The Death Knights… The Queen's Guard have felt the changes that the flames of war have wrought.
Their eyes grew brilliantly clear and the hands that gripped their weapons were glued together, unable to be separated.
The soles of their feet felt surprisingly light on the earth.
How could they have been so clear, so pure, so warm, when they had been reincarnated as dead wraiths?
"Follow me."
The leading Lionheart King aims his spear.
"Then we shall win."
The chariot spurs to life as flame-breathing bulls pound the ground with their imposing four legs.
Ghost horses followed, but none could keep up with the bulls and the Lion King.
"Leading the way alone is dangerous!"
Spero Castle was filled with a horde of demons.
The bulls were certainly imposing, but even so, the moment they crashed into that black wave, it was like a light that would eventually be swallowed up.
The Death Knights and Ricardo Burns thought so, but──
Light cut through the darkness and the blackness, as inky as the sea, was melted by the flames.
The bulls' formidable glares and strength make the spears of the demons retreat, and the flames they breathe burn before their eyes, reducing the blackness to black powder.
It was like an excavator unleashed from its speed limit and plowed full speed into a pack of rabbits.
The sight of the creatures trampled, burned, crushed, and torn to shreds was almost sympathetic.
The following Death Knights realized that the mere mass of demons in front of the war chariot was destined to be nothing more than a one-sided slaughter.
Even the loud carnage and demonic screams were now relegated to an unpleasant background soundtrack──
"You insolent bastard!"
Androzin shouted in anger, his crown dancing and glowing.
The Crown of Desire, the treasure of the Lord of Pleasure, grants the power to turn Androzin's slaves into death-defying fanatics.
The Slaves of Pleasure rushed forward, frothing and bloodshot-eyes, under his power.
Riding monstrous reptilian beasts with sharp claws and wielding whips, they charge at Leon and the Death Knights, two hundred in number, in fact.
"Ha…!"
Leon laughs in disbelief at the things imitating horsemen charge and waving ferocious whips.
"Do you even know what a cavalryman is, you lowly things? A charge is meant to be made with a spear!"
Not a spear or a sword but a whip. Even if it were sonic weapons, how could they hold off a horde of spurred knights?
[[Mightiest Charge] applies]
Needless to say, the demons of lust that get torn apart in the moment of clash.
Flesh rips and bursts, and torn demons splatter in all directions.
Androzin didn't expect them to hold off that ferocious charge either. But....
"What the hell, that one."
They outnumbered the enemy by five to one but they were pierced without stopping them for even a moment.
He knew what the Death Knights were capable of. They were brilliant knights, but in the end, they could not overcome the limitations of numbers.
If anyone could have turned the tide, it was those bulls. No, it was the man at the front, leading the war chariot.
"Shoot! Sweep them away!"
The demons of lust raised their cannon-like energy weapons they had acquired earlier from the Demons of Wisdom and Exploration as a barrage of fire rained down on the enemy.
[Ranged Abomination applies to this unit]
Troop Immunity: Applies the Holy Law
{Death Knights (38) become subject to
The barrage of energy cannons failed to wound the Death Knights.
The Holy Knights' extreme ranged aversion negates ranged attacks not only against themselves but also against their immediate troops.
The flip side of this is that the entire unit loses the ability to use ranged weapons, but that's not necessary for a charging unit. Only a knight's valor can shake the battlefield. There is no honor in cowardly ranged weapons!
"Glory to the Lionheart!"
[Mightiest Charge] is applied to the unit. [War Knight's Protection] and [Fear of Evil] are combined.
Troop Upgrade: Increase Charge Bonus by 400%.
Troop Upgrade: Increase Charge Bonus by 120%.
Troop Upgrade: Increase Charge Bonus by 100%.
Troop Upgrade: Increase the Physical Resistance of your Assault Troops by 35%.
Weaken Enemy: Demon races have 80% less Charge Defense.
[Warbulls of Petos grants friendly Legions the trait:
[[Greatest Demon Slayer] applies reduced physical resistance, reduced holy law resistance, reduced melee defense, and automatic soul retrieval to all demons in a 1 km radius]
Over a thousand Demons of Pleasure and Corruption were swept away in an instant.
The demons disappeared like falling leaves in the face of an overwhelming breakthrough.
Androzin was dumbfounded by the horrific reality before him.
Only one person made the Death Knights so strong.
Even the Death Knights themselves were unbelievable, but what about Androzin?
"Bastard!"
Eight arms swung their halberds at Leon, who was closing in. The blows slam into the war chariot.
-Ooooooooooo…!
The two bulls roar as the rampaging bulls cut themselves free from the chariot, and one of them crashes right into Androzin's shinbone.
The Divine Beast's charge brought even the Archdemon to his knees as Androzin's height of over five meters was instantly lowered.
'Not good enough. Where did the Lionheart King go?'
Just then, a shadow fell over Androzin as the flame-encrusted holy spear rained down on him.
"Ugh…!"
Androzin narrowly avoids it and backing away, he cries out.
"Slaves, kill him!"
There are still thousands of demons around and if they come in waves, even the Lionhearted King won't be able to withstand them.
"One minute!"
The Lionheart barks out his orders as the Death Knights sweep through the demons with flaming blades.
In the circle they create, Androzin and Leon stand face-to-face.
"Lionheart, are you the one who killed Dothraddon!"
"Dothraddon?"
Leon smirks as he summons his holy sword.
"That oversized, fatty."
The flaming holy sword and lance are pointed at Androzin as Leon declares.
"That lowly pervert was torn limb from limb and your fate will be the same."
"You…!"
Androzin threw his halberds with the ability to fly and chase enemies.
In response…Leon raised his spear.
"You rely on the power of magic, not your own strength, and that is why you are weak!"
Leon hurls the holy spear at the eight flying halberds.
While he despises ranged weapons, he does not discredit ranged attacks.
Weak conscripts and serfs can wield bows and cannons.
Knights, however, should not. A knight is disqualified if the wind generated by his sword is weaker than an arrow.
-Bang!
The thrown holy spear deflects the flying halberds. After deflecting three of the eight in all directions, the unabated momentum finally sliced off one of Androzin's arms.
One of his arms was blown off, but Androzin didn't have time to rage at the pain since a chill ran through his body, making him shiver.
The Knight charged through the five blades with his holy sword as layers upon layers of brilliant light glowed, ready to cut Androzin's throat.
"Crave!"
Then, the crown Androzin wore glowed.
The Crown of Desire revealed the primal desires of Leon and all creatures everywhere.
"Oh, no-danger!"
"Lionheart!"
Only the non-living, the Death Knights, are not swept up in that longing but not the living Lionheart King.
The Crown of Desire has lulled even their greatest queen into sleep.
If the Lionheart King would be tempted even for one second he would die at the hands of the Archdemon.
As the dejected Death Knights hastily tugged at the reins, they saw the Lionheart King wielding his fiery holy sword.
"Kaaaahhh…!"
He leaped forward and slashed down, cutting Androzin from the tip of his shoulder to the center of his chest. It was a fatal wound.
"How, how…! How did you escape the illusion of craving?"
Androzin stumbles backwards, clutching his shoulder in pain and Leon gives him a mocking look.
"Even the Lord of Pleasure could not deceive me, so how can you deceive me!"
Every living thing has desires that it craves. How can a man not be tempted by them?
Only inscrutable emotion wells up in Androzin's eyes as he looks at Leon.
"No, stop him, stop him, stop him!"
Androzin begins to fall backwards, panting. The queen has been corrupted, and now he must flee.
To die by the sword of a holy-law user would be true annihilation.
Androzin immediately opened the Demon Gate, hoping to buy himself some time to escape, but then──
""Uhhhhhhhh!!!""
With a thunderous roar, two fiery bulls charged in front of Androzin.
""Grrr…!""
Androzin falls to the ground and Leon holding the holy sword was in front of him.
"Die…!"
"Wait…!"
Androzin's shout stops the holy sword in its tracks and he begins to babble incoherently.
"Coward!"
" Coward?"
"It was a duel, and a divine being intervened! You knights are supposed to believe in Justice!"
"Certainly… it's not honorable for a third party to intervene in a one-on-one duel."
"That, yes!"
"But."
The holy sword shines brightly and Leon's expression is determined.
"I have no honor to show you bastards, for this is not a duel, but a worm extermination!"
"Damn you, you racist-──!"
The holy sword struck down relentlessly, decapitating Androzin. At the same time, the magic of the Crown of Desire was broken, and what the demons of Lust witnessed was the decapitated Archdemon Androzin.
As his soul was absorbed into the Holy Grail, they watched in horror.
-Ah, Androzin is dead!
-We have to run!
-Where?
At that moment, the demons saw the Demon Gate that Androzin summoned to escape but at the exact same moment, Leon saw it too.
"Run! GAAAAAAA──!!"
The demons collapsed in an instant as they started running through the Demon Gate to save themselves.
After the merciless killing and slaughter, many demons survived and returned. It was a swift response.
...…
...
…
"Great One, the plan has failed."
[....]
"Great One?"
[Ahh, this game is such a joke]
* * * *
Leon stopped his pursuit as he watched the demons hurl themselves into the Demon Gate, followed by the knights and hunters who had been slaughtering them in the chase.
"Stop the chase."
Leon said calmly at the words of Ricardo Burns, the Death Knight.
"I had to leave an escape route open. If I destroyed the Demon Gate, you'd probably die."
"Uh-why?"
At his question, Leon looked at the cadet Hunters, including Koo Dae-sung and Chief Kim Jin-soo, who seemed to be able to kill the remaining thousands of demons with ease.
"The soldier's body is exhausted, so we have to stop. Excessive use of force would sacrifice the lesser ones."
"Is that so?"
If it were Leon alone, he would have prioritized the destruction of the Demon Gate and begun the war against the demons.
But he was a commander and had many soldiers to be responsible for now.
In this battle, the trainees had done their job, and he couldn't force them to do any more damage.
"All captains, report damage!"
One by one, the captains came forward at Leon's shout, their faces grim despite the impossible victory they had achieved.
"Most of them are injured, but they are recovering thanks to the Holy Grail. But...."
Koo Dae-Sung looked at the immobilized men on the shield. Their faces had become familiar over the past month.
"Six have fallen."
"Hmm, so be it."
Leon acted like it was no big deal but the response made Koo Dae-sung and the others feel sad.
"I will pray for them."
As the Hunters looked on bitterly, Leon's sword was held vertically in front of the bodies of the fallen.
"War and flame. Here your warriors died an honorable death."
Leon drops to one knee. It was a knee he would never bend before the commoners. But for this moment, he is only a priest.
"May their souls be yours. If they have sinned in life, may they be washed away by the Great Fire, and in death may they be judged for their blazing courage, so that they may feast with the gods."
Something transparent escaped from the bodies of the dead.
The souls of the dead Hunters were sucked into the Grail, just as the souls of the slain demons were sucked out.
However, this was not done to crush and extinguish the evil spirits, but as a pious act of welcoming them back.
After the Cataclysm, the religious world lost its power.
Everyone looked to the gods and blamed them for not answering in the face of this unexplained catastrophe.
Hunters are atheists who have made death and violence their lifelong companions. They don't seek God, and they don't rely on God.
But now there is a saint who performs miracles before their eyes.
There is a priest of the gods who shows them the way to salvation from the dreaded death.
"Gather the names and families of the fallen and report them to me, for their service will be rewarded by the Temple."
How could that cold, aloof voice be so warm?
It was so different from the politicians who emphasized the loyalty and sacrifice of those who died only on the day of the ceremony.
...…
...
...…
...
…
[The gates to the paradise of the gods have been opened]
-Your soul is of low rank. You will not be allowed to enter Paradise.
-Your level of faith is low. You will not be allowed to enter Paradise.
-The level of glory you have given is too low. You will not be allowed to enter Paradise.
[Absolute effect: Blessed by the Lionheart King]
-Enter Paradise.