The morning's offensive was scheduled.
On the first day of the attack, Androzin flew into a rage when he heard that the demons had been defeated.
"What? They fled without a fight!"
It hadn't occurred to him that the first day's fighting would be enough to take the castle. According to the original story, the battle would continue for the next five days before the castle was finally destroyed.
But this was the first time they had fallen without even a pretense of a fight. In a hundred years, in 95 iterations of history, there had never been a more humiliating defeat.
"You cowards!"
Androzin's eight arms danced, and dismembered bodies leapt up one after another.
-Keeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The demons decapitated by Androzin's were not released into the spirit realm; their souls were absorbed by the blood-stained drums, screaming incessantly.
Androzin pitied the men who had died in the night.
They were specialized warriors, among the demons of lust, who took pleasure in pain.
By the end of the night, they were as good as dead. Leon's surprise was to blame.
In all of history, he was the first madman to run out of the castle and hunt demons himself.
What could the madman possibly want so badly that he would abandon the safety of his castle to hunt demons?
Androzin didn't know.
He didn't realize that the all-night demon hunt was a stress reliever for Leon, who had a panic attack at the sight of demons.
Just as he was rebuking his men and trying to regroup-─
"What?"
Androzin's eyes widened as the lush field, the forest, had instantly lost its life and died, though it had technically returned to 'normal'.
This meant only one thing.
"The queen's dream…broken?"
This world is a world of innate evil, a place that could corrupt any man or woman.
Repeating the dream, he transforms her into a lustful demon with the essence of corruption.
For him, endless despair was necessary, and the remaining five years were the final step to ensuring her submission.
A dream that was supposed to be broken only after her corruption was forcibly broken?
Something had happened and Androzin grew impatient.
"Damn it! The Queen is supposed to be reborn as the Lord of Pleasure!"
That was the order of the current Supreme Archdemon of Pleasure.
Androzin led his men and headed straight for the castle. There was little time to gather all the forces, but time was running out.
Reynald and the Wisdom Gen watched on and Reynald whispered softly.
"Shouldn't you… go help?"
[I'm not going?]
You little shit.
Reynald swallowed hard.
* * * *
Leon, Koo Dae-Sung, and Yappy beat the sleepy Hunters out of their daze and headed out of the palace.
The Hunters are dumbfounded as they wake up to find the castle in ruins.
"What, what, what happened?"
"Apparently… we went underground and… what happened?"
Leon doesn't elaborate on the Hunters' questions. For now, it was more important to deal with this rapidly changing situation.
"Demons!"
"Demons have entered the castle!"
But the demons were already over the gates and swarming inside and the hunters couldn't make sense of it.
"Damn it, where are the soldiers on the walls?"
"There are too many of them!"
Koo Dae-sung shouted to the confused Hunters.
"Raise your shields…!"
At the sound of his voice, the Hunters reacted instinctively.
Click, click, click, shields mechanically stacked. In an instant, the finished product was ready to greet the demons.
-Kill them!
-Destroy!
The demons of lust charged naked, their fighting strength not great. But lust demons are great in numbers.
The mass of the frontal assault alone exceeds a hundred.
"They're big…!"
The Hunters withstand the crashing demons and plunge their swords through the gaps in the shields.
-Thud!
-Kick!
The lesser demons were easily defeated by the Hunters' swords.
[Terror of the Demons]
[Greatest Demon Slayer]
[Demon Lord Slayer]
These three traits amplify the Hunters' damage to demons. Their attacks take on an antagonistic quality, and demons around them are weakened.
Add to that the Lionheart aura and the Hunters' defense became sturdy as long as the demons came from the front.
-Kiek!
They were coming from the side!
At the end of the defense row Chief Kim Jin-soo, holding his shield, felt hopeless as the demons came from all sides.
Being surrounded meant quick annihilation.
'And yet, no one is moving!'
Even though he, a B-rank tanker of the Association, was getting nervous, how could these D-rank Hunters remain calm and steady?
The reason was the presence of the knights.
-Nonexistent. Weaponless.
Minimalist machine guns raining down and steel wires imbued with holy power were swung at speeds beyond recognition.
"Ki…?"
"Get?"
They didn't know what had passed through their torso, but when they realized it, a neatly sliced section slid away.
Leon's side was the worst. The demons pissed themselves just by glaring at him, their eardrums bursting at the sound of his rant.
Two Holy Knights covered both sides of the formation. The blows they unleashed were more powerful than all of the blades wielded by all the Hunters combined.
-Profit…!
-Demon Butcher…!
-Center, center, center!
The demons were driven back by the Hunters.
It was better to die in the dust and escape to the spirit realm than to be sliced to pieces by the Holy Knights on the left and right.
"It's big…!"
"Why is it so heavy…!"
This increased the burden on the hunters and Chief Kim Jin-soo shouted.
"Protector Shield!"
Chief Kim's unique skill, Protector's Shield, a skill that temporarily increases the defense of the entire party by 20%.
Normally, it's a skill that benefits only sub-tankers, but the Hunters here are supposed to be tanks.
Androzin shouted from the rear.
"Work, slaves, and revel in the pleasure of pain!"
Androzin's crown glowed with a great dark light. The demons' eyes twisted grotesquely as they were exposed to the crown's light. The words… tasted… of deception.
"Kihihi…!"
"Kyahahahahaha!"
The demons screamed and charged. They threw themselves against the shields and didn't care if their torso was pierced.
They throw themselves with glee, as if the pain has become pleasure.
He was overwhelmed and the shield was heavy, and he wanted to throw it away right now, but Koo Dae-Sung didn't. The hunters did not move from their positions.
[A soldier's virtue is to be good at only one thing: to block, and the knight will do the rest]
The king commanded them only one thing.
Stand your ground and keep the enemy at bay.
And the knights will crush them.
'If we can only hold on…!'
'The king will do something about it!'
The soldiers stare at their king's back as he rides to victory, holding on.
"Let's go, Stallion!"
'His Majesty Lionheart will see this through, just like he always has.'
"Huh?"
Leon disappeared from the Hunters' view as the endless black tide of demons had swallowed him whole.
All hope was lost as the black waves were all around him.
* * * *
Leon swung his holy sword wildly at the horde of evil before him.
Five demons screamed at the blow but others quickly took their place.
The demons show no sign of fear. Their bloodshot eyes are bloodshot and delirious.
It's a trick the Archdemons of Pleasure have displayed time and time again. It transforms the pain of the horde into pleasure and turns them into pleasure-seeking maniacs.
Lust demons are weak in combat, but with buffs like this, they're a nuisance.
'Insufficient penetration.'
The enemy is too numerous and Androzin himself has come to lead the army. The final battle was supposed to be on the last day of the defense but it was brought forward by the queen's shattered dream.
'Can I do it?'
If only he had the Holy Knights…or at least an Order.
'I can't blame them for not being here.'
Leon had fought alone a war against evil that lasted 180 years. It was a matter of life and death for all demons and for Leon. But there was a difference between then and now.
Back then, he was in a land of divinity.
There was faith in the gods, holy power, and the support of all the gods, built up since the beginning of human history.
But now faith is lacking, and the only thing he has is his body.
The holy arts he practiced for so many years can only be used occasionally, and the holy sword and holy spear have lost their power.
Could he do it?
"No! It must be done!"
Leon's sword emitted a brilliant light and layers of light cut through the demon.
For the sake of the soldiers who watched his back, for the sake of the gods to whom he would give glory and honor.
Even if he is alone, he must do it.
That is why he is the Lionheart King, the sole agent of the gods.
"For Lionheart–!!!"
It was then that a black, magical blade flew out but Leon's holy sword deflected it; however the deflected blade slashed at Stallion's throat.
"Stallion…!"
Leon falls to the ground as Stallion collapses from the blow. The Grail summoned rushed to repair his wounds, but they were not easily healed.
The knight's fall was an opportunity for the minions and a wave of demons rushed toward Leon, intent on devouring him.
-Stone strike!
The masses collided and the moment of impact was dramatic but with a bang, the demons were bounced back by Ricardo Burns and the Death Knights.
"Warlord."
"King Lionheart."
Wraiths who cut their own throats in their glory days and are now wandering the netherworld. Royal Guards, loyal to the queen even in death, left her side and are here.
"Have you awakened from your dreams, knights?"
"Our loyalty to the Queen remains."
"As it should be."
"But…if we can make a difference...."
Leon smirked.
He had long been a symbol of hope, even when the world was being destroyed by evil and even when the gods took refuge in his heart.
Even the Hunters and the Queen's loyal knights.
"Then show me. Live up to the expectations."
What he had always done against all odds.
"God of War and Flame, answer my call!"
A strong voice spoke, a divinity that needed no altar, no shrine, only the heat of valor to answer.
[Still, they are a liability, a flame that could crumble at any moment without you]
"Then I will stand before them forever, until the day they can stand up for themselves."
Stallion fades away as it cries out in disgrace at being summoned back.
"Thank you, my ally. Rest now."
Leon turned to look at the 38 knights protecting him, holding the demons at bay. In their midst, the Lionheart King shouted.
"I am Lionheart, the greatest rider of Petos, the god of war and flame!"
At the raspy cry, the demons writhe in pain, and the soldiers and knights recall Leon's presence.
"War! Flame, thy greatest war horseman asks for the flame of war here and now…!"
Each syllable, each word, carries unbending honor and weight. The flames of war responded to that clarion call.
In an instant, the skin-searing heat and roar shook the battlefield with vibrations.
Demons, knights, hunters…all eyes turned to the center of the flames. In the midst of the divine flames, where demons are consumed by the mere touch, a divinity of a density far beyond common sense emerged.
It looked like a fire-breathing bull.
Unruly and ferocious, they are beyond human comprehension, outside the norm.
Leon climbed aboard a giant war chariot drawn by two such bulls and grabbed the reins.
"I, Leon Dragonia Lionheart, greet the Queen's loyal knights!"
The thirty-eight Death Knights with swords and spears lined up behind the war chariot, backing away from the terrorized demons.
"You are the proud sword of the kingdom of Spero, the shield of the queen! Entrusted with the noble task of punishing the wicked. Knights of glory! Be the flame that purifies evil!"
The blazing flames of war burned into the blades of the Death Knights.
The flames that burned and purified the unholy recognized them as pure.
"Follow me."
Leon aimed his spear and led the way like usual.
"We will be victorious."