Chapter 133

The Game Difficulty
Is Crazy

Gray Eden is a game where the scenario and objective are largely divided into two paths depending on whether the playable character chosen by the player is Human or Demon.

If you choose a character from the Demon race faction, you become affiliated with the Demon King’s Army and receive a scenario where you destroy the Papal Holy Kingdom.

On the other hand, if you choose a character from the Human faction, you become affiliated with the Papal Holy Kingdom and receive a scenario where you defeat the Demon King.

Once the faction is decided, you can choose from many different playable characters scattered throughout each race’s territories.

Then, the player proceeds with the story toward the main objective by following the scenario of the character they selected.

‘That’s the basic framework.’

Gray Eden is a game with a high degree of freedom, so even if the player does not clear the main scenario, they can still see dozens of different endings.

Because of that, the player does not necessarily have to follow their character’s main scenario.

‘But the prologue event appears for every character, no matter their race, status, or gender.’

No matter what choices the player makes during the great war between Humans and Demons that split the continent in two, the prologue event must always be experienced.

And that fixed fate cannot be avoided even by the Saintess of the Order, who is loved by both God and all humans.

If you summarize Saintess Luceria’s prologue in one word, it would be fall.

That is because Luceria’s prologue event tells the story of her corruption and exile.

Luceria is a Saintess.

A being loved by God, who, along with the Pope, is one of only two in the world to possess the Ninth Sacred Ring.

In terms of ability and status, she is already complete, so she does not really fit as a playable character.

That is why Gray Eden created an event where she falls.

‘A demon contract.’

Luceria ends up making a contract with a demon.

The incident begins when Luceria gathers talented individuals from across the nation in order to change the corrupt Papal Holy Kingdom.

The corrupt high-ranking priests notice the Saintess’s movements and, by joining forces, commit a heinous act—summoning a demon at the secret meeting place in order to massacre the Saintess and her followers.

The summoned demon was so powerful that even everyone present, including the Saintess, could not defeat it even if they fought together.

In the end, to stop the demon from leaving the meeting place and slaughtering civilians, Luceria makes the extreme choice of binding the demon through a contract.

As a result, Luceria betrays the favor of Miniss, the god who governs light and the sun and holds great influence even among the gods.

By Miniss’s furious divine punishment, she loses all of her holy power.

In the end, she is excommunicated and expelled from the Papal Holy Kingdom, having lost not only the immense amount of holy power she was born with, but also having all nine of her sacred rings destroyed.

‘To be precise, it wasn’t exile, but fleeing while avoiding the Inquisitors.’

Either way, from the moment the prologue ends, Luceria becomes an excommunicated Saintess and a demon contractor, moving according to the player’s will.

‘Most players either grow stronger to take revenge on the Papal Holy Kingdom, or secretly help humans to defeat the Demon King’s Army…’

Still, losing power equivalent to Nine Sacred Rings and starting as a demon contractor is an enormous loss.

Of course, looking at future potential, wielding the power of a demon—an existence beyond holy power limited to nine rings—might be better.

But giving up Nine Sacred Rings for that is unacceptable.

Especially when Lunatic difficulty is active and the Demon King’s Army is strengthened, losing power on that level is impossible.

There are also dozens of other benefits that can be gained if Luceria remains a Saintess instead of becoming a demon contractor.

That is why Glen intends to eliminate the situation where Luceria makes a demon contract and instead claim her nine-ring-level power as his own.

Step—

Luceria’s follower, who had been walking ahead through the complicated back alleys of the Holy Capital, stopped in place.

Roderick halted.

“From here on, I would like only Glen Wordsworth to follow.”

“That won’t do. As his escort knight, I cannot let the young master go alone into such a remote place.”

Hawknie objected, his hand on his sword and fire in his eyes.

“Sir Hawknie. It’s fine. I’m simply meeting the Saintess privately. I’ll be back soon, so please wait here.”

“If that is your wish, young master.”

Leaving his companions behind, Glen followed Roderick.

After weaving through the alleys several times, Roderick stopped in front of a shabby house.

Then he quietly stepped aside without any long explanation.

“The Saintess is inside.”

Glen went in.

Creeeak—

The wooden door made a sound as if it might break at any moment.

Just like the door, the space beyond it was filled with worn and old things.

Sunlight streamed in through a broken window, illuminating dust floating thickly in the air.

It was a truly miserable place.

“Welcome, brother.”

Saintess Luceria was there.

She had snow-white hair like the image in Glen’s memory, and gentle, kind violet eyes.

“I am Luceria, who serves Miniss, the god of light and the sun.”

He took back his thought of calling it a miserable place.

Though it was a living room barely better than an abandoned house, her presence alone completely changed the atmosphere.

Holiness.
Purity.
Simplicity.
Beauty.

Several words passed through Glen’s mind as he looked at the scene including her.

Not a simple evaluation, but an impression that came from the soul.

It felt similar to when he had met Septerien, the Queen of Banshees.

Of course, it was not gloomy like that encounter.

The atmosphere around Saintess Luceria was warmer and more sacred.

‘When someone reaches Nine Rings, their very existence feels different.’

After finishing his brief impression, Glen stepped forward and knelt on one knee before the Saintess.

“The shield that protects the Papal Holy Kingdom. I, Glen Wordsworth, son of Henry Wordsworth, greet the noble light that illuminates the Papal Holy Kingdom—Saintess.”

It was sincere respect, not flattery.

He should have been used to her after manipulating her fate dozens of times during his days playing Sacred Summon, but seeing her in person felt strangely unfamiliar.

And because she felt unfamiliar, Glen could sense just how great the heart behind her gaze was.

‘It’s like meeting someone you’ve only heard rumors about—a saint who has never committed even the smallest sin.’

She was clearly a good person on a completely different level from common hypocrites or fools pretending to be kind.

Of course, in the original story, Luceria’s actions were not entirely spotless, but that was how she felt now.

Once Glen had somewhat adjusted to the sacred yet slightly uncomfortable air surrounding Saintess Luceria,

he sat at a small table set in the middle of the room.

“Please wait just a moment.”

Tap, tap—

Luceria lightly stepped around in her plain shoes as she personally brewed black tea for Glen.

“Is this your first time visiting Istirenne, brother?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I see. There are many nice places here. If you have time later, I’ll tell you about them.”

Of course, by her standards, “nice places” probably meant good places to pray.

A simply patterned tea set was placed on the table, and Luceria lifted the teapot and filled Glen’s cup.

“This is a tea I recently came to like. The leaves are said to come from the Albelluche territory, but the name is difficult, so I still haven’t memorized it.”

She then pulled a chair and sat across from Glen. Since the table was small, their faces were quite close.

Tea time with the Saintess began, accompanied by trivial, meaningless conversation.

As he drank the tea she brewed, his mind, which had been hazy until then, quickly became clear.

Soon, Luceria moved her small lips and chatted endlessly about this and that—topics not quite suitable for secretly calling someone here.

Of course, it might not have meant much to Glen, but to Luceria, it did.

‘She needs to figure out what kind of person I am.’

Though her demeanor was gentle and bright, Luceria was secretly building her own hidden faction.

Although she was gathering talents from across the land, she needed to carefully determine who would truly become her allies.

So this place could be considered a kind of secret interview room.

‘Though calling it a secret is questionable once she’s already secretly summoned people here.’

Secretly calling people one by one like this gives room for information to leak.

‘And that’s exactly what happened.’

But seen another way, it means the Saintess is so pressed for time that she must meet people personally.

In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she has no allies left in the Grand Cathedral.

With the eyes and ears of corrupt individuals everywhere, she could make no progress no matter what she tried.

‘Anyway.’

If this meaningless conversation was meant to judge Glen’s character, there was no need to drag it out.

Luceria did not know Glen, but Glen knew Luceria far too well.

“…So when I said that…”

“I hate the current Papal Holy Kingdom.”

So he went straight to the point without caring about context.

“…Pardon?”

Glen, having regained his composure from the tea, smiled gently. Luceria looked startled.

“I said I truly hate the current Papal Holy Kingdom.”

“Br… brother? What do you suddenly mean by that?”

“I mean exactly what I said.”

Her violet pupils trembled.

She was the one who wanted to say they should change the current Papal Holy Kingdom together, yet the man she invited spoke as if he already knew. How could she not be shaken?

“Th-that is…”

“I know exactly what you wish to say, Saintess. You wish to purify the vile group that worships God only with their mouths while rotting the Papal Holy Kingdom from within, and to set the corrupted nation of God right again. Is that correct?”

Luceria’s eyes widened as she swallowed hard.

It seemed her intentions being completely exposed had left her speechless.

“…H-how…?”

Like a child caught doing something wrong.

Fear slowly surfaced in her flustered violet eyes.

She was wondering if Glen might be her enemy.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. As I said, I hate the current Papal Holy Kingdom. That means I am on your side, Saintess.”

“But… how…?”

“Isn’t it because I hear the same thing you do?”

“…!”

As if realizing something, Luceria covered her mouth with both hands.

At that moment, Glen smiled faintly, having seen through her thoughts.

“I may not be as much as you, Saintess, but I can hear it too. His voice.”

The Third Saint.

Once Glen claimed that title and Luceria accepted it with faith, the conversation quickly moved to the core.

‘Honestly, I didn’t expect it to go this way.’

Glen had prepared many arguments to persuade her, expecting Luceria to doubt him.

—So it truly was a revelation from God!

Instead, Luceria accepted Glen as the Third Saint with a bright expression.

A situation had formed where someone who could truly hear God’s voice readily believed a person who might be lying.

Apparently, Luceria had recently heard from Miniss, the chief god of the Order, that a third light would bloom within blood.

And around the same time, Glen, who had distinguished himself in battle against the Demon race, began being called the Third Saint in Avenue.

By overlapping these two events, Luceria easily believed Glen’s words.

‘It’s honestly surprising that Miniss said something like that…’

In any case, happily accepting Glen’s declaration of support, Luceria quickly explained her plan.

—You may already know this, but I am currently gathering trustworthy people throughout the Papal Holy Kingdom.

It was the same as the original story.

Before meeting Glen, she had already interviewed several talented individuals and asked for their help.

Soon, she planned to gather those people in a secret place and hold a private meeting.

The worst meeting that would completely ruin her life.

Glen agreed to the meeting.

Of course, not holding the meeting was the best way to prevent Luceria’s prologue event.

‘But even if it’s called an event, if that doesn’t happen, something else might.’

The goal of the corrupt high-ranking priests was to eliminate Luceria, not specifically to kill her by summoning a demon at the meeting place.

‘The demon summoning was just a means to kill Luceria.’

They would simply choose another tool depending on the situation.

If the meeting itself was prevented, an unknown future would unfold—one Glen did not know.

That is why Glen needed to resolve the situation at a point as close as possible to the future he knew.

Specifically, at the moment when the demon is summoned at the meeting place.

Of course, the demon to be summoned there was a formidable enemy that even Luceria at Nine Rings could not defeat in the end.

‘But she couldn’t defeat it—that doesn’t mean it was impossible.’

Luceria’s defeat and her contract with the demon were developments from the original story.

Now that Glen was here and would participate in the meeting, that would never happen.

‘The meeting is next week, so three days left.’

The plan was already in place.

All that remained was to prepare to eliminate any possible variables.

‘I’ll be a bit busy.’

If only the future unfolded roughly as expected, the chance of his plan failing would be infinitely close to zero.

Thinking that, Glen ended his first meeting with Luceria with the familiar outward smile he always wore.

TO BE CONTINUED....