Chapter 1616

Chapter 1616

[Formless Will - Divine Skill]

[Attack the target with a solid willpower.

* The amount of damage done by Formless Will is the same as the willpower stat combined with the strength stat. It completely ignores the target's resistance and defense.

* Targets with the willpower stat will be immune to this attack.

Skill Resources Consumed: None.

Skill Cooldown Time: 10 seconds after every three activations.]

Formless Will was a basic skill gained by realizing the concept of the mental world. It naturally grew as Grid's mental world evolved. The cooldown time, which used to be a huge 24 hours, was extremely shortened and as of today, there was no consumption of resources. This meant it could be used properly in practice. It was on a different level from the yangban, Garam, who used Formless Will against the Grid who didn't yet know the concept of a mental world. It was at the level of harming the enemy just by having the will.

Of course, that was only when dealing with those who were unskilled. Those who were hostile to Grid were usually transcendents, so they naturally had the willpower stat. They weren't targetable by Formless Will.

Grid recalled the archangel Raphael's face and his desire to kill activated Formless Will. Grid used it naturally without being aware of it, but it ran wild because no target could be designated.

Formless Will, which had reached a divine level, was virtually no different from a passive skill. It was sensitively sympathetic to Grid's will. It vaguely resembled the martial god's strong self-defense that didn't allow Noe to approach.

"As expected of Your Majesty... just as I sealed the black dragon, did you seal a great monster into your body? It is a criminal with an unimaginable cause..." Lauel's face turned white. Invisible blades cut in all directions, so it was natural to be scared. He kept talking nonsense while Grid didn't have time to take back the Formless Will.

The good news was that his subconscious recognized Lauel as an absolute ally. The wildly rampaging Formless Will didn't touch even one of Lauel's hairs.

"They are looking for a replacement for Michael."

Grid's consciousness sank to the time when he raided Gamigin. It was shortly after the attack of Raphael, who formed a trinity and descended.

"It is really good that you didn't give them the souls. I pay homage to you."

Mir had said when rushing over to help Grid. This, combined with Raphael's purpose of seizing the souls of the legends, helped Grid understand. An uncomfortable truth was delivered. The truth was that angels were made from the souls of legends and that heaven had always harvested the souls of legends.

'Why didn't I doubt it at that time?'

Khan was also a legend. He might've only been a legend at the moment of death, but... it was safe to say that he didn't have a period of activity as a legend, but he left behind numerous works. The world remembered him and talked about him. As such, it was natural that the heaven who imprisoned Hexetia would covet him. He should've been mindful of the possibility that Khan would become an angel. However, he didn't doubt it. Maybe it was because he was so afraid that he tried not to be conscious of it.

At this moment, a harsh price was paid for it. He suffered a great psychological shock and emotional pain that he couldn't bear.

'Khan...'

All types of memories flashed by like a lantern. The days when he was next to Khan and knocked on the anvil. They always laughed. No matter what they did together, they had fun. During the time when they stared at blueprints all night, when they couldn't eat and were just using the bellows, or when they handed over the bad customers to each other, Khan and Grid just laughed. Even when Khan placed flowers on his son's grave, looked up at the quiet sky and wept, Grid smiled while quietly squeezing the large, oil-stained hand.

His teeth were clenched together so strongly that there was a noise like they were going to break. Grid's eyes were bloodshot. The shallowly pooled tears looked red.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'

Grid had believed that Khan was in hell. He speculated that Khan was suffering as he wandered the river of reincarnation while retaining the memories of his life.

Grid's heart ached every time he thought about it. He had been working hard with the desire to save Khan as soon as possible. However, he hadn't been as nervous as he was now.

The dead fell into hell and wandered through the river of reincarnation. No matter how terrible and distressing it might be, this was the 'pure logic' of this world. It might've been a law of the world that was distorted by Baal, but the dead could never reject the laws of the world. It meant it was possible to rationalize that it was inevitable.

Yet things turned out differently with divine intervention. Every time they needed it, they chose only the souls they wanted, took the souls away, and turned them into angels? An angel was a soldier who fought for the gods. Zik speculated that during the time when the seven malignant saints raided Asgard, there must've been thousands of angels blocking the way.

On the surface, they cried out that they cared for and loved human beings and were worshiped for it yet secretly, they used humans as meat shields. Maybe it had always been like that. They might've done the legends of the past a favor and harvested them when the time came. This was the only way the large number of angels made sense.

Grid trembled at Asgard's duplicity. He knew that the yangbans were made based on angels and having experienced Michael and Raphael, he recalled that the angels were imperfect. It was easy to guess that Khan, who had been resurrected as an angel, wouldn't be in a normal state. Maybe he was suffering more than he would've in hell.

Therefore, it was possible that he made these swords while clinging to old memories. Or maybe he was asking Grid for help.

Grid's contemplative face gradually distorted. Every time his breathing became as rough as a beast, his Formless Will became even more ferocious. Raphael's smiling face kept popping up and stirring in his mind. Was it purely out of necessity that they made Khan an angel? Wasn't this actually trying to provoke Grid? If so, Khan was taken as a hostage. He was even more anxious because he didn't know what type of atrocities they would commit against Khan.

'I have to pretend I don't know that Khan has become an angel. Khan will be thoroughly exploited the moment I reveal that I have noticed.'

It was the moment when Grid's killing intent reached its peak...

"Calm down."

The door opened. His precious people rushed over and hugged Grid. It was Irene, who had been silently guarding the palace without Grid, and Lord, who had followed in Grid's tracks after saying he wanted to experience his father's life.

Mercedes hung back and looked at Grid anxiously. Piaro stood next to her. Sariel wrapped light around the frightened Lauel and Zik looked around to try and guess the situation.

Braham leaned against the wide open door and scoffed. "What is it that made the guy who defeated the martial god so impatient?"

Step.

One step, another step.

Braham's red eyes as he slowly approached Grid were very deep and transparent. He seemed to be contemplating the trajectory of Formless Will, whose form couldn't be seen. It was completely different from his eyes in the past which had been filled with irritability, anger, resentment, killing intent, and anxiety.

"I don't know what is going on, but remember one thing."

"......"

Grid felt that the mana in the atmosphere had changed. It wasn't just at the level of the flow changing. It was the essence that had changed. The subject of the changed mana was Braham. The place itself was perceived as the inner world of Braham. Braham's mana core stretched out infinitely like the universe.

Grid felt like he had become a part of it. It wasn't an illusion.

It wasn't just Grid. Everyone else experienced the same feeling. The mana, which should've been transparent and pure, was tingled with a subtle purple color. The world was clearly dyed by Braham's color.

Grid noticed it. This was Braham's sanctuary. It was still only a fragment, but the ultimate meaning was that Braham's mental world would develop as his divinity increased and it would eventually reach the same hierarchy as Sanctuary of Metal.

The one who made Grid understand the concept of a mental world—Braham's realm, which had already been created after utilizing his mental world for hundreds of years, progressed one step forward in line with his divinity that had steadily developed since the time he killed the hydra.

"You are outstanding... I know you are arrogant and have placed yourself ahead of us." Braham, who almost unknowingly expressed a compliment, naturally corrected his words. He wasn't flustered and looked calm. He didn't blink at all. "The reason I couldn't rebuke you for taking responsibility on your own was because I didn't deserve it. However, it will be different in the future."

"......"

Grid was surprised to see Braham's details. He wasn't surprised to see that Braham's level had surpassed 750 before he knew it. The level of super named NPCs rose quickly and among them, Braham's level up speed was extraordinary.

In the first place, Grid alone was almost level 700. The effect of Enlightenment, which increased experience just by making items or fighting against strong enemies, was that great. The higher the level of the item created and the stronger the enemy, the more brilliant the effect.

The thing that surprised Grid was that Braham's 'death penalty' had been greatly eased. Originally, the number of times Braham could definitely be resurrected was one. From then on, he could be resurrected based on a probability. Even just one death was still deadly.

Now it was different. It was immunity to death itself. There was the prerequisite of 'must rest for 24 hours in a coffin after dying,' but he could be resurrected unconditionally after death like a player. It seemed to be the aftermath of regaining the power of a direct descendant vampire and the growth of his divinity. Even so, it was incredibly good news for Grid, who was grieving as he recalled the dead Khan. At this moment, he could smile broadly as if he had the whole world.

Braham frowned at the burdensome reaction and avoided Grid's eyes. As if he intended to do so from the beginning, he naturally looked at Piaro, Zik, Mercedes, and Sariel one after the other. Irene and Lord were also in his field of view.

Among the apostles, the only one who didn't receive attention was Nefelina, who was hiding behind the door. She was offended for some reason, but Braham continued talking without caring. "Grid, you aren't alone."

"......"

"We are here now while the idiots who are in hell are growing slowly, but steadily. So to fight alone, be afraid alone, and grieve alone... stop it. Just as you have fought for us, we will fight for you and fulfill your wishes in the future."

"...Yes, I understand."

Just then, Grid threw away all his worries and fears. He decided to rely on his loved ones in the future with no doubt or hesitation. He now had the conviction that he could do it.

"Me too. Rely on me," Nefelina rushed over and added, making Grid and Irene laugh.

Grid's fierce Formless Will suddenly fell quiet. After a while—

"Choose what you need."

There was a ceremony to hand out the secret techniques. As for the divine weapons, they were put into the furnace and smelted. Mercedes could arm herself with most of the items created by Grid, but the other apostles couldn't. It was necessary to create suitable new works using the divine stone.

The fact that it was made by an angel believed to be Khan didn't mean much. Grid didn't need anything to remember Khan by. He already had many memories. Grid just wanted Khan's salvation and he was determined to save Khan someday.