"Haa—!"
With a ragged breath, Beatrice fell forward but Leon caught her to keep her from collapsing.
"Excellent."
"What happened to him—?"
Even in Leon's arms, Beatrice searched for her enemy.
Leon saw that nothing remained where Beatrice's death magic had swept, but he knew that didn't mean he was gone.
"He was never here to begin with. I've slashed him five thousand times, and he's still here."
"Even with holy power?"
"I wouldn't say he was unscathed but what he used this time was not only his own power, but the power of the Lord of Pleasure–nay, the power of evil."
It was with that power that he was able to temporarily cut off Leon's connection to the Pantheon, isolating him and Beatrice in a place where time and space diverged.
"Because of me——"
Beatrice clutched her lower abdomen through clenched teeth. The power that the Goddess of Dreams and Death now held over her was more than she had ever realized.
None of this would have happened if it weren't for the essence of corruption he'd planted in her.
"Fight the evil and don't blame yourself. Regrets can wait."
Leon had seen too many people destroy themselves by dwelling on regrets, on what they couldn't do, on their lack of power.
But those who face the demons must know that the only thing that is bad are the demons, and that the blame should be directed solely at evil, not at themselves or those around them.
That's how you fight the demons.
"That's a terrible idea."
"Trust me, this king is the authority in this area."
Leon smirked as he helped Beatrice to her feet.
"So, can you still fight, because it looks like it's still a battle out there."
Beatrice smirked at Leon's question, as if she didn't need to answer.
In the distance, Ha-ri and the three knights were running.
* * * *
Modern Earth in the 21st century.
In the advanced age of missiles and satellite weapons, the battlefield on a small island nation in East Asia was alien.
-Wipe them out!
"Shields up!"
Shields raised, Man-At-Arms meet the enemy charge, and grotesque demons charge forward, wielding rusted greatswords and whips.
The clash on the front lines isn't just between cold warriors. Taiwanese troops on both sides, fallen and uncorrupted, turn their guns and muzzles on each other.
-Bang!
The hail of artillery and gunfire is interrupted by the holy law of the knights. It's not a defense, it's a complete nullification.
-Damn, the shells aren't working! Is that the ranged nullification I've been hearing about? At this rate, we're going to have to push for hand-to-hand combat!
"Enemy tanks and armored vehicles, charge ahead! Launch anti-tank missiles!"
With the knights' ranged nullifying shields blocking the gunpowder weapons, anti-tank missiles and surface-to-air missiles rain down on the charging armored vehicles.
Their ranged attacks are blocked, while their opponents use their firearms without restriction.
In the midst of this absurdity, the demons have found a solution.
-Their knight pool is overwhelming! They defy convention with direct-attack magic that escapes ranged defenses!
"Multiple Demon Sorcerers spotted, call for artillery fire!"
A brilliant wave of magic is unleashed, and with it, a retaliatory barrage of artillery from the Kikiruks.
The battlefield is a disparate mix of cold weapons from the past, modern gunpowder weapons, particle weapons from the future, and demonic magic.
Even there, there are those who have an absolute presence that transcends past, present, and future.
-Crack!
(GK-2 railgun opens fire!)
"Crap— How did they break through the protective magic?"
"It's a weapon with holy power! Damn them, they mixed stardust into the weapons!"
"Prioritize the gunners! Send out the mid-level battle demons!"
A hideously distorted tentacle monster charged forward, brandishing a prosthetic sword in place of the torn off arm.
At five meters, it was a giant. And yet, with lightning speed and shielding magic, it slashed through the Kikiruks lines.
-Kiyaaaaaaah!!!
The sight of the two giant battle demons charging forward was intimidating even to the heavy-armed Kikiruk warriors.
-Chirp! Chirp!
(No firepower! No firepower!)
-Chirrup! Chirrup!
(Too many allies in the front! Too much room for error with high-powered weapons!)
While they hesitated, the giant demons approached them, and were about to collide with the Kikiruk knights who stood their ground against their blades when-─
-Kwazik!
A giant mechanical foot descended from somewhere and slammed down on the giant demons.
-What—!
Almost simultaneously with the crushed giant demon, a giant mechanical foot slammed into the remaining giant demon, its overwhelming physical force alone sending the five-meter behemoth flying into the air.
What the flying demon saw were the tips of the six giant mechanical feet, the war spider's guns that looked like they came from outer space, aimed at the giant demon.
It was a perfectly calculated shot on a doomsday trajectory that would penetrate and wipe out the enemy infantry at the same time──
"Gunpowder weapons—!"
The giant demon unleashes its maximum protective magic. But──
-Tactical Pattern 13. Siege Sniper 680mm Stardust Shells for Destroying Fortresses SET.
"What the hell?!"
He's using precious stardust to make shells?
That's not all. There's holy water bubbling in the center of that special shell.
Once the overwhelmingly destructive Stellar Iron Bullets pierce through, the explosives inside heat up the holy water and spread it everywhere.
It was a truly vicious Anti-Demon Holy Warhead.
"You—!"
-Fire a Hyper-Reaction Accelerator round.
-Boom!
With a terrifying roar, the giant demon disappears.
Unlike the previous giant, whose death was purely physical, the Holy Water-loaded Stardust Warhead shredded the demon's soul and the aftermath didn't end with a single demon.
Exposed to the super-strong AI's meticulously calculated firing angle, a portion of the demonic legion was swept away, caught in the aftermath of the explosion.
-Crack!
-My soul, my soul melts!
It was a terrible inferno of holy power created by a single shot.
A demon, admiring the scene, cried out.
"That's bullshit, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The demons intuited that if that thing fired twice, they would be finished.
City-sized battles are one thing, but not when your opponent isn't your average size.
The super-giant battle weapon deployed on a battlefield of several hundred meters had attained holy power and evolved into an absolute weapon.
"Ma, just—!"
The giant muzzle had just finished cooling down and was about to pour out its secondary fire when──
-Boom!
someone jumped on top of the Marquis-class fuselage.
-Whoosh?
There was no enemy reaction close to the radar waves?
The blade swings and the being although small compared to the Marquis-class fuselage, even if it was close to giant size. But——.
-Slash!
The armor and weapons disintegrated in an instant but Yappy's camera sensors picked it up.
[That's some pretty tough armor]
One of the Great Old Ones rushes toward the cockpit, slicing through Yappy's armor and weapons like tofu.
-Emergency Response Glove Fire.
Yappy detonates the explosives inside the fuselage and slams into the Great Old One.
Although the fuselage is damaged, the Great Old One retreats, bracing itself against the building to avoid the explosives that spray the holy water.
-Damage to armor and power. Damage control initiated.
Emergency fire fighting equipment is mobilized to extinguish the fire and nanobots are deployed to repair any salvageable armor.
No one could have built such a giant battle machine out of stardust but even so, it's a mix of adamantine and mithril, two of Gate's hardest minerals——.
-Enemy threat rating increased. What's Vulcanus doing?
Yappy's camera eye turned to a corner of the battlefield, where──
"GRARARARARARARARA──!!"
A Holy Knight of Flame was rampaging and two Great Old Ones were trying to stop him.
"I couldn't hold all three of them! Take care of one!"
-I'm disappointed.
"Grrrrr! It would have been easier if we had the Queen!"
Vulcanus was having a harder time than he expected against the two Archdemons.
Vulcanus fought even an Archduke so they were no match for him.
"How arrogant of you, demons! How dare you leave one of your own behind against me!"
The Great Old Ones played a thoroughly stalling game against the Vulcanus, until one of the freed-up Great Old Ones slipped out to stop Yappy.
Their size should have given them the advantage, but they held off the Vulcanus with great coordination and skill.
[Boom!]
After blocking Vulcanus' twin greatswords, the Old One dropped to one knee, seemingly overwhelmed. His entire body was crushed by the impact alone.
Above all, his soul was burning from the furnace-like flames of holy power that flowed from his sword.
[Monster—!]
[We— all we can do is hold on——.]
The oldest of the demons. The Great Old Ones, the veterans of the veterans.
They have invaded many worlds since the dawn of time, but they have never seen anything like this.
No, it was not the first time.
[Reminds me of Lionheart.]
[And that orc.]
They were truly monstrous creatures who have defied immortal lords in mortal form and were the nightmare of demons.
They were grateful that they were not here.
[The Knights of the God of War are no slouches, either——.]
The Knights Leon raised on Earth. Though they are no match for the Holy Knights, they are a division of Kingdom Knights, each one of whom is truly connected to the gods.
Recognized as a special favor of the gods, their equipment is deceptive before their skills.
[But we, too, are a legion that has conquered many dimensions, and the quality of our troops gives us the edge]
Or, to put it another way, they are outclassed by the enemy generals but these old fiends have the flexibility to admit it.
[But we've spent tens of thousands of years on the battlefield, too]
[We can't afford to lose to mortals who are as good as newborn babies]
The Great Old Ones were desperate to capture Vulcanus.
[If only we could hold him.]
[With reinforcements still coming in, we have an overwhelming advantage]
Although the initial surprise raid failed to rally the troops, the demons had planted enough Fallen in Taiwan.
From unwitting soldiers following their commanders' orders, to demons planted throughout the civilian population, to the constant stream of demons coming from the gates.
The forces here are not all there is, their opponents, on the other hand, could use more help.
Even if they could get hunters from Korea or Japan, it would take too long. In the first place, the TTG Temple has been working in secret with its Korean and Japanese allies to surprise them.
Indeed, the key names are here, but their forces are small.
"You bastards, you're just going to run and hide and stall for time!"
[He seems to have noticed]
[But it makes no difference]
Vulcanus could overwhelm the Great Old Ones in a 1v1 but his opponents were skillfully stalling for time. Any more time away from Leon's arrival will only put the outnumbered side at a disadvantage.
Vulcanus realizes he has to be careful here.
[Oh, no, you can't]
Realizing his intentions, the God of War turned to his Holy Knight.
"Mr. Petos, don't you dare!"
[It's nothing of the sort! I haven't even finished the last one yet, and my immediate needs are on loan from other gods!]
He was referring to a certain goblin's staff that Leon had gotten his hands on.
The staff was capable of converting holy power into a unified force, and despite its inefficiency, it was able to gather the holy power of other gods and supply it to Petos.
Even with the Knights of the Burning Sword, Petos spent more holy power than he gained, and these days he was a debtor.
[I'll give you an emergency loan, War, but I'll have to charge you interest].
[Justice, you vicious bitch!]
Vulcanus chuckled and raised Gob's staff from subspace, much to the consternation of Petos, who was already a debtor.
"I'll be damned, Goddess!"
[Oh, no!]
The faith of Goddess Arianna was channeled into Gob's staff and it was immediately offered to Petos, but before Petos could even hold it──
Divine Descent────
"I am Vulcanus—!!"
────
Full power for one minute only.
It's not up to the knight to pay back the interest on the loan he borrowed from the pool.
[Nnooooooooooooom—!]
The war god's cries echoed throughout the temple, but the gods shook their heads.
[Ha-ri is not supposed to learn such things]
The Sea God was afraid that the wretched knight would be a bad influence on his goddess.