The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 42
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 42 The Demon of Jewel of Wisdom Fears the
Lionheart King
The plain in front of the Sphero Royal Castle. There was
a clamor of all sorts of degradation and amusement.
Men with grotesque snouts lashed and banging around,
tearing flesh into shreds and grilling it, and dousing captives with liquid
molten gold.
This uncanny scene of overindulgence and pleasure, of
amusement and degeneration, was where Reynald Shelman had gone while holding
the Jewel of Wisdom.
-It's human.
-Hehe, human, a human.
-They're a bunch of deadbeats, all nerds who read and
write!
The demons could guess the identity of the man by the
energy emanating from the Jewel of Wisdom, and their fierce, feral gazes bored
into Reynald.
"Mm... Is, is everything all right, Great One?"
[Don't stare at those lowly creatures for long. A mortal
will be corrupted in no time.]
"Ye- yes!"
Reynald turned away from the spectacle of the festive
party, deploying a shield of magic, as he had been told to do by the Jewel of
Wisdom.
But no demon would allow a follower of another demon to
roam in the realm of corruption and pleasure.
-Thump! Thump! Thump!
Something charged toward Reynald with a loud, savage
noise, and, apart from the sound, a massive presence pressed down on him.
"How dare you scribblers trespass on my turf?! Have
you lost your cowardice?"
A grotesque giant, clutching a flesh-encrusted halberd in
each of his eight arms, with faded golden chains at each of his six nipples.
The moon-shaped crown on his head held a malevolence that
shook the soul of even Reynald, an S-class archmage.
[Do not stare at the crown.]
"Yes, yes......."
The only thing keeping him together was the magic flowing
from the Jewel of Wisdom. The orb stared at the eight-armed behemoth that
filled the space.
[Androzin, the Archdemon of Pleasure and Corruption.]
The Jewel of Wisdom spoke to him. He pursed his hideously
torn lips into a grin and said,
"Ah~ A deskmouth with no backbone. The goblin of
mind."
Archdemon Androzin's scornful gaze and voice didn't seem
to faze the one beyond the Jewel of Wisdom.
[I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!]
"An offer? An offer, hahahahahaha!"
Androzin laughed a vile laugh. A booming laugh that
caused demons in all directions to cackle and join in.
"Know your place! Do you still think you are our
equal? That you, who have lost your lord and most of your archdemons, can stand
as equals before this Pleasure and Corruption?!"
Androzin remembered the disgrace of the demons of wisdom
and inquiry, hunted down over two hundred years. Only a few barely survived,
and most of them were gone.
[Smug as ever despite the fact that you are no better.......]
"Ha?!"
Androzin shouted, outraged by the words. But it was true.
[180 years ago, during the Great Advent, our Lord wasn't
the only one who was taken down, the Lord of Pleasure was also extinguished!]
"You bastard!"
Androzin's monstrous roar terrified the demons. Such a
furious Androzin would take out his anger on even the demons around him.
180 years ago, the demons suffered a terrible loss. The
Five Demons united in an unprecedented event.
Ruthless destruction, heartless indifference, chaotic
curiosity, ugly pleasure, and insatiable gluttony. These five malevolent forces
invaded a single world.
The result: a horrific annihilation. It was a devastating
catastrophe, with all but three monarch-level demons perishing and ten million
demons completely annihilated.
The Daemon Gate was destroyed, with almost no survivors,
and many demons had no idea what happened there.
Androzin himself only knew that the Lord of Pleasure died
there, but he did not know who killed him or how he died.
And Androzin's activities here for the past century were
also an aftermath of that.
[I do know. I know what happened there! I'm a survivor of
that place!]
"Heh... What do you even know!"
[Your idiocy will not allow you to learn what happened
there. You are indeed savages, driven only by your bestial instincts. I have
told you I will offer you something you cannot refuse!]
Androzin believed he was being lured in by the chaotic
deskbug.
But there were only so many demons left alive from that
world... the world of the Holy Law practitioners. Even the ones that do survive
were hard to find, because they hid and manipulated the information.
Just like the demon beyond this Jewel of Wisdom.
"Say it. I, Androzin, will plunge him into the
bottomless pit of depravity and corruption!"
[Khehe! Did I hear it right? That you're going to do what
this higher demon told you to do?]
Androzin's voice warped into a chilling tone at those
words,
"Soon it will be over. After all, the end is ear for
mortals."
[Good! Then I shall inform you, that the commander of
those who murdered the Lord of Pleasure is in this very world!]
The Jewel of Wisdom gives Androzin the information he
needs. Then, with Reynald's hand holding it, the orb left the barracks.
"Is this... all?"
[This is the most formidable thing that can be done
here!]
The Jewel of Wisdom was not sure of victory. Even though
that man was weakened, he was still a warrior of reversals.
One wrong move could easily result in Androzin being the
one to be killed.
[Seven to three. Androzin is seven, he is three.]
"If, if that's the case... isn't it a must-win with
I, an S-class mage, and Great One enter the fray?"
[I'm not going though?]
"......."
Sissy. Reynald was fed up with the Great One's behavior.
[Don't you even think about stepping in! His holy arts
can destroy the souls connected to the gem without even shattering it!]
"......I understand."
A bystander, always hiding and cowering.
Although it seemed that it was a thoroughly
self-assertion, the Demon said,
[Androzin may be a dumb beast compared to me, but he's
not entirely stupid, and I'm sure he'll gather his finest forces to deal with
the Lionheart King!]
The Demons of Pleasure and Corruption may be the most
bizarre among the demons, but they were not the most powerful in combat.
However, in numbers, they are almost as numerous as the
Demons of Gluttony. A large number means a large pool.
[He will call the higher-level demons in no time!]
This place was the Garden of Corruption. It was where the
demons of pleasure and corruption had been working for a hundred years after
the loss of their lord.
"Where shall we go now?"
They don't plan to stop here. The Demons of Wisdom and
Inquiry were intelligent demons specializing in magic.
They can buff other demons and give them magical powers.
While the Demons of Pleasure and Corruption were weaker
in combat, with the help of a Demon of Wisdom to assist them, they could easily
defeat the Lionheart King along with the kingdom.
[First, go to the corpse grabbers who are having a feast
in the woods near the castle. Those who eat fresh corpses are definitely not
lacking in offensive power!]
The corpse grabbers were vile demons who play with the
corpses of the dead.
They were foul-smelling demons who wore the body parts
they collected as decorations, but they were highly capable in combat as they
scoured the battlefield for fresh carcasses.
If they were to be strengthened with magic, they would be
a formidable force, capable of taking on even the most elite of Lionheart's
Second Army troops.
[Kheuheu, just wait, Lionheart. This gate will be your
tomb.]
It was then that they spotted the place where the Corpse
Grabbers were located. Reynald saw a corpse grabber, a mid-level demon, walking
their way.
"Is that a corpse grabber......."
It was a horrible sight.
One arm was a tentacle, and the other held a large mace.
The figure carefully concealed its nudity, head to toe.
With parts of corpses.
The worst kind of psychopathic freaks. Reynald had spoken
softly to remain cautious.
[Hi- hide!]
At the same time as the words were whispered, something
snagged around the corpse grabber's neck. The corpse grabber cried out,
"Geukkkk, shi, shiiiii! Shii-kkkk!!"
With a sickening squeal, the corpse grabber was pulled
up. Reynald's gaze followed the direction he was being dragged, and saw an
unbelievable sight.
"...!"
Spider webs.
In the forest, there were spider webs everywhere.
-Shii.......
-Kill me.......
And dangling there were the victims. The corpse grabbers,
caught in the webs, whimpered in pain.
"Sir Spinner. Did you take care of that one?"
-Kkirig!
It was then. A familiar voice and a cold mechanical sound
were heard. Reynald and the Jewel of Wisdom instinctively recognized themt as
the Holy Grail Knights.
[Hey! Did you hide properly? Did you turn on your stealth
properly?]
'O, of course! The highest level stealth spell,
absolutely invisible to the naked eye!'
[This is bad! This is dangerous!]
The Jewel of Wisdom utilized his own magic. Using the
magical energy he had accumulated through sacrifices, he unleashed the most
perfect stealth magic.
-Estimating that there are still survivors. The last one
captured was staring at something.
"After all that cleaning, they're still
around."
What the hell is going on here? Reynald hadn't heard any
noise until he reached this forest.
Surely a sweep of that many forces in a place like this
would make some noise?
[The Holy Grail Knight's Holy Law of Tranquility! That
ridiculous law that blocks even the sound of warhorses rumbling! He used the
Holy Law of Tranquility to hunt down all the demons in the forest!]
‘Is, is that possible?’
[I couldn't understand it, but those assholes can do that.]
The Holy Grail Knight's Law was a treasure trove of the
absurd.
Even for the demons of wisdom and inquiry, who gathered
all kinds of knowledge and magic, the Holy Grail Knight's Laws could not be
interpreted as anything less than 'absurd'.
"Hmm... That's strange, I can sense an unpleasant
aura......."
It can't be! The Jewel of Wisdom wanted to cry out like
that.
The magic he had just cast was a perfect stealth,
complete with subspace dimensional separation. Even with the downside of not
being able to move from one spot, there was no way this could be detected!
"I think it's around here......."
Leon's face slid past Reynald's. His radiant face looked
unnatural in the bloody forest, with blood dripping from the spider webs.
Reynald could barely manage from gulping as he stared at
the man with bloodshot pupils.
'Please
just go! Just go!'
"Hmm......."
His suspicions deepen. Suspicion morphs into certainty
that something was amiss. Reynald knew instinctively.
If Leon turned his head and looked in their direction,
surely he could sense their presence.
A cold sweat ran down his face as he watched the man's
head slowly turn, and then──
-Kiririg!
"What is it, Sir Spinner?"
-Spotted targets via the small drone. Point 4-B17.
"Looks like we got some more hunting to do
today."
Hearing Yappy's report, Leon turned away.
Slowly, the sound of the superhuman walking through the
forest faded into the distance. It was five minutes after their disappearance
that Reynald and the Jewel of Wisdom voiced themselves,
"Fuuu......."
[I, I almost saw the end.......]
It was a moment that took away ten years of their life.
* * * *
Overnight, Leon had slaughtered over 300 demons. All were
top dogs.
Though he had run out in a huff, it wasn't for nothing.
"Demons of pleasure and corruption."
Hypersexuals. Perverts who sought not proper sexuality,
but horribly twisted lusts.
Leon was disgusted when he realized that they were the
demons inhabiting this gate.
All demons were unpleasant, vermin to be scorched to
death, but the ugly demons of perversion were especially unpleasant.
They corrupt humans. They plunge them into a swamp of
debauchery and lust by any means necessary.
Quite a few humans could not even resist the temptations
of lower-level demons.
It was they who were responsible for the rampant
corruption in the Empire and its neighboring kingdoms of Leon's world.
They were the weakest in combat, but the most dangerous.
Leon knew all too well how the corrupted would betray their own brothers and
families.
'Strange.
How come so many lecherous demons have settled at this gate?'
There were quite a few high-level demons and plenty of
elite ones among the demons of pleasure. Not to mention that there should be an
archdemon.
'If
a being of that caliber is hanging around this gate, there must be a
reason.......'
For what reason? Leon had little patience for questions
and decided to look in the most suspicious places.
"A heavy air. You must be tired, yet you do not
rest."
A sweet voice rang in his ears. Leon's eyes widened.
***
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