The game difficulty
has gone crazy
The temperature slowly dropped.
After bickering with Lucearia for a few minutes, Glen returned to the camp before it got any colder.
“Waaaaaah!”
Even though it was dawn, it was quite loud.
The roar was loud enough to wake up even the reserve troops sleeping in their tents, but no one complained.
That was because the Red Cross Knights, who had gone out until late at night to hunt down the remaining Black Cult members, had returned with news of victory.
Of course, to Glen, it was just unnecessary noise, so he quietly headed back to his own tent.
“Oh my~ who might this be?”
Trying to avoid a fox, he ended up running into a tiger.
A terrifying tiger—one wearing a maid outfit and also a candidate for the next Demon King.
“I'm really glad you're safe. You suddenly disappeared, so I was worried, you know?”
The honorifics she normally never used sent a chill down his spine today.
“Uh… I felt a bit stiff… but you were sleeping so peacefully, so……”
“…….”
She was only smiling with her eyes, yet it felt frightening. Why was that?
But most fear ultimately comes from a strong desire to survive.
‘Yeah, just give up on living. No matter what, Romina going crazy is unavoidable anyway…….’
Glen quickly let go of his attachment to life and looked straight ahead with calm eyes.
And the last memory of that dawn was Romina baring her teeth and pouncing on him.
The next day.
Only after promising Romina that he would never recklessly throw his life away again was Glen able to leave his personal tent and stand before the expedition force.
“By the lips of Saintess Lucearia, authenticated by the main god Minise! Glen Wordsworth is truly the third Saint sent to this land by God!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“Saint! The Saint has arrived!”
With Cardinal Gracia’s declaration, the expedition force shouted Glen’s name and cheered loudly.
Standing on the platform, Glen responded to the cheers with a public-facing smile.
Several times at Avenu Fortress.
And once more here today.
It still didn’t feel real that someone once thought to be abandoned by his family was now receiving such passionate cheers from so many people.
His stomach churned slightly, and it felt embarrassing, but none of it was unpleasant.
After all, no one prefers being hated and scorned over being welcomed.
From the Yuratio Mountains, where the Black Cult’s headquarters had been, to Istirenne—it was a four-day journey.
Unlike on the way there, there was no need to force a rapid march, but Cardinal Gracia insisted that whether advancing or retreating, the shorter the travel time, the better, and urged them on.
In the end, they decided to dismantle the tents and move within an hour.
‘Works for me.’
It wasn’t urgently critical, but with Heavenly Intervention approaching, saving time was always good.
And besides, there wasn’t really any scenery worth enjoying on the way back, so who would complain about going home sooner?
“They’ll take care of my tent.”
Since there was some spare time before withdrawal, Glen decided to handle what he needed to do.
《Fall of Fanaticism》
《Quest Rank》 : A → S
《Objective》
: Find and attack the hidden headquarters of the Black Cult somewhere on the continent and defeat the cult leader, Porvinus.
《Progress》
: Discovered the Black Cult archive.
: Identified the location of the Black Cult headquarters.
: Gathered sufficient forces and advanced toward the Yuratio Mountains where the headquarters was located.
: Confirmed the summoning of the demon Opeile at the headquarters. (Rank increased)
: Defeated the demon Opeile with the expedition force and found the cult leader Porvinus.
: Revealed the true identity of cult leader Porvinus and annihilated the lesser god Kalungod.
《Rewards》
: Lunatic Clear Reward (Non-adjustable)
: Stat Experience Increase (S)
: Affinity with expedition participants
: Affinity with god Minise
: Affinity with god Mirmias
《Reward Adjustment Points》 : 10/10 Pt
With a clear notification sound, the Lunatic Quest chart appeared in his vision.
Clearing a quest that became S-rank midway with full adjustment points gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.
What was strange was that even though Glen didn’t personally defeat the 9-star demon Opeile, he still received a perfect score.
‘Is it because I gathered everything?’
‘It doesn’t matter whether Cardinal Gracia, Commander Ignat, or Lucearia defeated Opeile.’
‘What matters is Glen’s influence that put them in that position.’
It seemed the evaluation worked along those lines.
And since they were giving bonus points anyway, Glen didn’t bother questioning it further.
He would just take it.
‘So what are the adjustment rewards?’
《Reward Adjustment》
《1 Pt》 : Dark Matter (10)
《3 Pt》 : Orb of Fanaticism
《6 Pt》 : Transcender’s Robe
《S Pt》 : Increase All Skill Proficiency
: You can spend points to obtain additional rewards. If you obtained the maximum quest points, you could gain an additional S-point.
“Are you serious……?”
His ash-gray eyes widened.
It was a bit disappointing that there was no stat experience reward or sharing it with allies, but the reward lineup was so amazing it completely made up for it.
Most of all, being able to obtain all adjustment rewards by getting full points was huge.
‘First, Dark Matter.’
A familiar reward.
Ten powerful explosives that deal heavy damage while ignoring defenses, often used by the Black Cult.
Compared to Glen’s current combat power, it might seem a bit weak, but Dark Matter’s greatest merit was that anyone—not just Glen—could use it.
In other words, its versatility was extremely high.
‘Honestly, this could be a main reward even in early-game quests.’
The fact that it cost only 1 point felt almost overwhelming.
Then there was no need to even mention the Orb of Fanaticism and the Transcender’s Robe, which cost more points.
‘These are for Riedenhol and Romina.’
They seemed like the system’s consideration for Glen’s party members, who played decisive roles in clearing the quest.
Each item was extremely useful to its recipient.
The Orb of Fanaticism was a material used to strengthen the skeleton knights summoned by Riedenhol.
And the Transcender’s Robe—expected to be a drop from the lesser god Kalungod—was helpful to magic-type characters, just like Robes’s Necklace.
The only concern was whether Romina, who hated the Black Cult with a passion, would actually wear this dark crimson robe.
In the end, what Glen directly gained was the S-point reward: increase all skill proficiency.
‘Perfect.’
It might look plain compared to the others, but the important thing was that all skills increased in proficiency.
That included the Gray Ring—his lifeline—and even King’s Wrath, whose maximum proficiency was 3.
The Gray Ring, which had already increased in proficiency during this incident, rose once more to 6/12.
“Already halfway.”
Now, each use of the Gray Ring could be maintained for 10 minutes, and the penalty time was reduced from 12 hours to 6 hours.
When combined with the Primordial Mirror received from Mirmias, Glen could achieve a total of 20 minutes of combat duration.
The one weakness—short battle endurance—was gradually disappearing.
‘And King’s Wrath.’
Current proficiency: 2/3.
One swing kills ten knights.
Two swings kill a hundred.
Three swings slaughter a thousand.
The royal sword technique of the fallen king, which had lost its name, had reached the second stage.
‘Probably an ultimate skill upgrade.’
Since it was the most destructive skill Glen possessed, both its power and backlash would likely increase.
‘Looking forward to it. In the original story, it sliced entire small buildings apart.’
Overall, it was a deeply satisfying reward adjustment session.
‘Is this the reward for god-slaying?’
There had been a lot of luck involved, but in the end, he had killed a god.
Still, even these incredible rewards were merely the appetizer and salad.
《You have overcome a Lunatic element.》
《Special reward will be granted.》
“……Heh.”
To a soldier dismantling tents nearby, Glen probably looked like a pervert exhaling sharply while staring into empty space.
But if they knew how big Lunatic rewards were, they would surely understand.
《All stats increase by 2.》
《Lunatic Special Reward》
§ Lunatic Map Chart
§ Elaine’s Staff
§ Favor of the Wild
《Select one to immediately receive the reward included in that option.》
“O… Oh?!”
Starlight flickered in his ash-gray eyes.
