The Game Difficulty Is Crazy
Chapter 15
The lord’s office of the Wordsworth estate.
The butler, Fred, looked utterly haggard compared to a month ago, when the lord had left for Istirenne.
The hair he had once neatly slicked back with oil now stuck out in all directions, and his once sharp eyes were losing their light from overwork.
He was capable, but even so, handling both the household affairs and the lord’s duties alone for an entire month was beyond him.
On top of that, recently, a demon skirmish unit had even infiltrated the monastery near Ovenue Fortress.
If only Miss Tris would come back, at least…
Tris had long since been traveling all across Wordsworth with Glen, explaining Edgar’s situation to the vassals.
She should have received word about the demon assault quite some time ago, yet for some reason she still hadn’t returned to the estate.
Just then, the office door burst open.
“Sir Fred! An unidentified rider has passed through the checkpoint and is heading straight for the estate!”
The servant’s face was pale with urgency.
A strange light flickered in Fred’s eyes.
Fred hurriedly gathered the knights stationed at the estate and headed for the main gate.
Soon, from afar, a suspicious figure covered in black rags came charging toward the estate on horseback, kicking up clouds of dust.
“Knights, I ask this of you!”
At Fred’s shout, the mounted knights blocked the front gate.
The horse carrying the suspicious figure came to a stop before them, rearing its front legs.
“Halt!”
“Get down from the horse.”
Instead of answering, the figure threw off the rags covering his body, revealing his bare face.
The knights blocking his path froze in shock, then quickly lowered their heads.
“L-Lord! We greet the head of the house!”
The identity of the suspicious figure was none other than Henry Wordsworth, the lord of Wordsworth.
After the Holy War council, the lord should have remained in Istirenne because of Edgar’s issue.
Yet he had returned to the territory.
Which meant—
Has he abandoned the eldest young master…?
Fred’s pupils shook violently.
“……”
The lord looked over the knights, then turned his gaze to Fred.
“Fred.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Immediately send black ravens to all vassals who serve Wordsworth.”
A red gleam flickered in the lord’s eyes.
“It’s a mobilization order.”
Four days after leaving Serge Village.
After riding hard and saving every possible moment, Glen finally reached the outskirts of Ribero, where Ovenue Fortress stood.
But—
“…Has it already started?”
Ovenue Fortress came into view.
Above it, the sky was covered with thick, dark red clouds.
“Glen… that can’t be…”
“It is.”
The Eighth Demon King Army Legion, led by Penelope, head of the Witch Council.
It seemed their vanguard had crossed the borderlands and already reached Ovenue Fortress.
Cold light settled in Glen’s eyes.
“Let’s hurry.”
With Romina riding behind him, Glen urged the horse toward the eastern gate of the fortress.
Only after the horse began to stagger from four straight days of riding did Glen finally arrive beneath the eastern gate.
From atop the tightly shut walls, a Gray Wolf Knight leaned forward to look down at him.
“Isn’t that Young Master Glen?!”
“Please open the gate first.”
“Yes, sir! Raise the gate!”
Chrrrr—!
Kkirik kkiriririk—!
Chains wound from inside as the massive gate slowly rose.
Once inside, the same knight came down from the wall to greet Glen.
“The Gray Wolves of Ovenue greet the blood of Wordsworth! Given the situation, I apologize for not observing proper formalities.”
“It’s fine. I think I understand the situation well enough.”
Glen frowned as he looked at the dark red clouds that had gathered right before the fortress in the western sky.
“When did they cross over?”
“Movement was observed in the Demonic Lands three days ago. They crossed the border yesterday and arrived today at noon.”
“So this is the first engagement.”
“Yes.”
From beyond the knight’s report, mixed shouts and screams drifted in on the cold wind from the western wall.
Judging by the sounds alone, the battle situation didn’t look very good.
“I’ll join the fight immediately.”
“I would like to follow you, Young Master, but this is my assigned post.”
“Please fulfill your duty.”
They would need troops stationed in all directions, since they didn’t know where the demons might infiltrate.
“Yes. Then I wish you fortune in battle.”
“You as well.”
“Oh—Young Master! According to reports, you were supposed to bring the war supplies left behind in Haven with the rear unit…”
“Ah… that.”
The knight looked anxious.
Glen curled the corner of his mouth into a smile.
“I brought them.”
“Pardon? What do you—”
But Glen, still mounted, was already far away.
Dakidak dakidak—!
The scenery rushed past.
The closer the dark red clouds drew, the more chaotic the inside of the fortress became.
“Hey! Get out of there, now!”
“Is the boiling oil ready yet?!”
“We’re supplying the areas where the enemy is most concentrated first!”
“You two! Arrows are falling on the left wall! Move!”
The Gray Wolf Knights shouted sharp commands as they directed the conscripted soldiers.
The confused soldiers began to move in perfect order.
Glen stopped his horse beneath the wall.
As Glen dismounted, Romina asked,
“What about me?”
She was strong, but since she was a demon like the enemy, she couldn’t fight openly.
“For now, hide somewhere nearby. Don’t fight, no matter what.”
“Got it. Stay alive.”
“You think I’d die?”
With a small grin, Glen let out a breath and spun his holy rings.
Holy power surged through his body, carried by the resonance of the four holy rings, filling him with vitality.
With sharp light in his eyes, Glen kicked off the ground.
Paaang—!
Crushing the ground beneath him, Glen raced up the wall stairs at tremendous speed.
He overtook the soldiers running up the stairs and reached the top of the wall in an instant.
And at that moment—
“Nock arrows!”
“Draw!”
“Fire!”
At the commander’s shout, the archers released their arrows all at once.
Countless black lines filled the sky.
Then, as Glen followed their trajectory downward, his breath caught in his throat.
“…!”
A wide-open view filled with a dark red sky.
Below it, swarming like black ants, were the undead—creatures he had fought to exhaustion in the ruined village of Sildur.
Each one had a body that was torn, cut, severed, or crushed somewhere.
“……”
Glen twisted his lips.
Just looking at the wall below, packed with black undead, sent chills down his spine.
There are far more than expected.
As if answering that thought, blue particles formed in Glen’s vision and assembled into words.
《Accessing information on a new Lunatic element.》
Glen read the disgusting system message flickering before his eyes with cold eyes.
《Eight Legion Commanders of the Demon King Army – Lunatic》
: In the original work, the eight legion commanders of the Demon King Army were not very strong despite their notoriety. To address this, three low-ranking legion commanders have been deleted and three new commanders have been added.
: In the process, Penelope Ogma, previously ranked fifth, and her legion have been pushed down to rank eight. There is now no legion commander weaker than her.
So that’s why the Eighth Legion Commander changed from Oscar to Penelope…
Oscar and Penelope hadn’t simply swapped positions.
Oscar had been erased entirely.
And as if that wasn’t enough, three entirely new legion commanders—who didn’t exist in the original work—had been added.
Worse still, they were all stronger than Penelope, the eight-star witch Glen knew.
One mountain after another.
Cold sweat trickled down Glen’s neck as he gave a bitter smile.
Then one question crossed his mind.
If the legion commander changed, fine—but why was the assault date moved up?
Changing the Eighth Legion Commander from Oscar to Penelope shouldn’t have advanced the demon assault itself.
But soon, the answer appeared before Glen’s eyes.
《Accessing information on a new Lunatic element.》
“Are you kidding me…!”
《Penelope Ogma – Lunatic》
: Penelope is known as one of the proudest and most arrogant demons. She absolutely cannot accept the fact that her rank is the lowest.
: Therefore, to prove her strength, Penelope launches the attack two months earlier than the originally scheduled assault date.
How very kind of you.
Thanks to the system’s “kind” explanation, all his questions were answered at once.
Oscar, erased.
Penelope, taking his place.
And the worst possible situation born from her sky-high pride.
Now Lunatic elements are stacking on top of each other…
At this rate, Lunatic trials might start overlapping two or three at a time.
Shaking off the unpleasant thought, Glen slowly closed his eyes.
“Hoo…”
A short, steady breath.
When he opened his eyes again, they were calmer than before.
“It can’t be helped.”
What had happened had already happened.
The demon assault being accelerated by overlapping Lunatic trials was not something Glen could control.
If anything, he had already learned that the assault would be early and that the legion commander was Penelope, thanks to the demon skirmish units.
Originally, he would have faced all this without knowing anything.
“……”
Glen hardened his gaze.
There was no point lamenting spilled water that he hadn’t even spilled himself.
There’s only one thing I need to do.
Clean it up as fast as possible.
Just you wait. Double Lunatic or whatever—I’ll smash it all and take every insane reward that comes with it.
With fighting spirit burning, Glen pulled Ainheria from his inventory.
At that moment, a sharp sense of danger prickled at the back of his head, and he turned.
Shuuuuuu—!
A black object flew toward the top of the wall.
Its destination—
“Hey! Move out of the way!”
Glen shouted urgently as he turned.
Archers were busy nocking arrows there.
At Glen’s sharp warning, the archers looked up—
And the black object filled their vision.
“What—”
KWAJAK—!
A massive boulder fell from the sky, crushing them instantly.
Then, what had seemed like a boulder began to writhe and split apart.
“Grrrr…”
What they had thought was a boulder was actually undead bodies packed tightly together into a ball.
Untangling their twisted bodies, the creatures rose atop the wall.
In an instant, five or six undead had made it onto the battlements.
“You’ve got to be kidding—!”
Glen kicked off the ground.
He swung his sword at the undead.
“Kraaah…!”
Slash—!
The blade split an undead’s head in two.
The bisected corpse twitched grotesquely, then collapsed to the ground.
Glen didn’t stop.
Slash—crack—!
With Ainheria wrapped in holy power, he ran nonstop across the wall, cutting down undead after undead.
But his expression remained grim.
There are way more than I thought!
Even as he cut them down, more clumps of undead flesh kept flying onto the wall.
And beneath the wall, hundreds of undead were climbing over each other to scale it.
“Kraaah!”
“Get lost!”
Kicking aside a headless undead flailing on the ground, Glen turned his head.
His eyes caught the soldiers fighting back the undead.
“Die, you monster bastard!”
“You think you can climb up here?!”
“You filthy demon scum! Too scared to show yourselves, so you send these undead instead?!”
Gray Wolf Knights charged bravely through the undead, swinging their swords.
Behind them, regular soldiers supported them with arrows, stones, boiling oil, and spears.
They were fighting harder than expected.
But—
This isn’t a good picture.
Below the wall, the ground was completely hidden by countless undead swarming like insects.
No matter how well his side fought, clearing them all would come at a heavy cost.
Even if ten soldiers died to kill a thousand undead, it was still a loss.
This kind of war of attrition is exactly what the demons want.
Undead units were nothing more than meat shields meant to force attrition in the vanguard.
No matter how hard they pushed back the waves, it would be human soldiers who paid the price.
Meanwhile, the demons would be watching the battle comfortably from outside the battlefield.
And with their specialty in infiltration, they’ll be waiting for a chance to take the commanders’ heads.
The Gray Wolf Knights would likely win this battle in the end.
But if that victory cost the lives of precious knights and dozens or hundreds of soldiers, it meant nothing.
I won’t allow that.
What was needed now was to twist this losing battle and deal a heavy blow to the enemy vanguard.
And Glen knew the way to do something that seemed nearly impossible.
“Obviously, we take out the commander.”
At the far end of the plain below the wall—
At the point where the black tide of undead began—there would be a single commander controlling them all.
If I kill that bastard, the first engagement ends in our complete victory.
A sharp light flashed in Glen’s eyes.
