The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 64
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 64 Holy Grail Knight Geobrick (5)
The escape began.
The opening of the rift was enough to give rise to
beasts, too numerous to count. They were chasing horsemen galloping through the
land.
The five hundred horsemen were in a strange formation.
The hunters on borrowed horses were at the center,
protected by hundreds of other horsemen who were knights of pilgrimage.
"Fifty to the flank, fast!"
"Archers!"
The hunters' enchanted arrows shot at the beasts.
However, despite their verbal prowess, their shots don't have much hit rate.
Not surprising. Shooting arrows from a horse required far
more skill and practice than shooting from a plain.
Even the commoners who were the Lionheart's scout
cavalry, the Yeomen, took years of training before they were put into service,
not to mention the arrows fired by modern men who have just ridden horses
today.
The hunters' volleys of arrows landed in the wrong
places. Lee Yong-wan gritted his teeth.
"Damn it...."
Not to mention the other hunters, he couldn't believe
that he, an S-class archer, was in this position... Was it really that
difficult to shoot an arrow from a horse?
"Take out the ones approaching from the
flanks!"
"Don't hold back on the holy laws!"
The knights were skilled, slaying the charging beasts
even as they rode.
Even as they traveled at full speed, they would strike at
beasts that charged from the flanks, stabbing them in the eyes with their
lances or knocking them down.
Unlike the hunters, who were useless on horseback, the
knights were different.
They were masters of combat, having spent a lifetime
honing their skills. Even though they risked their lives to protect them, the
number of beasts attacking them increased.
"Beast swarm!"
"I'll cover the air."
Stallion, awakened as a pegasus, soared. Beatrice shot
arrows of magic behind Leon.
Her overwhelming firepower mowed down the creatures
trying to hunt their mounts.
However, the cracks did not appear in just one place. It
occurred throughout the gate that was being demolished due to closing.
“A group of wild boars are charging from the front!”
One of the knight horsemen shouted to the hunters.
"Flank them and get around them, the leading thirty
will charge with me!"
Leaving the flanking hunters behind, the leading force
knights charged at the boars.
It was a particularly threatening beast with its charging
power.
Basically, it is best to avoid a head-on collision and
steadily cut down from the side.
The knights were able to do just that. But they couldn't
be safe.
-Kwaaaang!
The knights collided with the beasts head-on. As they
clashed, they struck each other, sending flesh flying in all directions.
-Kkueeeg!
-Don't let any of them escape!
Knight horsemen and wild boars, entangled with each
other, engage in a melee. The boars can't even think about chasing the hunters
because the knights refuse to let them go.
"......."
"Your Majesty?"
Watching it from the air, Leon gritted his teeth. Seven
knights had just died instantly from the impact, without even a chance to
regenerate.
Their souls flowed into the Grail.
“Please continue to intercept the monsters.”
Without asking any more questions, Beatrice performed a
series of great magic spells.
Until they reached the gate.
The knights disappeared one by one.
* * * * *
At the gate's entrance. One by one, the haggard Allied
Hunters exited the gate.
The situation was not favorable until the last moment of
escape. Even as they reached the gateway, the beasts attacked them from all
sides.
-Keeeeee!
-Kaak!!!
“Protect!”
“Shield wall!”
But the last bastion was guarded by the knights, the
Lionheart King, and the Magician Queen.
As they fall from their horses, bodies pile up in front
of the force.
Nevertheless, beasts tried to break through the gap and
block their retreat. Other hunters followed their lead.
-Kaw?!
The black eagles were brought down by flying arrows, and
in their mad rush, they were stopped by a large man.
-Kkuek?
"Yeon-ha!"
“Hold on tight!”
While Hwang Geum-cheol, who lost his weapon due to
Geobrick, was holding on to the wild boar, Hwang Yeon-ha repeatedly struck its
side.
The thick boar's hide was punctured, spilling blood and
finally drooping limply.
"Are you finished?"
Lee Yong-wan approached, having sent his guildmates away
first, he stayed behind to help Leon and the knights, and as a fixed attacker,
he took care of the airborne threat after Beatrice.
“What did we do? His Majesty the Lionheart King and the
Queen did everything.”
Hwang Gum-cheol watched in amazement as the two still
shot down the beasts. He knew they were strong, but he hadn't expected them to
be that strong.
As a raider, he had stepped forward to help ensure the
safety of the rear, but the more he watched them fight, the more he realized
his own weakness.
'So
they're knights.......'
Today they had witnessed the end of an honorable knight.
The Lionheart had offered backup, but it still cost lives.
The debt owed today must be paid, one way or another.
"Go, it looks like everyone already left. Get out of
here."
"......."
The last of the group headed out. They were about to walk
out of the gate, but they noticed Leon staring the way they had traveled with a
straight back.
* * * *
The beasts were still coming. If they delay any longer,
they will be swept away by the tidal wave of beasts.
Leon remained where he was, even though he knew he needed
to get out of there as quickly as possible, with the knights acting as shields.
-Stop them!
-Don't let any of them slip through!
The glorious knights were falling. The terrain, the
numbers, and the situation were all against them, but they desperately hold on.
Their end is near.
"Your Majesty!"
A young female voice called out from behind him. It was
Han Hari and the cadets.
"I told you to go first."
"......."
They knew they wouldn't be much help.
They knew they should have gone first, leaving the
Lionheart King and the Magician Queen to their business. But.......
"I think we... have to see them through to the
end."
Hari felt obligated to see them until the end.
To see those who were willing to sacrifice for justice
and choose death for glory and honor.
Not one of them wept, and certainly not one spoke of
resentment or hatred.
What kind of honor do they believe in so blindly that
they can throw away their lives as if it were natural?
And Leon... why did he still linger, knowing of the
knights' loyalty?
Perhaps it was a similar kind of obligation, not unlike
that of a knight.
For the sake of the loyal knights and soldiers, he must
remain until the end to vent his sorrow. Even if it was dangerous and
irrational.
"If you wish to stay, then stay."
While uttering those words, Leon kept staring in the
direction from which he had departed. He stared at the knights until there was
not a single one left.
And when the beasts he'd seen over the horizon finally
reached them, Leon still faced them......
-Kkiiiig...!
An enormous black stain covered the sky. While the
four-legged beasts on the ground scrambled, the black eagles that had amassed
their numbers were swooping down in unison.
"Your Majesty... I think we should get out of here
now."
"Not yet. Not yet."
Leon was waiting for someone. One last person. He was
willing to take the risk for that last one. The moment the birds were about to
make their final plunge──
-Kiii?
-Kii-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!
Screeches from all over the place. The black smudges that
covered the sky were screeching and crashing, unable to spread their wings.
"W, what's wrong with them all of a sudden?"
The cadets were puzzled, but Leon understood.
The next moment, he sensed the 'soul' that had returned
to the Holy Grail and realized that the mighty soul's strike had struck the
incarnation of the monstrous beast.
"At last......"
Leon’s whole body trembled. Soaring anger and
uncontrollable hatred flashed in his bloodshot eyes.
"You will pay for this! The vicious beasts you serve
will die the most cruel death!!”
The Holy Grail Knights enforce results through Holy Law.
So, is the oath uttered by this greatest Holy Grail
guardian really a binding force?
It will be made by this Knight King alone.
"I shall withdraw. But I will remember this
day."
Turning their reins, the party retreated. None of the
black and white beasts pursued Leon.
* * * *
The Jeju Island gate was closed and Leon and the cadets
returned to Korea, receiving the thanks of Association Chairman Oh Kang-hyuk.
However, their steps were heavy because Leon, their
leader, remained silent.
The other cadets who hadn't participated in the gate
attack had a puzzled look on their faces, but it was resolved when Jae-hyuk and
Han Su-ho noticed.
With all that done, they returned. In his own sleeping
quarters. Leon couldn't sleep for a while.
This was not the first time he has witnessed the death of
his comrades-in-arms.
In the great war against demons, many knights fell and
soldiers met their end. The Holy Grail Knights who could be trusted with his
back ascended one by one, and saints and priests fell into the arms of the
gods.
In the end, only Leon survived. When the gods moved the
Pantheon into his heart, he accepted it willingly, but the weight was by no
means light.
"Hu......."
Leon stood up, unable to sleep. Yappy whined beside him,
but Leon patted it on the back and left the room.
The Pantheon Guild had a bar for drinking. Not the fancy,
upscale bars of the city, but a crude facility to service the soldiers and
relieve their fatigue.
Only first-generation cadets who had completed their
training period were allowed to drink here. Then again, they go to bed early
for regular training, so the place was deserted.
“Oh, Your Majesty?”
There was unexpectedly someone.
"Queen."
"Can't sleep?"
"Neither do you?"
Beatrice tilted her head with a languid smile, a goblet
full of red wine in her hand.
"How can you drink alcohol without restraint?"
"Because I want to get drunk."
She leaned back against the table, uncharacteristically pouty.
Unlike her usual relaxed demeanor, she looked on edge
now.
"I'll have a drink too."
"You're drinking with me?"
"You're drinking with me."
"Huhu......."
Although Beatrice stumbled, she took out a new glass and
poured wine. The overflowing goblet was full of red.
"Your Majesty... do you remember those who have gone
first?"
Beatrice's gaze fell on the glass. Leon smiled bitterly
as he looked into her red eyes through the swirling wine.
"Being a monarch is a tiring job."
You must carry more burdens than anyone else, be stronger
than anyone else, and never give up under any circumstances.
Even if no one is left by your side at the end of the
fight.
Leon took a large gulp of his drink. It was strong. Very
much so.
Beatrice wordlessly refilled his empty glass. Beatrice
grinned as she raised her glass.
Their glasses clinked against each other seamlessly.
Unexpectedly, it was a common culture regardless of the world.
"Queen."
"Call me by name. I have no kingdom or people to
protect anymore."
How can a ruler of a kingdom with no people be called a
ruler?
Beatrice gave a pitiful look, reciting self-mocking
sorrow.
"And so it is with me."
“Your Majesty is different. Your Majesty carries their
soul. Even the gods rely on you.”
And most of all.
"You are appeasing their souls and fulfilling their
hopes. You are a great king, incomparable to the likes of me."
"......Don't blame yourself so much. You are as good
a ruler as any."
She threw herself into the devil's schemes to save her
people and country. Repeating destruction and rebirth for nearly a hundred
years.
She may have failed, but who can blame her after her
struggle?
“Your Majesty was victorious in the end. You did not
compromise with evil and maintained justice and faith. That is why your people
and knights can still have hope in paradise.”
Beatrice's eyes were both praising and sad as she spoke
of Leon.
"And that’s why I feel sorry for Your Majesty.
Because you will carry that burden for eternity. Even if you lose again and
again, you have to stand up again.”
Beatrice had seen the look on Leon's face when he watched
Geobrick's ascension.
It was a terribly lonely feeling, a struggle with no end
in sight. He must have been frustrated.
But he was never able to break down in frustration; he
would always have to continue standing up.
Struggling with her own weight, Beatrice wanted to reach
out to Leon, to take the burden off his shoulders, even if it was only for a
brief moment of solace.
The Death Knights had stood by her until the very end,
and the only way she could repay their loyalty was to ensure their safe passage
to reincarnation.
He could not rely on anyone but himself. She would do
whatever she could to lighten his burden.
"If there is anything you would like me to do,
please tell me."
No matter what it may be, Beatrice will give Leon what he
wants. Leon read her determination and will and smiled bitterly.
"I have fought alone for too long, and perhaps that
is why I have seems to have forgotten. The many comrades who once fought
alongside me......."
Today, Leon reflected on that feeling of loss.
"My people, my friends, my Kingdom. My......."
Leon didn't think much more of it. He didn't want to
mention those two.
The losses and grief he remembered were his alone.
Leon looked at Beatrice.
"You must not die before me, for the death of a
companion is something that pierces your bones no matter how many times you
experience it.”
The night drifted on.
The two people who shared the same wound spent a long
time in deep conversation.
***
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