Chapter 27: The Hydra Sea Harvest Festival

Akirif’s Pleasure Palace Party Hall.

At the pinnacle of extravagance, countless demons indulged their greed.

Rare liquors flowed like water, and pure potions lay scattered everywhere.

In a place where every earthly pleasure seemed to exist, Duke Akirif wore a detached expression.

Suddenly, a servant approached and whispered in his ear, causing his face to brighten.

“They’ve appeared in the Hydra Sea?”

He sprang up.

“Count Pabelus should be nearby in the Hydra Sea, right? Connect the communication.”

Before Duke Akirif, Count Pabelus materialized through magic.

He was a famous Death Knight belonging to the Immortal Legion, clad in heavy armor.

The Kingscavalry under his command had gained infamy by turning multiple dimensions into undead wastelands.

• What is the matter?

“Oh! Count Pabelus, how have you been? How’s the harvest these days?”

• Nothing special. Please get straight to the point.

“You sure have some nerve, pretending to be noble when you’re a Death Knight always eyeing your lord’s back.”

• If you want to test the essence of a Death Knight, I won’t avoid it.

“That’s not why I contacted you. There are some unique creatures in the Hydra Sea. I want you to hunt them.”

• The Hydra Sea…

Count Pabelus stroked his chin.

“It’s where a foolish Dark Elf desperately tries to birth Death Spirits. You have business with that Dark Elf, don’t you?”

• How much do you know?

Count Pabelus showed displeasure.

“What I don’t know, you won’t either. Anyway, it’s a good opportunity to hunt orcs and that Dark Elf, earn money by taking my orders. What do you say?”

Count Pabelus was reluctant to follow Duke Akirif’s wishes.

He suspected some hidden scheme.

But he couldn’t deny the great benefits.

‘Even if there’s a conspiracy, breaking through is enough.’

Confident in his own strength, Count Pabelus nodded.

• I accept.

“Good. If you satisfy me, I’ll give you an invitation to my castle.”

An Invitation to the Palace, granting access to the Pleasure Palace where every pleasure except non-existent ones could be experienced, was sold at an exorbitant price.

• Not bad.

Count Pabelus’s figure vanished.

Duke Akirif scoffed.

“Those struggling to survive have forgotten even pleasure. Disgusting. Truly disgusting.”

“Don’t be angry.”

“Come play with us.”

Beautiful men and women clung to Duke Akirif.

He rolled around with them, enjoying delicacies imported from across dimensions.

The dimensional sea of the Hydra Sea was calm.

Mana waves were shallow, and dimension monsters quietly roamed.

Above the dimension, the situation was different.

Countless orcs were tangled in fierce battle.

Axes chopped, fists flew, and bodies charged.

Goblin bombs soared high before falling and exploding.

“Kill them all!”

The orc boss swung his serrated blade.

Orcs drenched in blood were shattered and flew away.

With his left hand’s hammer, he struck the crown of an orc.

The orc’s head disappeared, and it toppled backward.

“Uahahahaha!”

The orc boss raged wildly.

Bigger and stronger than the other orcs, he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

He seemed on the verge of becoming a Great Boss.

Kraang!

A rocket hammer crashed onto the orc boss.

The orc-sized head was crushed like dried fish jerky.

“Tastes great.”

The orc Great Boss hoisted the rocket hammer onto his shoulder.

Much larger than the orc boss, the Great Boss swung the rocket hammer violently.

The smashed orcs flew in every direction.

“What a mess.”

Kangjoong looked down at the dimension in the center of the Hydra Sea through the Skyeye Giant’s eyes.

Endless fighting raged.

When fighting stopped here, it flared up over there, and battles broke out simultaneously in many places.

Gates appeared somewhere, supplying orcs, and when a small dimension approached and stuck, orcs crossed over.

After dimension ships scattered, orcs poured out.

“A place to land…”

Three orc factions controlled the central dimension, but gaps remained between them.

“That spot looks good.”

There was a large gap between two factions weaker than the third.

They stayed close to check the stronger faction.

Just then, orcs moved en masse toward the strong faction.

“Let’s descend.”

The Apocalid-clad giants reached the dimension boundary.

Walkers disembarked and created digestion ponds.

“Kik!”

Kai sent scouts to key reconnaissance points.

Even the Skyeye Giants watching the dimension sea could see the whole situation at a glance.

“That guy’s really strong.”

Kuragal, a Great Boss, fought two other Great Bosses almost evenly.

Orcs grow stronger with size, but Kuragal was a bit smaller than the others.

“A strange fellow. The dimension sea is full of oddities like grains of sand.”

In the vast dimension sea, incomprehensible events were common.

Even in the Kraken Sea, no one knew why mana storms repeatedly appeared and vanished.

Scouts, cloaked in stealth, silently eliminated orcs approaching the landing zone.

The effect of the source Combat Muscle was remarkable.

Scouts who once struggled to behead orcs could now slice through their bodies.

“Nutrient consumption is about the same. They ran well.”

The landing and deployment of the Apocalid finished.

Cannon Giants targeted orcs from the rear, while Walkers, Scouts, Warriors, and Giants formed a semicircle.

Behind was the dimension sea, so unless orcs rammed the dimension, there was no worry.

“Krrk.”

“Attack? Let’s do it.”

The Cannon Giants lowered their barrels and fired Mana Cannons.

Shells dropped onto the battlefield crowded with orcs.

“What are those?”

“Monsters?”

“Looks delicious!”

“Crunchy outside, juicy inside, I bet!”

“I’m hungry! Let’s catch those first!”

Orcs pushing from behind were distracted.

Orcs rushed over.

Walkers bit and killed with their jaws; Scouts cut down with Abyssal Claws.

Warrior class wasn’t even needed.

More orcs turned to look back amidst screams and gunfire.

Those orcs called more orcs, swelling the attacking numbers like a snowball.

“New guys!”

“Fight!”

“Let’s battle them!”

“This is exciting!”

Around 500,000 orcs charged toward the Apocalid.

A quarter of the combined forces of the two weaker factions.

The two Great Bosses fighting upfront didn’t even notice.

“Impressive.”

Kangjoong had seen 500,000 orcs several times in Dimension War.

But the game was different.

Visuals, sound effects, and reality were on another level.

The roaring cheers and shaking earth delivered an indescribable thrill beyond overwhelming.

And as an Outer Mind, he thought only one thing.

“Looks tasty.”

Kangjoong licked his lips.

How many nutrients and Evolution Points could he get?

“They’re mine!”

The first to charge were orcs riding Dimension Boars.

Dimension Boars looked like wild boars and were common in the dimension sea.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

Central Cannon Giants prioritized striking the orc cavalry.

Mana shells rained down, but tens of thousands of orc cavalry charged stubbornly.

If left unchecked, the warrior line would be broken, turning into chaos, so the Giants stepped in.

Accelerated by the source Combat Muscle, they collided with orc cavalry wielding large, thick Abyssal Claws.

Kwa-jik! Kwa-jik! Kwa-jik!

Orcs crashing head-on were instantly chopped into chunks.

Dozens fell at once under the claws.

Goblin bombs exploded, but the Giants’ psionic Chitin Gauntlets remained unharmed.

True to their name, the Giants pushed forward, crushing orc cavalry.

“Waaaaah!”

Orcs in the front line charged the Apocalid.

But their tsunami-like momentum vanished under the Mana Cannon barrage.

Orcs were sliced apart by warriors’ Abyssal Claws almost effortlessly.

Still, they kept pressing.

Compared to 500,000 orcs, the Apocalid numbered only a handful.

As the fight dragged on, some Apocalid died, emboldening the orcs to press harder.

[Producing Apocalid Walkers.]

[Producing Apocalid Scouts.]

[Producing Apocalid Warriors.]

Walkers scurried, carrying nutrients to digestion ponds, from which more Apocalid emerged.

“These guys are strong and fun!”

“Hard ones keep coming out there!”

Orcs, shredded by mana shells and Abyssal Claws, roared with delight.

Charging, hitting, and breaking was the orcs’ favorite fight style.

Plus, a pond kept spawning foes that could do just that—it was maddeningly enjoyable.

[Acquired Evolution Points.]

[Acquired Evolution Points.]

[Acquired Evolution Points.]

[Acquired Evolution Points.] [Acquired Evolution Points.]

[Current Evolution Points: 5,733,654]

“Already earned a million points!”

Orcs were definitely a goldmine.

“Now it’s just waiting. Maybe I’ll grab some popcorn.”

The battlefield viewed through Apocalid’s eyes and ears was better than any 3D movie.

“Let’s cook some ramen too.”

Kangjoong went down to the kitchen.

The house was so large that even the kitchen was bigger than his old room.

With a system any cook would envy, he boiled ramen and pulled popcorn from the fridge.

“Watching while eating is even more fun.”

The 500,000 had already halved.

[Current Evolution Points: 8,203,412]

“8.2 million points!”

With 10 million points within reach, he could trigger Species Evolution or unlock the Supertitan Class.

Only 120,000 more orcs needed to be killed.

Evolution Points were rising fast.

He quickly surpassed 9 million, then 9.5 million.

If he consumed all remaining orcs, he could perform two or three Species Evolutions.

Kangjoong looked down at the dimension with the Skyeye Giant, thinking of the orcs approaching.

But, contrary to expectations, the orcs had stopped.

Orcs suppressing their own instincts—it was odd.

“Well, I’ve passed 10 million. Let’s see what they’re up to.”

The Skyeye Giant gave a rough picture of the situation.

All orcs had unified under the faction ruled by Kuragal.

“Kik.”

Kai set off.

Using Blink, he approached and hid among the orcs with Active Camouflage Armor.

Orcs were inherently dull-witted, so Kai had almost no chance of being detected.

“Hey, you stupid fools!”

Orc Great Boss Kuragal shouted.

“If you charge blindly while the cannons boom, what will happen? We’ll all die, right? So we need a different strategy!”

It was an un-orc-like statement.

“That’s right, Boss!”

“Boss is amazing!”

“Boss is the greatest orc strategist!”

Kuragal grinned smugly.

Such behavior was very un-orcish.

“I am a revolutionary enlightening all orcs! There’s no orc smarter than me anywhere!”

“What shall we do?”

“Shall we drag the cannons here?”

“Shall we blow the orcs away?”

“No! Crawl forward! That way, fewer will die to the cannons!”

“Oh! Boss is the best!”

“We’ll follow your orders, Boss!”

“It would be better to drag Scrap Cannons and shoot!”

Kuragal blew the head off the orc boss who mentioned Scrap Cannons.

“Crawl, you fools!”

One million orcs dropped flat on the ground.

“Advance!”

“Forward!”

Orcs began crawling.

Watching, Kangjoong was utterly bewildered.

“What kind of foolishness is this?”