Chapter 253

Chapter 253 — The Game Difficulty Is Insane

The screams of the deep-sea monsters, the sound of blades tearing through flesh, and the explosions of immense power overlapped within the deep-sea ice cave, where darkness had completely covered everything in a deep blue hue.

“Kieeeeeek!”

“Haaat!”

Deep-sea monsters charged at them from every direction.

In the middle of creatures with completely different appearances, all baring their sharp teeth, Lowen swung Frugament.

The red sword aura mixed with black energy tore through the monster’s skin and pierced its bones.

Kwa-dudududuk-!

The sound was enough to make one instinctively frown.

However, Lowen quickly twisted her body while retrieving her sword to avoid the deep-sea monster attacking her from behind.

“……Kuh!”

“Kiaaaaaaak!”

“Kieeeee!”

The screams of the monsters Lowen had wounded and the roars of those attacking her filled the cave.

“……Dizzy.”

Lowen barely avoided the monsters that were attacking her in a coordinated manner, despite each one being an 8-star monster, and held her forehead.

At first, the monsters here had seemed rather weak for 8-star creatures, so fighting them had been easy.

However, as time passed, their screams began to make her mind dizzy.

Glenn had warned her about this beforehand, but the ultrasonic ability they had developed as their eyesight deteriorated in this completely lightless place was quite troublesome.

“Kyaaaaaak!”

But there was no time to rest.

Lowen put strength into the hand holding Frugament and gathered her demonic energy.

With a sharp blue light flowing from her eyes, she swung her sword with all her strength and cut the charging monster apart.

“Kieaaak!!”

Glenn briefly turned his gaze.

A sharp scream came from dozens of steps away, and soon a long, snake-like deep-sea monster collapsed onto the ground.

Lowen landed beside it and leaned against the Frugament, which was almost as large as her own body, while catching her breath.

She looked more exhausted than before.

In a way, it was only natural.

No matter how powerful a 9-star being was in the realm of the Rings, she was still fighting five or six 8-star monsters at once.

‘It’s already amazing that she’s lasting this long in a place where a six-person party normally comes to farm their final equipment.’

Fortunately, it looked like all the monsters around them would be dealt with before Lowen collapsed from exhaustion.

While she was struggling, Glenn had already killed more than twice as many monsters as she had.

‘Just hold on a little longer.’

Encouraging Lowen inwardly, Glenn charged forward with Einheria, which was filled with a clear holy demonic power, and cut apart the monsters rushing toward him.

The sharp ultrasonic waves released by the deep-sea monsters tore through the air.

But Einheria, carrying the power of the Sword of Boundary and Glenn’s will, could cut even those apart.

Chwaaak-!

The monster was split apart without even having a chance to scream.

Its black blood sprayed in every direction.

“……By the way.”

A strange light flashed in Glenn’s gray eyes.

The battle was proceeding without any major problems, but one question still remained in his mind.

‘Why did this happen?’

Glenn’s strategy was definitely correct.

Those deep-sea monsters were creatures that could be passed without fighting as long as their sounds were blocked.

Yet when Glenn and Lowen passed by…

At the exact moment they were standing in the middle of the monsters, the creatures suddenly moved.

Because of that, Glenn had been forced to use one of his two Gray Rings, while Lowen had consumed almost all of her strength.

They had wasted their power in a place where they were originally supposed to pass through without any battle or loss of strength.

While fighting the attacking deep-sea monsters, Glenn continued speeding up his thoughts.

‘There aren’t many possible reasons why something different from the original story happened.’

The first possibility was a Lunatic Trial.

However, whenever a Lunatic Trial was imposed, a system message always appeared in his field of vision.

At least, judging from the fact that the monsters did not have the Lunatic difficulty applied to them, the possibility of this being a Lunatic Trial was low.

‘Or maybe the history I’ve changed so far has finally come back around and caused another change.’

The destruction of Wordsworth.

The Black Order’s schemes and Luceria’s corruption.

The fierce war between demons and humans.

History was already flowing in a completely different direction because of Glenn.

Just like the saying that a butterfly’s wings can create a typhoon, perhaps Glenn’s small actions had traveled a long way and eventually caused changes even in this dungeon.

But for those changes to reach a deep-sea dungeon like this was too much of a stretch.

‘Rejected…….’

‘Could it be something the Demon King planned?
No way…
He probably doesn’t even know I’m here, and he isn’t the kind of person who would plan something like this.’

‘Then…
what the hell is the cause……?’

“Kieeeeeek!”

“Ah, seriously!
Let me think!”

Glenn shouted as he instantly cut down the monster charging at him without any sense of timing.

Silence.

The coldness unique to an ice cave.

The gloomy darkness of the deep sea, where not even a single ray of light could enter.

And the corpses of monsters scattered everywhere, filling the air with a fishy smell.

It was literally the scene of a horrific massacre.

Yet Glenn and Lowen sat in the middle of it without caring and rested.

“Good work.”

Unlike the relaxed Glenn, Lowen was breathing heavily as she recovered her breath.

“I’m sorry.
I never imagined I would be held back by something like this…….”

“This is normally a place that needs five or six people working together to clear.
You did really well considering you were alone.”

“Even so, I can’t stop thinking about how I took up your time…….”

Glenn shook his head.

Time was not really a problem.

Since the situation had turned out differently from what he knew, he needed some time to reorganize his thoughts anyway.

‘In the end, I couldn’t figure out the cause.’

Glenn frowned.

No matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure out why the monsters had detected him and attacked him when he was supposed to pass through safely.

‘This is exactly why I have a problem.’

He possessed future knowledge that was almost like foresight, allowing him to stay one step ahead of everyone else.

But whenever things deviated from what was supposed to happen, he had no idea where to go next.

‘It feels unsettling moving forward like this…….’

Glenn frowned as he looked toward the depths of Hildesheim’s Deep-Sea Sanctuary.

‘Is something going to happen?’

Of course, they still had plenty of power left.

The boss monster at the deepest part of the dungeon had roughly the combat power of a mid-9-star being.

Even if Lowen went down, Glenn alone could deal with it within the amount of time covered by one Gray Ring.

However, the strange event that had occurred earlier was so bizarre, and he could not even figure out its cause.

Naturally, he was reluctant to move forward recklessly.

“……Still, what else can we do?”

“Hmm?
Glenn.
Where are you going?”

Lowen tilted her head as Glenn stood up and brushed himself off.

“Rest a little and follow me.”

“No.
I’ll follow you immediately.
I’ll get up now…….”

“Hey.”

“…….”

At Glenn’s firm tone, Lowen flinched and quietly stared at him.

The woman who was normally so poor at expressing emotions had widened her eyes like a child who had been caught doing something they had been told not to do.

For some reason, it looked amusing.

“……Pfft.”

“W-Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing.
Anyway, rest and join me later.
You won’t be able to help me against what’s ahead right now.
You’re a 9-star swordsman now.
Can you really fail to check your own condition properly?”

With a faint smile, Glenn pressed down on Lowen’s head and turned around.

“Oh, right.
There absolutely won’t be any monsters appearing nearby anymore.
So if one does show up, come tell me immediately.
Don’t try to deal with it alone.”

“Understood…
I’ll join you soon.”

“Good.”

Leaving Lowen behind as she quietly agreed, Glenn headed deeper into the Deep-Sea Sanctuary.

There were no monsters along the way.

The monsters that had been scattered along the long, straight passage had already heard the sounds of battle and charged toward Glenn all at once.

There had been an unexpected loss of strength.

But thanks to that, he did not have to worry about being detected anymore, so if anything, this was still an advantage.

Fwoooosh-!

As he walked, Glenn created a small amount of holy power in his hand to illuminate his surroundings.

‘Honestly, once you reach this level, your night vision becomes good enough that you don’t really need to light the way…….’

Even so, the psychological comfort provided by light itself could not be ignored.

Especially when he was heading toward the boss room of a highest-difficulty dungeon where he did not know what kind of unexpected variables might appear.

As he walked, Glenn once again thought about why the monsters had attacked him.

Tap-.

But no answer came.

Before he knew it, he had reached his destination.

The deepest part of Hildesheim’s Deep-Sea Sanctuary.

A dark-blue ice cave stretched before him.

Set into the enormous ice wall was a relatively neatly carved door.

The strange white door, made from an unknown material, looked sacred, almost like the entrance to a temple.

“It’s not called a Sanctuary for nothing.”

The deepest part of Hildesheim’s Deep-Sea Sanctuary.

As its name suggested, it was called a temple, and the boss monster beyond the door was powerful.

But Glenn had still failed to find any answer to the strange events that had happened along the way.

He would have to face the monster while carrying that question in his mind.

‘It’s fine.
I have room to spare.’

Kugugugugu-.

The white door slowly moved inward.

As the deepest part of the dungeon gradually became visible, Glenn controlled his breathing.

Kugugugu-!

Boom!

The two doors fully opened backward.

The moment Glenn saw what was behind them, he let out a stunned breath.

“Ha…….”

Lights suddenly illuminated the area.

Unlike the dark passage they had traveled through, the deepest chamber was illuminated by scattered blue flames.

Glenn already knew that much.

But the enormous shadow at the center was completely different from what he remembered.

Srrrrrrrr-.

Originally, the boss monster of Hildesheim Temple was actually two monsters in one.

“Kirrrrrrr.”

“Shaaaaaak.”

Two dark-blue sea dragons were wrapped around each other like they had merged together, encasing a gigantic ice spike called Glacieros.

However, there was another familiar presence standing before Glenn now.

“Thank you for coming all this way.”

“…….”

A strange light flowed through Glenn’s gray eyes.

Meanwhile, the opponent’s green eyes calmly looked down at Glenn from beneath the altar.

The man standing beside Glacieros, the boss of the deepest part of the Deep-Sea Sanctuary, clearly had the appearance of a human.

Glenn knew his name.

So he quietly muttered it.

“Dominic Kezel…….”

The sole believer of Sagina, the God of Breeding and Taming, and the leader of the Sagina Church.

At the same time, he possessed the unique potential ability Monster Tamer, which allowed him to control monsters.

In the original story, during the Paradise War, he followed Sagina, who sided with Nox, and released the monsters he had tamed to attack the Holy Empire.

Of course, if the player selected a demon character as the protagonist, he would become an ally.

But if they chose a human character instead, they would experience his cruelty to the fullest.

“Hmm…
I was going to introduce myself first, but it seems you already know me?”

Glenn bit down on his lip.

Dominic’s appearance explained why the deep-sea monsters had attacked him.

If monsters had unexpectedly attacked him, and a Monster Tamer was waiting at the end of the path, there was only one possible explanation.

‘But the problem is, why the hell is that bastard here at this point in time?’

As mentioned earlier, Dominic was supposed to appear when the Paradise War began.

But now, at a time when Heaven’s intervention had only just begun, it made no sense for him to appear here.

However, Glenn soon hardened his gaze.

What could he do?

The man was already standing right in front of him.

‘I can think about those questions later.’

How Dominic had found his location.

How he had come here.

What his exact objective was.

Glenn pushed all those questions aside for the moment.

‘What matters is that Dominic Kezel is hostile toward me.’

Dominic had not said anything openly hostile yet.

But the group of monsters that had attacked Glenn earlier already gave him all the explanation he needed.

‘So first, I need to clear up this little problem.’

With that thought, Glenn quietly adjusted his grip on Einheria.

“You’re drawing your sword without even saying anything.
I’d actually like to have a conversation.”

“Hey……”

The conversation had already ended the moment Dominic sent those monsters after him.

From this point on, Glenn only needed to analyze his opponent’s strength, compare it with his own, and calculate his chances of victory.

“The bastard who attacked first wants to talk?
Shut up and fight, you little shit.”

“…….”

Dominic frowned as though he had heard some incomprehensible and bizarre language for the first time in his life.

Glenn had already finished analyzing his opponent’s strength.

A cunning smile slowly appeared around his lips.