"We apologize, Your Majesty, it was our fault!"
~Naju TTG Temple~
Chief Kim Jin-soo, the Man-At-Arms, and the people of Naju bowed down and apologized to Leon.
The battle was a complete victory.
Against an army of ten thousand demons, the Man-At-Arms and the Naju inhabitants fought admirably, and the battle was won with the aid of count-level war armaments.
Only three thousand demons were taken prisoner in the battle, and the rest either died or fled, so it was a great victory. But──
"Gunnar's seedling has been stolen------"
After returning from the battle, Chief Kim Jin-soo realized that the seedling that had been planted and growing in the courtyard of the TTG Temple had disappeared.
He realized that this was a trick of the demons to steal the seedling.
"Lord Spinner."
-Sir------
At Leon's call, Yappy answered in a voice that sounded weak, as if it had sagged.
-My holy artifact management system was flawless.
"But the seedling has been taken."
"-------"
Yappy didn't answer. While Leon had planted Gunnar's seedling and allowed it to sprout, he had ordered Yappy to care for and protect it.
Yappy prepared the best management system he could. It was a perfect defense system, with no organic defenses.
A limited number of Count-level entities, capable of taking on even Archdemons, and a drone surveillance system that operated around the clock. If necessary, satellite weapons could be mobilized to bombard any approaching hostile forces.
"By the way, North Korea's surveillance didn't detect any abnormalities after the recall of Koo Dae-sung, did it?"
-Kiruuk------
Yappy launched a number of stealthy, maneuverable drones to scope out North Korea. But nothing was found, so what else could explain all the monsters that had popped up in North Korea?
Leon didn't doubt Yappy's abilities so he had to think differently.
"They must have a way to trick the machine's eyes."
The demons have managed to evade the Yappy's futuristic, high-tech surveillance and defense systems with ease.
Their immortality makes it easy to overlook, but the demons' technological prowess was not low.
If they didn't feel the need to advance, they wouldn't have already destroyed many worlds with advanced science like Yappy's.
"Your Majesty, is the situation serious?"
Beatrice's question was answered by Karina or Vulcanus. The pure-blooded Holy Knights from the Lionheart Kingdom knew what it would be used for.
"To recreate that doomed twig."
Karina and Vulcanus both thought the same thing.
"Yes, their purpose is probably the same as then."
In the first war between Lionheart and the Demons. Malus, Lord of Chaos, summoned to the Imperial Capital, burned the Forest of the Sages on the Empire's borders.
"If the Empire's version of that can be recreated, it cannot be stopped by the powers of Earth."
The two realized that included the Lionheart itself.
When the previous Branch of Doom was completed, five Holy Knights had been sacrificed, and the Lionheart King had barely managed to defeat the Lord.
"But at this point, it doesn't really matter."
Leon's words brought Beatrice and Yappy's gazes to him.
"The World Tree I received from Gunnar is still only a 'seedling'. It's not even a full-grown sapling. It can't recreate the branches of that tree. They shouldn't have spent this much of their army to steal something like that."
If Leon had been in the demons' shoes, he would have tried to steal the world tree when it had grown to a certain size.
But the demons didn't. They stole the seedlings when they weren't even fully grown, draining their forces considerably.
"There must have been an accident that forced them to hurry."
In any case, there was a time limit, but Leon didn't mind.
Now that the presence of demons in North Korea has been confirmed, Leon will put aside any urgency and march north to destroy them.
"Strike them down before the World Tree grows in their hands and fables into a branch of doom. Lord Spinner, how is the situation on the truce line?"
-Crack! Enemy overwhelmingly outnumbered. National Army estimated to be unable to reach the armistice line.
The Second Korean War is always characterized as a one-sided victory and economic loss for the South.
The difference in military power between North and South is already as overwhelming as an adult and a child. But North Korea is now a hybrid army of demons and monsters, and modern weaponry is ineffective against them.
"Lord Vulcanus."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"The spearhead of this war. I leave it to you and the Knights of the Burning Sword. First, push back the unsupported front."
"GRARARARA──! Of course, Your Majesty!"
Since ancient times, when Lionheart has gone to war, the riders of the God of War and Flame have always been at the forefront.
Their overwhelming combat power has always brought victory to the kingdom, and Leon felt secure knowing that the strongest Holy Knights in the realm were by his side.
* * * *
"------"
"------"
After being dropped off at the airport, the delegation was whisked away by the North Korean military. The luxury limousine was hardly military, but in this part of the world, a high-ranking official's motorcade car is a sin.
"South Korean old man."
The next stop was a classified location. Unsurprisingly, Chun Jin-soo slapped the People's Army man's palm.
"How dare you, you little bastard, don't you even have a mother?!"
"Eh, eh?"
The soldier was taken aback by Chun Jin-soo's attitude as he yelled at the soldier with a gun. But Chun didn't stop there.
"You've been eating only meat and no vegetables since you were a kid, and you're so tall you look like a dwarf! I can tell you had a bad home education!"
"Gosh, I've never even had meat soup------"
"Why do you blame me for being a beggar, are you bragging?! If you wanted to eat meat soup, you should've worked for it!"
A true braggart with no regard for his station! Chun Jin-soo was relentless with the cocky young man who tried to cover his face while pointing his gun at him.
"That's enough. I grew up without them."
And Kang Jin-sung, without the slightest hint of empathy, simply stopped him because he didn't want to be a nuisance.
When it comes to Korean legendary hunters, it is easy to think of images of age and noble immortality, but both Chun Jin-soo and Kang Jin-sung are in positions no different from those of the presidents of most large corporations in Korea.
Their social, economic, and military influence has given them huge wings, along with capital, and naturally, their perspective is different from that of the 'common man'.
On the contrary, even the chairmen of chaebol groups treat them as "ordinary people" who would die if they were touched with a finger.
"You don't have any sense, you young bastards."
"I'm thinking of killing them all and marching into Pyongyang. I don't know about these guys, but their commander must know the outcome."
""------!!""
The words sent chills down the spine of the People's Army.
Chun Jin-soo was just a bratty old man, but this old man truly had the will and power to kill them all.
Korea's representative light swordsman Chun Jin-soo and infinite swordsman Kang Jin-sung alone can annihilate clumsy North Korean awakeners.
"That's enough, seniors."
The lesser Reconnaissance General Bureau officer said.
"I'm sorry to have to serve you this way, seniors."
"Enough! Where the hell are we going now?"
"I don't think it's downtown Pyongyang."
He smiled bitterly at the two old hunters.
"Pyongyang is a ghetto right now. Probably, by now------"
The second-in-command words were shocking. The two Hunters understood why they had been taken from the airport like a kidnapping.
They arrived at a tunnel under a mountain, where the South Korean delegation was confronted by some of the biggest names in the game.
"I ordered you to fire missiles at TTG Temple."
Ri Cheol-woong, deputy commander of the North Korean Guard General Bureau, was the leader of the 'resistance group' who fired the first gunshot in this incident.
* * * *
It's the 34th hour of the Second Korean War and the battlefield was already mired in mud.
The comparison of the two countries' advanced armies was laughable, and less than a day into the war, the North Korean Air Force had been wiped off the map.
With such overwhelming air superiority, the ROK Air Force unilaterally bombed the North Korean artillery, and the war seemed to be going smoothly------
"Fuck, we came to fight a war, but we don't see any North Koreans, just a bunch of freaks!"
The South Korean army faced an unexpected challenge.
They marched forward, blowing away North Korean artillery, but as soon as they crossed the armistice line, they encountered a monster army of tens of thousands of units.
The South Korean Army has the most firepower of any Asian army, but it's only as good as its human counterparts.
Considering the monsters' unique resistance to modern weaponry, this was too incongruous.
"Why are there no North Korean soldiers coming out, but only monsters like that?
Lieutenant Kim recalled that even the North Korean artillery they had encountered was extremely outnumbered. It was almost as if this wasn't a war against North Korea, but against monsters or demons.
"Commander---! There are gargoyles up ahead, and crazy gargoyles flying around!"
"Shit---!"
Lieutenant Kim called for fire support from the artillery unit, but even with all of the artillery firepower, there was no stopping the human-sized, high-speed maneuvering gargoyles.
In a matter of moments, the gargoyles broke through the firewall, flipping the tank over and tearing the armored personnel carrier apart. Lt. Kim's voice grew urgent at the unbelievable reality before him.
"We've got a breach here! Multiple Class B monsters, at least! We need Hunter support!"
[This is Headquarters Company. Hunters are on their way. Hang in there]
"Hold on to whatever the fuck is in front of us, we're all going to die!"
Another K2 tank takes to the skies. With a tank like that, he knew what was going to happen to the infantry.
"Backup! Backup! Hunter, send the Hunters!"
-Kuwaaaaaaaaaaah!
It was then. As if to answer Lieutenant Kim's desperate screams, something fell from the sky with a tearing noise.
Realizing that it was a missile, the faces of Lieutenant Kim and the soldiers turned to despair.
It's not a matter of firepower against monsters. Whether it's a tank gun or a missile, humanity's weaponry doesn't work against them.
Just when he thought it was a waste of money, the faces of the National Army soldiers turned white as they watched the missiles fall toward them.
"Ah, friendly fire?!"
Even though the KPA knows the human rights of their soldiers, they still blindly bomb them like this?
No way, but just as everyone was about to scream that the country had abandoned us as we watched the missile crash down──
-Landing abatement activated. Thrust deflector nozzles maxed.
With a mechanical sound from inside the missile, inaudible to the soldiers, the falling missile slows down just before impact.
It was a steady supersonic landing, impossible with modern technology.
It landed in a cloud of dust, too thick to be a missile, Lieutenant Kim thought. As if it were a "transportation missile.
-Thud, thud, thud!
And he was surprisingly right. The missile's cover opened, and out poured knights in pre-modern heavy armor.
"TTG Temple?!"
The three knights leapt from their horses and charged at the gargoyles.
""Atrocity!""
""Atrocity!""
""Atrocity!""
The knights spurred on, their very breath igniting flames.
""Merciless death---!!!""
Every time they swing their flaming swords, the monsters' flesh cracks, and when the flames touch them, they burn beyond recognition and are incinerated.
-Ki, Kiiyi------
Even the fiercest monsters cower as they realize that the creature before them is a beast far beyond them.
But despite this submission to the hierarchy of nature, the beasts only resort to brutal violence to satisfy their hunger.
Realizing that they cannot escape death by fighting or submitting, the beasts lunge at the knights.
-Bang! Ka-kang!
-Ka-kang!
But neither the force that overturned the tanks nor the vicious claws that tore at the armored vehicles could shatter the star iron armor blessed by the War God.
In fact, the flames that erupted from the armor burned their entire bodies for trying to harm the god's knights.
-Boom!
In a blaze of holy fire, the knight grabbed the gargoyle by the face.
Kiiii-ii-ii-ii-i--!
The gargoyle struggled, flapping its wings and trying to escape the knight's grasp, but the knight's strength soon crushed its face.
"Weaklings."
Shards of stone rained down, piling up into a mountain of limp gargoyle corpses.
Hundreds of monsters had been slain in the five minutes since the three knights had been dropped by missiles.
"Knights of the Gods------"
A soldier dropped to one knee and bowed his head in homage, and one by one, the soldiers fell to their knees.
They gazed longingly at these glorious knights, blessed by the gods, who claimed to be the protectors of humanity.
-Kaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!
-Kaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Missiles were raining down from all over the battlefield sky.