The Game Difficulty
Is
Crazy
The Ancient Rune Golem turned its body and discovered the black horn Glen was holding.
The ancient rune mana forming its single eye began to swirl violently.
Artifact location. Confirmed.
Return to original position.
If command is refused. Annihilation.
The Rune Golem’s gaze locked onto Glen, and in that brief opening, the patrol quickly escaped the circular cavern.
Now, the only ones left here were Glen, Hawkney, and the Ancient Rune Golem.
“Is this really okay, young master?” Hawkney asked from beside him.
Judging by how drenched his face was in sweat, he was extremely tense.
“Yes. What it wants is this horn. If we use it properly, you and I can shake it off,” Glen replied.
“So returning the horn to its original place isn’t an option, then,” Hawkney said with a bitter smile.
Glen wore the same expression.
“Of course not. Do you know how hard it was to get this?”
Wiiiiiiing—
The sound of mana resonance rang in their ears.
The Ancient Rune Golem was charging its mana cannon.
Return to original position.
If command is refused. Fire.
“Sir Hawkney. Run first.”
“Understood!”
Hawkney answered instantly and turned to run.
Glen remained alone, facing the Rune Golem.
“Yeah. If I put this back where it belongs, you’ll let me go, right?”
A deep, heavy voice echoed.
The air around Glen slowly grew heavier.
“But you see. I really need this.”
Glen tucked Medlerus’s Warhorn back into his clothes.
And at that moment—
《The penalty on Skill 『Gray Ring』 has ended.》
《Skill 『Gray Ring』 proficiency has increased by 1. Current proficiency: 2/12》
Along with the long-awaited system message, the four rings that had lost their light regained their glow.
“So this is the only thing I have to say to you.”
Glen curled the corner of his mouth upward.
Then he raised his middle finger toward the Ancient Rune Golem.
“This is mine. So screw off.”
With the provocation, Glen immediately spun all his holy rings.
Uuuuuung—
The holy rings resonated and began spinning rapidly. The holy power resting in his heart spread through his entire body, filling him with vitality.
His body felt light.
It had only been twelve hours, but it was a sensation he had missed terribly.
“Hoo.”
Intruder. Refusing command.
Commencing elimination.
“Yeah. Let’s start.”
After checking Hawkney’s position with a glance, Glen lowered his stance.
At the same time, a dense mana cannon surged toward him.
Kwaaaaaang—!
A thunderous explosion shook the cavern.
Fragments of rune mana scattered through the air.
But there was nothing there.
Ta-at—
Glen had already turned long ago and was chasing after Hawkney.
“Am I crazy enough to fight a 7-star?!”
The odds of the current Glen defeating a 7-star monster were in the single digits.
On top of that, this Rune Golem had Lunatic difficulty applied and couldn’t even be destroyed.
‘And the penalty on Gray Ring just ended, so I haven’t even linked the fourth holy ring yet.’
Only a lunatic would fight it head-on.
‘And honestly, running away might actually be the right solution.’
The description of the Lunatic element itself was suspicious.
Why give an enemy that already has terrible odds the setting of being indestructible?
It was practically telling him not to fight, but to run.
‘It might be overthinking, but there’s no reason to fight in such a cramped place anyway.’
Even if he had to fight, the entrance of the ruins was far wider and better.
That was why Glen had already focused all his holy power into his legs before the golem even attacked.
Then why did he send Hawkney ahead?
Intruder. Escaping.
Interception initiated.
A second mana cannon swirled in front of the golem’s chest.
‘Why else? For aggro!’
“Sir Hawkney!”
At Glen’s shout, Hawkney turned his head while running.
At the same time, Medlerus’s Warhorn flew toward him.
Hawkney instinctively caught the black horn.
“Young master, this is?!”
“Hold that and run like hell!”
There was no time to explain.
But judging by the fire in Hawkney’s eyes, he seemed to understand the plan.
Paaang—!
Hawkney kicked off the ground hard.
Cracks spread across the floor as he shot forward, creating a large gap.
And the next moment—
Artifact. Distance increasing.
Ceasing attack.
Commencing artifact pursuit.
The mana cannon aimed at Glen faded away.
The Rune Golem turned its body toward Hawkney.
Kurrrrr—
Its body collapsed and split into dozens of rocks, which began chasing Hawkney.
“This is it!”
Glen’s plan had worked.
The Ancient Rune Golem was a monster, but more accurately, it was a puppet weapon driven by ancient rune mana.
It followed fixed systems, with zero flexibility.
And the system controlling it right now was very simple.
‘Its objective is to retrieve the hidden piece, Medlerus’s Warhorn.’
That was why, even though it was just about to attack Glen, the moment the horn moved into Hawkney’s hands, it stopped attacking and began pursuit.
‘Good thing I kept Sir Hawkney.’
The mass of black rocks rolled forward at terrifying speed, chasing Hawkney, and even passed right by Glen as if he didn’t exist.
But even so, it wouldn’t catch a Hawkney who was determined to run.
‘No matter how strong it is, it’s still a golem-type monster.’
Its durability was unmatched, but in a chase that demanded speed, it was inferior.
With a sly smile, Glen chased after Hawkney from a distance.
‘First, use Sir Hawkney to lure it to the entrance of the ruins.’
The plan was going smoothly.
Almost too smoothly.
The chase between Glen, Hawkney, and the Ancient Rune Golem continued for over ten minutes.
Fortunately, they managed to reach the entrance of Medlerus’s Garden without a single injury, while shaking off the 7-star monster.
“Good! Sir Hawkney! Keep going and escape through the corridor we came from!”
Glen shouted as he ran right behind Hawkney.
Behind them, a terrifying wave of black rocks followed, but the distance wasn’t closing.
‘Good. If we just reach the corridor.’
They could shake off the Ancient Rune Golem and escape.
To be honest, Glen still wasn’t sure about the clear condition of this Lunatic event.
Was it simply escaping after shaking off the golem?
Or did they need to suppress or neutralize the indestructible monster in some other way?
But Glen didn’t care.
‘If we get caught, we die. Who cares about clear conditions!’
Sure, overcoming Lunatic difficulty gave great rewards.
But that didn’t mean you had to face every trial head-on like an idiot.
‘Can’t even link all my rings yet, and I don’t know the conditions. That says enough.’
So Glen decided to avoid this Lunatic trial entirely.
That was why he focused everything on escaping and shaking off the golem.
As Hawkney drew closer to the corridor leading outside, the escape plan was seconds from success.
A faint smile finally appeared on Hawkney’s lips, which had been tense the entire time.
‘Just you wait, tin can…….’
