Descent of the Martial God 1

The curtain of sword energy separated where Biban stood from Grid as if it's an iron curtain. Grid could see the countless small silver blades made from sword energy not letting any energy pass from the outside. If Grid was calm, he would once again realize what a scam keen insight is for being able to see inside Biban's barrier.

Of course, the barrier Biban created when he first met Grid was only part of his mental world. There was no gigantic sword the height of a mountain cutting Grid like how a knife cuts butter. Naturally, Biban only used his complete mental world against enemies he could lose his life to. The current moment was one of those rare instances. It wasn't even a dragon. Martial God Zeratul was just that strong.

Grid on the other side was desperately banging the barrier with his gloves. Saleos' gloves had a chance to utilize 'the power of not knowing defeat' and could create space but Grid wouldn't forcefully destroy the barrier. After witnessing the dire consequences of Red Phoenix's mental world getting destroyed by Baal in 29th Hell, Grid was aware of the dangers posed by summoning one's mental world. The concept is intimately linked with willpower and could easily lead to exposing their weakness in battle.

The barrier made from sword energy occasionally got small cracks. There was the sound of crackling. Nevertheless, these were fixed immediately as matchless heart technique supplied the necessary sword energy.

"Biban! Biban! Let me in right now!"

Grid's flesh was cut in many places. Some of the cuts were deep enough to reach the bones. While he had developed patience and became level-headed over time, his innate nature was hard to suppress during times of crisis, especially when one of his closest friends was in mortal peril. He knew he could afford death as a player, and it would be worth it if could receive even a single hit in his friend's place.

It wasn't instantaneous, and quite a few seconds passed. Grid was guilt-ridden and had teary eyes but, his mind began calming down. The habit he acquired gradually suppressed his instinctive reaction.

Grid's wounds were covered in a bluish-orange color divine energy. His apostle Sariel, who resided in Reinhardt, had rushed to the scene. As an archangel, she was naturally talented in healing. Her presence also helped Grid cool his head off.

"My god, while I understand and respect your pain, this is not the time to let your feelings override your reason. Asgard's gods only have a limited amount of time in which their main body can descend and remain on the ground. Given the level of your friend, Zeratul will have to get serious and quickly consume that time. Thus, there might be an opportunity for you to intervene. Your friend might need your help at a crucial moment whether it be healing and protection."

Sariel as an archangel had only started experiencing emotions after meeting the seven good people. In particular, the most dangerous among them, Corruption, played a huge part. After recovering some of her memories, she acted in an uncharacteristically emotional way sometimes.

However, she knew she couldn't afford this time to be one of them. If the friend of her liege dies, he would be devastated and pained. The loss of morale in the humanity's chief combatant against the demons would undoubtedly cause a disaster and loss of motivation in his forces. This is especially the case since humanity had suffered a major loss recently as a consequence of the trap Baal's contractor prepared. Her god had already lost some of his precious friends and subordinates.

Fortunately, she didn't need to worry about him for long. After hearing previously calming himself, he had already began guessing how the battle might turn out and where he can interfere in each possible scenario. He decided he needed better information to make more accurate decision.

That's why, he had just summoned Mercedes, asked her to tell him what's going on and, look for an opportune moment. Fortunately, Zeratul was a chatty person and the fight with Biban had barely started. Sariel stated before that his time is limited to approximately 1 hour and fighting at transcendent speeds would consume it much faster.

In addition, Grid felt he might need to carry Biban outside an area where he faced mortal risk. That meant he needed someone who could teleport him away. Most of his forces were currently fighting in the war and there was only one realistic option left. He also had a rough guess that Sticks was the only person aside from Braham who could complete the mass teleport spell in the current situation.

Sage Sticks arrived as a response to Grid's summon. His soft delicate hands were trembling behind his back. He did a poor job covering it. His expression didn't fit someone with his gentle demeanor. Meeting Martial God almost certainly meant he'd die. Nonetheless, his eyes showed a fierceness which showed he was ready to do his part.

"Zeratul must be aiming to undermine the faith in you after the recent tragedy. That's why his main goal must be giving a warning in public's eye and destroying the capital."

The destruction of the capital would mean that God Grid failed to protect his home, the place where his power is at its strongest. Gods born through human aspirations had a fatal weakness that heavenly gods did not share. As beings that could be seen, they were less mysterious, more tangible, and thus, subject to higher expectations. A god who couldn't protect his people would suffer a major reduction in his divinity. This was contrary to the situation where the faith in Rebecca increased after the destruction of Rotemon Kingdom in Great Demon Berith's hands.

That's why the current Red Phoenix and Black Tortoise, each of whom fought against 5 seniors by themselves in the past, were far from their peak. They had lost the previous war. In other words, they were losers. Zik's guess was Hanul's son King Sobyeol alone is sufficient to kill the current Red Phoenix who had given away its 9th heart to Grid.

Even at their peak, people loaded their numerous and diverse expectations to the guardian gods which led to many dissatisfactions. Unlike Rebecca, they did not have gods under them which catered to fundamental human desires such as peace, passions, prosperity and wisdom. As a result, the faith them were considerably less than the faith in heavenly gods.

Hence, Zeratul's current appearance was thoroughly calculated and would deal a huge blow to Grid. It could also reduce his future potential as well since gaining back the trust of people would be arduous at best and impossible at worst. It was a time-tested tactic that was used by Asgard in the past during the Seven Evils War. With the recent resurgence of the three churches and their much-needed powers of healing during the Demon War, the three churches could even make a major comeback and reconquer the religious space, taking back their original place stolen by the Overgeared God's Church.

Grid who was paying attention to Mercedes' description of the fight gritted his teeth. While protecting Biban was his first priority, he promised he wouldn't let Zeratul go without making him bleed.

***

The Martial God was staring at Biban in a relaxed manner with his hands behind his back. His long beard was fluttering and he had the image of scholar who spent too much time in a gym. He was smiling. Zeratul had always cherished talented combatants and wanted to steer them towards the path of martial arts. They were the ones qualified among the feeble human race to use his godly techniques. Biban, in particular, was a person he had his eyes on ever since the former reached the level of great swordsmanship at a record time in his era.

Biban's mental world was attempting to cut his attributeless divine fighting energy. Despite the fact that the tallest sword not making a move yet, the numerous small and sharp blades made from sword energy would cause trouble even for transcendents. Yet Zeratul's body was not affected in the slightest. It seemed to be due to a combination of various defense techniques which greatly reduced damage, ignored damage below a threshold and the fluttering fighting energy.

"Child, don't you know the meaning of a martial god? Why are you raising your blade against me when you could become my follower and gain the power that helps you protect the world?"

"Are you trying to trick me after being turned down by my successor? Do you really expect to persuade me that you have noble intentions when you are attacking humans while there is war out there?"

"Crisis has always been followed by opportunity. Don't you know about such a basic lesson as a human? As someone who has lived for eons, I've seen countless human uprisings in my lifetime. Fall of oppressive tyrants were not followed by peace. They always followed a large and necessary bloodshed to remove the remnants of evil and prevent them from taking root again. Violence always accompanies even the most beneficial of revolutions. Isn't this the same?"

"It's empty words. You gods have always been as petty as humans. Why else would Judar Church do everything in its power to prevent the rise of the Eve Church?"

Originally, Biban wasn't a person who knew about history. He was obsessed solely with swords. While he was smart and aware enough to not get fooled by sycophants, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

There was one time when he was punished with the task of reading 10 books in the subjects his colleagues would pick for him. The subject chosen by Jessica was history and Biban had to read the history of most major religions on both continents. He was forced to learn that after removing the traces of the ancient Eve Church, who worshipped the previous saintess, Judar Church spread propaganda for centuries claiming that Saintess is the agent of goddess and served Asgard faithfully during her lifetime. That's how he knew about the fate of the Eve Church. It was a light punishment considering he was the one who led the Great Robber of the Red Night to the Tower in the past.

"It was a peaceful solution proposed by Jillen, the Goddess of Peace who persuaded Judar and Dominion. I objected to it at the time. Regardless of what people believe in, if they are not willing to pursue power to defend it, they have no right to it."

"You are despicable. You glorify senseless violence! You don't understand the weight of holding a sword."

Zeratul laughed at Biban's naivete. Pure violence for him wasn't an object of glorification. It was just the way world worked. That's why he believed justice without sword is not worth mentioning. The strong tried to put chain on the weak by using the excuse of justice. The weak also tried to put chains on the strong using the excuse of justice. These chains helped create order as well as causing abuse. But that was only the story when force was behind it. Justice without swords were mere words. Of course, the world without justice was just as violent if not more. In other words, violence is inevitable in Zeratul's worldview.

'If he wasn't such a pure person, maybe he couldn't have reached his current level with the fragile body of a human. I covet him.'

"No, I'm saying beliefs without power are sophistry. Even that false savior you are trying to protect got to where he is with the power to support his convictions. This is exactly why I've sent my divine techniques to humans willing to save themselves. I have given people the means to earn their right to life. If this isn't salvation, then what is?"

Biban who was known for being passionate and losing his cool. However, he was dependable when it counted, and he was willing to make Zeratul lose another second even if it meant conversing with a monster, he found deplorable.

"You are merely excusing your sins with you sophistry. I don't need to be a priest to know your bullshit goes completely against the teachings of your creator."

"What did you say?"

"You are not worthy to bear the title of a god humans desire. Rebecca isn't worthy of the title either for creating a monster like you."

The atmosphere had cooled down. Zeratul stopped smiling for the first time in their conversation. While he intended to erase the fact that he was created by Rebecca, he had always admired and worshipped her. It was similar to how Garam worshipped Hanul despite having substantial disagreements with him. The insult towards his creator finally made him snap.

He was already willing to show his martial power to Biban to convince him in the first place. However, the latest insult hurt his pride. Thus, Biban had to die here unless he prostrated himself, begging to be his follower.

"It seems you need to experience death to accept the truth."

Biban didn't understood what he meant but he didn't mind. He had to pay attention to Zeratul's extremely fast movement speed. Since the fight was taking place near Reinhardt, Zeratul had already created a massive barrier that prevents people from going in or out. Naturally, all variations of teleportation were banned in the area.

Zeratul dashed at a speed which was hard for ordinary transcendents to respond. The world which absolutes experienced divided a second into hundreds rather than dozens. Zeratul, who had activated 'time of the martial god', was rapidly consuming the time he had left due to the intense requirements of combat at this level. He started with a punching attack.

Even in the Tower, many members such as the tamer Jurene and painter Abellio wouldn't have been able to respond properly. But Biban was a sword saint. He had super sensitivity alongside high stats and the advantage of transcendence was maximized due to super sensitivity. Thus, he could respond to Zeratul.

Unlike Zeratul's blow which had the goal of incapacitating Biban, he aimed to create smaller wounds. It combined some of the tens of thousands of small swords made from sword energy into larger and sharper swords. The crackling sound could be heard within Biban's mental world. The resultant swords were the size of short swords in order to cut through Zeratul's body and fighting energy. They began cutting Zeratul in multiple places.

The ranged punching technique shot large amounts of energy in the shape of a fist made of semi-transparent energy and shattered a large hole in Biban's barrier. The barrier fixed itself almost immediately before Grid and his apostles could enter. The large and bright aftermath of the skill also prevented Grid from using shunpo to enter the battle. His vision was obscured.

Missing the nimble Biban, Zeratul continued with another attack which combined the high-speed movement skill Hwang Gildong used, Shukuchiho, to get close. The movement took place in a flash. He held a long flail made of willpower in his hand to create internal injuries. Biban had numerous methods to read and deal with sword techniques. Using his favored sword techniques could make him lose more time and possibly prevent him from having enough time left to use a mythical technique that could level Reinhardt in one hit.

By contrast, a flail had a longer range, stronger power, and greater momentum. His technique could form anomalous movements that couldn't be predicted even with super sensitivity. Even if Biban dodged the flail, his mental would receive a huge damage and couldn't prevent Grid and his apostles from getting inside the barrier in time. The weapons made of willpower might not add a significant additional power to his attacks, unlike Grid's items, against targets that possess the willpower stat but, they excelled in consuming the willpower of the enemy, harming their mental worlds.

Biban understood Zeratul's goal and determined he couldn't deal with it employing only cheap attacks this time. Since the latter was utilizing the 'time of martial god' and used faster footwork techniques, Biban didn't have the initiative in attacking first. He could only react to incoming attacks.

The mountain sized sword in his mental world responded to his will. It stood in the way of Zeratul and cut his technique. The blow was loud and created strong winds in the area. The blow was heavy enough to carry the weight of the title of sword saint, the strongest known occupation in humanity's history.

The second strongest god right below Goddess Rebecca in Asgard bled for the first time in a thousand years.