The Knight King Who Returned with God-Chapter 21 The Hunting Spider (4)

"To charge into many foes alone with such valor—this Lionheart King commends you!"

"I grant you the honor of witnessing my royal face, and the glory of dueling with the Lionheart King himself. I permit you to face me, warrior!"

There was no need to interpret his words. Yakt Spinner, with machine-like honesty, simply aimed its railgun at the foolish cavalryman waiting idly for battle.

The slug, which had been aimed at Gil Taeseong, now surged with electromagnetic energy.

[Railgun acceleration timing set. Output: 13%.]

It had no choice but to conserve the limited energy in the save-cap capacitor. Still, against a human-sized target, that was more than enough.

There is no creature that could take a direct hit from this destructive electromagnetic cannon and survive. If one existed, it would be something otherworldly—something bearing a power beyond normal comprehension.

"Let us ride, my comrade!"

────!!

The stallion answered the call without hesitation.

Its four legs pounded the ground like a storm as it charged straight at its enemy.

The sight evoked memories of a moment in history:

A knight, lance in hand, riding into battle on horseback.

The ancient war machine that had once reigned supreme on the battlefield.

A relic of a past era, clad in glory, honor, valor, and power—rushing forward once again.

But flesh-and-bone war machines are nothing more than relics of a fallen age.

In a world where the job of "Hunter" has surpassed biological limitations, what meaning does the mass of a mere horse even have?

A physical weapon charging into a machine armed with super-heavy armor and ultra-high-speed cannons? Is there even a need to describe how foolish that is?

-BOOM!

The railgun fired at a speed the human eye couldn't track.

This is the fundamental difference between machines and biological weapons: the overwhelming long-range firepower. Leon surely knew this.

"A knight! Does not fall to cowardly long-range weapons!"

A divine aura burst from Leon's entire body, forming a thin veil in front of him.

-BOOM!

The slug collided with the veil—and was stopped. Incredibly, it was blocked by that flimsy-looking layer. No—more than just blocked.

The slug deflected, as if forcibly bent away by some unseen hand, and was flung aside.

"...?!"

For a split second, even Yakt Spinner's high-performance AI froze its calculations.

Its logic could not process the scene unfolding before it.

Yakt Spinner had hunted Hunters. It had witnessed magic. It had stored data on pathetic attempts to resist its main and auto-cannons using abnormal physical phenomena.

It understood that intangible forces called "arts" could exert physical effects.

But this was different. This wasn't about clash and resistance resulting in deflection or survival.

The attack had simply been rejected. There was no process—only the result.

The Divine Law: Blessing of the Holy Barrier.

Any ranged attack, no matter how powerful, is automatically reflected once. No exceptions.

A sacred technique any Grail Knight can deploy as naturally as breathing.

The miracle that defines humanity's strongest supernatural soldiers—Grail Knights.

A law that enforces a rule.

And now, a knight who effortlessly deflected a railgun's blast charged forward at a speed too fast to believe.

Fast.

The divine stallion kicked through shockwaves and fire, closing the distance to Yakt Spinner in an instant.

-BEEP!

The machine made its judgment.

The weapon the knight held was an outdated lance. Yes, his speed was impressive, but no matter how fast you are, the impact force of mass has a limit.

Unlike Hunters, who imbue their weapons with special energy like mana, this lance held no such force.

He was charging with nothing but pure physical strength and momentum.

Threat level: 0.

An attack not even worth responding to. At best, the lance would hit Yakt Spinner's legs and stop right there. In that case—

Execute optimal response. Endure the zero-damage lance charge, then crush the now-immobile threat with gatling fire.

The machine's logic made a choice it could never take back.

-THUMP!

-CRACK!!

The machine couldn't comprehend the situation.

If Sensor No. 3 hadn't recorded the sound of its leg being pierced,

if the auxiliary camera hadn't captured the image of its heavy armor at the joint being pierced like pudding,

then Yakt Spinner wouldn't have even hypothesized that the lance of that man could be the cause of the penetration.

Impossible.

Inconceivable.

The AI outright rejected the hypothesis. Naturally so—after all, the heavy armor protecting the joint wasn't something that could be broken by a lance charge, such an absurd, outdated tactic from a bygone era.

The framework of "common sense" built by science and physical law could not be transcended, even by relics of ancient civilizations.

But proving such things was not the machine's job—

Reality, when it hits, is the only proof needed.

-CRASH!

"...??!"

Yakt Spinner's joint staggered under the impact of the holy spear that had just struck it.

"Sturdy."

Information revised. Reanalysis initiated.

Logical analysis: impossible.

Understanding the physical phenomenon: incomprehensible.

Threat level forcibly raised.

Threat Level 5.

Only after reclassifying the enemy as a main battle tank-level threat did Yakt Spinner finally shift from offense to retreat.

An enemy it should have ignored or crushed now forced it to leap backward, even at the cost of joint damage.

One leg had been completely destroyed, and another joint was deformed, making balance unstable. But Yakt Spinner managed to put some distance between itself and the attacker. Its auxiliary joint began to move.

-SWISH!

A wire cutter lashed out like a whip. A deadly weapon that had split countless Hunters in half now swung toward Leon.

The wire whip moved at supersonic speeds, beyond what even Hunters—with their superhuman reflexes—could track.

But Leon's vision far surpassed any Hunter's. With a simple motion, he caught the wire around his spear.

Yakt Spinner pulled the wire, establishing a natural tug-of-war.

"Trying to out-muscle me? Interesting."

Leon gripped the holy spear and pulled the wire toward him.

-CRACK!

The auxiliary arm, designed only for clearing small debris or mines, couldn't withstand Leon's sheer strength.

-BOOM! BOOM! CRACK!

Having lost both its railgun and wire cutter, Yakt Spinner unleashed a mad barrage from its gatling gun.

Perched on a building rooftop, it focused all its suppressive fire on Leon. But the divine stallion, Stallion, broke through the bullet storm in a dazzling series of evasive steps.

-RATATATATATATA!!

Even though the shots were meant only as suppression, Leon still evaded the entire barrage with impossible agility.

In any case, the distance had been secured. The suppressive fire wasn't meant to hit—it was just to drive Leon back. That goal was achieved. Now, if it could fire the railgun again...

"────!!"

Suddenly, something tore through the air toward it. The sensors caught it in 0.02 seconds—it was Leon's spear.

Too late.

Before it could react, the spear penetrated Yakt Spinner's left brain module and smashed the railgun casing.

-SKREEEK! SKREEE!

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With half its sensors and its trump card destroyed, Yakt Spinner's joint calculations began to lag, and its limbs drooped. Even then, it continued suppressive fire.

Its only hope now was to prevent the enemy from approaching further.

Though it had sustained a mortal blow equivalent to a human's fatal wound, and its crushed joints squealed in agony—it sounded like a scream of rage or pain.

-SKREEEK! SKREEE!

Like something out of a cheap B-movie, the killer machine let out mechanical groans as it disappeared into the darkness of the sandstorm.

Inside the Hunter Camp, where the sandstorm still raged outside, only silence remained.

The attack of Yakt Spinner had caused massive casualties.

That intense sense of crisis had brought even the most individualistic Hunters together.

"How many dead?"

"Seventeen we could piece together. We couldn't count the ones crushed under the buildings."

"So, about thirty in total, then."

With a single strike, one-third of the Hunters in the camp had died.

If Yakt Spinner hadn't retreated, the casualties would've been even worse.

"Destroying the railgun... was a blessing in disguise, I guess."

Everyone turned their eyes toward one man. All of them had seen it. The man who single-handedly repelled Yakt Spinner—a monster in human form.

'...Who the hell is he?'

'There's no record of him, even in the latest data.'

'And he didn't even use magic or mana... Did he fight that monster with just physical strength?!'

There were many guesses, but nothing was certain. No theory could resolve the questions they had.

The only clear fact was that this man was the sole force capable of taking down Yakt Spinner alone.

"You're far stronger than I expected."

Hwang Geumcheol, having witnessed Leon's prowess, was now certain:

This man was a survivor. And not just any survivor—a monstrously powerful one.

'He might even be something beyond standard categories... like a Heavenly Demon or a Killing Star.'

If that were true, then he needed to cooperate with him thoroughly. As long as that man remained in Korea, the future of the country would inevitably revolve around him.

"..."

That was true for Hwang Yeonha and Gil Taeseong as well.

If it hadn't been for him, the damage from Yakt Spinner would have been far worse.

Especially for Gil Taeseong—his sense of urgency was growing.

"If you're willing, would you consider entering into a trade agreement with our Magic Tower? If you could just obtain the Jewel of Wisdom for us, we'd provide full support from here on──"

"How dull."

With just one sentence, Leon shattered every possibility.

"I had expected spellcasters and brutes of some strength... but it turns out you're all just mediocrities. The only one truly worthy of the title of knight is me."

There wasn't a shred of interest left in his eyes or expression. But his arrogance remained unshaken as he cast a scornful glance at the Hunters and mages.

"At the very least, come before me with the proper qualifications. It's no easy feat to stand face-to-face with me, the King of Knights."

Maintaining an air of pride and utter disdain until the end, he turned and walked away. Only the ponytailed swordswoman bowed quickly and rushed to follow him.

"Ah~ what a bizarre survivor we've got here."

Hwang Geumcheol gave a bitter chuckle, clearly at a loss for words. Gil Taeseong trembled with humiliation...

"Fuuuck... he's so goddamn cool."

Surprisingly, Hwang Yeon-ha looked at Leon with starry-eyed admiration, like a child.

Yakt Spinner, dragging its creaking joints behind it, entered the repair facility.

「Protect the seal. Do not allow anyone to approach.」

In all the years it had executed its "Highest Order," it had replaced worn-out parts from time to time, but never before had it been so thoroughly wrecked and mangled.

Yakt Spinner began carefully disassembling the bolts linking its now-useless joints.

-THUNK!

A joint dropped to the floor. No spare parts existed.

Yakt Spinner began searching through the remaining weapons and components stored in the facility.

Main weapon: unusable.

Standard rounds: 5.

Handmade rounds: 36. All designated for disposal.

Secondary weapon: 60mm autocannon, operational. Remaining ammo: 657 rounds. Requires manual crafting of additional ammunition.

Wire cutter: needs resupply.

Auxiliary joint: diagnosed as destroyed. Causes severe imbalance when used with weapons.

→ Auxiliary joint: discarded.

→ Main weapon: discarded.

It concluded that eliminating a Threat Level 5 with only its secondary armaments was impossible.

Threat Level 5—a rating reserved for enemy main battle tanks, attack helicopters, or Type-1 bio-weapons.

Yakt Spinner now assessed Leon as something beyond even a Type-1 bio-weapon. A new type of hostile entity not seen in the past thousand years.

How should it respond to an enemy more agile than itself, and with an unknown, overwhelming destructive power?

The AI independently compared combat effectiveness, ran simulations, selected the most viable tactical option, and executed it.

It began attaching modular robotic arms from the facility onto itself, using them to dismantle its own components one by one.

There was no need for the heavy armor that could withstand tank cannons. It removed it.

It didn't need legs built to bear such heavy loads. It removed two more of its remaining six legs. From the remaining ones, it stripped all but the minimum required armor.

It removed the remaining barrel and dedicated battery of the now-useless railgun. After discarding them all, the 100-ton multipurpose tank had been reduced to 46 tons.

With limited ammunition due to long-term resupply shortages, it turned instead to the debris it had collected from cities.

It resupplied with steel wires and attached additional maintenance robot arms. Yakt Spinner now looked nothing like its catalog blueprint.

Its legs were armored only enough to withstand rifle fire and small explosions.

Its joints were reduced to bare skeletal frames—but they were now light enough to support the new build.

It had lost firepower and defense—

but in return, it had gained terrifying mobility.

Through cold, mechanical logic, it had discarded every unnecessary part.

It was ready to take down its enemy.

And yet──

「Yaffy... thanks for protecting the city.」

A voice from an old, undeleted memory module continued to echo. Even now, it still played.