Chapter 268
The Game's Difficulty Is Insane
At the Papal Palace.
In the Pope's private office rather than the audience chamber, two people were standing there.
“......What do you think, Your Holiness?”
The one who spoke was Cardinal Gracia.
The softly burning candlelight illuminated her worried blue eyes.
The Pope recalled the conversation from a short while ago.
“The immortal being and its followers will cover the continent.”
“To be honest, Your Holiness, just as you have guessed, the current state of this country and the Church will not be able to stand against them.”
“Therefore, we must lie low until all the fighting is over.”
Glenn Wordsworth had put aside the relaxed and benevolent gaze of the saint he normally displayed and spoken in a serious tone.
“We must establish a death squad made up of five-star or higher holy knights and priests who are prepared to face death and sacrifice themselves against the immortal beings.”
“The immortal beings cannot be confronted directly, but most of their followers will probably be ordinary humans or monsters.”
“I will deal with the immortal beings using the forces I have prepared.
Therefore, everyone except those forces must evacuate.”
The areas Glenn had marked were the western and southern parts of the Papal Holy State bordering the Land of Demons, as well as Istirenne.
According to Glenn, this meant that every region except the northeastern part of the Papal Holy State would have to evacuate to escape the disaster.
“......We should do as he says.”
Honestly, it was an absurd proposal.
But after witnessing what had happened in the middle of the capital, they could not simply ignore it.
“Thank you for making such a difficult decision, Your Holiness.
Additionally, I would like to take charge of the death squad he mentioned.
Would that be all right?”
“Yes.
Please do so, Sister.
I believe Sir Glenn was also hoping that you would lead the death squad.”
The Pope looked at Gracia.
“It truly is a strange thing.
That young and ambitious female knight has grown into such a dignified woman and now stands beside me.”
The kind Pope's eyes quietly gazed into the cardinal's deep sea-colored eyes.
“He said that we must be prepared for death and sacrifice.”
“If that is the path needed for this country, I am willing to accept it.”
There was not even the slightest hesitation in Cardinal Gracia's eyes.
When Glenn finished advising the Pope and returned to the mansion beneath the Lantern Shop, it was already past midnight.
“You worked hard, Young Master.”
“Please get a good rest tonight.”
Tasha and Hawkney knew what had happened today and what Glenn had done there, so they did not ask him any questions.
They simply had the servants prepare a warm meal and hot water for him.
SPLASH-
“Ahh......”
As his body touched the hot water, the small wounds stung, but the feeling of relief was even greater.
Tasha had probably ordered the servants to add holy water that was good for recovery.
Of course, thanks to the blessing of the guardian spirit granted by the Banshee Queen, his recovery would already be fast.
Even so, the feeling of soaking in warm water could not be ignored.
“Hoo......”
Lying in the well-made bathtub, Glenn thought back on everything that had happened today.
“Damn... I was really busy today.”
That morning, Glenn had been in Wordsworth.
Then, in an instant, he folded space and came to the capital.
He met Minis, fought Lunicus when she suddenly appeared at the scene, somehow defeated her, and then met the Pope and Cardinal Gracia to advise them on what the Papal Holy State needed to do.
‘Considering how much faster I can move thanks to the Lunatic Map Chart, I wasn't actually that busy...
But I'm still pretty exhausted.’
Normally, he would have exhausted all his strength and passed out after defeating Lunicus.
The fact that he was still awake late into the night might also be an indication that he had become stronger than before.
‘It's definitely different from the previous Gray Ring.’
At first, the only effects of increasing the proficiency of the Gray Ring were an increase in its duration and a reduction in its penalties.
But—
‘It became completely different after I balanced the Holy Ring and the Demonic Ring.’
The balance between holy power and demonic energy that he finally achieved by weaving his fifth Demonic Ring.
Since then, the higher his Gray Ring proficiency became, the more tremendous vitality it gave him compared to before.
The current proficiency of the Gray Ring was 10.
It was only a gut feeling, but if he raised the skill proficiency to its maximum of 12, there would certainly be some major benefit.
And that was separate from simply being able to use the Gray Ring without restrictions.
‘......It has to be.’
Honestly, if Glenn were in Gray Eden right now, he could probably defeat the final boss Mors and see the ending.
‘Even if my stats are lacking, it's still something I could overcome through strategy and control.’
But his opponent was a high-ranking god who was highly likely to draw out even his original power.
Since the final boss's overall specifications had risen greatly, Glenn needed to find a way to become even stronger to match it.
The goals he had set were three.
Master the proficiency of the Gray Ring.
Properly awaken the power of the Unknown.
And—
SHING-
“This guy too.”
Glenn quietly looked at Einheria, which he had taken out of the Lunatic Inventory.
The sword that grew alongside its owner was now approaching the release of its final ability.
Of course, compared to the power of the Unknown or the combined creation of Mors and Silpherinne, Einheria's final ability might seem insignificant.
But there was no reason to reject any additional fighting power that could only benefit him.
After finishing breakfast, Glenn immediately left Istirenne with Ladeo.
Their means of transportation were two horses.
He wanted to use the Lunatic Map Chart to move through space in an instant, but unfortunately, he had already used the spatial transfer yesterday.
He even tried using the Primordial Mirror to reset its cooldown, just in case.
But it did not work.
‘Well, at least I'll be able to return comfortably.’
Even so, if he used the Mimic Skill to apply Ridenhall's enchantment to the horses, it should not take too long.
In fact, the enchanted horses raced along the main road at tremendous speed.
Ladeo practically had to cling to his horse.
They covered a distance that should have taken four days in only two.
After another half day, they finally arrived at Mors's temple.
“Cough... Khuuuugh......”
“......Are you all right?”
“Urgh... Haa... Haaah......”
Ladeo, who had almost fallen from his horse while dismounting, knelt down and began retching.
His enormous, muscular, copper-colored body heaved with every breath.
Seeing a body of that size and a god who carried such a title reduced to this state was simply pitiful.
“I guess you haven't ridden a horse before.
Good work.”
Glenn could only pat him on the shoulder.
In a way, perhaps the ones suffering the most after Symposion fell were not the powerful high-ranking gods, but the lower gods whose strength was somewhere in between.
“The beings of the mortal world are... truly... terrifying!”
“I'll take you back in one go when we return, so don't worry.”
However, that promise became meaningless when they discovered that Mors was not at his temple.
“Tch......”
The entrance to Mors's temple was empty.
His laboratory inside the temple was also empty.
There was not even a trace of Mors, as if nothing had ever existed there.
“Mors... isn't here?”
“Ah... why did I assume he would be here?”
Glenn ran a hand through his hair.
The only place he could think Mors might be was the temple he had used as his residence when he was on the mortal world.
That was why Silpherinne had said three days ago at the Wordsworth mansion that she was heading here to find Mors.
‘Then how am I supposed to find him......?’
Honestly, Glenn had no clue.
There was no god as unpredictable and impossible to anticipate as Mors.
“Ladeo.
What about you?”
“If he were in the heavens, I could sense his presence...
Hmm......”
Ladeo also tried to see something by illuminating the golden ring remaining in his eyes.
But since he had lost much of his power after falling to the mortal world, it seemed difficult.
“As expected... I don't think I can.”
“Ah... then what do we do?”
Glenn sat down on a rock.
