"Takeda… was… defeated?"
Chairman Kamiya couldn't hide a rare look of bewilderment.
Even when three S-class Hunters were defeated, he hadn't felt this panicked.
Rather, he thought Takeda was wise when he rallied all the Hunters on Shikoku Island and hardened their defenses like hedgehogs.
With Korean hunters and other Japanese hunters around him, he saw no difficulty in repelling the demon sword with their support.
But then the Korean Hunters joined in, and the Demon Sword appeared before the coalition of nine S-classes.
[I am the Archduke of Slaughter, Akasha, the destruction of all life].
A terrible voice came through the receiver, followed by the screams of battle.
'How many have we lost, and is Takeda among them?'
This was not the plan.
Obviously, the demon sword should not be capable of this kind of combat.
It would be possible to defeat it with 4-5 fully prepared S-class Hunters in hand-to-hand combat...….
'So, the Demon Sword…was a Demon Archduke, not just a being that corrupts Demon Swordsmen?'
Why now…Chairman Kamiya's fingertips trembled.
"Mr. President…The Light Sword and the Infinite Sword are currently battling against the Demon Sword....Shall we…send support?"
At least four S-class Hunters from Japan alone were dead and South Korea hunters were seriously injured.
Of course, there are still Hunters left in Japan. There were nine more S-class Hunters on this battlefield alone, and twenty if you count the branches defending the entire country.
If we think about the long game and rally them all together, we can....
"No, no…first…stop."
"President?"
"We watch the situation. If… just in case, if we can end it by giving up one city...."
So far, the pattern of the Demon Sword had been that once a city was wiped out, it would disappear somewhere. It had happened in Vietnam, too.
"Mr. President, there are 3.7 million citizens on Shikoku Island alone, do you intend to abandon them?"
"You idiot!"
Chairman Kamiya snapped at his employee. The normally calm man was losing his cool now.
"One S-class Hunter is worth a million normal people! Don't you even know that!?"
That's not something the man in charge of Japan's hunters should have said.
Even though the All Japan Association was privatized and became a private company, its reason for existence is to protect the safety of Japan.
The head of the All Japan Association was discussing the value of hunters and the general public, saying that they might abandon their citizens.
'We can't lose any more S-class Hunters to such a ridiculous monster!'
How many Hunters would die and their power base would be shaken if they just pushed them in there?
I feel sorry for the remaining Japanese Hunters over there, but if we can end it with that kind of sacrifice....
"President, the Berserker and the Infinite Sword…!"
In the image transmitted by the relay helicopter, countless swords and storm-focused swords are wielded in the sky.
Yes, if only they could end it here. It pains me to give credit to the Korean hunters, but this will end with the government paying a heavy price.
But──
"An unidentified sword…appeared in the sky...."
"Diameter…over three kilometers."
As the sword fell, and the damage was beyond counting, Chairman Kamiya had only one thought.
I was right.
'I was right not to send in the Hunters from other areas.'
It would have been terrible if one more of them had landed on that island of death and gotten caught.
If that thing fell twice....
Japan loses the ability to resist the gate going forward.
'I'd rather give up the assault at this point and surrender the island....'
Wouldn't the Demon Sword be satisfied with having consumed a city and leave, as it had done before?
Chairman Kamiya was about to order the Japanese Hunters of Wakayama and Miyazaki to stop entering Shikoku.
"Shi, there is an anomaly on the island of Shikoku! It's a light! An unidentifiable golden color has risen into the sky!"
That's when it happened. The image on the screen… no, a giant pillar of light that could be seen from Osaka, where the control center was located, and perhaps witnessed by all Japanese in the Kansai region, was rising into the sky.
"What is that?"
A golden haze-a light mist-descended upon the island, as if a manifested miracle of God had touched the heavens and bestowed grace and at its center, a man stood.
"The Lionheart King…!
His heart trembles at the majesty of what I see on the screen and Chairman Kamiya suddenly realized that he had found hope.
Then.
The nightmare moved first.
* * * *
Once upon a time, there was a world.
There were kingdoms protected by gods, and knights favored by those gods.
To the demons, immortal beings, they were a nuisance.
Knights of the gods, who practiced holy law, bent the laws, and hated evil with a terrible hatred so demons sought to destroy them.
They used the Empire to weaken the kingdom, spreading their power secretly and taking steps toward summoning.
Thus, with the Emperor's sacrifice of three million lives, Malus, Lord of Chaos, was summoned.
The Great War began as Four of the Seven Lords were summoned, along with six Archdukes and eighty-seven Archdemons that led legions numbering ten million to invade the World of Gods.
The result was successful as most of the world lay in ruins, and only two forces remained.
A legion of knights, preparing for a final stand, and an army of orcs, who treated the Great War like a festival and ravaged the East.
In the end, both armies fell to the demons.
Akasha, the Demon Archduke of Slaughter, was caught in the middle and never saw the end of it, but it wasn't long before she realized... It was her good fortune.
"Lionheart."
Akasha understood the source of Yong-wan's hope.
The Lionheart King, Guardian of the Grail, deserved to be the hope of the world.
"Swosh──"
Akasha's sword slashed down towards Leon.
-Bam!
The blood red sword and the golden holy sword collided as Leon lightly withstood the demonic blast that no one had ever received before.
"Lionheart─!"
"How dare you call my name with your filthy tongue!"
It was then that Leon's holy sword parried the Archduke's magic sword, and in that split second, Leon's fist flew out.
-Bam!
The moment it collided with his face, it sent his body tumbling to the ground.
Akasha hit the ground as if a batter had hit a flying baseball with a full force blow and an intense vibration rang out as if an earthquake had hit the ground.
"...."
All the Hunters watching were stunned.
The Demon Archduke that they couldn't even block, let alone touch, had simply been thrown away.
"K-kick─! K-k-kick!"
But the Archduke nonchalantly stood up and stretched out the arm that had been severed by Chen So-yeon.
The regeneration was instantaneous as if mortal struggles were meaningless.
The Archduke of Slaughter walked toward Leon and the Lionheart King also approached Akasha, his holy sword drawn.
The sight of them approaching each other, unprepared and defenseless, was enough to make the onlookers nervous.
-Gulp!
Even the sound of swallowing sounds like noise. As their gazes lock, a message pops up in their system window.
[Declaration of Slaughter]
[Effect:
-Applies to all creatures.
-Physical Resistance is reduced by 90%.
-All biological defenses are reduced by 90%.
-Vitality is rapidly reduced.
-Wounds do not heal.]
Demon Archduke had a terrible debuff but Leon used his own buffs.
[[Grail Guardian] resists the curse]
◆Effects: Vitality, Order, Fear Immunity, Confusion Immunity, Wound Regeneration, Valor, Perfect Body, Pollution Resistance, Great Soul────
"Huh…!"
An audible grunt escapes Akasha.
The hunters thought he couldn't resist the Demon Archduke's debuffs no matter what buffs he brought, but this was such a powerful buff?
Buffs that only those who belong to the TTG Guild would know about and that are granted by the mere presence of the Lionheart King.
[[Demonic Terror] weakens Akasha the Archduke of Slaughter]
◆Effect: Force Fear, Eerie, Decreased Resistance──
The Lionheart King's gaze would suffocate an ordinary demon.
[[One-man army] resists this]
[[Supreme Demon Butcher]────]
[[Duelist]────]
[[Demon Lord Slayer]────]
[[Demon Archduke Akasha]────]
Legendary buffs cancel each other out and collide in a battle that even the world's best Commander-series hunters can't reach.
Ordinary humans, demons…No, the heavens above the heavens, unreachable by all living things.
For the narrative of the heavens and the earth was upon them.
"I am the ruin of all life!"
"I am your doom!"
* * * * *
When the island of Shikoku was designated as a potential landing site for the monsters, the citizens of the island were forced to evacuate.
But Shikoku alone has 3.7 million residents. The Onaruto Bridge, which connects the island to the mainland and is larger than South Korea's Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, was jammed with evacuees.
"Mr. Police Officer, when will the car in front of us be cleared?"
"We are currently guiding it. Please be patient."
The evacuee man realized that there was a battle going on inside the island, and he wondered if he was going to get caught up in it and die.
At first, he refused to evacuate, thinking that with so many Japanese and Korean hunters, the city's defenses could not be breached.
It was the aftermath of the battle on the island's interior that caused many citizens to rush to evacuate.
A giant greatsword had been summoned to meet the deadly skills of Korean S-class hunters. It was still stuck in the center of the island, making a terrifying presence.
"Damn, why isn't there anything on the news?"
Shouldn't the battle already be over? There are at least ten S-class Hunters here in Shikoku alone.
There was also Takeda, the proud S-class hunter of Japan, and over a hundred A-class hunters.
Even if a black gate appeared in Japan right now, they would be able to clear it.
"This will never end, I'd rather go on foot──!"
The man opened the car door.
-Quang!
-Thwack!
"──?!!!"
"Crack…!"
The man crashed into the door of his car but he couldn't care less about the pain in his back, because right in front of him, the ocean rose high, forming a huge tidal wave.
"Tsu, tsunami?"
A giant tidal wave poured out to crush something but at that moment, a blood-colored wave cut through it and slashed the sky.
"Aaah!"
The aftermath alone scrambled the people on the Onaruto Bridge. Car doors were ripped off by the blade winds, and the steel structure shook.
-Aah!
The cheek of the policeman in front of the man was cut by the wind.
"...."
But the policeman didn't even care that his cheek was cut. He just stared blankly at the 'things' battling on the sea beyond.
"What, people?"
They're fighting fiercely.
Two objects fighting on a sea that looks like it's going to drown them if they take a single step.
-Kaaaaaaaah!!!
A wave of blood erupts, and a giant flame evaporates the seawater and engulfs something.
The citizens can only watch with bated breath.
Since the Cataclysm, the Hunters, as the superhumans are called, have been fighting a war of attrition, an old-fashioned white-knuckle battle between cold warriors.
Occasionally, a powerful skill can cause great destruction, but it's a skill reserved for the best of the best.
Citizens are accustomed to seeing the flashy skills of S-class Hunters and the destructive power of mages in the news and on the internet.
But what is that?
What does that even mean?
Light Sword Strike, a unique skill that can be said to be a Hunter's deadly skill.
The air screams as if a giant bomb has been detonated, and the churning sea creates a tidal wave.
If they weren't on a bridge hundreds of meters above sea level, they'd be swallowed up by that tidal wave, and if they weren't hiding in a car that weighs tons, they'd be blown away.
That's not the kind of power a living thing is capable of. It defies common sense and violates the laws of physics.
"What was that....?"
The officer half-leaned against the car, shivering and plugging his eardrums. He didn't know that his cheek, which had just been cut, had suddenly healed.
-Poof!
It was then that the swordsman with the ominous blood-colored magic sword crushed the knight with the golden holy sword in a frenzied wave of blood.
The surface of the sea pushes out and plunges to the bottom. Soon, as if filling a gaping hole, the water closed in between them.
[Die-er, la!]
The gnawing, insect-like voice echoed in their minds, as if proclaimed to every living thing in the area.
Everyone noticed that the
"Do, run...."
It's a pointless struggle. Now come on, you fugitives, do you think you can escape from that sword of destruction?
All the man could do was pick up his cell phone right now and say a final goodbye to his loved ones.
But──
The agent of the gods does not tolerate despair.
-Kaaaaaah!!!
A golden light shone brightly from the bottom of the sea. The density of the light overflowed at every moment and 'pushed out the sea'.
Millions of tons of water pressure are pushed out by the density of light as nature succumbs to a force that 'bends the laws'.
The Lionheart King emerges from the bottom of the cracked sea and the extreme light of the holy sword is revealed in all its glory.