174. a new era of war
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After meeting with the child, Doyoon continued to ride a horse in the middle of the procession to the castle. However, his eyes looking at the citizens around him were quite different from before.
Feeling this, Dokgo Moo-young smiled happily.
Soon, Doyun arrived at the royal castle.
When he returned, the waiting knights lined up on both sides of King’s Road in front of the castle.
Each one was a knight of the Royal Guard, clad in glittering armor. They were the ones who were pushed out of the competition by the knights escorting Doyoon.
The last war left many scars on the coalition, and one of them was the reduction of the power of the Apostles.
More than half of the infantry fighting against the imps were apostles. It was too much power to degenerate into a meat shield, but it couldn’t be helped because it was a fierce war.
Surprisingly, however, the void was quickly filled. It was thanks to Doyoon’s existence and his growth buff.
The knights stamped one foot in iron armor all at once, pulled out the swords from their waists, and raised them neatly in an oblique line.
Crunches!
Sreung-!
All of the movements were made like pictures without a single error.
As a knight of the royal family, holding a ceremony to welcome a high-ranking official is not a very welcome task. However, their eyes were full of will and vitality. Those who served Doyoon were truly honored at this moment.
Besides, the momentum itself was much better than six months ago. It was thanks to Doyoon’s buff.
Doyun’s growth buff was applied to all continents. The Alliance’s warriors have grown rapidly over the past six months.
It was not just a simple increase in growth rate. Even the top apostles who had stopped growing showed remarkable growth, with their full potential expanded by 20%. For six months, a fever for training blew across the continent.
In addition, the existence of a central point called Enoch spurred them on. Everyone polished themselves, hoping to be used as his sword.
A military band came out of the castle gate and lined up. Boo-! They blew a fanfare.
“Whoa…”
Doyoon sighed. No matter how much you try, the royal family always made a fuss like that.
Between the knights and the military band, the Lion King stepped out. Since it was in front of Doyun, there was no cry to announce the king’s coming. It was oppression.
The distance between the two narrowed, and Doyoon stood in front of the Lion King.
“Did you enjoy the journey?”
The Lion King bowed his head and said.
Doyoon nodded and said as if he was troubled.
“Other people don’t know, but the king shouldn’t be like this. Even a warrior cannot be on the throne.”
“Heh heh heh.”
However, the Lion King just laughed kindly, as if Doyoon’s reaction was rather funny.
Enoch of the past, even in the position of the strongest in the alliance, was courteous to the kings. Of course, the kings were embarrassed to deal with him, but there was nothing like using honorifics against him. Because that’s what a king is.
However, the current generation of kings all used the honorific to Doyun. Whenever he toured the continent, he would come out to meet him and kneel before everyone in front of him.
There was a huge difference in status and dignity between Enoch in the past, who would ‘defeat’ the demon king, and Doyun now, who had ‘defeated’ the demon king. But kneeling down was too much.
This was due to the presence in front of his eyes, the Lion King’s virtue… No, it was largely to blame.
“Enoch is unity itself, the heaven of unity. Even if he is a king, he is a being who looks up to heaven after all. Well!”
“…”
As if he deliberately asked the people around him to listen, he said it with all his might.
Right after the war ended, all the warriors, including the Lion King and the King Seong, had kneeled before Doyun without any hesitation.
This was significant in that it was a courtesy to a simple pronoun. It was the knee of the two strongest kings, and the Lion King, who is also called the King of Union.
Here was the lion king’s calculation.
In war, the ‘center’ is very important. It affects every aspect of the chain of command, morale, identity and the justification for war.
So far, the alliance has put forward a great man named Enoch as the spiritual center, and the Roosevolnic Lion King, who succeeded his will, as the institutional and armed center.
But now that Enoch himself has appeared, if the Lion King tries to stand above him, it will only bring confusion to the union. Because Enoch is union itself and sacrosanct.
Because of this, the Lion King decided to solidify the inside by solidifying Doyoon as the center.
Kneeling with respect to Do-yoon was not just simple respect, but an act based on thorough calculations for unity.
In fact, his strategy worked very well. Even the scenery around them right now, no one was frowning at the image of the Lion King respecting Doyoon.
“Eat it as a castle, and get rid of travel poisoning.”
“…Yes. Come on in.”
Of course, such treatment was quite burdensome, even for Doyoon.
Entering the castle, Doyoon sat face to face with the Lion King and had a conversation.
The Lion King did not dare to look down on Doyun from the throne, so they always talked in the guest room.
The Lion King asked as he raised his teacup.
“Have you made up your mind?”
“…Yes.”
Doyun looked down at the still tea water.
The prophecy was negative. And the prophecies of that inspiration can never be defied. At least that’s how it was until now.
but can’t shake Anyway, on the continent, there is only salvation or destruction.
As before, it was always just running forward.
“The Union goes north.”
Doyoon’s eyes were golden.
“It is safe to say that the inside of the castle stone is now safe. Because the enemy took a lot of damage. They will not be able to write numbers on the inside of the Holy Stone until at least 100 years have passed.”
“It’s all thanks to Enoch.”
After the Lion King sipped his tea, he opened his mouth again.
“If so, how was the previous negotiation?”
There was no change in expression on his face.
It is a story that has been shared several times before. He also did not sincerely wish for negotiations to end the war.
It was just a process of reaffirming everyone’s will before the final execution.
Doyun shook his head, and the Lion King smiled at his resolute appearance.
“There are no previous negotiations.”
“Now, you will be able to get a lot from the demon king army.”
“Peace lasts only 100 years. These guys are the Demon Lords. When his strength is restored, he will plan to conquer the continent again.”
“The continent has lost a lot in the long war.”
“That is why we must end the war. A complete end to the war, not shady negotiations.”
There was not an inch of shaking in Doyoon’s voice.
“Now the Demon King’s army is at its most weakened since the new Demon King emerged.”
Two corps commanders are dead, and the place of Shinigami is vacant. In addition, the enemy consumed a lot of strength in this war. It was because of the entry of the four corps commanders into the Holy Stone and the descent of the Demon King.
Crucially, Doyun’s final blow wounded the Demon King.
“Coalitions, on the other hand, are strong.”
King Seong’s left arm was cut off. The Lion King suffered permanent scars in his blood vessels. Many of the apostles died, and much money went into rebuilding the walls.
But there is Enoch. That fact alone, the coalition was still strong.
This was the only chance to end the war.
“I will end this war. Just like it was 100 years ago.”
The coalition advances north toward the Devil Castle.
After decades of stagnation in the war, war clouds fell over the continent again.
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At the training ground in Muspelheim, Doyoon and Luna’s swords moved at an invisible speed.
Doyoon calmly accepted her twin swords and thought.
‘Really… Luna also uses a loose ball.’
The two daggers each drew a loose ballistic trajectory.
This was clearly revealed in the last war. Demon King and Luna also use Doyoon’s technique.
However, in the case of Luna, it was impossible to implement the Busker style or the Hecleos style. Unlike the Demon King, she is the saint of Thanatos, so it must mean that her blood on the Shinigami side is comparatively thicker.
The demon king, who was born with Roosevolnik’s last name, had Do-yoon’s blood.
how did this happen what happened to the two of you?
And how should Doyoon respond to the demon king who has his own power?
“…”
He swung his sword as he sorted out his complicated thoughts.
Luna felt a change of heart in the eyes of her father exchanging swordsmen, and put a little circumstances in her hands. Although she is an icy woman, she used to show delicacy in dealing with her father.
‘It’s a strange feeling to be watching swordsmanship like this.’
The loose ballnik style is a swordsmanship that does not have tradition in mind.
The swordsmanship and taijutsu of the geniuses he met during his 200-year return. A swordsmanship with extreme practicality that synthesized only its merits and specialized it to his body through meticulous calculations. That’s the loose ballnik style. It was different from the Busker style, in which swordsmanship itself was academic and philosophical.
So, just like the Hecleos formula, only he could use the Rouge Volnik style.
However, Luna and the Demon King, who are believed to have inherited Enoch’s blood, used the swordsmanship.
A martial art that can only be mastered by oneself and cannot be inherited. As I was guiding it to the being in front of me, I truly realized that she was the successor, that she was my son. Emotions… it tickled me.
The battles that had been exchanged like a storm gradually slowed down, leaving sword scars all over the training ground. Soon, the two stopped their swords and stood still, facing each other.
After the sparring, Doyoon, who had been looking at Luna silently, reached out and stroked her hair.
Luna, who almost flinched for a second, tried to keep her feet in place. I felt the texture of my head.
“…”
“…”
Her expression was still grim. However, he did not avoid Doyoon’s touch. Doyoon smiled inwardly at that appearance.
‘When the war is over… I’d like to have another daughter.’
Looking at her, I used to think of such thoughts these days.