The game difficulty
is insane
‘This… can’t be……!’
Amelia Cluny could not understand the situation at all.
Glen Wordsworth.
The boy who killed Beveluga, the core of the cult’s plan, in Hornello Village, and who rescued the Saintess of the Minis Church from the messenger of Kalungod in Lublin Village.
Amelia had sent her twin younger sister, Lily Cluny, to kill that man who interfered with the cult’s plans at every turn.
And just as expected, Lily Cluny lost her life to Glen due to a clear difference in combat power.
Up to that point, it was still acceptable.
The true terror of Lily did not lie in her strength, but in her obsession—her refusal to give up, returning thousands of times until her opponent finally died.
‘She had never failed even once.’
Amelia had heard that Glen was an eight-star.
But in the past, the Cluny sisters had obsessively targeted and assassinated enemies far stronger than themselves.
—Ahah, ahahaha! He’s dead! He’s dead!
—You did it, Lily.
After repeating death and resurrection more than six hundred times in just one month, they finally strangled the life out of a target whose mind had completely collapsed. At that moment, it felt like there was no enemy left in the world.
But Glen Wordsworth was different.
The moment he killed Lily, he ran nine kilometers straight toward her.
After killing the assassin who came to kill him, he immediately searched for the other one—who might not even exist?
That was impossible unless Lily had revealed their secret.
But Glen Wordsworth came for her without the slightest hesitation.
‘He knows our secret!’
There was no other way to explain this situation.
‘Then how… did he find out?’
If either Lily or Amelia died, the other would revive within one hour.
And during that one-hour window, the remaining twin had to be within a certain distance.
Only Lily and Amelia Cluny knew this fact. Along with the remaining six prophets and the cult leader.
‘Just who are you……?’
Questions gave birth to more questions, and Amelia’s mind sank deeper and deeper into chaos.
But only for a moment.
The instant her eyes met Glen Wordsworth, who had chased her right up to her face, all those thoughts scattered.
In their place surged a fear of death she had not felt in a very long time.
‘I… don’t want to die!’
The Cluny sisters had received immortality from the main god Kalungod and had died hundreds—no, nearly a thousand times.
But now that the possibility of resurrection was gone, thoughts of the future vanished, leaving only raw, primal fear.
“……!”
The moment she turned her head, a semi-transparent blade of energy flew toward her.
Amelia Cluny swallowed her breath.
Chajajajajak—!
Pain she had always ignored now felt unbearably heavy.
“Wan… to… live……. Don’t… want… to die….”
Wrapped in fear and terror, Amelia Cluny’s consciousness was severed.
Amelia lay collapsed in the backyard of the Confession Hall.
The black clothes and veil she wore for infiltration were dyed red with blood.
Looking at her dark red hair and blood-soaked clothing, her appearance was unmistakably that of a Black Cult prophet.
“…….”
Glen approached to finish her off just in case, but Amelia Cluny was already cooling rapidly.
“Phew…….”
The breath he had been holding burst out.
In any case, it wasn’t too late, and with this, the Cluny sisters—among the most troublesome figures in the Black Cult—were dead.
From their perspective, they had tried to eliminate Glen in advance since he kept interfering with the cult’s plans, but their opponent had been far too bad.
After all, Glen was the only person in this world who knew their secret.
‘Still, thank goodness they came to kill me.’
If they had tried to assassinate Saintess Luceria first instead of Glen, eliminating the Cluny sisters would have been several times more troublesome.
Judging only by the result, this incident could be called the Cluny sisters’ own undoing.
However, without Romina’s contribution and Glen’s quick judgment and action based on his veteran knowledge, the outcome would never have been the same.
Step—
“Looks like you caught her.”
Romina, who had followed behind, spoke.
Judging by how calmly she approached, Chel must have escaped by riding the shadows the moment Amelia Cluny died.
“Yeah. Barely.”
“That ability is seriously annoying. So she won’t revive anymore, right?”
Romina cast a cold glance at Amelia’s corpse.
“Yeah.”
“You don’t sound very confident.”
“No. She won’t revive.”
‘As long as lunatic difficulty doesn’t get applied.’
Even though the situation was over, Glen kept watching his surroundings.
“For someone who says that, you still look pretty tense.”
“Well… just in case.”
The second gray ring activated by the Primordial Mirror was also nearing its end.
If lunatic difficulty were to be applied to the Cluny sisters, that would be a situation Glen couldn’t handle with his own strength.
Fortunately, unlike Glen’s worries, Amelia’s corpse remained.
‘If the ability were activating, the body would’ve disappeared.’
Unlike Lily Cluny, whose body vanished the moment she died at Glen’s hands.
Relaxing his sharp gaze, Glen put Einheria away.
“Thanks.”
“Isn’t that repayment for the gift?”
“Repayment?”
At Glen’s question, Romina lifted the corner of her lips and lightly shook her necklace.
“Oh. That.”
“Come on. You’re not going to ask for it back now that the job’s done, right?”
Romina tightly gripped the pendant set with a red jewel like her hair and sent him a wary look.
Glen let out a small chuckle.
“No. I won’t. Take it.”
“Hehe. Thanks. It makes it easier to concentrate when I use magic, so I wanted to keep it. And also…….”
Smiling with her eyes, Romina fiddled with the necklace.
“And also?”
“It’s the first gift you ever gave me.”
“……Was it? I’m pretty sure last time I…….”
Glen’s lips stopped.
He had given her something before.
The Heart of the Queen of Plague.
He had given her the heart of a giant rat that spawned rat monsters, calling it a gift.
“…….”
Don’t say anything more.
Isn’t it better to keep this nice atmosphere going?
Romina was saying that with her eyes.
Glen shrugged.
“Yeah… I guess. Well. I’m not that petty of a guy… but somehow it turned out like this.”
“Giving something at all is what matters.”
She must have had very low expectations.
In any case, Robes’s Necklace was an item for magic-type characters, so Glen had no use for it.
‘I planned to give it to her anyway.’
Romina was a typical sniper-type mage, excellent at detection and ultra-long-range magic.
And Robes’s Necklace was an artifact that increased concentration while stationary.
Considering those two factors, it made far more sense for Romina to have it than Glen.
Especially since she wasn’t just someone he’d see once, but a party member who would face countless hardships together.
“Just remember—it only boosts concentration when you’re not moving.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Grow strong.”
“I’m already big enough, you know? Want to see?”
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Hm. Who knows?”
Romina had completely returned to her usual playful self, crossing her arms and tilting her head.
“Anyway, I’ll use it well. Thanks. More importantly, what are we going to do now?”
Romina’s question carried several meanings.
What to do with Amelia Cluny’s body, and what to do about causing chaos in the Confession Hall while catching her.
“We won’t get scolded or anything, right?”
“Well… normally, we would. We caused a disturbance inside the Grand Cathedral.”
Especially in the Confession Hall—a place of repentance before God, a place where one faces God directly—it wouldn’t be easy to brush it off.
“But you said ‘normally,’ so it’ll be fine, right?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
“Probably…….”
As Romina’s eyebrow twitched, a presence was felt behind them.
Clank clank—
Clank clank—
Not one person, but several.
A dense, orderly mass of holy power that could be felt just from them approaching.
It was easy to guess who had arrived.
Glen turned around, hiding his true expression behind a public smile.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Step—
The approaching figures stopped.
And the one standing at their center stepped forward toward Glen.
Step—
A pristine white priest’s robe worn over well-crafted plate armor, embroidered with the golden emblem of the church.
“Members of the Holy Spear Knight Order.”
The Holy Spear Knight Order.
The strongest and most righteous knight order in the Papal State, protecting the Grand Cathedral and the Pope himself.
What appeared before Glen was none other than humanity’s strongest knight order.
The reason they appeared was simple.
They had assessed the situation and come to arrest Glen based on their own judgment.
“First, please state your identity.”
A few steps ahead of the knights, a young man approached Glen and spoke in a gentle yet forceful tone.
A handsome young man with platinum-blond hair and blue eyes, with a diligent and refined appearance.
‘He’s insane in person. Ignat.’
His name was Ignat van Romeo.
Despite his youthful and handsome face, his terrifying ability had earned him the position of commander of the Holy Spear Knight Order. He was considered the greatest rising star of the Papal State.
Of course, calling him a “rising star” might be misleading, considering he stood shoulder to shoulder in swordsmanship with Cardinal Grazia Deleda while serving as commander.
‘What can you do? Being young is power.’
In the original story, Ignat would later weave his ninth holy ring and act as a crucial ally to human-faction players.
Conversely, for demon-faction players, he was an annoyingly righteous, competent, and handsome character who absolutely had to be defeated.
In any case, meeting Ignat was exactly what Glen had hoped for.
‘Though not like this, and not in a place like this.’
Glen hid a bitter smile behind his public one.
“I am Glen Wordsworth, the second son of Count Henry Wordsworth, Grand Lord of Wordsworth, the northwestern front of the Papal State.”
“Glen Wordsworth… is that correct?”
“Yes. You’re the commander of the Holy Spear Knight Order, Sir Ignat, correct? It’s a pleasure.”
At Glen’s calm greeting, Ignat showed a brief flicker of surprise.
Anyone would—this was clearly a murder suspect, yet he was acting so bold and composed.
Ignat soon regained his pace and continued in a calm tone.
“Yes. I am Ignat van Romeo. We received a report from the Confession Hall and rushed here. It seems we’ll need to investigate the scene. May I ask for your cooperation?”
Though his tone was gentle, the air around him was heavy.
He was openly suspicious and wary of Glen.
“Of course. As much as you need.”
Glen smiled softly and explained the situation in broad terms.
While he spoke with Ignat, members of the Holy Spear Knight Order examined Amelia’s corpse.
“So you’re saying this woman was a prophet sent by the Black Cult?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“However, at a glance, she looks no different from an ordinary penitent.”
Soon, one knight approached Ignat and explained their findings. A strange light passed through Ignat’s blue eyes.
“The investigation hasn’t revealed anything particularly suspicious.”
That was only natural.
Unlike the unhinged Lily Cluny, Amelia Cluny was relatively rational and meticulous.
Except when acting as a prophet of the Black Cult, she would not carry cult-related items on her in case of emergencies.
“In that case, it seems you independently determined that this woman was a Black Cult priest. Do you have evidence to support that?”
Distrust toward Glen began to bloom in Ignat’s eyes.
It contrasted sharply with his gentle appearance, but this thoroughness was precisely what made him commander of the Holy Spear Knight Order.
“At the moment, I do not.”
“……Sir. If that is the case, we have no choice but to suspect you as someone who murdered an innocent penitent.”
“I completely understand your position, Sir Ignat. But it’s true—I have none. She must have hidden the evidence. She was extremely cautious.”
“…It seems this interrogation may take some time. Would you accompany us?”
He was asking him to continue the discussion at headquarters.
Weak evidence, and no Black Cult-related items found on the body.
Honestly, if they let Glen go under these circumstances, wouldn’t it make the Holy Spear Knight Order look incompetent?
“Of course.”
But Glen did not waver.
From the moment a murder occurred inside the Grand Cathedral, he had already predicted the arrival of the Holy Spear Knight Order and prepared for it mentally.
‘This actually works out better. I don’t have to go out of my way to persuade Ignat.’
“Before that, there are two things I’d like to ask of you, Sir Ignat.”
“Two requests?”
“Yes. They’re not difficult. First, I’d like you to confirm just one thing from this woman’s corpse.”
Ignat raised an eyebrow and looked at Glen.
“And the second?”
“Please send one letter.”
Glen hid his characteristic cunning smile behind his public one.
“To the Inquisition.”
TO BE CONTINUED....
