◈ Episode 29. The Lion Heart Knights (2)
No matter how I thought about it, this was insane.
My liver must have slipped out of my body without me knowing……!
As if being the Magic Tower’s chief mage wasn’t enough.
Now the commander of the Lion Heart Knights, too. ‘I really do have a personality that rushes me toward death.’ I wasn’t making a fuss over nothing.
The level of the Lion Heart Knights truly was extraordinary.
Even back then, they said the lowest-ranking knights were level 300.
Even if most NPCs’ levels were fixed, the knight commander, Harkon, had to be well over level 400 at the very least.
“……
You are right.”
But what was with this reaction?
Harkon had just been rebuked by me, if it could even be called a rebuke. ‘He’s just accepting it?’ That was when I could be certain. ‘He definitely wants something from me.’ To be precise, he probably wanted something from the Magic Tower.
Harkon had realized from this brooch that I was connected to the Magic Tower.
I quietly looked down at the brooch pinned to my suit. ‘……
Maybe this item is even more impressive than I thought.’
It was just that the level requirement was low.
It was the only thing I could choose.
That was why I had picked this brooch.
But seeing Harkon recognize it, it seemed to be an item that was at least more impressive than I’d assumed.
Of course, since it was only a borrowed item, the day would eventually come when I had to return it. ‘I’ll have to make the most of it.’ I had to squeeze out every last bit of value until then.
While I was making that resolve.
Harkon came to his senses and shouted.
“Knights who bear the heart of a lion!”
It was a line that could easily have made one cringe.
But perhaps because of the solemn atmosphere.
Or perhaps thanks to Granfell’s personality. ‘It still looks pretty cool.’ I was gazing at the lined-up knights with satisfaction.
But only for a moment.
Thud—!
With a thunderous roar, a named monster appeared.
It was a giant turtle.
Fangs protruded sharply like those of a beast.
A giant turtle with an impressive shell that glittered like gold.
In that instant, the name I’d seen in the new update details came to mind. 『Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle: Lv.450』
Of all the monsters to get stuck with, it had to be the toughest one.
A level 450 monster, no less.
The Yusra Islands, made up of ten islands.
Ten named monsters inhabiting each island.
Among them, the one with the highest level was that giant turtle.
It wasn’t easy from the start.
But it might be doable. ───────Natural Enemy: Combat power increases dramatically when fighting demons.─────── That turtle wasn’t a demon.
But thanks to the great evil, the Seven Deadly Sin of Greed, Natural Enemy was currently active.
And on top of that, by my side stood the Empire’s finest knight order.
The Lion Heart Knights.
“Now that I know you are connected to the Magic Tower, telling you to withdraw because it is dangerous would be presumptuous of me. Therefore, Adventurer. Will you not join us in bringing down that monster?”
For some reason.
The knight order was treating me with tremendous courtesy.
I felt it once again. ‘……
Even in Arcana, it’s all about connections.’
To think the halo of the Magic Tower would shine this brightly.
In any case, I had no reason to refuse.
As always, I answered.
“If my aid is required, I shall gladly comply.”
And shamelessly added.
“However, remember always that all things come with give and take. Commander of the Lion Heart Knights, Sir Harkon Kingsguard.”
……
They were words coming out of my own mouth.
But even as I said them, I was dumbfounded.
No, setting aside the historical-drama way of speaking. ‘Isn’t this basically saving someone from drowning, then asking them to hand over their bundle?’
An alliance between me and the Lion Heart Knights.
Even if we formed a united front.
The upper hand would always belong to the Lion Heart Knights.
Why, just looking at the numbers, it was one against a hundred.
Their level?
Honestly, it was embarrassing even to compare.
My level was only 146. ‘A bus passenger just said he’d be the one collecting the fare.’
And yet I was saying I’d gladly respond to their request for help.
As if that weren’t enough, I was saying I’d receive compensation for that help.
……
Am I going to die of embarrassment before I die to a monster?
Of course, it wasn’t wrong.
More than anything, it was etiquette.
The etiquette Granfell couldn’t live without.
Not a single word of it deviated from that etiquette.
“I shall remember it, Adventurer.”
Thump—!
Striking his chest with his fist.
Harkon answered solemnly.
I resolved inwardly. ‘You can’t just spoil a kid because he’s going through puberty.’
It was because I kept indulging him like this that his habits were getting worse.
Still, it was fortunate.
The result I received in exchange for my internal shame wasn’t bad.
Not only had I boarded the bus driven by the Lion Heart Knights…… no, formed an alliance with them, I’d even managed to put them in my debt.
On top of that, Harkon’s reaction to the Magic Tower, which had made him flinch for reasons unknown. ‘There’s a lot hanging on this.’
On that golden turtle’s neck, that is.
Most of all, I couldn’t leave out the island’s treasure.
So there was no room for idle thoughts anymore.
Thud—!
The giant turtle thrust its fangs toward us.
“Knights of the Lion Heart! Charge!”
With Harkon’s roar, the knights rushed forward.
I couldn’t lose.
I also manifested 『Magic』.
*
Bak Hwigang stared blankly at the scene before him. ‘……
What on earth is this situation?’
He didn’t even have the energy to be shocked or make a fuss.
Hoyeol had easily subdued the Emerald Tiger.
That alone had surprised him enough to drain him.
It had exceeded expectations.
-wtf, the Lion Heart Knights here?
-Of all things, his route overlaps with NPCs lol
-Getting the island treasure on this island might be kinda hard??
Yes, just as the passing chat messages said.
This time, it seemed he was unlucky.
What kind of NPCs were the Lion Heart Knights?
From the days when Arcana was still a game until now.
If one were to name the strongest armed groups aside from the Magic Tower, they were among the few that could be counted on one hand.
In terms of pure military might, they could easily overwhelm even Shining, the number one guild in the rankings.
-My faith is wavering, Homen
Even if this wasn’t their full force.
Lion Heart was still Lion Heart.
Most of all, the knight commander, Harkon Kingsguard, was alive and well.
No matter how impressive Hoyeol was, competing with them was impossible.
The viewers thought so, and even Bak Hwigang thought so.
It was at that moment.
A development no one had expected began!
-But why does Harkon’s expression look like that??
-He looks super shocked?
-What, what, is there another lore drop?!!
He had promised to broadcast only from a distance where he wouldn’t get in the way.
Because he was far away, he couldn’t tell what kind of conversation Hoyeol and Harkon were having.
But their expressions.
And the conversation growing longer and longer were clearly unusual no matter who looked.
On top of that.
“Huh? W-wait a second!!”
Thump— Out of nowhere, Harkon swore upon his heart.
-Wait a second lololololololololol
-Isn’t that the greeting they only do for the imperial family? lololol
-wtf lololol why is he doing that in front of Lee Hoyeol??
-I never doubted you, Homen
Befitting the name Heart of the Lion.
For them, swearing upon their heart held tremendous meaning.
So it was only natural for curiosity to grow.
Once again, a pilgrimage to the holy site began. ──────Current viewers: 512,998────── And now.
The viewer count was increasing without pause.
Before those countless gazes.
Hoyeol and the Lion Heart Knights were forming an alliance.
-How does that even make sense lololololol
Hoyeol was hunting the Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle as though he had formed a party with the Lion Heart Knights.
Simply fighting alongside the peerless Lion Heart Knights was astonishing enough.
-……What the hell is his class?!
-Wow, his support skills are insane too
-Forget his class, does using skills like that even make sense?
But the viewers were purely.
Focused only on the battle Hoyeol was showing them.
A battle they had never seen before.
Because Hoyeol was showing it to them.
So Bak Hwigang, who wasn’t watching through a broadcast but seeing it in person.
Could only say……
“……
Wow.”
That one word.
*
Where did 『Magic』 stand above [Skills]?
Honestly, I didn’t really know anymore. ‘It can’t be helped.’ After meeting Marcelo and the other mages in the Magic Tower, I realized it.
It wasn’t that magic itself was outstanding; Granfell’s talent for magic was absurd. ‘I didn’t know it was that difficult.’
Search, Interference, Manifestation.
Starting from Search, which was only the initial stage.
To think it required that much effort.
In that sense, skills had a clear advantage. ‘You just have to shout them.’
But their downside was just as clear.
Above all, skills could not be used creatively. ‘For example.’
Think of Fire Arrow.
In the case of a skill.
All it did was shoot a Fire Arrow.
At most, you could adjust its direction.
But magic was different.
If you added effort during the Interference process……
Fwoosh—!
You could manifest a Fire Arrow that burned fiercely while spinning.
Its destructive power was incomparable to that of an ordinary Fire Arrow.
Because acceleration was added to the spinning Fire Arrow, its firepower became even more intense.
Papapapak—!
Just as you could see.
If it had been an ordinary Fire Arrow, it would have been blocked by the dense vegetation and wouldn’t even have reached the turtle.
But once rotation was added, it reduced the obstacles to ash.
Wooooong—!
And struck the giant turtle’s head.
Dealing enough damage to make it groan.
It was an equally difficult manifestation.
The difficulty, of course, and the amount of mana consumed were far greater. ‘Of course, that doesn’t apply to me.’
I had no choice but to be grateful once again.
To my past self who had suffered from eighth-grade syndrome, that is.
Of course, my magic alone wasn’t enough to bring it down. ‘Even with the brooch’s effect applied.’
Rather than its health running out.
My mana would be depleted first.
But at this moment, I wasn’t alone.
“Attack its legs! Make it kneel!”
Just watching them was reassuring……!
As befitted their high levels, the knights fought exceedingly well.
More than anything, their movements made it clear they had received proper training.
Harkon and the other knights were persistently targeting the turtle’s legs. ‘The efficiency is just lacking.’
Rather than a lack of ability.
It would be more accurate to say the matchup wasn’t good.
They were accumulating valid hits, but it seemed it would take quite some time before the creature knelt.
Its thick legs.
They weren’t a part where they could deal decisive damage.
[The Yusra Islands are beginning to be stained by Greed.]
[Collapse progress: 4/10]
Already four.
Even amid all this, I could feel time passing. ‘In that case.’
Here, I had no choice but to exercise a little more creativity.
I said to Harkon.
“Harkon. I shall support you.”
“Support us? What do you mean, Adventurer?”
“I shall open a path.”
“……?”
At first glance, it might sound like an incredibly cool line.
But that wasn’t the intention behind it.
Because I literally intended to open only a “path.”
“As it happens, there are now enough materials.”
The rampaging giant turtle.
Because of its rampage, not only the dense trees.
Even the mountains had collapsed.
In other words, the enormous rocks had been broken into appropriate sizes.
Search, Interference, Manifestation.
In an instant, the shape of the pile of stones changed.
I added creativity to it.
I had gotten the inspiration from the Magic Tower. ‘To be precise, from the stairs of the Magic Tower.’
Ssssk— Stairs rose into the air in an instant.
Those stairs led toward the giant turtle’s only weak point.
They were embroidered through the air toward its head. ‘It was worth spending more than half my mana.’
Thousands of stairs spread through the air.
I had manifested them myself……
But just looking at them made my chest swell with grandeur.
“Y-you……!”
Harkon stammered in surprise for only a moment.
He quickly understood my intention.
Then he issued an order.
“The path has opened. Do not waste this opportunity. We end this swiftly!”
Tap, tap—!
The knights climbed the stairs.
As expected of the hearts of lions.
They were different from me, who had been intimidated by the Magic Tower’s stairs.
I immediately manifested reversal magic.
The stairs they had stepped on and climbed crumbled, and new stairs were embroidered into place.
It wasn’t because I wanted to copy the Magic Tower’s stairs exactly.
It was simply because of the limits of my meager mana. ‘Even maintaining them is hard……!’
A thorough spirit of conserving mana.
Even keeping stairs afloat in midair consumed mana.
I had to reduce every possible point where mana could leak out. ‘It’d be perfect for a misunderstanding.’
If you didn’t know the circumstances behind it, that is.
It would look like some incredibly high-level magic.
Once again, I felt the wretchedness of my situation.
A swan on a lake.
Even while acting elegant.
It was my lot to keep paddling my feet without rest.
But at least in this moment, I didn’t feel wronged.
Tadadadak—!
They climbed the stairs.
Stab—!
Stab, stab—!
The knights’ sword strikes drove into the giant turtle’s nape.
And at the same time.
Messages appeared before me.
[Knight Commander ‘Harkon Kingsguard’ gives up contribution toward the defeat of the Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle.]
[Knight ‘Enoch Loren’ gives up contribution toward the defeat of the Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle.]
[Knight ‘Jessica Bright’ gives up contribution toward the defeat of the Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle.]
……
At the end of the dizzying stream of messages.
[The forfeited contribution is transferred to you.]
[Due to high contribution, spoils are automatically acquired.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
……
I shamelessly said.
“As expected, you are as honorable as your reputation suggests. Lion Heart Knights.”