Flying to America (2)

Are you a demon or a follower of the demons?

It's an argument the world's leaders have grown tired of hearing lately.

You had an affair, you're a demon, you took bribes, you're a demon, you made a bizarre ruling, you're a demon.

It's the second coming of the 21st century version of the Communist Party.

Of course, like the Cold War communists of the 20th century, there were times when they really got caught.

There is an urban legend that if people report suspected demons on the TTG Temple Demon Reporting Site, someone will thoroughly investigate and dispose of them.

Of course, for the heads of state running the intelligence agencies, this was not just an urban legend.

It's no secret that there have been gas explosions, particle weapon bombardments from outer space, and assassinations that have slipped through the cracks.

And every single one of those who have died in such a manner has been suspected of being a demon or a follower of the demons.

[Mr. Speaker, the former Director of the CIA was–was a demon follower, that's for sure.]

The director of the CIA during the Anthony administration was also found dead at some point, and the evidence that he was a demon follower was also unmistakable.

The U.S. government brushed it off, but they were very wary of the assassination capabilities of the TTG Temple.

Especially since these ignorant demon-haters in front of them were the kind of people who would burn UN employees at the stake if they were suspected of being demons.

So when Leon asked, "Are you a demon?" President Hobson could only imagine a grisly future.

"Uh, no."

After a moment of tongue-twisting embarrassment, Leon patted him on the shoulder and laughed.

"It's a harsh world. I never thought I'd see the day when those bastards would be wearing human skin and playing king."

"Uh, well——"

From the CIA reports, the end of Taiwanese President Chiang Kai-shek was a familiar one.

He was tied up and burned at the stake by his own citizens.

It would have been an international embarrassment if the medieval Lion King had hung him at the stake to see if he was a demon.

'We need to avoid that!'

President Hobson said in desperation while maintaining an awkward smile.

"I-I believe in God."

"Ah, a Christian, a good man who gave his only Son."

At that, President Hobson looked surprised. He had expected a fanatic who prioritized only the tenets of the pantheon, but this man was more tolerant of other religions than he realized.

Of course, if he was a zealot who only believed in his own god, he wouldn't have taken advice from Meriel, the Goddess of Fate.

"Haha, I'm not a lowly demon or a follower of the demons."

President Hobson tried to pass this off as a simple joke, but Leon was not having it.

"I'm going to pray to the God of War in honor of my meeting with the President of the United States, and I hope you'll be pleased to accept my blessing."

"What? No──"

Leon recited a prayer that ignited a great flame

It was no secret that the sacred flame of the war god Petos was a flame of annihilation, capable of consuming even the soul.

"Mr. President!"

The SPs panicked and drew their pistols, but the flames had already engulfed them.

-Aaaahhhh!

-Sudden flames!

The frightened crowd and cameramen backed away, but the president was not captured on film as he went up in flames.

President Anthony Hobson was not a demon or part of the demon followers, so he was unaffected by Petos' flames.

"Uh, uh—"

President Hobson was stunned to realize that he had just been set on fire while Leon chuckled and tapped me on the shoulder.

"How can you be so flustered, I was merely wishing you Godspeed."

"Ha, ha, ha——."

A chill ran down President Hobson's spine as he realized that if he had been a follower of the demons, Leon would have burned him to death on the spot.

He was thankful he was a devout Christian.

"Rude! How dare you draw a weapon in the king's presence!"

Lord Laihar bellowed at the SPs who drew their guns but Leon chided him.

"They are brave men who risk their lives to defend their king. Don't be too hard on them."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Risking their lives, which meant that Leon and the knights of the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods were in a position to kill them at any moment.

'That's a lot of confidence.'

A man who claimed to be favored by the gods and to be their representative was confident enough to go to war against the great nation of the United States.

If he were a follower of the demons and burned to death on this spot, what would have happened to the United States of America?

-Crack!

A horrific scream came from somewhere, and it came from the gathering of reporters.

"What!?"

"Demons!"

The sparks that Leon had ignited in his congratulations to President Hobson had spread everywhere, burning some of them, and their true forms had been revealed: they were demons.

"Well. Demons are everywhere, and they hide themselves so despicably."

"——"

As President Hobson stared at the dying demon or its followers, screaming the death knell of their souls, he thought to himself that he would never associate himself with a demon.

American mastermind Reynald Sherman, who was watching the encounter on TV, and the wisdom gem.

-I'm glad we didn't go——

"What a wise man——"

Master Reynald Sherman and the Archdemon of Wisdom, Gob, breathed a sigh of relief and survived another day!

* * * * *

[His Majesty, King Leon Dragonia Lionheart, makes a surprise visit to the United States]

[Largest security force ever mobilized. The Hobson Administration extends a hearty welcome to the Lionheart]

[Demon followers discovered at reception. Is America safe from demons?]

[TTG Temple and their allies in Korea visit the U.S. with the largest military force ever. No borders in the face of the Gate Crisis!]

[President Hobson's diplomatic achievements that emphasized the strengthening and cohesion of the U.S.-ROK alliance]

The articles leading up to Leon's visit were like a bombshell on the internet and TV news when he arrived.

While some criticized Leon's visit, saying it would undermine democracy and accelerate the expansion of cults, most welcomed him to the U.S. to attack the Black Gate.

-Waaaaaah! His Majesty the Lionhearted King!

-Look at this!

Leon was greeted with enthusiasm everywhere he went, but the reception in the United States was extraordinary.

Traffic was shut down for a parade through the city center on the road to the White House from Washington Dulles International Airport.

Leon and President Hobson rode together in the same vehicle, waving to the crowds as they made their way to the White House, stopping at famous restaurants and attractions in the heart of the nation's capital to take photos together.

"Whoa, aren't you tired, you've been visiting so much, but I think you've been doing too much politics."

Although they had made arrangements in advance, President Hobson was worried that Leon would be too intrusive.

There have been incidents of unruly behavior in the past, such as American TTG worshippers and children breaking through security lines.

The security force was the largest ever, but the enthusiastic response from American TTG worshippers was more than he could have imagined.

"It's okay. They don't get to see royalty very often, so it's natural for them to look up to them and want to be close to them."

President Hobson had met Queen Victoria, presidents and royalty from around the world, but never with such royal dignity.

The absolute monarch of an otherworldly monarchy and a party to a royal theocracy that proclaims itself to be king by divine authority.

Even the kings of the Middle East's theocracies are pseudo-royalty compared to Leon.

What's really scary is that this royalty truly represents the gods and is authorized by them.

'Certainly he is the antithesis of democracy.'

The U.S. government believed that Korea would be swallowed up by TTG Temple before long.

Their democracy is healthy, but the existence of the TTG Temple is a cheat in itself.

A demigod, protected by the gods, blessed by the gods.

Not only that, but as it turns out, you can't even be a bureaucrat, let alone a king, unless you're pure and clean.

A member of the Korean National Assembly was struck by lightning after professing to be a believer of TTG for his political performance.

For now, we can't antagonize TTG Temple because of the existence of demons, but when all is said and done, ——.

'Will mankind be able to antagonize the TTG Temple and Lionheart?'

As the President of the United States of America, the guardian of democracy, President Hobson could not help but be in anguish, for there was already an Otherworldly Goddess in the United States.

"President Hobson, where is the goddess Meriel?"

"She is waiting for you at the White House."

Not long ago, the U.S. government dispatched the Goddess Meriel herself to make a bold proposal to the TTG Temple.

And today, when the rise of the Black Gate prompted a call to the TTG Temple for assistance, it was an unofficial letter from Goddess Meriel that brought Leon to the table.

'What is it?'

President Hobson wondered, but for Leon to arrive in America and seek out Goddess Meriel like this, he could only assume that she had helped him.

President Hobson led him to a parlor in the White House. There, Leon saw the platinum-haired goddess waiting for him.

"Greetings, Goddess of Destiny."

Leon approached her and bent down on one knee. The Goddess Meriel was pleased to receive him and held out her hand.

"I hope you have been well, King Leon. It is good to see you again so soon."

Leon kissed the back of the goddess's hand and looked up.

"I am as well as ever, and I am glad to see that the Goddess is as well."

"I'm just grateful that you treat a god you don't believe in so well. May the gods of the TTG Temple be blessed by fate."

The gods of the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods also bowed to the gods of the other worlds. They felt a sense of identification and sympathy for the goddess of fate, who, like them, had lost her world and become a wanderer.

For while they had a great representative in Leon, the goddess Meriel had none, and was forced to sell her powers to mortals.

[But before that, I must clarify what you said in your letter: is it true what you wrote about the only daughter of my knight?]

Goddess Arianna has known of her knight's anguish for a very long time.

An event that left Leon with a debt of gratitude to the gods, an event that the gods could not fulfill after all his years of service to them.

Grand Duchess Karina Dragonia.

Her fate was mentioned by Meriel in her letter.

"Yes, I have read of King Leon's fate, and I could not intervene, but I could intervene in the fate of the one he would most desire."

[That would be Karina]

The Goddess of Fate is a fallen being. She escaped from her world and came to Earth after losing her believers.

Her rank is by no means low, but she is unable to intervene in the fate of beings with godhood.

"Karina Dragonia. She is in crisis."

"——!"

Leon's eyes widened. He had suspected that Karina might not be alive, but the goddess's testimony convinced him that she was, and he was worried that she was in trouble.

"Karina is—! Where is the child?"

[Calm down, my knight]

On a rare occasion when Leon became agitated, Arianna calmed him.

"Tell me something about her first, then I'll tell you what I saw."

Meriel demanded information before she could tell him what she had seen and Ventasis, god of darkness and vengeance, answered.

[Karina Dragonia, my contracted Holy Knight of Vengeance, battled the Demon Archduke of Lust to fulfill her vengeance]

Leon was on the verge of a showdown with the Lord of Wisdom, Carakael when the Northern Army broke away from the Alliance and marched on the Archduke.

Thirty thousand Northern troops marched toward the place where the Demon Archduke's legions lurked in destruction.

[But there, Karina Dragonia vanished, and many of the avengers who had contracted with me vanished that day]

[Just as they did with me and the Holy Knight of Life and Fertility].

Demera replied to Petos' words, in a bitter voice.

[Like Georgic and Vulcanus, whose souls, through the machinations of the demons, we don't even know their whereabouts.]

Karina Dragonia must have been in a similar situation, the gods and Leon were now reasoning.

"I see. Still–you are very fortunate to have been able to take the souls of the faithful."

"——"

Leon recognized the sad look in Goddess Meriel's eyes.

She, too, was a benevolent goddess who loved children. In her world, there was no one like her, who had protected the temple and paradise in her heart for hundreds of years.

The loss of her worshippers, of the children she had nurtured throughout history, must be tearing her heart apart.

The Goddess of Destiny took a moment to compose herself before giving Leon the answer he had been waiting for.

"Karina Dragonia, she exists beyond the Black Gate that will open this time, and the only one who can save her is──"

Only her father, Leon, the goddess said, speaking of the fate she had read.