Silvius had been out of contact for a long time, and her territory began to stir.
The first to act were the ruling Dark Elves.
Internal strife broke out as they fought openly and covertly over who would become the new leader.
The Gratis, who had been under Dark Elf rule, quickly noticed the change.
They were a race accustomed to power struggles, so they were highly sensitive to such shifts.
The Gratis observed the situation carefully.
Gratis that had been forcibly bred to a smaller size infiltrated the Dark Elf settlements everywhere.
Reconnaissance ships were also dispatched into the Dimensional Sea outside the habitats.
After a week of this, the Gratis realized the truth.
The remaining Dark Elves numbered less than 10 million, while the Gratis outnumbered them fifty times over.
Moreover, there was no Spirit of Battle or main Dark Elf force that could kill 10 million Gratis in one blow.
The Gratis laughed, and the rebellion began.
Even if the Dark Elves monopolized technology and resources, they could not overcome the overwhelming difference in numbers.
The former rulers became prey, and the Gratis seized everything the Dark Elves owned.
What followed was a fierce power struggle.
Betrayals and assassinations ran rampant, with hundreds of thousands of Gratis dying every day.
Soon, a new clan leader emerged.
That Gratis was named Hellstorm.
He was cunning and possessed a remarkable talent for killing, and none of his rivals managed to keep their lives.
Hellstorm, now the leader of 500 million Gratis, was happy.
He could take as many females and as much food as he wanted, and he even had a 10-meter-diameter golden hamster wheel all to himself.
A life of excess that he thought would last forever.
What ruined it was the Orc.
A creature that claimed to be the smartest but acted utterly stupid.
“Kill! Kill! I said kill!”
No matter how many millions of Gratis Hellstorm sent, that bizarre Orc defeated them single-handedly.
Sending another million, and another, changed nothing.
Hellstorm’s position was shaken.
In the end, Hellstorm chose to flee.
He loaded every movable vessel with Gratis and set off.
The direction was random.
He didn’t know much about the outside world.
He didn’t even know why Silvius had left.
Then they encountered some monsters.
They were dark and covered in hard shells.
To the Gratis, who had started eating each other due to food shortages, they were a precious supply source.
Hungry Gratis, with bloodshot eyes, drove their Dimensional Ships and succeeded in hunting them.
Massive casualties occurred, but they merely rejoiced at the increase in food.
“More food over that way!”
Hellstrom shouted out on a whim.
If he couldn’t secure food while fleeing, his own head would be on the line.
Days passed with Hellstrom nervously grinding his front teeth.
“Food! Food!”
At the scout team’s report, Hellstrom felt relieved.
The amount of food was just right.
There were some enormous ones, but since there were fortresses of similar size, they could be easily taken.
“Kihyaaaaaa!”
The Gratis cheered and increased the speed of their Dimensional Ships.
Hellstrom took the lead, claiming it was all thanks to him.
In truth, he just wanted to eat something other than Gratis meat, which he’d been eating throughout the voyage.
“Faster! Faster!”
As Hellstrom urged, the rowers pulled harder.
Originally, the ship’s spirit should have done that job, but the Gratis solved it with brute labor.
“Chewy and tasteless, but better than Gratis meat!”
Gratis meat tasted awful.
Even the Gratis, who were not picky eaters, treated it as a last resort.
Hellstrom patted his fat belly and laughed, already looking forward to tasting other meat.
Crunch.
Hellstrom tilted his head.
That sound was familiar somehow.
“When was it?”
Hellstrom stroked his beard, lost in thought.
“Right! It was back then!”
Ten years ago, Hellstrom had belonged to Silvius’s fleet and visited a dimension ruled by Salika.
That place was astonishing.
He had thought Silvius’s dimension was the most prosperous, largest, and most complex, but it couldn’t compare to that place.
Above all, he was awed by the power of the Mana Sun near that dimension.
If they had that, it seemed there would be nothing they couldn’t do in the Dimensional Sea.
The area around the Mana Sun had a dense concentration of mana, and there were many giant monsters.
Though tamed and docile, their dimension-scale size was etched into Hellstrom’s memory.
The sound he just heard was similar to the noise those monsters made when they opened their mouths.
Hellstrom looked around.
“There’s nothing. Must have misheard.”
Just as Hellstrom felt relieved…
Countless Gratis pointed downward.
They were all wailing the cry that came when their survival sense flared intensely.
“Screech! Screech! Screech!”
Hellstrom’s head also tingled from his survival sense.
He looked down.
A massive Gate was opening.
It was large enough for the gathered Gratis fleet to pass through.
Monsters burst out of that Gate.
They were smaller than the monsters near the Mana Sun, but he hadn’t seen anything larger than them in ten years.
“Screech! Screech! Screech!”
Hellstrom was shocked.
The cries of the Gratis echoed throughout the entire fleet.
The monster’s mouth opened, and light flashed.
That was the last thing the Gratis at the front of the fleet ever saw.
“That Dimensional Ship is packed with Gratis.”
The Central Sky-Eye Giant confirmed the Gratis inside the Dimensional Ship with its Wave Radar as well.
There were far more Gratis crammed into the ship than Choi Kangjoong had imagined.
“That looks like an Orc.”
With superior vision to a regular Sky-Eye Giant, the Central Sky-Eye Giant detected enemies outside the Wave Radar’s range.
The blunt Dimensional Ship, seemingly made from twisted scrap metal, was characteristic of Orcs.
Behind the Orc Dimensional Ship, a dimension full of Orcs was also moving.
“Could it be that guy?”
Choi Kangjoong had sent Sky-Eye Giants to search multiple dimensions.
On top of the largest one, a familiar Orc stood proudly.
“That’s him! What was his name?”
Choi Kangjoong barely retrieved the Orc’s name from a corner of the Apocalypse Ritual Consciousness.
“Kuralgal! Good to see you!”
The Orc Boss who always brought plenty of Nutrients and Evolution Points whenever he came.
Choi Kangjoong felt like meeting an old friend.
“How many Orcs did he bring this time?”
There were at least 800 million just in the dimension.
Adding those on board the Dimensional Ship, it had to be at least a billion.
Choi Kangjoong drooled.
“Devour them all.”
Ku-eong sent the Dark Eater fleet first.
The Dark Eaters used their mobility to surround the Gratis fleet, forcing them into the center.
Ku-eong swam vigorously and opened its mouth wide.
“Screech! Screech! Screech!”
Countless Gratis screamed.
Crunch.
The enormous mouth closed.
A vast space that could have become a world on its own.
If time passed without incident and several generations changed, they might forget the outside world and live knowing only this interior as their entire world.
In that pitch-black darkness, even the Gratis’ eye-light failed to glow.
Only the sound of Walkers moving could be heard.
The Walker used its jaw to bite Gratis to death.
At the horrible screams, the blind Gratis panicked, trampling and attacking one another in their desperate attempt to escape.
But there was no way out of the Apocalid’s world.
Soon, all the Gratis dissolved in the Soil Pit, turning into Nutrients and Evolution Points.
“Boss! Some weird guys are eating the rat bastards!”
“Weird guys?”
Kuralgal, who had been scolding a subordinate for being stupid, squinted toward the direction of the Gratis fleet.
Monsters devouring the Gratis whole, Dimensional Ship and all.
Very familiar.
“It’s those bastards!!!”
Kuralgal slammed his fist into the subordinate’s head.
The subordinate was buried into the ground, flattened like a dried fish.
“These are the tough, chewy guys I told you about!”
“Are those the ones, boss?”
“They look fun!”
“They don’t look like much!”
Thump!
The head of the Orc who said they didn’t look like much vanished.
“Not like much my ass! Those are my adversaries! They exist to make me, the smartest Orc in the Dimensional Sea, stronger!”
Kuralgal’s self-centered thinking remained unchanged.
“This is war! Charge!”
“Waaaaaagh!”
The Orcs roared.
Their will to fight quickly coalesced, accelerating the dimension’s movement.
Only simple Orcs could achieve such a thing.
Ku-eong summoned ten Hives around itself.
Even gathered, there was still over 10 km between Ku-eong and the Hives.
The Dark Eater fleet spread into three prongs, while the Swarm Lord fleet guarded the front.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ku-eong and the ten Hives fired their Breath in sequence.
Long flashes were about to strike the dimension where Kuralgal stood.
Just then, a green barrier appeared above it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions made the green barrier ripple, but it didn’t break.
Kuralgal laughed heartily.
“I’ve seen through all your attack patterns! Now you’re going to cowardly shoot cannons from afar!”
Kuralgal’s words were correct.
The Titan that had entered range fired its Mana Cannon at the Orc dimension.
“Kill them all! Wipe them out!”
Kuralgal waved his axe.
The Orcs rowed even more fiercely.
A force inexplicable by physics alone pushed the hundreds-of-meters-long Dimensional Ships forward.
Shells rained down on the chubby Dimensional Ships.
Most were blocked by the green shield, but the ships under concentrated fire had holes blown here and there and exploded.
Even so, the surviving Orcs swam or clung to other Dimensional Ships.
The Orc Dimensional Ships finally broke through the fire net and approached the Swarm Lord fleet.
“Waaaaaagh!”
The Orc Dimensional Ships collided with the Titans.
The Titans’ Chitin Gauntlet was merely dented or cracked, while the Orc Dimensional Ships shattered spectacularly.
To the Orcs, Dimensional Ships were either transport or launch platforms for Scrap Cannons, so they didn’t care if they broke. They just moved onto the Titans.
The entire Swarm Lord fleet was instantly entangled with Orcs.
The heads of the Dark Eaters that had gone around behind the formation turned downward.
In that direction was the second wave of Orc Dimensional Ships.
The Dark Eaters accelerated and charged straight into the midst of countless Orc Dimensional Ships.
CRAAAASH!
About ten Dimensional Ships were caught in the Dark Eater’s mouth and destroyed, while twice as many were shattered into scrap metal and sent flying everywhere.
Having broken through the Orc Dimensional Ship formation, the Dark Eater turned its head and charged again.
CRAAAASH!
The Orc Dimensional Ships were inevitably torn apart.
“A new one, huh.”
Kuralgal leaped and landed in the center of the dimension.
The land he stood on alone was nothing but rock.
The 5 km stretch of rock was shaped like the letter ‘大’ and had a greenish tint, making it look like an Orc lying down.
Kuralgal glared at Ku-eong.
How much had he suffered because of those three defeats?
He had gathered Orcs, become a boss, won fights, waged wars—repeating the cycle hundreds of times.
It had been fun, but if it weren’t for those creatures, he would have been happily fighting in a bigger war long ago.
Today was the day to end this long, bitter feud.
The rock land beneath Kuralgal had been prepared for that very purpose.
“Rise!”
RUMBLE…
The rock land enveloped Kuralgal.
Kuralgal, now within its center, stood up.
The rock followed his movements, shifting from a crouching to a standing position.
A giant spiritual body formed from the Orc’s will covered the outside.
The green rock body crushed the ground, sinking its feet into the earth.
It was a larger and tougher Giant Kuralgal.
Kuralgal leaped.
Just that action caused dirt to explode upward.
“Kuhahahahahahaha!”
Letting out a roar of laughter, Kuralgal flew toward the Dark Eater.
True to an Orc that used willpower to pull off all sorts of crazy stunts, he accelerated without any propulsion.
The Dark Eater charged with its horn forward.
Kuralgal thrust out his fist.
CRAAAAACK!
A tremendous shock shook everything around.
The Dark Eater passed by Kuralgal.
Its broken horn spun in the air nearby.
“Kuhahahahahahaha!”
Unharmed, Kuralgal chased after the Dark Eater.
The Dark Eater used rapid mobility to create distance.
Fighting head-on would do more harm than good.
“He gets stronger every time I see him. Amazing.”
Impressed, Choi Kangjoong told Ku-eong to use Stage 8 Psionic Biological Weapon.
Ku-eong’s internal muscles contracted, and something loaded into the deepest part of the straight tube.