The Lion King 5

[Ahem. Mic test.]

A voice echoed inside the minds of the Alliance forces.

[Can you hear me? Is this working? Ah, you’re startled. I guess it’s working then.]

A playfully youthful boyish tone seemed to tap against that telepathic mana link experimentally like testing a microphone.

[Hello there, Lion King. It’s me, Satan. Long time no see?]

Vanguard Commander Satan.

This vocal transmission magic conveyed only his voice directly. Yet upon recognizing that name, the Alliance soldiers recoiled instinctively from his overwhelming presence.

[Tch, typical brats…]

“Have you come to conquer Muspelheim at long last then?”

[Huh!]

Satan exclaimed with unexpected excitement, clearly not anticipating the Lion King’s brusque response. Sneering with impish glee:

[Yeah! What other reason would I be here for?]

“After numerous failed attempts spanning decades, I had assumed you realized its futility. What compelled this sudden change of heart after lying dormant all this time?”

[What else? That guy standing right beside you.]

All eyes turned in unison towards where Satan’s implied.

Soldiers and generals alike stared directly at Doyun standing near the Lion King.

Doyun furrowed his brow perplexedly.

[Those previous boss monster slayers like Hwangbo Jun and Salamander… They creeped me out enough as is. But that rookie is on another level entirely – I heard he hadn’t even spent a full year since arriving through that planar portal?]

“Hmm! Our Alliance’s shining pride indeed!”

“…”

The Lion King’s gleeful boasts prompted Doyun to listen wordlessly instead.

‘He hasn’t recognized me yet it seems.’

Doyun wondered if Satan might identify him at this distance, relieved that he remained unrecognized for now.

[Still, as the Demon Lord’s supreme strategist… Letting this war drag out has been nothing but regrets. I was going to clean up those two creepy fuckers eventually, but never imagined they would leave behind even creepier successors…]

“Haha, you flatter them indeed.”

Referring to Hwangbo Jun’s disciple the Saint King alongside Salamander’s own son the Lion King himself.

[Well kudos to you. That’s why I realized that rookie was gonna become a huge problem if allowed to grow for another 5 years or so. You know what I mean? Whether he becomes another Enoch… No, a second Razvolnic basically. Not that it’ll ever happen, but just in case, you get me?]

[That’s why I came to wipe him out preemptively, before he potentially spawns demon slaying offsprings of his own like you did.]

Generals reacted with outrage at those insulting remarks denigrating the sovereign’s own lineage so brazenly.

“How dare you…!”

“That insolent cur…!”

However, the Lion King simply exhaled a heavyweight grunt laced with condensed mana:

“Hmm.”

Grooooong-

Stifling any further ruckus at once.

Doyun marveled inwardly at that brief exhalation saturated with sheer oppressive might behind those mana reverberations.

“…Hngh, Hmph!”

Perceiving the king’s implicit intentions, the generals retreated accordingly while the Lion King continued his exchange:

[Oh my, he’s quite the dashing young man, isn’t he? Maybe I’ll take him for myself given the chance?]

[Ghouls… If he succeeded with resurrection… Good, corpses and souls… Might have appeared… He really enjoyed that once upon a time…]

A sultry feminine voice slithered forth alongside eerily grating bone sounds.

Despite assaulting an ostensibly impregnable fortress, their casual discourse exuded overwhelming self-assurance regarding this invasion’s inevitable success.

Their conversation prompted visible discomfiture from Doyun however.

‘Ghouls failed at resurrection?’

The necromantic peerless Lich King Ghouls who had claimed Vuyskr’s very life – did that imply his resurrection initiatives had stalled altogether?

[This war dragged on way too damn long. If even I think it’s been going forever, just how insanely protracted was it really? If not for that fucking Razvolnic pest, I could’ve… We gotta end this now right?]

“Hmm! Indeed, we must end this conclusively.”

[Any final words before you inevitably die today then?]

Satan taunted brazenly. Yet the Lion King projected utter imperturbable nonchalance while surveying the battlefield with folded arms and that trademark avuncular demeanor.

Rather than any indignant outrage, he responded with a shockingly audacious proclamation instead:

“Surrender. Relinquish a single Vanguard Commander’s head and withdraw your forces – the Alliance would be amenable towards establishing a non-aggression treaty with the Demon Lord’s armies.”

“…!”

Stunned generals could only gape speechlessly at their sovereign amidst that ensuing silence.

[…]

No immediate response came from Satan’s side either, with that telepathic mana link quivering erratically as if conveying sheer unbridled fury instead.

[…You never did sit right with me, you insufferable bastard.]

Despite only vocal transmissions, his killing intent permeated palpably – soldiers and knights alike recoiling viscerally from those oppressive reverberations.

Satan raked elongated obsidian talons against empty space petulantly, leaving behind deep gashes suspended across shredded spatial rifts before that telepathic spell abruptly severed completely.

Lilith murmured from his side with apparent bewilderment:

“He does make those outrageous jokes often enough. What’s with this infantile tantrum now?”

“Shut your whore mouth.”

“Sheesh… Such a bipolar psycho truly.”

Lilith muttered jadedly about the apparent lack of sanity among any Vanguard Commanders whatsoever.

The Vagabond Hero chuckled genially while inquiring:

“Kehkeh. Your Majesty. With such unfavorable circumstances, why provoke our adversaries so?”

“Hmm. My sincerity simply failed conveying itself, it seems. Unavoidable I suppose.”

A parched breeze swept across those ramparts fluttering the Lion King’s cloak alongside waning amber sunsets cast in ominous silhouette.

“They refused my final ultimatum. Therefore I must claim at minimum two of their heads in turn.”

“Mmm…?”

The Vagabond tilted his head quizzically, for he perceived genuine conviction underlying the Lion King’s casual delivery despite his lingering placid countenance.

After a momentous pause laden with tension, the Lion King addressed his warriors directly:

“Which is why you shall be the ones exerting yourselves this time around.”

“Pardon?”

“I had declared confronting a couple Vanguard Commanders alone, but never anticipated four arriving altogether like so. At this rate, what dignity would I retain as your sovereign?”

His words implied some lingering ability to handle around two opponents single-handedly. Yet few present discerned those underlying suggestions accurately.

“So you must secure at least one Vanguard head for your king! Hmm!”

“Fuhuhu… Kehkehkeh…”

The Vagabond chuckled wryly in sheer disbelief before bursting into full laughter.

Thanks to the Lion King’s distinctive aura alongside mild domineering mana, that grim atmosphere lightened considerably – soldiers and generals momentarily forgetting their prior despair.

Yet now the true battle would commence imminently.

“Very well then…”

The Lion King, Doyun and warriors all faced forwards resolutely.

Their provocations had further aggravated the demonic monarch into visible agitation while those imp legions began stirring restlessly. The obsidian ocean rippled with ominous portents.

Simultaneously, crimson mana ignited within the Lion King’s blazing irises.

“Let us commence in earnest.”

Razvolnic Lion King

Razvolnic Vagabond

Razvolnic Heineken

Razvolnic Brudhild

Razvolnic Lei

And Enoch Razvolnic

That sextet of warriors gripped their respective weapons tightly.

Accompanied by the distant demonic overlord’s bloodcurdling roars dripping with murderous miasma:

“Kill those bastards aaaalll-!!”

[Grrrreeeeehhhhh-!!]

The opening act rose upon the Battle of Muspelheim destined to become enshrined throughout history’s annals forevermore.

Mana currents churned violently across the frontlines in staggering proportions shaking even veterans’ resolves to their core foundations.

An elemental grandmaster surpassing even dragonkind itself, Vanguard Commander Oz’s large-scale sorcery commenced first.

“That pattern… The mana storing ritual ‘Memorize’! The spells have already been prepared in advance enabling swift instantaneous deployment!”

“G-, Good heavens… Storing spells of such colossal magnitude within the Memorize technique is even possible?!”

“…Likely the enemy’s opening salvo shall represent their greatest magic throughout this entire war.”

Yet the Alliance possessed no viable countermeasures whatsoever. In the elemental realms alone, Oz transcended even draconic mastery – no methods to disrupt his spellcasting existed period.

The Vagabond marched forth steadily while tapping his staff against the ramparts in contemplation about first neutralizing those imp legions before the completed spells manifested.

Calling out from behind:

“Lei. You and I shall descend after the bombardment to handle tho…”

“Hold position.”

However, the Lion King’s heated command laced with resounding authority halted the Vagabond’s preparations outright.

“Stand by ranks.”

Gone were any vestiges of that former avuncular demeanor. Only a fully awakened sovereign charisma radiated forth as the Alliance’s paramount spearhead in the flesh.

The Lion King’s sovereign decree carried such overwhelming gravitas that defiance proved utterly inconceivable on a primordial level.

“…Understood.”

The Vagabond retreated compliantly back into formation alongside the others.

The Alliance held position without any visible countermeasures against neither the impending spellcasting nor those lurching imp hordes steadily encroaching.

Even after issuing those commands himself, the Lion King simply observed the unfolding events with folded arms pensively.

All gulped with trepidation upon witnessing their very doom materializing unstoppably before their eyes.

Yet none dared defy their sovereign’s decree under any circumstances whatsoever.

“The enemy’s spell nears completion!”

Oz’s spellcasting finished before those imp legions could fully reach the battlefield itself. Before those Vanguard Commanders, an immense formation manifested rivaling the setting sun itself in sheer enormity.

Azure blue hues – three overlapping intricate azure magic circles stacked atop one another in tandem.

From the initial azure glyph, an utterly colossal frozen icicle shaft manifested – truly gargantuan in unprecedented scales.

Passing through the second circle further reinforced its hardened glacial density alongside chilling sub-zero temperatures until arriving before that final circle poised for discharge.

Mages recoiled with dismay upon sensing that overwhelming mana magnitude:

“W-, We must intercept that somehow!”

“It shall obliterate the entire ramparts in a single blow! We must deflect or disrupt it no matter the cost!”

Sufficient firepower to demolish their fortifications in one horrific salvo.

Such feats had remained utterly unattainable even among Vanguard Commanders previously. Yet Oz too had accumulated further Systemic enhancements alongside his counterparts over this interim!

Even Doyun reacted with visceral alarm upon witnessing its prodigious might firsthand through his sensory perceptions. Not only its overwhelming power levels, but that sheer scale itself surpassing his [Manifest Blade]’s effective area of coverage entirely.

Doyun glanced towards the Lion King, awaiting his cue before considering intervening directly.

“…”

However, upon observing that side profile, Doyun refrained from any hasty actions.

‘No need for me to act afterall.’

Like the Lion King himself, Doyun calmly surveyed that impending sorcery alongside the others as Oz’s raspy exhalations echoed grimly:

That colossal glacial blast finally charged within the final circle poised for release representing the enemy’s opening offensive – and potentially this entire war’s most formidable magic. An overtly destructive large-scale demolition sorcery assailing their defenses head-on:

[Frost Titan Javelin Strike]

That gargantuan frozen spearhead elongating rapidly outwards unleashed alongside a shockwave-like tremor barreling forth with unstoppable momentum –

Yet even as that titanically scaled icicle javelin surged towards obliterating their ramparts, the Lion King remained utterly unperturbed throughout.

Merely his cloak alongside mane rippling intensely from the overwhelming mana discharges while crimson irises blazed with fiery incandescence.

“Hngh-!!”

The Lion King grunted powerfully while folding both arms across his chest in a resounding battlecry:

[Fire Spirit Arts: Spirit Unison – Aphrission]

An entire regional expanse erupted into brilliant conflagration all at once.