Chapter 56: How strong is a Holy Knight?
The wanton violence in the name of testing was over.
The training grounds were shattered and the sight of the craters sent a shiver down the spine of Koo Dae-sung and the Hunters.
‘Even the cavalry charge in training wasn’t at full strength.’
‘He let us see this intentionally.’
‘How strong is this guy?’
Leon sorted the 44 cadets into 3 groups, though they were not as evenly distributed as the soldiers.
There were only Han Ha-ri and Han Soo-ho, plus Kim Jae-hyuk and Chen So-yeon, in Group 1, and thirteen in Group 2. The remaining twenty-seven were categorized as Group 3.
“Group 1 will be treated as trainee knights. You are not official knights, but you have shown enough promise to advance to that level, depending on your training.”
In short, they were talented….but the other cadets looked disgruntled.
“You mean…we’re not talented?”
“Well, I’m the same grade B-rank in the official assessment and If I train a little more I can reach A-rank…!”
“Shut up, you’re not even at the level of a squire. To say that you’ve been systematically training for more than five years and you’re only at the seed level… I’m speechless.”
The cadets clamped their mouths shut at Leon’s words. What in the world is a squire, and how could he demean them, the elite Hunters of Korea?
“However, if you train diligently under this king for three months, you should be able to make some progress. I can see buds by the second. But…….”
Leon’s gaze drifts to group 3, where most of the cadets were placed.
“You have a long way to go.”
Leon said no more, but sighed softly and sat back in his seat.
“The training of a soldier is simple: constantly overloading the body.”
Bones break, fuse, and become harder, muscles tear, regenerate, and become denser.
“What about the heart and lungs? Are long-distance runners born with them? Repeating the same actions and pushing their limits. It’s a very basic discipline.”
It’s a training regimen common to the Hunters of the Ten Thousand Gods. Leon’s four weeks of compressed training overturned the limits of the D-rank hunters.
“But knights are different. I will raise you to be knights. One of you will be a Kingdom Knight… the rest of you will have to advance by at least one rank.”
“I don’t understand the criteria, Your Majesty.”
Chen So-yeon raised her hand. She knew what the word “knight” meant but didn’t understand how Leon classified knights.
“Hmm, in the Lionheart Kingdom, there are five levels of knighthood.”
First, there was the Knight Errant, a wandering knight who has never been formally knighted. These wandering knights must travel throughout the kingdom to prove themselves and earn their lord’s appointment.
For this reason, no knight will address a wandering knight as “Sir”.
“Knights of the Realm (Kingdom Knights) are knights who have proven themselves and received an official title. They are eligible for membership in the Knight Orders, and become the direct subordinates of a War Knight.”
“The War Knights are next?”
Leon shook his head at Soo-ho’s question.
“War Knight is a title. A commander, if you will. Next are the Quest Knights.”
“Quest Knights?”
“They are wanderers who leave everything behind to fulfill the quests of the gods. They must be prepared to endure decades of wandering to fulfill their quest.”
“Ugh…….”
“Decades…….”
Leon was not disappointed to see that they were already fed up, for his own hardships as a knight had never been easy.
“I don’t expect you to walk the path. It’s too hard for young ones like you.”
“Your Majesty…were you also a Quest Knight?”
Ha-ri had heard Leon talk about being a Quest Knight or a Holy Knight many times before, so he must have traveled the path as well.
“That’s right. This king fulfilled the quest of Arianna, the goddess of light and justice, through the Path. Thus, he became a Holy Knight.”
“Holy Knight…….”
“Huh? I thought I heard a story on Youtube about Yakt Spinner being a Holy Knight?”
“Guess so?”
The cadets discuss the story of Yappy’s edited YouTube videos. It’s only teenage exuberance that quickly becomes a hustle and bustle.
“Quiet!”
The cadets are silenced.
“This king’s purpose is to raise you to the level of Kingdom Knights. After that, your path is at the mercy of your faith and the gods.”
Leon continued to introduce the cadets to the gods of the pantheon and let them choose which deity they wished to worship.
However, they were asked to make offerings to two deities that have domains in common, as knights are required to serve both.
“Arianna, the goddess of light and justice, and Petos, the god of war and fire, are the virtues that knights must serve.”
Kim Jae-hyuk scratched his head and asked, “So there are two places to pay tribute?”
“Your Majesty, the god of war and flame is pretty self-explanatory, but what about light and justice? I’m just curious.”
“Because no matter how victorious one is in war, if the victory is not just, it is nothing but evil.”
“Oh…….”
So that’s why, Kim Jae-hyuk was quickly convinced. As Leon was finishing his explanation, Han Soo-ho suddenly raised his hand in question.
“Your Majesty, isn’t there still a fifth one left?”
“I see. I thought you didn’t need to know, but I should explain.”
No need to know? It’s as if he’s saying it’s a place they’ll never reach, no matter what.
“Grail Guardian is a title given to only one Holy Knight after he receives the Lionheart. To claim it…means to challenge this king’s kingship.”
The cadets swallowed hard at Leon’s declaration.
“It’s not all about strength, but this is probably the only time you’ll be able to challenge this king. This king’s power is weakened from what it once was, and my strength is comparable to that of a Holy Knight.”
“What?”
It’s…weakened? How strong are the Holy Knights?
“No, Your Majesty, how strong is a Holy Knight then?”
“Hmm…….”
Leon thought about what to use as an example. He had the Holy Knight, Lord Yappy, in front of him but right now, he was weakened.
Even the Yakt Spinner he saw at the gate was at the bottom of the pack by Holy Knight standards.
“The strength of a Holy Knight…….”
Leon began to impart the lessons of the Holy Knights in a way that the modern Earthlings could easily understand.
* * * *
Give sixty lives.
Yong-wan realized that this Knight had no intention of letting them live from the start.
“What are you waiting for, why don’t you just stick your neck out?”
“Haha… Fuck, that doesn’t even make sense.”
“Hmm… I don’t know, but that’s an insult.”
The Majestic Georgic raised his hammer, a one-handed hammer the size of a man’s torso.
“You have harmed the soldiers and knights of the kingdom so you shall receive the punishment you deserve.”
In full battle stance Yong-wan chuckled, despite the tension of already facing the Field Boss.
“I can’t help it, I’ll die here.”
At that moment behind Georgic’s back a transparent figure took shape. Her identity was Ha Yuri, an S-class Hunter of the Firebird Guild who used her Unique Skill Absolute Invisibility.
There are many stealth skills that blend into the darkness, but this one specializes in assassination by making the body itself invisible in broad daylight, blocking all sight, smell, and touch.
Once she has her foe’s back, the assassin is relentless and her eyes glow as she scans Georgic. To be precise, it was a skill that finds the weakest spot in the flesh of humans, monsters, and demons alike. But──
‘What’s that, weaknesses all over the body?’
She froze at the skill’s incomprehensible report, but her ambush position was perfect so she aimed for the gap in his armor, the only empty spot on his back, and stabbed her dagger into it.
-Bang!
“Huh?”
It was a sound that could not have been the sound of a dagger piercing human skin. It felt as if she had stabbed a polished alloy.
“What kind of human skin…!”
At that moment, the shield wielded by Georgic slammed into Ha Yuri. She took a defensive stance, but the force of the impact was enough to make her dizzy.
“Ugh…!”
Ha Yuri barely regains her footing after being thrown around.
“Yuri, are you okay!”
“Healers…!”
At the same time as Yong-wan’s words, the healers behind the raiding party began to heal Ha Yuri and only after the three healers unleashed their magic power did her injured arm finally recover.
“Hmm… a sneak attack. This level of stealth would impress the desert assassins.”
Georgic raises his hammer, his face in full battle stance.
“But a lowly assassin dares to attack a knight of the gods. That alone is a mortal sin.”
“Miss Yuri, you sure you ‘stabbed’ him?”
“His skin is like steel, but…I did dig in.”
At that, Yong-wan chuckled.
This was the poisonous fang of Ha Yuri’s Legendary Dagger Galsa.
The moment it pierces the skin, it injects the highest level of poison. The poison is so severe that even large monsters would die from the poisoning.
“Well, the Red Gate’s Field Boss won’t die from this…but it’s still a significant debuff…”
“Hahahahahahaha…!”
His maniacal laughter stopped just as the eardrums of the raid hunters were about to burst.
“What kind of barbarians are you, to think that you can harm me, Georgic, protected by the Goddess of Life and Fertility, with poison!”
Georgic shouts as if he is unaffected by the poison.
“Prepare for battle, loyal soldiers of the realm! I, the Majestic Georgic, by the protection of the Goddess, am with you!”
“Georgic! Georgic!”
“”The Majestic Georgic!””
[System Message: Majestic Georgic buff is triggered]
-【Blessing of the Warnight】, 【Blessing of the Living Saints】, 【Blessing of Life and Abundance】────
With thunderous cheers, the soldiers march forward and Dalion, an Errant Knight, also charged on horseback.
There are only about 40 of them charging against over 150 attackers. What an ignorant and irrational act.
But the outcome was different.
-Boom!
First, the tanker that was trying to block the charge of Dalion Emchain was knocked out by the blow. The main tank, an A-rank hunter, of the raiding party was unable to block the mounted charge and was knocked to the ground.
“What!?”
“Damn it!”
The raiders rained down ranged damage on Dalion and his soldiers, including the S-class Hunter Lee Yong-wan archers and a handful of mage-powered magic bombardments. But──
“How can you harm this army I lead, with cowardly ranged weapons?”
[Holy Law <Ranged Nullification> is triggered]
-Weakens ranged attacks by 90% against all troops of Majestic Georgic.
“What?!”
“What the fuck is that fraudulent skill?!”
The reduced damage of the ranged attacks didn’t do much harm but,
“Is anyone hurt?”
Aside from Georgic’s questioning, wounds begin to heal on the soldiers who had been hit by the magical bombardment in their dense formation.
“The damage has plummeted, and they’re recovering?”
“What the…!”
The raiding party realizes that they’re facing less than half of the Kingdom’s forces, and things have changed dramatically.
First, they couldn’t deal damage. Even as the dealers attacked the soldiers with their unique skills, their skin grew tougher and their armor became horrifyingly hard.
It was an unreasonable defense, as if each soldier was a medium-sized monster. Little did they know, it was a blessing from the Goddess of Life and Abundance.
“Shit, it’s the boss! The boss did something!”
Lee Yong-wan, the main leader of the Alliance raiding party, quickly realized what had happened. The cause of the Kingdom’s army becoming abnormally powerful was undoubtedly the influence of Field Boss Georgic.
“Golden Chul, Hwang Yeon-ha and Yuri Yang take the main fighters to attack the boss. Tanker 1, Park Chan-soo, you will surround the Kingdom army and diligently mow them down!”
“Understood, Guild Leader!”
Golden Chul and Hwang Yeon-ha, who were clearly outnumbered even for a coalition, followed the instructions since they were actually reasonable. But reasonable wasn’t always wise.
Yong-Wan fired his bow to keep Georgic at bay, but the ranged weapon couldn’t do any real damage to him.
“Hmm?”
There is damage.
Georgic looks puzzled at the pain he feels, and at that moment, the golden Chul two-handed hammer is swung.
A loud thud strikes the shield and the impact through the shield must have been considerable, but he didn’t even flinch.
“Hmph, good power.”
“Ooo….”
Feeling threatened by a one-handed hammer the size of his own two-handed hammer, Golden Chul jerked back.
The hammer smashed into his iconic golden armor, causing the compressed air to dent the ground.
Meanwhile, the assassin Ha Yuri and Huang Yeon-ha had gotten behind Georgic’s back.
Ha Yuri, the fastest member of the raiding party, targets a gap in the armor with her dagger and dodges a hammer strike, giving Hwang Yeon-ha time to prepare her attack.
-Kaaaaaaaah!
Her unique gauntlets, which boasted 65% armor penetration, slammed into Georgic’s side with all her might.
“Kkkk…! Not bad, bitch!”
For the first time, she can hear Georgic’s booming laughter.
“You’re dirty tough, maniac!”
Despite the onslaught of the four S-rank Hunters, Georgic didn’t back down in the slightest. In fact, he was steadily advancing and pummeling the squad of Hunters.
“Crack!”
“Crazy…How does an A-rank tanker get knocked out in one hit?!”
Even if it was a Field Boss, could a single human-sized entity be this strong?
Wasn’t the nation’s highest ranked raiding team, which had hunted countless boss monsters, powerless?
“Damn it, my ranged attacks are being halved, it’s like I don’t even do half of my usual damage!”
“Dealers, do something! The tanks can’t hold out!”
“What are we supposed to do?”
What a difference a single knight could make.
Lee Yong-wan shivered and took off his glasses.
“Damn it, Miss Yuri, you…!”
“……You said I wouldn’t use it because it’s expensive.”
“Kids are dying, it’s not about money!”
As if she had been waiting for this, Yuri pulled something out of her bosom.
It was a scroll and tearing it open, the war hammer that was about to be swung at Golden Chul was ‘bound’ in midair.
“Oh…! You almost got me! What was that?!”
“Hmph?”
Georgic looked at the ring-shaped shackles restraining his arms.
“Magic,” he said, “and quite powerful, high level magic at that.”
“Is that all?”
Yong-wan and Ha Yuri approached as Yong-wan unfolded a scroll and Ha Yuri pulled out a second one.
It was the most expensive guild item that could only be used by Vice Guild Leader Ha Yuri and Guild Leader Lee Yong-wan.
“The highest level of sealing magic that binds even hydras. There’s…….”
The second scroll was torn and at that moment, a huge magic circle unfolded beneath Georgic.
“Are this…some kind of magic coordinates?”
“You ignorant knight can’t recognize it! This is a 2 billion Flame Burst Scroll that I bought at the Magic Tower, and I’m going to roast your armor to a crisp!”
It was a deadly combo of two 800 million Binding Scrolls and a 2 billion Flame Burst!
Burning 3.6 billion in an instant made Yong-wan’s eyes water, but he thought it was a small price to pay to be able to kill such a monster.
“It’s definitely powerful magic.”
Despite being bound by the binding magic, Georgic managed to wiggle his limbs.
“Is it possible for him to break free?”
“Is that possible?!”
“Ha, ha, ha… don’t worry too much, you won’t be able to break free until the casting is over anyway, right?”
“Break free? Why would I want to?”
“What?”
Georgic raises his hammer and an intangible energy swarms around it.
The Hunters, wondering what the hell they were doing, grew weary of the sight as it slowly consumed the air around them. And then──
Boom.
The gigantic hammer strikes the ground…no, the ground.
The crushed earth caused an earthquake that was so destructive that it was hard to stand.
“…….”
“…….”
The Hunters, in their dazed state, tried to comprehend the phenomenon before them, but they couldn’t, their common sense refusing to acknowledge the reality before them.
Of course, the S-class Hunters boasted that a single punch or slash could cut through armor.
Many of their unique skills boast ridiculous cutting power or cause destruction and mages who are known for their firepower can be considered human artillery but not on this level.
The crater looks like a bomb went off and nothing was left untouched by the shockwave.
The ground was just torn apart as that single strike had changed the landscape.
Is this…is this what human power can do?
How can this absurdity, this destruction, be allowed by one man?
How in the world did God give one man this kind of power?
“What the hell is this…….”
Yong-wan stared dumbfounded at the ground where Georgic stood, seeking pointless confirmation from Ha Yuri, with whom he had torn the scroll.
“Ma, what about the magic?”
“Canceled…never mind, just hammered.”
“Canceled? Magic…can be canceled?”
“That’s right, magic is only triggered when the magic circle is intact after all, so don’t ask me…!”
The martial power displayed by the Field Boss of Jeju Island Gate, Holy Knight Majestic Georgic, was far beyond their common sense.
