The game difficulty
has gone crazy
The dense jade-colored fog filled the northern forest of Luciliron.
Glen was moving forward under the guidance of the two Banshees.
“My arm isn’t coming back…….”
“It’s okay. They said it will come back later.”
The Banshee whose arm had been cut off by Glen sobbed sadly, while the other Banshee fluttered around and comforted her.
A Banshee’s body is a spirit body made of spiritual power, so normally it would recover just by using a little spiritual power.
However, the arm cut off by Ainheria, which Glen wielded, could not be easily restored.
‘Honestly, Ainheria is such a bad match for them that there was nothing they could do about it.’
Originally, beings that use spiritual power never truly die as long as the spiritual power forming their spirit body is not completely depleted.
But with Ainheria’s ability—the blade that shaves the soul—the story changes.
Because of this ability, Ainheria does not merely cut spirit bodies, but can slice the soul itself, which is the source of spiritual power.
That was why, from the moment he obtained Ainheria, Glen naturally gained an advantage against beings with spiritual power.
“Hu-hu-hic…….”
“That’s so cruel.”
Watching the Banshee cry as if she had suffered some truly atrocious act, Glen scratched the back of his head.
“Well, if you had just guided me nicely from the start, wouldn’t this have been better?”
Glen was clearly the one who wanted to talk first, and the ones who attacked first were the Banshees.
So this was simply self-inflicted.
“The Queen won’t let this slide.”
“Yes……. Soon you’ll regret having tried to meet the Queen.”
Glen lightly ignored the resentful curses thrown at him by the Banshees and simply organized what would happen next in his mind.
After dozens of minutes like that—
As they followed the two Banshees, the fog surrounding them grew thicker and thicker, and when it finally reached its peak—
Breaking through a wall of fog so dense that you could not see even an inch ahead, the view suddenly opened wide.
Like the calm center of a typhoon, the core of the fog was completely clear.
Looking at the open clearing filled with a dreamlike atmosphere, where blue moonlight and starlight fell softly, it was hard to believe this place was inside such murderous fog.
“Human…….”
A low voice brushed past his ears.
At the gloomy yet clear voice, Glen slowly raised his head.
And there, floating in the air above a small pond, was the being he had been seeking.
Eyes half-closed with a gloomy impression, long hair flowing down to her feet, and a skirt hem gently fluttering without even a hint of wind.
The Queen of all Banshees in this world looked down at Glen, radiating the same mysterious yet ominous aura he remembered from the original story.
‘So we finally meet.’
Shaking off the intense, oppressive presence that squeezed at his soul, Glen gave a bitter smile.
The Banshee Queen, Septerien.
She was the one who had created the cursed fog that threatened the existence of Luciliron and the Veronia territory.
“Your Majesty!”
The Banshee who had guided Glen burst into tears and flew toward the Queen.
“Your Majesty! A human invaded and did this to my arm……!”
Showing her severed arm to the Queen, the Banshee reported Glen’s actions.
The Queen quietly shifted her gaze, then raised her delicate hand and placed it on the Banshee’s arm.
In the next moment, the arm that had been cut off by Ainheria slowly regenerated and returned to its original form.
“Ah…… thank you, Your Majesty!”
After looking over her restored arm, the Banshee grabbed the Queen’s skirt and bowed her head.
The Queen gave her a faint smile, then hardened her expression and looked down at Glen.
“Was it you who tormented my child?”
Her voice fell firmly.
It felt as if his entire body was being crushed by pressure.
‘Crazy!’
Glen’s pupils shook violently.
If he did not brace himself with all his strength, it felt like he would collapse to the ground right then and there.
That was how overwhelming her presence was—an oppressive force unlike anything he had ever felt before.
He truly had never felt it before.
That made sense.
The Banshee Queen before him had nine spirit rings woven from spiritual power.
‘So this is what a 9-star is like……?’
Nine stars.
Among all beings in Gray Eden, fewer than thirty possessed rings at this level—existences considered the strongest.
In other words, the Banshee Queen standing before Glen was on the same level as the Demon King, leader of the demon race, and the Pope, head of the Papal Holy State.
Steadying his dizzy mind, Glen bit down on his lower lip.
‘When I faced Penelope, I could endure it just fine……!’
The gap between 8 stars and 9 stars was not just a difference of one number; in reality, they stood on entirely different planes.
Thanks to having previously gained resistance to mental interference-type magic through a Growth Elixir, Glen could endure this pressure at all. If an ordinary human had been subjected to it, they would have fainted on the spot.
“I will ask again. Human child. Was it you who tried to harm my child?”
Once more, crushing pressure descended.
Enduring it, Glen answered.
“I did not intend to harm her… but in the end… yes.”
“In the end?”
The Queen’s translucent eyes narrowed.
“Human child. Explain clearly what you mean.”
“Y-Your Majesty?!”
The Banshee whose arm had been cut looked at the Queen with flustered eyes, thinking Glen would be punished without question.
“My child. That human child could have erased you, yet he did not. I wish to hear at least the reason why.”
“But……!”
“Of course, that foolish child will pay the price for touching you.”
She would listen to his excuse, then kill him.
That was what the Queen was saying—and it was not meant to intimidate Glen. It was her genuine intent.
Without realizing it, Glen had become someone who walked straight to his death before the Banshee Queen.
‘Like I wouldn’t know that.’
Naturally, Glen had expected things to turn out this way.
‘In the original story, Septerien hated humans that much.’
