The Game Difficulty
Went Crazy
In a fleeting moment, Robert replayed the situation in his mind again and again.
But none of it made sense.
In a battle between holy knights, victory was not decided by swordsmanship, but by holy power and the number of Rings of Sanctity.
Stronger holy power could never be overcome by weaker holy power, and one Ring of Sanctity could never defeat two Rings.
That was why countless holy knights struggled desperately to raise their holy power even a little more, and to increase the number of their rings by even one.
Holy power and Rings of Sanctity were status itself.
From that perspective, Robert stood at a far higher level than the boy in front of him.
To a degree that could not even be compared, especially considering the boy had trained for less than a month.
‘Then how…!’
The armor of sanctity, as solid as a fortress wall—
Not pierced by a 3-star sword, nor a 2-star sword, but by a mere 1-star sword.
Common sense collapsed.
And together with it came a pain that felt like his flesh was burning.
“Guaaah!”
Robert dropped to his knees.
Everyone present froze.
All of them stared at the scene with blank, stunned expressions.
“What… what just happened?”
Edgar’s pupils trembled.
But soon, sensing something was wrong, he shouted toward Robert.
“This is impossible…! Robert! Get up right now! Get up! Can’t you hear me?!”
But Robert only clenched his teeth and groaned in pain, unable to lift his body.
“T-this…!”
Edgar looked at Gregory.
Gregory, too, stood there with his mouth wide open, as if he had no idea what was going on.
Edgar walked up to Gregory and grabbed him by the collar.
His face was burning red.
“Does this make any sense?! How can a 1-star pierce armor of sanctity?! There must be some cowardly trick—!”
“Priest Jonas!”
At that moment, Tris’s voice rang across the training ground.
The priest who had been waiting at a distance snapped back to his senses and ran toward Robert.
Edgar grabbed Tris by the shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
His bloodshot eyes were filled with hostility.
“Can’t you see his condition? He needs treatment.”
“It’s not over yet! Priest Jonas! Return to your position at once! Continue the duel!”
At Edgar’s command, the old priest stopped in place.
His face clearly said, What am I supposed to do?
That was when—
Smack!
Tris slapped Edgar across the face.
She hit him so hard that Edgar collapsed onto the ground.
“Get a hold of yourself, Edgar.”
Her voice and gaze were cold.
They were things Edgar had never seen even once in his life from his sister, who was always gentle and warm.
Confusion filled Edgar’s eyes.
“You can refuse to accept the result if it’s just your pride. I might even let that slide. But—”
A chill passed through Tris’s eyes.
“Sir Robert cannot fight anymore. So stop using him like a tool. What he needs now is treatment.”
“Ah…”
A defeat that fell like a death sentence.
Edgar’s expression crumbled.
“T-this… this makes no sense…”
Only then did the priest, who had been watching Edgar’s mood, approach Robert, and Gregory cleared his throat.
“Ahem! Th-then… the winner is Young Master Glen!”
The judgment spread across the training ground.
No one could open their mouth.
No joy, no despair—only silence.
In that silence, everyone simply stared at Glen with dumb expressions.
“Ugh…”
Glen dropped to the ground.
Now that the duel was over, the pain he had been holding back rushed in all at once.
‘Feels like I got hit about seven times.’
Each blow had shaken his entire skull.
Punches thrown by such a massive man were monstrous, each and every one.
‘If he hadn’t let his guard down, I would’ve been done for long ago… anyway.’
Looking at the people around him, Glen chuckled.
Seeing their stunned faces made him feel refreshed.
‘Idiots. You all thought I’d just get completely crushed.’
The priest approached Robert.
But Robert was too busy enduring the pain to even notice him.
The pain must have been severe.
That was only natural.
Though it was called a duel, Glen had fought as if he meant to kill.
A mindset of just subduing the opponent?
Against a 4-star holy knight?
With that kind of thinking, he never would have beaten Robert.
“Ghk!”
“Endure it. The wound is deeper than it looks.”
As the priest poured holy water onto the wound and invoked a miracle of healing, Robert groaned.
‘Hmm. He almost looks pitiful—my ass. Suffer more. Cry ugly tears from the pain, you big idiot.’
Thinking of the insolent gaze Edgar had given him earlier, Glen felt this was more than deserved.
He even wished Robert would pass out from shock.
Glen gave Robert a victor’s snort.
That was when a system message appeared.
《You have overcome a Lunatic factor.》
《Special reward will be granted.》
‘Nice!’
They said patience was bitter, but its fruit was sweet.
The second Lunatic special reward he gained after enduring such extreme circumstances was more than welcome.
‘Ha…’
As he looked at the system message, all the hardship he had endured flashed before his eyes.
His nose stung for no reason.
‘…Let’s get up. I need to finish this.’
Glen slowly raised his body.
Just as his strength gave out and he was about to fall backward, Tris approached in time and supported him.
“Glen! You can just sit.”
“I’m fine, Sister. There’s something I want to say to Brother.”
Glen looked at Edgar.
His vacant expression looked like someone who had lost an entire country.
“How do you feel?”
“W-what?”
“I asked how it feels to lose to your useless little brother.”
Glen raised the corner of his mouth into a grin.
Edgar’s face twisted violently.
His already pitiful face became even more of a sight.
“You didn’t forget our bet, right? By tomorrow, bring the Ensir to my room. It’d be even better if you bring it yourself. I’d like to have a quiet tea time with you, Brother.”
“You little—!”
After neatly finishing Edgar off with a bright, public-facing smile, Glen turned around confidently.
From behind him, Edgar shouted.
“What kind of trick did you use?! How did you pierce the armor of sanctity?!”
“Hoo…”
Glen glanced at Edgar with an annoyed expression.
Then he casually raised his index finger and pointed at the sky.
“What else could it be?”
“God helped me.”
“And with that, he returned to his room.”
Butler Fred bowed his head.
Henry, the head of the Wordsworth family, slowly opened his closed eyes.
“…Absurd.”
From the moment Glen overwhelmed Robert with swordsmanship, to the moment he pierced the armor of sanctity—
Henry had watched the entire duel through the large window of his office.
Yet even he, a 7-star holy knight, could not understand how Glen had pierced the armor.
‘Robert’s greatest cause of defeat was carelessness. But even taking that into account, it makes no sense for a 1-star second son to pierce armor of sanctity.’
Of course, the distance had made it difficult to clearly identify what kind of power Glen had used.
That was why he had summoned Fred, who had watched the duel up close.
But even Fred, a retired knight with a keen eye, had no answer regarding Glen’s victory.
—God helped me.
That single line, repeated by his second son, was the only clue.
At this point, Henry almost wondered if that baseless boast might actually be true.
‘Did God truly grant the second son some unknown power?’
Without something like that, there was no way to explain his rapid growth in such a short time, nor the strike that pierced armor of sanctity.
Henry’s expression grew serious.
‘No. It’s too early to jump to conclusions. He may have simply made up an excuse to hide the secret of his power.’
Either way, it was nothing more than speculation without proof.
As the price of his long neglect, Henry realized he knew nothing about Glen.
‘…Then from now on, at least.’
Even now, it was not too late.
He needed information.
The rapid growth achieved in one month. And the power to pierce armor of sanctity.
With such useful power, Glen could no longer be discarded.
From now on, he had to be thoroughly used for the family.
That was the duty of a chess piece born with the name Wordsworth.
“Fred. From today onward, keep watch on the second son. If there’s anything unusual, report directly to me.”
“Yes, Master.”
After Fred withdrew, a strange light passed through Henry’s eyes as he remained alone in the office.
‘Second son. Whatever you’re hiding behind God’s name, I will uncover it.’
As if Glen were standing right in front of him,
Henry stared straight ahead and let out a cold snort.
“Then please rest well.”
“Thank you, Priest Jonas.”
After finishing the treatment, Priest Jonas left the room.
Silence soon followed.
Lying on the bed, Glen slowly raised his upper body.
Thanks to the miracle of healing, the bruised areas had completely recovered.
‘Nice. Miracles of healing. That aside…’
As he rubbed the spots where he had been injured, Glen recalled the duel earlier that day.
“I really won.”
With a 1-star body, he had defeated a 4-star knight.
Of course, it was only because Sir Robert had let his guard down.
If they fought again, Glen would have no chance of winning.
‘Still, a win is a win.’
In real combat, carelessness meant death.
Robert was careless, and Glen seized that opportunity. That was all.
‘And it’s a fact that I pierced armor of sanctity with a 1-star body.’
Glen never dismissed his victory as mere luck.
Robert’s carelessness, the “Favor of the Blade” and “Piercing Madness” that pierced the armor—
They were all things he had earned himself.
“In the end, everything came from hard work. With that in mind, shall we have some reward unboxing time?”
Clearing his thoughts, Glen brought up the past system messages.
Soon, blue letters appeared.
《All stats increase by 2.》
《Lunatic Special Reward》
§ Player’s Authority
§ Artifact (Epic or higher)
§ Unique Latent Ability
《Select one to immediately receive the reward included in that category.》
‘Alright. What do I pick this time?’
The decision didn’t take long.
There were things Glen desperately needed for his future growth.
And most of them were gathered under one category.
He quietly spoke the decision he had already made.
“Unique latent ability.”
There was no need to hesitate.
He was still weak.
So weak that he had to rely on a 4-star holy knight’s carelessness just to win.
And considering that the demon race’s assault was approaching day by day, he didn’t have time to grow slowly.
In other words—
‘I need rapid growth in the shortest time possible.’
That was why Glen chose “Unique Latent Ability” once more, the option that directly affected his growth.
Player’s Authority and Artifacts could wait until he became stronger.
With that thought, Glen steeled his resolve and stared forward.
《Reward selected: Unique Latent Ability》
《Granting Lunatic Special Reward.》
Slowly, the blue letters began to rearrange themselves.
Watching the rapidly spinning blue particles, Glen tightly shut his eyes and clasped his hands.
‘Please… anything is fine, just let it be good. Nothing more, nothing less—just at least on the level of Favor of the Blade!’
With a clear notification sound, the blue particles formed new letters.
Glen slowly opened his eyes.
At the same time, a sharp light flashed through his ash-gray pupils along with the blue glow of the text.
《You have obtained the latent ability “Knight Without Rings.”》
A smile spread across his lips.
“Ho? Now this is interesting.”
