230
It’s Mad.
The Game Difficulty Is Insane
Kugugugugugu—!
Starting from a distant place, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble.
“Brother, this vibration…”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Glenn and Luceria turned around and looked at the fortress at the edge of their vision.
Angrelcher Fortress, made up of several towers, began to tilt to one side as clouds of dust rose into the air.
The ground had been blown apart together with the underground laboratory, causing the entire Angrelcher Fortress belonging to the Second Legion to collapse.
“……”
Luceria watched the scene with a complicated expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just… I’m afraid there may be more than a few demons caught in the collapse.”
As she said that, Luceria quietly knelt down and clasped her hands together.
“You’re kind-hearted.”
“……It’s not really that. This must all be part of the karma they accumulated. But… I only hope that, at least when they receive God’s guidance, they repent for the wrongs they committed.”
“That way, at the very least, the souls of those who died by their hands might find some comfort.”
Luceria quietly closed her eyes.
Her snow-white eyelashes, just like her hair, gently lowered.
It was a prayer not for the dead, but for the souls of those whom the dead had killed.
In the past, she would have grieved over every death and tried to comfort the souls of all who had died.
But Luceria had changed.
She had learned how precious life was, and because of that, she also understood just how cruel those who harmed life could be.
She had also realized that the only salvation available to such people was repentance.
She had come to understand that through her own experiences and thoughts, rather than merely through the teachings of the Holy War.
The Saint who had looked into Hell did not fall into despair because of it.
Instead, she had become stronger.
Just as in the original story, where she eventually established her own sense of justice after making a contract with a demon, being excommunicated by the Church, and living as a fugitive while escaping the Inquisitors.
Watching the Saint's quiet back as she prayed, Glenn smiled faintly.
He was simply glad to see the spiritual awakening of Luceria, a protagonist loved by himself and countless players.
A protagonist of a story might have her role changed, but she would never become an entirely different person.
‘Speaking of which…’
Glenn raised his head and looked at the collapsing Angrelcher Fortress.
Separate from barely surviving the crisis, he now had a new concern.
It was the Demon King, Lupellos, who had risen one level beyond his original strength.
‘He definitely won't die just because I blew up some magic stones.’
Lupellos had now become the Avatar of Nox, the God who ruled over darkness and the moon.
Even if every guard unit around him were annihilated and the Angrelcher supply base were reduced to ruins, he would survive on his own.
There was currently no one in the Holy Empire capable of fighting him.
Which meant that fighting him again was a future Glenn could not avoid.
‘I’m going to need some time.’
Now that his opponent's strength had increased so dramatically, Glenn needed time to once again surpass his limits.
He needed to become more proficient at freely using the Holy-Demonic Power he had only just learned to control according to his will.
‘There’s nothing difficult about it. I just need to use the Holy-Demonic Power in as many battles as possible and gain experience.’
Recalling the sensation of erasing the demonic energy wrapped around Lupellos's fist with the remnants of Holy-Demonic Power that disappeared after a single use, Glenn began forming his next plan in his head.
Soon, Luceria finished praying and turned her gaze to one side.
“By the way, what should we do with those children?”
The five children left behind by Vanum, the God of Death and Destruction, who had been devoured by the Otherworldly Flower.
“……! Renne! Tethys! Are you okay?! What about Colin and Ellie?!”
When they realized they had Glenn and Luceria's attention, the oldest demon girl hurriedly wrapped her arms around the other children.
She looked up at Glenn and Luceria with wary eyes, though there was much less suspicion than when she had first met Glenn.
“Hmm…”
Glenn rubbed his chin and carefully examined each of the children.
Then he let out a baffled chuckle.
He had vaguely known this already, but the children held in the arms of the oldest demon girl were each from different races.
The boy who appeared to be the second oldest, after the demon girl of around ten years old, seemed to be a Spirit, judging by the energy of the spirits he possessed.
The children behind him, who stared at Glenn with frightened eyes, appeared to be a human, a spirit of the dead, and an elf.
‘What the hell is this lineup…?’
As expected of Kacerto Rienz.
Just as he was obsessed with his magical experiments, the materials he used were equally bizarre.
He had even bound Spirits and Wraiths, whose forms were difficult to define, with magically enchanted shackles.
Only someone with an extraordinary obsession could have even attempted such a thing.
On top of that, he had somehow obtained an elf, a race so rare in the eastern part of the continent that even most demons did not know they existed.
Fortunately, the children seemed quite close to one another.
That was probably because they had spent quite a long time isolated together by Vanum.
I entrust the young lives to you.
The voice Glenn had heard as he left the laboratory was undoubtedly Vanum's final words.
At the critical moment, he had stopped Lupellos and greatly helped Glenn escape.
‘I should repay him. I was already thinking that the moment I saw these kids.’
Glenn gave a faint smile and opened his Lunatic Inventory.
He took out the dessert he had previously stored inside, where time had been frozen, and slowly approached the children.
The anxious demon girl glanced several times between Glenn and the pure white cake topped with strawberries.
Then she accepted it and shared it with the other children.
The children sat in a circle, chewing noisily on the cake.
“……! Big sis. This is tasty.”
“Yeah. Eat more, Colin.”
“Aina, big sis. You should eat too.”
“I’ll eat. You eat first.”
“……”
Several children stopped eating and offered their cake to the demon girl.
“Big sis, you too…”
“I said it’s fine. Eat.”
“If big sis doesn’t eat, I won’t eat either.”
The way they offered the single cake to one another was either admirable or simply adorable.
Luceria watched them with an expression that showed she found the scene both heartbreaking and lovable, as though she did not know how to react.
“Ah, sorry. There wasn't enough.”
Glenn soon opened his Inventory and took out fruits and other food the children could eat.
He handed them to the demon girl.
“That’s all the dessert I have. Sorry. I’ll bring you more later, so eat this for now.”
“But… we have nothing to give you.”
“Hmm?”
The demon girl quietly looked up at Glenn.
Then she lowered her head and bit her lower lip.
“Thank you so, so much for getting us out of there… and for giving us food. But… we don't have anything…”
A hand was placed on top of her head.
“Well, it’s sweet that you feel that way, but you don't have to give me anything. Just eat comfortably. I don't want anything from you.”
“Why…?”
“It’s just because some old man asked me to do it. I owe him a debt, too.”
Glenn smiled gently.
The demon girl's eyes widened.
Then she lowered her head and accepted the food piled into Glenn's arms.
“Thank you… Thank you.”
The girl repeatedly bowed her head in a trembling voice.
For a child barely ten years old, she was far too mature.
Luceria had already turned her head away and was silently sobbing.
“Wow… There’s so much food!”
“Can we really eat all of it, big sis?”
“Yes. Eat everything, and make sure you thank that big brother over there afterward. Okay?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Seeing the children thank him together, Glenn waved his hand.
“Why are you crying over something like this?”
“Sob… Sniff… Hic…”
Luceria wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and turned her head.
“It’s just… I’m relieved.”
“……I suppose so. Normally, they would have been subjected to human experimentation.”
“So… what are you planning to do with those children now? They… seem to be from different races.”
“For now, I plan to take them to Linz Village. Since that place doesn't discriminate based on race, they'll be fine there.”
Luceria repeatedly nodded as if she understood.
A place that welcomed anyone who came to the village would be able to take care of the children for the time being.
“It’s getting dark, so we should hurry.”
“There’s no need.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Luceria tilted her head.
“We’ll get there in one go.”
Glenn smiled and opened the Lunatic Map Chart, which Luceria could not see.
He checked the territories he had conquered.
《Main Province, Reigl》
《Conquest Points: 100》
Now that the battle was over, he intended to return in a single move.
‘Now that I know the enemy's strength, I need to save as much time as possible.’
