"Ugh...."
Park Yong-shin opened his eyes.
His eyelids, heavy as a thousand muscles, opened, and his body, which had moved as if it were not his own, stirred and moved.
When he opened his eyes, what he saw was a brilliant light.
"Aaah...."
A warm glow enveloped him and an energy permeated him. There was nothing to ask. The one in front of him was God.
"Great One...."
Park Yong-shin prostrated himself with tears in his eyes. He was ashamed of his past of creating doctrines, preaching the Word, and expanding the church for the Voice.
"You are…God."
"A demigod."
Leon replied blandly, pointing his gleaming golden holy sword at him.
"You lowly heretic, you have spoken of salvation through the power of an evil species."
"Sin, I apologize...."
"You tried to hold the world in your pugnacious eyes. Your arrogance insulted the gods and enraged the Lionhearted King, so how can you repay me?"
"What… what can I do?"
Leon pondered.
Normally, a sociopath would be reduced to serfdom, used as a meat shield on the battlefield, or forced to farm for the rest of his life.
But there were exceptions to the rule.
Demon worshippers, blinded by their unruly quest for knowledge through sacrifice, or barbarians, blinded by power and imprinted with the slavery of beast gods.
The Hanbit Palace is somewhat different from both of these examples.
The devouring demons of gluttony do not identify themselves as demons, but rather trick gullible commoners into their evil ways.
There is no arbitrariness here, so the punishment is quite light unless you have germinated a demonic seed.
"Ten years. Ten years to serve and worship the Great Shrine! Build up your faith until you are a free man, and only then will you be able to ask the gods for forgiveness as a free man!"
He was addressing all of the members of the Hanbit Palace who had miraculously survived the comet's aftermath, not just Park Yong-shin.
As their stunned gazes focused, Leon spoke.
"In the name of all the gods, bow down for forgiveness. If you refuse, there will be no more mercy."
No one left the room; they all fell down and worshiped him.
* * * * *
The Hanbit Palace, a mega-cult that had gathered 1.6 million adherents over two decades and spanned political, business, and hunting circles collapsed.
A symbol of salvation, with numerous related industries and over four hundred elite Hunters. The collapse of the Hanbit Palace and the comet impact caused a great deal of controversy.
-Comet Bom crashed into the Hanbit Palace?
-What, that comet from the old, failed cartoon?
-A 6-kilometer comet stuck in the ground. Crazy.
The comet that hit the Hanbit Palace was an extraordinary event that turned all common sense on its head.
Hundreds of meteorites enter the Earth's atmosphere every day, but they don't make much news because they are all incinerated upon entry.
However, the comet that hit the Hanbit Palace was not even slightly reduced in size.
-Why are we still alive?
-If it's that big, shouldn't it at least wipe out Asia?
-Yes.
Even stranger is the aftermath of the comet's impact.
A 6-kilometer comet collided with Earth with no loss of atmosphere, no craters, and no aftermath for thousands of kilometers.
Considering that it was a comet impact that ended the age of the Cretaceous dinosaurs, and that the mega basins we've found around the planet since then are evidence of a tens to hundreds of meters of impact, a 6-kilometer comet could easily end the human race.
But even the Hanbit Palace, which was directly hit, didn't have a single death, let alone the end of humanity.
-Hey, isn't this the miracle Hanbit Palace talked about?
-They're going to get their asses kicked.
Some said that this was a favor from the heavenly gods.
It's widely believed that the system crashes when Hanbit Palace devotees enter the gate.
If this is true, then the Hanbit Palace's expansion will be even greater than the Hanbit Palace being blown away.
-Hanbit Palace Park Yong-shin is holding a press conference.
-Tat
-If it's true that all the members of Hanbit Palace are alive, isn't it no longer a cult?
Park Yong-shin of Hanbit Palace held a public press conference eight hours after the epic celestial collision.
While everyone was looking forward to his announcement, he opened his mouth.
[As of today, Hanbit Palace will be merging with TTG Guild. All assets will be transferred to His Majesty Leon Dragonia Lionheart, Guild Leader of the TTG Guild and a living demigod, and our raids will be organized as the TTG Guild Man-At-Arms──]
-???
-???
-What? What just happened?
-The Hanbit Palace is being merged into the TTG Guild?
-?????
Since the Cataclysm, there have been numerous examples of Hunter guilds merging with other guilds. Corporations merge, so why shouldn't half-corporate guilds merge?
Right now, all of the top 10 guilds in Korea are conglomerates that have been created by merging small and large guilds.
But the problem is that Hanbit is not just a guild.
It's more like a chaebol with related businesses such as hunter armor production workshops, item factories, and processing industries for materials obtained from the Gate, as well as alcohol, beverages, construction, media, publishing, and sports teams.
And the centerpiece of it all is the Hanbit Palace. They were both a religious organization and a chaebol group with many businesses, and the head of the group was Park Yong-shin, a Korean S-class hunter.
And now he's not only handing over all those businesses to TTG Guild, he's declaring himself a subcontractor?
It was impossible no matter how fast TTG Guild has been growing lately, it's still just a small religious group with an army to match.
It was a case of a small business eating a big business.
-Is that true?
-Hunter Park Yong-shin, what is your relationship with the TTG Guild?
The reporters' questions kept coming. But Park Yong-shin answered calmly, as if he was above it all.
[He is the true savior, an agent of God. You must find true faith, everyone. He is the savior of this world].
What kind of nonsense is this?
It's like a Protestant minister announcing that the Buddha is the real God.
-Was last night's comet impact related to the TTG Guild?
-Please tell me more!
[That's it]
Hanbit Palace's announcement of its own annexation to TTG Guild became a hot topic in Korea and around the world because it was linked to the comet impact.
* * * * *
Aside from the Hanbit Palace merger, Leon looked at the comet that had crashed into the Hanbit Palace.
"Lord Spinner, when can we begin work?"
-Needed to build a facility. Major Facility Located in the TTG Guild.
The comet was full of iron oxide. It was also exposed to the three forces of nature, which greatly altered its properties.
This is the metal the God of Blacksmiths speaks of. It's called star iron, and the Lionheart Kingdom has periodically summoned it to be forged.
"What we need right now is 50 suits of armor and swords. Spears and halberds are secondary."
-Your Majesty's armor?
"Of course, this king's armor and Sir Spinner's come first."
All Leon needs is a suit of armor.
During the war with demons Leon's armor was destroyed.
Unlike the Immortal Holy Sword, armor is consumable, and no new Stardust Armor was being forged in the annihilated world.
"Half-assed armor is only as good as the wearer but yours must be of the finest quality, and the gods will bless it in the final stages of production."
-Check.
Leon's armor and Yappy fuselage were the first priorities. The problem is, they're for knight cadets, but──
-Facilities need to be expanded, and legislation needs to be passed.
"I see."
If it were Lionheart, they would just build the facility since Leon was the king, but this was Korea.
As long as Leon respected the laws here, he would need the support of government officials to build and expand the facility.
And the government official was already on his way.
"Your Majesty, the president of the Association and the Ministry of Science and ICT are here."
Park Yong-shin bowed low and reported.
In the case of a meteorite from uninhabited space, its ownership belongs to the landowner. But of course he'd handed it over to Leon.
That's why Oh Kang-hyuk, the head of the Korean Hunter Association, and Kim Shin-chul, the Minister of Science and Technology, came to see him.
"Your Majesty, how have you been?"
"Yes."
Oh Kang-hyuk, the president of the association, bowed as if to say hello. Minister Kim Shin- chul, on the other hand, was mesmerized by the 6-kilometer comet in front of him.
"Minister Kim. Minister Kim!"
"Ah…ah! Excuse me, my name is Kim Shin-chul, Minister of Science and ICT. It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."
Leon guessed the purpose of their visit.
"The star belongs to this king. I summoned it."
"And...as well."
"So, it was really the TTG Guild who summoned the comet…Your Majesty?"
Oh Kang-hyuk seemed to have guessed, and the Minister of Science and Technology's face contorted in horror.
A human being who could summon a giant comet that could wipe out the human race, how could that be possible with human power?
"Your Majesty, how do you intend to use it?"
"Forge it. Sir Spinner, the Holy Knight of Iron and Blacksmithing, will use it to forge swords and armor for our knights."
At that, Minister Kim burst out laughing.
What a waste of resources to use such a precious comet for weapons!
"Your Majesty, please hand over that comet to my government! If it's such a valuable star with an unspoiled original, we can make great advances in space science…"
"If His Majesty has his way, that's enough."
"Oh, Association President Oh Kang-hyuk, what kind of nonsense is that──!"
Minister Kim was overwhelmed by the loose gaze Oh Kang-hyuk was sending him. One of the three initial S-class Hunters who once led the Korean Gate front.
He was one of the few people in Korea who could endure if he was truly pressured.
"I've heard of a star iron forge from Ms. Ha-ri. That's the material you used, right?"
"That's right."
"Hehe, I'm looking forward to it. To process a star of that size to make armaments, it's unheard of in history."
The elderly head of the Association was purely in awe of the miracle before him, but he was able to find a point of agreement between the government and the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods.
"Your Majesty, is that something you'd like to do here? I'm sure it would be very laborious to move something of that size."
"Lord Spinner will take care of it. Mr. Oh, what is it that you wish to say?"
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that casting and smelting something of that size would require a facility worthy of the name. I'll take care of that at the government level, and you can take care of the complicated tax and legal issues, even if it means passing special legislation."
Leon listened to President Oh's proposal with interest.
"What do you want?"
"To put it bluntly, we'd like to use the armor made by the Divine Blacksmith as a reference."
At President Oh's frank suggestion, Leon replied with an unbridled smile.
"Giving a part of the comet as a gift is not a difficult task. I was going to give it to President Oh anyway."
It's an answer that would make President Ahn ask, "Why am I in the middle of this?" but it can't be helped. The only person who could be construed as a king was the president.
"However, the products of the Star Iron Forge cannot be taken out of the country."
"… Do you mind if I ask the reason?"
"Because the products of the Iron Forge are gifts from the gods. They may not be holy, but they are worth their weight in gold."
"Is it a matter of justification?"
"It is also a matter of tradition."
"Hmm...."
President Oh thought for a moment since Leon had clearly given him leeway.
If it was something he could never give away otherwise Leon wouldn't be talking about tradition.
"Your Majesty, I'm referring to Miss Han Ha-ri, who was sent to your guild."
"Go on."
"Will she also be given a piece of the Stardust Forge's workmanship?"
"Of course."
"Then… when Miss Ha-ri goes to work for the Association, would it be okay for us to 'watch' it, or for an appraiser to 'analyze' it, since she is technically our employee?"
Now Leon smiled.
"If that's the case, I can't help it."
Leon's pact with the government was a success.
"Your Majesty, there is another matter apart from this merger and the comet."
"Speak."
Oh Kang-hyuk manipulated the pad his secretary pulled out and offered it to Leon.
"Hmm?"
Leon's eyes narrowed as he looked at it.
"Is this a video from inside the gate?"
"No, it's a video of a battle in Vietnam, and it's strictly from within the Earth."
It was something modern people couldn't possibly know.
The London Affair: an Epic-level item emerged from the Black Gate, which had been cleared by the European Union's Hunters.
It took 32 guilds and an astronomical auction to determine its owner, but it was another scourge on humanity.
"The Wandering Blade, the sixth-generation demon who wielded it, Chen Jihao, is currently headed for the Japanese archipelago."