Chapter 134
<Wasn’t This a Strategy Game? Episode 134>
‘What in the world…’
The thing that fell at my feet was a keyboard. I never imagined I would encounter such a thing in this world.
Eden knelt beneath it and lifted her head to see the Quest window again.
‘Enter the password set by the Great Saint Haila…?’
It was absurd, but that was the answer to this Quest. I had to use this keyboard to crack the password to obtain Haila’s Holy Sword.
At this point, I couldn’t help but suspect Haila’s identity.
‘A saint from 200 years ago used a keyboard to set a password…!’
My mind was racing.
“Hah…”
Eden let out a defeated sigh, and Asmun turned to her.
“…Do you know what that is?”
Of course, I knew. Too well.
But how am I supposed to guess the password Haila set!
“Saint?”
Karon cautiously called out to Eden, and she snapped back to reality, parting her lips.
“This is… well, it’s like a key.”
A key?
Still struggling to understand, Asmun and Karon looked puzzled. They’d never seen a key that looked like this.
“You need to unlock this key to find the Holy Sword.”
By her words, it seemed the two men had an inkling of the strange object’s purpose. Of course, just looking at Eden’s expression suggested it wouldn’t be easy.
That’s when it happened.
Whoooaaaaa―!
A deafening roar echoed from afar, and soon the ground beneath the three shook violently with a loud thud.
“…!”
Instantly, Asmun and Karon got into fighting stances, swords in hand, and turned around to see an enormous monster stomping towards them, far larger than any they had faced before.
“Gulp…”
Eden stiffened, sensing the danger, and looked to see the monster charging towards them. It looked familiar.
That was the ice monster she had encountered with Hagen’ti.
“Saint, please unlock the key. I’ll try to hold it off!”
Karon shouted resolutely and rushed towards the monster without hesitation.
Asmun quickly surrounded Eden with a pillar of fire to create a barrier and followed Karon’s lead.
“Aaaaah…!”
Eden clasped her head as she watched the two men fiercely battle the huge monster charging at them.
There was only one answer. To solve the password and obtain the Holy Sword to escape this place.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it…”
With bloody tears in her eyes, Eden threw off her gloves and placed her frozen hands onto the keyboard.
Tap, tap. It felt like an ancient memory washing over her fingertips.
`password`
Eden nervously typed in the basic password and awaited the notification window. Soon, the window popped up.
Ding.
`Please check your username or password again. The username is not registered or you have entered the wrong username or password. (1/5)`
“What the hell, there’s no username! How utterly lacking in consideration!”
Eden cursed at the notification window she never imagined she would encounter even in this world.
But there was no time to get heated. The horrifying roars of the monster continued to echo from behind.
The chilling sounds mingled, indicating more monsters were on their way, not just the ice monster.
With few remaining scrolls, she couldn’t summon Asmun’s knights…!
Only four chances left.
`123456`
`Please check your username or password again. The username is not registered or you have entered the wrong username or password. (2/5)`
`Haila`
`Please check your username or password again. The username is not registered or you have entered the wrong username or password. (3/5)`
After repeated failures, heat surged to Eden’s head.
“Aaaah! How am I supposed to know this…!”
Tears welled up from the absurdity.
This was the most ridiculous and hopeless quest she had ever encountered. Her mind went blank, unable to think of anything.
Yet the terrible sounds from behind kept pushing Eden onward.
Whoooaaaaa―!
With a final desperate act, Eden squeezed her eyes shut and moved her trembling hand.
`08101204`
With a glimmer of hope, she typed in her old password and hit enter; the notification window reappeared in front of Eden.
Ding.
`The password has been cracked.`
`The Holy Sword, long buried for 200 years, has been found.`
“…”
Eden, having guessed the password, stared blankly at the notification window.
This number was her own password. A combination of her birthday and the birthday of a celebrity she liked in middle school.
‘Haila’s password was my password…?’
Before she could even speculate on that puzzling connection, a shooting star-like light burst from the air, and the very thing she desired floated into view.
The Holy Sword.
“…”
The rugged blade seemed to glow brilliantly, proving its worth in every way.
Eden held her breath and slowly reached out to grasp the sword floating in mid-air.
The moment her hand touched it, a brilliant light erupted from the sword, and a massive force surged like a tidal wave, causing Eden’s hair to whip violently.
“Gulp…!”
At the same time, Asmun and Karon, feeling the immense energy, turned around just in time to see the force rush out from the sword, sweeping away the monsters they were battling like a fierce wind.
“…!”
Karon barely managed to maintain his balance, almost swept away along with the monsters, and looked at the snowfield that had moments ago been teeming with hostile creatures.
The snowy expanse was now completely clear of any monsters.
It was as if the creatures had vanished into thin air, leaving only Eden, Asmun, and Karon behind.
Asmun also looked at Eden with an expression of shock.
The barrier he had set around her had been swept away by this tremendous energy.
“…”
Eden, the source of this immense power, also looked stunned, her face losing color as she stared down at the sword in her hand.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
Eden blankly raised her head to view the consecutive notifications that appeared.
`【★】 You obtained the Holy Sword, and your Divine Power has increased. Your Divine Power rises by +30.`
`【★】 Congratulations! You have reached level 7. A special skill will be unlocked as a reward.`
`【★】 As a level-up reward, you have obtained the special skill ‘Advanced Monster Extermination’. Now you can eradicate all existing monsters at will. By chanting the ‘Mabes’ spell, all monsters within a 100m radius will be annihilated.`
Lydia gazed up at the sky.
The clear blue sky, the brilliant sunlight, the cool breeze—everything was perfect. It felt like…
“It seems even the heavens are blessing the Saint’s future.”
Patriar’s satisfied whisper made Lydia look at him with a blank expression.
She seemed to be dressed splendidly as though she were about to conduct her coronation, a content smile adoring her face.
“Look. They’ve all gathered to congratulate the Saint.”
Lydia slowly turned her head to glance at what Patriar was indicating.
Just as he said, countless people filled the Great Temple so tightly that there was hardly any room to stand.
Today was the day of Lydia’s Ceremony of the Saint.
The ceremony would soon take place, and after today, Lydia would become the new Saint of Hesmoro, while Eden would be deposed.
“…”
When she thought of Eden, a sharp pain pierced Lydia’s heart.
Eden had been her benefactor. The one who saved her in that terrible place and breathed life back into her.
Now, she was betraying that very Eden.
“You’re thinking useless thoughts.”
Sensing Lydia’s expression darkening, Patriar clicked his tongue and skillfully soothed her.
“Are you thinking of the Saint? I’ve told you several times. If she were truly the Saint sent from above, she wouldn’t have run away to the Grand Duchy at such a critical time. People are dying throughout the Empire, and she hasn’t shown her face during all that time.”
“…”
“The one running around saving the people, sweating like crazy, is the Saint and I.”
Lydia swallowed her retort that nearly rose to her throat, biting her lip helplessly.
“So stop thinking useless thoughts and smile a bit. The Emperor will be watching as well.”
Patriar regarded Lydia with a disapproving look, then like a child soothingly brushed her shoulder and whispered.
“I must emphasize this, today must absolutely not be a mistake.”
The warning in his lowered voice made Lydia’s eyes harden.
Anticipating her reaction with relish, Patriar added as if for confirmation.
“Who would know better than me who would suffer if mistakes are made?”
Patriar smiled as he locked eyes with the thoroughly frozen Lydia.
Then the Ceremony of the Saint began.
As Lydia appeared, uproarious cheers erupted as if they would bring the temple down.
Among those gathered, it seemed not a single soul opposed deposing Eden and establishing a new Saint.
“…”
Lydia carefully stepped forward, treading lightly to avoid trampling the flowers that rained down at her feet, finally standing before the Chancellor.
Sereman was the only one in the Great Temple who had opposed making Lydia the Saint.
However, he couldn’t avoid blame for not fulfilling his duties due to recent events, and could not defy the Emperor’s orders, which forced him to stand here to replace the Saint himself.
“…We will now commence the Ceremony of the Saint.”
