Chapter 237
The Game Difficulty Is Insane
“W-Why are you here…?”
Wena frowned as she watched Minis enter her personal temple.
“Hmm~ I was just passing by when I heard some screaming.”
“I wondered what was going on, so I decided to stop by and take a little look.”
“……”
It was a lie.
On the surface, Minis spoke as if she had been casually wandering around and had happened to come here by chance.
But there was no way that was true.
Wena had watched Minis for thousands of years.
Even the smallest movements she made were always part of some plan she was drawing.
‘There's a reason she pushed Runicus aside and took half the continent.’
Cold sweat ran down the back of Wena's neck.
Runicus, the God of Magic and Runes.
Wena clearly remembered the cruel and terrifying schemes of Minis, who had once pushed aside the higher-ranking god who had created a rune-magic civilization on the mortal world and seized half of the continent.
Of course, Wena knew that Minis had deliberately come here to meet her instead of arriving by chance.
And she knew the reason as well.
‘I was doing exactly that until a moment ago.’
‘There's no way this woman doesn't know.’
The God's Eye allowed a god of Symphosyon to synchronize their vision with mortal beings who had faith in them.
Therefore, there was no way Minis could have failed to notice that Wena had ordered her Avatar, Garoksa, to kill one of her believers.
‘…But I don't need to be afraid.’
‘Everything was already discussed beforehand.’
At present, some of the gods of the heavens, led by Nox and Uellos, were trying to eliminate the mortal named Glenn Wordsworth.
And Minis had at least outwardly agreed with that course of action.
‘So she can't interrogate me just because I attacked one of her believers.’
Thinking that, Wena strengthened her gaze and stared directly at Minis, who was wearing a gentle expression.
“Hmph.”
“Since you already know what's going on, you came here just to make fun of me, didn't you?”
“Make fun of you?”
“Me?”
“Wena, what are you talking about?”
“……”
“Don't pretend you don't know.”
“Or perhaps you want me to say it myself?”
“That my Avatar was defeated by one of your believers?”
“…Hmm?”
Minis was silent for a moment.
“…Ah.”
After several seconds of silence, a short exclamation escaped her lips.
The strange feeling Wena sensed during that brief moment made her frown.
“What?”
“You didn't know?”
“Ahaha.”
“No.”
“I've been rather busy lately, so I haven't had time to look into the mortal world.”
“But I don't think that's what's important right now.”
Minis took a step toward Wena, who was looking at her suspiciously.
Minis was tall and slender.
Even compared to Wena, who was one of the tallest goddesses in the heavens, she was hardly shorter.
“The important thing is this, Wena.”
“You lost the Avatar you made a contract with, didn't you?”
“…Keuk.”
“Hmm.”
“That's quite a problem.”
“As far as I know, you made a deal with Nox.”
“And now you've lost your Avatar.”
Wena had once promised Nox that if she helped him bring down Minis, he would give her a portion of the land they conquered.
But now she had lost her Avatar and could no longer influence the mortal world.
“If this continues, you won't just lose your old glory.”
“You'll probably lose even the faith you still have.”
“This is all… because of you…”
“Your believer killed my Avatar, so everything…”
“Why is that my fault?”
Minis' voice suddenly became low.
Wena instinctively swallowed.
The blue eyes of Minis looking up at her radiated an icy chill.
“Of course, it is true that my believer possesses power she shouldn't have.”
“But I didn't create that power.”
“If you look at it that way, don't you think Nox, who gave that child half of her power, is also at fault?”
“That…”
Wena fell silent.
She lowered her sharp gaze.
Only then did Minis withdraw the coldness from her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“Whew…”
“Why do all of you cling so much to the past?”
“What happened has already happened.”
“What matters is what we should do from now on.”
Minis' gaze became softer as she looked up at Wena.
“Don't you think so too, Wena?”
“……”
Minis was right.
The Avatar Wena had made a contract with, Garoksa, had already been burned black.
Wena wanted to regain her former glory.
But she had lost the means to interfere with the mortal world.
She needed to find a way forward.
“But there isn't any way left…”
Wena bit her lip.
The power of Symphosyon had already been divided mainly between Minis and Nox, with only a few neutral gods remaining.
No matter how things unfolded, one side would eventually devour the other.
What could Wena, who had neither powerful faith nor an Avatar, possibly do in such a situation?
All she could do was hope that Nox would win and save her from the worst possible outcome.
“Then…”
Minis suddenly stepped closer to Wena as though she had been waiting for those words.
“Why don't you try helping me?”
“…”
“Would you like to help me?”
Minis was smiling as kindly as always.
But the strange feeling hidden behind that smile made Wena instinctively step backward.
“…You want me to betray Nox?”
“That's one possible way of looking at it.”
The golden rings within Minis' blue eyes began to glow faintly.
“There are many gods besides you who like Nox.”
“So if things continue like this, you probably won't receive any reward at all.”
“So…”
“Wouldn't it be better to do something rather than just sit around and lose everything?”
“But I…”
“I killed your believer…”
“Hehe…”
“I'm different from Nox.”
“I don't cling to the past, Wena.”
“And I have no intention of treating you differently from the ones who already offered to help me.”
Minis' slender white arm stretched out like a snake and wrapped around Wena's tanned, healthy waist.
Even though Wena had more than enough strength to shake her off, she couldn't move.
“If you help me…”
“I'll simply welcome you with sincerity.”
“After all, benevolence is the greatest virtue a god of the heavens can possess.”
Wena could only meet Minis' gaze.
It felt as though she had been captured by something she could not refuse.
Tap, tap, tap—
A gentle humming accompanied Minis' leisurely footsteps.
As she left Wena's personal temple on the outskirts of Symphosyon, Minis repeatedly celebrated her good fortune.
‘Hmm~ What good luck.’
Wena had chosen Minis.
In the end, she had realized that there was no way for her to achieve her desires under Nox.
To be honest, Minis had not expected recruiting Wena to go this smoothly.
After all, even Minis, a goddess herself, had not known that Wena's Avatar had been defeated by Glenn Wordsworth.
The reason was simple.
Glenn did not have faith in Minis.
‘Adorably hateful, as always.’
The God's Eye.
It was an ability that allowed a god to see mortals who offered them faith.
Every human in the Papal Holy Kingdom was a believer of Minis.
Therefore, Minis could observe every human being there.
However, the condition was that the person had to possess faith in her.
Even if someone possessed holy power, Minis could not watch them if they did not have faith in her.
‘Just like that child.’
‘He uses enormous amounts of holy power while saying my name, yet he doesn't worship me even a little.’
Of course, Minis couldn't see Glenn directly.
But she had watched him for a long time through people around him.
Through the eyes of people she favored, such as Lidenhall and Lucheria.
However, recently even Lucheria had begun doubting her faith in Minis.
Eventually, she lost her faith completely.
As a result, Minis had been unable to determine Glenn's whereabouts ever since he crossed into the Land of Demons.
But that didn't make her anxious.
Rather, she was simply pleased to learn today through Wena that Glenn had grown strong enough to defeat the Avatar of even a lower-ranking god.
As for the lack of faith…
She could simply create it herself.
The other beings surrounding her were so insignificant that it was almost laughable to call them gods.
She existed on an entirely different level.
Once the all-powerful and benevolent goddess eventually appeared before Glenn, how could he possibly fail to feel awe?
‘So I'll generously consider your current little rebellion nothing more than the cute mischief of my adorable child.’
Thinking of the believer she favored, Minis quietly laughed.
“I suppose I have to move as well.”
Rather than being a god who arrogantly sat around and merely moved her fingers while ordering her believers around, she would personally perform miracles and show them her greatness.
Minis stood at the entrance of Wena's temple and looked toward the distant Hall of the Gods, Symphosyon.
She would leave her long-awaited meeting with her beloved believer for another day.
“Now then…”
“Where should I start tearing things apart, step by step, so that our adorable Nox and Uellos will find themselves in trouble?”
“……”
Under a sky where hazy ash drifted through the air, High Advisor Railina von Scherm stared at the half-destroyed Angrelcher Castle.
She couldn't say a word.
“……”
Verdin, another high-ranking advisor of the Demon King's army who had betrayed humanity, was the same.
Normally, he would have thrown sharp words at Railina, his longtime rival, and enjoyed watching her become irritated.
But even he remained silent.
In fact, it was only natural.
Who could possibly open their mouth while looking at the ominous demonic energy in front of them?
Gooooooo—
“……”
Purple-tinted demonic energy spread in every direction, forming sinister shapes.
At its center stood an old demon.
Kacherto Rienze, Commander of the Second Corps, stared at the ruins of Angrelcher Castle with his pupils widened frighteningly.
He had been standing there like a stone statue for several hours.
Yet no one present dared to speak.
“Where is Lintelln…?”
After an eternity of silence, the dry lips of the Corps Commander finally opened.
A demon officer immediately stepped forward.
“Ah!”
“I-I am Umberto, an officer of the Angrelcher garrison!”
“T-The thing is…”
“Deputy Commander Lintelln and the garrison commander were killed by the intruder!”
“I have no excuse!”
“The intruder…”
“That's enough.”
Kacherto's quiet voice immediately made Commander Umberto swallow nervously.
Without taking his eyes away from the castle ruins, Kacherto Rienze continued.
“I already know who did this.”
“Railina.”
“Verdin.”
Before Kacherto could finish speaking, the two quickly moved behind him and bowed.
“Yes, Commander!”
“You called for me!”
Both demons lowered their heads.
Their eyes were filled with fear.
Technically, neither of them had anything to do with this incident.
They had been at the Demon King's Castle rather than Angrelcher Castle.
But fear was not something they could simply control.
“Verdin will remain here and manage the supplies.”
“Railina will return to the Demon King's Castle.”
“Contact each corps and order them to stop their offensive.”
“Have them wait at the border regions.”
“Understood!”
“I will carry it out immediately!”
His orders were so calm and rational that it was difficult to believe he was furious.
However, the two officers noticed something.
Kacherto Rienze himself was missing from those orders.
“…Commander.”
Verdin couldn't suppress his growing question and carefully looked up at him.
“With our army suffering defeats across the front lines, I believe the role of headquarters is more important than ever.”
“However, it appears that you intend to leave your position.”
“……”
“Given that the war situation is becoming overwhelmingly unfavorable, I cannot understand why you would leave.”
“So, please tell us that your next actions are not driven by anger, but by rational and logical thought.”
“……”
Railina was horrified.
“Y-You insane…!”
“C-Commander!”
“This lowly human failed to understand the commander's profound intentions and spoke out of turn!”
She desperately signaled to Verdin with her eyes.
But Verdin did not stop.
He was not foolish enough to ignore his superior's intentions merely to read the atmosphere.
Kacherto Rienze turned around and looked down at Verdin.
“I intend to go to the northern front and join the Fourth Corps.”
“I will turn the tide of the battle there.”
“The northern front…”
“What is there?”
“It's the same place you were stationed at until recently, isn't it?”
Confusion appeared in Verdin's eyes.
The northern front was where the Wordsworth territory was located.
The territory that had defeated the Eighth and Fifth Corps.
‘That place certainly is troublesome.’
The Demon King's army had now lost Angrelcher Castle and Kacherto's research laboratory.
This meant they were no longer capable of producing the massive army of undead needed to make up for their numerical disadvantage.
Even if they managed to push back one front at a time when their supply lines were already in crisis, it would not change much.
At that moment, a spark once again appeared in Kacherto Rienze's calm eyes.
“All this misfortune began because of a single man.”
“So I'll use the person he values most as a hostage.”
“I'll lure him out…”
“And erase him from this world.”
Glenn Wordsworth.
The man who had defeated the Demon King's Fifth Corps, Eighth Corps, and even the First Corps.
The man who had infiltrated the Land of Demons and destroyed Angrelcher Castle and its underground research laboratory.
If they left him alone, he would undoubtedly cause another disaster somewhere else.
Therefore, Kacherto Rienze had decided not to passively respond to these unexpected events.
Instead, he would personally eliminate the source of those variables.
He would use every method available to him.
“I will no longer simply watch someone overturn his predetermined fate and create variables wherever he goes.”
At the same time.
Glenn returned from the Seoduls Plateau to his base, Linz Village.
He was sitting in the middle of his private room, calmly controlling his breathing.
“Inhale…”
“Phew…”
He slowly exhaled the breath he had taken in.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
VMMMMMMMM—
《The fifth Ring of Demonic Power has been created.》
An alert appeared in his vision.
At the same time, the tenth ring finally settled beside Glenn's heart.
With this, the two types of rings—Holy and Demonic—had reached perfect balance.
Five Holy Rings.
Five Demonic Rings.
Glenn smiled.
“Nice…”
