The Game Difficulty
Is Insane
The Yuratio Mountain Range is originally silent.
It is an extremely barren place, and even for the Papal State, it is seen only as a gateway dividing the eastern and central regions.
But today was different.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Purge the heretics!”
Countless knights and soldiers were running across the Yuratio Mountain Range, holding their flags high.
With hatred-filled light in their eyes, they moved swiftly.
Following their commanders’ orders, they quickly searched for enemies hiding throughout the mountains.
“We found it!”
A soldier shouted while pointing at a passage hidden in a rocky cliff.
Soon, dozens of soldiers rushed inside.
And then, they found the enemy.
“You’ve come! You hypocrites!”
“I don’t know how you found us, but we already knew you’d come!”
The Black Cult followers inside the cave charged at the soldiers with weapons in hand, as if they had been waiting.
But—
Slash—!
“Guaaaargh!”
“Die, you filthy bastards!”
The moment the two groups clashed, the side wearing dark red robes was crushed.
Clang! Slash—!
“K—Kyaaaah!”
“Kalungod… why have you abandoned us…!”
It was not a battle, but a one-sided massacre.
The Black Cult followers were helplessly swept away by the expedition force flooding into the cave.
“Kuhahaha! As expected, the Red Cross Knights are the fastest!”
Splitting the enemy in half before him, Erhiman von Berger laughed like a wild beast.
He was exhilarated by the fact that he had entered the Black Cult’s den faster than anyone else in the expedition.
“I’m glad I can see the combat of the famous Red Cross Knights with my own eyes.”
The gentle-looking young man beside him smiled.
It was Randolph Hayward, a Saintess supporter who had attended the secret meeting.
“And you, young lord, are quite skilled for your age!”
“Haha, you flatter me. If we struggled against small fry like this, that would be shamefu—!”
The two casually chatted while cutting down the Black Cult followers charging at the front.
One could call it carelessness, but that was how pitiful the enemy’s strength was.
‘It’s only natural since there’s no Prophet.’
Randolph narrowed his eyes.
Ninety percent of the Black Cult’s strength was concentrated in their highest priests, the Prophets.
So as long as a Prophet did not appear, there was no way the expedition force would be pushed back.
—The outer sector you are assigned to is far from the core of the Black Cult headquarters, so a Prophet will not appear.
—Well, even if you do encounter one, with Sir Erhiman, a seven-star, there shouldn’t be any problem.
At that time, Glen Wordsworth had spoken with firm confidence shining in his ash-gray eyes.
He had not confirmed it through scouting, yet he spoke as if he knew.
‘It’s as if he completely understands how the Black Cult distributes their forces.’
Not only had he predicted that the Black Cult would notice the expedition’s assault—
He had even predicted how they would respond.
‘At this point… I can’t help but believe even more strongly that God is truly blessing him.’
A strange light passed through Randolph’s eyes.
He remembered the events of the secret meeting.
While Randolph was being protected by the Saintess that day, Glen fought a terrifying demon that no one else could oppose.
He never gave up, and in the end, he completely annihilated two demons.
‘At that moment, his entire body was wrapped in a mysterious power I had never seen before.’
That power was too ferocious to be holy power, yet too sacred to not be holy.
Randolph had constantly thought about it and gathered information from many places, but learned nothing.
And so, he reached a tentative conclusion.
‘Perhaps it is a new power granted to him by the main god, Minies.’
Without thinking that way, the situation made no sense.
‘Glen Wordsworth has been granted a new type of power by God.’
‘With that power, he protected the Saintess and is now trying to destroy the Black Cult.’
Honestly, Glen’s instructions for this expedition were somewhat lacking in explanation.
He would simply say things like, It will be like this, or They will appear there.
But Randolph believed him.
Those who had witnessed the miracle that day with him believed as well.
The Cardinal of the Papal State believed.
And everyone participating in this expedition believed.
At some point, including Randolph himself, they had begun to treat Glen’s words as if they were God’s will.
Waaaaaah—!
A roar echoed from beyond the mountain ridge.
The sound was like thunder striking from a clear sky.
That was how overwhelming the expedition’s momentum against the Black Cult was.
“Looks like they’re doing well.”
Glen smiled in satisfaction.
Since he was not with the main expedition, he had worried that something might go wrong, but it seemed to be unfounded.
“Isn’t that obvious, considering the power gap? Oh. A burst of holy power just flashed. That must be the Cardinal or the Saintess, right?”
Romina, walking beside him, looked beyond the ridge with curious eyes.
Even from several kilometers away, she was grasping the battle situation with her unique detection ability.
“If a dense holy power just exploded, it seems the main force has successfully entered their den.”
Ridenhall added calmly.
The assault was divided into two groups: the main force attacking the core of the cult, and the skirmish units striking the outer sectors.
『Main Force』
『Inquisition. Holy Spear Knights. The Saintess and the White Veil Knights.』
『Skirmish Units』
『All units not assigned to the main force, including the Red Cross Knights.』
And then there was the outlier—Glen himself.
The deployment was somewhat extreme, but this was the correct answer.
The Black Cult’s final goal was to endure until they could summon their main god, Kalungod.
Therefore, they would place all their major defensive forces at the cult’s core, where the summoning ritual was taking place.
‘That’s why we have to focus too.’
They placed appropriately strong forces in the less important outer sectors, and concentrated their strongest power on the core.
No matter how troublesome the abilities of six Prophets fighting together might be, they would not be able to stop the main force, which possessed three tactical-level combatants.
Then why was Glen deliberately acting separately from the main force?
‘Because I want to cut off the variables.’
The power difference was already overwhelming.
With two eight-star holy knights and a nine-star priest in the main force, whether Glen was there or not would not make a huge difference.
Of course, if he were there, they could break through faster—but Glen wanted to use all of his power, including Romina and Ridenhall, more efficiently.
By taking the shortest route and directly assaulting the room where the summoning ritual was in progress.
“We’re here.”
After wandering through mountain paths that barely even looked like paths, they arrived before a massive rock wall.
More precisely, it was a narrow gap faintly visible between rocks forming the wall.
It was about one ridge away from the cult’s core, but this was a passage leading there.
You know the type—
The place where a villain tries to escape after their plan fails.
“So this is the passage.”
“Hmm… I can feel it. That half-baked demonic power those insects use.”
Romina twirled her red hair around her index finger while looking at the gap between the rocks, then casually reached her hand forward.
The space she touched distorted like the surface of water, and her hand was swallowed whole.
“Oho. They hid it well. I’m going in, okay?”
With a grin, Romina leaned forward and vanished to the other side.
“……Is it really okay for her to go in so carelessly?”
Ridenhall looked at Glen with concern.
“Don’t worry. It’s an escape route, so we won’t run into anything until the end.”
Glen followed Romina, distorting the space as he stepped through.
Ridenhall nodded and carefully followed behind.
The inside of the passage was wider than expected.
Wide enough for more than a dozen people to stretch out their arms comfortably.
The ceiling was also quite high.
“Nice. It’s not cramped.”
Romina brushed her hair back and raised an eyebrow.
“I’m fine, but Glen, isn’t it dark for you?”
