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Chapter 172

172The Test of Corruption

An empty and vast field.

All Leon could do in the wilderness was walk..

"Phew······."

Leon is a man with the heart of a lion..

A demi-god beyond a saint who is the guardian of the Holy Grail and activates his own holy power..

A being with perfect vitality that never tires and an indomitable spirit that never gives in..

"Phew······."

Then he catches his breath. Even though he can go decades without eating or drinking, he feels hungry and thirsty..

For him, it has been a long time since he ascended to become a Holy Grail Knight, and it is a feeling he has long since forgotten..

The gods loved him, because he had a perfect body and noble spirit, and it was by virtue of this that he was invincible..

Night comes before you know it.

The time of the hot and dry sun passes and the time of the cold and chilly moon begins..

There was no living thing in the wilderness..

If I had been able to hunt, I would have eaten the meat and quenched my thirst with blood..

But in this wilderness, there was nothing that could satisfy Leon's desires..

Nevertheless.

"It's daytime."

As the sun rises he walks again.

I just walk without any preparation on the heat of the death that stimulates hunger and thirst..

The reason he has no choice but to do so is because it is not a knightly virtue to just sit still and wait for the right moment..

Even if it's a meaningless step, Leon doesn't stop walking..

He walked silently even on the seemingly distant path of asceticism that required him to be chosen by God. In the world of Lionheart, when there was no faith, he continued to walk towards a distant, illusory future..

He searched for a remote place where God's grace did not reach, defeated monsters, and rushed to save a village under attack by orcs..

I waded through swamps munching on soggy beef jerky and explored the jungle drinking the blood of dead animals with maggots..

In his life, there was no stopping, only moving forward..

[Really, it's amazing. Forty days and forty nights, neither eating nor drinking nor stopping..]

The shadow of an evil spirit appeared before Leon. The moment he was about to say more about what that was, Leon's sword cut him down..

The shadow dispersed and soon regained its shape, and the sound of gloomy laughter spread throughout the wilderness..

[Lionheart King, you cannot hurt me here. Because this is a place that neither your life nor the foresight of the gods can reach..]

Leon continued to cut down the shadow without stopping. If it doesn't cut, cut until it does. That is the life of a knight, the martial arts of a knight, and how a knight advances to victory..

It wasn't until a full day, hundreds or thousands of times later, that Leon caught his breath..

Even the demons who repeatedly scattered and gathered together in the meaningless attacks were sick of it..

[You must be hungry. You must be thirsty. Knight, if you are truly loved by the gods, how can you not ask for bread? Don't you ask for water to come down?.]

Where have the gods you believe in so much gone??

The devil's shadow smiled crookedly. Both his hands were held out..

There was bread and water. This is something that Leon, who wandered in the wilderness for 40 days and fought the devil's illusion for an entire day, desperately needed..

[weekend. I will quench your hunger and your thirst. you only need to do one thing.]

get down on one knee.

That's all it takes.

I am not asking you to submit, nor am I asking you to abandon your faith..

just one knee.

That's enough..

The devil looked at Leon, who was taking a tired breath with an expectant expression on his face..

By nature, humans cannot endure even if they starve for three days and nights..

Even those with noble will cannot last more than a week..

Now Leon has starved for forty days. Even though his body and mind were exhausted, he fought against illusions all day long..

It is the most powerful physical pain that is difficult for any adult to endure..

"······."

[Get on your knees! Then to you──!]

I couldn't continue the devil's words. For the sword he swung scattered his figurative mouth..

Immediately the demons reunited and tilted their heads..

[I don't understand. It's one knee. If you just got down on one knee, you would have been free from hunger and thirst..]

"It's so noisy. You guys always talked a lot."

Even in the midst of hunger and thirst, Leon's voice was clear and his blue eyes were clear and clean..

"It's the devil. You sour thing. Do you think that people live only on bread and water? My body is made up of not only blood and flesh, but also faith and beliefs.."

That's what makes me live.

[······.]

The devil realized that hunger and thirst could not subdue him..

Just!

The world changes with a cheerful sound.

It was a vast universe.

There were countless planets, and there was another world beyond the dimension..

""The greatest knight···!!""

There were countless knights and cheered for Leon..

The kings of the world bowed their heads towards Leon, and even the gods looked up at Leon and smiled..

Here he was emperor.

He was the supreme ruler and embodied god of a great empire that conquered many dimensions..

Not a demigod who was recognized and sublimated by the gods, but a living god who ascended on his own..

An absolute person who wields infinite power and strength.

The devil whispered in front of the ideal type that is worshiped and revered, and that humans' endless greed strives to achieve..

[hold my hand Take this hand and become our ally. Then you will have it all.]

Can't you see it? The possibilities of this infinite world?

You can be the master of countless dimensions.

You can become the most powerful being in the universe.

It will be possible. Even the devils will serve you as their monarch.

The devil's cunning hand was extended to Leon. Leon grabbed her wrist..

"It's noisy, you devil. Would I want to become an object of worship myself? Even if there is great power, if there is no trust, there is only endless suspicion to preserve one's position.."

In this infinite world, there is no end to the fence..

The devil's wrist was broken by Leon's grip..

Just!

It was a familiar place to Leon..

Lionheart's power. Shields with lion emblems decorate the castle, and officials are lined up on both sides of a golden carpet that only the Lionheart King and his royal family can walk on..

The queen's seat is empty on the throne where the Lionheart King and his queen will sit..

"Your Majesty, why?."

There was a woman who walked on a golden carpet.

The Grand Duke of the North, who resembles his mother and has black hair and intense red eyes after receiving a dragon's heart transplant..

Also the king's daughter.

"You could have saved my mother. Was the cause you chose over your one and only queen so important??"

A painful past. A daughter giving a reproachful look.

"You shouldn't have done that. Even if the whole world says you're right, you shouldn't accept it.."

The devil whispered in a painful memory. He seduced me with a sweet voice..

[You are the only human who can reach the paradise of the gods. Can't you at least reach the world of the dead?.]

bring your wife back to life.

How could the gods reject your wishes?.

Leon could do that. Leon deserved it. He accomplished a feat that allowed him to ask the gods to fulfill any wish he had..

However, rather than making a request to the gods, Leon viciously grabbed the whispering devil's neck..

"Satan the devil, are you telling me to go against nature? Are you telling me to abandon the nobility of life and the nobility of death? Are you telling me to destroy order with remonstrances like you??"

Jim is a knight of the gods, father of all people, and guardian of order..

The sleepy devil's neck hung limply..

The devil continued to test the Lionheart King.

I made him pass through an endless sea of ​​gold and jewels, but he didn't pick up a single coin.,

In the beautifully decorated banquet hall, a heavenly orchestra and gorgeous dancers danced, but no one paid any attention.,

There was a big white bed and maids singing with sweet voices next to it, but I didn't get a single ounce of rest..

Every time he forsook the temptation of corruption and took a stride forward, the devil's wrists were broken, his mouth was torn, and his legs were broken..

[······.]

The devil was sick of watching the blonde knight's unyielding journey..

How can a mere human being have such a strong spirit?.

Why don't you give in and not even compromise at all?.

Does that mean he has no need for survival, no need for self-respect, and no need for existence??

No, that can't be true. As long as it is a living thing, as long as it is a living thing, it cannot not exist..

This is a fundamental space made of the essence of pleasure and decadence..

The infinite energy and deep consciousness of the devil, created by the intertwining of all the emotions of ‘desire’ in the universe..

This is a place where any desire is fulfilled and therefore no being has any choice but to become corrupted..

[why······.]

"Are you curious??

Leon spoke for the first time. As if he were a winner, he looked down on the devil with his gaze looking down..

The devil let out a distorted voice in a contradiction where the positions of the tester and the tested were reversed..

[You are not the Lionheart King here. You are just a human here. All you have is a useless sword that doesn't even shine gold and a body.!]

However, what you have is the fundamental power of all life. The devil is the source of existence, created by emotions that have no choice but to pursue desires and hope..

The violence given to living things creates a lord of destruction.,

An infinite quest for knowledge creates a ruler of wisdom..

Amidst incomprehensible chaos, the Lord of Destruction appears.,

At the end of stinginess and greed, a ruler of greed is born..

"No, all you have is a meaningless tongue and the hope that I will be corrupted.."

Leon walked forward..

The devil took a step back..

Countless desires were overcome, countless desires passed by.

[Why? why don't you fall?]

Why... doesn't it become corrupted??

"Because Jim is Lionheart."

A knight with faith, a believer with faith,,

This is because it is a consensus that carries out the will of all free people, nobles, and knights..

Leon has something to say.

「The burden is the country..」

It was not a declaration born of any arrogance or desire to show off..

Lionheart is the kingdom of the gods and their followers..

One who embraces the honor of chivalry, the nobility of nobility, and the service of free people..

On horseback, you must see the wide battlefield with your eyes.,

Sit on your throne and look out over the kingdom and the world beyond,

You must protect the pantheon with swords and spears in front of the altar..

Therefore, the burden on Lionheart's shoulders is heavy and therefore noble..

[No, you are only human after all! I'm only mortal!]

The immortal demon did not recognize the immortality of mortals..

How can one acknowledge that the existence of someone who is no different from a newborn compared to the supreme demons who have lived for only three hundred years is bigger than their own world??

[Indulge in debauchery! Indulge in pleasure! Become engulfed in clouds and rain! In your strongest desires you will succumb!]

A declaration that may be laughable to the Lion-Hearted King, who has constantly overcome all his needs and desires up until now..

But this time it's different.

A being who has matured over the past hundred years and was able to become a monarch after being corrupted in a hundred years of great world..

[Realize what it means that I have made her my monarch.!]

A place where very beautiful and sensual boys and girls dance half-naked in the purple smoke..

At the end of the palace, where the primal instincts of the sweet body are stimulated.

"your majesty."

There was a bewitching woman who seemed to embody ‘beauty’ with an enchanting voice..

Beatrice Alighieri Spero.

A seductive woman with innate coquetry.

It makes even Leon inadvertently fall in love with its dizzying beauty.······.

"joy."

Leon walked past the joyous dancers and headed towards her..

Where Beatrice is. I went right in front of her bed..

A look of mean satisfaction appeared on the devil's face, but it only lasted for a moment..

-thud!

Pointing the holy sword to the floor, he leans on the hilt of the sword and looks down at her..

The clear and strong wall eye met the blurry and strange magnetic eye..

[What is your intention??]

Leon just stared at Beatrice..

Until she comes out of the dream on her own.

"Wake up from your dream. You are not the slave of your dreams, you are the master of your dreams."