The Game Difficulty
Is Crazy
Ronian, the monastery in the capital of Mount Libero.
Beneath the chapel, where the underground paths were tangled like a labyrinth, a tense chase between two races was continuing.
Piiing—
Shweeeek—!
Black arrows tore sharply through the air, rushing in without leaving any gaps.
Kaang—!
Chang!
Running through them, Glen and Tasha swung their swords without a moment of rest.
‘Even a graze is dangerous.’
The black arrows fired by the demon skirmishers carried their demonic energy.
A vicious demonic energy that worsened the wound on impact and made the bleeding impossible to stop.
Fortunately, until now, they had not taken a single injury from those cruel arrows.
‘For now, it’s still manageable.’
Even so, the demon skirmishers were chasing them faster than expected.
Kkaang—!
“…!”
At the metallic sound coming from behind, Glen checked on Tasha following him.
Luckily, because he had warned her in advance about the black arrows, she was deflecting every incoming arrow without even the slightest carelessness.
Their eyes suddenly met.
“P-please… don’t worry about me… young master first…!”
She was muttering something, but she was so out of breath that she could not even finish her words properly.
It seemed she was slowly reaching her limit.
The fact that it showed on her usually expressionless face said it all.
“Hold on just a little longer.”
If they endured just a bit more, they would reach the ‘starting point of the plan’ he mentioned before.
If they could safely endure until then, everything afterward would go according to plan.
“…Yes.”
Tasha swallowed her rough breathing by force and steadied herself.
How long had they run after that?
Even their sense of time had grown faint.
The enemies chased them relentlessly.
They persistently poured down arrows.
To shake them off and escape, Glen fought continuously without rest.
“Huff, huff…”
His own body was also gradually reaching its limit.
Was it because he had sparred with the Gray Wolf Knight during the day and hadn’t been able to rest?
Even so, the end of the long chase was now visible at the edge of his sight.
‘There!’
As the end of the passage came into view, Glen increased his speed.
The next moment, a huge hollow space spread out before Glen’s eyes.
They had arrived at the starting point of the plan.
“Haa, hoo… Tasha. You remember the direction I told you earlier, right?”
“Yes. I… remember.”
“Good. From here, we split up. I’ll stay here and buy time.”
“……”
Tasha’s eyes wandered.
She looked hesitant to leave Glen alone.
“…Tasha.”
Glen grabbed her shoulder.
“I don’t usually entrust my life to others, you know?”
“……”
“It’s an unavoidable situation, but more than that, it’s because you have something I can trust.”
“Something… you can trust…”
“Yeah. From what I’ve seen so far, I think I can trust you with this.”
Strength went into the hand gripping her shoulder.
“So run. And open the door. If you do that, both of us can live.”
Their eyes met.
Then, a clear light returned to Tasha’s eyes, which had been dulled by exhaustion.
“I understand. I will complete it without fail, so please stay safe, young master.”
“Yeah. And take this with you.”
Glen took something out from his chest and placed it in Tasha’s hand.
It was an herb with a grayish tint.
“This is…?”
“Keep it. That way, you won’t die.”
“…Thank you.”
Tasha bowed her head, then turned and ran into the opposite passage.
It was a firm action without hesitation.
‘If it were another apprentice knight, they would’ve insisted on saving me somehow, or said they’d rather stay and buy time themselves.’
Looking at Tasha’s resolute yet cold back, the corners of Glen’s mouth lifted in satisfaction.
Now all that remained was to endure until Tasha opened the basement door.
‘Enduring is doable.’
The place where Glen now stood was a wide underground hollow.
It was far easier to move around than the narrow passage where there was no room to dodge arrows.
Moreover, the demon skirmishers were currently split into groups of three or four, scattered in order to surround Glen and Tasha.
Therefore, Glen only needed to defeat the pursuing group that entered the hollow, one by one.
Of course, this was a defensive strategy that depended heavily on luck.
If a group including a 6-star demon archer appeared, the time Glen could endure would rapidly decrease.
‘If that happens, I’ll use every skill I have to buy time.’
Glen slowly controlled his breathing and took a combat stance.
Just then, three demon skirmishers emerged from the passage into the hollow.
“Hm?”
“Welcome.”
The demon woman at the front tilted her head when she spotted Glen.
“You went through all that trouble to widen the distance, only to stop in a place like this. Why?”
“Maybe he gave up?”
“Hmph. What nonsense. Even lies need to sound convincing to be lies.”
The woman nocked an arrow on her bow.
Then she called out to the two demons beside her.
“Ethan, Ruth. He sent the girl away and stayed behind alone. He must be trying something.”
She jerked her chin toward Glen’s back.
“You two chase the girl.”
At the woman’s command, the two demons kicked off the ground at the same time.
They clearly intended to pass Glen and pursue Tasha.
Piiing—
At the same time, an arrow flew from the woman’s bowstring.
It seemed she was trying to interfere with Glen stopping the pursuers.
But—
“Go ahead.”
Glen kicked off the ground straight ahead without a moment of hesitation.
Passing between the two demons and the flying arrow, he closed the distance to the demon woman in an instant.
A swift sword strike followed.
“…!”
Chaeeang—!
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the demon woman hurriedly pulled out a dagger to block it.
The two demons who had passed Glen twisted their bodies in panic.
“Don’t mind him, just chase the girl! He’s no match for me anyway!”
“Understood.”
The two demons disappeared into the passage.
Then, a fierce exchange began between Glen and the demon woman.
Chaeng!
Chang—!
Sword and dagger collided with each other.
The demon woman twisted her lips.
“What are you trying to do? Weren’t you buying time for that girl to mess around?”
“That’s right. And I am. Buying time.”
Answering casually, Glen added more force to his sword strikes.
Chaeeang—!
“Keuk!”
The demon woman let out a groan.
“How dare you!”
She glared fiercely and swung her dagger, now loaded with dense demonic energy.
Each strike was sharp, aiming for vital points.
‘Roughly around a 4-star level, but in the end, she’s just an archer.’
Once an archer allows a knight to get close, a difference of one or two ranks becomes almost meaningless.
Perhaps realizing this, the demon woman was clearly shaken.
“Keuk…! For someone like that, aren’t you letting our two comrades pass too easily?!”
Lacking confidence in holding out, she tried to provoke him with words.
Glen merely snorted lightly and pressed her even harder.
“Why would I bother stopping them?”
If Glen had tried to block the two demons, that would have been playing right into her hands.
If he had tried to stop the pursuit, she would have attacked his back the moment he did.
‘In that case, I would’ve had to give up at least one part of my body.’
Glen was not stupid enough to fall into the enemy’s trap.
Instead, he simply used the enemy’s intentions against them.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but you made a mistake! That girl won’t get far… she’ll be caught soon!”
The demon woman laughed nastily.
“You’ve got time to talk? Guess your life isn’t that precious.”
“Too bad…! That girl will die before you do. The two comrades chasing her just now are both… keuk! 3-star demon archers!”
Indeed, the situation did not look good.
The chance that the already exhausted Tasha could shake off two 3-star demon archers was close to zero.
But—
“Well. I don’t think you’ll catch her.”
That was only if a proper chase between Tasha and the two demons even took place.
Tasha was moving while accurately following the route Glen had taught her.
On the other hand, the pursuing demons did not know Tasha’s location and had to search every corner of the labyrinth-like underground passages.
A game of tag where the one chasing struggles far more than the one fleeing.
‘Unless she’s extremely unlucky, there’s no way Tasha gets caught.’
In other words, sending pursuers after Tasha was a mistake on the demon side.
The cool-headed apprentice knight Glen remembered was someone who would complete her mission no matter what.
‘It would’ve been far more troublesome if the two of them had attacked me together.’
But once a wrong judgment was made, it could never be undone.
Just like how the demon woman, having sent away her comrades, had driven herself into a dead end she could not escape.
“Keugh! Get… lost!!”
The demon woman screamed sharply.
It was closer to a scream of pain than a shout.
The dagger she kept trying to counterattack with was gradually losing its sharpness.
Even elite demon skirmishers could not maintain their composure when death drew near.
Kkaaaang—!
In the end, despite her desperate struggle, the dagger flew into the air.
Now, the demon woman had lost the weapon protecting her.
Without a moment of hesitation, Glen thrust his sword to end her life.
Kwa-gag—
The blade pierced through flesh.
Blood immediately gushed from the demon woman’s mouth.
A death without even a final scream.
“Hoo…”
Glen pulled out his sword and shook off the blood.
Silence settled over the wide hollow.
He wanted nothing more than to collapse and rest right there, but he could not.
He had to block the next demon skirmishers who would soon appear.
‘Seven more left.’
And among the remaining seven was an enemy that the current Glen would have difficulty handling.
The leader of the demon skirmishers, a demon archer with six rings of demonic power.
Once he appeared here, Glen would have no choice but to truly ‘endure’.
‘If he came alone, I might be able to take him down.’
But there was no way a one-on-one situation like before would happen again.
“Just come in groups of three…”
He did not even ask for more than that.
Perhaps his wish was heard.
The demon skirmishers appeared in the hollow.
Three demon archers had arrived.
Among them was the leader of the demon skirmishers.
“Maybe I should’ve wished for one at a time.”
Letting out a hollow laugh, Glen stared straight ahead.
The leader silently scanned the hollow.
The laid-back attitude he had when they first met in the chapel was nowhere to be seen.
“Did you do this?”
He was pointing at the corpse of the demon woman lying cold on the ground.
“Who else would it be?”
“I see. Very well.”
A low reply.
Then, an enormous amount of demonic energy burst forth around the leader.
“My name is Ralper. I am the leader of the 4th Skirmisher Unit of the 8th Legion of the Demon King’s Army. What is your name, human?”
For a skirmisher unit that carried out missions in secrecy to reveal their name and rank—
It meant they did not intend to let anyone who heard it live.
It seemed they had realized this was not just a simple human hunt to pass the time.
Under the pressure of the killing intent in Ralper’s gaze, Glen smiled grimly.
“Glen Wordsworth.”
“Glen Wordsworth. Today, I will tear you into thousands of pieces to comfort the souls of my comrades you killed.”
Killing intent flared in Ralper’s eyes.
The demonic energy raging around him gradually settled.
It seemed he intended to fight at full power.
Glen slowly raised his left hand.
‘Then I should at least be polite too.’
Clang—
The shackle suppressing Glen’s demonic energy fell to the ground.
Then, the ring of demonic power that had been dormant to the right of his heart activated.
The awakened demonic ring began to change color together with the three rings of holy power.
The three white rings turned gray.
The single black ring also turned gray.
Four gray rings—neither holy nor demonic—formed a chain and wrapped around Glen’s heart.
‘It’s the first time since Yudit, so this is my first time using it in real combat.’
Woooooong—
The gray rings resonated.
It meant he had to choose between holy power and demonic energy.
‘What I need right now… is armor that will protect me from black arrows.’
Glen’s quiet wish.
The gray rings were dyed pure white and transformed into rings of holy power.
Holy power equivalent to 4 stars settled into his heart and spread throughout his body.
At the same time, pure white particles of holy power formed around Glen, taking the shape of armor.
It was the moment the Holy Armor, the authority of a 4-star Holy Knight, was completed.
“Holy armor… 4 stars, huh. Right. Since you killed Sabina, who was also 4-star, you must’ve reached that level.”
Ralper spoke as if analyzing Glen while looking him over.
“You have power far beyond your age. Even so, it’s still just 4 stars.”
Ralper gripped his dagger in a reverse hold.
The refined demonic energy around him wriggled ominously.
The two demons who came with Ralper also nocked arrows onto their bowstrings.
“Let’s see you struggle pathetically. No matter how you flail, a bastard like you won’t die comfortably.”
The three demons glared at Glen with fierce eyes.
Glen gave a light scoff.
“There’s one thing I’ll tell you.”
He adjusted his grip on the sword and lowered his stance.
Cold killing intent settled in his ash-gray eyes.
“Just because it’s 4-star, doesn’t mean all 4-stars are the same.”
