The game difficulty
is insane.
Splat—splat—
Black blood and chunks of flesh scattered like rain throughout the corridor.
However, unlike just moments ago when human blood and flesh had filled the area, what was splattering everywhere now belonged to a demon.
“Saint Luceria’s miracle has led this battle to victory!”
“Waaaaaah!!”
The victorious expedition force erupted into cheers.
Hearing those hopeful voices, the Prophet Lamansor fell into despair.
‘Krrrrraaaaaah……!’
He screamed in agony, but no sound came out anywhere.
The body of the messenger of Kalungod—what the expedition force called a demon—that had fused with him was already shattered into countless pieces, scattering as ash.
The moment Lamansor fused with the divine messenger, he believed he had been chosen by Kalungod above all other prophets.
In truth, he had even casually crushed a cardinal of the Minis Order whom he could not defeat when he was human.
But—
‘Th-that woman……!’
As his vision burned away from the edges like paper catching fire, Lamansor fixed his gaze on the white-haired woman.
‘If not for that woman, I would have resided in Kalungod’s paradise!’
Just when his victory had been assured, the woman called a Saintess overturned an unchangeable fate entirely.
Even Lamansor acknowledged that it was a miracle wrought by the god Minis.
According to Kalungod’s teachings, countless minor gods existed in this world.
‘How unjust… how unjust!’
But the fact that a miracle performed by such a hypocritical god surpassed the miracle of his own lord, Kalungod, filled him with unbearable despair and resentment.
‘O Kalungod!’
‘If you are truly the greatest god in the heavens, please perform a miracle! Punish those hypocrites who deny you!’
The eyeball of Opeile, crumbling into ash, bulged with blood vessels.
But all that answered him was silence, and Lamansor’s mind lost its will.
‘……He’s gone.’
The god had already left this place.
As his consciousness faded, Lamansor felt everything he had believed to be right collapse, plunging him into despair and doubt.
‘Was Minis… justice?’
Before that god, their secrets and weaknesses had been laid bare.
The power they believed to be great had collapsed like a sandcastle.
Witnessing a result so utterly miserable that he had never imagined, Lamansor was forced to acknowledge Kalungod’s falsehood.
Crackle—
The corpse of the demon Opeile, once believed to be a divine messenger, turned to ash and vanished.
And in cold despair and doubt, Lamansor let go of the thread of consciousness.
The end faced by the final prophet, once worshiped while commanding a thousand followers, was endlessly pitiful.
Saint Ridenhall watched the battle between two beings—no, between one human and a god—and could not hide his astonishment.
Kwaaang—
Kwaang—!
The ferociously scattering Shadow power crushed and shattered the altar floor everywhere.
Yet Glen forced his way through that flawless barrage, swinging his sword at the god with unwavering eyes.
Shweeeeeek—
Along the arc left by his blade, powerful spiritual power formed a semicircle and flew toward Kalungod.
It collided with a transparent barrier before the god and exploded.
“…Kgh!”
Kalungod’s face twisted violently.
“How dare you…!”
He did not bother asking how Glen could resist a god’s power.
Kalungod was openly enraged by the mere fact that a battle between himself and a mortal was even possible.
Perhaps because of that, his attacks were growing less precise.
Kalungod’s attacks—nothing more than the constant release of Shadow power—failed to pressure Glen at all.
Naturally so.
In the heavens, gods possessed absolute power, and on the ground, power that no one could block.
Why would such an existence ever bother learning combat techniques used by mortals?
But that overwhelming power was now binding his own ankles.
‘In a fight where overwhelming power doesn’t work, technique is needed.’
And in technique, Glen surpassed Kalungod by an overwhelming margin.
In other words, in this battle between a lower god and a human, the one holding the initiative was not the god Kalungod—but the human, Glen.
‘Is something like this really possible?’
Fighting a god was already absurd, yet he was even leading the battle.
In Ridenhall’s world, the human named Glen had already stepped beyond all standards.
A battle between god and human.
In a fight so absurd it should never have existed, Glen astonishingly maintained control.
‘A god who descended to the mortal world is just a ridiculously strong enemy.’
Moreover, Glen was mobilizing all of his power.
By combining the Gray Rings, Ridenhall’s enchantment magic, and various innate abilities, he reinforced himself and gained the upper hand in technique.
With Einheria, now a myth-grade artifact through the Favor of the Blade, he blocked the god’s otherwise unstoppable attacks.
Not only that—he was also using Einheria’s third ability, awakened during the battle with Banproxy.
‘Together with the soul-bound sword.’
It was an ability that allowed Einheria’s wielder to use spiritual power in a limited way.
What had once been usable only for the long-range skill Wailing Soul Wave was now power Glen could freely choose to use.
Of course, spiritual power had clear strengths and weaknesses, shining only in limited situations compared to holy power or demonic power.
‘And that limited situation happens to be right now.’
Spiritual power becomes far more effective when facing spiritual beings.
And according to the original story, gods—whether they used spiritual power or not—were treated by the system as spiritual entities.
In other words, gods took additional damage from attacks infused with spiritual power.
Pakaang—!
Einheria, wrapped in spiritual power, struck Kalungod’s barrier.
Crack—!
“?!”
A massive crack spread across the god’s barrier, and Kalungod’s pupils shook.
“Impudent…! Begone!”
Dark crimson light burst from his eyes.
Shadow power exploded outward, blasting the approaching Glen far away.
Thud—
Landing lightly, Glen calmly caught his breath and considered his next move.
‘The flow itself isn’t bad, but…’
The situation was not good.
Time was the problem.
Less than five minutes remained on the Gray Ring’s duration.
‘Just being slightly ahead isn’t enough.’
He had to push harder.
He had to decide everything within those five minutes.
But—
Pajijijik— Kwaaang!
When he blocked the surging Shadow power with Einheria, a powerful explosion erupted.
The force was clearly stronger than before.
“Kgh…”
Blood flowed from a wound on his shoulder, running down his arm and soaking the back of his hand.
‘He’s getting stronger.’
As if reclaiming his original power, Kalungod’s Shadow was rapidly growing stronger.
In a few minutes, even blocking with spiritually infused Einheria would result in fatal damage.
Glen wanted to understand what was happening to Kalungod, but this situation differed from the original story, so he couldn’t guess.
All he knew was that the enemy was growing stronger in real time.
‘What do I do…’
Glen let out a bitter smile.
He still had cards left, but whether they could finish Kalungod was uncertain.
‘I need something more.’
Awakening sacred-demonic power again would be ideal, but there was no leeway in this intense fight.
And there was no guarantee it would activate at will.
Kwagagagak—!
Dodging the relentless Shadow attacks, Glen accelerated his thoughts.
Meanwhile, the black Shadow power wrapped Kalungod more tightly than before.
‘I have to finish it in one strike.’
A way to pierce through the spreading Shadow and the god’s barrier to impale Kalungod’s body.
“……”
At last, one skill came to mind.
At the same time, an uncertain plan flashed through his head, and Glen twisted his lips.
‘Do I have no choice?’
Failure meant death, but since Kalungod was already stronger than in the original story, dragging things out was pointless.
Trying to find a safe path could only invite disaster later.
Frontal breakthrough.
With the resolve to pour out every card he had in a single moment, Glen’s eyes hardened.
Paaang—!
Leaving cracks in the ground, Glen shot forward and closed the distance to Kalungod in an instant.
“Foolish creature…!”
