In the treasury of a once glorious kingdom,
a cunning, snake-headed monster sifts through the texts that contain thousands of years of the kingdom's history.
The teachings of the gods and the stories of the knights who followed them are interesting to the demons, which seem to have amassed all the world's concepts of wealth…or rather they are interesting to the demons who are constantly searching for wisdom.
What an irony that the royal family of a kingdom that once basked in the glory of the gods had also fallen into the clutches of evil.
Most interesting of all, are those who use their mortal form to bend the law: Holy Knights.
There has long been a movement to investigate and explore them.
But it's just that the monstrous knights, who wield the power of the concept, have been difficult to control, even in captivity.
The Holy Knight of Earth, captured over a hundred years ago, has yet to be corrupted, and the Archduke of Lust has recently died together with the Holy Knight of Flame.
Even demons who have lived for millennia have never seen anything like these knights.
In the sense of "living beings," or mortals, they are creatures of the pinnacle of the dimension and chief among them is the current Lionheart King.
The man who killed the Lord of Chaos 24 years ago, spearheading the invasion that led to the Empire's great collapse.
It is no exaggeration to say that the defeat of the Chaos Lord is what pushed back the end of the world by at least 30 years.
More recently, the snake-headed monters apprentice was torn limb from limb at his hands... but that's over now.
Their kingdom has fallen into the hands of evil, and they will fall like leaves before the unstoppable forces of absolute evil.
The snake-headed fiend intends to secure as much of this world's knowledge as he can before the end of time.
──────
It was then that the vibrations of space shook the world.
They were so subtle that no one would notice it, only this demon, who had reached the height of foresight, noticed it.
"We are not the only ones who wield the gates."
Snakehead's slender finger pointed into the void. The evil finger rippled through the world, tuning into space.
Tune in and interfere.
The next moment, beyond the limits of space, evil magic interfered with the dimensional rift.
* * * *
"Ugh...."
Ha-ri's eyelids twitched as she felt the characteristic flash of light upon entering the gate.
"This place?"
Ha-ri had been through many gates, but the one in front of her was unlike any of them.
Desolate.
The ground was parched, the air stale, and the sky blackened as if the moon didn't even shine. Yes…like a demonic world.
"What is this place?"
Turning her head, Ha-ri spotted Yappy and Beatrice. Soo-ho and Jae-hyuk were also there.
Except for Leon.
"...This is bad."
Even Beatrice had a puzzled look on her face at this point.
It was different from when she opened the gate for the first time. Back then, she hadn't realized she had to open the gate and engrave the arrival coordinates.
But not now Beatrice knew the gate well enough to know that it was not a matter of identifying everyone who entered with a single coordinate.
"His Majesty…I see he's not allowed in."
"Uh, why was he the only one who couldn't get in?"
"I don't know. Let's go out the gate and double-check."
Everyone agreed with Beatrice.
There was no telling what threats the first colorless gate ever might hold.
Unless they can find a way to deal with this, a strategic retreat would be wise.
"Then let's enter the gate again──"
That's when the gate they came through suddenly shook and began to crack!
"Get back!"
Beatrice's urgent voice drew the group away from the gate. The next moment, the space the gate was in cracks and swallows them up.
The gate was about to disappear and Beatrice urgently poured her magic into it, but it only slowed its disappearance by three seconds.
"Damn…!"
"Your Majesty!"
The overwhelming magic power trying to annihilate the gate was met with a backlash and Beatrice coughed up blood, clutching her pounding heart.
"Are you ok?!"
Beatrice halted Ha-ri, who was about to run over to her, a look of devastation on her face.
"This much mana...."
It's like being hit by a dump truck going full speed ahead. Even Beatrice, who could circulate all the power of the natural world and make it her own, could not stand a chance against the power of this endless source.
A monster that manipulated magic, but seemed to be magic itself. Was there really such a mage in this world?
"Miss Ha-ri…check the quest."
"Ah, the quest…!"
Ha-ri quickly checks the message window, her golden eyes reflecting the blue window.
[Quest: ■After ■Before ■■■ ■■Here■]
"Uh, eh?"
The system message was distorted and unreadable as if someone had intervened.
"What the hell is this....?"
Beatrice swallowed a gulp of air and squeezed her tight chest. Something was wrong.
-Commencing reconnaissance.
Yappy unfolded the simple satellite he'd brought with him. After a few experimental maneuvers, the gate satellite was nearing completion.
Once launched into space, it would be able to survey the world inside the gate at will.
The satellite launch vehicle is quickly propelled into space by ion propellant. In an instant, the satellite reached the stratosphere, and a small light flashed.
-Kaaaaaah!!!
"Huh?!"
A bolt of blue energy flew through the sky, leaving an intense light in its wake. It shot through the air like an arrow, shooting down the satellite as it entered orbit.
-Bombardment point specific. 140 kilometers from here. Conducting power reconnaissance.
Yappy deployed his reconnaissance drone at the same time as he shot down the satellite. The drones lit up the sky in an instant, and the hostiles were soon spotted.
-Enemy detected. Multiple flying objects present. Demanding an immediate retreat.
"Kuluk…! I must have landed in a… bad place."
Beatrice swallowed her blood and pulled on the reins of her horse.
The group gallops across the plain as Yappy leads the way on the steel legs of his massive fuselage, looking for a safe spot.
"Queen, we have a flying object approaching from the rear!"
Jae-hyuk shouts urgently, and just as he does, a series of flying objects swoop through the sky.
-Crack! Crack!
They had raven's heads and dark wings while their upper and lower bodies were more monstrous than human.
-Retaliatory fire. Limited firepower.
Yappy machine gun fires into the air and in the next moment, a hail of fire rains down.
-Boom!
-Crack!
The Crow Men fell down from the sky but they're not the only ones in pursuit.
-Additional enemies approaching.
"Hey, what's that?"
-Yikes!
Giant spider-like monsters are running, at least fifty of them, each larger than a chariot.
"Lord Ultima...."
Jae-hyuk raised his spear and offered his prayer to the heavens as the clouds shook and a bolt of lightning struck the ground.
-Kaaaah!
A bolt of lightning pierces through the center of the spider monsters. The power of Jae-hyuk's Ultima is definitely powerful enough to kill even the largest monsters with a single strike. But....
"What, just one?"
Except for the one that was directly struck, the remaining spiders furiously chased after them. Even the most powerful of the Holy Laws, Thunder's Holy Law, only dealt that much damage?
Jae-hyuk, who thought he could at least deal four or five, was about to call Thunder again when he panicked.
-Firing main railgun.
With a bang, the railgun traveled along the rails at supersonic speed. Yappy railgun rounds pierced seven of the monstrous spiders straight through from the front.
-Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The giant monster spiders roared with rage and gave chase. Unable to discern them in the darkness, Ha-ri fired a blast of fire into the air instead.
The fireworks are so intense that they can be seen from miles away and as the world lights up, terrible things are revealed.
"Ah, ahh…."
"What, what…!"
The blackness rushes in and dirty, black things seem to take over the world.
"What, why are there so many?!"
There were monsters in the air and on the ground, like a tidal wave.
Yappy calculates the best route, but can't find a clear path.
-Multiple swarms approaching. Estimated 5,354.
Yappy has deployed his full arsenal. Railguns, chain guns, and energized steel wire.
Just as everyone is at full alert to meet the oncoming enemy force, a figure cuts through the darkness.
-Boom!
The sound came from far away.
It was a sound so different from the crawling, gnawing noises of insects in the darkness, a sound that was cheerful, joyous…and destructive.
-Pour forth, Thundercrown Fury.
Divine Punishment
The heavens shake and thunderbolts pour down like rain washing away the black stains from the ground.
Even as he unleashes the fury of the heavens on the earth, he leads a group of knights to break through the center of the monsters.
"Break through the center!"
""Honor!!!"
They were a mere two hundred riders riding in a wedge formation into a cluster of monstrous spiders was suicidal, to say the least.
-Ehhhhh!!!
After being caught off guard by the two transcendents, hundreds of monstrous spiders rushed forward without fear, filling the space with darkness as they tried to devour the light.
They were hundreds of times their mass alone but at the moment of conflict──
Legion Technique
-Boom!
The monsters flew through the air.
Even with their overwhelming mass, they bounced back in the moment of impact.
The wedge-shaped charge seemed to pierce through everything in front of it, piercing through the tidal wave of monsters in an instant.
-Kiiiiii...
-Kiyaaah!
The spider monsters became cautious in the face of the knights' overwhelming combat power.
"I've sensed your powerful aura, but I've never seen you before."
A man in golden armor stood before them.
"I am Gillingham Ulan, Holy Knight of Ultima, God of Sky and Thunder. You are…."
He glanced at Yappy and the half-dead Beatrice, then turned to his riders.
"Let's get out of here, the thunder will wear off soon."
"Ah, yes!"
-Strategic retreat.
The path was soon filled with monstrous spiders, but they were of little hindrance to the Holy Knight of Thunder.
Ulan's stormy thunderbolts rained down, and Yappy wires cut through the monstrous spiders until they were finally able to break through.
* * * * *
Once they were safe, Holy Knight Gillingham asked a question.
"I witnessed the Holy Power and saved you, but what are your identities, especially...."
Gillingham's gaze shifted to Yappy. The octoped chariot's hull made the knights wonder if it was one of the monsters.
No, the knights did not give it a hostile glance, even though they should have.
"Knight of Iron and Blacksmithing, I sense in you a power comparable to that of Lord Antoch, Guardian of the Mines."
-Cackle!
"Sir Antoch should be fine...."
"We are visitors from another Kingdom."
It was Beatrice who spoke up.
"My lady, are you well?"
"Thanks for your concern, but more than that… How is the situation in the kingdom?"
Beatrice had a rough idea of the situation: there were a lot of Demon Spiders around, and a man calling himself a Holy Knight.
She realized that this was the Lionheart Kingdom and that the demons had invaded.
"Fearing for the kingdom, I rushed to help, but was delayed by the demons. Would Lord Gillingham care to tell me the full story?"
"Hmm…I was not considerate. Since the loss of Lord Vulcanus and the Archduke of Lust in the battle on the Plains of Randolce, the Kingdom has been losing ground to them."
Beatrice could easily hear the situation from Gillingham.
His aura of power and his armor, the symbol of a Lionheart Knight, aroused no suspicion.
To summarize the situation: this is Leon's world, which is being invaded by demons.
The empire has fallen, and the heartland of the kingdom has been captured.
The Lionheart King has rallied the remnants of the Empire and the disparate races of Elves, Tremens, Dwarves, and others to form a united front.
The Holy Knights have been dispatched to various parts of the kingdom to gather survivors.
"Queen…Beatrice...."
Ha-ri asked worriedly, switching between Beatrice's titles.
"Yes, it's worse than we thought."
No doubt. This gate is the place where Leon had fought his final battle with the demons.
How far did they go? Still amazed at the scope of the gate, they arrived at the place Gillingham wanted them to go.
"Wow...."
Everyone gasped in amazement when they saw it.
It was a fertile plain bordered by a river and there was a huge military camp…no, a city.
On one side, fields of golden wheat grew, giant woodmen moved materials, and on top of watchtowers, sharp-eyed spiked eagles watched the surroundings.
Endless rows of soldiers and knights filled the camp, they were on a scale he had never dared to imagine.
"My God...."
"They're all knights?"
Ha-ri and her companions knew what the Knights of the Lionheart were like.
Right now, they were better than most top-tier Hunters and the Lionheart's soldiers were nothing short of extraordinary.
In the center of the city was an endlessly high altar, a great temple, rising like a pyramid.
Gillingham said.
"This is mankind's last holy place. Welcome to the pantheon."
It was the most important facility in the Lionheart Kingdom, along with the Royal Palace.
The seat of the gods where the Lionheart King resides.