Chapter 160: Temporary Break
The massive gate outbreak that swept across the country was put to rest by Leon’s return.
Leon and Beatrice, who are unofficially classified as “out of spec” beyond being S-class hunters, and Vulcanus and his 50 knights, who are smashing through the gates at lightning speed.
-Wow, what the hell is that?
-The Holy Knights.
-They smashed the red gate dungeon brakes and cleared three orange gates in one day.
-There’s no other group of monsters like them in the world.
It’s like a hundred S-class Hunters have formed a super party…….
Their strength was beyond imagination. Usually, A-ranked raiders spend a week raiding and clearing an orange gate.
The Red Gate required an S-grade raid team with two S-grade Hunters and 50 veteran A-grade hunters.
But they just had overwhelming firepower and tactical ability…….
-Holy Knight Vulcanus is a total badass, isn’t he?
-A-class Field Boss is a one-shot kill. Crazy.
-It’s an out-of-the-ordinary skill that connects the Lionheart King, Magician Queen, and Yakt Spinner.
-They all belong to the TTG Temple.
-Lol
Vulcanus, Holy Knight of War and Flame, a survivor of the same world as Leon, certainly made his presence felt as he slaughtered the monsters that jumped out of the dungeon break.
“Awesome.”
Takeda, the head of Japan’s New Hunter Association, was at the scene of the Red Gate Dungeon Break.
Three Red Gates were summoned at the same time, an unprecedented event. The gates had been summoned from all over the country, and the hunters had been mobilized.
He managed to close one of the three, but failed to close the other two, forcing him to prepare for a dungeon break.
Having lost many S-class Hunters to the murderous Archduke Akasha, Japan was in need of foreign assistance, and turned to the TTG Temple, bound together by the bonds of the same faith……..
[Your Majesty, we need reinforcements.]
Takeda explained his country’s desperate situation. He frankly reported that three S-class Hunters had been wounded in the failed assault on the gate, and that their available power had become very low.
[I’m not your fixer, what you can fix yourself, fix yourself.]
[Your Majesty…….]
Leon believed that Japan still had time to spare. Sure, it would be a lot of work, but they could handle the Dungeon Break, even with the damage.
Over-involvement in other countries was not a good thing, and above all, the Lionheart King trained his knights and soldiers harshly.
He is a spiritualist who believes that people can only become stronger through trials and challenges.
Therefore, he had no intention of sending reinforcements to the Japanese Dungeon Break…until Takeda complained in a weak voice.
[The boss monster of the Demon Gate is an Archdemon──]
-Thump, thump, thump!
[Your Majesty?]
Two hours later, Leon and Vulcanus arrived on a Korean military transport plane along with the Flaming Sword Knights.
“Demon spawn are in this land?”
“Where are they, I’ll twist their heads off!”
Chairman Takeda and Japan’s Prime Minister Fujisawa struggled to get the knights, who ran like angry horses, to the gate where the dungeon brakes would burst open.
And the slaughter began.
“I saw it with my own eyes, but I still don’t believe it.”
“It was on the scale of a major raiding party…….”
Other hunters, as well as staff from the Japan Hunter Association who were analyzing the battle, seemed shocked by the strength of the Burning Sword Knights.
“Their equipment is also incredible, and the appraisers say they’re outfitted with Legendary and above.”
“That’s Yappy’s stellar armor.”
Takeda had invested a lot of money in Yappy’s star iron factory.
From what he heard, every Knight of the Ten Thousand Gods is issued a pair of god-blessed Star Iron Armor.
“Those armor are supposed to be the originals. How much do you think they’re worth in terms of measurement?”
“Legendary. They say each one is worth a year’s budget for a small town.”
“That’s out of this world. Isn’t there a lot of inflation?”
“That, too, but good equipment is no more amazing than combat power.”
The staffer seemed at a loss for words as he read the power analysis file of the Burning Sword Knights.
“Every single one of them is at least quasi-S-class, and a dozen of them are above S-class average. And that’s just based on individual strength. If we move on to group combat evaluation, the S-class raiders won’t even compare.”
“Crazy.”
‘What kind of monstrous group was the Lionheart Kingdom?’
Even though they fought together, there were at least five people in the Burning Sword Knights who were stronger than him, the top S-class hunter in Japan.
Among them, Count Laihar Dever, who was ranked third in the order, could easily take on two S-class Hunters.
“Among such monsters, the pinnacle is the Holy Knight and Grail Guardian.”
“Monsters….”
Takeda shrugged at his subordinate’s point.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”
“I’m aware of that, but the number of worshippers of the TTG Temple has increased significantly recently.”
Japan may have been united with Korea, but it had the monumental distinction of being the first country in the world to defeat a demon Archduke.
After the Wandering Demon Sword was revealed to be the Demon Archduke Akasha, and those who had witnessed Leon’s real-time demonstration of power were as likely to believe in the TTG Temple as anyone else.
In Japan, where there was no main religion to speak of, there was no faith to abandon, and the number of believers has already surpassed Korea’s and is approaching one million.
This is an unprecedented rate of growth in history, considering that TTG Temple is an emerging religion that has only been on the planet for a little over half a year.
‘I hear it’s also hot in the Americas and Europe.’
The world is revolving around TTG Temple and after witnessing the recent events of the Gate and the power of the Archdemon class, Takeda was convinced that without them, the world would quickly collapse.
“Let’s pledge our allegiance.”
“Agreed.”
He heard that many Hunters have recently become devoted to the TTG Temple, so he thinks they should send their hunters there for religious training.
* * * *
The third day after Leon’s return with Vulcanus.
Vulcanus and the Knights had successfully defeated the last assigned Dungeon Break, and were resting on the Mountain of Corpses.
“Lord Laihar, there’s a living one over there.”
-Ah, no…!
“What’s wrong, you stupid green beast?”
The last dungeon break was the Orc Gate. As with the Demon Gate, the knights slaughtered the orcs thoroughly.
“Your Majesty, all two thousand of the beasts have been exterminated!”
Vulcanus reported to Leon without even removing his heat-soaked armor and Leon offered him a piece of jerky from the mountain of corpses.
“Hmm…!”
Vulcanus removed his red, horned helmet and revealed inside was a middle-aged man with a feral look.
“It tastes good, but I don’t feel Goddess Demera’s favor.”
“That is because our crops have not produced enough to feed the livestock farms. We have enough vegetables and grains, but not meat.”
“Certainly. Holy power is lacking.”
Vulcanus raised his hand and summoned a spark of holy power. A dizzying pillar of fire rose from it.
Vulcanus shrugged his shoulders and cursed into the air.
“Mr. Petos, why aren’t you as good as you used to be?”
[You…!]
Petos immediately became enraged. The God of War and Flame spoke to his Holy Knight with a sharp accent.
[You’ve been so wasteful lately, releasing all the power you’ve accumulated like a dam bursting!]
As soon as he was freed from the ice, he wasted no time in unleashing his Divine Descent, but after three days of continuous battles, he ran out of energy and tore monsters apart with his bare hands.
Petos had seen this happen before, and naturally, his scolding was directed at Leon.
[Leon, my best war horseman, manage your men properly!]
When Leon responded with a shrug, Vulcanus spoke up.
“Mr. Petos, I am your best war horseman, am I not?”
[I have never had a warrior like you. All you know how to do is punch and smash. What kind of war horseman is he who leaves command and strategy to his subordinates?]
The Riders of War and Flame are all-around warriors who master tactics and are responsible for the firepower of their legions.
Vulcanus is a bit of a lopsided example, and would not be recognized as a Holy Knight if it weren’t for his ridiculous strength.
[At any rate, I should have stopped you when you said you were going to bring in a barbarian like that to edify him.
“Do not be too hard on him, Petos, for his vessels were coveted even by savage demigods.”
[…….]
Petos had nothing more to say. Yes, the barbarian who was about to be awakened as a vessel for an evil god was subdued by Leon and brought to the Temple of All Gods.
But Petos knew what Vulcanus had done since then, and he couldn’t just berate him.
“Lord Vulcanus, come here for a moment.”
“Yes…!”
Leon pulled a staff out of subspace as Vulcanus approached.
“What is it?”
Vulcanus glares at the unusual holy power emanating from the staff and Leon explains the staff’s history.
“It belonged to a prophet who refused to stop fighting, even in a land of evil. It was given to this king by a priest who served the gods of another dimension.”
“Oh…such a connection.”
Leon handed the staff to Vulcanus.
“From what I can tell, the staff has the ability to absorb and store holy power, similar to the Lionheart.”
“It doesn’t seem like much of an artifact, sir.”
“Perhaps not, but it can absorb accumulated holy power. Offer it to the God of War.”
In short, Vulcanus was consuming too much power, so the power of the other gods would be stored in the staff, and Vulcanus would make a sacrifice to Petos to offset his power consumption.
Taking Gob’s staff from Leon, Vulcanus chuckled and raised it.
“Old man, here goes the staff.”
[This guy.]
Feeling like a crippled old man with a cane, Petos snatched it from Vulcanus’ hand.
[You blasphemous thing, you’re going to pay big time one day.]
“GRARARARARA…!!”
In any case, the matter was settled. There was the Man-At-Arms force sent to defend the lands of the Demera faithful abroad, but that too would come to an end.
“But this, something about this reeks of evil.”
Beatrice and the demons are the only ones who can use the gate at the moment, so this massive gate breach must have served some purpose.
“We are returning. First, I must serve a feast to Lord Spinner and his men.”
“Oh~, the mechanical Holy Knight your majesty has spoken so highly of, the successor to Lord Antoch, I would like to see his face once.”
“I’m sure you’ll like him.”
Autumn.
The gate crisis that had engulfed not only Korea, but the entire world, was coming to an end.
* * * *
Since arriving on Earth as a survivor, Beatrice had been steadily exposed to modern culture to familiarize herself with Earth’s civilization.
Smartphones and PCs are one thing, but newspapers are her favorite.
It’s something she used in her kingdom, and it’s easier to read about current events than sensationalized internet news.
“What a mess.”
She had been reading through the daily papers that had accumulated in her absence, but most of them were focused on the worldwide Gate crisis.
A red gate in the middle of Paris, France, or a small town hit by a dungeon break and a coastline polluted after a failed attempt to capture the Dragon Palace Gate.
The world is reeling from the gate invasion, not all countries, of course.
“Taiwan has managed to defend itself.”
Island nations, small land masses, and dense populations have been more successful in dealing with Gates.
“It’s the whole continent that’s the most problematic. There’s a growing number of Demera worshipers in this part of the Granary, and we’ll have to pay more attention.
Yappy had already dispatched a force of Man-At-Arms to control the damage but it wouldn’t be enough.
Moving the Burning Sword Knights would make things much easier, but that’s risky as it is.
‘The continent is full of orcs…….’
When two factions meet, they are bound to clash. Leon alone could tell.
There are still some orc survivors in Korea and seeing them, Leon didn’t go all out with his sword, but he did show his displeasure.
The beasts are staining his eyes.
If Sir Vulcanus and his knights encounter even an orc on the continent it’s very predictable how they will behave.
[Taiwanese cabinet suspected of orgy party.]
“Hmm?”
A single line of the article suddenly caught her eye. It was not a rare occurrence.
Drugs, sex, and parties. Promiscuous and decadent culture in high places is common in any country, in any world.
Beatrice was a queen who was beyond repulsed by such things, but if it were just a scandal, she would have let it slide, however the problem is the key players in the scandal.
The CEO of a big business, the minister in charge of defense, and the children of key cabinet members.
It was a scandal involving people who, while controversial, could use their power to sway public opinion.
It was all too familiar, when suddenly, she noticed a symbol at the party that a reporter had photographed.
“The coat of arms of……?”
It was the coat of arms of the fallen Archduke who turned the kingdom of Spero upside down.
Beatrice, who had casually uttered the name of the sinister demonic archduke who had tainted the royal family, corrupted the nobility, and ultimately brought the kingdom to its knees, suddenly realized that her surroundings had gone pitch black.
“You can’t be…!”
Names have power.
Calling a demon by its true name is a way to connect with them.
By spreading their name, demons gain contractors. Hence──
[There you are]
“You…!”
In the inky darkness, the demon connected to Beatrice greeted her.
[Magician Queen.]
