"Huh…!"
Takeda opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling.
'Hospital?'
He must have been attacked by the demon swordsman and suffered irreparable injuries.
The ringer in his arm was annoying so Takeda pulled the ringer needle out and pushed his eerily still body to his feet.
'Did Michiru do this?'
Michiru is a Japanese S-class healer. She'd been with him on Shikoku, preparing for the attack.
'No, it's weird. I don't think it's possible to heal to the point where there's not even a scar.'
An S-class healer can reattach a dismembered body in an instant, but his body had been dismembered down to the guts, and she managed to save him?
'No, she can't. She specializes in trauma. She can't treat internal injuries.'
At best, it greatly enhances natural recovery but it was not enough to bring someone back from the brink of death.
"Takeda-san!"
Hunters in suits rush in, not long after Takeda woke up. They had apparently been waiting outside.
"Ishida. Fumio."
"You've been out for a week!"
The A-class Hunters on Takeda's team were delighted at his recovery, but he was full of questions.
"The demon sword… what happened to it?"
"...missed it."
"You missed it?!"
Four S-class Hunters had been defeated. There was no telling how much damage they might have suffered after they fell, and they missed it?
"However, His Majesty Lionheart has a proposal regarding the matter."
"The Lionheart King?"
"Would you like to check out the video?"
Fumio pulled out her cell phone and showed Takeda a YouTube video.
"TTG Guild Channel?"
Takeda was familiar with the channel. It was a YouTube channel set up by the Survivor's Guild, and the content was amazing.
It had been well translated and had become quite popular in Japan. I wondered if it was a video of the battle after he had fallen.
The video was basically a well-edited compilation of bodycam footage from the hunters in the raid. AI rendering technology was used to neatly upscale the smartphone quality to 8K.
'Is the South Korean government providing technicians?'
Judging by the extraordinary image quality correction capabilities and over a hundred translations, it seemed like a very big project. There must have been a hundred technicians and academics involved.
Takeda, the second-in-command of the All-Japan Association, was well aware of this, as he often brought up this kind of correction work.
Even so, the quality of the video on the TTG Guild channel was stunning.
"Wait, was this live?"
Takeda looked at the chat window next to the video and wondered.
Of course, the All Japan Association or the Korean Hunter Association had made the Hunters wear body cams to publicize this combined offensive.
The demon sword appeared from a black gate and if the Japanese succeeded in capturing it, would make a good propaganda piece.
But that's only if the capture is successful. If it fails, there's no such propaganda.
Naturally, they were going to post an edited video after all the battles were over....
'Isn't it like all the bodycam footage was broadcast and spread in real time?'
No, it doesn't. The bodycam footage goes through a control center. It's a military network with the highest security in Japan....
Aside from that, Takeda, who was checking the footage, kept his mouth shut but soon Takeda's jaw dropped as he checked the footage, which appeared to be from one of the Hunters' body cameras.
A one-sided defeat that not only the Japanese Hunters but also the Korean Hunters were forced to endure.
-What? Takeda, our number two in Japan, is so easily defeated?
-It's strange to say the least. The Demon Swordsman is too strong.
Yes, the Demon Swordsman he faced now was different from the ones he faced before.
One of the reasons why S-class Hunters were so easily defeated was due to the debuff trait he unleashed.
Ignore defense, reduced resistance…Cheat debuffs that increase damage by at least 70%, not just 10% or 20%.
With such ridiculous debuffs, even S-tier Hunters were unable to perform to their full potential. So how come....?
-Crazy… Berserker's down.
-Damn it, we're going to get all our Hunters killed helping these idiots!
-Do something!
Waves of Japanese, Korean, American, Australian, European, Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, and other languages flood the chat.
-It's the Lionheart King.
-His Majesty Leon is up!
Leon Dragonia Lionheart. Takeda swallowed hard at the sight of him.
His back… no, his entire battlefield was lit up with golden light.
"It's called the power of His Majesty Leon's Holy Grail, and it scattered a mist in the sky that channeled holy power and restored a wide area."
"Even Takeda-san was able to heal his wounds thanks to it! It regenerated you cell by cell, even though your injuries were hopeless."
"The debuff also had…non-regeneration?"
The moment Leon appeared, his overwhelming buff stats rained down on everyone present.
'Even the highest ranking S-Class Commander can't do this…!'
Each and every one of the Buff Traits the two combatants called out was mind-boggling.
'Buffs that were granted just by existing, not by using a buff skill?'
Add to that the dizzying array of debuffs just by reading them… Leon's mere existence is like an epic totem that changes the battlefield.
But apart from that, there's the demon sword… Akasha, the self-appointed Demon Archduke, whose power was at a terrifying level.
'I know the debuffs prevented the S-class Hunters from using their strength, but even without that, would we have been able to win?'
Just then, Akasha moved, and Takeda's heart sped up in fear, even though he was only looking at a screen from the past.
* * * *
The Japanese archipelago… no, the entire world was on edge.
The Wandering Demon Sword was actually Archduke Akasha, a demon of murder and destruction, and he had killed countless Hunters.
That alone was enough to make it a global topic, but the duel between Leon and Akasha caused a huge stir.
-Crazy, demon archduke....
-I knew there was a demon on top of the Archdemons, but....
First was the shock of the Demon Archduke.
Mankind had already realized the existence of the Demon Archdukes through the East Sea Gate, but that was only inside the gate.
Now they had seen firsthand that the Wandering Demon Sword was actually a Demon Archduke and what it could do.
He was a destructive force that overwhelmed S-class Hunters and ravaged islands.
Nevertheless, there was an equal amount of good news for humanity.
-The Lionheart King!
-His Majesty Leon.
-Is he a human?
-Demigod.
The story spread among the hunters and citizens who witnessed it, not just on video, but in person.
The heavens and earth shattered as the Holy Sword engulfed Akasha's sword.
In the aftermath of the battle, wounded citizens were healed by the golden light that enveloped the island and felt the evidence of its divinity on their skin.
Even on video, the scene was full of admirers, but what about those who witnessed it in person?
People in Shikoku and the neighboring Kansai region began to call Leon their savior.
[A savior! Believe in His Majesty the Lionheart! He is the savior of our world!]
At this point, Park Yong-shin, the owner of Hanbit Palace, moved quickly.
He first addressed the Japanese believers and proclaimed Leon as the savior.
With hundreds of thousands of followers in Japan alone, and a strong artificial intelligence across the sea, Japanese public opinion was bound to focus on Leon, whether they liked it or not....
[I am the Lionheart King]
Leon did not miss this opportunity.
* * * *
The atmosphere at the All-Japan Association was horrific.
Four S-class Hunters had been killed and over a hundred Class A's were dead, and Takeda was almost dead.
That's how bad it was. The Japanese and Korean Hunters had been wiped out by a single demon swordsman.
'S-class Hunters were weak?'
No, of course not.
Both Japan and Korea sent only the best elites they could muster and their track record has been proven by their previous gate attacks.
The Demon Swordsman…the Demon Archduke was just too strong for them to imagine.
What was even stranger was that even the Demon Archduke, who had slaughtered S-class Hunters, had been overwhelmed by Leon.
"Damn it...."
Chairman Kamiya swallowed dryly and felt a chill run down his spine, and it was no different for the other members of the Alliance.
An overwhelming power that could slice through the sky, cross the ocean, and cause thunderstorms!
Was that all? The Demon Archduke's terrible debuffs, as the Hunters testified.
To overcome them, the presence of the Lionheart King proved indispensable.
'There is no substitute…!'
Leon was irreplaceable.
Not just in force, but as a leader, and as a fighter on the battlefield....
Chairman Kamiya sat back in his seat with a somber expression.
The influence of the Ten Thousand Gods Guild was spreading throughout Japan.
Originally, the Japanese had a light belief in gods and in a country that doesn't have any major religions, a performance like this naturally attracts worship.
Some shrines even have Leon's photo on display.
'It's dangerous....'
Shortly after the battle, Leon made a bizarre move.
He began gathering worshippers at shrines across the country, performing unexplained rituals and meeting with political figures. Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Fujisawa was among them.
Most dangerous of all, though it hasn't become an official issue yet, comments that suggest he was ready to abandon the island of Shikoku and its 3.7 million citizens were leaked.
"One S-class hunter is worth a million civilians, don't you know that!"
Of course, the All Japan Association is the largest private organization in Japan. It was also the most powerful.
Major media outlets could not go against them but Kamiya's words were spreading like wildfire.
It was echoed within the organization.
'If the Koreans had failed....'
They could have saved face by calling for a general mobilization of Japanese Hunters, or sought support from the United States and Europe but Leon had won overwhelmingly.
What other human being in the world could cut through the sky, part the oceans, and single-handedly defeat a Demon Archduke?
Chairman Kamiya had tried to keep Leon in check, but if he touched him now, he would become a criminal.
'It's okay, I still have thirty-three S-class Hunters left.'
Despite suffering so many losses in a single battle, Japan has a huge talent pool.
The population is large enough, and the environment is conducive to finding and nurturing talent. They weren't losing prospects to foreign countries like Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
He thought, 'There's nothing different. There's only one thing I have to do from now on.'
Stop hostilities against the TTG Guild but he hadn't even brought it to the surface in the first place.
Naturally, he shares the credit for the alliance, honoring the sacrifices of the Japanese Hunters and promising a solid working relationship.
Leon will only be in this country for a short time anyway. There may be a growing number of domestic worshippers of the TTG Guild, but that's in the distant future.
'Leon Dragonia Lionheart....'
He had to admit, he was too big for his own good. He was too big for Japan to contain, and he was sure it was the same for Korea.
Kamiya didn't care if Leon was the king of the world, he only needed to be the king of Japan.
'Let's have a banquet. We'll have a big banquet, make a good case, and send them back to Korea in a hurry.'
Mr. Kamiya had a very reasonable plan. But──
"I will announce it here and now. This king will open the gate, and we will put an end to that evil bastard."
I trust you will cooperate.