Chapter 222

222

The Game Difficulty Is Insane

Chapter 36

Glenn sat at the desk in the inn room, organizing the information he had gathered about the surrounding area.

Scratch, scratch—

Three days had passed since Glenn and Luceria began staying in the small mountain village of Linz.

The fatigue they had accumulated from their long journey from Raigle Territory to the Luvini region of the Land of Demons had finally recovered.

Of course, thanks to the Guardian Spirit's blessing, which increased the regeneration speed of vitality and holy power, Glenn himself had never really felt tired.

Luceria, on the other hand, had pushed herself too hard.

Glenn turned his gaze toward the window.

Luceria had been in a condition where it would not have been strange for her to collapse after traveling around various battlefields and repeatedly using resurrection miracles.

Even in that condition, she had forced herself to march alongside Glenn for ten days without showing the slightest sign of hardship.

She needs time to recover.

Fortunately, Linz Village had become a good resting place for her, who had been anxious about being in enemy territory and not knowing when they might be attacked.

“Ahahaha!”

“Sister! Look at this too!”

At first, Luceria had been nervous.

But after receiving such warm and generous treatment from the villagers, she gradually opened her heart and adapted to the village.

Right now, Luceria was playing with the demon children at the entrance of the village.

She also seemed to have recovered quite a bit from the fatigue caused by the ten-day forced march.

“Let me see. Wow, it's pretty.”

Surrounded by five or six demon children, Luceria looked at the flowers they had picked while wearing a gentle smile.

Seeing her like this, one could only say that the saintess's natural ability to get along with people was truly something else.

Using the children's laughter coming from outside the window as music, Glenn moved his quill across a clean sheet of paper.

A smile spread across his lips.

“This really is a wonderful place. I never imagined there could be somewhere like this in the Land of Demons.”

Luceria said this while enjoying tea time with Glenn on the terrace in front of the inn.

“I think so too. Of course, this village is particularly unusual.”

“Even so, I'm really surprised. This is the first time I've seen demons who are so accepting of humans.”

Luceria lowered her eyes.

Various flowers brought by the demon children had been placed here and there in her pure white hair.

“We were always taught that demons were the enemies of humanity and that they had to be defeated. But after seeing those children, can we really think that way?”

“When I look at those children, I start wondering why God wants us to punish them… Maybe there is a way for us to live together without fighting…”

Then Luceria suddenly noticed Glenn staring intently at her.

She seemed to remember why the two of them had come here.

“Ah… I'm sorry, Brother! Saying something like this in front of someone whose mission is to destroy the enemies of the church is a little inappropriate, isn't it…?”

“It's fine. In fact, if I may give you my opinion, I'm glad to hear that. Because I wish for the same thing.”

“…What?”

Luceria's eyes widened at Glenn's calm answer.

“But, Brother. We…”

“Yes. We came here to assassinate the commander of the 2nd Legion, the leader of the Demon King's Army. But have you ever thought about something like this, Saintess?”

“What kind of thought…?”

Glenn's gray eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on Luceria.

“Maybe demons aren't actually that different from humans, except that they worship different gods. If that's the case, is it really necessary for the two races to be divided and fight each other like this?”

“……”

How could such words come from the mouth of a saint who had received the favor of God and been given the mission of destroying the enemies of the church?

Every question Glenn raised was something that could easily be branded as heresy.

Because of that, Luceria could not bring herself to respond.

“Isn't that right? Even among humans, there are people as wicked as the Black Church. At the same time, there are good people among demons. If that's the case, do we really need to divide good and evil based on race?”

“…Then, Brother, are you saying that you want demons and humans to coexist?”

“Yes. That's right. My greatest goal is to eliminate beings with evil influence while allowing only those with good influence to remain.”

“……”

Glenn answered Luceria's difficult question with a calm expression.

His composed attitude only made Luceria even more confused.

“Brother, just what are you…”

The saint who had claimed that his goal was to destroy the enemies of the church had now revealed his true purpose.

And that purpose was quite far removed from the will of the church.

Of course, Glenn's goal was something Luceria herself deeply wished for.

But the moment she realized that the starting point of his thoughts was not God, everything became confusing.

If one day Glenn tried to make a choice that went against God's will, but that choice was something Luceria believed was right…

What would she do then?

Should she obey God's will as the saintess of the church?

Or should she follow Glenn and pursue what she believed was right?

“……”

Luceria tightly pressed her lips together.

If this were the old Luceria, she would have tried to stop Glenn and told him that he must never leave the shadow of God.

After all, all she had done throughout her entire life was faithfully follow God's words and pray to Him.

But in only three days, she had learned far too many things.

And then—

Glenn placed his hand on Luceria's shoulder as she struggled to decide what to do.

“…Brother?”

“I think I have a rough idea of what you're worrying about… But let's leave the conclusion for later. We still have plenty of time. And…”

Luceria looked up at Glenn.

He was smiling gently.

“If you continue traveling with me, Saintess, you'll soon find your own answer.”

“Ah…”

As she looked into those gentle yet firm eyes, Luceria felt the confusion in her heart slowly disappear.

Her trembling violet pupils gradually regained their calm, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Yes. Thank you sincerely, Brother.”

Luceria thought to herself.

This is the person who will save me when I eventually fall into that dilemma.

That's why, for now, I'll use all my strength to help him.

“Now, if you've rested enough, let's get moving. We're going somewhere a little far and dangerous, so you'd better prepare yourself.”

“Yes!”

Luceria's faith had begun to waver.

For her, it was a sign of confusion.

But for Glenn, it was a good development.

Glenn's ultimate goal was for humans and demons to stop fighting and coexist.

To achieve that, both humans and demons needed to be freed from their faith.

The biggest reason humans and demons fight is because their gods, Nox and Minis, are opposed to each other.

Glenn could erase the existence of the gods from both races.

But he could not prevent the misfortune that would follow.

If people lost what they had believed in, both humans and demons would fall into great confusion.

And if they were unlucky, that confusion could lead to another conflict.

However, Glenn knew very well how ugly the gods of Symphosione truly were.

They were beings that had to be defeated.

That was why Glenn wanted to create new leaders who could calm the confusion within each faction.

And on the human side, that leader was Luceria.

Luceria was someone who sincerely wished for the safety of the people of the Holy Kingdom.

Because she was kinder than anyone else, Glenn believed that if he simply gave her a few capable advisers, she would be able to lead the confused masses well.

That was why Glenn intended to slowly distance Luceria, who was closest to Minis, from the gods.

Of course, even the current Luceria would completely support anything Glenn said.

But there would be a huge difference between supporting him because of faith and supporting him without relying on faith.

Eventually, Luceria has to see me opposing Minis, who is her god.

She had been an ordinary commoner from a rural area without even a title.

The only reason she became a saintess was because of her unwavering faith in Minis.

That was why Glenn needed to bring about another change in her here in the Land of Demons.

Fortunately, seeing how well she had been getting along with the demons of Linz Village over the past three days, things seemed to be progressing smoothly.

That side should go well.

Then I only need to worry about this side.

After finishing his thoughts, Glenn raised his head and looked down from the cliff.

After traveling for about half a day from Linz Village, they had arrived at a place where a huge city could be seen below the cliff.

A massive castle towered over the center of that city.

“Brother… Is that…?”

“Yes. That's right.”

Angrelcher Castle.

It was the headquarters of the 2nd Legion of the Demon King's Army and the largest military supply base in the entire Demon King's Army.

Whether we free everyone from faith or not, if I fail here after making all those plans, everything will be for nothing.

There were two objectives.

The head of Katzertho Rienz.

And the research materials he had accumulated over hundreds of years.

“Will we be okay?”

Behind the robe she had pulled tightly over herself, Luceria's violet eyes trembled slightly.

This was her first time infiltrating enemy territory, especially the 2nd Legion of the Demon King's Army.

Her nervousness was obvious.

Of course, this was also Glenn's first time infiltrating enemy territory.

But he still gave Luceria a relaxed smile.

“Yes. There's nothing to worry about.”

During the three days Luceria had spent resting her body, mind, and holy power in Linz Village, Glenn had traveled between the village and Angrelcher Castle every day to prepare for the infiltration.

He had thoroughly gathered information by moving around Angrelcher Castle and the surrounding cities.

He compared the information he collected with the information about the original story stored in his mind and created his operation based on that data.

Unless something extremely unusual happened, the infiltration plan should succeed.

Once we successfully infiltrate, killing Katzertho won't be difficult.

Katzertho Rienz was an eight-star mage.

Despite being a demon who had lived for hundreds of years, he had little interest in anything other than his magical achievements.

Of course, if he properly prepared for battle, he would be twice as troublesome as when Glenn fought Rowen.

But there's a reason it's called an assassination.

Even in the original story, the standard method of defeating Katzertho Rienz was to form an expedition team and launch a surprise attack.

That meant Katzertho was easy to deal with when he was not prepared for battle.

There was also the possibility that Katzertho would receive the Lunatic buff.

But Luceria, who possessed the Resurrection Miracle, was already waiting behind him.

Unless they fell into an extremely large trap, there was little chance Glenn would die.

“Then let's go.”

“Yes, Brother.”

With the planned route in his mind, Glenn quietly took the lead.

Luceria soon pulled her robe tightly over her head and followed behind him.

The two of them descended the hill and silently moved through the forest toward the side of Angrelcher Castle.

The interior was mostly dark because no light could enter.

Only dozens of purple magic circles placed at intervals faintly illuminated the dark space.

“Kreeee!”

“Kyaaah!”

“GRAAAAAAH!”

Roars echoed from every direction.

But since this was an underground area where not even a single ray of sunlight could enter, the sounds only spread through the interior.

“Tsk… This one is useless too.”

A demon wearing a black robe stood in front of one of the purple magic circles and clicked his tongue.

A gloomy-looking demon standing behind him scribbled something on a sheet of paper.

“Dispose of it.”

“How should we handle it?”

“Just release it somewhere in human territory.”

“Hmm, I don't think that's possible.”

The robed demon frowned.

The demon who had been moving his quill across the paper finally raised his head and met his gaze.

“The problem is that it's difficult to maintain its form. If we release it like this, it'll melt before it even crosses the border.”

“Then just give it to that thing as nutrients. Is this your first time disposing of an experimental subject?”

“That thing? That thing… Ah, are you talking about Daddy?”

“Yes, you blockhead. What the hell are you thinking about for so long? Do I have to explain everything to you? Are you going to ask me to teach you how to chew your food too?”

“I'm sorry.”

“Anyway, dispose of that before I get back and bring the next batch of materials. Got it?”

“……”

“You're not answering?”

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

Seeing the blank expression of his assistant, the robed demon sighed and turned around.

“Looking at the way you keep arguing back… Ah, screw it. I'm leaving.”

“Have a good trip~.”

With the sound of footsteps, the robed demon left the area.

The assistant was left alone.

He lowered his head with a dull expression.

“Fucking hell!”

He began kicking buckets and other objects scattered across the floor without caring where they went.

“Last time, you told me to bury it! You damn bastard! Make up your freaking mind!”

Only after taking out his frustration on the innocent objects for quite some time did he pick up the creature lying on the magic circle and place it onto a cart.

“Ugh… It freaking stinks.”

Wrinkling his entire face, he pulled the cart into a room that was even darker than the place where he had been standing.

It was a large circular room.

The demon man pushed the cart carrying the experimental subject deep into the room.

Creeeeak—

“Hey, dinner time.”

The moment the large cart carrying the experimental subject rolled into the darkness—

Swoosh—

Mysterious purple tentacles, resembling vines or roots, suddenly appeared.

They grabbed the cart carrying the experimental subject and dragged it into the darkness.

Then they disappeared.

After that, not a single sound could be heard.