The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 44
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Chapter 44 The Reality of the Kingdom
The first battle resulted in a massive victory.
Leon, along with his hunters and the Kingdom's forces,
headed to the palace with more than a hundred demons captured.
"Kuhg!"
As the ropes were tied together like strings of fishes, a
demon stumbled.
"Uh-oh, careful──."
When Gu Daisheng was about to lift the demon up inadvertently,
he realized that the demon was a stunning beauty.
'What?
Just a moment ago──'
The hideous appearance of the demon 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….”
Gu Dae-sung was confused by the demon's seduction. It was
strange. Even though he knew that the being in front of him was a demon, he
stretched out his hand as if he would succumb to the temptation.
If I could hug such a beautiful woman just once... It's
not a bad idea to risk my life ──
【 Aura of Lion's
Heart: Enhanced contamination resistance is activated】
It was at that moment when he reached out towards the
demon. The gorgeous face of the woman disappeared, to reveal a grotesque
one-eyed monster.
"Oh fuck!"
Startled, Gu Dae-sung lashed out with his hand, slapping
the demon in the face.
The demon who received the slap, which was more like a
punch, was dumbfounded.
"A, a mere human can resist my temptations?"
'That
was a demon's temptation? I almost fell for it.'
Gu Dae-sung gripped his palpitating heart, wary of the
demon's swaying power.
"What is this!"
Leon approached on horseback from the front. His figure,
straddling the divine Stallion and obstructing the sunlight, was very imposing.
"What wretch has made a fuss!"
"This wretch!"
With a quick change of attitude, Gu Dae-sung pointed at
the demon who had tempted him.
Stepping down from his steed, Leon's gaze landed on the
demon. He spoke as if he had seen the whole picture in an instant.
"How dare you seduce my soldier with your filthy
body?"
"Fo- forgive me...!"
There was no need for words. Leon's armored foot slammed
into the demon's shin. The demon's leg snapped with a loud crunch.
"Kkiyaaaaaaaag!!"
"You filthy, lowly thing, how dare you raise your
voice!"
Kwagkwag! Leon stomped on the demon mercilessly. The
demons and hunters watching this turned pale.
‘He’s
more devilish than the devil… !'
'Ugh,
so brutal......'
Only after the demon was trampled to death did Leon get
back on his horse.
'You
minion don't even provide enough energy.'
Leon felt the devil's soul being absorbed into the Holy
Grail and torn apart, then he checked the energy of the Holy Grail.
Leon hunted down a number of the demons' commanders while
they tried to kill themselves. Some of them were high-level demons, and Leon
had recovered a decent amount of power.
The citizens were waiting for the triumphant Leon, who
dragged the captured demons with him.
While they welcomed Leon and his soldiers for their great
victory, they stared at the demons with fear.
"......."
The war against demons had always been like this. Even if
they are lesser demons, they seduce humans and draw them into destruction and
corruption.
Their hideous appearance was also the same.
The war against them is endless, and so only a select few
are encouraged by a single victory.
In the land of Lionheart, they pray to their gods, but
the people here have no one to turn to.
So Leon raised his hands.
"Applause."
"????"
"Wha, what?"
The gazes of the citizens and hunters alike were filled
with questions. Although they had grown accustomed to Leon's unexpected
behavior, they were not entirely sure what to make of it.
But because Leon had stopped, all the soldiers also
stopped. It brought stillness and silence and all eyes were focused on him.
"Applause! Praise the God of War and Flame and sing
the glory of this Lionheart!"
"".............""
There was silence for a while. Then, somebody broke the
stillness and began to clap, which rapidly spread like a wildfire.
The sound of applause, increasingly thunderous, soared
high into the sky.
"Hang the demons and let the citizens kill them
themselves. Let them savor the sweetness of their ugly souls being extinguished."
"Yes!"
"Hmm... I've come in triumph, but no one has come to
greet me."
Leon thought of the absent generals and knights.
There were so many questions.
About the queen and those knights.
Just as he was wondering about it, he saw a red glow in
the window of the castle.
"A success."
Leon walked straight into the castle.
* * * * *
Upon receiving Yappy's report, Leon stormed into the
castle's basement. The hunters were with him.
"Stop! This area is off limits to you──"
Leon did not wait for the soldier who blocked him. He
kicked open the spear-guarded door to the basement.
-Wham!
The door blasted away under tremendous pressure. The
soldiers had long since been subdued.
"Your, Your Majesty, is this okay?"
Chief Kim Jin-soo struggled to move up front. He had
never witnessed such a brazen gate attack like this in his life.
Basically, conquering the gate is ultimately about
clearing the quest.
All you have to do is clear the gate according to the
system message that kindly explains the closing conditions.
NPCs also appear during quests, and it is essential to
recruit them as allies as much as possible.
Chief Kim Jin-soo never heard of a strategy where you go
out recklessly and make enemies everywhere!
"......Give up. It's easier if you give up."
"No, what's with...!"
The hunters, who had already witnessed Leon's shenanigans
at the Orc Gate, were completely understanding.
“Now, wait a minute! Instead, look at these!”
Gu Dae-sung, who was ahead, was startled and pointed with
his finger.
Where the door to the basement had been smashed open,
there was a huge cavern. An unnaturally huge cavern.......
"What, the."
"There's a place like this in the basement of the
castle?"
Bracing themselves for the worst, the hunters followed
Leon as he walked down with great strides, until they were interrupted by two
knights.
"King Lionheart, what insolence!"
"Turn back! You can't go any further!"
Despite the knights' yelling, Leon doesn't stop. He
simply draws his sword.
“You are in the presence of a king. Get on your knees.”
Instead, it was Yappy who sprang into action. The steel
wires wielded by its secondary limbs whizzed beyond the speed of sound and went
for the knights.
Their solid swords were instantly severed by the divine
steel wires.
"The swords...!"
"You!"
Yappy swiftly bound the knights, and Leon tore down the
veil of the canopy they were guarding.
"Huh...!"
"Wow......."
Exclamations erupted. When the veil was pulled back, a
frighteningly beautiful woman lay fast asleep inside.
A work of art rather than a being... no, a model
seemingly created by the devil.
Queen of the Spero Kingdom.
Beatrice Alighieri Spero.
Even in her sleep, she was lethally beautiful, leading men
to their doom.
"Aah......."
"Beautiful......."
Enchanted by her seemingly inhuman beauty, the men
salivate and approach her.
An apparent abnormal behavior. Leon understood that they
had been drawn in by an irresistible temptation.
"Resist! Do not be seduced by evil forces!"
Leon shouted, but the men continued to reach out to the
Queen. The soldiers' mental strength was unable to resist even after receiving 【 Aura of Lion's Heart 】.
‘Should
I blame them for their weakness...’
Leon gritted his teeth and struck Chief Kim Jin-soo in
the nape of the neck as he stretched out his hand while drooling.
"Kuhug!"
From then on, the Lionheart King himself had to do the
laborious work. He knocked out the other soldiers one by one with a
disappointed look on his face.
No matter how magnanimous he tried to be, he couldn't
help but compare them to his former men.
"Off...!"
"Hmm?"
Leon, who was busy knocking out the soldiers, saw Gu
Dae-sung break out in a cold sweat as he clutched his thighs from pain.
"Ho~"
A dagger was stuck into his thigh. He noticed the
trickery and stabbed himself to force himself to overcome it.
"Your, Your Majesty......."
"Take a deep breath. Inhale through your mouth and
exhale slowly. Clear your mind."
Leon splashed holy water on Gu Dae-sung's thigh as he
breathed slowly and deeply. Instantly, the healing power of the holy water
mended the dagger wound.
"Impressive. I didn't think you would be able to
resist the Queen."
Great General Ricardo and his knights walked slowly
toward them. Surrounding the three, the knights draw their swords in unison.
"You will have to explain. General."
"What explanation is there for those who are about
to die?"
Gu Dae-sung was thrown off by the cold gaze of General
Ricardo.
'What? Is the General a corrupted?'
If so, that's strange. He and his knights had also passed
through the divine flames in the square that day.
If they were the corrupted, they wouldn't be able to
withstand the flames and be revealed of their true colors.
"Do you not intend to defend the Kingdom? Without
us, you will not be able to withstand the invasion of the demons."
“It doesn’t matter. Even without you.”
"Hmm."
Leon's calm demeanor didn't falter even in the face of
the dire situation. He actually had a cool expression, as if he had put
together a puzzle.
"Speaking of which, I see you lot are not enamored
of your queen."
"......We are used to it."
"Of course you're not used to it. The Queen's powers
are more of a curse than a blessing. I've seen one with such power
before."
The Lord of Pleasure.
Leon remembered the ugly demon lord of carnality he'd
slain with his own hands.
"One who seduces all living beings. One who is born
to seduce. Devilish pleasures that lead men to depravity. This queen is such a
being."
A power beyond even an Archdemon. It was a power no
living being was capable of withstanding. It was a battle of the spirit, and
that was why countless Grail Knights had sacrificed themselves to defeat the
Demon Lords.
"But it's strange."
"What...do you mean?"
"How is it that I, who despise and loathe demons
more than anyone else, do not sense such energy from this queen... and how are
you 'unaffected'?"
This should not be possible. Leon is a Demon Slayer who
has fought demons for hundreds of years.
It was impossible for him not to recognize the demonic
energy.
Leon lifted the Holy Grail. The Grail was filled with
holy water. Atop the water was a black flower.
"O Goddess of Dreams and Death, your guardian
beseeches your grace."
It was not even a proper ceremony. However, if the host
is a demigod, it's a different story.
[I will gladly answer the call of the Lionheart King.]
The Lady in violet smiled, revealing her spirit form. The
deity descended directly from the grinding of countless demons' souls, freezing
all around her with her mere presence.
"I offer my greetings, Fleur, goddess of dreams and
death."
[Yes, Ariana's first knight. Master of the Lion's Heart.]
"Goddess of dreams. I have fulfilled your wishes to
empower thee."
She had felt a sense of discomfort since they entered
this gate. And to find out what it was, Fleur requested a summoning herself.
With the goddess of dreams and death herself present,
revealing the truth of this world should be a simple matter.
The Goddess spoke,
[Lowly demons. Scheming,
performing rituals of depravity in an endless dream.]
The Goddess pointed her finger at the Great General and
his knights.
[A dream is something you must eventually wake up from.
Show your true selves!]
The truth of the world was revealed around her beautiful
finger.
Like ink on paper, it dyed the world in an instant.
The world, or rather, the dream, was shattered.
"Huh...!"
Gu Dae-sung, who witnessed the transformation and the
unveiled reality, gulped.
The Great General and the knights of Spero Kingdom.
The valiant knights who were once heroes, who wielded
their swords against evil.
Their tough flesh had rotted and crumbled, and their once
powerful forearms showed bones.
"De, Death Knights?!"
Undead.
The undead knights who defied death were revealed.
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