Chapter 298. Orden Annihilation Operation (5) (2/2)
Kwaaa—!
Kim Suho turned his gaze to the NPC who appeared inside the whirlwind of magic power.
Pale skin, dark hair. She gave off a dangerous, ominous vibe.
“…It’s been a while.”
She looked at Kim Suho and smiled.
Kim Suho nodded and said, “I can skip the explanation, right?”
The witch looked around the place she had been summoned to.
She was inside a strange barrier.
Having understood the situation, the witch turned her gaze to the humanoid monster who was the owner of this barrier.
Doloren flinched and the witch gave a distorted smile.
“…Yes. Rest assured, it’s my specialty to educate people like her.”
Vicious demonic energy started to gather around the witch’s hands.
**
[Outside the Palace in the fields]
“…I think we’re about done.”
Yoo Sihyuk and Yoo Jinwoong’s battle was coming to an end. The Master-rank monsters, including the Nine-tailed Fox, Croxus, and Ogre Troll, had already been defeated by the two Yoos. Not only were they weaker than Yoo Sihyuk and Yoo Jinwoong, but they were also much less experienced than the two Heroes who had lived through countless battles.
“Should we head to the throne room now?”
Yoo Jinwoong nodded at Yoo Sihyuk’s question. They knew Orden was not an easy target even for Heynckes and Chae Joochul. He was even stronger than ‘Jörmungandr’, who for a long time had been considered the strongest monster in history.
“But when will we get through that?”
Crack, crack— Yoo Jinwoong mumbled as he loosened his neck joint.
Thousands of monsters were filling up the field in front of them.
“Hm…. Maybe a bomb will fall from the sky…?” Yoo Sihyuk muttered.
Perhaps, God heard his wishes.
Guoooo….
Suddenly, a portal appeared above. The giant ellipse covered half the area of the entire sky.
Yoo Sihyuk knew what it was. He had seen it before in the papers.
Its name was ‘Genkelope’s Battle Cruiser’.
Just as he had expected, from the portal came a battle cruiser that was even more powerful than before, accompanied by the roaring sound of engines and yells from people on board.
“It looks like… they’ll help us.”
The battlecruiser responded immediately to Yoo Sihyuk’s words.
Kwaaaaaaa
The bombardment continued as hundreds of combat planes departed from the deck. Thousands of ‘Genkelope soldiers’ descended from the ship.
Yoo Sihyuk watched them and chuckled.
“Let’s head to the throne room.”
“…”
Yoo Jinwoong nodded in silence.
The two men immediately turned into a wind that rushed towards the throne room.
**
[Orden’s Throne Room]
‘…Humans can be so different,’ Orden thought as he fought against the two humans.
One human came at Orden with all his strength while the other concealed it as much as possible.
The man in armor poured his soul into each swing of his sword, but the man in the martial arts uniform did not.
The former proudly displayed his convictions yet the latter operated solely on logic.
The contrasting qualities of the two humans amazed Orden.
Orden wanted to define the nature of humans.
Some humans were loyal, some were disloyal. Some agonized over what was righteous when others blindly chased after money and fame.
Humanoid monsters were different from humans in that regard. Monsters always acted according to their instincts. Genes were very important to humanoid monsters, for they determined everything about them.
For example, humanoid monsters created from the DNA of rattlesnakes and lizards were highly intelligent but tended to betray easily when their safety was at stake, and humanoid monsters created from the DNA of Mountain Tyrants were physically strong but always violent and oppressive.
It was clear that monsters could never become humans.
But Orden didn’t want to give up. He wanted to prove that humanoid monsters and humans were no different from each other.
However.
‘How can we be so different?’
Orden was overcome with profound grief.
At the same time, he remembered when he first realized his own intelligence, when he couldn’t be understood by both humans and monsters, when he suffered alone in endless solitude, cursing his own existence.
‘…Monsters can’t become humans, and humans are not monsters.’
Alas, what a tragic proposition it was.
In great sadness and vanity, Orden emitted his magic power. It was the first magic power to gain the attribute of ‘chaos’, one that Orden realized in the midst of his self-reflection.
Kwaaaa…
Just as Orden’s chaos was about to explode….
Krrr—!
….Eight wolves jumped at Orden and bit his limbs. Red electric currents enveloped his waist. The attack came from someone other than Chae Joochul and Heynckes.
But Orden was unaffected by it all. He nonchalantly shoved the wolves aside, crushed the electricity, then gathered magic power in his hands to explode everything.
Chwaaaaa….
This time, however, golden reinforced sword qi approached Orden. It wrecked everything in its course as it traveled forward. When it finally reached Orden’s magic power, it cut the abnormally dense ‘chaos’ in half.
“…”
The death of ‘chaos’ was unquestionably clear.
Orden had never been so shocked before.
He turned to where the reinforced sword qi had come from.
There— at the entrance of the throne room stood a man engulfed in golden energy.
It was from Kim Suho.
After defeating two of Orden’s Four Elite Soldiers—’Doloren’ and ‘Xphil’—Kim Suho and the witch finally arrived at the throne room.
However, Kim Suho wasn’t the only human who had come to see Orden.
Chweeek—!
A magic arrow flew in from somewhere and pierced Orden’s shoulder.
The arrow belonged to the Divine Archer.
There wasn’t just one. Thousands of arrows carrying the purest magic power fell from the sky. Even Orden couldn’t stay indifferent to an attack of such magnitude.
“———!”
Regardless, Orden dispelled all of them with a single cry.
At the same time, however, another cry rang out.
“Orden—!”
The roar shook the palace.
Orden slowly raised his head.
A giant man was descending from the ceiling.
“I, Cheok Jungyeong, have come—!”
With a self-absorbed cry, Cheok Jungyeong swung his fist at Orden.
KOOOONG—!
Cheok Jungyeong’s fist reached Orden’s forehead.
It was a direct hit.
A huge shockwave spread from the point of contact and Cheok Jungyeong burst into laughter.
“Uhahaha—! He’s a lot weaker than I thought…?”
Orden grabbed Cheok Jungyeong’s arm which was still clutching Orden’s face.
He then flipped and smashed Cheok Jungyeong into the ground in one swift motion, as if he was rolling a bowling ball.
KWAAANG—!
“Uwa….”
Cheok Jungyeong wasn’t even given the time to react.
The result was a strike.
Cheok Jungyeong, who descended from the ceiling, was thrown out of the room moments after he made his entrance.
“…”
Orden rose from the throne and looked around.
Only then did he recognize the Heroes.
Aileen, Yi Yongha, Kim Youngjin, Shin Jonghak, Chae Nayun, Yun Seung Ah….
He hadn’t noticed any of them before because he was too engrossed in his fight.
Dozens of Heroes who had infiltrated into his palace were now gathering in front of him.