The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 2
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 2 The Black Gate
A gate had opened in the
middle of Seoul.
This in itself was not a
rare occurrence.
Since Jamsil Gate,
Namyangju Gate, Songdo Gate, and other gates opened across the region 30 years
ago, the appearance of gates in the middle of the city has become commonplace.
The problem was the grade
of the gate.
"Black......."
An ‘out-of-standard’
rating, even in the official measurement scale of the World Hunter Association.
Since the measurement was
based on the amount of energy inside the gate, it boasted a 99.9% accuracy
rate.
The Korean Hunter
Association was prepared for this. They asked the World Hunter Association for support
and asked the country's leading hunter guilds to enter the gate.
“Fucking assholes... This
is the only time they're busy."
"This is not the
first time those hunter guilds have done this."
At the words of Kim Jin-soo,
the chief of the Hunter Association, Hunter
Han Hari made an expression of
disapproval.
The Black Gate has reappeared after 13 years.
Large domestic guilds
refused to enter and took a wait-and-see approach.
This was understandable.
The vermilion color of the A-ranked gate alone caused countless casualties. But
a black, out-of-standard Grade S gate?
None of the large guilds
wanted to expend their precious power on a gate with an unmeasurable risk.
In the end, the
government-affiliated Hunter's Association was forced to take matters into
their own hands.
They'd go in first, assess
the danger, and return with as much information as possible to distribute to
the large guilds.
This was the standard
method, as it gave a great benefit to the strategy if they had
the right information.
The problem was the
initial raid, where they have to enter without any prior information.
"Hari... are you
going to be all right?"
Chief Kim looked worriedly
at Hari, who had followed him to the Hunter Association's initial raid team lineup.
It was a dangerous
reconnaissance mission.
The Association had taken
such drastic measures to select only applicants who left a suicide note.
It was a shame that a
promising new member of the Association, barely twenty years old, would be sent
to such a place.
"It's okay, I'm the
only Class A Hunter among the applicants, and there should be at least one good
fighter."
"Even so......."
Class A Hunters were
certainly a big deal. On top of that, the Hunter Association didn't even really
have any Class A Hunters.
Hunters that talented
would have joined the large guilds.
"For the safety of
the citizens and the well-being of the country! Isn't that the motto of our
association?"
"......Foolish
brat."
She's one of the few
promising hunters in the Association.
On modern Earth, where the
large guilds have siphoned off talent, hunters who want to become public
servants are usually hunters of Class D or C. There was barely even B Class.
Hari was a promising A-rank Hunter who
applied to join the association as soon as she graduated from school. A talent
who, if nurtured well, could aim for the S Class hunter other than the chief of
the association.
A part of Chief Kim wanted to tell her to go
back for the sake of her future, but the strength of the initial raid team was
too low to send her back as it was.
This was the first Black Gate in 13 years. It
was a task that should have been carried out by S-class hunters, not A-class
hunters, and yet there was only one A-class hunter, Hari.
"Fu... Let's hope we make it back alive.
---We're going in, everyone, get ready!”
* * * *
"Hmm... A field-type gate, I guess."
The inside of the gate was
a mess.
Some gates looked like
places that had been destroyed, but the black gate the Association's initial
raid team entered was beyond their wildest imaginations.
First, the sky glowed
crimson.
The crimson color of the
sky was not the color of the setting sun.
It was an eerie red, as if
the sky had been turned upside down.
There wasn't a blade of
grass on the ground. The ground was so barren and desolate that one would
wonder if this place had ever been inhabited.
"My God, I've never
seen a gate like this before. Where the hell are we?"
"Relax, Hari, it's
been 13 years since we've had an Unmeasurable Gate. We don't know what we'll
find."
"I know... but what
is it in this realm that can't be measured?"
"I don't know...
Maybe some kind of high-level demon?"
"Don't say such
horrible things."
It was then. A message
popped up in front of Hari and the other hunters from the Association who
entered.
[Gate Mission]
A mission system window
that was created after Gates appeared in the world and Hunters awakened their
powers.
It provided Hunters who
entered the gate with basic information about the gate and the goal of clearing
it.
"Chi- Chief...."
"Fuck......."
However, the Hunters who
checked the system window had pale complexions and trembled.
[Hunt all demons].
Demons remaining: 117 /
????????
"Demons......."
A race that occasionally
appears in high-ranked gates among the countless gates.
Six years ago, Kanbala, a high-level demon
that emerged from the Vermilion Grade Gate, killed South Korean S-class Hunter
Ko Jin-hyuk.
Twenty-two years ago, in
China, the appearance of the Archdemon Skazakari or a monarch-level demon caused
a terrible disaster.
"Fuck! Fuck! We have
to get out now!"
"Chief!"
At the worst possible
moment, even the stalwart Chief Kim was thrown into a panic.
This gate was a Daemon
Gate among countless others.
"Those bastards won't
die even if you kill them!"
They don't really die.
They actually revive.
The Archdemon Skazakari,
who emerged from the Shanghai Daemon Gate 22 years ago, has been slayed more
than five times.
Yet the Daemon Gate is not
destroyed, and every four years it reappears to cause a dungeon break.
"Calm down, Chief.
It's only 117 demons, and we might be able to finish it off surprisingly
easily."
"That's the problem!
It's only 117 demons, and it's rated Black! That means there has to be at least
one archdemon!"
The rating of a gate is determined by the
amount of energy in it.
With only 117 demons, a
rating of Black meant that every single one of them was terrifyingly powerful.
Worst of all, if it was an
Archdemon Gate, the dungeon would never close. Like the Shanghai Daemon Gate,
it would remain open forever.
That would be terrible.
Right now, Shanghai alone had become a ghost town because of that Daemon Gate.
"Let's retreat! We
have to let the association know that it's a Daemon Gate!"
There's nothing they can
do with a squad of less than 20 people.
It was when Chief Kim, the
party leader, decided to retreat,
"Chief, look over
there!"
A Hunter pointed in a
direction. There, a large, masked demon stared down at the hunters.
"Holy shit... it's a
Great Sword!"
Great Sword, a lesser
demon.
A lesser demon that about
1.5 meters tall with a sword larger than its body.
However, just because it's
a lesser demon doesn't mean you should let your guard down. Even among demons,
the Great Sword has a particularly powerful attack.
As its name suggests, the
Great Sword's gigantic sword would cause the body to bleed unceasingly if
struck by its attack.
"Aah......"
And it wasn't just one Great Sword.
Great Swords, coming one
after another, plus other demons, bringing the number to over a hundred.
"They, they're
already starting a dungeon break?"
Every gate has a certain
period of time until the mission is completed. But as soon as this gate opens,
they're all here?
-The gate! That's the
gate!
-I'm alive! I'm alive!
-Run, run, run!
The demons let out a
bizarre cheer of joy.
The hunters gasped and
gripped their weapons as the demons rushed toward them.
"E, everybody, hold yourself
together! We can't let the demons pass through the gate! The second they cross
over to Earth, they'll be able to hide!"
Demons are unique.
They could disguise
themselves as humans or hide in their shadows.
All it took was for one
demon to slip through, and terrible things would happen, so the Daemon Gate had
to be closed at all costs.
"Stand in formation,
I'll be the lead!"
"Hari!"
Despite Chief Kim's disapproval, Hari drew her
sword at the front of the line.
She wasn't a tank, and it was suicidal
for her to lead, but she was needed now to encourage the panicked hunters.
-Run! Run!
-I want to live! I don't want to be
annihilated!
The demons screamed in an
unintelligible language as they charged. The first to come to the forefront
were the Hell Hounds.
A quadrupedal beast, the lowest of
demons, but faster than an automobile. They rushed toward Hari, gasping for
breath.
-Groaaaaaaaaar!
The hellhounds leapt. Hari imbued her
sword with mana and slashed at the Hellhounds.
The empowered sword sliced through
their hides with ease, and the Hellhounds writhed in agony.
"Good, good start!
She had slain four in one fell swoop.
Just as she hoped her efforts would boost their morale, the Hellhounds with split stomachs began to behave strangely.
"Wha- what?"
Hellhounds that were surely fatally wounded
sprinted upright, dripping with blood. As if they were trying to get over the
gate somehow.
"Stop them!"
But they were blocked by
the rows of hunters.
The Hellhounds weren't the
only ones; the Great Swords bumped into the Hunters in front of them and
scrambled toward the gate, barely reacting.
-Coming! He's coming!
-He's coming! He's coming!
-No! Run! Over the gate!
"What, what?"
"Have these guys been
drugged as a group......."
The demons were easily
defeated, but Hari and the other hunters couldn't help but feel a little
creeped out.
I know
they always revive after a while, but why are they so reckless? Like they're
'fleeing'…
"Hari, dodge!"
Then something hit the
ground with a bang. Something massive swept the ground. With only the
shockwave's impact, everyone was knocked down, including Hari.
"What...?"
Hari was sprawled out on
the ground, her dazed mind trying to comprehend what just happened.
"What the
hell......."
Something had fallen, and
Hari recognized it instantly.
"Ah......."
Something huge came into
view.
A torn wing and an axe far
beyond human size.
A hideous skin and a
vicious glare you wouldn't want to see even in your worst nightmares.
"Ahhh......."
An archdemon.
A winged giant.
The nightmare of the
Daemon Gate that tore even S-class Hunters alive.
"Move aside, you
lowlifes, before I kill you all!"
The demon overwhelmed the
hunters with an eerie rumbling sound.
The hunters dared not
move, stifled by the energy it emitted.
"It- it's over."
Limp legs and racing
breaths. Despair and fear overwhelmed them all.
"Oh, no. If that
thing crosses over to Earth......."
It has to be stopped. If a monster like that
causes a dungeon break in the middle of Seoul... ten million citizens are in
danger!
"Nah."
Hari raised her sword. She
forcefully hauled her unwilling legs. She stood in the face of uncontestable
despair.
"A lowly human
subject...!"
The Archdemon clicked its
tongue at the sight of Hari before it, but strangely enough, Hari didn't feel
any murderous intent. The feeling she sensed from him was nothing but urgency.
"Move, bug!"
A light blow, as if to
literally shoo a bug away. Hari focused all of her mana to block the axe strike
and.......
"Heuk?!"
With a single blow, she
was sent flying all the way to the gate.
"Kwack...!"
The ground had become a
weapon in its own right, ripping Hari's body apart with a single blow.
A monster.
That thing is a monster.
She realized it with a
single swing.
It was enough to break her
will to survive.
"Hhhhh......."
As the dwindling embers
flickered precariously, a figure stopped in front of her.
At first, she thought it
was Chief Kim.
However, in her field of
vision, she saw the hunters of the Association who were overwhelmed by the
power of the Archdemon and were unable to move.
Even Chief Kim, a veteran,
was frozen in place. The Archdemon's head was rolling on the ground.
"Huh?"
That thing rolling in front of me right now...
is it the head of the Archdemon that just now made us despair?
"Ki- King Lionheart!
No! No!"
The Archdemon wailed. It
screamed in agony, scorching from the cut. And that was not all. The other
demons around were also trembling in fear.
"Huh?"
The Archdemon's behavior
was bizarre. In the records, the demons were always spitting out curses against
humanity, heralding their revival.
But what about the one in
front of them?
"No! No! The Holy
Grail...! My soul... is... extinguished!"
It cried out and struggled
desperately, as if it was actually facing death.
"Ah......."
I get it.
The demons didn't rush to cause a dungeon
break.
They rushed the gate, in desperation to
survive... to get away from someone.
Who? Who could make those brutal demons, those
infinitely resurrecting demons, tremble?
"This shall be the
end of you."
It was a naked man.
Am I seeing things?
A man who wore nothing but
his bare body along with a worn longsword in this ruined world.
Nevertheless, the light
that shined from his halo was graciously holy and brilliant.
"Rise, O brave
one."
The archaic speech seemed
regal enough to come from the mouth of a madman.
His tone, his demeanor,
his posture... everything overrode the man's attire.
Just hearing his voice was
enough to rekindle the dying embers.
"Ha,
haha......."
What the hell is this? Who the hell is the man
in front of me.......
"Now is not the time to go down... stand
up and fight back."
Just hearing his voice
filled her with strength. A surge of energy and vitality raised her battered
body to her feet.
"You... who are
you?"
In response to Hari's
question, the radiant blonde man spoke with a dignified expression,
"I am King Lionheart.
King of the Glorious Knights, and servant of the will of the Pantheon. I am
Leon Dragonia Lionheart."
The man raised his sword.
[All demons were slain].
Demons remaining: 0 /
????????
***
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