The bright light of the Diamond rank Gems encased the Mayor’s office . The Mayor had taken out more than Diamond rank Gems; he also placed several Devices and Sapphire rank Gems, the second-highest ranked Jewel Gems, on the table .

  However, the Diamond rank Gems were the sole focus of everyone’s attention .

  “This is the first time I’ve seen a Diamond rank Gem . ”


  “Me too . Mother never had one . ”


  Emily and Tim looked like the kids in a fantasy novel who had just seen a fairy . They stared at the Diamond rank Gems with eyes full of curiosity .

  Of course, Sungyoon and Grace behaved similarly . Only Russell and Bruce didn’t show as much interest as the others . Both of them had a Diamond rank Gem .

  “We plan on distributing all the Devices and Gems that we recently acquired . However, we believe that the highest rank Gems and Devices should go to you all as you will be fighting the hardest from the frontlines . ”


  “Should we thank you for trusting us so much? Or should we cry that we’re being pushed toward the frontline?”


  Everyone laughed at Bruce’s lame joke .

  “I don’t need it . ”


  Aruwen was the first to speak .

  “I won’t be the one fighting the truly dangerous beings . In my opinion, the Gems should be given to the four of them, who possess the special Gems . ”


  “He has a point . I’m also fine with it . ”


  Aruwen and Plu-El represented the descendants of Planote . They were the first ones to give up on their rights to the Diamond rank Gems .

  “I’m also fine . I already have one . Also, as Mr . Aruwen said, the Knight’s party will be thrown into the battlefield where the fight is the fiercest . I think it’s a good idea to give them the Gems . ”


  “Shit! Whatever . This is really such a wasted opportunity for me, but I agree . ”


  Russell and Bruce also supported Aruwen’s suggestion .

  The eyes of Tim, Emily, and Grace started to slowly move as they looked at the three bright Diamond rank Gems . In the past, Tim and Emily wanted to enter the Great Labyrinth to fulfill their mother’s dream . They could’ve never anticipated that they would be able to own a Diamond rank Gem one day . It was the same for Grace . She had seen Russell’s Diamond rank Gem, but she never expected to get the opportunity to own a Diamond rank Gem .

  These were the Diamond rank Gems that couldn’t be acquired using money, political power, or rank . It would be a lie if the three of them said that they didn’t covet these Gems .

  They looked at each other to check if they were thinking the same thing .

  “As expected, Mr . Sungyoon should—”


  “I want you to divide these amongst the three of you . ”


  Tim had been about to speak as the representative, but Sungyoon cut him off .

  “What? Mr . Sungyoon, you should take—”


  “No . It’s better for you all to have it . ”


  As he spoke those words, Sungyoon lifted his arm to show them a bracelet type Device that was uniquely designed to spiral upward on his arm . However, if one closely looked at it, one would realize that it wasn’t Sungyoon’s original Device . The slots of this Device were higher in rank . This Device had thirty universal slots for Sapphire rank Gems .

  Sungyoon had picked up this Device in the fight to recapture Armstrong city . Except for this Device, everything he had picked up in the battle had been unusable .

  That was why the Mayor had given it to Sungyoon, and Sungyoon hadn’t put up much of a fight in equipping it .

  “Wow~!”


  Bruce was baffled by what he saw, Russell let out a laugh in disbelief, and Plu-El’s and Aruwen’s eyes turned round .

  The Mayor and Sungyoon’s party members already knew about the Device, yet every time they saw it, they would be surprised .

  Most of the Gems slotted into the Device were Sapphire rank Gems . A few weren’t, but they were still high Jewel rank Gems .

  “What the hell is that?”


  Russell asked .

  “They evolved in the previous battle . Maybe I killed a lot of monsters or gathered enough EXP beforehand . Due to the last battle, all my Gems evolved . ”


  “I can see why that’s the case . You killed a lot of monsters . Above all else, you fought Glaia . ”


  “Now that I think about it, you applied the killing blow on Glaia, right?”


  As they spoke those words, Bruce and Russell looked down at Sungyoon’s bracelet .

  “Ah . Fuck! I won’t be the strongest Connector anymore . ”


  Bruce scratched his head .

  Diamond rank Gems were rare, so rare that there were only seven of them on Earth . Moreover, about half of them had been lost in Gagarin·Yang city’s fall . They had gone missing with the Connectors killed there .

  Russell and Bruce possessed only one Diamond rank Gem each, so Sapphire rank Gems were part of their main arsenal . However, they didn’t have as many Sapphire Rank Gems as Sungyoon .

  “He was never the strongest . Let him spout his nonsense . ”


  “Nonsense? I’m stronger than you, bitch!”


  Russell’s eyebrows twitched a little bit .

  “When this war is done, let’s fight a one-on-one battle . ”


  “Do you think I’ll be scared?”


  The two bared their teeth as they growled at each other .

  “Please! Let’s calm down for now . You can fight to your hearts’ content when the war is over . ”


  The Mayor stepped forward to de-escalate the situation, and Bruce and Russell looked away from each other . Their fight resembled one amongst children on a playground . However, this was a usual occurrence between the two .

  Russell once again turned to Sungyoon .

  “First, let me congratulate you . In terms of Gems, you’re on the same level as us . You might be stronger . ”


  “He still doesn’t have a Diamond rank Gem . ”


  The last bit of Bruce’s pride made him speak those words . However, Russell ruthlessly stomped on that remaining pride .

  “The Knight has the Royal Gem . ”


  Bruce grumbled in a low voice, but he backed off .

  “It’s all thanks to the Evolution Gem . ”


  “I know a couple of Connectors who possess Gems that evolve other Gems . However, I’ve never seen anyone evolve so many Gems to such a ridiculous degree . ”


  A combination of luck and fighting strong foes had allowed Sungyoon to increase the rank of his evolution Gem .

  “Which one is your Evolution Gem?”


  “This one . ”


  Sungyoon pointed at a Gem .

  “What? Isn’t it a Ruby rank Gem? Isn’t it that evolution Gems are unable to evolve Gems above their own ranks?”


  Ruby rank Gems were the fourth-highest ranked Gems amongst the Jewel rank Gems, while Sapphire rank Gems were the second-highest . A Ruby rank Gem couldn’t evolve a Gem to the Sapphire Rank .

  “I received help from this guy . ”


  Sungyoon pointed at one of the Sapphire rank Gems .

  “This Gem is capable of raising the ability of another Gem equipped on the same Device . It can raise the Gem two ranks above the slot’s rank . ”


  “I see . You raised the ability of the Evolution Gem by two ranks, essentially making it a Sapphire rank Gem . ”


  “Yes . In the beginning, it was an Emerald rank Gem, but the ability of the evolution rank Gem made it into Sapphire rank . ”


  Bruce finally realized why Sungyoon had said he didn’t need the Diamond rank Gems .

  All these Sapphire rank Gems were enough to make Sungyoon plenty powerful . On top of that, he had the Royal Gem, which allowed him to tap the source of magical energy when fighting an officer of the monsters .

  However, it didn’t end there .

  “You plan on raising all your Gems to Diamond rank?”


  “If I have the opportunity, I’m willing to try . ”


  Bruce once again looked at Sungyoon’s Gems .

  If all those Gems became Diamond rank . . .

  “You’ll be a beast . ”


  It would be the birth of a Connector so powerful that Bruce couldn’t even fathom it .

  Tim, Grace, and Emily looked at Sungyoon .

  “It seems the Knight is correct . It’ll be best to give the Diamond rank Gems to you . He’s capable of evolving his Gems to Diamond rank . ”


  The three of them continued to look at Sungyoon .

  “Are you really sure about this?”


  Tim asked as the representative of the group . Sungyoon chuckled as he nodded .

  “I really don’t mind . Also, it’s not like I’m giving it up for nothing . I already told the Mayor what I needed . ”


  As soon as he spoke those words, the Mayor handed something to Sungyoon .

  “This isn’t as valuable as a Diamond rank Gem, but the probability of finding this item is also incredibly low . However, we were able to find one like it since we killed so many monsters . ”


  It was a bracelet type Device, which was similar to Sungyoon’s current Device that spiraled up his arm . This Device looked like an arm guard . Unlike the single spiral form of his current Device, this one had three strands that spiraled upward .

  Sungyoon lifted the Device with a satisfied smile .

  This Device had a total of thirty-five slots . The number was high, but Sungyoon loved the slots’ rank the most .

  “All thirty-five are universal Diamond rank slots . Even if you evolve all your Gems, you’ll be able to use them with this Device . ”


  This Device full of Diamond rank slots was more precious to Sungyoon than the Diamond rank Gems .

  ‘I’ve made all my preparation with this . ’


  Sungyoon started to transfer his Gems into the new Device, then put the Device on .

  Was it just a feeling? It felt much more comfortable than his previous Device .

  “Then, we should choose our Gems . ”


  Grace took a step forward . Nervousness and excitement were written all over her face .

  Of the three Diamond rank Gems, one was cross-shaped, one was triangle-shaped, and the last was square-shaped . The cross signified a shield, the triangle denoted attack magic, and the square indicated support magic .

  “It lines up exactly with our specialization . ”


  It was as Grace had said . Tim was in charge of defense, Grace dealt the high damage with her attack spells, and Emily supported all of them with her support magic . The Gems were suitable for the three of them . They didn’t even have to decide anything . Grace took the triangle-shaped Gem .

  “Ah . What if . . . ”


  Tim hesitatingly moved toward the Diamond rank Gem . However, he didn’t immediately pick up the cross-shaped Gem .

  “What if we aren’t capable of activating it? What if we destroy it in the process?”


  Puhk!

  When Tim spoke those unlucky words, Emily kicked his shin .

  ***

  Thankfully, Tim’s ominous words never came true . The three of them easily activated their Diamond rank Gems . As soon as he activated his Gem, Tim let out a sigh of relief .

  “Congratulations . The three of you successfully activated your Gems . ”


  The Mayor congratulated them . It seemed the three of them really liked their new Gems as they kept looking at them .

  Aside from the Diamond rank Gems, they had also received Sapphire rank Gems and Devices capable of slotting the new Gems . That was why they were on cloud nine .

  “Their names are no longer known to us, but these are the items left behind by warriors who had fought Grenoid . Please don’t let their deaths be in vain . Use their items to the best of your abilities . ”


  Hearing Plu-El’s words, Sungyoon looked down at his Device and Gems once again .

  ‘This is the equipment used by Planote’s warriors, who were eaten by Grenoid . ’


  In the past, Grenoid had tried to slaughter humanity, and in the process, it had eaten massive numbers of warriors . Grenoid ate their Gems and Devices alongside them, and these items became part of the monsters born from Grenoid’s body . According to Plu-El, this was why monsters dropped Devices and Gems .

  Therefore, Plu-El and the descendants of Planote felt a deep sense of respect when they used this equipment .

  Sungyoon even saw Aruwen pay his respects toward those who came before him .

  “Please don’t worry about it . We won’t embarrass them in how we use it . ”


  Grace firmly answered, while Tim and Emily nodded .

  Plu-El let out a bright laugh as she accepted their intentions .

  ‘It’s our turn to go on the offensive now . ’


  Sungyoon thought as he looked down at his Device .

  Until now, humanity had been on the defensive . They had attacked Armstrong city, but they had only moved to regain what they had lost . Moreover, the city was a crucial place for humanity’s defense .

  But now, they had to execute an all-out attack .

  ‘We have no idea what those bastards have prepared for us . ’


  Despite the uncertainty, they couldn’t stand back and wait for humanity’s extinction . That was why they planned on attacking in a week .