There was an intangible energy that bends even space and time. Its immense concentration of power devours the air with ferocity.
The moment the hammer struck──
-Kaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
The hammering changes the landscape.
-Wow--- crazy.
-This is fucking insane.
After the world's communications satellites crashed, a rush of satellites brought the world together once again.
Technically, the industrialized nations that had the power to build their own network infrastructure restored a half-hearted global network, but the first thing they searched for when the internet returned was the Second Korean War.
South Korea released the video recordings taken for wartime documentation at the same time as the Internet was restored to show off the South's victory over the evil of the Demon Lord and the reunification of the Korean Peninsula after 80 years of division.
-Wow~ I knew the Holy Knights were incredibly strong------
-His Majesty Leon, Vulcanus, Yappy, Queen Beatrice, they're all monsters.
-They're survivors of the Otherworld. They've been through the wringer there. And yet...
-The Earthling Holy Knight------
That's right.
Numerous battle videos have proven that Holy Knights are superpowered beyond even the S-class.
Leon's unleashed the Holy Sword in the battle against the Slaughter Archduke Akasha and overwhelmed Akasha, who had slain countless S-class Hunters,
Magician Queen Beatrice, who treats Earth's 30-year history of magic like a child's coloring book.
Yappy's advanced weaponry and technology is beyond Earth's ability to match.
Vulcanus and Karina were ridiculous monsters from the perspective of a Holy Knight.
And yet, a Holy Knight is born on Earth?
Half the planet saw the pillar of light.
Chosen by the goddess Demera, piercing the heavens and announcing its birth to the world.
-Hey, spell it right, it's not an 'Earthling' Holy Knight, it's a 'Korean Holy Knight'.
-No, he's an Earthling------
-Uh, don't compare yourself to those nosy people, really? How can we sneakily put our country's proud leader Koo Dae-sung into the inclusive system for all people of the Earth?
Until now, most of the major powers of the TTG Temple, such as Han Ha-ri and Chun So-yeon, were Koreans.
As the youngest S-class Hunters, Han Ha-ri and Chun So-yeon were both promising talents in the TTG Temple, but the name 'Holy Knight' has too much meaning for them to be placed in the same class as 'Holy Knight'.
The existence of Holy Knights is well known on Earth.
They are the gods' representatives, the ones who are chosen by the gods in a generation--perhaps even beyond a generation, when no successor appears and they remain in place for hundreds of years.
Living saints who represent the gods and wield their power.
The name is revered even on Earth, and carries so much weight.
Such a Holy Knight, Earth's first Holy Knight, was born in Korea.
-Wow, what is that? Is that a holy law?
-That's a far cry from what the priests of the Goddess Demera in my state use.
-What's the difference between a Holy Knight and a simple priest?
-That's our Holy Knight.
-Jumo! Shoot him down!
When Koreans saw the video, they shouted "Jumo" all over the country.
As soon as the video was released, reporters from South Korea flocked to Koo Dae-sung to show off his national character.
"Mr. Koo Dae-sung, how did you become a Holy Knight?"
"How does it feel to be a Holy Knight?"
"What's going on with the hammer tour at the Naju TTG Temple?"
There was a baptism of questions from reporters.
Since they couldn't get to Leon, who didn't like being pestered by commoner reporters, all eyes were on Koo Dae-sung.
Koo Dae-sung walked by without realizing what he had answered.
[Holy Knight of Life and Abundance, Lord Koo Dae-sung, the lowest ranked ten thousand year D rank hunter!]
[Holy Knight Koo Dae-sung message to the younger generation].
[K-Holy Knight Koo Dae-sung, I grew up eating this!]
[K-Sacrament Knight's overwhelming success! Japan envies, Russia trembles, and the United States is stunned! The Lionhearted King K-Sacrament Knight is acknowledged, not rejected!]
"My, when will I------
Despite the fact that Koo Dae-sung's words were not even spoken, his popularity in Korea continues to grow without end.
-Kya~ Koo Dae-sung's surname is amazing.
-Look at him breaking the big demon pot.
-Koo Dae-sung is the G.O.A.T. of the hunter world.
"Hmph------"
"What are you looking at?"
"Ugh!"
Koo Dae-sung was laughing hysterically at the comments section of his battle video when he was suddenly startled by a voice behind him.
"D, Grand Duke of Dragonia!"
"Call me Grand Duke Karina. I don't want to get mixed up with the new god of the TTG Temple."
Karina gave the old man a strange look as he clutched his phone.
"By the way, you lack discipline. You're so distracted that you don't even notice when your back is being grabbed."
"Ah--- I'm sorry, sir."
"Don't apologize. You are a living saint, a representative of the Goddess Demera. Your status is in no way inferior to the real thing."
Karina yells at him to straighten his shoulders. As Leon's biological daughter and the Holy Knight of Ventasis, the god of darkness and death, and Dragonia, the god of gold and covenant, Karina was not easy to deal with.
In the modern world, it would be difficult to deal with a boss's biological daughter who is also his boss.
"By the way, what was that thing you saw a moment ago? Lord Ha-ri and all the other sages of this land are carrying that thin box of sin."
"Ah--you mean a smartphone?"
"Yes, that one. It's a marvelous thing that facilitates communication over long distances, but the young knights of this land have neglected their training to look at it."
"------"
Koo Dae-sung suddenly realized that Leon had said something similar.
"Tsk, tsk. How can young people spend all their time looking at something as small as a palm? When I was young, I would have used that time to swing my sword at least once more."
"Why are you so silent?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. His Majesty has said something similar."
"Hmm--- Indeed, his majesty finds the same problem as I do."
What a jerk, Koo Dae-sung couldn't help but think. I wonder if they are father and daughter in this respect.
'Sir Vulcanus and Queen Beatrice adapted right away.'
On the contrary, they're both popular influencers on social media, and he heard unrealistic stories of their posts being worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"By the way, Lord Koo Dae-sung. You've inherited Sir Georgic's hammer."
"Ah, yes."
"Let me see it."
At Karina's request, Koo Dae-sung lifted the hammer from his waistband.
The heavy one-handed hammer had an unusual aura about it, and it was the source of his power.
"His Majesty has heard that Lord Georgic will pass on all his power to the wielder of this hammer."
"Thanks to it--- I was able to become a Holy Knight, something I lacked in comparison to others."
At the old man's self-helpful tone, Karina smirked and patted him on the shoulder.
"Sir Georgic was a Holy Knight. He represents the will of the Goddess Demera, and his will is the will of the Goddess. You were chosen by such a legend, and who could doubt your qualifications?"
"Ah------"
Koo Dae-sung felt that what he had heard from Goddess Demera, he had heard from the Holy Knight of the Lionheart, and it seemed to drive a wedge into his qualifications.
Even a goddess and such a great knight don't doubt his qualifications, but only he has a sense of entitlement.
"Let's have a little competition."
"Yes?"
Koo Dae-sung reflexively raised his earth shield to block.
'Faster!'
If it weren't for his reflexes, which had entered the realm of the superhuman after his awakening as a Holy Knight, he wouldn't have even seen the stab.
Like a fencer, Karina put one arm behind her back and stabbed her sword with only one arm.
Koo Dae-sung blocked the series of stabs at lightning speed with his earth shield, but he soon realized that blocking wasn't his only skill.
-Thud!
"Crunch!"
The impact from the Earth Shield sent a tingling sensation down his arm and pushed his entire body back.
No matter how powerful a Holy Knight was, he never expected such a heavy blow at that speed.
'I've sparred with Your Majesty before, but you really paid attention to me!'
"------!?"
The earth shield that had been deflecting the onslaught grew in an instant, and its roots wrapped around Karina. Karina immediately drops her sword and backs away.
"The sword! I won't give it back!"
Koo Dae-sung completely envelops Karina's sword with his earth shield. Reading her armor, Karina would have to fight him with her bare hands.
"You don't understand the power of the Dark God."
"------?!"
Karina's magic sword, held by the earth shield, began to emit darkness. Just when he thought it was just a mist, the shield made a sound like something was being gnawed at.
"The shield!"
The earth shield that had engulfed Karina's blade was cut by the darkness it emitted, and it crumbled in an instant.
"Come."
And with a wave of her hand, the blade returned as its target vanished.
Karina resumed her assault on Koo Dae-sung with the returned blade.
The only difference this time was that her strikes cut through Koo Dae-sung's stellar iron armor and drove him back.
"If the holy sword of light is an evil-devouring classification, the dark magic sword is a blade that cuts through everything. Your shield and armor are no match for this absolute cutting power."
Koo Dae-sung, stunned by the chipping away of his armor, lunges with his hammer, swinging it wildly, but her fierce kick catches him in the leg, knocking him to the ground.
-Thud!
Karina stomps on Koo Dae-sung's chest and points her sword at him, a perfect defeat.
"So much for inexperience."
"Ugh------"
He didn't feel like he's being outclassed. It's not like Karina was giving it her all, but Koo Dae-sung wasn't giving it his all either.
But he can't believe the difference in fundamentals is so overwhelming.
"Well, don't feel too bad. You didn't really think you'd win, did you?"
"No------"
Karina realized from Koo Dae-sung's exasperated expression that he was quite sincere in his intentions to beat her.
"Indeed, no wonder his majesty is so pleased with you, you've got nerve."
If that was what it took to be chosen by the goddess and inherit the power of a Holy Knight, then Koo Dae-sung must have earned it.
"Alright, so what did you learn in the workshop just now?"
"That--- you were impatient?"
"What caused that?"
"I lost my shield--- my armor was cut off--- it seems."
The Earth Shield is not a shield that is strong enough to have absolute durability. However, as long as Koo Dae-sung breathes life into it, infinite regenerative power and special abilities bring ridiculous advantages.
When such a shield is cut down in an instant by the magic sword, and the armor blessed by Goddess Demera is torn to shreds like paper, he can't help but become frustrated.
"There it is. It's important to be properly armed and to create a vessel for your holy power, and since your current base is the armor of a kingdom knight, have Lord Spinner make you a proper suit of armor."
It shouldn't be hard to get the blessing back since he is the agent of the Goddess Demera's will. Blessing the finished armor is as natural as breathing.
"But your problem is not with the armor or the shield. It is with your handling of Sir Georgic's hammer."
"Hammer---?"
He's not used to it.
Originally, Koo Dae-sung was a sword wielder. One-handed swords and one-handed shields were the center of balance.
His shield was still there, but now that he was suddenly wielding a hammer, he was not used to it.
"It's not just a matter of skill, the externalization of holy power is meaningless in a fight between real powerhouses. In the Holy Knight class, the balance of internal and external energy is more important than the sheer power."
A knight is an all-around warrior who can take on giants, diminutive goblins, and even fellow humans.
Holy Knights are the pinnacle of warriors. They may have their specialties, but they are not lacking in 'all-rounders'.
"Before the demons appeared, we had thousands of years of warfare, and the beasts were at the opposite end of that struggle."
-Kaaaaaaaaaah!!!
It was then that great flames rose in the outskirts of Pyongyang.
"Lord Vulcanus?!"
What in the world could make Vulcanus use a powerful flame, even if it was a remnant of demons?
-Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
A dragon's roar rang out from a completely different direction than the flames. The roar of the Black Dragon, the first offspring of Dragonia, born from the World Tree, sounded different than before, as if it had lost some momentum.
An energy that could crush even a dragon? As far as Koo Dae-sung knew, there was only one such person in the world.
Aside from Koo Dae-sung bewilderment, Karina shouldered her sword and spoke.
"Holy Knights are always looking for their heirs. They teach and expect those who have proven their worth."
Expecting them to lead the next generation.
"Karina---Grand Duke."
"Take up the hammer, newcomer. There are fewer Holy Knights than there used to be, and after you, I'll need to train my stepmother candidate."
Karina resumed her murderous onslaught with a cheerful smile.