The game difficulty
has gone crazy
That same day, at dusk.
Glen immediately followed Nelpers’ guidance and headed to the Battle Priest Assembly located north of the city of Luciliron.
“This is the place.”
Nelpers, who had been leading the way, turned his body slightly to clear the view.
Seeing the scene spread out before his eyes, Glen twitched his eyebrows as if he found it interesting.
‘Oh ho…….’
The priest assembly ground was an open space boasting a size that could not even be compared to the city’s central plaza.
There, hundreds of battle priests were gathered in groups of around fifteen, forming circles around large crystals.
They were kneeling with their hands clasped together, pouring holy power into the crystals.
Wooooooong—
The crystals, having received the priests’ holy power, released the gathered energy and created a massive barrier stretching toward the north of the city.
The jade-colored fog that continuously drifted toward the city was blocked by the holy barrier.
“As you can see, in Luciliron we use holy power stones to block the cursed fog descending upon the city.”
Holy Power Stone (sacred power stone).
A stone called a gift of the gods, bestowed upon humanity by the Order’s main deity, Minis.
It absorbs holy power emitted by humans, and the stored power is used for various purposes.
Of course, most of the time it is used as cannons that fire holy shells during war.
Unfortunately, here it could only be used to push back the cursed fog for now.
Nelpers was not boasting while explaining the holy power stones.
He simply wanted to let Glen know just how serious the cursed fog problem was, to the point that they had to use such precious holy power stones.
“The holy power stones aside, it seems the priests are having a very hard time.”
The faces of the battle priests surrounding the holy power stones and pouring in holy power were all worn out and exhausted.
If they were lucky, they worked in three shifts; if not, two shifts—supplying holy power nonstop without rest.
“Yes. But if we do not do this, the cursed fog will immediately swallow Luciliron.”
Nelpers’ complexion darkened.
“Beyond that point, even I and Lady Veronia, both 7-star priests, can only endure for about two hours. Even so, are you really going to go?”
A dense cursed fog so thick that even hundreds of priests gathering their holy power could only barely prevent entry.
Since Glen was saying he would step into that place filled with death, Nelpers could not help but worry.
However, as always, Glen merely maintained a relaxed smile.
“Yes. I already told you, didn’t I?”
“…Then I will not stop you any further. But if it feels even a little dangerous, you must return immediately.”
“I will.”
With a gentle eye-smile, Glen passed by Nelpers and stepped toward the thickly spread cursed fog.
Several priests who had been pouring holy power into the stones shouted to stop him, but he paid them no attention.
Glen simply moved forward, receiving their worried gazes.
Step—
Eventually, Glen stopped at the very edge of the pure white barrier created by the holy power stones.
Beyond that barrier lay the thickly spread cursed fog.
Though its color was jade, it looked no different from the thick smoke filling the scene of a fire.
If you cross over, you will not be safe.
It felt as if the fog itself was saying that.
In reality, if one stepped forward without taking any measures, that would indeed be the result.
‘With this density, five seconds and the body would melt like mud.’
But that was not going to happen.
Because Glen had already taken sufficient measures for himself.
After lightly greeting the battle priests and Nelpers, he stepped straight outside the holy barrier.
Wrapping his entire body in the thick jade-colored fog, Glen moved forward without hesitation.
“H-He went in!”
“…! Sir Merden! If you see any sign, rescue him immediately!”
Nelpers’ sharp command rang out.
In response, the priest following behind Glen lowered his posture.
So that he could rush out immediately if anything happened to Glen.
However—
“You worry too much.”
Outside the holy barrier, Glen merely looked back at them with an even more relaxed smile than before.
“No… h-how?”
“This can’t be……”
“Is that even possible?!”
Watching this bizarre sight, the eyes of Nelpers and the battle priests were all filled with confusion.
Glen was not releasing holy power to protect his body, nor was he taking any special action.
And yet, he was walking through the cursed fog as if strolling through mist by a lakeside.
“How about we meet again later.”
Leaving those doubts completely unexplained, Glen disappeared beyond the dense jade-colored fog with a meaningful smile.
Nelpers and the battle priests could only stare blankly at the place he had vanished from, as if they had just seen a ghost.
Crunch, crunch—
In the quiet stillness, the sound of stepping on snow spread softly.
After walking for about an hour from the battle priest assembly, the surrounding scenery changed from the city outskirts to a forest thick with trees and covered in snow.
The surroundings were still packed with dense fog, making it impossible to see even a step ahead, but Glen’s footsteps never hesitated.
Even while walking straight ahead, if he discovered terrain that felt familiar, he would change direction and head that way.
Even when it did not look like a path at all, he continued onward, even jumping down low hills by force.
‘I’ve already come here hundreds of times. There’s no way I wouldn’t find the path.’
The world surrounding Glen was thoroughly based on the RPG game Gray Eden.
That was why every event and incident was designed to be cleared—Strategy, in other words.
Dungeon traps meant to block intruders were designed to be bypassed or disarmed.
When a playable character was in danger, items or helpers would provide a clue to a solution.
And even in a fog labyrinth where you could not see a step ahead, there would always be distinctive natural features that could be used as guides.
‘Of course, since I’m not a playable character, it’s hard to expect helpers, and there’s also that lunatic event designed to just kill you outright.’
Still, every dungeon or location accessible to playable characters had its own rules and solutions.
So as long as you remembered the solution properly, even a dense fog labyrinth like this—or even falling into the Prison of Spirits later—Glen would never lose his way.
‘Besides, I don’t have a time limit.’
By standard rules, Glen should have released holy power to protect himself when entering the cursed fog.
At 7-star level, the time one could endure here was about two hours.
