The Game Difficulty Is Crazy
Two massive splashes exploded around the huge circular bath.
Between the sprays of water falling like rain, two figures brushed past each other—
Then collided at a single point.
KAAANG—!
A sharp crashing sound that seemed to tear through the turquoise garden.
At its center stood a gray-haired boy and a knight clad in turquoise armor, their swords locked together.
Neither side was pushed back; the two blades crossed in a perfect form.
After finishing the contest of strength, the swords clashed again as they traced their own arcs.
Chaeng, clang—!
Explosive sounds rang out one after another.
Below them, four legs busily pushed aside the water in the bath.
“…….”
The fierce standoff continued.
Glen bit down hard on his lip.
‘This is insanely tough…!’
This kind of evenly matched fight was never a situation he wanted.
Right now, a total of six holy rings were violently rotating around Glen’s heart.
The gray ring represented Glen’s full power.
And yet, the fact that the battle still wasn’t decided meant only one thing—
The opponent was on a higher level than him.
‘What choice do I have? This is a trial!’
The Turquoise Knight.
One of the trials of the Turquoise Bath: while half the party fights the Turquoise Knight Perenold, the other half must find and defeat the three spirits controlling him.
In other words, while Romina dealt with the three spirits controlling Perenold, Glen had to hold Perenold back.
‘But this wasn’t supposed to be this hard!’
Originally, Perenold’s strength was set to be slightly below that of the half of the party assigned to him.
So Glen should have been able to fight him evenly even without using the gray ring.
But whether Lunatic mode had strengthened him or not, Perenold’s combat power far exceeded Glen’s.
It wasn’t just raw power.
Speed, technique—
Even swordsmanship enhanced by the effect of being a ringless knight.
Clang! KAAANG—
“Ghk…!”
Perenold overwhelmed Glen in every aspect.
Judging by the number of rings, Perenold was probably close to a seven-star level.
That was why Glen had been forced to use even the gray ring—his final option—to barely maintain balance.
It was a blessing that he could now operate six rings thanks to the second demonic ring he had recently obtained.
Even so, the number of rings still wasn’t enough, but Ainheria— a legendary weapon that had risen to mythic rank under the favor of the blade—made it possible to endure.
‘But even then, six minutes is the limit.’
Once those six minutes ended, the gray ring’s duration would expire, all rings would deactivate, and Glen wouldn’t last even a single second against Perenold.
‘Honestly, it’s already insanely hard!’
KAAANG—!
Perenold didn’t tire at all.
The reason was the power of the spirits moving him.
Among all forces in the world, spirit power was the only one that never depleted and could be used infinitely.
Which meant that, as things stood, Glen had no chance of victory.
There was only one thing he could rely on.
‘Romina has to take out all three spirits within the six minutes I hold out.’
If that happened, the spirit power moving Perenold would rapidly weaken, and only then would Glen be given a chance he didn’t have before.
‘So succeed, Romina.’
Had he ever relied on someone else this much since coming into this body?
This Lunatic trial truly lived up to the name of a party dungeon—an absolutely hellish event.
Tap, tap—
Romina hurried along the pure white rocky path.
She had been swept up by the water unleashed by the Turquoise Knight, and when she opened her eyes, she was here.
The unfamiliar scenery was confusing, but Romina knew exactly what she had to do.
‘Three spirits.’
She had to find and eliminate the three spirits that empowered the Turquoise Knight.
Only then could she escape this eerily silent place.
But—
‘Where are they…?’
Romina bit her lip.
She couldn’t see a single spirit—nothing even resembling one.
She wished Glen had at least written down their locations.
『The place you fall and the places where the spirits hide are all random. You have to search everything thoroughly.』
She couldn’t even rely on that.
All she could see was a silent lake, floating stones scattered through the air,
And the white rocky path beneath her feet.
The scenery that had once seemed beautiful now felt terrifying enough to send chills down her spine.
“…….”
Hugging her goosebumped shoulders, Romina kept running.
But no matter how much she ran, shouted, or used magic, the scenery never changed.
“What do I do…?”
The calm she had maintained until now slowly began to crumble.
Right now, Glen was probably fighting nonstop against an enemy on his level.
‘I have to find them quickly!’
Just as she anxiously chewed at her fingernails—
『The place you fall and the places where the spirits hide are all random. You have to search everything thoroughly.』
Glen’s words suddenly resurfaced in her mind.
Romina’s pupils widened.
“Everything… thoroughly…”
Come to think of it, there was one place she hadn’t searched even once.
Romina lowered her gaze beyond the white rocky path.
The suffocatingly still surface of the lake.
She hadn’t checked below it yet.
“……!”
A sharp light flowed through her amber eyes.
Without hesitation, Romina threw herself off the path.
SPLAAASH—!
Inside the lifeless, silent lake.
The moment she entered, Romina sensed something alien at the bottom.
‘That is…’
At the edge of her vision was a large rock wrapped in vines.
Romina compared it with Glen’s notes.
And the next moment—
‘Found it!’
Certainty filled her eyes.
Black demonic energy rose around her body.
Her target was the loathsome spirit.
KAAANG—!
Clatter—
In the middle of their frantic clash, Perenold suddenly staggered.
Cracks began to spread across the stone-and-wood sword he was holding.
“…….”
Perenold silently looked at it—
Then, with another splash, charged Glen again and swung his sword.
Glen raised Ainheria and blocked the downward strike.
Clang—!
“Oh!”
A change transmitted through his fingertips.
The strike that had felt as heavy as a mountain suddenly grew lighter.
It seemed Romina had eliminated one of the three spirits.
A grim smile spread across Glen’s face.
