The game difficulty
is insane.
Chaeeeng—!
Blade and blade collided at a single point, releasing a piercing crash.
In the silent space where not even a breath of wind existed, the air tore apart again and again, shockwaves exploding in every direction.
Paaang—!
With another clash, two massive scythes and a single sword bit into each other.
At the center of it stood two beings.
Glen and the Reaper glared at one another, pouring strength into their arms as they tried to push away each other’s weapons.
Kkiriririk—
The two scythes and the sword trembled violently, then slid apart.
Glen ducked his head to avoid the scythe rushing for his neck.
The Reaper tilted its head to evade Glen’s thrusting blade.
The two figures crossed paths in an instant.
The moment they separated, they swung their blades at each other again.
Chaeng! Chang! Kaaang—
There was no opening between attacks, and sharp crashes rang out one after another.
It was a truly high-level battle, fiercely balanced.
“Damn it…”
Of course, this was not the picture Glen had imagined in his head.
Even among 7-star beings, Glen was clearly superior in overall combat power.
In technique, swordsmanship, and skill—everything except raw firepower.
But simply by holding one more scythe in its left hand, the Reaper’s combat power had risen dramatically.
Chaeeeng—!
The Reaper swung its combat scythes without a single gap, each strike capable of splitting not only Glen’s life, but his soul as well.
Glen made up for his relative disadvantage by maintaining nonstop attacks through superior swordsmanship and technique.
It was a fighting style only possible because the Reaper was not human—an existence that did not know fatigue.
‘What a bastard.’
It wasn’t hard to understand.
Just as people differ in skill even with the same achievement, in the original story, Reapers varied wildly in strength from one individual to another.
If the Reaper that chased Glen in the Hall of Souls was an average 7-star—
Then the Reaper now swinging two scythes before him was, in numerical terms, about 7.5-star, on par with Glen while using the Gray Ring.
That was why Glen could no longer overwhelm it as easily as before.
‘And there’s less than a minute left before the Gray Ring ends. If time keeps passing like this, I lose.’
As expected of a Trial of the Soul that only one being had overcome in several hundred years, the difficulty was no joke.
It felt all too clear that the trial’s difficulty had been adjusted even with Glen’s trump card, the Gray Ring, in mind.
That alone showed how sharp Septerien’s gaze was when it came to seeing through souls.
Even so, not even Septerien would have been able to see through the final trump card Glen was holding to the very end.
‘If I use everything I have, I can overcome this.’
A strange light passed through Glen’s eyes.
At the same time, Einheria in his right hand switched to Impeus.
Storing Einheria in his inventory for the final blow, Glen kicked off the ground and pressed the Reaper hard.
Chang! Kaaang!
The thick demonic energy pouring from the seven demonic rings flowed along the blade, creating poisonous, murderous strikes.
Yet the Reaper calmly blocked Glen’s intensified assault.
Then it swung its scythe in a counterattack.
Whoooong—
The massive scythe tore through the air as it rushed toward him, but Glen did not dodge.
Ten seconds remained until the Gray Ring’s duration ended and all rings were deactivated.
“Hoo.”
With a short breath, Glen pulled Impeus to his waist and took a sheathed-sword stance.
He gathered all his focus into a single point.
That point became a line, cutting horizontally across the scythe falling toward him.
Without hesitation, Glen drew Impeus along that line and swung.
Pakaaaang—!
Wrath of the Conqueror.
Along the graceful draw, a streak of black light formed in the wake of Impeus.
Everything along its path—
The Reaper’s left arm, along with the scythe it held and swung—
Was cleanly severed.
“…!”
The green light flickering in its eye sockets shook violently, as if in agitation.
But the disturbance was brief.
The Reaper swung its remaining right arm widely, trying to knock Glen away.
And at that moment—
Taeng—
Impeus fell to the ground.
But in the lowered stance of Glen’s hand was a sword far superior even to Impeus—Einheria.
“Hoo…”
The second breath.
At the same time, Glen pulled Einheria to his waist.
A sharp radiance swirled in his ash-gray pupils as he fixed his gaze on the Reaper.
Five seconds remained until the Gray Ring ended.
“……”
Using Wrath of the Conqueror with Impeus.
The backlash from the skill made his entire body feel like it was about to shatter, and his consciousness felt as if it would scatter the moment he loosened his grip.
Even so, Glen grit his teeth and forced the seven rings, burning the final embers before they went out.
Wooooooong—!
Three seconds.
The seven demonic rings spun fiercely, injecting vitality into Glen’s body, and his weakening fingers tightly gripped Einheria.
It was thanks to his rising rank steadily reducing the backlash.
Glen’s gaze was fixed on only one thing—the enemy he had to bring down.
Two seconds.
Tss tss tss tss!
He heard nothing.
He only gathered his entire mind into a single point.
That focused point once again became a line, showing him the path.
One second.
Glen swung Einheria forward along that path.
Kiiiiing—!
From the floor to the scythe.
From the scythe to the Reaper.
And from the Reaper to space itself.
The second Wrath of the Conqueror erupted, and the black flash split everything before him cleanly in half.
Kwaaaaaaang—!
The two sword strikes containing all of Glen’s strength created a raging storm.
The spiritual space surrounding them shook to its core.
And without even seeing what happened next, Glen lost consciousness.
“……”
Watching the scene, Septerien wore an expression of disbelief.
From the moment she placed the human called Glen Wordsworth into her Soul Appraisal Chamber and peered into his soul, to the moment he overcame the trial she had prepared—
In the span of roughly ten minutes, there was not a single moment that was not astonishing.
‘I thought his soul was extraordinary, but to think he would overcome the trial as well…’
After calmly observing the boy who entered the Soul Appraisal Chamber, she realized his soul was anything but ordinary.
Having lived nearly a thousand years, she had examined the souls of humans, demons, and every being that existed in the world.
Souls possess an innate rank, and all things in the world have abilities only as great as their soul’s rank allows.
For example, dragons are born with overwhelmingly greater abilities and talents than humans.
That is because the rank of a dragon’s soul far surpasses that of a human.
Of course, even among humans—who are not a higher species like dragons—there are individuals born with high soul rank.
But most humans are born with only one or two talents, three at most.
‘But that human child…’
Glen’s soul was an anomaly.
‘Infinite confidence in himself, an unshakable will. And memory and judgment speed that exceed the soul’s rank. Above all, a unique form I have never seen before.’
The being known as Glen Wordsworth possessed so many abilities that he easily surpassed the limits permitted by a human soul’s rank.
And among them were even types of abilities Septerien herself could not identify.
‘How can something like this exist?’
A human boy equipped with countless talents and abilities that ignored his innate rank.
And that extraordinariness shone even in the trial she bestowed.
The Glen Septerien had judged was, at best, around 7-star.
A seasoned 7-star who was fairly accustomed to that realm.
‘That is why I gave him a trial difficult even for that arrogant human child to endure…’
In truth, because it was such an interesting soul she had never seen before, she had planned to show him his limits and let him live.
Yet Glen demonstrated strikes that surpassed the limits given to him—twice—and ultimately overcame the trial.
Just like a man hundreds of years ago who transcended his limits and passed the Trial of the Soul.
‘Does the wall of rank mean nothing to that child as well?’
For an instant, a strange light passed through Septerien’s translucent eyes.
A human child who could make even the impossible possible, as if blessed by the Creator.
Suddenly, the words he had spoken came back to her.
—I will propose to fulfill the promise Sir Philion could not keep.
—I promise Your Majesty that I will change the Papal Holy Kingdom within five years.
—From now on, I will show Your Majesty that Glen Wordsworth has never broken a promise, not even once.
For a moment, she thought that perhaps those words were not merely the reckless delusions of a young boy.
Her closed lips parted.
“…Heh.”
A soft laugh escaped.
With a faint smile, Septerien infused her hand with spiritual power and waved it.
Dense jade-colored particles of spiritual power swirled before her, and at their center appeared the ash-haired boy.
Holding the unconscious boy, Septerien smiled bitterly.
“I have lost.”
A warm sensation enveloped his entire body.
That unfamiliar feeling brought Glen’s consciousness back.
But his eyelids were heavy, and he could not open his eyes.
“……”
It was only natural.
He had used a legendary-grade skill—one that normally knocked him out for half a day—twice in a row.
Expecting his body to move would be greedy.
‘Still, it worked.’
Using Wrath of the Conqueror consecutively.
Thanks to his rank steadily increasing and the backlash decreasing, it seemed he had somehow managed it.
He had suspected it might be possible, but actually pulling it off with his own body left him feeling uneasy.
‘Of course, Wrath of the Conqueror isn’t meant to be used like that.’
Wrath of the Conqueror was a skill composed of three distinct movements.
The nameless king who originally wielded this sword art drew his blade and slew ten knights.
Then, advancing forward, he swung his sword and cut down a hundred knights.
And finally, he brought the sword down and executed a thousand knights at once.
In other words, he never repeated just the first movement twice like Glen did.
‘Who cares. If it won’t raise skill proficiency, I’ll just use it twice like this whenever I need to.’
Moreover, by using two swords—Impeus and Einheria—he could minimize the gaps between the skill activations.
All things considered, it was a pretty decent finishing move.
‘First attack with Impeus. Then immediately discard the sword and use Einheria for the second attack.’
Consecutive skill use with no delay through weapon switching.
That veteran-like trick pleased Glen enough that he replayed the scene in his mind again and again.
‘Still, normally I shouldn’t even have consciousness until I wake up… the fact that I’m aware means…’
His body couldn’t move a single finger, yet his mind was clear—a strange sensation.
Most likely, the Banshee Queen, Septerien, had restored his consciousness.
“It seems your consciousness has returned.”
At that moment, Septerien’s gloomy, emotionless voice sounded beside him.
“Your condition after returning from the trial was severe, so I am assisting with your recovery. I cannot do much for a body that has lost its strength, but I have at least treated your soul.”
She told him not to worry—once the soul recovered, the body would heal quickly as well.
Her voice was still the same gloomy, emotionless tone unique to a banshee, but somehow, a subtle warmth could be felt.
Judging by how far she was going for him, the result of the Trial of the Soul must have been quite favorable.
“Yes. I should tell you about the result of the Trial of the Soul I gave you.”
Septerien conveniently opened the topic.
“You cannot answer, but since you are conscious, listen well. Human child. After seeing your soul, I found that your words to me were worth considering more deeply.”
After a pause, she continued.
“Therefore, I have decided to grant you about five years.”
Hearing the answer he had hoped for, Glen cheered inwardly, imagining the smile he could not show.
“During that time, I will withdraw this fog. You must keep the promise you made.”
‘Of course, Your Majesty.’
If Septerien could see the expression Glen was making in his heart right now, she would have immediately taken those words back.
‘But you see, I didn’t go through all that hell just to get that much from you.’
If she had seen that pitch-black inner intention with her own eyes, she definitely would have.
TO BE CONTINUED....
