Holy Knight Georgic (1)

"Kuchek?!"

Leon's spear pierced the man's heart, his back and then the chest of the woman behind him.

Finally, after three people had been pierced, the victims screamed as they were skewered by the lance.

"What a noisy bunch of scum."

The lance that had impaled the three men is raised high and swung then the bodies fall to the ground, dripping from the spear's tip.

Leon's spear tip is wet with blood as he looks for his next kill.

"Let's go, Stallion!"

It was a scene of slaughter and carnage, a battle that was not even a battle.

"What?"

"Is he crazy?!"

"...."

Soo-ho, Jae-hyuk, and So-yeon were stunned by Leon's rampage.

They wondered if the charge was misdirected but as the slaughter continues they realize that he is sane.

'He's really on the side of the soldiers!'

The ignorant hatred of the orcs is one thing, but they didn't think he would do this to a fellow human.

"This, this is not right."

Ha-ri stepped forward. She wasn't willing to go into the center of that storm on horseback, but she had to get down and stop this atrocity!

"Miss Ha-ri."

At that moment, a dark aura blocked Ha-ri's path as the Magician Queen's magic restrained her.

"Wait."

"Queen...."

Ha-ri stares reproachfully at the queen who stops her, but the queen understands her and smiles.

"Believe in him, His Majesty always has a reason for what He does."

"Is there?"

Ha-ri looked in Leon's direction.

-Die, you scum!

-Hahaha! Five! That's a new record!

-I won't spare a single one of you! Die in wailing and screaming!

Leon impales them with spears, stomps them to death and splits their heads open with his sword.

"Isn't it just disgust?"

"No, it's...a little bit of excitement."

The cadets, including Soo-ho, are freaking out, not to mention Ha-ri, who's gotten used to it.

-Shouldn't we… run away now?

-Oh, I agree.

The cadets' reluctance to act upon the horrific scene is not due to a lack of a sense of justice.

First, they realize that even if they did, they would be powerless to stop the carnage.

Second, Leon must be a reason.

And finally, because the beings at the Gate are fake.

With the exception of survivors, which are few and far between, the monsters and NPCs in the Gate are merely memories of past events.

Unlike the "real Otherworld" where survivors exist, they can only collect magic stones and drops here.

This is evidenced by the fact that all attempts to bring the NPCs and monsters inside the Gate back to Earth have failed.

They are, after all, fakes. Whether a fake is slaughtered or displayed on an execution platform, it is frowned upon, but not considered a "sin".

Eventually, after the massacre, which included the burning of an entire village, a knight and his soldiers approached Leon and his companions.

"Ugh…."

Ha-ri and the cadets looked at the blood-soaked soldiers and prepared to draw their swords.

These were the men who had slaughtered the villagers so brutally.

"...."

A knight in a refined helmet approached, removed it, dismounted and suddenly fell to his knees.

"Greetings, Holy Knight, the living saint!"

""Greetings, Holy Knight, the living saint!!""

The knights and soldiers knelt in unison as if in adoration, waiting for Leon to speak.

"Stand up. We are still on the battlefield."

The knights and soldiers looked up only after he gave them permission and one of the knights stepped forward.

"I am Toscana Vendellic, brother of Lord Vendellic, Knight of the Lavonian Order of the Dawn, Saint of the Radiance of God."

"If it's Lord Vendellic estate, is it a trading city close to Langquell. Is your brother the lord?"

"Unfortunately, I am the only one of my brothers who has been recognized for his knightly talents."

Knights often don't serve as lords since it's the role of the lord to manage and govern the territory.

Usually, those who follow the path of knighthood…especially if they intend to follow a rigorous path of training…cannot afford to rule a territory.

"Have you finished your training yet?"

"Yes. This was supposed to be my last campaign."

Leon couldn't recall a knight named Toscana Vendellic in his memory.

At the very least, if he had become a Holy Knight, he would have met him in the Paradise of the Gods. That meant he either failed or died in this crusade.

"The other knights, name yourselves."

"Yes, I am Tejare, Kingdom Knight of the Viscounty of Kitan!"

"I am Zoltan Bormun, Kingdom Knight!"

"I am Benienne Barboza, Knight Errant!"

"I am Ayla Stannion, Knight Errant!"

Leon checked each name in his memory but he didn't recognize any of them. Too bad these honorable knights hadn't made history.

"This king is Leon Dragonia Lionheart, the rightful Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Dragonia, and heir to the Lionheart of Arianna, Goddess of Light and Justice."

""...!!!""

The knights and soldiers gasped in horror at the words, but Ha-ri and the cadets could see why.

The era of this gate is a distant past in Leon's world. He is the future Lionheart King so no one would believe him if he claimed to be a king in this age.

"...Should we judge him as a peasant who had a brilliant rise?"

"What other knight in the world would call himself the Lionheart King?"

A faint distrust spreads among them but the knights hesitate at the contradictory nature of this moment, and the intensity of Leon's radiance.

"Trust me. It's complicated to explain, but this king is indeed the Lionheart King."

"...I believe you."

'You believe this?!'

The cadets' expressions were filled with astonishment at Leon making such an outrageous claim, and the knights believing it so readily.

Even the soldiers seem to think that if it's so, it must be so.

'They doubt it, but they believe in something more absolute than their own judgment.'

Chen So-yeon sensed the 'fanaticism' in them. What is it that they believe in that makes them disregard hard facts, logical reasoning, and unsubstantiated claims…all rational reasoning?

"Knights, as I understand it, you are an army that has come to exterminate the barbarians. Is that correct?"

"Yes…! It is!"

"And is it correct that the leader of the army is Sir Georgic, the Holy Knight of Life and Fertility?"

"Yes!"

"I must meet him at once. Where is Sir Georgic?"

Leon knew they were 'bounty hunters'. While the main body of the army faces the largest hostile force, a handful of auxiliary battalions pick off the smaller clumps around them.

Despite being knights, they wore light armor rather than heavy armor, as they were meant to be speed fighters.

Considering the reason for the 'skinning', what's going on here is probably──

"Lord Georgic is currently facing the main army of barbarians."

"Soon he will be slaughtering the filthy barbarians."

Leon had a hunch that the Holy Knight, who had not ascended to the Paradise of the Gods, had suffered a change of heart in this war.

* * * *

In recent days, the Firebird Guild and the Golden Lion Guild have used everything they could think of to help the Clan Alliance.

They dug, carved, and built traps, waiting for the moment of truth.

"The log trap is complete, please set it up!"

"Thank you, warriors, we'll take it."

People from a peaceful tribe fight to defend their home against an invasion by an evil kingdom.

"Warriors, please have a cup of tea."

"Uh, uh… thank you, sir."

Hwang Yeon-ha nodded awkwardly as she joined them. She put down the woodwork she had been working on and took the tea from the tribal woman.

"Sister, are you joking?"

"Fuck you."

Ha-yeon throws up his middle finger and glares at her sarcastically. They look like normal siblings.

"What's going on? We've done enough preparation."

"Well, the enemy's big boss arrived."

At that moment, Hwang Yeon-ha realized that the density of the air had changed and beyond the wooden fence was the green knight.

He was nearly two meters tall with impeccably polished armor, a massive one-handed hammer and a shield.

His breath weighs the space down and his massive presence crushes all the humans in the area.

"…He's finally here."

Yong-wan and Ha Yuri are already waiting at the door. The two of them, as well as all the Hunters from the Firebird Guild and the Golden Lion Guild, are tense.

No wonder. Even S-class Hunters can't stand a chance against a superhuman like that.

On top of all that, there was only one Georgic back then, and now he has an army following him.

"That's a lot."

They were roughly two hundred Kingdom Knights and six hundred wandering knights, seeking honor on the road.

The hunters who have fought them in sporadic guerrilla battles have been appalled.

Wandering Knights are upper B-rank and lower A-rank at best while Kingdom Knights are upper A-rank.

Of course, the difference between an S-rank Hunter and an A-rank Hunter is huge but the problem is that there are a whopping eight hundred knights who can reach A-rank at full strength. That's more than all the A-rank Hunters in South Korea.

That's not all, Georgic is a monster that even S-rank hunters can't match. In Golden Chul estimation, not even the Yakt Spinner of the Cheongju Gate could match it.

"Is this really a Red Gate? Isn't the difficulty level like a Black Gate?"

There had only been three Black Gates in the 30 years since the Gates and each one a crisis for humanity. No, this is the fourth time.

They've never tackled a Black Gate so they don't have anything to compare it to....

"But it's worth a shot."

Yes. Nevertheless, there was a reason why the Alliance raiding party didn't give up on capturing it.

"Warriors. The warriors are ready for battle."

Hildir, the approaching shaman, looked tired, having imprinted all the 'Hunters' with her spells these days.

"What are our numbers?"

"Two hundred high ranking warriors, three thousand intermediate, twenty thousand lesser warriors and fifty thousand old and infirm men who have decided to fight."

That was good news, considering that Georgic and his legions totaled less than seven thousand men. At least they were outnumbered seven to one.

It was not surprising, since all the tribes in the neighborhood had joined forces after the knights' rampage.

Plus a combined raiding party of 50 A-ranks and 100 B-ranks.

The first battle with the Georgic left more than 30 men seriously wounded or captured, but the main force remained intact. Best of all──

[Mazer's tusk imprint]

-Increases defense penetration by 35%.

-Increases strength and endurance by 20%.

[Bai Liang's claw imprint]

-Grants the talent Movement.

-Increases Agility by 15%.

[Iron King's Pelt Imprint]

-Grants the talent Strength.

-Grants Hard Skin.

[Black Eagle Talon imprint]

-Reduces Defense by 30%.

-Grants the Air Resistance talent.

The 'beast gods' worshiped by the local shamans and tribes had powerful imprints that can be obtained by serving these deities.

The immense power of these imprints increased the combat power of the raiding party.

"Warriors. Save us."

"Of course, Miss Hildir. We, the Firebird Guild, will not leave you behind."

As Yong-wan replied in kind, Huang Yeon-ha poked Ha Yuri in the side.

'What's going on? He doesn't seem like such a nice guy.'

'They had sex.'

'Oh.....'

It's a fairly common occurrence for Hunters to make out with NPCs in gates so they didn't have to worry about it.

There are many things that would have been felonies on Earth, so Yong-wan is a good man.

"Ugh! He's moving!"

At that moment, all eyes turned to the outside of the woodwork. Georgic rode his green-armored Pegasus and flew through the air in a flash.

"Shit, shit…that thing."

"Do you think we can intercept it?"

"We'll have to aim for the moment it comes down."

It wasn't as if they were unaware of the Pegasus presence, so the raiders had prepared for it but Georgic had no intention of coming down, and he spoke to them from the sky.

"Surviving mercenaries."

His voice was ringing and had a high-pitched echo, as if he was shouting in their ears.

"I let you live because I saw your ignorance, but what are you doing here?"

"We're getting ready to take you down."

Gate-closing condition: Defeat 'The Majestic Georgic'.

The Raiders planned to defeat him and make a run for it, while grabbing a bunch of Spirit Stones before the gate disappeared.

It's a shame that this gate is so littered with them, probably from the slaughtered tribesmen.

However, the quality of these stones decreases depending on the power of the NPC's so the raiders coveted the items and gems that the monstrous Holy Knight would drop.

"You're ignorant and deluded so I will give you one chance. Give up all your weapons and leave this place. You are not guilty of any great sin."

"Hah… Mentioning sins is your business, aren't you ashamed?"

Yong-wan's retort was valid and everyone from Earth thought so.

They flayed people alive, executed them, slaughtered them mercilessly, and spared not even the old and the young.

For these brutal murderers to even mention sins was nonsense.

"I have no shame to look up to the heavens and no shame to look down to the earth! For my deeds are only justice!"

No one is guilty of this brutal slaughter.

He sentenced them to death as casually as if they had done something as natural as exterminating an insect.

"How dare you try to save those worms in front of me, in front of this Georgic! You have crossed the line!"

Georgic's words of doom overwhelm everyone with their resonance and ferocity.

"Warriors...."

Hildir grabbed Yong-wan's hand in fear.

"I am the glorious Holy Knight of Lionheart, Georgic, and I will inflict 'Divine Punishment' on you!"

In the next moment a giant green energy is sucked into Georgic's hammer, and Yong-wan, realizing that it's the same attack from earlier, shouts urgently.

"Activate the Defensive Skills! It's not something he can use often! If we block it once…!"

He was prepared and no resources were spared but──

""We, the Knights of the Realm who follow the honorable Holy Knight, will gladly lend our strength to destroy evil!""

The Knights of the Realm extended their swords and spears but who would have thought that such a seemingly unified and meaningless act would have such a terrible 'resonance'.

"Huh?"

"What?"

Two hundred Knights of the Realm who swore to defend the kingdom and entrusted their fate to the gods focused the power of their unwavering faith on a single Holy Knight.

Georgic declares from above.

"Kneel before the glory of the true gods."

The holy power in the sky spread in all directions and in the next moment──the ground collapsed.