The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 62
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 62: Holy Grail Knight Geobrick (3)
As they hurried along, Leon explained to the Queen and
the cadets about the savages who worshiped the beast gods,
"They are like rats. We slaughter them from time to time
to reduce their numbers, but they always manage to find a home somewhere and
breed."
Hari wondered if it was similar to the periodic
extermination of northern immigrants.
"Um, still... skinning them to death, and killing
even small children is not......."
"The Kingdom and its knights are not fools who like
to do inefficient things. The reason they skinned and killed them was because
of the imprint.”
"The imprint?"
Leon threw a piece of something at Hari. As she was
clutching the her horse's rein, she barely caught it and gasped at the strange,
squishy feel.
“H, human skin?!”
"There were so many with their skin removed, why are
still surprised to see it?"
"Ugh......."
The seemingly medieval man didn't have modern
sensibilities. Hari unfolded the skin with one hand and found an inscription on
it.
"What is this......."
"An oath to give oneself to a beast god. From the
moment you bear this imprint and use its power, it will slowly erode the
soul."
"T, that's unbelievable......."
“They infiltrate the city. They deceive the oblivious
people with their strong power and abilities. In the end, the encroached souls
become servants of the beast gods.”
Thus, the only solution was extermination. They may not
be demons, but they were followers of the evil god who was no better than the
devil.
"Remember. Your peaceful common sense and fuzzy
human rights are useless in this grueling battle. All that is needed is truth
and absolute justice."
"......."
The cadets fell silent and could only affirm Leon's
words. At first, they thought he was some kind of lunatic, but anything this
man said made sense.
"I, I believe you......."
As Jae-hyuk awkwardly stammered, Cheon So-yeon hit him on
the head with her scabbard.
"Ugh...! Why did you hit me!"
"Be respectful."
It was hard enough to hold the reins of a running horse.
The Kingdom Knight, Sir Toscatta Vendellic, who was
leading the way with Leon in tow, shouted,
"We've arrived!"
Upon arrival, Hari and the cadets swallowed hard at the
sight.
It was chaos.
Knights, soldiers and monsters tangled together in a
terrible skirmish.
"Wh, what the?"
"There are members of the Phoenix Guild and the
Golden Lion Guild!"
"What's going on?!"
The barbarian warriors had already been turned into monsters
by the Imprint, and the hunters were being controlled by the shaman of the
beast god.
Though the knights and soldiers in were holding out, it
seemed only a matter of time before they were swept away by the tide.
"T, those evil beasts!"
"We must charge now!"
A dozen or so knights roared as they advanced.
“Wait. It’s not right to just attack from here.”
“But then how…”
"Wait."
Leon dismounted his horse. First, he scanned the
battlefield, looking for Geobrick.
Geobrick stood out more than anyone else even in that
crowded battlefield. A heavily armored green knight. He was being surrounded by
Korean S-class hunters and beastly monsters.
By nature, they were no match for him.
First, the Holy Grail Knight's Holy Law easily removes the
beast god's hold, and the imprint is removed instantly upon death.
Although there were so many cultist barbarians around the
Lionheart Kingdom, the reason they were regularly purged was because of the
Holy Grail Knight's enforcement of Holy Law.
However, manipulation and revival of the imprinted beasts
now continued without end. This indicated that something was wrong with
Geobrick's Holy Law.
"If only I could summon her......."
Leon knew the ‘divine beast’ that could make a big
difference in this situation. However, it is extremely burdensome to summon
that great being.
[Lionheart. My knight.]
It was then. Leon heard the goddess' voice in his ear.
"Arianna?"
Arianna, Goddess of Light and Justice. She spoke directly
to Leon's ears.
[Your goddess speaks on behalf of Demera. Go and reclaim
the souls we have failed to retrieve, the wandering souls who have given their
allegiance to the Pantheon.]
"I will gladly oblige."
Of course. The Goddess need not command Leon. She simply
came to show him the way.
[Tie the reins of the late king to Stallion. The reins
have the power to awaken old bloodlines.]
"You mean His Majesty Argent's Reins?"
Leon immediately pulled out the treasure he'd been gifted
in the subspace.
Argent Majestie Lionheart. The reins left behind by the
late king of Lionheart were legendary for their ability to tame even the
fiercest of beasts.
Leon burned this treasure at the Great King's funeral,
wishing him to ride his horse through the meadows of paradise.
And now, hundreds of years later, the reins were back in
his hands, wrapped around Stallion at the command of the goddess.
-Neiigh!
Stallion... gladly accepted his touch and slipped the
reins around his neck, and then something amazing happened.
“This is…!”
The knights, the Queen, and all the cadets stared in
amazement. Stallion had sprouted wings!
Even Leon was surprised by the transformation.
"Stallion...! I heard that you had the bloodline of
the Heavenly Horses, but......."
Stallion is a horse of divine descent. A bloodline
reserved for kings, carrying only great ones and noble beings on their backs.
Leon had heard there was even a Pegasus in that long
ancestry, but he never expected Stallion to awaken it.
It was a noble bloodline that had been cut off during
Leon's generation as they cannot even be bred with lower-ranking horses.
"I can't believe he is willing to give me such a
great treasure......."
If this reins were a treasure that could awaken even an ancient
bloodline... couldn't something similar be done to other creatures?
Perhaps it would even be possible to turn a degenerate
drake into a dragon.
"T, the horse has wings......."
The cadets were stunned by this astounding development.
Leon said to them,
"You guys will wait here with the knights."
"Yes? W, why is that?"
“Guardian of the Holy Grail! Are you telling us to give
up our honorable battle?”
Both the cadets and the knights objected to these words.
It seemed as if Leon alone would throw himself into that chaos.
"There is no way that less than a dozen horsemen can
break through this besieged terrain. You are not fit for the task."
“T, then Your Majesty, are you planning on jumping in
there alone?”
"Not alone."
It was Queen Beatrice who stepped forward and held out
her hand, a smile obscured by her face veil.
"Thank you for your help."
"It is my duty."
Leon took the Queen's hand and climbed aboard Stallion,
who had become a heavenly horse.
"Your example is here. Today you shall witness the
pinnacle of the glory you should seek."
Leon took the reins, and Stallion soared into the sky.
* * * *
The road to Geobrick was rough.
A flock of giant eagles, imprinted and beastified with
the markings of the Black Eagle, blocked Stallion's path.
"Filthy beasts. Stallion, you're not going to get
tied down by those things, are you?"
“Crrr…!”
Stallion responded to Leon's playful taunt with a growl.
Although it was the first time the Stallion had ever flown,
the divine beast quickly became accustomed to it.
-Kkaw!
Giant eagles swooped down. On the other hand, the beasts,
freshly beastified, were unaccustomed to flight.
They came gasping for air, trying to overwhelm Stallion
with their numbers and mass.
However, an invisible wall was formed at the same time as
the wings flapped. They were unable to even slow down the Stallion.
-Bam!
The moment they collided with it, their flesh was torn apart
and they screamed in pain. Stallion continued his glide, breaking through the
swarm in a single motion.
-Kaw!
-Caw!
The eagle beasts gave chase, letting out an irritated
screeching. Behind Leon's back, Beatrice laughed.
"Pardon me."
At that moment, a delicate hand swept the air. Those
skilled in the manipulation of magic would have marveled at the magnificent
power condensed in that beautiful stroke.
-Kwaaaa!
Black arrows of magic rained down. No, it was more like
beam cannons from some space rather than arrows.
Magic beam with an estimated magical power of class A. It
would require a long casting time even for a high-ranking mage of the Magic
Tower, but she was able to conjure it with a wave of her hand.
-Kaak?
With Beatrice's light gesture, the stains in the sky were
washed away.
In the meantime, Stallion had arrived above Geobrick.
"Hold the reins for a moment. I need to clear the
ground."
"Only if Stallion will accept me."
"Neigh!"
Stallion was agitated by the touch of someone other than
Leon, but he was immediately quelled by the nobility of the touch.
Just like that.
Leon leaped down from his steed.
"W, who are you?"
“I am the Lionheart King. The guardian of the Holy Grail
and the representative of the Pantheon. I am Leon Dragonia Lionheart.”
He answered Geobrick's question.
* * * *
Geobrick looked at Leon, who suddenly appeared, with an
expression full of surprise.
"The Lionheart King... I do not know who you are,
but you should know that is a significant title for one who serves the gods to
have..."
"Now is not the time for a debate, Holy Grail Knight
of Demera. We must deal with this mess first."
"......I agree. But how?"
The Holy Law was not functioning properly, and the
situation was completely out of hand. What can be done in such a situation?
"First... we need to sever the ties between those
pathetic fools."
Leon looked at the S-class hunters surrounding the two of
them. Including the raiders, there were easily over a hundred of them.
They had not gone as far as the physical transformation,
only having the minds of beasts. Unlike the barbarians, who were dedicated to
the beast gods from birth, they had an innate resistance and a short period of
contact with the crooked faith.
“I am the Lionheart King. I have come to lead you to
paradise.”
For a moment, Geobrick's eyes widened at the sight of the
holy relic Leon had brought out.
“H, how could the Holy Grail be here?!”
It was a holy relic passed down to the Lionheart King
from generation to generation and the reason they were called guardians.
An object of such holy energy cannot be an imitation.
The Holy Grail radiated its own light.
The holy water surged, and the heavens responded.
The dull, dry sky opened up in an instant, and thunder
and lightning roared.
-W, what?
-What's going on?
The soldiers are agitated, and they were not the only
ones. The servants of the beastly evil gods were also terrified by the quaking
sky.
At that very moment.
The holy water evaporated and touched the clouds in the
sky.
A giant semicircle of golden light formed in the center
of the sky.
Holy Law <Radiance>
A sacred force field granted only to Holy Grail
guardians.
A miracle that even the Holy Grail Knights, who lived
hundreds of years of glory and honor, cannot accomplish was manifesting here
and now.
"M, my wounds healed?"
"No way... My arm was cut off......."
Super-scale recovery by the Holy Grail. The original
function had been further strengthened and expanded to a greater extent.
The effect was truly miraculous. Thousands of soldiers
and knights who were dying from injuries were healed and regenerated, every
single one of them.
And that was not all.
“Keeeeeeek!”
The beasts howled. Exposed to the shroud of light, the
beasts writhed in agony over their smoldering skin.
Even those that had already been beastified and imprinted
with the power of an evil god. For those who hadn't yet beastified, their skin
burned and ignited.
Here and there, someone would be burned to ashes.
"Ugh, ugh... w, what?"
"Oh, it hurts... it hurts so much......."
And as the imprint burned, the brainwashed hunters each
complained of pain.
It was only a matter of moments before the imprinting was
complete, but as the power drained out of them, they were left helpless as they
watched the miracle unfold before their eyes.
"Ahhh......."
"W, what is that......"
God's miracle.
The Guardian, acting on behalf of the gods, basked in the
energy that poured from the heavens, and around him, the knights and soldiers
who had fallen, stood up.
A brilliance radiated from him. Divine energy overflowing
even from his breath. The knights and Geobrick realized.
This was the true power they had forgotten.
How had they not known?
How had they not noticed?
A holy law user who enforced the law.
That this great power was a miracle of the gods. And──
"It is holy power......."
Geobrick felt the true holy power flowing through Leon.
[My child. My lost knight.]
"Demera?"
[Go and help the king of knights.]
No more questions. Georgic took up his hammer and
steadied his shield.
There were many questions, but he let them all drift
away.
“Guardian of the Holy Grail. I will be with you.”
"It is an honor to stand on the same battlefield
with you, Sir Geobrick."
It was then. The beasts that had been screaming in agony
within the veil of <Radiance> began to flock like waves and form a huge mass.
-Snap! Squawk!
Souls were sacrificed to the beast gods, their bodies
warped, and what was once humans began to intertwine with each other's flesh.
"Great Cheolwoong, I offer up your slaves!”
At the head of it all was Hildir, the shaman of the tribal
alliance.
She was once beautiful, but her skin, now melted away by
the veil of <Radiance>, was hideous.
But as the agent of the evil god's will, she had survived
the miracle of the Great Law.
Hildir knew she could not retreat from this. Unlike the
soul-bound Geobrick, this was a proper Holy Grail Knight in the flesh.
A being that enforced the Holy Laws. A user of the holy
law who could 'kill' demons that could not be killed or shamans whose bodies
were but shells of their former selves.
'There
is nothing I can do about individual beasts. It's a waste, but even if it means
consuming their soul itself, I have no choice but to sacrifice all the
believers within the gate.'
[Krrrrr...! Lionheart......!!]
It was through the combination of over ten thousand
sacrifices that an incarnation was able to be formed.
The largest of the beast gods that was over 50 meters
tall possessed the vessel. Cheolwoong.
The remaining remnants were the beasts of eagle and Majo,
and even their numbers were overwhelming.
"Ho, an incarnation. I once destroyed the
incarnations of White Wolf and Majo (Magic Boar)."
Beast Gods. They were the ones who rampaged with the orcs
when the demons were on the loose and led the world to ruin.
Time and again, they summoned incarnations to aid them,
but Leon defeated them all alone. And now──
'I
have the support of the knights. There is a Holy Grail Knight besides me.'
He raised his holy sword against all the winds and evils
of the end of the world.
"Hear, my brethren! Knights of glory and loyal
soldiers, the time have come to punish the abominable heresy!"
Leon ran. Without spoken words, he moved across the
ground with his own feet, but his speed was never inferior to his horse.
"I will be with you, King Lionheart!"
Geobrick followed. Despite his massive armor, he does not
lag behind Leon.
"Follow the Holy Grail Knight!"
"Follow the agents of the gods!"
Beatrice smiled as she glided through the skies on the
back of a heavenly horse, watching the charging knights.
"I will open the way."
She gestured.
"By the laws of magic, I command the magical forces
of the world."
Great Magic <Magic Circulation>
The magic within this gate, terrifyingly full, was woven
together by her hand.
The basis of magic was logic and application of that
logic.
If holy power is a miracle that bends the laws, magic is
a phenomenon that utilizes the laws.
In terms of hierarchy, magic was inferior, but how can
one neglect sciences merely because of miracles?
" Although holy laws do not oblige
concepts......."
Beatrice Alighieri Spero.
Magician Queen of the Kingdom of Spero and defender of
the said kingdom who had spent decades fighting evil.
She was a magician queen at the pinnacle of the world.
Great Magic <The Eye of Destruction>
Black beams of light erased the black stains in the sky.
Each one was worth dozens of A-grade magic. This alone was the firepower of a
single human being at its peak.
But the Queen's magic doesn't end there.
Great Magic <Heavenly Punishment of Lightning>
Lightning striked in the sky dyed gold by Leon's Holy
Grail. The great magic artificially created lightning and brought down the
forces of nature.
The pouring thunderbolts transformed the charging boar
monsters into a handful of ashes.
"C, crazy...!"
The hunters who were watching this trembled in
astonishment.
The sky rumbled, and space quaked. The Magician Queen's
unorthodox magic created a great light, stirred up a storm, and rained down
thunderbolts.
Her magic was more like a natural disaster than magic.
-Ki──!?
A stain was washed away without even being able to
scream. The hordes of flying beasts and earthbound beasts were cleared away in
a matter of moments.
With that, the two knights head toward Chulwoong through
a clear path. However, their opponent was a 50 meters tall Chulwoong (Giant
Bear). This was where the Holy Law came in.
Holy Law <Earth Spear>
The goddess of the earth answered Geobrick's prayer.
Just as he crushed the ground, he transformed it into a sharp
spear that stabbed Chulwoong.
[Keuueo?!]
Though not impaled, Chulwoong staggered before the
thousands of tons of mass impact. But the spear wasn't just a weapon.
Leon, who had been running on the ground, used the Earth
Spear of the Holy Law, as a platform to run on. When he closed the distance
enough, he gripped the glowing holy sword.
[Lionheart... you again!!]
"Will you shut that disgusting mouth of yours, you
beast!"
Leon's holy sword flashed and sank into Chulwoong's
throat. No matter how sturdy the bear was made of, Leon's holy sword pierced
through it with ease.
[Kaaaah...!]
But it was shallow. This was because the size of the
incarnation was obviously so large. But Leon didn't push it further and moved
away from Chulwoong, because he believed in 'them'.
-Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da!
Hundreds of horses charged.
The diagonally rising mass of ground was no hindrance to
the kingdom's knights.
They had their sights set on the cracked neck of
Chulwoong. The lance-wielding knights charge in unison.
"We are the Knights of the Kingdom!"
"Shields to defend the glorious Kingdom of the gods
and spears to pierce the flesh of evil!"
""Evil, be destroyed!""
The Holy Grail Guardian and Holy Grail Knight... they received
myriad protections from both, and performed miracles with their mere mortal
bodies.
Legionary Technique <Wedge Charge>
An instantaneous breakthrough.
-Boom!
One blow per person. Knights throw themselves for a
single strike, even if it means falling off a cliff.
[How dare you, you bastards!]
Slashed, pierced, and smashed, Chulwoong's head was in
tatters.
But the opponent was a god incarnate. Two hundred knights
charged at it, but it retained its form.
"Know the grace of the land."
Yet there was one left.
The Hammer Knight took advantage of the knights' charge
and climbed onto the top of Chulwoong's head.
"Purge your disgusting sin and ingratitude with
blood and screams of pain."
The Holy Grail Knight of Life and Fertility.
"Your filthy self shall find no rest in death."
Mighty Knight of Montreal.
His hammer lifted, obscuring the sun.
“At least die and become fertilizer for the land, you
disgusting heretics.”
Divine Punishment <Earth Crushing>
The hammer crashed down on Chulwoong's temple.
***
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