Standing back from the battlefield and watching the battle, Beatrice couldn't help but be impressed.
Strong.
Purely strong.
She couldn't help but think so as she watched the Flaming Sword Knights.
She had seen the last battle of the Lionheart Kingdom. She had fought alongside them, and there were Holy Knights among them, and Templars who followed them.
But she hadn't kept a close eye on them since she could only hold her ground in the middle of a war of such magnitude.
It would be the first time she would ever see the Holy Knights in combat this close.
'Can we even call this a battle?'
A huge knight in heavy armor swung his flaming sword and with that simple act demons died in droves.
What the demons feared most was their breakthrough.
Legion Technique
A group formation technique used by the mounted troops of the Realm Knights as a basic skill.
As long as they are human, as long as they do not exceed human size, they will break through the heavy mass of the enemy as if they were exempt from the laws of physics.
-Reinforcements!
-Come on! Help!
Demons continued to pour in through the Demon Gate, their numbers increasing by the hundreds with each passing hour.
The number of demons has already exceeded four thousand. But──
"We, the war horsemen of Petos, have sworn an arduous march toward the Hill of Fire!"
"Through countless battles, sometimes victorious, sometimes defeated…!"
"With a heart of fire that will not be quenched!"
"Willing to run to the death…!"
""War shall lead us to the banquet table!""
The Flaming Sword Knights, on the other hand, numbered barely fifty but demons crumbled before their frenzied violence.
As the mountains of corpses pile up and the wails of souls ring out, they are forced to retreat, even with a hundred times their numbers.
-Do not retreat! Advance!
Even the demons ordering the advance.
"No mercy!"
"Kill them all!"
-Monsters, monsters! Run! Retreat!
Demons shouting retreat.
"No prisoners!"
""Kill them all!"
They grant death equally like angels of death.
It's a rare sight to see demons cower in the face of such unbridled, ferocious violence.
Ruthless violence washed away the stains of evil. They were advancing when──
-Velotas! Velotas!
-Velotas! Velotas!
The mood in the rear transformed.
The fleeing demons let out a cheer and stopped running.
[Alas… they woke up after all]
It was an Archdemon with an enormous bulk.
The possessor of a terrible magic power that made one feel disgusted and turn away just by looking at it.
Its snow-white skin was chilling, and the breath it exhaled merged with the cold of the glacial continent to form absolute zero.
An Archdemon of sloth and idleness, an adaptor of the cold continent and the only being on this glacial continent that can move without restraint.
-Cold Velotas!
Archdemon Velotas has personally led his legions to the Ice Continent.
"Tarhan! Fall back and regroup!"
"Galatan! Maintain the flanks and reinforce the defenses at the front!"
Laihar, the Third Sword of the Flaming Sword Knights, reorganized the Knights. They formed up in an orderly fashion, even though their horses could barely find a place amidst the piles of demon corpses.
"Your Majesty, the Archdemon."
Beatrice glanced at Leon. Until now, she'd had to keep her magic in check, but now that the Archdemon and his legions had appeared, she or Leon would have to step up.
But Leon was holding back thousands of tons of water from the melting of the ice wall with his holy spell.
Beatrice looks back at the Templars. She managed to keep her magic intact so far, but without Leon, they'd have to deal with the Archdemon on their own.
'I'm sure we'll be able to work something out when His Majesty arrives....'
But having wasted her magic, opening the gate and retreating would have to wait.
At the moment Beatrice made up her mind and Velotas shouted for the demons to advance-──
-Currrrrrrr…!
Shaking the ground… no, the continent.
Something, something huge, is about to be unleashed.
-...!!
""...!!""
Archdemon Velotas unleashed the full force of his magic.
-Bam…! Bam! Bam! Bam──Bam!
A huge ice cube that was a kilometer in diameter formed in thin air. The Glacial Continent is a special continent, and Velotas' magic power is amplified by more than ten times.
The half-melted ice crashed into the wall of ice, creating a dizzying crashing sound, but──
-It's too late…
But it was already too late…
Fragments of ice were splintering in real time, and from within something stretched out.
It's a finger.
The fingers of a man reaching outward, crushing the pressure of thousands, no, tens of thousands of tons of ice.
-What the… what the… what the hell!
-Why is that bastard free!
In bewilderment and anger, the demons' memories go back.
The monster that once invaded this world and the terrible disaster that left the Archduke dead in the flames of battle.
The Holy Knight whom the demons ultimately failed to subdue.
"Heavy."
Velotas dropped the tons of ice that froze space and time.
He used the word 'heavy' to describe it.
"I am Vulcanus."
The saint's voice flowed, his breath a flame and his actions a banner to the next war.
Advent────
"I am Vulcanus…!!"
────.
Flame pours from his fingers, from the gaps in his armor, from the visor of his helmet… from his entire body.
It swallowed ice, evaporated water, and melted continents.
In three seconds, the flames stretched thirty kilometers in length and it took five seconds for a fire giant composed of nothing but fire to descend.
-Ah, ah....
Velotas had witnessed the majesty of the Holy Knight's descent into divinity, and even that was an outrageous monster.
But… this creature before him, the Archdemon understood, was far beyond that.
It was a miracle of the gods that the Archduke risked his life to bring down someone that challenged the demigods themselves.
-Vanish!
Velotas wove the magic of the half-melted glacial continent into his own. It was a massive maneuver that even Beatrice would be aghast at.
The miraculous maneuver of great magic that only he, the only blessed one on this glacial continent, could perform, dropped chunks of ice comparable to meteorites from the sky.
To use an analogy, Velotas' ice magic is called a cannonball because its power is so great and vast but it's even bigger than a shell.
Would it really be defined as a 'cannonball' in the eyes of a giant so huge that even a kilometer-diameter cannonball would have to be squashed?
Velotas witnessed the answer.
"Death to evil."
Sparks flew toward the hail of ice shells.
The flames pouring from the gaps in his armor were enough to melt continents and against such a giant, Velotas' great magic is──
"Die, scum."
A catapult thrown by a child, a mere provocation but this adult is not the least bit merciful.
The giant's flames scorched the cold world thoroughly.
* * * * *
The outcome of the battle need not be debated.
The legions led by Velotas, the Archdemon of sloth and idleness, were thoroughly crushed by the fifty Realm Knights and a single Holy Knight while the frozen continent, once frozen in time and space, was melted.
The Knights of the Flaming Sword rallied around a man who was a spark of God himself.
Under his influence, their armor blazed with overflowing flames.
"Khhhhh…!"
"Hot, hot, hot, it seems like it's been a long time!"
The Flaming Sword Knights let go of their shields. It was a shield that didn't miss even when the demons charged at them in unison.
They flashed their flaming swords and shouted like warriors worshiping a warrior god.
"Butchers!"
"Beheaders!"
"Infidel slaughterers!"
"Agent of Divine Punishment!"
"Horseman of Doom!"
After receiving the adoration and worship of all of them, Vulcanus turned to face Leon.
"Lionheart King! I salute you, Leon Dragonia Lionheart…!"
-Thud!
The giant being dropped to one knee. Thus, the Knights of the Flaming Sword give him the homage he deserves.
""All of the Knights of the Baltan Flaming Sword…! We offer the Heart of Fire to the Most Glorious Lionheart King!""
Accepting the tribute from the mighty Holy Knight and his knights, the King smiles broadly.
"I'm glad to see you still have some blood in your veins, though it's nice to enjoy the sea after two hundred years."
Leon's gaze traveled to where Vulcanus had been.
-Ahhhhhh…!
A monstrous beast with a massive presence pulses the air with rage, displaying its power.
────!!!
That's not all. Not only the demons that Vulcanus swept aside, but demons that have sensed the anomaly in the Glacial Continent are opening gates from all directions and leaping towards them.
"Lord Vulcanus, which side will you take?"
"I will cut my ties with him myself…!"
"Then I'll play the supporting role, not the lead. Make sure you take care of it."
"Hahahahahaha…!"
Vulcanus gripped his holy swords with a boisterous laugh.
"Death to evil…!"
It was time to end the fight from two hundred years ago.
* * * *
It had been ten days since gates had sprung up all over the world. In other words, gates that started Dungeon Breaks also existed.
"Dungeon Break, evacuate quickly!"
The soldier's urgent words sent the citizens fleeing in a panic, forcing them to climb an unmarked evacuation route.
"Damn it, why didn't we find it?!"
"It must have been at the bottom of Chungju Lake. No, who knew that lakes could have gates?"
Over the past ten days, the Hunters, commanded and controlled by Lord Yakt Spinner of the TTG Temple, had cleared most of the gates with perfect raid formations and methodical attacks.
But even with Yappy control, there were bound to be some gates they couldn't find, due to too many magical reactions.
"It seems that Europe and the United States have somehow managed to defend themselves."
"They say our defense was overwhelmingly successful. We only had three dungeon breaks."
He shuddered to think what was like in other countries, especially continents with dozens of countries that don't have the resources, or countries with backward systems.
Normally, the United Nations or neighboring countries would send reinforcements, but they could barely deal with their issues.
"Corporal Kim, we're done with the evacuees, we should evacuate too…!"
-Gahhhhhhhhhh…!
An ominous guttural sound was heard and everyone knew it couldn't belong to an animal living in Earth's ecosystem.
"Monsters are emerging!"
A monster that seemed to resemble a giant crocodile rushed fiercely towards the soldiers. The soldiers fired their rifles, but the rifles of infantrymen couldn't even kill an entity of that size.
"Uhhhhhh…!"
The first victim was about to appear.
"Get down!"
The voice came from somewhere, and his ducking saved his life.
Dag-dag-dag-dag-dag!
They were knights on horseback, with a red-haired girl at their head.
"Ha, Han Ha-ri!"
Legion Technique
The knights charge at the monsters. They've just finished closing a gate nearby, and they've come as reinforcements!
"Corporal Kim, are you okay!"
"Ugh! I'm back from the dead! What are you doing?"
Corporal Kim gripped his gun. His gaze turned to the Knights, who had already defeated the monster and were running toward the source of the Dungeon Break.
"Let's get the last of them and give them a little help!"
"Bring all the armored vehicles! The artillery firepower is effective against monsters!"
* * * * *
-Chew!
The monsters screamed as the knights' spears pierced them.
The situation was serious in the Chungju Lake Dungeon Break, where the Knights of the TTG Temple had arrived.
-Crackle!
The thunder summoned by the Knight of Sky and Thunder, Kim Jae-hyuk, stunned the giant beast. He fixed his lightning-encrusted spear and said.
"Senior Ha-ri, we're running out of firepower! Please shoot some fire!"
"Now, wait a minute, I'm at full strength too!"
In the past ten days, the Knights of the Ten Thousand Gods Temple had closed more than a dozen gates.
The reason why they were able to close the gates at such a high speed was because of the four Knights of the Ten Thousand Gods who were using the power of the holy artifacts.
Han Ha-ri, Han Soo-ho, Kim Jae-hyuk, and Chun So-yeon.
Aside from the fact that they are outside Yappy standard, they inherited the holy relic from Isabelle, the High Priestess of the Moon and Purity, and each one of them is an S-class power.
Ha-ri, in particular, received the bracelet of waves left behind by Three Seas and Waves High Priestess, and the Heart of Fire left behind by the First War and Flame Holy Knight, making her stronger than the S-class.
'If only I had the approval of the Holy Grail!'
The bracelet has somehow lent her strength, but the Heart of Fire is the problem.
Although she has become much more skilled with fire than before, this ferocious and tyrannical energy does not recognize her.
"Senior Ha-ri, there's danger over here, total danger, a boss monster has jumped out!"
"Boss?!"
Dungeon Breaks literally spits out everything in the dungeon. As annoying as the miasma is, the last thing they want to see in a dungeon break is the dungeon boss.
"Ugh… it's big!"
The gate to Chungju Lake is rated orange, and the boss monster that emerges from it is a giant snake that requires you to look up until your head hurts.
"Is this, like, an Imugi (dragon) or something?"
"Whatever it is, it's serious...."
She whined, but she couldn't give up so Ha-ri raised her Star Iron Sword and unleashed a blast of flame.
"Aaaahhh! Lord Petos…!"
The power and prayer would soon be transformed into flames. With that, somehow──
[Oh, no, this guy? Oh, no, I can't, I've spent all my power!]
-Pooh!
Petos' panicked voice aside, the flame that Ha-ri was about to swing went out with a whoosh.
"...?"
The flame went out and it wasn't just Ha-ri.
-Hey! Why is it suddenly stopping?
-No, no, no! The fire just died! There's no flame!
-What, what! Petos? Petos?!
-Switch to Arianna's power! Damn, it wasn't just him!
Petos worshippers across the country, dedicated to the god of war and flame, were in a panic.
"What the hell is going on?"
Ha-ri desperately sought out Petos, but the God of War seemed too busy to answer.