After Leon opened the gate to the Demon Realm with Beatrice, the gate was guarded by the Association.
The gate that Beatrice opened doesn't produce magic stones or dungeon breaks, but if Leon were to come out, he would need to be informed of the situation in Korea.
"Chief Kim, it's almost time to change shifts."
"Is it already?"
Kim Jin-soo glanced at his watch at his subordinate's words. He flicked his cigarette into a portable ashtray and fiddled with his cell phone.
"By the way, Chief Kim, one of the deputies was crying on Dantok, did you see it?"
"Ha-ri? Why?"
"All of a sudden, the God of War and Flame powers were disabled."
"Huh? Really?"
Since the landing of the Wandering Magic Sword in Japan, the belief in the Ten Thousand Gods has spread rapidly in both Japan and Korea.
Kim Jin-soo had recently become a follower of Arianna, the goddess of light and justice, and he had learned the holy laws, so it was rather awkward to hear that the holy laws were 'not working'.
"The gods don't take away favors."
"It's not just one deputy, it's the other God War believers as well. The connection is still there, it's just the Holy Law that's not working."
That was definitely a first. Among the growing number of Holy Law users in the country, the most of them are followers of the god Petos.
Not surprisingly, they're mostly hunters and soldiers who have to attack gates.
"That sounds like a lot of work, but don't those who worship the God of War usually also worship the Goddess of Justice?"
"It is said that faith in light and justice are the basic qualities of a warrior."
Then why was only the war god's power taken? Kim Jin-soo thought of something.
"That's because the Holy Knights share holy power with the gods."
That was the reason why Holy Knights' power was ridiculously higher than normal knights.
Borrowing power and sharing power were two different things.
"You mean King Leon?"
"No, he's different. The Grail Guardian said he could use any power and transform it as needed."
The Grail Guardian, unlike the Holy Knights, is a representative of all the gods. They have access to all of the faith that the gods have gathered through the Lionheart.
If Leon had drawn so much holy power that he was unable to use the Holy Laws, then all the Holy Laws would be unavailable, not just those of Petos.
"Ugh… What the hell happened?"
Probably it was because the king opened the gate and disappeared.
'That's dangerous… Dungeon Breaks are about to explode all over the place while the TTG Temple's maximized power wanes.'
The team was having a hard time dealing with this massive gate situation.
There are not enough 'helicopters' to deal with gates in remote areas.
'There is still no news about the red gate in Seongnam.'
I had no idea that the existence of TTG Temple, which clears gates indiscriminately without economic calculation, was so great.
In particular, the presence of Leon and Beatrice, who are beyond S-class power, is a power that is desperately needed right now.
'Please return quickly, Your Majesty…!'
Chief Kim Jin-soo prayed that he would return as soon as possible and was about to contact the higher-ups of the Association in frustration when he received a message──
────!!!
The gate had been opened from the other side and a searing heat escaped from the place.
"It's His Majesty!"
Kim Jin-soo and the association's staff automatically kneeled down on one knee to greet the king.
They had already received enough lessons in etiquette to satisfy even Leon.
"To His Majesty the Lionheart, Sir──!"
Boom!
Something bounced out of the gate and realizing that it was the head of a creature, Kim Jin-soo glanced at it.
"Oh...."
It was an amazing head, endlessly evil, not like the field boss of the gate and he felt that if he made eye contact with it, he would die of a curse.
"You can just go in there."
"Sorry, your Majesty, I thought it might actually lead to another world."
Just then, a group of people emerge from the gate. The Association employees were delighted to see Leon and Beatrice, but soon stopped at the sight of the armored hordes that came with them.
They felt crushed by the mere sight of them and instinctively realized that these are dangerous beings.
Everyone realized that the hulking knight next to Leon was of a different class.
"Your Majesty!"
Chief Kim Jin-soo steps forward on behalf of his subordinates. Leon recognized him and returned the greeting.
"You must be Chief Kim."
"Yes!"
"Ah, yes. That head, keep it. It's loot that needs to be used."
"What the hell is that....?"
"It is the head of the Glacier Archduke."
"Huh…!"
The Glacier Archduke? You mean the Demon Archduke? The gate Leon said he went through was in the Demon Realm, and he killed a Demon Archduke there?
"Oh, King Lionheart...."
I'll only believe in your Majesty!
The envious glances of Director Kim Jin-soo and the Association staff gathered but Leon took the stares directed at him for granted.
"By the way, what's all the fuss about?"
Beatrice asked, puzzled by the guild members who still hadn't greeted them.
"Yes, it's...."
Kim Jin-soo reported about the absent Templars and Man-At-Arms, as well as Yappy, who was in charge of the Korean Hunters.
"I see. What's urgent now?"
"...!"
Chief Kim exclaimed.
* * * *
After the massive gate incident, the Korean Hunters raiding parties, led by Yakt Spinner, quickly attacked the gates.
The gates that were selected and combined by the strong artificial intelligence were categorized and prioritized by the raiders.
After capturing the gate, the ROK military helicopters were deployed to move quickly.
Some in the chain of command wondered if it was giving too much power to a machine, but they were left speechless by Yappy's discernment, which soon began to prove itself.
Yappy's thoroughness allowed it to make real-time adjustments to the movement of the raiders based on data, coordinates, movement history, and calculated threats.
His command skills aside, it was impossible for him to respond in time to gates popping up all over the country.
Gate capture is not something that can be accomplished in a day or two. It usually takes four to five days for a properly-ranked raiding team to capture a gate.
400 gates appeared in Korea in 10 days and even if hunters organize raid teams from scratch, there are more than a dozen 'dungeon breaks' due to failed raids, tight schedules, and abnormal gates.
"Palace lord…! I can't take it anymore!"
Gyeongbu Highway Gate, summoned in the middle of the highway, was the gate that Yappy had ordered to be attacked first.
It was a yellow-ranked gate, so it had been a week since the second group under the Hanbit Palace had entered. They thought they would be able to complete the assault easily, but they failed miserably.
"So it's a fluctuating gate...."
Yes, it is. This light highway gate is a fluctuation gate disguised as a yellow gate but the estimated attack rating is red.
Normally, they would have responded immediately, but their guild leader, Park Yong-shin, had captured two yellow gates in Wando in quick succession.
Yong-wan's Firebird Guild and Hunter Association leader Oh Kang-hyuk, who had volunteered to join the raiding party at Hanbit Palace, rallied as reserves to stop the dungeon brakes.
"Brother Lee Yong-wan, we can't block the entrance anymore, there are too many large objects!"
"Damn it… Our boys are tired too, Mr. Association President, let's pull back and reorganize our formation. I don't think it's time to worry about miasma pollution!"
Park Yong-shin, Lee Yong-wan, and Oh Kang-hyuk were the only three S-class Hunters, but even so, they couldn't stop the waves of monsters coming out of the fluctuation gate.
"If I had known it would be like this, I would have brought Yuri Yang!"
"I should have brought the Deputy Palace Lord too."
"...."
Oh Kang-hyuk swallowed hard and kept his eyes on the monsters pouring out of the broken gate.
They are so short-staffed that he, the president of the association, has to go to the front lines himself. He had hoped to enlist the help of the Japanese Hunter's Association, with whom he had recently strengthened ties, but the unprecedented outbreak of three red gates in a row made that impossible.
'That's why Korea can afford it. Thanks to the troops he raised.'
The knights of the Ten Thousand Gods Temple are strong, but the most fearsome are the Man-At-Arms who have surpassed five thousand.
The D-ranked Hunters, who have been treated as baggage, have organized themselves into formations and are now as formidable as A-ranked raiders.
Their strength is in numbers. Under the tutelage of the Lionheart King, they have been thoroughly trained in group discipline and holy power.
Their power is multiplied when paired with a Knight Commander, who scatters commander-level buffs.
In Korea before TTG Temple, Dungeon Break would have been a disaster.
'But there's still a big difference in power with and without him.'
Even a Knight class can scatter Commander skill-level buffs, but Leon's buffs are ridiculous.
It's true that TTG Temple has gathered a lot of power, but that's only a numerical advantage. The overwhelming quality advantage comes from the presence of the Lionheart King and the Holy Knights.
"Tell the Hunters that I'll break through the line myself."
"Mr. President?"
Park Yong-shin and Lee Yong-wan's eyes widened when they heard that the Association President was going to lead the charge himself.
"I hope the boss monster is an easy one."
Oh Kang-hyuk is a legendary Hunter in Korea. He's defeated every single one of them, even the S-class bosses.
-Kieieieieieieieieie…!
With a terrible roar, the last monster emerged from the gate.
"Holy shit...."
A skull-masked mage, jet-black robes billowing in the air, a rotting staff of dead wood in his gnarled bony arms.
It was an Ark Lich, the worst of the S-class monsters, with Death Knights as its bodyguards, the finest of the undead.
"Damn, an Ark Lich."
Yong-wan gritted his teeth and let go of the arrow but physical attacks against this entity are halved in effectiveness.
"Lord Park!"
"What is it, brother?"
"You're King Lionheart's faithful dog, don't you know how to use the Holy Law?"
"Dog… that's too much for a sinner like me, I'm not even worthy to lick his paws."
He's actually happy here? Yong-wan was afraid of Park Yong-shin's mentality.
"Anyway, to answer your question, I can't use the Holy Law. The gods don't give their favor to sinners."
"Does this mean that a sociopath is a bigger sinner than an unbeliever? Damn...."
It was a lost cause.
"Since it's like this, we need to cut down the escort power, those Death Knights alone are annoying!"
These Death Knights are worthy of being the boss of any gate. Even an A-ranked raiding party will not be safe if they collide with them head-on──
""Ravage the enemy…!""
It was at that moment that a group of anachronistic cavalry came out of nowhere.
For a moment, he thought it was the Knights of the TTG Temple, but their momentum was incomparable.
"Red…Knights?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Fifty horses raced down the highway, led by the Lionheart King and a hulking knight.
Their speed is obviously strange and the highway stretched in a straight line, like a sports car with an overheated engine.
[....]
The Ark Lich puts up a dense barrier against the horde of horses that suddenly appeared behind him. His command group is reinforced by powerful magical powers and can withstand a head-on collision with a 20-ton truck.
A bunch of anachronistic horses──
"Glory to the Lionheart!!!"
[Mighty Charge] is applied to the unit.
At the moment of the crash, something soars into the sky.
When he realized that it was the corpse giant who had been wielding the club in the lead, the Lionheart King, holding the Holy Sword, appeared in front of him.
[...!]
The Ark Lich flinched. Where the hell were his escorts, the Death Knights?
"GRARARARARARA──!"
They were being torn apart by the screaming red knight with his unbelievable strength.
"How dare you turn honorable knights into ghosts! Your sins are deep."
[You…!]
A brilliantly shining holy sword dug into Ark Lich's chest as he tried to manipulate magic.
-Kuuk…!
The holy sword pierced through Ark Lich's chest in a single blow.
"Your Majesty, the Ark Lich has a Life Vessel that holds his soul! If we don't destroy it, the Lich will die──"
It was then that the Ark Lich, who had been pierced by Leon's holy sword, let out a terrible scream.
"This king, agent of the gods, has commanded. Destroy the dead soul."
It doesn't matter if it has a Life Vessel that hides its soul or not. Even demons from across dimensions can be destroyed by the Knights of the Lionheart.
No mere undead wretch can escape their annihilating power!
"Oh, no…!"
In the process of annihilating the soul, the Ark Lich unleashed a great magic that bordered on madness. He gathered all the corpses and formed them into a single mass that would self-destruct!
"Die, fiend!"
In an instant, a fiery holy sword of terrible heat consumed the corpses and the flame of the God of War was so powerful that it left not even a soul behind, let alone a skeleton.
"Ah, ah...."
Despairing in the face of overwhelming power, the Ark Lich crumbled to dust.
Watching the scene, Park Yon-shin exclaimed in ecstasy.
"King, be all-powerful…!"
""Long live the king…!""
The worshippers of the Hanbit Palace fell to their knees in worship. They weren't the only ones, some of the Hunters joined in the worship.