do it anyway .  Marquis Fulbas’ gaze turned toward Chris .  He didn’t intend to miss capturing Chris .

“Commander Chris of Reidan, you are valuable as a hostage . ” Marquis Fulbas swung his sword and so did the four earls by his side .  Every one of them was more powerful than Chris .  They were leaders who led hundreds of thousands of troops .  In the first place, there was no way for Chris to break through hundreds of thousands of troops .

‘I can’t be a hostage . ’

If he was a hostage, he would grabbing at his teammates’ ankles .  The time wasted would also increase .  It was better for him to die neatly .  Kasim and Noll had escaped safely, so there was no need for regrets .

Chris judged and released all of his armor .  He intended to passively die from the enemies’ next attacks without letting them capture him alive .  The death of the commander would greatly reduce morale, but it was better than being a hostage .  

At this moment, the wind blew .  There was a gust of wind that made the imperial soldiers split apart like the Red Sea and form a barrier in front of the marquis and the earls .  There was only one magician Chris knew who could completely control the wind .

“Zednos!”

He was an early member of the Overgeared Guild .  Zednos, former Tzedakah member and 1st ranked wind magician, sent a whisper to Chris .

-I can only maintain it for three seconds! Use this gap to escape!

A miracle didn’t happen easily .  Zednos squeezed out all his mana, but only managed to tie up the feet of a few of the troops .  One of the earls was gathering aura at the end of his sword .  The wind barriers were already losing momentum and were destined to shatter .

-I understand!

His colleague had risked himself to come help, so Chris couldn’t passively die .  Chris wore his armor again and rushed through the rain of arrows .  The soldiers’ gazes were dispersed as Chris saw his companions everywhere .  Jishuka and Yura covered him with arrows and bullets . Pon, Regas, and Peak Sword attacked the enemies while Vantner and Toban used wide-range taunt skills . His other colleagues like Zirkan and Laella were doing their best to secure the path of retreat .

“Chris! This way!”

“Run away!”

“In any case, I’m foolish . ” Chris laughed as he swung the greatsword to the side and sliced the enemies .  The members of Overgeared were positioned in oasis around the desert .  Those who pursued guerrilla warfare or physical strength and maximum efficient now entered the battlefield .  They were trying to save Chris, just as Chris tried to save Noll .  They didn’t think life was worthless .  They just believed that their colleagues’ lives were more important than their own .

This was all because of Grid .  It was all learned from watching Grid .

Magic rushed toward Chris’ back as he rushed to escape .  The imperial army didn’t miss this gap when Chris’ body was reeling from the powerful force .  Spells quickly poured out and reduced Chris’ health .  If the marquis hadn’t given the order to capture him, Chris would’ve already died .  Chris felt the earls approaching and shouted with all his might, “Give up on me and run away together!”

“No . ”

“ . . . ?”

Then Chris’ shadow moved .  The shadow spoke, “The commander shouldn’t die . ”

The shadow grew, and black hair fluttered .

“Faker!”

One of the earls reaching out to Chris fell down .  Faker jumped out and inserted a dagger into the earl’s side .  It was a destructive technique linked to speed .  The move was reminiscent of the living Doran who only Grid knew .

“Not a chance!” The fallen earl rose again .  A total of four earls stabbed at Faker at the same time .  Faker avoided one knife in exchange for thrusting a dagger into one person’s abdomen .  His body was torn apart .  The sight of Faker’s blood was unfamiliar to Chris .  Faker was strong even to Chris .

“F-Faker!”

“Go . ”

However, Faker didn’t look back .  He summoned six shadow soldiers to protect Chris .  Faker had to disperse his mental power in order to control the soldiers .  This meant that his body was weakened, but he didn’t care .  He was the shadow that protected the Overgeared Kingdom .  It was his duty to serve and sacrifice himself for the light while not letting others know him . His death wouldn’t affect the war .

“Eclipse . ” Faker completely assimilated with the darkness, but he didn’t have full control due to the six shadow soldiers .  The earls didn’t lose sight of Faker, and Faker continued to grab their ankles while being cut .

“Next time . . . Next time, I will protect you!” Chris was escorted by the shadow soldiers and barely escaped the enemy’s encirclement .  The members of Overgeared gathered in one place and helped him .  

However, Marquis Fulbas was closely chasing Chris .  “It isn’t a bad situation . ”

It was the opportunity to strike down the enemy commander .  Marquis Fulbas welcomed the golden opportunity and was about to release his ultimate technique, only to stop .  It was because Noll appeared with Kasim from the shadows and threatened him . “Get lost!”

Marquis Fulbas realized that Noll had removed most of the alcohol and quietly lowered his sword . He had to give up the chase as the Overgeared people fled neatly . Then he resented Diworth .

‘If Sir Diworth fought to the end, we could’ve wiped out the enemies . ’

Diworth was lazy when he wasn’t drunk .  He didn’t show passion toward any particular situation .  Diworth wasn’t in a position to condemn the young nobles for being cowards .  The grim truth was that most of the Seven Dukes were like Diworth .  The empire that had been prosperous for so long was decaying from the top .

Marquis Fulbas sighed and commanded the entire army, “Get sufficient rest . ”

“Wahhhh!” It was an order to take a few days of rest . The soldiers cheered upon hearing the command of the marquis, who judged that the Overgeared members and Noll wouldn’t attack again today .

At dawn on that day, a strong wave of magic power was detected over Reidan Castle .

“Mass Teleport?” Marquis Fulbas rushed out of the barracks and felt a strange apprehension .

Earl Baget approached him . “I guess reinforcements have arrived . ”

The earl had been seriously wounded by the Overgeared Kingdom’s young assassin during the battle .

“I was worried, but I’m glad you are healing well . ”

“Thank you for your concern . ”

The smell of chicken poop coming came from the earl’s body as he answered .  He must’ve sweated a lot on the battlefield .