Chapter 165: Vulcanus’ Ambition
Before landing in Taiwan, the orders from Leon were simple.
Enjoy yourself.
Spend some money, meet the locals, and relax.
The order caught everyone off guard since they hadn’t heard much about Leon’s trip to Taiwan in the first place.
Why was he going to Taiwan now, at this time of year? No one knew for sure, but it seemed clear that Leon was planning to do something here.
“Lord Vulcanus. Here’s some fried chicken wings— Yikes, did you break a chair again?!”
Ha-ri was horrified to see Vulcanus sitting on one of the chairs outside the shop and smashing it.
“How many are there, and you’re just standing there?”
“Hmph—, the chairs are weak!”
Vulcanus’ plea fell on deaf ears: his gigantic size alone barely exceeds standard weight, and his armor is made entirely of stardust, so there’s no way the chair could hold up.
“Why don’t you at least take off the armor, it’s intimidating to the citizens.”
“Hmm? No, I just took a selfie. I was quite popular.”
“Really?”
It was then that a tourist who had been hanging around Vulcanus approached him and asked for a photo.
“Mr. Vulcanus. Can I have a picture with you?”
Vulcanus responded to the French-looking woman’s request in a jovial tone.
“Of course, se?orita!”
“Oh, that’s Italian.”
“That’s right, GRARARARA──!!”
Vulcanus took a picture with the woman with a boisterous laugh. Ha-ri was dumbfounded at the sight.
“What, what is it?”
Vulcanus flicked something from inside his armor and pulled out a smartphone.
In his hulking hands, the smartphone looks tiny, even though it’s clearly the largest smartphone of the current generation.
-Click, click, click!
Vulcanus skillfully taps his smartphone to access his social media accounts. At first glance, he has a lot of followers.
“What is this?”
“It’s an account we created to extol the virtues and teachings of our Order. Here is the account of Her Majesty the Queen, High Priestess of Dreams and Death.”
It’s no secret that Beatrice is quite adept with modern technology.
In fact, she can get likes from all over the world for a selfie of herself wearing nothing but cotton wool all day, with just a hint of her eyes showing through.
Beatrice, the otherworldly queen of magicians and fearsome beauty, has put this to good use, promoting the TTG Temple.
“Oh, Lord Laihar man has arrived. Let’s see.”
But Beatrice was an intellectual everywhere she looked.
She was a woman of innate knowledge and intelligence. She debunked dozens of magical theories put forth by the high mages of the Tower.
But Vulcanus had never——
He was a very impressive human being.
First of all, the ferocity in his searing gaze alone made Ha-ri freeze like a frog in the presence of a snake.
The moment she made eye contact, she instinctively realized that this man was far more powerful than she was.
His overwhelmingly large presence filled her vision.
Beyond being a Holy Knight or the War God’s rider, Vulcanus would have accomplished something great even if he hadn’t become a member of the pantheon.
Ha-ri understood that he was a giant who would be at the center of history.
“Small, small, Mr. Petos, how fitting that you made such a poor little girl your priestess!”
She almost fell backwards at the sound of his boastful voice.
[She’s a sinful dwarf by your standards.]
Petos gives him a look, but Vulcanus doesn’t seem to mind, just chuckles.
“First of all, Lord Han Ha-ri, you need to grow some height, chest, and ass!”
“Sexually harassing me five minutes after we met?!”
Vulcanus makes a questioning gesture at the stunned Ha-ri.
He pounded his massive head and emphasized the pectorals of his chest, then turned around to show off the muscles of his back and his ungainly ass.
“Big height! Big boobs! Big ass!”
She wondered, was this really not sexual harassment?
Anyway, ever since that shocking first meeting, Ha-ri had perceived Vulcanus as a rather savage macho knight.
A big, burly knight who looked like he was about to dagger a huge, meaty steak, lift it up, and shout, “No one is going to stop me,” and then──
“I’m a social media star on a smartphone, and I’m better at it than even His Majesty!
Compared to the Lion King, who showed no signs of getting used to modern culture no matter how much he was educated, Vulcanus was skillfully utilizing modern advantages.
“Hmph— not enough fire. Lack of divinity.”
Vulcanus, who was in the midst of socializing and eating fried rice with chicken wings, expressed such a complaint.
“What?”
Lack of flavor is one thing, but lack of divinity? Before Ha-ri could say anything, Vulcanus was already in action.
-Kaaaaaah!
-Kaaaaaah!
-Fire!
The onlookers were stunned by the sudden burst of flame. Whether they realized it or not, Vulcanus’ fingers, the source of the fire, scorched the fried chicken wings Ha-ri had brought.
He used a flame of divinity that burns demons to the bone to heat up street food.
“Mmm! Just right!”
Vulcanus looked at the cooked chicken wing fried rice with satisfaction. He took off his helmet and ate it in one bite.
[That bastard, wasting his holy power again!]
Petos gritted his teeth at the wanton waste of holy power.
[Ha-ri, my nymph, have a word with that ignoramus!]
“What, me?”
Ha-ri glanced at Vulcanus, and immediately looked fed up.
He’s well over two meters tall, and he moves effortlessly in hundreds of kilograms of stardust armor that looks like it weighs a ton, and his bare neck and arms are covered in bundles of muscle that look like they’re made of steel.
He could strangle a giant with his bare hands, and his searing gaze was unrealistically intense.
Even if he had been a commoner, not a knight or hunter, he had a presence she wouldn’t have dared to contend with—what was she supposed to do against a Vulcanus who had forearms as thick as her waist?
“I can’t——.”
[Ha-ri—!]
Ha-ri spontaneously lowered her head, and Vulcanus laughed heartily and patted her on the shoulder.
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
Her shoulder blades feel like they’re being crushed by the palm of his hand.
“Lord Vulcanus—! More than that! Was it because of you— that Lord Petos’ holy power was cut off last time?!”
“Hmm?”
Ha-ri said, referring to the incident where Lord Petos’ holy power was suddenly depleted during the Great Gate Crisis.
Ha-ri had been able to utilize the power of Poma, but the other knights had had a hard time.
“Ah, that’s what happened. Hmm, it’s all because Petos wasn’t as good as he used to be. I can’t believe he’s so depleted after a divine descent.”
[Me, me, me—!]
Petos’ voice trembles as if he’s suffering from apoplexy. He’s probably grabbing the back of his head as well.
“Divine Descent ——.”
“You know that, too? I don’t think your lordship taught you that on purpose.”
“Yes–I have seen it.”
Antoine, Holy Knight of the Iron and Blacksmiths and Isabelle, High Priestess of the Moon and Purity,
Gillingham, Holy Knight of Sky and Thunder and Loxley, Holy Knight Sun and Judgment.
Each of them, in their final moments, became one with the Gods in the Divine Descent.
Vulcanus had no qualms about using the Divine Descent as a final self-destruct.
If there is a human being capable of such a thing——.
“I don’t think it’s possible for anyone but you’re his Majesty.”
“Certainly not, for even the Lionheart Kings of old could not contain more than three gods.”
The current Lionheart King, Leon Dragonia Lionheart, is the pinnacle of history, Vulcanus affirmed.
“This is the realm of pure talent. The miracle of ‘representing the gods’ cannot be contained in a human vessel, it overflows.”
Vulcanus used Jerea as an example.
“Sir Jerea left a legacy of noble spirit and feats as a Holy Knight, but he was not capable of the Descent.”
The other Holy Knights could barely last a dozen minutes after the Descent.
“So you’re saying that His Majesty is full of talent?”
“Yes! I, Vulcanus, am a freak of history, and he, my lord, is an even bigger freak than I am!”
If it weren’t for Ha-ri, who had witnessed Leon’s fighting prowess, she would have denied it in the face of Vulcanus’ overwhelming presence.
Ha-ri’s golden eyes widened as Vulcanus continued.
“And you also have talent.”
“Me?”
“As you may have vaguely guessed, Han Ha-ri, you are already capable of channeling the power of two gods, which is proof that you are a natural vessel of divinity.”
“Ah, no. I just happened to be lucky──”
Vulcanus pointed a thick thumb at Ha-ri’s sternum, her heart, to be exact.
“You said you had a Heart of Fire transplanted from Isabel, and this is proof.”
Ha-ri looked down at her heart.
In the Lionheart Kingdom, Ha-ri inherited two holy items from Isabelle.
One was a bracelet called the Heart of the Sea, left by Manon, the Holy Knight of the Sea and Waves, and the other was──
“The Orc Undertaker, Duke of Renault. The Heart of the First High Priest of War and Flame.”
A legendary saint who, along with the first King Lionheart and the first Grand Duke of Dragonia, laid the cornerstone of the kingdom.
They each left their power in the form of a “heart.”
“The Lionheart, the greatest and most all-powerful, was implanted in His Majesty, and the Dragonheart, the fiercest and most ferocious, belongs to His Majesty–nay, to Archduke Karina.”
And the one remaining, the Fire Heart of the Duke of Renault.
“Your Heart of Fire is the most intense founding flame of all. It is a holy relic, a symbol of the Knights Templar, worshiped and honored by the Order of the Burning Sword.”
“It’s that awesome——.”
Ha-ri looked bitter at the realization. Sure, the items taken from the Gate were perfect ‘reproductions’ of it, but they were just as much a part of it as the real thing, just another copy.
“But you are not using the Heart of Fire properly.”
“Is that so?”
This is why I was promoted to an S-class Hunter. And yet, it’s not enough?
“It is an artifact that produces its own holy power, just like the Lionheart. Even if I had squeezed out all of Mr. Petos’ meager holy power, you, with the Heart of Fire implanted, would have produced enough.”
“Is that so?”
Vulcanus chuckled. Apparently, it was up to him to raise this new girl to be the next Holy Knight.
“Well, since there can’t be two Holy Knights, I’ll try to become a Holy Archduke or something.”
[There is no such title!]
“Uh-huh, Mr. Petos. To be honest, I’m not quite the same as the other Holy Knights, so I’m sure there’s room for a new position for me. Mmm—! Yes!”
Vulcanus slapped his knee with a bang, the light gesture creating a gust of wind and causing the tourists around him to scream.
“A king! Yes, a king! I’ve always wanted to play king one day!”
[No, this guy?! Blasphemy!]
Ha-ri and Petos are horrified that Vulcanus would say the word king, which in an absolute monarchy is tantamount to treason.
Only Vulcanus nonchalantly blurts out his treasonous words.
“I am the Holy King, and His Majesty is the Lionheart King.”
“Uhhh——”
Ha-ri wanted to tell him that something was wrong, but Vulcanus quickly pulled out a tourist map and scanned the terrain across Taiwan.
“Lord Ha-ri, this country called Taiwan, how big is it in terms of the world?”
“About——”
The tourist map didn’t do it justice, so Ha-ri pulled up a world map on her smartphone and pointed to Taiwan’s location.
“This is the island of Taiwan, where we are now.”
“Mm—! And South Korea?”
“Uh-huh.”
Ha-ri pointed to the location of South Korea, and Vulcanus went──
“grararararara──!!”
He let out a booming roar that caused a ripple in the air with its volume alone.
“Small! Small! Small enough to contain the magnificent power of the Lionheart, when the world is so vast!”
The sound of the Vulcanus held a kind of endless anticipation, almost too much for the souls of mere mortals to bear.
Do Ha-ri and the other tourists realize that Vulcanus’ distinctive cackle is a downgrade ordered by the Lionhearted King to reduce the volume of his magnificent voice.
He was the one who had burned away the magic of the Archduke Glacier with the flames of his sexual power alone.
“Okay, okay, this is China first, we’ll take it and march westward, and once we’ve founded the Lionheart Empire, we’ll take the best of it and make it ours, but for now, let’s save this place called Taiwan for a vacation home!”
It was a crazy idea for a 21st century war of conquest, but Vulcanus was determined to put a statue of himself in the center of this Taiwanese land.
“Oh, no! War is—!”
Ha-ri protested at the horrible sound of world domination, but Vulcanus was determined.
“Ahem! The nations of the culprits are corrupt and self-indulgent in the first place, and look what happened when our Lionheart authorized the Empire instead of conquering the world, and the result is the decay of the Empire!”
In Vulcanus’ view, the Empire and the other kingdoms rose because the Lionheart did not conquer, because it did not seek to expand unnecessarily.
The Lionheart saw other nations as objects to be educated and taught, not conquered and dominated.
“Pe, Petos, stop him!”
Ha-ri desperately clutched at the threads of reason and called out to Petos. Vulcanus was the most godless Holy Knight she’d ever seen, but wouldn’t he listen to Petos?
[Good, you’re talking a good game for once, and you’re worth a throne when you’re done with the Great War’s task of conquering the world.]
“That’s right, a war god!”
Petos, the god of war and fire. In terms of loyalty, he’s the god most similar to Vulcanus!
“Lord Poma —!”
Ha-ri’s prayers were now directed to Poma, but he was also-──
[Speaking of the Global World, it would be easy to conquer it if I just blocked the sea routes, the Mediterranean Sea is so fine and good, I’ll set up my statue there].
‘These people, they were not only medieval people, they were medieval gods!’
There’s no such thing as love and peace!
Ha-ri changed the subject to stop this barbaric medieval worldview from progressing.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what were you thinking letting us loose?”
Ha-ri had been warned beforehand that there would be a Demon Archduke of Pleasure and Decadence here.
Ha-ri had been warned that there would be a Demon Lord of Pleasure and Corruption here, so she expected to go straight to the demons, but Leon’s behavior was not at all what she expected.
“Well, I’m sure my lord has something in mind.”
“I’m sure he does, he’s got such an image——”
Ha-ri couldn’t say yes because the image of charging in and smashing everything was strongly implanted in her mind.
Looking at Ha-ri, Vulcanus smiles meaningfully.
“Well, well, well, Lord Ha-ri, have you not seen the other side of your master?”
“Another— side?”
“His Lordship is as honorable and just a knight as any knight has ever been, but He is also a cunning and cruel man— beyond the imagination of any knight.”
“What?”
Vulcanus recalled what was now a memory.
Once upon a time, when he was a berserker wielding the power of an evil god, there had been a ‘King of Terror’ who had struck him down and smashed him with his millions of barbarians thirteen times.
A war horseman of the highest order, favored by the God of War above all others.
That was the Lionheart King of the Age.
He became a symbol of victory, or in other words, he would do anything to win the war.
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