The game difficulty
has gone crazy
At that moment.
Glen Wordsworth, after defeating the Prophet Vanproxy and Chel, was moving smoothly toward the Altar of Descent.
Along the way, several Sins blocked the path, but thanks to the perfect coordination of Glen’s party, they were defeated without any trouble.
‘Thanks to Riedenhol, I could even save the Gray Ring.’
If he did not use the Gray Ring, Glen’s body—through stats that surpassed his tier and his unique latent abilities—could display power just slightly below a 7-star level.
On top of that, with the high-grade enchantments granted by Riedenhol, he could stand on the front line and fight even the Sins to some extent.
‘Besides, I’m not fighting alone anyway.’
“Kiieeeeeek!”
As if it had been waiting, a grotesque scream rang out as a Sin appeared straight ahead.
Dozens of tentacles surged forward, rushing to intercept Glen at the very front.
“…….”
That was when Glen’s eyes grew serious.
Chwajajak—
Einheria shredded the tentacles.
It was not easy since he was conserving the Gray Ring, but this was more than enough.
After all, finishing it off was not Glen’s role, but Romina’s.
“So noisy.”
“Kiieee—!”
Pu-kaaaak!
From the rearmost position, Romina fired a black demonic spike, which lodged straight into the Sin’s dull eye.
The Sin let out its peculiar sound and screamed horribly in pain, but it did not end there.
“Be quiet.”
Snap—!
Romina snapped her fingers. The spike shone brightly, then exploded.
Kwaaaaang—
Splat, splat.
The Sin’s torso burst apart, scattering pitch-black blood mixed with demonic energy.
The remains of the demon were flung everywhere, creating a gruesome scene one would rather avoid, but Glen’s party did not care.
They simply stepped over it lightly and passed on.
“How was that magic just now? Hard to believe we’re both 7-star, right?”
Romina brushed back her curly red hair slightly, clearly fishing for praise, but no one responded.
“That aside, it’s pretty far.”
“We’re almost there, right, Romina?”
“……Yeah.”
Romina’s face suddenly stiffened.
“I can feel a powerful presence up ahead.”
A powerful presence.
Surely it was Opeile, the 9-star demon who would serve as the variable in this battle.
It was impossible to know how many Sins were guarding it.
‘If we’re really unlucky, it might even spawn an 8-star demon.’
Still, there was no turning back.
They had no idea what condition the main force was in, so Glen had to handle it himself.
‘Porvinus will be busy with the Kalungod summoning ritual anyway. He won’t have time to worry about intruders.’
At least in the original story, the cult leader never came down from the altar until the ritual was either completed or completely failed.
‘If I use my remaining Gray Ring once, and also that new ability this guy awakened during the fight with Vanproxy, I should be able to bring it down somehow.’
Glen tightened his resolve as he gazed at Einheria in his right hand.
Meanwhile, Glen’s party exited the secret passage and finally arrived at the deepest part of the Black Cult—the Altar of Descent.
“……Huh?”
Standing on a side path just beyond the secret passage, Glen looked down at the Altar of Descent.
However, a puzzled light flickered in his ash-gray eyes.
In the original story, the Altar of Descent was the location that marked the final event of the mid-game scenario.
A massive cavern filled with lighting tinted in red and purple hues.
And at the far end, a bizarre yet majestic altar rose so high it was hard to see clearly from below.
The Altar of Descent before Glen’s eyes was no different from the original.
However—
“Why is it the same?”
That was only true in the original story.
With the Lunatic Trial applied now, Opeile should have been present at the Altar of Descent.
But Opeile was nowhere to be seen.
All that could be seen were Black Cult believers below the altar, offering themselves as living sacrifices.
Numbering around a thousand, they were gathered on terrain lower than Glen’s position, gazing up at the altar and chanting.
“…Glen. I think we got tricked.”
As Glen’s pupils darted rapidly, Romina twisted her lips.
“The moment we came out of the secret passage, that demon’s presence suddenly moved far away.”
“……Which direction?”
“That way.”
‘The direction where the main force is…….’
That meant the Opeile summoned at the Altar of Descent was moving toward the expedition’s main force.
‘Is that even possible?’
Glen accelerated his thoughts.
Opeile was a demon with a grotesque form, like a gigantic tree made of flesh and blood, with roots embedded in the ground.
Without special measures, it should never move from the place where it was summoned.
Yet if Romina was right, it was heading toward the main force.
Then there was only one possible explanation.
Glen raised his gaze toward the altar that stretched all the way to the cavern ceiling.
‘That bastard must have done something.’
Porvinus, the cult leader of the Black Cult.
If it was him, it was more than possible.
“…What should we do?”
“Opeile isn’t that far from here. If we chase it, we could attack from behind and coordinate with the main force.”
Romina and Riedenhol both waited seriously for Glen’s answer.
After a brief moment of thought, Glen let out a grim smile.
“No. The fact that Opeile isn’t here is actually an opportunity for us.”
Glen raised his index finger and pointed at the altar stretching up to the ceiling.
In the original story, hundreds of steps—meant to be guarded by surviving prophets—would be lined with enemies.
But now, not even a single fragment of a demon could be seen.
In other words, Porvinus was alone at the Altar of Descent.
“If we just take out the guy up there, everything ends, right?”
Of course, it was suspicious that the cult leader would go out of his way to do this.
With Vanproxy already dead, Glen’s existence had been exposed, so there was no need to divert Opeile elsewhere to buy time.
Still, there was no room to retreat.
Glen’s gaze dropped downward.
“Descend… Descend… Descend… Descend…….”
A thousand cultists, ready to die for Kalungod’s descent.
They twisted like withered branches drained of life.
If they wasted any more time here, they would fail to stop Kalungod’s summoning.
This was not a situation where they could carefully analyze whether it was a trap or not.
‘So we go.’
