Chapter 129: Lionheart (2)
In the 63rd year of Leon Dragonia reign as King Lionheart. The Demon Lord of Chaos, Malus was summoned in the imperial capital.
Leon led eleven Holy Knights and Priests against the forces of Chaos, with the exception of Holy Knight Jerea of Dreams and Death, who was killed while escorting a holy convoy in King Leon’s 62nd year of reign.
King Leon defeated Malus, Lord of Chaos, after a war lasting from year 62 to year 66 of Leon’s reign along with 1.33 million Demon Legions of Chaos and 980,000 demonic followers from the Empire.
Manan, Holy Knight of the Sea and Waves, ascended.
Kilian, Holy Knight of Life and Fertility, ascended.
More than 10,000 Knight Errants, 14 Realm Knights and 270,000 warriors in the Kingdom Army died but the total deaths amounted to 22.7 million from both the Empire and the Kingdom.
In the winter during Year 66 of King Leon reign the second major invasion of the Demon Legion begins.
Carakael, Demon Lord of Wisdom and Exploration, Dothradon, Demon Lord of Pleasure and Corruption and Scarblood, Demon Lord of Slaughter and Destruction along with thirteen million demonic troops under their command and over five million demonic followers and beast-god pagans attacked.
The Empire was destroyed, the Elven forests burned, the Dwarven Mountains wiped out and the Eastern Sky Kingdom razed to the ground.
Lionheart Kingdom’s territory was devastated and King Leon, 85th year of reign the kingdom was doomed.
* * * *
The city of Manshinjian, where the Allied forces were stationed, was bustling with activity.
Soldiers were constantly on guard around the perimeter of the camp, while commoner light cavalry went out on scouting missions from time to time, signaling the Knights of the Realm where force was needed.
The priests used their holy arts to grow crops and make armor, and the refugees did whatever was needed.
Trenches were dug, fields were cultivated, and soldiers were trained.
After more than two decades of war against the demons, they were united in their efforts.
“The king has gone south to rejoin the remnants of his army. He should be back soon, so stand by.”
Holy Knight Gillingham temporarily assigned Beatrice and her companions to a military camp and left to find their own mission.
In the meantime, the others found their own work.
Beatrice sought out the Sages of the Forest to learn more about the seedlings of Gunnar, which was her original purpose, and Yappy began traveling around in his minimalist body to gather intelligence.
That left Ha-ri, Jae-hyuk, Soo-ho, and So-yeon.
The four knights were indecisive for a while before deciding to help with the military’s chores.
“You’re the Goddess of the Sea and Waves?”
“I’m also the Goddess of War and Flame!”
The soldier was surprised by Ha-ri’s words, and judging by her exotic attire, he assumed she was from one of the more remote corners of the kingdom.
“Then I would like you to go to the temple and take care of the worshippers.”
“Ah, old man, but I… I specialize in combat…….”
“Is that so? Well, the temple is not under our jurisdiction. You’ll have to speak to Priestess Isabelle or Mother Anak first.”
Ha-ri had nothing better to do, so she headed for the place the sergeant designated.
“Well, since he said temple…….”
Just like the name of the place, the location of the Great Hall of the Gods was in the very center of the city.
As Ha-ri approached the massive landmark, visible from every corner of the city, she was overwhelmed by the thousands of steps.
“Wow…when am I going to get up all this?”
If I’d known it would be like this, I would have taken a horse but if she did, she might be labeled as impious.
Apparently, the believers around her were also walking up.
-Phew! Phew!
How far did she get?
When she was about a third of the way up the sound of hooves approached and the carriage stopped in front of Ha-ri as she struggled up the stairs.
“Sister, why are you leaving your carriage and walking?”
“Ugh. What?”
The carriage ‘window’ opened to reveal the voice of a brunette nun.
Ha-ri was taken aback, not so much by the suddenness of the call as by the calm aura she exuded.
‘Wow, that’s a lot of power…comparable to His Majesty?’
The Holy Knights were powerful, but her holy power was comparable to the Lionheart King.
No, maybe even more. Of course, that was based on Earth’s Leon, but a being with such boundless holy power?
“I’m sorry to have surprised you, but if you don’t mind, would you like to come with me?”
“Thank you.”
A carriage…I’m supposed to ride in it?
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she could see a carriage rising toward the top of the temple so Ha-ri quickly climbed into the carriage.
“It’s a common misunderstanding among brothers who come to the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods for the first time. There’s a carriage for business, so you can use that from now on.”
“Thank you.”
Apparently there was a separate path for priests so Ha-ri inclined her head, and the other inclined her in return.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Anak Protezia, the lowly servant of Lady Arianna.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Ha-ri.”
“…….”
“……?”
Ah, Ha-ri interjected.
“I’m Lord Petos and Lord Poma new goddess.”
“Hmm?”
The woman, who identified herself as Anak, stared at Ha-ri in surprise.
“You must be unique to serve two gods at the same time.”
Anak was very interested in Ha-ri; she seemed to sense the two powerful gods in her and was amazed.
“But being a goddess of both Poma and Petos…that must be a lot of work for you.”
“Oh, you understand?”
Ha-ri was touched by Anak’s sympathy for her.
Petos, a ferocious warlord, pecks at her during the peaceful days, while Poma often inhabits the turtles in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods and harasses her.
Connecting with the gods is a strange and mysterious experience at first, but that’s the way it is.
“An acquaintance of mine is a devoted follower of both gods. Well, their personalities are compatible, so they don’t seem to have too much trouble…….”
“Getting along with those two, doesn’t that mean they must have a personality disorder?”
“Hmm…Depends on your point of view. When they captured a smuggling ship, they tied a female pirate to the bow…….”
“Ouch, I can’t believe there’s another human being like that in the world!”
“Even a shrine maiden?”
Ha-ri’s nod held a wordless regret.
As she talked to Anak, he realized that Anak was much greater than she thought.
Ha-ri has known people with inhuman charisma like Leon the Lionheart King and Beatrice the Magician Queen.
If Leon is the raw violence and authority of the sublime, Beatrice is the intensity and splendor of magic.
Both have an intense presence that befits their status as “king.”
Anak, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: a warm aura of infinite love.
She was not like a king, but benevolent like a religious sage.
Ha-ri’s suspicions were correct.
“Holy Mother, you have come.”
“The High Priestess?!”
Ha-ri realized that, aside from being correct, this woman was a figure of immense authority as she prostrated herself and cried out.
“I’m sorry, Your Holiness!”
Ha-ri’s tone stunned High Priestess Anak into silence for a moment. She huffed and laughed, then pulled her to her feet.
“Don’t do that, sister. We are equals before the gods.”
“Yes… er…His Majesty is…….”
Ha-ri stopped herself from inadvertently quoting Leon’s words and Anak tilted his head.
“You’ve met His Majesty before, were you a priestess of a fairly large temple? There was a priestess I didn’t recognize.”
“Oh, no, that was… coincidental, I remember His Majesty being…rank-conscious.”
“He is the Lionheart King.”
A being that transcends the ranks of human society.
In this world, the Lionhearted King is not just a human.
“How can a demigod in a human body be like a commoner like us?”
“I see.”
“By the way, it’s just as well, Sister. I can sense some powerful holy power in you, so may I ask you a favor?”
“Uh… if it’s something I can do.”
Ha-ri accepted Anak’s offer, even if it was frivolously.
* * * *
“High Priestess, you have come.”
“High Priestess.”
“High Priestess…….”
The priests of the temple bowed in greeting at Anak’s arrival.
‘Someone very high, indeed.’
As far as Ha-ri knew, the Lionheart King was the pinnacle of the pantheon then the Holy Knights and the Chief Priest were next in line.
She didn’t know much about saints, but if she’s called a saint, she’s probably on the same level as a holy knight or a priestess, or even higher.
“Where is High Priestess Isabel?”
“She is absorbing the energy of the moon.”
“I’m going to prepare for the ritual of the Great Blessing first, tell High Priestess Isabel to come down.”
“……!”
The priests turned bright red; they seemed to have deduced something from the High Priestess’s words.
“His Majesty is returning in triumph!”
“He must be mentally tired, having been bathed in the blood of the evil servants, so let’s hurry.”
His Majesty, that is, Leon, the Lionheart King of this time.
Ha-ri realized that even here, Leon had absolute support and adoration.
In fact, he was probably worshiped beyond compare to Earth.
“His Majesty Leon is…….”
Was this the King Leon she knew? They’d entered the gate together, but he’d disappeared, so maybe they’d gone their separate ways, like Jerea had.
But there was a high probability that it was an NPC that embodied Leon in this gate, and even knowing that, Ha-ri couldn’t help but feel excited.
‘I wonder what his Majesty was like in the past.’
-Kwalung!
It was raining.
Ha-ri was not surprised, as she had been warned that the thunderous downpour was intentional on the Holy Knight’s part, but──
“His Majesty the Lionheart King is entering!”
Inside the bustling temple a priest shouts out, and at the same time, a thunderbolt strikes, drowning out the sound.
In a world that shone brightly for a moment, a cold armor appeared.
“……!”
It was an unfamiliar form, even to Ha-ri. A brutal reality at odds with what she had imagined.
Black blood, sticky and unwashed by the torrential downpour, glistened in the visor of his helmet, shimmering in a stylized glow.
The armored knight steps through the pouring rain, his eyes cold as he enters the temple.
His Majesty Leon, the authoritative and cheerful Lord of the TTG Guild, is nowhere to be seen, only the blackened and bloody…Apostle of Death.
“Hmph…!”
She clasped her hands over the breath she was about to take.
Ha-ri knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help herself.
Her skin was crawling and her heart pounding at the sight of death in human form.
And it was the same for the common priests, none of them could speak.
“You’re murderous, Your Majesty.”
“”……!!!””
Everyone was stunned by the blasphemy. Who would dare to speak so lightly to such a demigod, let alone the Lionheart King they knew?
“Isabel.”
A dull voice from inside the visor and in the direction of the blue glow was a dark-haired priestess, dressed more openly than the others.
“High Priestess of the Moon…”
One of the priests took pains to point out the blasphemy, but the dark-haired High Priestess ignored it with a twist of her lips.
“I am the King’s executioner in life and Dinah’s first hunter in death, so what.”
The High Priestess of Dinah, goddess of the moon and chastity, continued to speak in the face of death, insisting that she was invincible.
“Your Majesty, don’t stand there weighing yourself down. The High Priestess is waiting for you.”
“I’m coming.”
But it seems to have worked as the ferocity in the Lionheart King’s armor faded, and he strode through the temple with a grunt, followed by the dark-haired priestess.
“Ah, those who will be participating in the Great Blessing Ceremony, please follow me.”
“…….”
Ha-ri wonders how many would dare to follow such a terrifying figure, but to his surprise, the priests follow him without question.
They had absolute trust that the Lionhearted King, king of the land and pinnacle of the temple, would never harm them.
Ha-ri hurried after Leon.
* * * *
The place where the Great Blessing ceremony was taking place was a huge bathhouse. A sacred space, to be precise, filled with holy water.
As soon as Ha-ri entered, she was overwhelmed by the holy power that filled the air.
“Welcome, Your Majesty. You’re back after 60 days.”
He is greeted by the High Priestess Anak, who is standing by with other priests.
“I hear you had Lord Loxley and Lord Gildus with you, how did it go?”
“Not much. We broke their forces by 300,000.”
“A victory, I’m sure everyone will be pleased.”
Leon responded cynically to Anak’s comment.
“A tactical victory in a localized war. It’s not like we’re going to be able to take back our lost kingdom.”
“Still, a victory is a victory. Take off your armor and let me clean you up.”
Leon complied and removed his helmet. The heat inside the armor instantly evaporated in a puff of smoke.
Inside the helmet, his face was covered in black stains.
The armor he removed with the help of the priests was even worse. As if he had walked through boiling lava, the black stains were burning the Lionheart King’s flesh in real time.
“Your Majesty…….”
The Great Priestess looked at him with pity but the Lionheart King dismissed it with a wave of his hand, saying it was nothing.
“I tore the Ugly Demon of Inquiry alive. His pain and screams are cursed, but he dare not harm me.”
“You look terribly ill, Your Majesty.”
“High Priestess Isabel…….”
Anak glared at her for disrespecting the king but Leon didn’t care.
“That’s it. The Moon Priestess’s disrespect is nothing new. Above all, the Goddess of Purity has a heavy burden to bear.”
“Heh, that’s true. Come on, step into the holy water so I can cleanse you.”
Leon took off his armor completely and dipped his black-stained body into the holy water.
The stains hissed and boiled.
It should have been painful, but Leon held on, waiting for the touch of the High Priestess and the Lunar Priestess.
“I will cleanse him, Priestess Isabel, and you, Priestess Han Ha-ri, come here.”
“What? Yes, yes!”
Ha-ri stepped into the submerged holy water with Isabel and stood before Leon.
It was not shame, but sadness that shone in Ha-ri’s eyes, even though reason was not in the picture.
She sympathizes with the fatigue he must be experiencing, having fought a battle she can’t imagine.
“These stains are the Archdemon…no, the Archduke.”
“I’ve never paid attention to the rank of the demons I’ve slain, but I’m pretty sure it was the Archduke of Wisdom or something.”
The curse that the Archduke of Wisdom left behind as he died was a curse that the three of them would have to cleanse from now on.
“Goddess Ha-ri, burn the stain with your divine flame and I will purify it with the power of light.”
“And I will bestow the blessing of purity on the least pure.”
Isabel giggled and brought her palm to the stain on Leon’s back. Isabel’s palm burned, but she didn’t care.
“Goddess of the moon and purity here is your chaste maiden or first hunter in prayer.”
Her holy power, which she had accumulated every night from the moment Leon left for the battlefield, poured forth at once.
To wield the power of the moon and the goddess of chastity, one must be a chaste virgin, and as for goddess of the hunt, there must be sufficient tribute to her.
“The destruction of an evil being, the antithesis of purity, must be greater than any prey.”
Isabel interjected, referring to Leon’s accomplishment.
“Thus, Thou who presides over the purity of the world, bless the greatest warrior in defense of thy virgins.”
Leon’s most stained parts were washed away. Taking holy water in both hands and pouring it over Leon’s head, Anak’s lips touch his forehead.
“Goddess of justice, light of the world, stronger in will than any other, share the pain of your first knight with this lowly body.”
Their consecration ceremony was so sacred that Ha-ri watched in awe, such was the power of the clergy at the height of Lionheart.
Neither Beatrice nor Yakt Spinner had the holiness that comes from true faith.
They were merely agents of the gods’ power but there was something about the two before her that truly connected them to the gods.
‘Can I…be like them?’
If she was the gods’ chosen one…Ha-ri might be able to burn this curse away with the power of Petos, the God of Gar and Fire.
‘Petos…….’
In the absence of Leon, who holds the pantheon, she wonders who receives her prayers here.
[……who, you]
The voice of the fierce war god she’s always heard was the same but the voice is filled with questions about Ha-ri.
However Ha-ri didn’t hesitate to draw upon the divine blessing and connection that had been bestowed upon her as an intense flame erupts, and it burns away the stain that clings to Leon.
“Okay, okay…?!”
Their gazes met and the blue eyes stared at Ha-ri like a piercing light.
Ha-ri had been told it was impolite to stare at royalty, but she wasn’t sure what to do if Leon was staring at her.
“Who are you──?”
Leon’s question was directed at Ha-ri when a commotion erupted outside.
“Your Excellency! No!”
“We’re in the middle of a mass!”
Someone rushed through the clamoring priests and into the consecration ceremony.
It was a woman of intense black color.
Hair as black as ebony, eyes as blue as aquamarine. She was an intense woman who looked more at home in her current bloody uniform than her dress.
“Karina, how may I help you?”
The woman called Karina strode unhurriedly toward Leon, who was bathed in holy water, and bowed in salute.
“Congratulations on your victory, Your Majesty Lionheart.”
“……Yes, Archduke of Dragonia. What brings you here?”
Grand Duchess Karina Dragonia, heir to the current Lionheart King, Leon Dragonia Lionheart.
She turned to her father and spoke with an extremely businesslike gaze.
“We, the Northern Army, declare our withdrawal from the Alliance effective immediately.”
