The Game Difficulty
Went Crazy
The Temple of Morus was hidden in a coastal rocky area called Salinus Cliff, which appeared half a day north from Chelsea, the base of Glenn and his party.
Salinus Cliff.
Even among the Eastern Coast, known for its rough waves, this place was notorious for accidents and incidents, and even though it officially belonged to the territory of Regini, it had not been developed.
"Because there’s no reason to."
Glenn shrugged his shoulders.
What could anyone gain from such a high, desolate rocky area where dark waves crash between the cliffs?
At most, one might think of using this gloomy, eerie terrain for tourism.
But in this world, where people were sensitive to curses and accidents, expecting such a cold and bold choice was impossible.
No wonder faith developed more than magic or science.
Anyway, this was not a place a human would come unless they wanted to be cursed by the black sea and salt rocks. That’s why Morus built the temple here.
"Because he’s afraid of humans."
If that’s the case, Glenn wondered, why even come down to the human world instead of staying in heaven?
Glenn recalled the original story and headed toward Morus’s temple.
Romina seemed unsure if there could even be a path in this place full of cliffs cracked in every direction.
But seeing Glenn move without hesitation, she soon relaxed her expression.
A couple of hours passed like that.
As Glenn wandered on top of the rocky cliffs, he suddenly stopped.
He pointed to a large, narrow pit carved between two cliffs.
"You’re not seriously saying it’s under there, right?"
"Exactly."
Romina sighed deeply.
"We can’t even see the bottom… I mean, if you listen to the waves below, isn’t there nothing there?"
"Normally, you would think that."
But this was a trick Morus set up to prevent humans from approaching.
Passing the party members who looked anxiously at the cliff below, Glenn stepped toward it.
"But this is the place."
With a calm voice, Glenn disappeared down the dizzying cliff.
Splash— Splash—
All that remained was the sound of the waves from below.
Silence fell. Penelope looked at Romina and Ridenhall with a flustered expression.
"…Isn’t that dangerous?"
However, the two weren’t flustered—they looked as if this was just another typical situation.
"He’s really a weirdo."
"Exactly. Let’s just follow him."
Romina, with her gaze cold and sharp, jumped down the cliff after Glenn, and Ridenhall followed immediately.
Left alone, Penelope stood frozen for a moment.
"I-I’ll go too!"
She hurriedly jumped down after them.
Passing through the hidden entrance in the cliff, the Corridor of Tuning and Harmony, the temple of Morus, appeared immediately.
The floor and ceiling were made of salt-heavy rocks, and in the small cracks, seawater flowed.
Despite being hidden gloomily in the cliff, it was a proper temple of a god, tidy and grand.
If one could describe the Corridor of Tuning and Harmony in a word, it would feel like the architecture was built from the materials of Salinus Cliff itself.
Of course, that impression had already occurred when entering the temple’s entrance.
Thirty minutes after entering Morus’s temple, this was no longer important to Glenn’s party.
The important thing was that to meet Morus, the master of the temple, they had to clear the two separate sections.
They had to remove all obstacles blocking their path.
Boom— Crash!
Explosions erupted from all sides, shaking the whole space.
It meant that the number of enemies was large.
"Grrrr—"
"Shaaak!"
From the long corridor, monsters poured endlessly.
Originally, they resembled the Sea People, called demons of the sea, but all had abnormal body proportions.
Some swung oversized arms, charging, and some revealed even larger teeth than usual, attacking intruders.
They were the five-star monsters guarding the first area, the Ruins of Tuning.
They were bizarre in form, too strange to be considered the guardians of Morus, god of Tuning and Harmony.
The problem was that hundreds of these were pushing from the opposite side.
It was quite visually unpleasant.
It felt as if the concept of disgust itself was running toward them in physical form.
"Worse than the dead."
The dead were just human corpses, which one could adapt to while fighting.
But these were twisted sea people with barnacle-like shellfish and other marine life attached, making their appearance doubly unsettling.
In the original story, they slowly drained a player’s sanity, and seeing them in reality made this fully understandable.
"Go… get lost!"
Romina, feeling the same as Glenn, released sharp-range magic in all directions.
Goooo—
The sharp magic she spread became blades, cutting forward and tearing the approaching monsters apart.
Chaa-chaa-chaa!
Blood and flesh scattered, a slaughter too horrible to watch openly.
"Kweee!"
"Kyaaa!"
Penelope, with a weak stomach, turned her head and covered her mouth with a handkerchief, gagging.
"Grrkk! Kyaaa!"
Some monsters survived Romina’s magic and came forward like a zombie horde.
But Glenn’s party wasn’t struggling at all.
Kaang—!
Those charging through the magic were blocked by a large shield.
The shield belonged to a Skeleton Knight summoned by Ridenhall.
"Kyaa! Kyaaa!"
The monsters screamed but only struck the shield in vain.
Their stats were good for fodder monsters, like mid-level commanders of a knight order, but intelligence was low.
Even with enchantment magic, Ridenhall’s Skeleton Knights would be impossible to break through.
Goooo—
Meanwhile, Romina, ready again, unleashed another area-of-effect spell.
Ridenhall, seizing the opportunity, shot a white glow from his eyes.
The Skeleton Knights raised their swords, removing all monsters that survived Romina’s magic.
Front and back lines, offense and defense—the battle balance between Romina and Ridenhall was perfect at a glance.
"Truly… serving the master, they are excellent."
Penelope, standing behind Glenn, watching the overall battle flow, said with a nauseous breath.
"If… master gives me a chance now, I believe I won’t disappoint."
Penelope wanted to show herself in front of Glenn, aware of the trial placed before her.
But it wasn’t yet her time.
"Soon, the moment I need you will come. Wait."
"Yes… yes…"
As this temple of Morus appeared in the later scenario, the monsters were very strong.
Thus, it was necessary for Romina and Ridenhall to handle the section Glenn didn’t need to intervene in.
Although progress was fast, they were still only clearing the first section, the Ruins of Tuning.
"Though, they’re performing better than expected."
If they had struggled, Glenn would have helped, but they were performing spectacularly.
Penelope wasn’t just flattering them when praising.
"No… with this skill, the two of them could fight almost any eight-star monster."
A spark of interest appeared in Glenn’s gray eyes.
Perhaps it was because they were given artifacts from the battle against the Dark Church.
Or because they had steadily trained their powers without Glenn.
