Chapter 44: The Reality of the Kingdom
The first battle was a great victory.
Leon, along with his Hunters and Kingdom troops, headed for the palace with over a hundred demons in their grasp.
“Crack!”
As the ropes were tied like a bundle of fish, the demons fell.
“Uh-oh, careful──.”
Koo Dae-sung was just about to pick up the demon when he saw that it had fallen and realized that the demon was a stunning beauty.
‘What? Just a moment ago──’
The ugly demon’s appearance was nowhere to be seen, and in front of him was a beauty who exuded a deadly charm.
“Mr. Hunter, if you let me go… I’ll do something nice for you.”
“Uh, uh, uh…….”
Koo Dae-sung was confused by the devil’s temptation.
Even though he knew that the being in front of him was a demon, he stretched out his hand as if he would fall for the temptation.
If he could hold such a beautiful woman once… it wouldn’t be a bad idea to risk his life──
[Aura of the Lion’s Heart: Legion Enhanced Pollution Resistance is activated]
He stretched out his hand towards the demon but the colorful beauty’s face disappeared, revealing a hideous one-eyed monster.
“Ah fuck!”
Startled, Koo Dae-sung punched the demon in the face.
The demon is dumbfounded by the punch.
“A mere mortal can resist my temptations?”
This is the demon temptation? I almost fell for it.
Koo Dae-sung gripped his fluttering heart, wary of the demon’s power.
‘What kind of bastard is this!”’
Leon approached on horseback from the front. His figure, mounted on Stallion, blocking out the sunlight, was very authoritative.
“What kind of bastard has been making a ruckus?”
“This bastard!”
With a quick change of demeanor, he pointed to the demon who had tempted him.
Leon’s gaze landed on the demon, and he spoke as if he had seen the whole picture in an instant.
“How dare you seduce my soldier with your filthy body?”
“Forgive me…!”
Leon’s military boot slammed into the demon’s shin and the demon’s leg snapped with a pop.
“Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“You filthy, lowly thing, raise your voice!”
Leon tramples the demon while the Hunters and the other demons watching were appalled.
‘He’s even more evil than the demons…!’
‘Ugh, kill him……’
Leon watched as the demon was trampled to death before he got back on his horse.
‘I don’t even have enough energy.’
Leon felt the Grail’s energy sharpen as the demon’s soul was absorbed by it.
As the demons self-destructed, he hunted down a number of commanders. Some of them were high-level demons, and Leon had recovered enough power.
The citizens were waiting for Leon to return with his captured demons.
They welcomed him and his soldiers for their victory, but stared at the demons with fear.
“…….”
The war against demons is always like this. They seduce humans, even if they are lesser demons, and draw them into destruction and corruption.
The same goes for their ugly appearance. The war against them is never-ending, and only a select few are inspired by victory.
In the Lionheart Kingdom, they pray to God, but the ones here have no one to turn to so Leon raised both hands.
“Applaud.”
“????”
“What?”
The gazes of the citizens and Hunters alike are filled with questions. They’ve grown accustomed to Leon’s erratic behavior, but that’s not the point.
When he stops all the soldiers stop and everyone is silent as all eyes are focused on him.
“Applause! Give glory to the god of war and flame and sing the glory of this Lionheart!”
“”………….””
The crowd was silent for a moment but soon someone began to clap, and it spread like a wildfire.
The thunderous applause grew louder and louder, soaring to the heavens.
“Hang the demons and let the citizens kill them themselves. Let them savor the sweetness of their ugly souls being extinguished.”
“Yes!”
“… We have come in triumph, but no one has come to see us.”
Leon thought of the captains and knights who weren’t present and had many questions but just as he was questioning everything, he saw a red glow from the windows of the castle.
“It worked.”
Leon turned back to the castle.
* * * *
Upon receiving Yappy’s report, Leon hurried to the castle’s basement along with the Hunters.
“Stop! This area is not authorized for access──”
Leon didn’t wait for the soldier to stop him and kicked open the spear-barred door to the basement.
The door burst open with tremendous pressure and the soldiers had already been subdued.
“Your Majesty, is this okay?”
Chief Kim Jin-soo had never seen a gate attack like this before.
In essence, gating is all about clearing quests. You just need to clear the gate according to the system message that carefully explains the closing conditions.
During the quest, NPCs will also appear, so it’s important to make them your allies as much as possible but he never heard of a strategy where you just go out and turn everybody against you!
“……Give up. It’s easier if you give up.”
“No, that’s not…!”
The Hunters, who had already watched Leon’s shenanigans at the Orc Gate, were convinced.
“Now, wait! Look at these!”
Koo Dae-sung, who was following in the lead, pointed in astonishment.
Where the door to the basement had been smashed open, there was a huge cavity. An unnaturally huge cavity…….
“What the hell.”
“There’s a place like this in the basement of the castle?”
Expecting the worst, the Hunters followed Leon as he walked briskly down the hall, only to be stopped by two knights.
“King Lionheart, what insolence!”
“Stay back! We can’t go any further!”
Despite their pleas, Leon didn’t stop but simply drew his sword.
“The king’s word. Kneel.”
Instead, it was Yappy who took action as the steel wire of his secondary arm traveled beyond the speed of sound, capturing the knights.
Their hardened swords were instantly severed before the sacred steel wire.
“The swords…!”
“You!”
Yappy quickly surrounded the knights, and Leon pulled down the covers they were guarding.
“Huh…!”
“Wow…….”
Inside was a frighteningly beautiful woman, sleeping soundly, a work of art rather than a creature…no, a subject that seems to have been created by the devil.
Queen of the Spero Kingdom, Beatrice Aligieri Spero.
Even in her sleep, she is deadly beautiful, leading men to their doom.
“Alas…….”
“Beautiful…….”
Soldiers, dazzled by her inhuman beauty, turn to her, drooling.
Seeing the abnormal behavior Leon realizes they have been dazzled by an irresistible temptation.
“Resist! Do not be seduced by her power!”
Leon shouted, but the soldiers reached out to the queen, their minds unable to withstand the power even with the Lionheart Aura.
‘Should I blame them for their weakness…?‘
Leon thought and punched Chief Kim Jin-soo in the nape of the neck as he reached out.
After that, the Lionheart King himself had to do the laborious work. One by one, he stunned the soldiers, showing a disappointed expression.
No matter how lenient he tried to be, he couldn’t help but compare them to his subjects.
“Off…!”
“Hmph?”
Leon, who was stunning the soldiers, saw Koo Dae-sung break out in a cold sweat, clutching his thighs in pain.
“Ho~”
Recognizing the deception, he stabbed himself to force himself to overcome it.
“Your Majesty…….”
“Take a deep breath. Inhale through your mouth and exhale slowly. Clear your mind.”
Leon sprinkled holy water on Koo Dae-sung’s thigh as he breathed slowly and deeply, the restorative power of the holy water regenerating his dagger wounds.
“Impressive. I didn’t think you’d be able to resist the Queen.”
Grand Marshal Ricardo and his knights walked slowly toward them, surrounding them.
“You owe me an explanation.”
“What explanation can I give to a man who is about to die?”
Koo Dae-sung was confused by the cold gaze of General Ricardo.
‘What? Is the General a Fallen?’
That would be strange. He and his knights had also passed through the divine flames in the square that day.
If they were Fallen, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the flames and reveal their true colors.
“Do you not plan to defend the kingdom? Without our help, you will not be able to withstand the invasion of the Evil Ones.”
“I don’t care, even without you.”
“Hmm.”
Leon’s calm demeanor didn’t falter in the face of the impending threat. Instead, he looked as cool as if he’d solved a puzzle.
“So, you guys. I see you’re not dazzled by the queen, are you?”
“……I’m used to it.”
“Of course you’re used to it. The queen’s powers are more of a curse than a birthright. I’ve seen one with such power before.”
‘The Lord of Pleasure.’
Leon remembered the ugly demon lord of lust he had slain with his own hands.
“One who seduces all that lives. One who is born to seduce. Demonic pleasures that lead men astray. This queen is such a creature.”
It was power beyond even Archdemons, a power no living thing can withstand. It was a difference of spirit, and that’s why countless Holy Knights have sacrificed themselves to defeat the Demon Lords.
“But it’s strange.”
“What…?”
“How is it that this king, who despises and loathes demons more than anyone else, senses no such aura from this queen…how is it that you are ‘fine’.”
Leon is a demon slayer who has fought demons for hundreds of years. There’s no way he wouldn’t recognize a malevolent aura.
Leon picks up the Holy Grail filled with holy water and atop the chalice was a black flower.
“Divinity of dreams and death, your guardian asks for your favor.”
A ritual that wasn’t full-fledged started but when the one doing it is a demigod, it’s a different story.
[I will gladly answer the call of the Lionheart King]
The violet woman smiles and reveals her spirit form. The divinity descended directly from the souls of countless demons, and its mere presence caused everything around it to freeze.
“Greetings, Fle, god of dreams and death.”
[Yes, Arianna’s knight. Master of the Lionheart]
“Lord of dreams, I have strengthened you as you wished.”
She had felt a sense of discomfort since Leon entered the gate and to find out what it was, Fle demanded to personally descend.
With the god of dreams and death summoned, it should be a simple matter to reveal the truth of this world.
The Goddess declared.
[Demons of Corruption, they have been at work, performing their rituals of corruption in endless dreams!]
The goddess pointed her finger at the captain and the knights.
[All dreams must end. Show your true selves!]
The truth of the world is revealed, centered on a beautiful finger.
The world is colored in an instant, like ink on drawing paper and the world, or rather, the dream, is shattered.
“Huh…!”
Seeing the transformation and the revealed reality, Koo Dae-sung swallowed hard.
The Grand Marshall and the knight of the Spero Kingdom who were once heroes, wielding their swords against evil showed their rotted flesh and gnarled with their bony forearms.
“De, Death Knight?!”
The undead knights who refused to die were revealed.
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