The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 33
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 33 Good Orc (4)
The results of slaughtering over 4,000 orcs were
staggering.
The low-level, D-class hunters easily hunted dozens of
orcs that would normally be too much to deal with one-on-one, and they quickly collected
the loot they could find.
"Wow... Gu-ssi, look at this. There are over five
hundred axes in this camp alone."
Team Leader Jim Do-han, who had been working as a mining
team leader and mining resources in gates, and Gu Dae-sung, who had only been a
porter at the green gates, were mesmerized by the loot in front of them.
"This... is amazing..."
With more than four thousand orcs, the loot was equally
overwhelming.
From weapons to alcohol to meat to orc boars. But as is
often the case with orc-infested gates, only weapons and certain items were of
any value.
"Elemental weapons! We need to find elemental
weapons!"
The orcs' weapons were sometimes imbued with elemental
spirits.
These were weapons that could only be created with the
help of an orc shaman, and could only be wielded by at least a mid-level
warrior.
Most of them use either a spirit to lighten their
movements, such as the Wolf Spirit, or a spirit to harden their bodies, such as
the Rock Spirit. So these were the ultimate drops for low-level hunters.
"But how do you recognize elemental weapons? I've
never been inside an orc gate before!"
Team Leader Jim Do-han, who only mined, couldn't tell
which item was elemental weapons. Gu Dae-sung explained,
"Orcs put a tooth or a piece of the corresponding
spirit on the elemental weapon as an ornament. You just have to look for
something like that."
"You know your stuff, Gu-ssi!"
Fifty or so hunters ran around and swept the grassland of
the dead. Perhaps because the gate was so large, there was plenty of time left
until it disappeared even after completing the closing conditions.
"Hahahaha, Gu-ssi, look at this, twenty elemental
weapons! Twenty!"
"Seven Orc Shaman's Staffs... Five Warrior's
Hearts."
It was a steal. The Orc Shaman's Staff was highly
sought-after by elementalists, and the Warrior's Heart was used to make a
powerful permanent enhancer.
If a class D hunter consumed the enhancer made with the
Warrior's Heart, it would instantly boost their physical abilities to reach
class C. It was a truly powerful effect.
Because of its powerful effect, consuming one was the
standard routine for quite a few high-level hunters.
'Just
one… Should I steal it?'
He was not without greed. It was worth at least 400
million won. There was even someone saying that if he couldn't raise from
D-class for ten thousand years, he should borrow money and get the heart of an
orc warrior.
When else would he, a porter at green gates who couldn't
even dream of an orc gate, be able to get something like this?
"Ukh......."
But Gu Dae-sung put the Warrior's Heart down in the box.
He wanted to be strong, but his conscience was just as strong.
"Kwaaaaaaaaaagh...!"
It was then. A piercing scream rang out, and all eyes
turned toward that direction.
"Wha- what are you doing, you robot!"
There was a hunter tussling with the Yakt Spinner.
* * * * *
[Gokrok's severed right arm]
Gokrok's severed right arm. The limb that Leon cut off
with the Dazzling (Glorious) Holy Sword was still there.
The question was, what to do with it?
-Kririg!
It was at that moment. Yappy made a noise atop Hari's
head, drawing their attention.
"Do you have something to say, Sir Spinner?"
-Message. Passed. Metal.
It was Heto, the god of metal and blacksmithing, who was
trying to communicate through his knight.
Yappy immediately brought up a holographic image of Heto
and his words in real time.
[I sense a great deal of magic in the severed beast's
arm, Lionheart. If you absorb it through the Holy Grail, we will distill it and
give the power to help you.]
"I understand."
Leon said no more, and took out the Holy Grail from his
dimensional storage. Just as he had done when he destroyed the Jewel of Wisdom at
Cheongju Gate, he used the Grail to absorb Gokrok's arm.
"Tch."
Even though Gokrok's arm was effectively absorbed, Leon
clicked his tongue. He could tell that this had power similar to that of the
holy or divine power.
" It seem that the beasts' worship is quite
strong."
Gokrok, the shaman god of the orcs. Though he had to
admit that he was a sort of a deity, Leon had no intention of honoring him as
one.
The god of demons and green beasts. They are not gods,
they are evil.
Absolute evil, unworthy of worship, which must be
extinguished.
Therefore, Leon does not honor them as gods, even if they
are. The only gods he acknowledged were those who show love to their subjects.
It was then that Leon heard Arianna's voice in his head.
[Lionheart, my knight].
"......Goddess. Why do you force yourself to do
this?"
He hadn't even performed a ritual, but the goddess
herself had spoken to him. Leon reminded her that her holy power was not as
strong as it had been in the past.
[It's okay, my knight. I've absorbed some of the magic of
that foul beast, so this is no trouble.]
"Is that right?"
[I have come to you, my knight, because you must make a
choice.]
A choice? Leon tilted his head.
[This power is no less than that of a rich divine power, so
I believe it can restore the power of one holy relic you have.]
"Is that true?"
Leon had four holy relics.
The first was the Lion's Heart. The most powerful heart,
forged from the holy power passed down to the kings of Lionheart.
The wielder of this heart will strengthen countless
soldiers with their mere presence, and he himself will possess infinite
vitality.
Second, the Holy Sword. It had the same indestructibility
as the holy swords commonly wielded by Holy Grail Knights. This meant that it
could never be broken.
It also possessed Dazzling (Glorious), a light that can
never be extinguished. A sword that can cut through anything. It was a feat
that the current Leon couldn't sustain for long.
The last ability of the Holy Sword is too powerful. If he
can regain that power.......
"I will put the Holy Sword on hold."
[Yes, it's not time to regain its power yet. It would
drain too much divine power.]
The final ability of the Holy Sword was the most powerful
ability Leon had ever possessed. And it consumed a hefty amount of power. For
now, since he had not gained sufficient devotees, he chose to focus on the
others.
The two remaining holy relics were the Holy Lance and the
Holy Grail. Leon agonized over the choice for a moment. Then he made his decision,
"I will choose the Holy Grail."
[Yes, I will respect my knight's choice.]
Arianna understood his intentions. She breathed into the
Holy Grail. Gokrok's arm, which had been transformed by the deities of the
Pantheon, restored the Grail's power.
The Grail, previously limited to ceremonial use, now
shimmered with brilliance. It was dyed in its original golden color and regains
its former glory.
"Aaah...."
Leon couldn't hide his emotion at the sight.
After the Great War which lasted for two hundred years,
when all humans except himself died, the Holy Grail lost its shine.
He felt disloyal. Leon couldn't help but feel a pang of
guilt when he saw the Holy Grail in that state.
After all, it was the Grail that had kept his thirst
quenched during the endless battles.
Though not all of its abilities were restored, Leon was
able to generate holy water from the Grail.
It might seem like it was no different than before, but
as the Grail's guardian, Leon knew.
That this holy water had different qualities than before.
"It's done. This is a great harvest."
Leon turned to Hari and Yappy to collect their loot and
prepare to return, but Yappy was nowhere to be seen above Hari's head.
"Where did Sir Spinner go?"
"Eh? When did it disappear?"
It was then. A loud scream came from the direction of the
loot pile.
"Wha- what are you doing, you robot!"
There, Yappy faced off against a hunter with a stretched
wire.
"What's going on?"
“Kuh… this, this robot attacked me….”
"Insulting a Grail Knight. Watch your language
unless you want to get your tongue chopped off."
The hunters were stunned, but that was only logical for
Leon.
How could a lowly commoner, a mere peasant... disrespect
a Grail Knight, chosen by the divine?
"Sir Spinner is a Holy Grail Knight, right below the
King himself. You will treat him as you would treat the King himself."
"Thi- this robot ......."
"Shut your mouth. How dare a lowly man call a knight
carelessly?"
Leon ignored the hunter, who was bleeding from a slashed
wrist, and walked over to Yappy.
"What's going on, Sir Spinner?"
-Loot. Thief.
At Yappy's mechanical voice, the hunter denied it with a
pale face.
"N, no! It's not true... (whisper: this idiot)...
It, it's a misunderstanding!"
"I'll know if it's a misunderstanding or not. Han
Hari!"
Leon instructed Hari.
"Search this man's body."
"Ah, yes!"
"What, what are you doing?! Trusting a robot than a
human... W, wait!"
-Plop!
A pouch fell from the struggling man's chest. It was a crude,
blood-stained fabric pouch.
Inside, Hari found a large heart.
"This, this......."
A Warrior's Heart of an orc. What the man had stolen was
the most valuable loot in orcs gate.
"This is... a misunderstanding. I, I would
never......."
It was that instant. Leon's sword flashed, and the man's
wrist went flying into the air.
"Huh?"
For a moment, the man stared blankly at his missing
wrist. Then, as he realized what had happened, a surge of pain swept over him.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh! My, my arm...!"
The hunters' attention centered on the man. All but
Yappy's complexion paled. To them, Leon spoke calmly,
"I know your laws and your common sense are
different from mine. However, you have entered the Lionheart King's military
gate. That means that what you have to follow is not your law and order, but
the Lionheart King's laws."
Thieves got their wrist chopped. That is the strict
national law of the Lionheart Kingdom, where obedience to the law was more
important than life.
"This is the king's law and the law of the court!
Those who will not comply, turn away right now!"
The hunters hesitated at Leon's declaration.
This powerful otherworldly survivor was beyond them.
Many of his laws and regulations were unacceptable to
modern Earthlings.
But aside from that...
-All those crazy buffs.......
-I felt like I went from a D-class to a C-class hunter...
no, maybe even more than that.
-Wasn't it wrong to steal it in the first place? Isn't
that the Warrior's Heart?
-Damn, I don't know. I'll die that way or this way
anyway.
The hunters hesitated, but eventually decided to accept
Leon's rule.
Since the cataclysm, this world had become the world of
the upper-crust hunters, and stealing from the gates was often paid with death.
How would anyone on Earth notice someone who had stolen
from the gate anyway? In the gate, where betrayal and theft were commonplace,
there was little fear of being found out.
Rather, as Leon had demonstrated, it might be better to
establish proper rules and discipline.
"Um... Your, Your Majesty."
Just then, there was someone who stepped forward
cautiously.
"State your name, soldier."
Leon knew who he was, but he demanded a name. He needed
to make a stand in front of everyone.
"I am Gu, Gu Dae-sung."
"Why have you stepped forward, Gu Dae-sung?"
"Can you at least let us retrieve the thief's...
arm?"
"Are you going to reattach it?"
"......Yes."
Modern medicine had come a long way since the cataclysm.
So much so that damages, especially physical injuries, could be fixed up pretty
quickly if you hurried.
"But then there is no point in punishing him. Your
words dwarf the Lionheart's punishment."
"Ah, I realize that. But......."
Gu Dae-sung looked at that hunter, whose wrist had been
cut off and had a bitter expression on his face.
He was a 10,000-year D-class hunter like himself, and it
was understandable why he would steal the Warrior's Heart. Above all... that
man had a family to be responsible for.
"Your Majesty... we were raised differently than you,
with different common sense. Your discipline was unknown to us, and now that
you have made it known... we ask that you give us a chance."
In short, he argued that they were unable to abide by a
law they didn't realize, and that the price for stealing was too high.
"You have a point."
"I, I apologize."
"A soldier shouldn't question a Holy Grail Knight,
but I'm bound to agree that your world has its own rules and laws."
Leon conjured holy water and, holding the severed arm,
spoke to the tearful thief,
"Be thankful that you have a man of reason among
your comrades."
He poured the holy water. Then something miraculous
happened.
A hand sprang up from the thief's severed section. It was
regenerated!
"It, it's restored?"
"What the...!"
It was amazing. A hand that had already been cut off
could grow back?
Of course, there were healers in charge of recovery.
However, they could only reattach a severed limb.
The best healer in the country, an S-class hunter, was
capable of applying rapid recovery, but not rapid regeneration, where cells
grow from nothing.
'Crazy... That kind of strength, while also having a
healing power that surpasses that of an S-class healer?'
'What in the world is that guy...? How is that the power
of a single person?'
The hunters, and even the hunter whose arm was cut off,
were dumbfounded by this miracle. No, in fact, the hunter who experienced the
miracle firsthand fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness.
"I, I'm sorry! I was wrong! Thank you! Thank
you!"
"Hum. Now go. Out of respect for the laws of your
world, I forgive you this time, but you have lost your right to enter my
gates."
"Aah......."
What had he done to himself? He cursed his choice to
embrace thievery for the greed of the moment.
Leon left him behind and declared to the soldiers,
"Those who wish to enlist at my military gate can
stay, and those who do not, take your share of the spoils and leave."
No one chose to leave. How could they, having witnessed
his overwhelming strength and miracles throughout the battle, choose to leave?
Leon sensed the yearning and expectation in their eyes
and was satisfied.
One of the fifty newcomers had been eliminated, but that
was not bad.
"Good. Then we'll get straight to training. I trust
that you will not fail to survive this training."
This was an opportunity. The will do it. No questions
asked.
It took less than three days for the hunters to tearfully
regret their choice.
***
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