The Game Difficulty
Is Insane
To the west from Ovenu Castle.
The Demon King Army’s 5th Legion, stationed near the border, was in chaos after losing their legion commander.
“What should we do now!”
Kasim Brion’s subordinate and the 5th Legion’s vice-commander, Gieren Terhauzen, held his head and ground his teeth.
But the large table in the middle of the command tent was chillingly empty of any commander.
Most had died in battle.
“Ugh… I knew I would mess up someday!”
Gieren Terhauzen was a commander in the 3rd Legion, famous for having many high-ranking demons and being noble.
He had transferred to the somewhat unruly 5th Legion, thinking he could fix their roughness with his sense of superiority.
But the 5th Legion and Kasim Brion were far more barbaric than he imagined.
And today, their recklessness fell squarely on him.
“Impossible, Commander! First, we should check the enemy’s strength…”
“Why waste time on that? Just charge and wipe them out, that’s all!”
“But these are the ones who defeated the 8th Legion with small numbers. There must be some trick…”
“Stop talking so much. Damn it. You just stay and guard the base.”
Even after Gieren warned him several times, Kasim Brion, like a mad dog, ran into the enemy lines and eventually died.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely wrong for Kasim Brion to act this way.
The beast-like Kasim always fought like that and always won.
Sometimes it might be better to rely on what always brought him victory rather than trying to make strategies or think too much.
But…
“How can I not mention it after the outcome turned out like this!”
Good or bad aside, Kasim Brion had died, and the 5th Legion was broken and could only retreat.
And to the Demon King Army, retreat meant an unerasable shame.
Once Gieren and the 5th Legion returned to demon society, they would be called losers and insulted for life.
“Ugh…!”
Rage naturally welled up.
Kwang—
He slammed his fist onto the empty table, but nothing changed.
Where did it all go wrong?
He replayed his mistakes over and over in his mind.
‘I should have stayed in the 3rd Legion.’
‘I should have stopped Kasim Brion somehow.’
‘I should have avoided meeting that man!’
Suddenly, the events from a few hours ago came to mind, and Gieren slowly felt fear.
Honestly, no one on the battlefield expected Kasim Brion to be overwhelmingly defeated.
Kasim Brion was the fifth strongest in the Demon King Army… no, among all demons, except for the Demon King himself.
Yet a human stood in front of him with a calm face. What on earth was that?
“Vice-commander, he wasn’t even a reported key target on the human side.”
If it had been the leader of the Holy Spear Knights or someone close to 9th rank, it might have been understandable.
But a mysterious man easily defeating 8th-rank demons? That was a being never reported before.
“By appearance, he seems to belong to the Wadsworth family…”
Henry Wadsworth, the head of the family and now deceased, was a 7th-rank paladin, similar to Gieren.
For a mere family member to reach 8th rank was impossible.
“…Even the boy who participated in the 8th Legion battle had a similar appearance.”
Gieren shook his head. That boy had been 6th rank.
“How could someone go from 6th to 8th rank in just over a month?”
The human who defeated Kasim Brion was literally an unknown. Like a sudden natural disaster from clear skies.
“….”
After a long, heavy silence in the command tent, Gieren spoke.
“I—I will retreat for now.”
“….”
The few surviving commanders silently agreed.
No point in fighting again, only to meet that human disaster again.
Life comes before pride.
At the same time that the 5th Legion considered a human a natural disaster, the Ovenu Castle was celebrating victory.
Inside the walls, knights, priests, and ordinary conscripts mingled, drinking, eating, dancing, and singing.
Whenever someone shouted Glen’s name, everyone responded in unison.
The sound echoed throughout the castle.
“Hasn’t he even returned yet, and he wants to go again!!”
Similarly, in the hall where the victory celebration was underway, Tris’s voice thundered.
Commanders’ eyes immediately focused on her in shock.
“Calm down, sister. First, hear me out…”
“No! I can’t let him go… Nooo…”
Drunk and emotional, Tris clung to Glen.
She looked almost about to cry, but it was less tender or pitiful than usual, somewhat pathetic instead.
“Hwaaah… don’t go…”
“She got a bit drunk while toasting the commanders…”
Tris’s maid, Luci, showed an awkward expression.
“…It’s quite bad behavior.”
Glen gave a bitter smile as he tried to soothe the crying Tris.
It had been a long time since he had spent tea time with her. He had to recall even before he left for Ovenu Castle for the first time.
“I would like her to stay for her sake…”
Luci looked up at Glen with a lighter expression than before, resigned.
“There’s no choice, right? Glen-sama is now officially recognized as a saint of the nation.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, sister, but it can’t be helped.”
Facing the Demon King Army would require more than ten bodies’ worth of effort.
“But today, she’ll at least stay overnight, so don’t be too upset. Tell her we’ll spend the morning together.”
“Yes. Once the lady’s drunkenness settles, I’ll tell her. Thank you.”
Luci smiled faintly and bowed to Glen. Her attitude toward him had completely changed.
“Phew.”
Glen shook off Tris and left the hall, heading to his private room, reflecting on the day.
‘Everything went quite well.’
The biggest gain was defeating Kasim Brion and the 5th Legion.
‘Honestly, it went much faster than planned.’
Originally, Kasim and the 5th Legion’s destruction was planned for two days after reaching Ovenu.
But the battle with Kasim came sooner than expected, and with the party’s help, Glen achieved victory and captured Kasim alive.
“Overall, it’s a gain… but…”
He felt uneasy that Tris almost got into danger.
Of course, that danger wasn’t Glen’s doing but Tris’s own decision.
He wanted her to block Kasim until he arrived.
