Chapter 207
An existence impossible to oppose.
That was exactly how the awakened felt as they witnessed Zeon’s overwhelming might.
The sight of hundreds of orcs being swept away by a sandstorm and instantly turned into blood sand delivered a tremendous shock to them.
Even being struck on the back of the head with a sledgehammer wouldn’t have been this shocking.
No matter how strong an awakened was, they could not withstand the sheer numbers of magical beasts.
Even Urtian, who led the Red Storm Brigade, was powerful—but if he were to fall among that many orcs, he would inevitably lose his life.
That was the common sense of the world they knew. But Zeon’s power completely denied that very logic.
Even Eloi, who already had some idea of Zeon’s true capabilities, couldn’t help but shake her head in disbelief.
“That insane human! He completely ground the orcs into dust.”
She, too, felt chills run down her spine.
The scene she had just witnessed was that shocking.
Just imagining what would have happened if she had been caught in that sandstorm made her shudder.
‘Even I… if I’d been swept up in that storm, I would’ve turned into blood sand just like the orcs. That kind of skill… from a human? That makes no sense. Just what rank is he?’
He was a being on an entirely different level.
Estimated rank: at least S-class.
That was the conclusion Eloi reached in that moment.
She bit her lip until it bled. That was how shaken she was.
“Kwaaaah! Human!”
If not for Ashanka’s furious roar at that moment, Eloi and the other awakened might have stood there in a daze indefinitely.
Snapped back to their senses by his roar, they realized the battle wasn’t over yet.
Whoosh! Whum!
Ashanka swung his war hammer with terrifying force.
His eyes were bloodshot.
He had just witnessed his subordinates being turned into blood sand in an instant.
“How dare… How dare a mere human…!”
Though he was fighting Urtian, his gaze was fixed on Zeon.
Even in the midst of battle, he had seen everything Zeon had done.
Watching hundreds of orcs turn into blood sand in a single moment had shaken even Ashanka.
Any being with even a shred of reason would have felt fear.
But Ashanka was an orc.
He knew how to turn fear into rage—and use it as fuel.
Kuuuu!
The aura emanating from Ashanka surged explosively.
“Ghk!”
Urtian, who had been fighting him evenly until now, was momentarily pushed back.
With his explosively increased strength, Ashanka pressed the attack.
“Out of my way, human!”
Boom! Boom!
His war hammer fell like a torrential downpour.
Urtian blocked every strike with his shamshir, but he couldn’t completely disperse the impact.
Even among cold weapons, a war hammer and a shamshir were on entirely different levels of destructive power.
A war hammer concentrates all its force into a single point—its destructive power was something a shamshir simply couldn’t compare to.
And it wasn’t lacking in mobility or speed either.
Ashanka’s monstrous strength allowed him to swing the massive weapon as lightly as a toothpick.
He tried to push past the obstructing Urtian and charge toward Zeon—but Urtian couldn’t allow him to rampage freely.
No matter what, he had to deal with Ashanka himself.
He believed that any group could only be maintained if its leader possessed overwhelming charisma.
If he showed weakness here, not only the Red Storm Brigade but even the residents of the Iron Fortress might begin to doubt his leadership.
To prevent that from happening, he had to defeat Ashanka.
“I didn’t want to reveal my trump card here… but I have no choice.”
Urtian drew out every last bit of mana he had left. As he did, the surrounding air resonated with his mana and began to tremble.
Wooooong!
After crossing over to Earth, the elves had lost many things.
They had lost their spirits, and much of their unique magic had vanished.
The greatest loss was their noble pride and purity.
Elves were no longer truly elf-like, and they had been too tainted by the world to speak of purity anymore.
It had been an unavoidable choice for survival.
Elves betrayed one another, stole food, and abandoned their own children.
Urtian was one such abandoned elf.
To survive, he had done anything—and in the process, he awakened his hidden ability.
Magic.
Not something trivial like Wind Cutter used for harassment—but true magic.
The problem was that using this magic would leave him bedridden for at least a month due to the backlash.
That was why he had refrained from using it even when fighting Iji-ryeong, an S-class.
But now was not the time to calculate and hesitate.
Now was the time to pour everything he had into it.
“Hyaaah! Wind Spiral Spear!”
In an instant, spears of wind formed behind his back.
The wind-forged spears spun violently.
Whiiiiiing!
Spears of wind rotating at terrifying speed.
Naturally, their destructive power was on a completely different level from ordinary magic.
They consumed massive amounts of Urtian’s mana.
And there wasn’t just one or two.
A full twenty wind spears spun behind him, awaiting his command.
“Go!”
At his will, the Wind Spiral Spears shot forward with terrifying force.
Ashanka, too, concentrated his aura into his war hammer and unleashed his own skill.
“Explosion of Death!”
The aura gathered in his hammer detonated right before him.
BOOOOM!
The full-powered skills of orc and human collided midair, creating an even greater explosion.
Rumble!
The underground cavern shook violently, as if it might collapse at any moment from the immense impact.
“Boss!”
“Damn it!”
The awakened stared wide-eyed at the clash between Urtian and Ashanka.
Because of the thickly rising dust and flames, nothing could be seen. Ashanka and Urtian continued fighting within the fire.
The explosive sounds coming from within the flames proved it.
BOOM!
One final, especially massive explosion erupted—and then, as if it were a lie, all sound vanished.
“Lord Urtian!”
Deborah was the first to rush toward where Urtian had been fighting.
Urtian was on his knees, coughing up blood in heavy gulps.
His condition was horrific.
His chest, struck by the war hammer, was caved in, and his shoulder and leg were broken, hanging limply.
His entire body was soaked in blood—it was a miracle he was still breathing.
Standing before him was Ashanka, who had gone berserk.
Ashanka’s condition was far better than Urtian’s.
He had almost no visible wounds, to the point that it was hard to believe he had just fought such a fierce battle.
But there was one injury.
His chest.
A long, slender blade pierced straight through it—
Urtian’s shamshir.
Ashanka bared his yellowed teeth and spoke.
“Kh… So… you were a swordsman…?”
“That’s right, you filthy orc.”
“To think… this Ashanka… would die to a mere elf…”
Ashanka’s massive body staggered.
Urtian’s shamshir had pierced his heart.
No living being could survive with their heart destroyed.
Ashanka was no exception.
Thud!
He dropped to one knee.
Even in that state, Ashanka glared at Urtian.
“This isn’t the end… just because you’ve killed me. Human! Our orcs never forgive those who kill young orcs. The Great Chieftain… will avenge me… and the younglings.”
“So the Great Chieftain has been born after all.”
“He… is far stronger… than me… He will wipe out… all humans… on Earth…”
The light faded from Ashanka’s eyes.
And yet—he smiled.
That expression sent a chill down Urtian’s spine.
Thud!
At last, Ashanka’s breath ceased, and he collapsed.
“Waaah!”
“We won!”
“We killed all those filthy pigs!”
Cheers erupted everywhere.
The awakened and the residents who had defended the fortress cried out in victory together.
Ashanka had been the last orc.
All the others had already been slain by the awakened.
The streets were filled with orc corpses, but no one cared—they were too busy celebrating their victory.
Zeon returned to the fortress and watched the scene.
Though his help had made it possible, they had still managed to protect their home.
They fully deserved to enjoy this victory.
“Hyung!”
“Zeon!”
“Man… I’m dead tired.”
Levin, Brielle, and Eloi gathered around him.
Their bodies were stained red with orc blood, but their expressions were as bright as everyone else’s.
Zeon asked them,
“Are you all okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Just a few minor injuries.”
“I’m okay! But I’d like to rest a bit.”
Eloi let out a sigh and plopped down where she stood. Levin and Brielle immediately sat beside her, as if they had been waiting.
The three leaned against each other and rested, and Zeon sat down beside them.
“That was quite the storm.”
“It’s not completely over.”
“You mean the Great Chieftain?”
“Yeah. Now that an Orc Great Chieftain has emerged, this place is no longer a safe zone.”
The one who had sent an orc army to avenge the young orcs.
Now that even the forces he had dispatched were wiped out, it was obvious what he would do next.
He would either send another army—or in the worst case, come himself.
Even Urtian, the strongest awakened in the Iron Fortress, had struggled against Ashanka.
No one knew what abilities the Great Chieftain possessed, but he was certainly stronger than Ashanka.
Moreover, Urtian was now gravely injured.
If the Great Chieftain attacked now, not only Urtian but every living being in the Iron Fortress would be wiped out.
The Iron Fortress was a cradle of new life.
A place where humans, elves, and half-breeds could live together.
They couldn’t allow such a place to be trampled and destroyed by orcs.
“I suppose I’ll have to meet this Great Chieftain myself.”
Whether dialogue would be possible… was another matter.
—
In Kurayan, most elves had lived in forests.
The Forest of Munsi, which did not permit human footsteps, had been their strongest shield.
Within the vast forest, the elves maintained their purity and prospered.
They believed they could preserve their purity and nobility forever.
But that confidence shattered the moment they crossed over to Earth.
On the desertified Earth, elves could no longer maintain their purity.
The lush forests that protected them were gone, and fruits they could pluck at will no longer existed.
Before hunger, no one could endure.
Starving, the elves began to eat meat.
Perhaps because of that, their dispositions gradually became more aggressive.
The elves who adapted to the desert became warriors.
They built villages in the desert and survived by hunting magical beasts.
They wore clothes made from beast hides and ate their flesh.
People came to call them Desert Elves.
Desert Elves were warriors capable of fighting a hundred foes.
In reality, they couldn’t take on a hundred at once—but they were at least strong enough to face several awakened fighters alone.
They settled far from human society and expanded their villages.
The desert elves living here were no different.
Over more than a hundred years, their numbers had grown, forming a massive tribe.
A thousand elves now lived in the middle of the desert.
After building their own independent ecosystem, the Desert Elves faced their first great crisis in a century.
“Oh my God!”
“The orcs…!”
An orc army was approaching the desert elf village.
It was a force so vast it was impossible to count.
At its center stood an especially enormous orc.
The Orc Great Chieftain—Orca.
Orca gave the order:
“Kill all the elves.”