Chapter 40: The Demon Slayer
The chancellor’s head spun three times, it was instant death. Plus his arm was torn off.
“…….”
“…….”
The reactions are slow and in the face of an emergency that far exceeds their common sense, they freeze.
“What did you do…….?”
Someone said and at the same time, the soldiers pointed their spears.
“You!”
Leon remained calm in the face of the immediate danger. He didn’t stop at turning the chancellor’s head and ripping out his arm, but kicked him in the knee where he hadn’t yet fallen.
“You, you…!”
“How long are you going to hide your identity, filthy fiend, do you really think you can hide from this Lionheart King’s eyesight?”
The shivering corpse stirred, then peeled back its skin to reveal a hideous, haggard creature.
-Kiiiiii…!
After shedding its human skin, the creature’s head resembled a wart, and its scythe-like arms flailed about.
It was an arm that had been hastily regenerated thanks to Leon’s earlier removal.
“A demon?”
It was then that the dozens of soldiers and nobles who had gathered in the realm had shed their outer shells, revealing their hideous forms.
“Huh…!”
“Demons!”
The non-demons were horrified by the sudden appearance of the demons. If they were slow to react, they would be wiped out.
“Don’t flounder, you lowly things!”
The Lionhearted King’s furious yell was deafening to the soldiers and demons alike.
“Unite! Fight as one!”
At Leon’s words, the soldiers rushed to unite while the nobles and bureaucrats retreated behind him in a huff.
“Kieh-eh-eh-eh!”
A demon whose eardrums burst at the holy roar rushed forward, swinging a blade-like arm, but the blade was caught by Leon’s arm.
“Chiiii?”
The demon struggles with the unmoving arm but Leon pulls harder and harder, and the arm is ripped off in a pool of green blood.
“Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
The demon’s howl of agony didn’t last a second as the holy sword had decapitated it.
As Leon cut the demon’s throat in one swift motion, Chief Kim Jin-soo shouted.
“Raise your shield!”
Unlike Leon, who could summon his holy sword, they entered the throne room unarmed. Instead, they tried to pick up the dead soldier’s weapons and armor.
“Kie-e-e-e!”
It was then that a mantis demon attacked Team Leader Kim Do-han as he picked up a weapon but just as the sharp blade was about to cut into him, a flash of light pierced the demon’s throat.
“Thank…….”
It was not Leon who wielded the sword but an old man, the kingdom’s grand marshal, who wiped the blade clean of the demon’s green blood and barked out instructions.
“Demons have infiltrated the palace. Kill them all!”
Soldiers and knights joined in, and one by one, the demons were slain. But the demons didn’t just die.
-Kiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!
-Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!
A dense mist of black energy rose from the demons’ corpses, clinging to their skin and disturbing their minds.
-Ew! Hmph?!
-Ahhhh! My head, my head hurts…!
The soldiers scream in pain.
Chief Kim Jin-soo and Team Leader Kim Do-han also held their heads, shivering while Koo Dae-sung was the only one holding on in a cold sweat.
“The power of corruption. So, the demons at this gate are its minions.”
The demons, on the other hand, were unable to breach Leon’s mental barrier. His powerful ego and absolute faith in the divine are beyond their reach.
“Let me show you the grace of God.”
Leon took out the Holy Grail and splashed the holy water into the air, clearing the fog as divine grace took hold, and the evil was driven away.
“Ugh…….”
“What the…….”
What the non-demons could barely see was Leon with a gloriously brilliant holy sword and grail.
In a room full of evil spirits, he shone with more layers than anyone else and some fell to their knees and shed tears at his noble presence.
“Greetings, Hero.”
“You are a hero…….”
As they worshiped, Leon moved toward the Queen, who remained silent amid the commotion.
“Stop.”
The Grand Marshal stopped him with his sword pointed at him but Leon did not blame him.
“I understand your loyalty, but in this time of emergency, you shouldn’t put royalty first.”
“Only the Queen can judge my loyalty.”
“You have a point. But…….”
Leon snapped his fingers at the cool blade of the sword pointed at him.
-Bang!
Leon flicked the blade, and the blade bent under the enormous impact, causing the Grand Marshal to tremble as well.
The power of Leon was truly beyond human and he spoke to the Grand Marshal as he grabbed his trembling hand.
“I ask no questions, I make no judgments. It is the queen’s job to decide, and you know it too.”
“Pfft… Her Majesty is in a daze and cannot make a judgment. She has entrusted that power to the Chancellor… and now that he is dead, I, the Grand Marshal, have full authority.”
“Hmm…….”
Leon stared for a moment at the Queen beyond the tent, who remained silent. However, he was soon convinced that she was not a Fallen (beings who turn into demons) and spoke to the Warlord.
“There is already an aura of the Fallen in this castle, and we will have to clean it up quickly.”
“Are you sure of that?”
“A king does not speak falsehoods.”
“…….”
The warlord thought for a moment, then spoke cautiously.
“What do you want?”
“Command of the soldiers and the right to execute rogue servants. I will deal with your incompetence.”
The Great Marshal turned to face the queen for a moment and since the silhouette of the queen leaned against the throne was unresponsive the decision rested with him.
“……How?”
“Gather all the men of this city in the square.”
* * * *
Koo Dae-sung and Kim Jin-soo were dumbfounded as they watched the kingdom’s troops bend to Leon’s instructions.
“NPCs…were they always this cooperative?”
“In a theme like this, the Hunters aren’t even more than soldiers…….”
Although they were called NPCs for convenience, their intelligence and autonomy were no different from those of modern Earthlings.
If anything, they were more authoritarian and wary of outsiders.
Soldiers, bureaucrats, and nobles bobbed and weaved at Leon’s command.
“There’s something different about the king after all…….”
Natural charisma, a noble spirit and unquestioned authority.
Leon was royalty by birth and would act the same way anywhere. He’s used to being in charge and leading people.
“I thought about it a lot when he was feeding us sugar water, but……we should stay in the Ten Thousand Gods Guild.”
Koo Dae-sung nodded at Team Leader Kim Do-han’s words.
While the Hunters were talking, a large number of citizens gathered in the square. Tens of thousands of the city’s citizens, young and old alike, had gathered together.
Leon stepped to the podium.
“I am Leon Dragonia Lionheart, Lionheart King of the Lionheart Kingdom, authorized by the Grand Marshal of the Spero Kingdom.”
The crowd roared as the foreign knight introduced himself but Leon spoke quickly.
“There are those among you who are demon-possessed and corrupted, and they plan to riot from inside to match the invasion from outside.”
The citizens were agitated and confused by his words.
“But there is no need to worry. This king is an agent of the gods who has slaughtered countless demons and has a way of identifying the Fallen.”
“What way?”
“I’ll let him show you.”
Leon gestured and the soldiers blocked off the square and began stacking wood as the citizens grew anxious.
“What the hell are they doing?!”
Leon was not deterred by the commoners’ words and he pointed his glowing holy sword at the oiled lumber.
“God of war and flame, rain down your fire upon your warriors.”
Sparks flew from the holy sword. It was brief, but it was enough to ignite the oiled wood.
The timbers stacked in a circle spread in shovelfuls, creating a prison that enclosed the entire square.
“Now, those who are not evil, those who are not corrupt, those who are not heretics, prove your purity by throwing yourself into the flames!”
“……?”
The citizens were momentarily stunned by Leon’s booming announcement, and they weren’t the only ones. Even the soldiers in the circle were dumbfounded by Leon’s command.
-Kaaaaaaaah…!
The flames roared and gained momentum as they consumed the fiercely burning wood.
“You’re crazy!”
“He’s trying to kill us all!”
It was a natural reaction and even Koo Dae-sung and Kim Jin-soo must have been wondering, “Is he crazy?” at that moment.
Leon didn’t let the commoners’ outcry go unanswered.
“Will you shut up, you fools!?”
Leon’s words effectively silenced them.
“Demons infect and deceive people with their malice. If necessary, I will kill all of you to stop the spread of evil.”
Of course, no one would kill an entire city to kill a lurking demon but Leon was saying that he was capable of doing so.
“Pass through the divine flame and prove your purity. It’s simple.”
“Crazy…….”
“A madman. The Great Marshal has brought a madman.”
I frighteningly agree. Chief Kim swallowed hard.
“You always have to show the people in person. This king will have to do the hard work.”
Leon stormed down, grabbing the protesting citizen and the soldier blocking him by the scruff of the neck.
The two panicked, but Leon threw them into the flames.
-Crrrrrrrrrrr!
The screams of agony echoed horribly as it was burned alive.
“What?”
But there was someone walking out of the flames. It was a protesting citizen.
“What, you’re okay?”
“Then what was that scream?”
“Hey, look!”
The citizens’ eyes turned to the soldier who had been thrown.
A demon whose flesh had burned away, tearing at its shell and revealing its ugly true colors was there instead proving that the soldier was a Fallen.
“This sacred flame burns only evil beings. Give thanks to Petos, god of war and flame, and cross the flames chanting his name.”
With that realization, the citizens rushed through the flames.
One hesitated, but Leon approached him.
“Why aren’t you trying to walk through the fire?”
“What? It’s because…….”
“Are you a degenerate, a heretic, a sociopath, or do you wish to fall by the sword of this king?”
“Oh, no, I’m going right now!”
The citizen ran, panting and just then, a child approached Leon.
“Hehe, knight, I want you to buy flowers──”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was kicked and sent flying. The child’s body rolled across the ground again and again before bursting into flames.
“Your Majesty, what…!”
“Listen, you infiltrating evils! Your foul stench is too vibrant to disguise your purity.”
-Kie-E-E-E!
A miniature demon rising from the corpse of a child covered in blood and the small demon bared its hideous teeth──
A bolt from nowhere pierces the Small Demon’s forehead. Immediately, its evil energy is absorbed by Leon’s Holy Grail, which means it has been destroyed.
-Enemy defeated confirmed. Changing sniping point.
A minimalist spider knight moves between the buildings surrounding the square.
“I will punish you. I will tear your souls apart.”
Leon raises his sword, and from all sides, the Fallen tear off their shells and reveal their true colors. There were more than five hundred of them.
-Human bastards. How dare you speak without knowing……?
-You think you’re going to die a nice death──
“Demon themeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE──────!!!!”
-My ears! My ears! My ears!
Only the eardrums of demons burst from the roar of the divine lion that it’s activated only when a living demigod is truly enraged.
The noise was indeed three hundred decibels, over a hundred times the threshold to be categorized as a shockwave and no longer noise!
Of course, it was only for demons.
Leon’s teeth grinded together as an uncontrollable rage bubbled up inside him. He feels insulted by the maggots, who have been ‘hostile’ to him for so long.
“Scum…maggots…parasitic on human emotions…!”
The gnashing of teeth and the raspy voice are divine as the bodies of the demons near him were being disintegrated in real time.
“You dare to infiltrate the gaps between humans, weave your way through the ranks, and stand before me. You dare to stare at the Lionheart King, for you are not worthy.”
Leon shuddered, unable to control the shiver that ran through his body.
“Parasites walking around on two legs pretending to be humans? Forming packs? Pretending to be soldiers? Do you think I will allow this? You will die, screaming in agony. Your cries and despair will echo to the heavens.”
-Crazy Asshole.
-…I think we got the wrong one.
The Fallen shuddered, sensing that something had gone terribly wrong.
“Scream more, scream more, for that is the only way you will please this King!”
The battle in the square was over in less than an hour while Reynald Shelman and the Wisdom Gem watched from afar.
“Looks like planting……Fallen doesn’t work, Great One.”
[Ahhh…that bastard…that murderous bastard…….]
Reynald heartily agreed with the words.
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