The game difficulty
has gone crazy.
His consciousness returned.
Glen opened his eyes to the faint rustling sounds he could barely hear and the gentle, pleasant scent drifting through the air.
His vision was still blurry.
He did not know how long he had been unconscious, but judging from the rough yet familiar tent ceiling, it seemed he had not returned to Istirenne Castle yet.
Little by little, his hazy sight became clear. He turned his gaze to check his surroundings.
The first thing he saw was the owner of the soft scent that had been tickling his nose.
“…….”
Beside Glen, Romina was sleeping soundly, letting out quiet breaths.
From the way she had buried her head near his pillow, it seemed she had stayed by his side the entire time since he was moved into the tent.
‘She’s going to scold me like crazy when she wakes up, right?’
It felt rude to think that about someone who had been worried and nursing him, but if it was Romina, she definitely would.
“Whew…….”
What surprised him slightly was that his physical condition was not as bad as he expected.
He had not tried getting up yet, but he could clearly feel it.
Honestly, considering he had used high-recoil skills consecutively and then pushed his body to the limit afterward, he felt far too refreshed.
‘……Looks like this is the Guardian Spirit’s Blessing… Yeah. It is.’
With a light wish, Glen opened his status window and nodded.
Guardian Spirit’s Blessing.
A skill that grants abnormal natural recovery to any human belonging to a family protected by a guardian spirit, no matter where they are.
From the looks of it, while Glen was gone, Tris must have succeeded—after much effort—in welcoming the Banshee Queen, Septerien, as the guardian spirit of the Wordsworth family.
The timing was perfect in many ways.
‘Normally, after pulling that kind of stunt, I should’ve woken up in excruciating pain… But how long did I sleep?’
Careful not to wake Romina, Glen slowly raised his upper body.
“Hm?”
At that moment, Ridenhall, who had been sitting on a rocking chair in one corner of the tent, reacted to the rustling sound.
“Brother…!”
“Shh.”
Glen pointed at Romina with a playful look. Ridenhall dropped his head deeply and muttered,
“You seem to be in good health.”
Then he lifted his head again and spoke in the saint’s gentle, pleasant voice.
“That is truly a relief.”
The pure white bones somehow overlapped with the expression he must have had when he was alive.
Glen carefully got off the bed and walked over to Ridenhall.
“Please, sit.”
“No, stay seated. More importantly, how long was I asleep?”
“It is the same day.”
In other words, the expedition’s attack on the Black Cult had begun at noon the previous day, and the fighting had lasted three to four hours.
“Then it’s dawn now?”
“Yes.”
No wonder it felt dark.
“Sister Luceria asked that you call for her as soon as you wake up.”
A familiar line.
Still, there was no need to wake someone who was probably sleeping at this hour.
“No, it’s fine. I have some things to think about.”
“I understand. Still, just in case, it might be best for you to lie down a little longer—”
“I feel stuffy. I’ll go get some air.”
Glen lightly stretched his body and stepped out of the tent.
Crackle, crackle—
Only the sound of the braziers burning on both sides of the tent filled the silence.
Enjoying the cool winter air that felt strangely mild, Glen wandered through the camp while avoiding the sentries.
Crunch, crunch—
Out of the camp and onto the mountain path.
Chirp, chirp—
The cries of night insects, usually unnoticeable, sounded unusually clear tonight.
Perhaps it was the peace that came from setting down the great burden called the Black Cult.
It truly was a great burden.
After all, they had achieved the tremendous feat of eliminating the Black Cult—the main mid-scenario villain—and the lesser god, Kalungod, far earlier than intended.
Of course, not every Black Cult diocese on the continent had been wiped out yet.
Even though the cult’s headquarters had been destroyed, hundreds of dioceses and remnants still remained.
‘Cleaning them up is just a matter of time.’
With their main god, Kalungod, gone—
The cultists would lose all the fake demonic power granted by their god and return to being ordinary humans.
‘Naturally. The source of their power was erased.’
Of course, regardless of power, there would still be those who continued their activities to justify their fanatic beliefs.
But as time passed, they would slowly fracture, collapse, and be suppressed, until the Black Cult faded into the far side of history.
‘So there’s nothing to worry about there anymore.’
The real problem was what came next.
With this incident, Glen had twisted the original scenario in two major ways.
First, by protecting the Wordsworth territory, which was supposed to be destroyed by a demonic assault.
Second, by eliminating the Black Cult—who were meant to cause countless problems in the mid-scenario—right at the very beginning.
Now that the predetermined future was gone, what would happen next was uncertain.
‘And there’s also the Lunatic variable.’
That said, not every known future had been erased.
There was still a certain future that would arrive as a direct result of Kalungod’s disappearance.
Divine Intervention.
A late-scenario event triggered by the unprecedented incident of a god being slain by a player.
‘At the very least, that event will definitely happen.’
It begins with the gods of the heavens arguing over the godslaying incident, eventually revising heavenly law and entering into war.
After that, countless gods and their apostles descend upon the mortal world indiscriminately.
As a result, the continent’s ecosystem—once ruled by the strongest of the nine rings—collapses all at once, plunging the world into unprecedented chaos.
“Though in the end, it all turns into Nox versus Minis anyway….”
At the start of the event, dozens of gods go mad, fighting individual battles to assert their claims.
It becomes complete chaos, but the major flow—humans and demons dividing the continent and going to war—does not change.
That continues until Mors, one of the weakest lesser gods, plays both sides, absorbs Minis and Nox, and becomes the final boss.
Of course, that flow only applies if the story proceeds exactly like the original scenario.
Many events that should happen before Divine Intervention had not occurred yet, so assuming the story would follow the original path was dangerous.
‘Still, having things move in a similar direction is better for me.’
It made preparation easier.
In the end, whether gods descended or wars continued, what Glen had to do remained the same.
Become stronger than he was now, and move even a step faster to secure artifacts and fortunate encounters.
‘Thankfully, I have plenty of time to prepare.’
Before the gods finished adjusting heavenly law and descended to the mortal realm, Glen would be ready.
“Come and see.”
As if mocking the gods themselves—
Glen lifted the corner of his lips as he gazed up at the star-filled sky.
Inside his cunning mind were already his next plan, and the plan after that.
“…Brother?”
A familiar voice suddenly called out.
“Saintess?”
Luceria, whom he had assumed would be asleep, was standing directly ahead on the mountain path Glen was walking.
“Y-you’re awake?!”
“Yes, well….”
“Oh… gods above.”
Luceria let out a deep sigh of relief.
‘She was clearly worried until just now.’
Even though she had every reason to rejoice at the destruction of the Black Cult and their god, Kalungod, she had been more concerned about Glen losing consciousness.
That was very much like Luceria.
“Are you feeling all right? No, I mean… is it really okay for you to be up already…?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Completely.”
She looked unconvinced.
