The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 17
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 17 The Mechanical Spider
Gu Dae-Sung stared up at Leon in disbelief, now realizing
that he had been saved.
'The
Gnoll Chieftain's axe is... suspended in midair.'
More precisely, it was clutched in Leon's hand, shaking
but unmoving.
‘How
strong does one have to be.......'
While not quite as powerful, Gnoll Chieftain is still
comparable to a Class C hunter. The monster is the stalwart of the Seoul
Station gate, the graveyard of beginners.
'Not
only did he block the Gnoll Chieftain's axe with his hand, but he held it so
tightly that it couldn't be yanked back?'
It was impossible, unless the man is overwhelmingly
strong.
"Try again."
For a moment, Gu Dae-sung wondered if he had misheard.
"What...?"
"Raise your shield and face it again, I say."
"????"
And then Dae-sung realized the man was letting go of the
Gnoll Chieftain's axe.
"Now, block his attack and strike back. Go on."
"No, what are you doing...! We're all in
danger!"
From the perspective of common sense, Gu Dae-sung was a
hundred percent right. But in the eyes of the Lion-hearted King, such behavior
is not only foolish, but also impious.
"How insolent! You have the honor of being guided by
the Lion-hearted King, and yet you dare to differ!"
"No...!"
Outrageous! What have I done wrong?
"It is an honor that will be passed down from
generation to generation that a Holy Grail Knight like myself, is guiding a
mere freeman soldier. Such a favor is beyond gratitude."
Leon spoke with an attitude that was already beyond
reproach, an attitude that would have stunned even the Gnoll next to him.
But Leon could only cast a pathetic stare at the dazed
commoner.
"Raise your shield! Block the axe, and strike
back!"
"Ugh...!"
Since Leon had let go of the Gnoll Chieftain's axe, Gu
Dae-sung had no choice but to raise his shield in order to survive.
"Grrr...!"
While Gu Dae-sung got up, the Gnoll Chieftain glared
ferociously at Leon. Of course, Leon was much more of an aggro than Gu
Dae-sung.
"Graaaaah!"
The Gnoll Chieftain swung his axe at Leon without paying
attention to Gu Dae-sung. Just as his axe is about to hit Leon in the head,
-Tup!
"Grrr?"
The axe stopped in the air. The razor-sharp axe was once
again stuck in his grasp, unable to budge.
"Is this rabid mutt insane?"
The Gnoll Chieftain cowered under Leon's gaze. The man
eyed the axe for a moment, then he grabbed the shield in the Gnoll's hand.
An unscathed hand tightened its grip on the shield, and
the unbelievable happened,
-Jjik, krik, krak, krak, kraak!
The metal shield was wrenched. It was crushed into the shape
of a clasp, just as the hand had clutched it.
It was a horrifying sight. The worst kind of spectacle
that could be produced by a violent force. This performance proved only one
thing,
Don't mess with him.
"Gurrr...."
The Gnoll Chieftain understood immediately. Wild beasts
understood the hierarchy of power by nature.
His tail curled as he realized that he was no match for
Leon.
Instead, he directed his anger and embarrassment at Gu
Dae-sung.
"Uhhh......."
Gu Dae-sung was stunned by the unexpected bounce off the
aggro, but the Gnoll Chieftain, who had lost his shield, swung his axe straight
at him.
"Aagh...!"
Gu Dae-sung raised his shield with a short burst of
breath. A clang sounded and the impact was transmitted through the shield.
‘So
strong!'
Such a heavy impact! How could that guy block such an axe
with his fingers??
"Fool, how can you use mere muscle to block such a
blow just because you have a shield!"
Leon yelled at Gu Dae-sung. He watched the combat from the
sidelines and began to criticize.
"Don't go toe-to-toe with a being more powerful than
you! Try to weasel out of it like you did before. Exploit an opening. That's
how the weak fight!"
Damn, if it's that easy, do you think I'll be a ten
thousand year D-class hunter?
But Gu Dae-sung tried again to parry the swinging axe
with his shield.
He slanted the shield, twisting its path. Instead of
taking the full impact, he deflected it diagonally.
-Bam!
"Keugh...!"
But it was easier said than done. The Gnoll Chieftain saw
the shield being tilted and reacted.
"This is no scarecrow! This is a living, breathing,
learning beast! How can you expect to succeed by simply shifting your
shield?!"
"Ack! Damn it! Then what am I supposed to do──"
With a thud, Leon's kick to the side knocked Gu Dae-sung
off his feet.
"What, what are you doing──!"
Gu Dae-sung witnessed the trajectory of the Gnoll
Chieftain's axe swinging as he tumbled away. The shield he had lowered
thoughtlessly while replying to Leon's words would not have blocked the axe's
blow.
"Stay focused. Take my advice like it is the air,
but keep your eyes on the enemy."
Leon stopped the axe-wielding Gnoll in his tracks by
hitting him in the head, and Leon looked over at Gu Dae-sung.
"Get back on your feet."
Why is this madman doing this to me? When he was about to
protest, Leon said,
"Don't let your talent rot. Unlock your potential.
You can do better."
Talented? Me?
Gu Dae-sung felt a strange feeling at the words.
A hunter without a single unique skill. A talentless ten
thousand year D-class who just happened to be awakened.
He had never heard anyone call him talented before.
Naturally, he thought he had no talent.
Leon's words of encouragement were so unexpected, and the
man's voice alone filled him with a strange sense of trust.
I can do this.
I can do this.
He raised his shield.
'This
is my first time using a shield. I've always used a sword.'
-Bam!
'It's
heavy. Damn, how did I parry his attack earlier?'
"Keep
your eyes on the enemy."
He followed his advice. In the narrow field of vision
blocked by the shield, he stared at the axe that Gnoll Chieftain was wielding.
'The trajectory of the swinging axe, if only I could read
it--!'
-Bang!
The sound rang out, louder than before. The sound of
metal clashing against metal.
"It, it worked...!"
"Grrr!"
The Gnoll's front paw slammed into his abdomen. Gu
Dae-sung's body flew into the distance.
"Tsk...! How pathetic. How can you not see the whole
picture? You've got a long way to go."
Staring at the axe, he didn't see the creature's foot
move. Gu Dae-sung's vision blurred and his eyelids finally closed.
This year, he still received a verdict of Class D.
* * * *
As Gu Dae-sung passed out, Leon, the Gnoll, and Shin
Tae-hoon were the only ones left in the area.
"Grr, grr......."
The Gnoll Chieftain glared at the fallen Gu Dae-sung, but
also watched Leon's eyes. Learning fear kept the Gnoll Chieftain from moving
easily.
It could only stare at Leon in horror. With that alone──
"How much longer are you going to look down upon me,
you filthy son of a bastard who isn't even human?"
-Crack!
A finger whipped out. It was not even a fist, but the
mere contact of his chin with the outstretched index finger sent Gnoll
Chieftain's head spinning thirteen times.
-Kududuk!
The Gnoll Chieftain collapsed to the ground with a
crunching sound as his neck snapped.
"Humph... dirty."
Leon frowned like a mysophobia who had touched something
he shouldn't have, then he stood in front of Shin Tae-hoon.
Swipe, he wiped his finger where he had touched the Gnoll
Chieftain on the hem of Tae-hoon's shirt. Tae-hoon didn't dare say anything.
Gnoll Chieftain is a boss at the gate of Seoul Station,
where there is no specific boss.
It's a graveyard for beginners with a Class C rating.
Many novice hunters meet Gnoll Chieftain and only manage to survive with the
help of the Association staff.
What kind of Hunter would play with a Gnoll Chieftain
like that?
"Are, are you a hunter of the Association?"
As it turns out, even though it was a clear crisis, the
real Association staff didn't step in. Instead, they keep their distance and
act as if they knew this was coming.
"That's right! Na-yeon...!"
Tae-hoon's eyes widened in realization as he looked in
the direction of the cave.
"Uh, umm... O - Oppa, it's all taken care of."
"You young men have had a hard time."
In front of the cave, where dozens of kobolds were supposed
to emerge. There, Old Man Wu smiled and wiped the blood off his holster.
"Then... we'll end the test."
With those words, the test at Seoul Station Gate came to
an end.
Moments later.
Han Hari, who was waiting at the entrance to Seoul
Station Gate, saw Leon and ran over.
"Your, Your Majesty! Are you well?"
" 'Tis nothing more than a walk."
The Seoul Station Gate was nothing more than a walk for
him. Even if he's a weakened knight-king who's lost most of his power, his body
is that of a demigod.
Even if more than thousands of gnolls chieftain swarm
around him, they can't put a single scratch on his body, let alone a single
one.
"So... did you accomplish your goal?"
Leon had come to the Gate of Seoul Station in the name of
testing to learn about the hunters' physiology and find talent at the same
time.
"No. I encountered several hunters in the waiting
room, but all of them are low-level soldiers. Anyone worthy of entering the
military gate......."
Leon remembered a man.
Gu Dae-sung. Class D Hunter.
His skill with a shield was unremarkable. Poor, to be
exact, but he showed promise.
A professional soldier's first skill was to be able to
wield a shield, so that was something worth cultivating.
"Well, at least one is fit enough to be a
corporal."
"I see."
It was then. In Hari's field of vision, the association
staff and the other party members who went with Leon came into view.
Hari was surprised to see the elderly man among them...
or rather, the unmasked Oh Kang-tae.
"Chai- Chairman, Sir?!"
"Ms. Hari, it's been a while."
Oh Kang-tae. No, Oh Kang-hyuk.
The chairman of the Hunter's Association smiled a cheeky
smile.
* * * *
A cafe near Seoul Station.
"Were you aware?"
Oh Kang-hyuk, chairman of the Hunter's Association. He'd
suspected that Leon had known about his identity from the time he'd stopped
bothering with the kobold cave.
"From the beginning. There's no way a warrior of
your caliber could be drifted there."
Leon had known from the moment he approached him under
his pseudonym, for the aura he carried was out of the ordinary.
"Heh heh, I even put on a mask of illusion on
purpose, but it seems to be meaningless."
The magic item that transformed one's face to look like
someone else was meaningless to Leon in the first place, as he was an outsider
who didn't even know the face of the most famous hunters in the country.
"I heard you're starting a guild this time."
"If you replace the term Knight Order with Guild, then
yes."
Oh Kang-hyuk wanted to know Leon's agenda.
He needed to know what he was after, his goals, so that
Oh Kang-hyuk could keep him in the small country of Korea.
"I would like to thank you on behalf of the nation
for cleansing the Naju Plain. The President said he would like to see you soon
to thank you."
"It's not a big deal. It doesn't warrant a royal
visit to thank me."
"We would also like to extend our own separate
gratitude. If you wish──"
"I'm not particularly interested in heading to another
country."
"......!"
His words hit the nail on the head.
What the Association wants from Leon is for him to stay
in this country.
He had proven to be a powerful being in his own right, but
more than that, his miraculous ability to cleanse the land of maso
contamination made him more valuable than any other survivor.
If any other country realized what he could do, they
might want to start a war to get him.
'Even
our ally, the United States, can't be trusted.'
The United States has also lost all sorts of productive
land to dungeon breaks. They'll pay Leon any price to cleanse the land.
And what that price would be, Leon seemed to already
know.
"You are mistaken."
"That... what do you mean?"
"It is not my power or ability that has cleansed the
tainted land."
"What does that......"
'I
heard from the Association staffs that he cleaned up the plains of Honam and
Naju. I've seen it on video too, so how can it not be his power──'
"You mean... by believing in Goddess Demera...
anyone can do that?"
"Not just anyone. One must at least be a priest with
sincere faith and be recognized by the goddess."
Oh Kang-hyuk was stunned. A mere priest could solve a
problem that humanity has yet to truly solve?
"In this world, there is basically a freedom of
religion."
"......Yes."
Religious conflicts still erupt, but there was no
religious persecution in Korea. Sure, there's one religion that's a little more
extreme, but it pales in comparison to the bombings in the Middle East.
"It's a problem that will be overcome naturally. If
you want divine power, you must first prove yourself with unconditional
faith."
"......."
Oh Kang-hyuk wondered if he should really trust this
otherworldly religious person. But apart from that, he couldn't deny the
purified land.
"Your Majesty's wishes are well understood, but
should there be anything else you wish for, we will help you."
"Then I can give you the opportunity to serve
me."
"And that would be?"
" 'Tis to improve the king's standing."
Standing? Oh Kang-hyuk gave him a puzzled look.
"When you say 'standing', you mean......."
"I intend to raise my prestige on this land... no,
in this world... so that I can have an opportunity to spread the faith."
In other words, he believed that the more fame he gained,
the more he could spread the faith of the Pantheon.
He wasn't wrong, in fact, it was the most effective way.
"Hmm... I see... In order for Your Majesty to increase
your standing... there is actually a great way to do that. His Majesty must
have guessed."
Oh Kang-hyuk remembered that he had joined the test to
find talented people.
He created a guild, accepted residents, and sought guild
members.
The simplest way to increase your fame on modern Earth.
Needless to say, it was...
"First, I'd suggest you start building a track
record to raise your rank as a hunter. In this day and age, there aren't nearly
more effective means of spreading prestige than sheer power."
"And how do I raise that rank?"
"Simple. You close the gates. Of course, this will
be a complicated process for Your Majesty, who has only just settled on
Earth."
The first issue is the gate. Most high-ranking gates are
usually reserved for guilds that won the bid, and the only gates that Leon, a
novice hunter, can enter are low-ranking gates owned by the Association that no
one has bid on.
"If you want to raise your reputation quickly,
there's nothing like a high-ranked gate."
"But, I heard that those are the ones that guilds
bid on in advance?"
At that, Oh Kang-hyuk laughed and replied,
"Actually, there is a case of a failed attempt to
capture a Scarlet Gate. It's a rather unusual gate, and the Association is
struggling with it."
He pulled out his smartphone, played a video, and
politely placed it on the desk.
On the screen, a 'spider' appeared.
"This is the Scarlet Gate in Cheongju. It's a unique
gate that was recently elevated to the status of an active 'Red' gate."
The eight wide-angle lenses covering all four directions
were moving nonstop, and the eight thick legs were too callous and hideous for
a creature.
Huge main and secondary guns were attached to ironclad
shells reminiscent of a giant crab. The guns emitted vicious electromagnetic
waves and shot bullets.
-Ahhhh! Run! Run! Run! Run!
-What the hell! You can't beat that thing!
A gigantic walking nightmare that hops from building to
building on eight legs, mocking the hunters.
"This is the boss of this unique gate, which no one
has cleared in a year."
[Either take or destroy the 'Jewel of Wisdom', guarded by
the Yakt Spinner.]
***
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