Episode 86: Relic Convoy (1)
It was the 96th year of Leon’s reign.
「Your Majesty, it is said that a holy relic has been found in the savage land where beast gods are worshiped!」
relic.
An item containing the power of God that is allowed only to Holy Grail Knights or priests of the highest rank.
Since the emergence of the Lionheart Kingdom, there have been numerous relics, but not all of them are complete in the Lionheart Kingdom.
The Lionheart Kingdom, which claims to be the guardian of all intelligent beings, has fought against the evils of the world, and some have won and others have been defeated.
The relic found was lost 900 years ago when the 12th Lion Heart King was killed in a war against barbarians in the north.
The relic was discovered by relic seekers who search for lost relics.
Leon immediately organized a convoy of relics and tried to dispatch them to the barbarian land.
However, there was a big problem here, and in order to head to the barbarians’ land, they had to cross the borders of the empire.
The Empire, which had been a strong ally for a long time, also became an uncomfortable neighbor in Leon University, because of the ‘Great Devil Summoning Incident’.
Leon, the youngest Holy Grail Knight at the age of 35 and active as a War Knight, killed the Great Devil and the 14th Lion Heart King Archen Majesty Lionheart passed away.
It happened on the outskirts of the Empire, and the black magicians sponsored by one of the 13 electoral princes of the Empire defeated the Great Devil, but left a large remnant with the Empire.
As soon as the summoning of the devil was detected, the Lionheart Kingdom trespassed the border, but it was because the Elector Count, the main culprit of all this, was burned at the stake.
The empire was very angry and even the emperor condemned it, but the Lionheart Kingdom ignored it.
“There is no tolerance whatsoever for the devil! You should be ashamed of not being able to solve it yourself!”
Since then, relations with the Empire have remained strained neighbors, to the extent that even now the borders are lined with Imperial troops.
As a result, even after 60 years, the Empire rejected the large-scale relic convoy, and eventually dispatched a small group of 500 people in the size of the convoy, and eventually succeeded in the search.
In the process, 2,000 Orcs and seven savage tribes were burned to death, but the search for the holy relic seemed to be successfully completed anyway.
‘But Sir Zereah did not return.’
I didn’t know the exact process. It is because no one who escorted the holy relic survived and returned.
When Leon finally fought the demons and the gods made the lion’s heart a refuge, he met Sir Zereah in paradise, but he also did not testify.
However, he only said that he was attacked by a powerful orc, and he did not know what happened after death.
Eventually, two years later, the whereabouts of the holy object became unclear until the emperor summoned the demon lord of chaos by sacrificing 3 million imperial citizens.
‘If I had known that I would come here, I would have gone into paradise and gathered at least the testimonies of the soldiers who participated in the war at the time.’
No, what should I do with what has already happened?
The time Leon, the living, can spend in the world of the dead is not long.
Even if he was able to see Sir Zereah’s face once, it was not easy to meet the soldiers one by one.
‘Where are the others?’
When Leon opened his eyes, there were only soldiers and knights around him. Those who came with them were nowhere to be seen.
Apparently, they were scattered at the time of entry.
‘Is it that I can’t handle the gate completely?’
This too can be adjusted through experience and data.
Leon headed towards the still turbulent front.
“Fight back!”
“You mustn’t leave the Orcs behind!”
Baltaric Corps.
Commonly known as the Baltaric Orc Crushers.
They are representative of hunting orcs to the extent that they make accessories made from the bones of orcs.
“”WHAAAAAAAAA──!!”
The green beasts, which were likely to be twice the size of the orc crushers made up of strong men, charged at them brandishing axes and clubs.
However, the Orc Crushers lightly block it. They blocked the Orcs’ attack with their shields and stabbed the Orcs calmly.
There were only about a hundred orc crushers, but they were the ones who could handle four orcs alone.
And the power to protect them was separate.
-Shuaaaa… !
Black smoke emanating from the orc crushers. The orcs who ingested it pick it up! and fall down
“Lord Zereah’s dream zone has been formed! Step back!”
“Retreat after twenty steps!”
The orc crushers retreated in an orderly manner from the place where the black smoke was flowing. In front of him was a three-sworded knight with a handsome beard threading an orc’s head like a skewer.
“Hmm… The spirit of the Orcs is not good.”
“Sir Zereah!”
“Captain Beverick.”
Company commander Beverick pretending to be on one knee.
“His Majesty the Lionheart Leon Dragonia Lionheart has arrived!”
“What? It can’t be. Why is he…”
Zereah was stunned when he saw the familiar blond lion heart behind Beverick’s back. Zereah willingly knelt down and bowed to him.
“Agent of Divinity! Greetings Ariana’s first knight!”
Leon looked down at the decrepit grail knight who bowed his head in front of him.
The moment Grail Knights awaken by drinking the holy water of the Holy Grail, they are reconstituted with their bodies in their prime.
In the case of Leon, it was an unusual case of becoming a Holy Grail Knight at such a young age, but the Holy Grail Knight in front of him was an unusual case in the opposite sense.
Perpetual Trainee Knight Zereah. Stupid Zerea.
The oldest Acolyte Knight and the oldest Holy Grail Knight.
Even the moment he drank the holy water, his body was not reconstructed. In other words, this old, decrepit body is in its prime.
“It’s the same… you.”
“…?”
The stylish mustache and sophisticated knight kept his courtesy without raising his head even though he was bewildered.
“Wake up.”
Zereah stood up awkwardly at the descending voice. he raised his head. The one in front of him must be the Lion Heart King.
The youngest War Knight and the youngest to become a Holy Grail Knight, a legendary being who broke through the army of demons and defeated the Great Demon.
How is he here who should be in the royal palace? There were many questions, but Zereah did not doubt the divinity in front of him.
“I will explain later. Sir Zereah, can you explain the situation?”
Leon first wanted to compare the facts he knew with the situation the relic convoy was facing.
“Yes, Your Majesty. We were on our way to retrieve the relic and head for the borders of the Empire as scheduled!”
After retrieving the relics from the land of the barbarians, the convoy of relics headed straight to the borders of the Empire. Although the relationship has deteriorated, the empire and the kingdom are neighboring countries that have been allies for a long time.
It takes less than three days on horseback to cross their borders and reach the kingdom’s borders.
Therefore, once they reached the borders of the Empire, the mission to escort the holy relic would be over. But a strange thing happened.
“The Orcs raided along with the cultists of the Beast God. Probably Orcs from the Northeast.”
Orcs often wage war and cross the country. So it’s not that strange to come here. But what’s strange is their behavior.
“Even though the orcs are cultists, they joined hands with humans. It’s rare.”
Leon does not distinguish between Orc beasts and cultists, but they ostracize and separate each other as they do.
In the first place, the orcs beat and destroyed everything other than the goblins and trolls that were their colonies.
But the cultists and orcs joined hands?
It was unusual and shocking, but… … .
‘It was common during the last war.’
Leon remembered the fall of the Empire and the upheaval of the different races that had begun when he reached the 98th year of his reign.
Orcs enjoyed warfare with demons and cultists, but sometimes cooperated. It was really strange that those stupid beast brains knew the word cooperation, but–
‘What will happen is what happened.’
Leon thought it would have happened before 1998. Just two years later, the Emperor of the Empire summoned the Lord of Chaos.
“Sir Zereah. Then what did you do with the holy relic?”
“Yes, leaving only infantry and a handful of knights to stop the orcs here and tore the holy relic into five parts to escort them. Since the cultists of the black eagle god chased them through the air, we had no choice but to tear them apart as much as possible.”
It was a reasonable conclusion.
“Then… where is the convoy containing the ‘True Hallows’?”
In response, Zereah spoke without hesitation.
“Southwest convoy number 5. This is the convoy my ‘past’ is leading.”
* * * *
“Um…”
Beatrice let out a drool that didn’t go well with her usual lithe and bewitching voice.
It was because when I opened my eyes as soon as I entered the gate, I could only see a desolate canyon in front of me, and the party was nowhere to be seen.
“You must have… miscalculated.”
Gate magic is a type of magic she has never used before.
It was good to specify the coordinates and open the entrance, but the coordinates to arrive were scattered.
‘Miscalculation? That’s a bit odd for that.’
Even though it’s the first time casting magic, did she, who was called the Magician Queen of the Sphero Kingdom, make this mistake?
Prior to that, Beatrice was at a loss as to what to do in this wide gorge. She is the first place she has ever seen her, simply because she has nothing to do with Leon.
Just as she was about to go blindly on the horse she had brought with her, she heard a commotion in her ears.
-Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
– Keep running! Don’t let them catch up!
It was the beasts in pursuit and the cavalry in pursuit.
A few knights presumed to be knights and light soldiers armed with light armor rather than heavy armor appear to be commoner cavalry.
Although they did not know their identity, those who pursued them knew.
“The family of the beast gods.”
I don’t know if the cavalry is an ally, but the enemy is clear. Beatrice stretched out her beautiful fingers and used his magic.
– Quaang! Kwak Kwa Kwak!
Rays of light cut through the sky, and thunderstorms roared.
Wild boars were roasted by lightning strikes, and black eagles were pierced by beams.
The inexhaustible magic that the magician queen pours out turns into deadly violence and sweeps away the beasts.
Absolute death queen.
She must have looked like that to the beasts now.
And it was the same for the cavalry.
“Who, who are you!”
“Imperial wizard!”
The knights took the lead and stood in front of the queen. They seemed wary of her, who covered her face with her veil, but did not hide the favor of her deliverer.
“If you ask me who you are… will this prove it?”
Beatrice raised her holy power to prove her identity and to be easily recognized by the knights.
The holy power of Fleur, the goddess of dreams and death, was dark purple.
“Same as Sir Zereah…! Are you a priestess of Fleur?!”
“No, unless you have a holy power that’s as clear as mine, it’s not until you’re at the priest’s level…”
Whilst the knights were confused, Beatrice asked with a grin.
“Rather than that, knights? Could you briefly explain the situation you’re in?”
Information gathering is a priority.
* * * *
“Ugh…”
The bone hurts. Goo Dae-seong recognized that he had been hit with something like a blunt instrument.
I never thought I’d be beaten as soon as I entered the gate. Will other people be okay?
“Look! Look!”
A voice tapping on the cheek. When Goo Dae-seong opened his eyes, there was an old man with an impressive mustache in front of him.
“Heh heh, this friend opened his eyes. If he was in such a hurry, would he throw himself in front of Cheol-woong?”
“Um…”
Cheol-woong? Was it the bear that struck him? Goo Dae-seong was frightened at the sight of a large bear carcass with fur as stiff as steel in front of him.
“Wow…!”
He took a step back and looked around. The surroundings were full of corpses, probably from being attacked by beasts, and a familiar girl was pulling my horse with a cavalryman on the other side.
“Ah, Hunter Goo Dae-seong…! Are you awake?”
The girl with red braided hair clapped her hands as if she was worried and looked at Goo Dae-sung’s condition.
“Han… Deputy Manager? Who is that?”
The cavalryman who was pulling the horse felt the gaze and answered.
“Ah, I’m late in introducing myself. I’m Bion from the Cavalry Reconnaissance Corps. Knight, please be quiet.”
Why do you call yourself a knight? That question was answered by an old man named Sir Zereah.
“Anyway, how did the pilgrims come to this land?
A biased article? Apparently, they mistook themselves for pilgrims.
Goo Dae-seong opened his mouth to fix the error, but then a system message flickered before his eyes.
[Help Lord Zereah of Twilight escort the holy relic to the Lionheart border.]
“Convoying the relic…?”
“That’s right. Now we are escorting the relics from the barbaric lands.”
“Is that so?”
“Your news is a little late, right? Well, since you’re a wandering knight who left to seek honor even in a remote area like this, that’s unlikely.”
“Sorry, Twilight… Sir Zereah?”
When I called him as shown in the system message, Zerea chuckled and shook her head.
“That’s the honor that my future self won. Right now, I’m just an ascetic knight (Questing Knight) who left the path of training.”
“yes?”
Goo Dae-seong tilted his head.
