After three days of travel, Kael's group finally arrived at the territory of the orcs.
"Prepare yourselves. Tonight, we will attack the orc stronghold," said Varek.
Upon hearing this, many began setting up their tents, while Varek and the high-ranking guild members started planning their assault on the orcs.
Hours passed, and as night fell, Varek's right-hand man addressed the group:
"Those who can control mana, channel it into your eyes. We're going to ambush the enemy."
Some adept in mana manipulation succeeded, while others who weren't as skilled followed behind those who were.
Kael, effortlessly channeling mana into his eyes, followed the group leader.
After several minutes of walking, they halted. Kael noticed they had reached their destination—a vast orc stronghold lay before them.
They prepared for battle. The first to attack were the warriors wielding crossbows. As they released their bolts, it resembled a rainstorm descending upon the orc stronghold.
The weaker orcs perished instantly, but others, despite being hit multiple times, remained standing.
Once the crossbowmen exhausted their ammunition, the mages stepped forward. After completing their spells, they unleashed them, resulting in consecutive explosions that made it seem as if countless bombs had been dropped.
Despite discovering their hiding spots, the orcs retaliated immediately.
The human warriors braced themselves. As the orcs approached, they charged. Kael observed that it took five warriors to defeat a single orc, while their leader, Varek, could contend with three simultaneously.
Kael, silently wielding his dagger, swiftly eliminated orcs, each strike resulting in an instant kill.
Minutes into the battle, the human and orc warriors continued their fierce combat until Varek confronted the Orc Lord.
Amidst the chaos and flames, Varek faced the orc leader—a colossal being nearly twice the size of a normal man, with skin resembling steel and eyes glowing red with rage.
"You shall not pass, human," the Orc Lord growled, slamming his massive axe into the ground, creating fissures around them.
Unfazed, Varek calmly drew his sword, which shimmered with a blue mana glow.
In a flash, Varek charged—swift, precise, and determined. The Orc Lord blocked with his axe, their weapons clashing like thunder and lightning.
They exchanged powerful blows. Each strike from the Orc Lord shook the ground, while Varek's evasions were followed by precise sword slashes, gradually leaving marks on the beast's body.
"Impressive," the Orc Lord remarked, slightly bleeding. "But it's not enough!"
He unleashed a dark energy—a wave of shadowy mana causing a massive explosion. Varek, undeterred, closed his eyes and, using his shield, bravely withstood the blast.
As the light returned, Varek stood behind the Orc Lord.
A final surge of mana emanated from his sword.
"Die now!" Varek shouted, thrusting into the Orc Lord's heart.
Time seemed to pause. The beast knelt, collapsed, and died.
Catching his breath, Varek looked at the fallen orc.
"We have won!" Varek proclaimed.
The other warriors cheered, motivated to eliminate the remaining orcs.
"No... it's not over," Kael whispered.
Suddenly, the Orc Lord's body glowed red. Varek stepped back as he noticed his armor burning.
"HAHAHA! This battle isn't over, foolish humans. Did you think you could defeat me so easily?"
The Orc Lord rose, his body enlarging. Kael observed that aside from his increased size, nothing else had changed.
Varek began retreating, but the orc attacked, sending him flying. The other warriors were shocked.
They all attacked simultaneously, but regardless of their numbers, the Orc Lord easily knocked them down. He even used the bodies of fallen warriors to attack the mages and crossbowmen from afar.
As defeat loomed, Kael prepared his gun, aiming it at the Orc Lord. With a powerful shot, the bullet struck the orc's chest, destroying it and pulverizing its insides.
Without hesitation, Kael fired again, this time at the Orc Lord's head, obliterating it instantly.
The surrounding warriors, especially Varek, stared at Kael in astonishment, wondering about the weapon he wielded and its immense power.
However, Kael noticed the Orc Lord's body regenerating. Its form reassembled, now larger, more terrifying, and enveloped in a dark energy aura.
"Tsk... It's not over," Kael muttered, reloading his gun and standing firm.
In an instant, the Orc Lord stood as if nothing had happened, laughing deeply and menacingly.
"Your weapon is remarkable, human. But you won't kill me that easily."
The Orc Lord charged, slamming his fist into the ground, causing debris to fly. Kael leaped, spinning mid-air, and fired downward. Three bullets hit the orc's shoulder and leg, but it didn't stop.
Instead, the Orc Lord grabbed at him mid-air, but Kael used mana to swiftly slide behind it, shooting its back. The bullet penetrated, but dark tendrils emerged, blocking the shot.
"Shit," Kael cursed, jumping back and realizing he was out of bullets. He infused his gun with mana, pouring all his energy into it.
The Orc Lord charged again, now wielding a dark spear formed from shadows. They exchanged attacks—Kael dodging, firing, and sliding, while the Orc Lord unleashed ground-shaking strikes and energy waves.
Kael used his remaining mana to hide in the shadows, reappearing behind the Orc Lord and firing, but to no effect. He vanished again, appearing in front of the orc.
There, Kael channeled all his mana into his gun for one final shot, aiming at the Orc Lord's chest. The orc couldn't react in time.
The bullet struck the Orc Lord's chest. But it wasn't just any bullet—it exploded inside the beast, creating pressure and energy that burst outward.
The Orc Lord screamed in pain, attempting to chase Kael. But Kael leaped upward, shot its knee, and as the beast fell, aimed at its head.
"Time for you to die."
One final shot—and this time, the beast didn't rise again.
Exhausted and drained of mana, Kael knelt, breathing heavily.
Almost everyone was speechless, especially Varek, their leader.
"Y-You... tell me, you're just a mere mercenary level... why are you so strong?" said Varek.
But Kael ignored him. He just walked toward a large tree and sat there to rest.
Because of Kael's actions, Varek could do nothing but get back to work.
He spoke, "Everyone move! You need to retrieve the body of the Orc Lord and its weapons. We might be able to sell them for 10,000 gold coins!"
Meanwhile, Kael simply watched his companions as they worked. Hours passed, and finally, they left the orc stronghold. Before leaving, they set the orc base on fire.
Because they won, Kael received 5,000 gold, and the other 5,000 was divided among the group.
"You get the largest share. If it weren't for you, we would've died to the Orc Lord," said Varek while shaking Kael's hand, which Kael accepted.
After the incident, Kael's rank increased—from a mere mercenary to a mercenary captain.
Because of that, he was now free to hunt solo, and he used this opportunity to raise his rank further. His first move was to wipe out the goblins nearby and kill monsters and fierce beasts that had become monstrous, like bears and others.
Kael tried traveling to distant lands, hunting monsters until he reached an area of extremely tall trees. There, he noticed the houses built into the trees. Curious, Kael tried to enter—but suddenly, someone blocked his path.
Kael then noticed people with long ears and realized they were elves. He shouted,
"I am not an enemy! I am a warrior on a journey to slay monsters!"
Despite his words, the elves remained silent, their bows still aimed at him.
Then a male elf spoke, "Leave now, human, if you don't want to die."
This angered Kael.
"If you're not going to speak with me properly and you want a fight, then I'll give you one!"
Kael began chanting magic—a spell he had read from a book he obtained from the Velmar Kingdom. Once his chant was done, flames appeared in his hands.
He launched the fire at the elves, who quickly dodged, though a few were hit. One of the elves who had dodged jumped and fired an arrow, but it didn't hit Kael—he had vanished like smoke and reappeared behind the attacking elf. Kael then kicked the elf so hard that he was sent flying and slammed to the ground at great speed, causing a powerful shockwave and thick smoke to rise.
This alarmed the other elves, and some came out from their homes. Kael quickly chanted again, this time releasing even more fire at the attacking elves.
After several minutes of battle, the area was filled with smoke and flames. Suddenly, a spell neutralized his magic. Surprised, Kael looked around to see who had cast it.
That's when he saw a beautiful elf who said,
"Stop what you're doing, human. You've already caused great damage to us," said the elf.
"And who are you supposed to be?" said Kael.
"You don't deserve to know my name. Your kind—humans—are sinful and have no right to enter our territory."
This enraged Kael.
"Hah! And I'm the sinner? Who was it that first pointed weapons at me? From the very start, when I arrived in your kingdom, you showed me no respect—you even tried to attack me. And now that I fought back, I'm suddenly the villain? Remember this—you were the first to raise your weapons, so don't pretend you're the victims, you fools!"