Chapter 151

The game difficulty has gone insane.

Is Potentinuo…….

Lathero, who had driven everyone here into a corner with its tenacious vitality.

Now its body was being finely broken apart into black particles and scattering away.

And the one responsible for that scene let out a deep sigh while watching the demon’s annihilation with his own eyes.

“It’s… done…….”

As if all strength had drained away, power left his entire body.

At the same time, the saint-demonic power that had been clearing his mind, which had been thrown into chaos by rage and pain, also faded away.

‘Looks like… I can’t use it for long.’

A powerful will and desire.

A momentary power granted because of that.

Saint-demonic power was still full of mysteries.

“……Sir Glen!”

From behind, the Saint’s group shouted something urgently as they rushed toward him, but he couldn’t pay attention to it.

“Kh… huff!”

Perhaps because Glen had used more power than he was allowed.

The moment the saint-demonic power faded, a tearing pain surged back into his heart.

Glen tried to accept it calmly.

In a short period of combat, he had repeatedly used skills with heavy recoil and penalties—saint-demonic power, the two gray rings, and Wrath of the Tyrant.

‘But why…… agh!’

However, this time felt different from when he had first used saint-demonic power at the Wordsworth estate.

Back then, Glen had lost consciousness without much burden right after using it.

But now, the holy power and demonic power that had resonated together to form a single force began to repel each other inside his heart, causing unbearable pain.

“Kuh… ngh!”

The holy power and demonic power raging inside his heart showed no sign of stopping until one of them disappeared.

It wasn’t just the feeling of exhaustion anymore—it felt like his life itself was being taken as payment.

He thought that if this continued, he might really die.

‘What… should I do!’

He knew something had to be done, but he had no idea what that something was.

Saint-demonic power was an unknown force that didn’t exist in the original story—something even Glen didn’t understand.

The pain grew worse.

Just as the thought of begging to be killed crossed his mind—

Suddenly, someone placed a hand over the area near his heart as he lay collapsed.

Warmth flowed in from there.

Uuuuuung—

As that happened, the holy power that had been violently reacting against the demonic power gradually began to calm down, and the agony lessened.

“Huh… ugh…… ngh….”

His vision blurred.

What he faintly saw was fluttering white hair and violet eyes shedding tears.

“Sniff… hngh…….”

She was crying.

Before he could even guess why, his vision turned pitch black.

And Glen lost consciousness.

The moment Glen Wordsworth collapsed, Luceria did not think long.

“T-that power just now… what in the world…….”

“Did it… defeat the monster……?”

While everyone was questioning something else, Luceria was thinking of only one thing.

“Saint!”

Before Bishop Roderick could even say anything, she ran toward him.

To be honest, she didn’t know what had happened or what she was supposed to do.

But the man who had poured out unknown power and annihilated a demon was now dying in agony.

So there was only one thought.

She had to save him.

Luceria placed her hand near his heart and released the remaining holy power she had.

It was nothing more than simply pushing her holy power out of her body.

It wasn’t even the healing miracle priests commonly used, so she honestly didn’t know if this would have any effect.

But at the very least, he wasn’t someone who should die here.

So she had to do whatever she could.

“…Please……!”

Her gentle violet eyes shook violently with anxiety.

If she thought about it carefully, everything that had happened was because of her.

Despite lacking sufficient ability, she had stubbornly insisted on exterminating the monster, causing him to push himself this far.

Because there were too many eyes watching and she used the excuse that the situation was difficult, she failed to properly identify each participant of the secret meeting, allowing someone like Ducan Oswetri to slip in.

And in the first place, because she had planned this whole affair, the cathedral had taken such extreme measures.

“…….”

She bit down hard on her lower lip.

The more force she put in out of sorrow and regret, the delicate lip split and blood flowed.

The tears she had been holding back poured out all at once, blurring her vision.

She should have just stayed still.

She should have quietly lived as a justification, being dragged around as the high priests of the cathedral ordered.

‘Because I did something unnecessary…….’

As she regretted her choice like that, his words suddenly came back to her.

—I dislike the current Papal State.

—To be honest, I know very well what you want to say, Saint. You mean to purge the ugly group who worship god only with their mouths and rot the Papal State, and to set the corrupted divine nation right, correct?

—Ah, don’t misunderstand. As I said before, I dislike the current Papal State. That’s why I’m on your side.

—Isn’t it because I hear the same things as you do, Saint?

“Ah…….”

Luceria finally realized it.

Glen Wordsworth was looking toward the same goal as her.

And today, he had taken up his sword to take responsibility for her choice.

The same choice, leading to the same result.

Luceria fell into self-blame over that.

But Glen had held his sword, taken responsibility for his choice, and in the end changed the outcome to prove that he was right.

At that moment, Luceria understood.

It wasn’t the choice itself that was the problem—but that she had to take responsibility for what came after that choice.

The resolve to change the corrupted Papal State, and the secret meeting she hosted because of it.

She was the one who made the choice, so Luceria had to bear responsibility for it.

“…….”

And finally, she faced it head-on.

What she had to do now was somehow keep Glen alive.

And what she had to embrace in that process was not regret or apology, but responsibility.

Her tears stopped, replaced by a firm light filled with resolve.

‘Please live.’

Luceria wished again and again in her heart that what she was doing now would save him.

And she prayed that Glen Wordsworth would not die.

So that when he woke up someday,

She could repay the debt of saving her and Lublin Village, even at the risk of his own life.

And so she could thank him for making her realize what was truly important.

But above all, so that the choices she and Glen had made would remain as the correct answer.

“…….”

What he saw was a familiar ceiling.

It was probably the ceiling of the private room in the house under the lamp—the estate Luceria had lent him.

“Hoo…….”

Glen blinked blankly, then let out a deep sigh of relief.

Then he recalled what had happened to him just before he lost consciousness.

“Ah, the event!”

Glen’s pupils widened.

He hurriedly checked the system message.

《You have overcome a Lunatic element.》

《Special rewards have been granted.》

Just in case, he checked the quest chart as well, but fortunately, Luceria’s prologue event Fall seemed to have ended in the direction Glen wanted.

There were still unresolved elements like Lily Cluny, but for now, it didn’t look like the situation had changed afterward.

“…….”

He felt relieved.

The tension that had stiffened his body melted away at the fact that his efforts hadn’t gone to waste.

“But then… what happened after that?”

He roughly understood that he had cleared the Lunatic trial and finished Luceria’s event the way he wanted.

But since he had lost consciousness, he didn’t know how everything wrapped up.

“Well… it doesn’t seem like some totally fucked-up situation would happen…….”

Bang—

Before he even finished speaking, the door to the private room opened and Romina walked in.

“…Huh?”

“Hey.”

Romina froze in place.

A brief silence followed.

Then Romina strode over to the bed where Glen was lying.

And then—

Thud! Thud!

“Ah! Hey, why—what are you doing?!”

She raised her fists and started hitting Glen’s shoulder at random.

“…….”

“Hey, you…….”

Romina said nothing.

Glen also remained silent.

The strength of her punches gradually weakened.

Eventually, Romina turned her body away.

Then she spoke quietly in a calm yet cold voice.

“You. I think I told you last time that if you overdid it, I’d kill you…….”

“Did… I?”

“…If you really want to die, I can kill you myself, you know?”

Her voice was calm, but Romina’s slender shoulders trembled.

“…Were you really worried?”

“Not really. It’s not the first time.”

“Then with your generous heart, could you just understand—”

“…….”

“—that would make you a saint. Sorry.”

Cold sweat ran down Glen’s spine.

He glanced at Romina’s eyes.

Her amber eyes, usually seductive and sly, felt terrifying today for some reason.

“…So.”

“What.”

“What happened after I lost consciousness?”

Romina sighed.

“…Of course that’s the first thing you ask.”

“Occupational hazard.”

“Good grief.”

Romina pressed her fingers to her forehead.

After a short pause,

As she prepared a tea set on the shelf beside the bed, Romina told him what had happened after Glen lost consciousness.

“First of all, it’s been two days.”

It seemed he had been unconscious longer than expected.

‘The backlash was pretty heavy. Saint-demonic power…….’

“And the white-haired girl is safe.”

She meant Luceria.

Just as Glen had planned, she overcame the crisis and brought the unconscious Glen back for treatment.

After that, she had the secret meeting participants wait at their respective houses under the lamp.

“She told me to make sure to inform her when you woke up. And she said the secret meeting would be held again soon.”

Despite the commotion, it seemed word hadn’t spread that Luceria was secretly gathering people without the cathedral’s knowledge.

Thinking about it, not running away back then had been the right choice.

If he had fled while carrying Luceria, the demon would have rampaged through Lublin Village, and her actions would have been exposed publicly.

“What about Ridenhall?”

“That skeleton finished his job.”

What Glen had asked of Ridenhall was to exclusively handle the Prophet, Lily Cluny.

It seemed the outcome had gone exactly as Glen predicted—Ridenhall’s victory.

“That red-haired woman. He said she was pretty troublesome. Even with holes in her body and her arm cut off, she kept charging without stopping.”

“That’s just how she is.”

Since she could revive in a few hours even if she died, she probably fought without caring about defense at all.

“A crazy woman who revives… that’s terrifying. Well, because of that, Ridenhall’s mind kind of broke. He’s been holed up in the prayer room for the past few days, offering only repentance prayers.”

Since Ridenhall didn’t want to kill, he must have felt guilty about killing Lily Cluny.

“Hmm…….”

Glen’s expression darkened.

Since he was the one who gave the order to kill, he felt a bit guilty himself.

But thinking about the future, Ridenhall would have to get used to it eventually.

Aside from that, the incident in Lublin Village had concluded in the way Glen wanted, without any major variables or problems.

“All in all, it’s the best possible result—except for the part where you almost died.”

As Romina said, they successfully eliminated the demon and fully protected Luceria and the holy power she possessed.

And in the process, they even created circumstances for her to gain trust in him.

‘At least for now, nothing serious should happen to Luceria.’

Of course, he couldn’t say that for sure.

He had twisted the flow of the scenario significantly, so what would happen to her from now on was unpredictable.

‘But it’s certain that Archbishop Bastian will try to eliminate her somehow.’

Still, after this incident, Bishop Roderick—her aide—would strengthen her protection, so it should be fine.

‘And she herself probably realized a lot, so she’ll learn how to use her holy power properly.’

Before long, Luceria would no longer be just a simple 9-star holy power tank, but would be reborn as a true 9-star priest.

Honestly, calling her a 9-star priest was underselling it—by then, she would be treated as a strategic weapon on par with the Demon King Lupellos.

And she would have a tremendous impact on the war against the demon race that would soon begin in earnest.

‘Of course, before that, she’ll have to help me in various ways.’

Since this was a hard-earned stroke of fortune, there were many things she could do for Glen.

With more than a month left before the Demon King’s army launched its full-scale invasion,

Glen was drawing many plans beyond simply raising Luceria as combat power.

“So, what’s the next plan?”

Romina asked.

“Romina. Do you remember what I said in Honello Village?”

“Huh? Of course. You said you’d wipe out the Black Cult within two weeks.”

As she said that, Romina flinched, then narrowed her eyes.

“Hmm……?”

At Romina’s sly look, as if asking whether that time was now, Glen smiled cunningly.

Now that he had secured Saint Luceria, there was no need to waste any more time.

“Of course. We’re starting now.”

TO BE CONTINUED....