Chapter 77: Chapter 74

It has been 14 hours since the Dragon Palace Gate was discovered. The Hunter Association quickly prepared for the attack on the Dragon Palace Gate.

The attack on the Dragon Palace Gate is a national emergency. The Hunter Association received a swift order from the top, and warships were mobilized to attack the gate in the middle of the sea.

In Gyeongsangdo Donghae Port 1st Fleet Helicopter Landing Zone the Black Hawk helicopters of the Korean military landed with their rotor blades spinning fiercely.

The people who got off there were not soldiers, but a group of civilians.

“You can get off, Your Majesty.”

The first to get off were Kim Jin-soo, a chief of the Hunter Association, and Han Ha-ri, an agent. The two respectfully escorted Leon.

After that, Lee Yong-wan and the hunters of the Firebird Guild, and the members of TTG Guild came down one by one.

“It’s a good vehicle. I should have a few of them. It’s even better because it can carry horses.”

‘Helicopters? No way…’

“The chairman says we can give you some. Would six be enough? We’re sorry we didn’t tell you in advance.”

‘You’re giving them away?!’

Lee Yong-wan was stunned by Kim Jin-soo’s words that he would give away hundreds of millions of won worth of military helicopters.

‘It’s not Kim Jin-soo’s decision. It’s an order from the top.’

There was no way a mere head of department had the authority to move helicopters.

Seeing how the chairman handled it, it was obvious that Oh Kang-hyuk, the chairman of the Association, had told Leon to take whatever he wanted.

“Your Majesty, this model is a bit old-fashioned. There’s a new model that’s just arrived in our country. It’s called Surion… It’s nothing, but if you could take a commemorative photo and say a few words when you receive it──”

‘What?’

“That’s fine. I like foreign ones better. The big Chinook or something. It can carry horses, so it’s perfect.”

“Yes…”

Ha-ri patted Kim Jin-soo’s shoulder, who looked gloomy.

The TTG Guild and the Firebird Guild headed straight to the 1st Fleet Command. There, hundreds of people, including commanders, captains, sergeants and soldiers, lined up in advance as if they had received a prior notice.

“Salute! Welcome to the 1st Fleet Command of the Republic of Korea Navy!”

“We are honored to meet Leon Dragonia Lionheart!”

-Bam bam bam~ Bam bam bam! Bam bam bam~!

A loud welcome and congratulations. No matter how much hunters were treated as half-heroes in modern Earth, there was a distinction between civilians and military.

Unless it was a continent torn apart by 50 countries or a hunter dictatorship, there was no such hospitality in a sane developed country.

“Hmm, are you the commander of this base?”

“Yes! I am Choi Jae-sung, the commander of the 1st Fleet!”

Commander Choi did not make any rudeness in front of Leon thanks to his thorough prior warning. But he was not so polite just because of the order.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty! My granddaughter was cured of leukemia after eating Goddess Demera crops. I would like to convey my gratitude.”

Choi Jae-sung’s granddaughter was a terminally ill patient who had been waiting for her death for a long time due to leukemia.

But after eating the blessed crops and seeing his granddaughter cured of leukemia, he cried and worshiped God for the first time.

“I see. If you are grateful for receiving Her grace, you are also my brother. Always be thankful and worship Her.”

“It is an honor!”

It had been three months since Leon came to Earth and his influence was spreading throughout this country.

“Then before we brief you on this operation, let me introduce you to the allied forces who will fight with us.”

Choi took the visiting hunters to a joint gymnasium. It was one of the few places in the somewhat small Donghae Port facility that could accommodate hundreds of people.

There were foreigners of various colors waiting for TTG and Firebird there.

“Are they from the US attack team?”

Choi nodded at Lee Yong-wan’s question.

“Yes, they flew straight with the Navy Air Force transport plane. It’s strange.”

It was strange, as Choi said.

The Dragon Palace Gate was a gate that occurred in the East Sea. The adjacent countries involved in this sea were Korea and Japan.

No matter how much Korea was a military ally of the US, did they have to send an attack team? It’s not like Korea and Japan were short of hunter resources.

“The Navy team came from Sasebo and they seem to be taking it quite seriously.”

The US participation was still incomprehensible, but they had to let it go. Anyway, if the Korea-US-Japan joint attack team sends two S-class each, there will be no shortage of power.

A tall blonde-haired man approached the Korean hunters.

He had blond hair and blue eyes like Leon, but his atmosphere was closer to a scholar than a noble young man.

“Huh?”

“Reynold Sherman?!”

The Korean hunters who recognized him were surprised. Wasn’t he the US Magic Tower Master?

Why did such a big shot come to Korea?

Reynold Sherman smiled at the reaction towards him and he confidently introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, Korea hunters. I am Reynold Sherman, the Magic Tower Master who was invited for this gate attack──”

The introduction was cut off as Reynold pupils trembled and his gaze was directed at a blond-haired man.

“FUC—“

* * * *

[Go to Korea right now!]

US Magic Tower Branch Top Floor. The Wisdom Jewel, which was carefully placed in the office of the Magic Tower Master, suddenly said that.

“Korea…what are you talking about?”

[Yes! There’s something you have to do there! You can’t do it alone, so I’ll go with you!]

“…”

Reynold was fascinated by the knowledge that the Wisdom Jewel bestowed on him, but he hesitated to answer the words to go to Korea.

It was because he had already been there once and met a ‘terrifying existence’.

“That… Leon──”

[You bastard! Don’t say that name with your mouth! Damn it! I need to clean my ears!]

Leon had become the one whose name should not be spoken in front of him.

‘Why are you freaking out…?’

Why do you want me to go to Korea? Isn’t it inconsistent with your words and actions?

As if reading his question, the Wisdom Jewel spoke as if to reassure him.

[Don’t worry. I’ll tell you how to make an artifact that can completely hide the demon magic. If you have the ingredients, you can make it too.]

“Is that so?”

Does that mean he can escape from the detection of the Lion King?

“What do I need to make it?”

[Unicorn horn, phoenix feather, dragon claw fragment──]

Unicorn horn price 3.4 billion. Phoenix feather price 2.1 billion. Dragon claw fragment no stock. And there were plenty of other items of unique, legendary grade materials.

“…Great Being?”

[What?]

“These are not items that can be obtained right away…”

[Then there’s no choice. It’s a bit inferior, but if you have this, you can easily make it!]

The Wisdom Jewel, as a holder of great knowledge, came up with a solution on the spot. Seeing this, he could say that he was more competent than the previous demon in charge of the Wisdom Jewel.

“That’s definitely something I can get from the Magic Tower’s warehouse right away! You’re amazing, Great Being!”

[But it’s inferior, so it’s not very durable. But well… No matter how small Korea is, you won’t necessarily meet him if you go there.]

“That’s right. It’s not like Leon is the only hunter in Korea.”

[Kyakyakyak! I was born with bad luck!]

The two smart villains’ reasoning was too rational. It’s not like Leon is the only hunter in Korea and that the chances of meeting him right away are slim.

But sometimes──

“Be polite, spellcaster.”

There is also an existence that is the irrational itself.

[Ouch-shit!]

* * * *

Reynold and the Wisdom Jewel who met Leon trembled at this irrational misfortune. Reynold quickly asked the Wisdom Jewel for advice.

‘What, what do we do, Great Being! He’s right in front of us! Right in front of us?!’

[Calm, calm, calm down! If he was in a bad mood, he would have cut your neck off without hesitation! He hasn’t noticed us yet!]

That’s right, it was because of the artifact that the Wisdom Jewel had prepared in advance. He didn’t think he would meet him in Korea, but it was a ring-shaped artifact that hid his magic as a minimum insurance.

‘As expected of the Archdemon of Wisdom! I trusted you!’

It was then. When Reynold was fiddling with his lifeline, the magic ring, he felt the ring wearing away.

‘Great Being!!!’

‘Calm down! It’s being worn out by his holy power!!’

Reynold couldn’t tell the Wisdom Jewel, who was screaming, to calm down first. It was inevitable that his only lifeline was wearing away in real time.

[We, we have to back off! Get away quickly! Get away from his holy power!]

Reynold showed his greatest wit and pretended to be calm.

“I’m glad to meet you, Your Majesty. Your reputation is high even in faraway countries. I wanted to meet you.”

Reynold tried to offer a handshake, but hesitated for fear of being exposed if he touched his skin.

‘Damn it! This will make him suspicious!’

Reynold glanced at Leon with an uneasy look, but he smiled rather satisfied.

“You know your place well, spellcaster.”

Where did he hit such a satisfying point?

Leon passed him and headed to his place, while Reynold barely calmed down his trembling gums.

‘Let’s run away. I believe the Great Being will agree too!’

[No, no… This is important. We have to do it…]

Mother fucker! Why did such a low-level devil get attached to the Wisdom Jewel!

Reynold had no choice but to listen to the briefing quietly while cursing.

Ha-ri diligently organized the information she received from the briefing as an Association employee.

She couldn’t participate in this attack team, so she wanted to give them as much help as possible.

“Ugh… His Majesty also said… Women should never board a ship…”

Commander Choi admired Leon, but he had a puzzled expression on his face when he said that women would bring bad luck if they boarded a ship.

He tried hard to say ‘It’s because he’s from medieval times… It’s a cultural difference…’.

The Kwanggaeto Daewang ship that will be used for this operation had no female crew members from the beginning.

The navy had to get the maximum efficiency out of the limited space, so they couldn’t afford to prepare separate bathrooms and bedrooms for women soldiers.

“Emergency food and… combat food that can be cooked without fire…”

She was heading to the supply warehouse of Donghae Port to get this and that when she saw a hunter carrying a large backpack in front of the supply warehouse guarded by navy guards.

“Huh? Hunter Koo Dae-sung?”

“Agent Han?”

Ha-ri met Dae-sung and wondered.

“Why are you carrying luggage? This is something we should do…”

“No, no. I have to do this kind of chore.”

Dae-sung’s words were not incomprehensible. It was customary for Man-at-Arms (soldiers) to do chores in the TTG Guild but Dae-sung’s position was different now.

“Hunter, you’re now a knight trainee. His Majesty wouldn’t have asked you to do chores.”

“I’m not worthy of that…”

Dae-sung shrugged his shoulders and made an awkward expression.

He had trained with them for a few days after joining the trainees, but Dae-sung felt out of place among them.

He was weak and old compared to other trainees and they couldn’t understand why a soldier like him was chosen as a knight trainee.

“It’s just that I got lucky and got a chance to lift the hammer.”

Dae-sung knew that he lifted the hammer the highest but that was because the hammer was revealed not long ago.

There were quite a few hunters who succeeded in moving the hammer slightly, which showed that there were many with potential on Earth.

He just happened to have an opportunity to lift the hammer earlier.

“Hunter Koo Dae-sung, it was His Majesty who made you a trainee.”

“That’s true, but?”

“Then don’t you think His Majesty would think after hearing your worries?”

Ha-ri put down her backpack and pretended to be stern and snorted, then started imitating someone’s voice.

“How dare you doubt this king’s will, you wretched thing? What right do you have to question the goddess’s will? You should just train as you are told!”

“Uh, um… Agent Han. There…”

“Stay still! His Majesty would also say. [That’s not good~ You’re too comfortable so you have so many thoughts. From now on, add four hours of training! I mean. I trained without sleeping!]”

Ha-ri, who was snorting at Dae-sung, noticed that he was silently looking over her shoulder.

“…”

“…”

After a moment of silence Ha-ri couldn’t stop her pupils from trembling and opened her lips.

“Is he behind me?”

Nod.

And then a cold voice from behind.

“I’ve never seen such a rude thing. A lowly thing that speculates and imitates this king’s will?”

“Eek…! I’m sorry! Please kill me!!”

Ha-ri fell flat on her face and Leon looked down at her coldly.

‘This is bad!’

Why did he have to be behind me when I was imitating him!

She trembled at the scolding that would come from Leon, but soon heard a voice.

“Tsk tsk, how did such a thing get his grace?”

“Yes?”

She didn’t understand what he meant and slightly lifted her head.

“Han Ha-ri.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Glorious news. One of the gods is interested in you.”

“Yes?”

Ha-ri remembered what Leon had said once. When the training of the knight trainees was over, the gods would choose each of them.

The first step to becoming a Realm Knight was connecting with a god and that was what Leon was talking about now.

“Which god?”

The goddess of light and justice, Arianna?

The god of war and fire, Petos?

Ha-ri hoped that whoever it was, it matched her personality well. But the name of the god that came out of Leon’s mouth was completely unexpected.

“The holy god of the sea and waves, Poma, wants to make you his priestess.”

“…Yes?”

“You’ll have to join this expedition too.”

Leon put his hand on Ha-ri’s shoulder and looked at her with a pitying eye but she couldn’t understand the meaning of his gaze.