The orc chieftain's head rolled across the ground.
While everyone stood frozen, mouths agape in utter confusion, the first to react was Yaffi—the small creature who had been sitting on Hari's head until moments ago.
– Hostile entity identified. Commencing annihilation.
Yaffi's robotic arms extended steel wires. Four wires lashed out like whips, following a perfectly calculated trajectory.
"You… you killed the chieftain! Neno──!?"
The orcs didn't even have time to express their rage. Something pierced through their throats and uvulas, causing them to silently collapse.
**– Splat! **
The orcs' severed heads dropped like neatly diced cubes of steak.
"Enemies! Kill them!"
"Slaughter them!"
Orcs throughout the camp charged all at once. Leon shouted,
"Raise your shields! Form a circle and block their charge!"
Leon's command snapped the hunters—Gu Daeseong included—out of their daze. Acting on instinct, they raised their shields and managed to block the orcs' savage rush.
"Kgh!"
"Wh-what the hell is going on?!"
"I don't know either!"
The orcs, enraged at the sudden decapitation of their chieftain and kin, charged to crush the hunters.
"Hold your shields higher! A shield doesn't just protect you—it covers your comrade's right shoulder too!"
"Ugh…!"
"J-just block them!"
The hunters defended one another with their shields. But it was only a matter of time.
Damn! They're way too strong!
We're D-rank hunters! How are we supposed to fight off a swarm of orcs!?
Orcs.
A natural warrior race. Even the weakest among them matched a C-rank hunter in power.
Their sheer size and brutish muscles made their mass incomparable to human hunters. It was a miracle they had even managed to withstand the first wave.
"Huh?"
Gu Daeseong suddenly realized—Wait a second. How are we even holding back an orc charge?
It was strange. The hunters here were the weakest of the weak—incapable of facing even a single orc in one-on-one combat. Himself included.
And yet… he didn't feel afraid. Just having Leon at his side gave him confidence, and a strange power surged through him—like he could do anything.
At that moment, several hunters noticed a system message flash across the edge of their vision.
[Aura of the Lionheart]
◆ Effects:
Grants Legion Buff: Charge Defense
Grants Legion Buff: Fortification
Grants Legion Buff: Battalion Enhancement
Grants Legion Buff: Valor
Grants Legion Buff: Light Armor
Grants Legion Buff: Toughened Skin
Grants Legion Buff: Heavy Blow
Grants Legion Buff: Grand Magic Amplification
Grants Legion Buff: Ranged Resistance
Grants Legion Buff: Keen Sight
Grants Legion Buff: Anti-Infantry Massacre
Grants Legion Buff: Corruption Resistance
[Primates' Top Orc Slayer]
◆ Effects:
+50% kill efficiency against orcs
Causes fear, confusion, and despair among orcs
Spreads righteous hatred toward orcs
What the hell is all this…?
[Living Demigod]
[Blessing of the War Knight]
[Grail Guardian]
[Dragon Slayer's Honor]
[Terror of the Aberrants]
[Demon Lord Slayer]
[Top Demon Slayer]
[Ranged Hater]
[Ultimate Charger]
— Squad member levels are too low. Many enhancement traits cannot be applied.
Holy sht…!*
What the hell is this? This is broken!
There were rare cases like this. Among hunters, there was a unique class known as the Commander.
Innate leadership, tactical prowess… and most of all, powerful unit buff skills. In massive-scale red gate battles, people would scramble to have a Commander on their side.
But such classes typically lacked combat ability and had to be stationed in the rear. So how could someone like Leon, with overwhelming combat power, possess such a strength too?
"Raise your shields! Push them back! Strike through the opening when it appears!"
The voice of the Lionheart King, ringing with authority, crashed down like thunder.
Just hearing it ignited courage in their hearts, and their entire bodies trembled with a sense of omnipotence.
If we fight alongside him… no, if we stand with him… we will win.
A baseless confidence swelled within them, and they pushed back the orc assault. Strength they didn't know they had surged up and drove their blades through the orcs' tough hides.
"Guhk!"
"O-oh warrior god…!"
The dying orcs screamed, crying out the name of their god as they fell. But the Lionheart King wouldn't even allow that.
"Graaaah! How dare those vile beasts call upon a god! Rip out their tongues! Behead them and disgrace their false deity!"
Trembling with fury, Leon could no longer stand still. He summoned his divine steed, Stallion.
The pure white warhorse revealed itself in a radiant burst of holy light, its gleaming eyes locking onto the green-skinned enemies.
–KURAAAAAAGH!
The divine beast roared. With eyes blazing with fury, it leapt over the hunter's formation, carrying its master on its back.
"Wha…!?"
"What the hell?!"
The orcs panicked at the shadow suddenly cast over them. In a flash, Stallion landed behind them and delivered a brutal kick with its hind legs.
"Gwargh!"
It was a magnificent jaw-cracking strike. The orc's neck snapped, and it crumpled to the ground.
"Let's ride, Stallion!"
Summoning his holy spear, Leon began slaughtering the orcs who had surrounded the hunters. The unity between rider and beast was terrifying. Leon pierced, pounded, and shredded the orcs with frightening efficiency.
It took less than ten minutes to annihilate all 130 orcs within the camp.
"Well done, Stallion."
–KURK!
With a final snort, Stallion vanished, saying to call him again if more orcs showed up.
Around them lay the mutilated corpses of countless orcs—and not a single hunter had died.
"Raise your voices in victory! This is an honorable triumph!"
"W-wowww…."
"Waaah?"
The hunters were stunned. Not a single one of them had been injured, despite fighting over a hundred orcs. It was simply unbelievable.
"This… this is weird. Were orcs always this weak?"
"No, it was totally different. I felt this weird power surging through me."
Even those who hadn't seen the system messages could feel it instinctively—an unknown power had surrounded them.
And the source was obvious.
"Is this a Commander-class profession…?"
"No. I heard from someone in the Golden Lion Guild—he took down a Yakkt Spinner alone."
"He's a combat class? And still has buffs like that? Is that even possible?"
"…They call him the Lionheart King. King of Knights."
Only now did they truly realize the kind of being standing before them.
The Lionheart King.
A knight of unparalleled might, and a commander who had triumphed on countless battlefields.
Even before becoming the Lionheart King, he was already famous as a War Knight, a protector of the borderlands who had slaughtered orcs in droves.
"Y-Your Majesty…"
Hari approached Leon with a bloodied face. Her sword was also soaked in orc blood.
"What is it, Hari?"
"W-why… why did you do this?"
Leon looked genuinely puzzled by her question.
"Why would I need a reason to kill orcs?"
"Huh? But… the quest…"
"You were supposed to help the orcs to clear the quest? What madness. I'd rather throw myself into a pit of fire than aid those green beasts."
Leon seethed with righteous fury toward orcs.
"They are beasts, unworthy of respect. Their very existence is a blight. They do not deserve to live."
"Honor? Warriors? There is no honor in their wars. Perhaps they are brave—but a beast's ferocity can never compare to a knight's valor."
"Do not treat them as people. They are filthy beasts. They have no right to live."
'R-racist…'
Hari immediately resolved never to mention the surviving orcs on Earth.
She could already see what this orc-racist maniac would do if he ever met one.
"W-why do you hate them that much?"
"They've never built a civilization. All they know is war and violence. They live by raiding others. How can parasites like that ever create anything beautiful? They will never coexist with other races."
"…Hmm."
He wasn't entirely wrong. Over the past 30 years, many orcs had crossed over to Earth, but all of them had eventually fallen into corruption.
In the U.S., the growing Orc Harlem neighborhoods had become a social crisis. In South America, orcs were involved in drug cartels, massacres, and worse.
Violence and slaughter weren't just common among them—it was cultural. They simply couldn't blend into civilized society.
And yet, they were highly fertile. As their numbers grew, their voting power and cultural clash became a major headache for countries around the world.
A new term, orc-phobia, had even been coined.
"Then… how do you plan to close the gate?"
"By killing every last orc in this gate! Not one shall remain!"
Hari's brain short-circuited at that bold declaration. Just then, Yaffi climbed up her shoulder and perched on her head again.
"Sir Spinner. Any reports?"
– Scouting report complete. Field measured at 2.7 million square kilometers. 56 orc camps discovered. Estimated orc population: approximately 4,650.
"F-four thousand six hundred and…"
Hari nearly collapsed. Sure, the quest condition was to help one side achieve victory—but the scale was staggering.
And thanks to picking "kill all orcs" as their victory path, the gate difficulty had effectively gone from yellow… to crimson.
"Hmm… For beasts, their numbers are quite low."
"T-this… this is low?!"
"Indeed. In my kingdom, a single orc tribe usually numbered at least one hundred thousand."
Considering the nature of Gates, even the current number was already tremendous.
"Your Majesty… do you truly intend to kill them all? I mean… wouldn't that take far too much time?"
"Hmm… I could manage it alone if necessary, but it's not proper to let filthy beasts take up too much of my time."
Still, Leon wasn't giving up. Even if it took time, he fully intended to exterminate every last orc in this field.
—Your Majesty. I have a suggestion.
It was then that Yafi spoke up in his mechanical voice with a proposal.
"What is it, Sir Spinner? I shall lend my ears to your words."
Using his camera eye, Yafi projected a hologram.
It showed a map of the field, created right after the battle by launching a mapping probe into the sky.
He pointed to the upper reaches of a river that ran through several orc villages.
Late at night, while the orcs were asleep, three figures appeared upstream of the river.
—Kkiruk! This. Point.
Yafi, having landed from Hari's head, tapped at the upper river with his sharp leg.
"Hmm. I entrust it to you."
The Yakht Spinner stepped into the flowing river and began activating its energy core.
"Initiating core overload. Output at 99.9%."
The Yakht Spinner started running its internal core at full power. With the energy pushed to its limit and the cooling system halted, steam hissed upward.
"Core overload. Cooling system failure. Fuel rods rapidly deteriorating. Core meltdown in progress. Ejecting fuel rods."
The Yakht Spinner opened its shell and ejected its fuel rods. With a pop!, they launched into the air and splashed into the river—something about it looked disturbingly familiar.
"Ugh, it looks like poop…"
"Do not utter such filthy words."
Still, it wasn't exactly wrong.
The Yakht Spinner's power source was a compact internal nuclear reactor.
The high-output electricity generated by the reactor was the source of Yafi's seemingly infinite energy.
But, as with any reactor, it contained fuel rods—and a self-destruct protocol using a controlled core overload in case of emergencies.
What the Yakht Spinner had just done was execute half of that protocol.
By pushing the reactor to a meltdown state and ejecting the rods just before full detonation, it released dangerously radioactive substances like Cesium-137, Iodine-131, Strontium-90, and Plutonium-238 into the river.
The very same river all the orcs in the field used for drinking water.
"Um… Your Majesty. While we're safe under your protection… is this really okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… by chivalric standards, isn't this kind of… underhanded?"
To this, Leon simply chuckled—unashamed, unbothered, as if he felt no guilt for his actions.
"Chivalry? Against beasts? If I could kill even one more, I would use ranged weapons without hesitation."
"Ughh…"
"Listen well, Hari. And you too, Sir Spinner. Dealing with those green beasts is not a war. It's not a duel."
Leon's voice dripped with boundless hatred and disdain.
"It is extermination. When one hunts vermin or wild dogs, what hunter considers honor?"
"Umm… but… maybe there could be good orcs?"
"Ha…!"
As if he had just heard the most absurd thing in the world, Leon scoffed, then declared a truth he believed to be absolute—with the calm certainty of someone enlightening a foolish child.
"The only good orc… is a dead orc."