The gate opened to reveal a world far different from Earth or any other similar planet.
The sky is a blazing red. The barren land and blood-colored rivers make them wonder if this is hell.
"Wow, this is amazing...."
"From the air to the moon…!"
That was when the system message warned them.
[You have entered the realm of the Archduke of Slaughter, all stats will be reduced by 80%.]
"Insane…!"
It was an outrageous debuff but as they stood there in disbelief, an additional message came through.
[You have entered the Lionheart King's gate. The Lionheart's aura is applied.]
◆Effect:
Grants Legion Upgrade Charge Defense.
Grants Legion Upgrade Fortification.
Grants Legion Upgrade Battalion Reinforcement.
Grants Legion Upgrade Strengthened Valor.
Grants Legion Upgrade Light Armor.
Grants Legion Upgrade Tough Skin.
Grants Legion Upgrade Heavy Strike.
Grants Legion Upgrade Archaic Empowerment.
Grants Legion Upgrade Ranged Resistance.
Grants Legion Upgrade Keen Gaze.
Grants Legion Upgrade Anti-Infantry Slaughter.
Grants Legion Upgrade Pollution Resistance.
[War Knight's Favor]
◆Effect:
-Increases Leadership by 150%.
[War Knight's Man-At-Arms]
-Gain 20% Physical Resistance when fighting alongside a Knight with the War Knight talent.
[Terror of Demonic Species] – Weakens all demonic species]
◆Effects: Forced Fear, Eerie, and decreased Resistance──
[Greatest Demon Butcher]
[Demon Lord Slayer]
[Ranged Abomination]
[Mightiest Charger]
The hunters are dazed by the barrage of Traits. For the veterans, it's a familiar sight, but for the uninitiated, it's something to behold.
Demons that make it difficult for ordinary humans to even breathe… overwhelming buffs that exceed all debuffs from the demonic realm.
'I expected it, but I didn't expect it to be this good.'
"It's not just one or two people, it's thousands of people…what's the range of effect?
"With the Lionheart King, we can survive in this place where humans can't even survive. No, we can win!
And then came the quest.
[You are an expedition following the Lionheart King on his quest to defeat Akasha, the Archduke of Slaughter. Help the Lionheart King defeat Akasha.]
Leon said after hearing Ha-ri's quest report.
"Defeating him is a no-brainer. I'll do what I can here to do but this is our first time in the Demon Realm, so let's get as much information as we can."
-Kiruk.
It was then that Yappy walked over. Normally, it would have made a dull, mechanical sound, but today's Yappy was different.
"Ooh, oooh…!"
"Aaah!"
He recalls old memories and is horrified.
"Hey, Lord Yappy?"
Ha-ri had to look up to see the approaching Yappy.
A cold disc-shaped fuselage, ominous red wide-angle lenses scanning the surroundings along with its eight thick legs were cold and hideous.
Worst of all are the guns and bladders on the fuselage's carapace. Snarling, heat-belching superconducting cannons and 60mm chain guns.
The Cheongju nightmare.
A killing machine.
Everyone is overwhelmed by the majesty of the massive multi-purpose vehicle.
"Lord Spinner your exoskeleton is well crafted, and I sense a much stronger aura than before."
-Crack!
The carapace opens up, and from within, a minimalist Yappy stands up like a pilot out of a cockpit.
-The original Yakt Spinner from the Integrated Armament Platform. Combat sequence operational. Reporting for recon.
"Hmm, did they do it already?"
-Integrated Platform's drone reconnaissance system in operation. Multiple colonies of presumed hostiles detected.
"Colonies?"
Demons, he thought, but Yappy denied the possibility.
Yappy is a war machine that has kept the demons buried for a thousand years. However the energy he sensed from the demons was subtly different from what he had observed.
"The nearest colony is that way."
Leon would be the first to meet them.
* * * *
The colony was closer to the gate than he thought and after ten minutes they reached it.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
People standing on the wooden fence, wary as they saw Leon and his group approaching.
"Humans?"
Why would humans be here? Ha-ri scratched her head, while Leon took the lead.
"Who are you people?"
"No, I asked you first──"
"How dare you, you insolent commoner, make me say your name twice! I will consider this a mistake born of ignorance."
"Ugh… Now, wait a moment, I'll fetch the chief!"
Frightened by Leon's fierce anger, the man on the wooden stool backed away, and a new face appeared on the stool.
"I am Veron, the chief of this village… Hmph, King Lionheart!"
"You know this king?"
The village chief responded as if he knew him. Leon was about to ask something when a voice boomed through the woodwork.
"Lord Spinner."
Leon snapped his fingers.
-Cannon set.
With a bang, a railgun round shatters the woodwork.
The futuristic hardcore AI crunched through the rubble with its giant mechanical legs.
"Hic…!"
Leon and Yappy enter, and the terrified inhabitants fall to the ground. Leon knew they were in bad shape, to say the least.
"Who are you guys, and why did you run away when you saw this king?"
"God, help us!"
Leon showed no anger toward the cowardly commoners. The majesty of a king can sometimes lead to the persecution of innocent people.
"This did not come to persecute you. He's here to slay a demon-hmm?"
Leon heard the voice of the War God speaking to him. He said to Leon:
[This is the one who was a soldier in the Imperial Army. A follower of the devil, mixed up in the ranks of the Archduke Slaughter.]
"...."
Leon's eyes widened as he recognized the man's face from memory.
Demon followers descended to earth and led the way in killing their own kind.
If such a man was the chief… What about this group?
"All troops! Don't let anyone escape! Kill those who flee!"
The flames of war erupted from Leon's body.
* * * *
If paradise is the end of those who followed the code of the gods and served them, what is the end of those who followed the demons and gave their souls to them?
There is demonization, for example.
The prefects and generals of the Empire who summoned Malus, Lord of Chaos, and embraced demonic power literally became demons, traitors who attacked humanity.
But what about the common people? The knights and soldiers of the Empire and the other barbarians.
They were too small a vessel to become demons and they couldn't take on all of the demonic energy and transform the race itself.
Of course, the demons had their own rewards for such lowly followers.
In the realms ruled by the higher demons, they became subjects.
Of course, there was one reward for the commoners that followed the demons: immortality.
There was a natural limit to their immortality: they would die, but they would not grow old.
"But it was all a trick to keep us as slaves; we were forced to answer the demons' summons endlessly, and we never knew when we would die!"
Veron was an Imperial Army Sergeant and when the demons descended, he followed his commander and offered his soul to the murderous demons.
He was lucky enough to escape from Leon's world before the last Demon Gate was destroyed.
He knelt before Leon and said.
"Please save us, Lionheart King, and forgive your people for making this foolish choice!"
Veron burst into tears and clutched at Leon's pants while the knight cadets had mixed feelings as they watched.
They, too, had been seduced by demons and forced to commit evil deeds──
"What bullshit."
It couldn't be true.
"What?"
"Answer me this, scumbag, how many innocent commoners have you killed by your own hand?"
"That, that's...."
"I ask! How many innocent people have you killed? Those who can answer, come forward!"
The kneeling inhabitants of the colony were silenced by Leon's rant.
They may not have become demons, but their service was recognized by the demons and they were reduced to 'slaves'.
How many other innocent people had they killed for their own survival and enrichment?
"I couldn't help it but the general gave in to the demons, what could I do?"
"It is your actions, not your intentions that define you. Your intentions do not absolve you of your sins."
With a snap, the blade was drawn. The holy sword in its sheath lit up the darkness with a brilliant golden glow but the blinding light was a terrible death sentence for Veron.
"Do not blame the King for your sins. The judgment to come is solely the result of your choices. I am not responsible for the judgment."
"Aaah...."
"A sin committed in ignorance is not a sin; a sin committed with difficulty is not a sin; a sin is a sin. Big or small, hard or easy."
Falling flat on his face, Veron turned his hatred of the demons toward Leon, knowing he would never be forgiven.
He did it because he couldn't help himself. He did it because he wanted to live, and he didn't want to do it.
"But even scum like you were once the people of the benevolent gods."
"...!"
In the darkness, even a small light can seem like salvation. Veron and the rest of the group's demonic followers responded to the space Leon had left.
"I will preserve your souls until your sins are punished by Tatar, the God of Judgment."
Few understood what that meant but at the mere mention of the name Tatar, Veron's complexion turned blue.
"Fifty years as a serf, so that you may purify your wasted life in the service of the gods!"
Fifty years, not a long time for the followers of the Archduke.
'Serfdom? Even now, I'm a slave to a demon and I don't know I'll die, but a slave with a fixed term?'
"Thank you for your mercy──"
He was about to spew out his heartfelt gratitude with tears in his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
The gazes of the demonic followers twisted in disbelief.
Leon's terms are so benevolent that they're almost grateful, but why is he so paroxysmal in his refusal?
"Will you shut your filthy mouth?"
"I don't like it, I don't like it, I don't like it, I don't like it, Lionheart, I don't like it!"
He's from a wealthy family, so he's been riding horses as a commoner and hasn't gotten over his bad habits.
That said, the noble and wealthy among the Demon Followers hated to see themselves fall to the bottom of the heap.
Even in the villages of these demon followers, they'd look down on the mayor.
"Damn it! Someone shut that bastard's mouth!"
"I'm not going to be a serf, I'm not going to be a serf, I'm not going to be a serf!"
Veron's resistance was cut off by the other demon followers. As the gagged man was dragged through the crowd of demonic followers, Leon shouted.
"Listen, you bastards."
The colony's inhabitants obeyed and awaited judgment.
"You will serve as serfs of Lionheart for fifty years, and you will carry out every command without reservation."
"Do you accept the punishment that Leon Dragonia Lionheart, Agent of the Tatar, God of the Sun and Judgment, has decreed for you?"
"I accept!"
""I accept!""
At that moment an intense beam of sunlight emanated from Leon and soon pierced through them.
"Uh, uh, uh?"
"Mo, something in your neck?"
The change was simple. A series of pure white rings, like tattoos appeared on their necks.
"Hmph. We'll leave right away. Pack as little as possible and follow this king's lead!"
The demonic followers had no choice but to follow Leon with dumbfounded eyes. Unaware of the promise of judgment they'd sworn to or what the Veron-inspired cries meant.
But it didn't matter.
They would find out soon enough.
"Oh, no! No, no, no!"
Only Veron knew the ending, and he could only sob in agony.
* * * *
"Take them all! They are not worthy of death!"
Returning to the main camp, Leon began to subjugate the entire region.
He burned and looted villages, killing those who resisted.
At the end of it all was a bizarre act of plunder called "serfdom."
"Is this it?"
The hunters of the joint Japanese-Korean raiding party were dumbfounded and had to start taking prisoners.
What's even more bizarre is that the inhabitants are more civilized than they expected.
As followers of the demons, they expected a lot of resistance, but when they heard Leon's offer of 50 years of serfdom, they didn't seem to mind.
"I suppose it's better than being a slave to the demons."
"Apparently, the demon followers don't grow old. I guess they think fifty years is a short time."
"That's damn reasonable."
Occasionally, unlike the other Demon Followers, a few put up a fight, but those who did were decapitated with steel wire by a cold steel machine.
-Crackle! Free labor in large numbers. 5,034.
The villages of the demon followers were plundered, and all the wealth that came out of them went to the Hunters.
Leon called it filthy lucre and distributed it among the other Hunters, so it was worth the slave hunt.
-Discovered a large army of demons.
By the time they were done, they had taken out dozens of colonies but the demons had had enough of my front yard being ransacked, and they came from beyond.
The demons of killing and destruction, in other words, the henchmen of Akasha, the Archduke of Slaughter, appeared.
"Finally, a moment that can be called a battle."
"It's a good thing I'm so tired."
The Hunters, who had won victory after victory in plundering battles despite facing an army of demons, were in high spirits.
But against their expectations, Leon gave the order.
"Serfs, forward."
The serfs, each of them armed with the best weapons in town, reacted dumbfounded.
"Uh, are we in the lead?"
"No, we're no match!"
Demons and their followers, naturally, are a lost cause but to have a bunch of prisoners take the lead?
"Even if your limbs are severed and your intestines spilled, hold on to at least one more enemy for that is all you are worth on the battlefield."
Become a meat shield.
A more blatant suicide order could not have been given.