Chapter 111: Shadows from the Sky

Shadows were cast over the heads of numerous Orcs.

An Orc Boss looked up.

Massive flying objects were soaring through the sky in droves.

They were Central Bomber Giants and Bomber Giants.

“They’re huge. They must poop a lot.”

An Orc’s train of thought was exactly that simple. Questions like what those things were or why they were in the air did not even cross their minds.

The large flying Apocalids released bombs they had been carrying inside their bodies, raining them down below.

As things began to fall from above, the Orc Boss shouted, “Poop is falling!”

The Orc Boss covered the top of his head with his axe and ran.

*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Craters formed where the bombs exploded.

Orcs were either obliterated, leaving only bits of intestines behind, or sent flying with their limbs torn off.

“It’s bombs! Scatter!”

The Orc Boss shouted, but a massive fist plummeted onto his head.

*Crunch!*

The one who turned the Orc Boss into a bloody mess right after he shouted for everyone to scatter was Kuralgal.

“You idiots! In times like this, you have to huddle together! United we live, divided we die! This is the fate of the Orcs!”

The scattering Orcs huddled back together and ran.

When the bombs fell there, even more Orcs died than before.

“Idiots! I told you to gather and block them!”

Kuralgal raised his axe and swung it, swatting away the bombs.

Only someone of the Great Boss rank could manage such a feat; the other Orcs were helplessly blown to pieces.

Realizing his commands were useless, Kuralgal let out a roar of rage.

“Knock those things down!”

Kuralgal grabbed an Orc and threw him with all his might.

The Orcs who soared high into the air climbed onto the Bomber Giants.

More than half of the Orcs died from the impact of being thrown by Kuralgal and fell back down.

The falling dead Orcs landed on the heads of others, causing more Orcs to collapse with cracked skulls.

The Orcs that managed to cling to the Bomber Giants were attacked by Scouts.

Originally, Scouts were weaker than Walkers when facing Orcs. While Walkers could withstand Orc attacks with their sturdy backs and bite them to death with powerful jaws, Scouts were lighter than Walkers and had weaker Chitin Armor in exchange for higher speed.

However, now that Species Evolution had progressed and their Evolution Codes had increased, a single Scout could easily overwhelm an Orc.

*Slash! Slash!*

Scythe Claws imbued with Psionic blades sliced through an Orc.

The Orc, cut at the waist, plummeted while scattering intestines.

Kaitin Spikes were fired from the mouths of Rifle Scouts.

The Orcs didn’t even think about blocking; they simply charged. They trusted in their own sturdy bodies.

“Something strange is digging into my body!”

“Agh!”

“What is this?”

Parasites pierced through the Orcs’ skin.

Orcs unlucky enough to have parasites burrow into their ears or noses died instantly. Others thrashed about in agony as their muscles were torn apart.

The Scouts emotionlessly turned the living Orcs into chunks of meat.

Whenever possible, they did not let them fall, instead piling them neatly on the backs of the Bomber Giants. Only then could they take them back to be converted into nutrients and Evolution Points.

The front of the Bomber Giants suddenly turned pitch black.

It was a swarm of Orcs flying toward them from Orc Launchers.

The Bomber Giants rapidly increased their altitude.

The Orcs on their backs tumbled off.

Most of the launched Orcs failed to reach the Bomber Giants and fell.

To kill a Bomber Giant, it would be best to fire a Scrap Cannon from the Dimensional Sea, but the Orc Dimension Ships were too busy fighting the Titans.

Having exhausted all their stored bombs, the Bomber Giants turned around to return. They would fly back up after swallowing more bombs stored near the Soil Pits.

‘Their attack power is sufficient, so it’s better to evolve the Chitin Armor.’

The Scouts were also slicing through Orcs with ease. Their attack power was more than enough.

‘Evolve Chitin Armor.’

**[Psionic Chitin Armor has evolved to Stage 8]**

The Chitin Armor became lighter and even harder.

Now, a single Walker could handle dozens of Orcs.

The Titans fighting in the Dimensional Sea stiffened momentarily due to the Species Evolution, but they suffered no real damage.

‘The scale has finally grown.’

In the Dimensional Sea, Titans and Orc Dimension Ships exchanged fire, while in the dimension below, Orcs surged in like a tide.

And in front of those Orcs lurked the Apocalids.

It was a sight he had only ever seen in the game Dimension War.

Seeing it in reality, Choi Kangjoong felt his heart swell with both excitement and tension.

In a game, if you lost, you could play again or return to a save point. In reality, the massive loss of time and resources could not be undone.

If he lost all the Apocalids here, would he be able to stop Silvius?

Even if he slammed the Apocalid Dimension into her, his chances of losing were high.

‘I want to talk to this Crystal person who is supposed to come to Marsala.’

Iselin had requested an audience, but they didn’t know when he would arrive at Marsala.

‘That Crystal person wouldn’t happen to be the one called “Prince,” would he?’

The possibility couldn’t be ruled out.

Choi Kangjoong pushed his suspicions aside and focused on the battle.

There wasn’t much for him to do personally since the Central Units were active, but it put his mind at ease.

‘Orcs are simple, even if there are a lot of them.’

Orcs only knew how to charge.

Some ran on two legs, some clung to Dimension Boars, and others rode in wagons pulled by Giant Dimension Boars.

Even as they died in droves from Kuongi’s Breath and were shredded by the bombardment of the Cannon Giants, they stubbornly pushed forward, eager to fight.

The one at the front was, of course, Kuralgal.

“They’re over there! The stingy bastards!”

Kuralgal dashed forward like a bolt of lightning.

He raised his axe high, intending to cleave through the Walkers maintaining the front line.

In that moment, Lutal intervened.

*Clang!*

The axe was blocked by crossed Scythe Claws.

Kuralgal gave a grotesque grin as he looked at Lutal, who had suddenly appeared.

In the past, he had been shorter than Lutal, but now he was roughly the same size, allowing them to see eye to eye.

“You! Four Claws!”

Kuralgal felt as if he had met his destined rival.

Even though he had fought demon after demon, no one had ever entertained him more than this monster with four long claws.

He had always lost, and Lutal had been the one to spare his life, but Kuralgal didn’t think of it that way. He believed he was alive because he was great.

“Gwahahahaha!”

Kuralgal swung his axe wildly.

He lacked sophisticated technique, but his strength and speed surpassed that of an S-class Hunter.

He was an opponent even Han Junghwa, who had recently become an S-class Hunter, would struggle against.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

Whenever the Scythe Claws and the axe collided, a gust of wind whipped out.

The friction heated the air, causing heat haze to rise, and mana boiled over, sending out small bolts of lightning.

Lutal blocked, parried, and dodged the axe with swordsmanship more sophisticated than that of humans or Elves, leaving wounds on Kuralgal’s body.

Lutal deliberately avoided delivering a fatal blow.

Lutal’s goal was not Kuralgal’s death, but to stall for time.

If leaving him alive before resulted in him bringing 100 million Orcs, how many would he bring if they let him go again?

Choi Kangjoong was curious and expectant about that.

Like an Orc who grew stronger through combat, Kuralgal’s muscles swelled and his physique expanded. His axe grew even more powerful and faster than before.

Still, Lutal remained composed.

The boosters were hardly even activated.

If Lutal used the boosters properly within the Apocalid World, Kuralgal wouldn’t last five seconds.

This was thanks to the experience accumulated so far and the Species Evolutions that were all at Stage 7 or higher.

“Fun! This is fun!”

Kuralgal raised his axe high and brought it down.

The survival instincts of Lutal, who held the Scythe Claws, sounded an alarm.

This was thanks to the Evolution Code from Gratis, which was useful for dodging dangerous situations or attacks.

Lutal activated the boosters and backed away.

*K-Boom!*

A massive crater formed where Kuralgal’s axe struck.

It looked as if a giant god had struck the ground with a fist.

Lutal analyzed the attack just now along with a Sky-eye Giant.

The moment Kuralgal slammed his axe down, something like gathered will solidified in the air and fell like a meteor.

If Lutal had stayed in that spot, even he would have required significant regeneration time.

Seeing Lutal hesitate, Kuralgal grinned.

“You look surprised. I’ll surprise you even more.”

Orcs swarmed toward Kuralgal.

Their skin was darker, and their aura was similar to his.

“I gathered and gathered only the ones with potential. And then we became like this.”

A light shimmered on the axes of Kuralgal and his Orcs, and their bodies grew larger.

It was the Great Magic of the Orcs that made themselves stronger.

“Let’s have a real fight!”

Kuralgal charged, and axe clashed with Scythe Claw.

*Clang!*

Lutal summoned a Central Command Warrior and other Warriors.

The Central Command Warrior flew in and deployed the Apocalid World.

The Warriors flanked Lutal and engaged the Orcs.

These were all Orcs on par with an Ultra Great Boss, so they did not fall behind even against the Warriors.

“Gwahahahaha!”

An even more intense battle broke out.

The Orcs following behind Kuralgal arrived.

A long front line formed to the left and right, centered around Lutal and Kuralgal.

Behind them, the Orcs swarmed like a black cloud.

Above them, shells from Cannon Giants and bombs from Bomber Giants rained down.

Giant Dimension Boars charged, trampling over Orcs.

They attempted to break through the front line with their massive mass, but Battle Titans rammed into their flanks.

*Thud!*

The Giant Dimension Boars toppled over.

The Orcs crushed beneath them were turned into a bloody mash.

The Battle Titans climbed onto their sides and slashed at their necks and bellies.

*Boom!*

The Orcs fired the Scrap Cannons mounted on the backs of the Giant Dimension Boars.

Hit at point-blank range, one of the Battle Titan’s middle legs was blown away.

A hundred thousand Orcs riding Dimension Boars circled far to the right and charged.

Each Dimension Boar was large enough to carry five Orcs.

They were heavy, and their grand charge was enough to cause an earthquake.

“Waaaaaaa!”

“Fight!”

“Kill!”

“This is fun!”

“So much fun!”

The Orcs swung axes and maces while riding the Dimension Boars.

Suddenly, the ground in front of them collapsed.

It was a tunnel fifty meters deep that the Walkers had dug.

Seeking an exciting fight, they instead plunged underground without ever meeting an Apocalid.

Central Cannon Giants rushed over and unleashed Flame Emitters into the pit.

The Orcs and Dimension Boars were incinerated all at once.

The Orcs did not stop their charge even as the ones in front of them vanished and flames surged.

They kept falling in until the deep, wide tunnel was filled with Orcs and Dimension Boars.

The remaining Dimension Boars galloped over the bodies.

Orcs leapt from the backs of the Dimension Boars and clung to the Central Cannon Giants.

Since the attacks of ordinary Orcs couldn’t even leave a crack in the Chitin Armor, the Central Cannon Giants silently continued their bombardment and flame-throwing.

The Apocalids were not without losses.

Walkers and Scouts were being taken down by the staggering number of Orcs and Boss-rank Orcs.

It was rare for a Warrior or a Giant to die, but it happened.

‘I need to destroy those first.’

The Orcs were assembling Scrap Cannons and Orc Launchers in places where they could see the Apocalids.

The Cannon Giants were firing diligently, but there were so many that it was difficult to eliminate them all before they were completed.

‘Should I send the Fighter Giants?’

Choi Kangjoong checked the battle in the Dimensional Sea.

Super Titans, Titans, and Orc Dimension Ships were entangled in combat.

In particular, numerous Dimension Ships were clinging to Kuongi.

‘I’ll have to fire the Biological Torpedoes.’

Kuongi’s back opened, and Biological Torpedoes dropped into the dimension.