Chapter 24

Immovable Barrier (4)

The party was discussing at the entrance.

"Shouldn't we run now?"

Lud, a member of the party, said.

Currently, a faint sense of unease was rising among them.

The unknown passage that two people had just entered looked like a dungeon, and they felt they had gotten involved in something ominous.

A dungeon was a treasure trove where ancient relics lay dormant.

Though the dangers inside were unknown, it was also a greedy trap that made countless adventurers dream of instant wealth.

They never thought that what they were looking for would be a dungeon.

The problem was that the woman guarding Ron, their client, was an incredibly powerful fighter beyond their imagination.

She had unleashed a massive sword energy that cut the orcs to pieces in one strike. They had never seen such a spectacle in their lives.

There was no guarantee that she wouldn't try to silence them by killing them all after they left the dungeon.

Many nobles were madmen who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

They also regretted taking on such an unclear job for the sake of money.

'But that young master didn't seem like that kind of person...'

Shien stepped forward and said,

"Hey, are you crazy? We haven't even received the rest of the payment. What are you talking about?"

"You saw that woman, didn't you? If she wants to silence us, she might kill us..."

"If she wanted to, she would have killed us before we even entered, wouldn't she?"

"Maybe she's leading us in and then killing us after we can't find our way back... Ugh!"

"You're just a coward, that's all."

Shien hit Lud's back with her bow for his negative talk.

Of course, it was all just a hypothetical scenario.

Otherwise, it would mean abandoning their client before completing the job, and they wouldn't even get the 70 gold.

They decided to wait a bit longer, but then a whining sound was heard.

Orcs were appearing one by one around them.

"Ah, those orc brats again."

Is there a tribe settled around this gorge?

The expressions of Rodin and the party members, who were preparing for battle, gradually turned blank.

The number of orcs in their sight kept increasing without end.

From a few to ten, from ten to dozens, and from dozens to...

"..."

A crowd of orcs filled the area.

They appeared from the bushes, from the cliffs, and now they looked like a green wave.

"Insane."

No one could understand what kind of absurd situation was unfolding.

They just turned pale, unable to even raise their weapons, and took a step back.

Strangely, there was an orderly atmosphere among the numerous orcs.

As if they were a well-organized army, waiting for the orders of their leader.

Grrrr.

A low, clear sound echoed in the silence.

The fierce roar that stimulated their fear made Rodin and the party members shiver.

It seemed like a path was opening in the green wave, and something slowly walked out.

A massive orc, as big as a human, and covered in bulging muscles.

Looking at it, Rodin muttered in disbelief.

"...It's the king."

The king.

A being capable of uniting and commanding monsters that were supposed to be impossible to unite.

Now they understood why so many orcs could gather in one place.

A worst-case mutant that could trigger a monster wave had been born among the orcs in this Tyrell Mountain Range.

The orc king's eyes, glowing with a blood-red light, turned towards them.

They were filled with the intent to tear them apart.

There was no way to deal with such a monster.

Everyone instinctively realized this without even trying to fight.

With the orcs surrounding them, there was only one place to run.

Rodin, looking at the entrance of the dungeon beside him, managed to speak.

"Arma, magic... "

Arma, who was half in shock, suddenly came to her senses and began to prepare a spell.

She planned to cast a spell to momentarily stun the monster and then run inside. There was no other option.

She poured all her mana into it.

The mana swirling around her soon burst into flames.

Grrrr!

The orc king charged at them with a heavy step.

At the same time, a massive fireball, as big as a person, cut through the air and flew towards the monster with fierce momentum.

Boom!

"Run inside!"

Everyone turned and ran towards the entrance of the dungeon.

But it was futile.

The fireball Arma cast didn't even slow down the orc king.

He reached them in an instant, before they could take a few steps.

The orc king's first target was Arma, who had cast the spell.

Rodin, who was next to her, instinctively jumped but was thrown against the cliff and pinned there.

"..."

She didn't even have time to cast a defensive spell.

Seeing the massive fist about to crush her, she closed her eyes, sensing her impending death.

At that moment,

A giant sword energy flew out from inside the dungeon and cut the orc king.

...Grrrr!

The orc king roared in pain, grabbing his bleeding arm and stepping back.

Arma slowly opened her eyes. The other party members looked at the entrance where the sword energy had come from.

Ron and Ashell were slowly walking out from inside.

***

'...What is this mess?'

I came out of the dungeon with a light step and looked at the scene before me with a bewildered expression.

Numerous orcs covering the gorge.

It had been less than half an hour since we entered the dungeon, but chaos had erupted outside.

'Is that... the orc king?'

Looking at the massive orc roaring in pain from Ashell's sword energy, I quickly understood the situation.

【Lv. 72】

The orc king's level was 72.

Even for a king, it was a very high level.

To encounter such a rare orc king again, this mysterious search is truly eventful.

But since Ashell could handle it, I wasn't too worried.

"Take care of it."

"Yes."

At my command, Ashell immediately approached the orc king.

It seemed like she was making up for not being able to fight the stone guardian in the dungeon.

I turned my gaze to Rodin, who was pinned to the cliff.

He was barely breathing, bleeding profusely from his entire body.

"Leader!"

The party members, who had been in shock, finally ran over.

They pulled Rodin from the cliff and laid him on the ground.

Arma hurriedly reached out to his battered body. Green light enveloped him.

It seemed like she was casting healing magic, but Rodin's focus was gradually fading, as if he was about to die.

"No... No...!"

I watched her, tears streaming down her face as she cast the spell, and took something out of my pocket.

I know that to survive in this world, one must live selfishly and not give out favors carelessly.

But I couldn't ignore people dying right in front of me.

"Move aside."

I took out a Scarlet Vision Potion and examined Rodin's condition.

His chest was caved in, which seemed to be a fatal wound. I poured the potion on it.

After a while, the wound slowly began to regenerate, and I could hear the bones inside creaking.

...But if his bones were broken, shouldn't they have been properly aligned before using the potion? Would it work like this?

I had a moment of worry, but soon Rodin's complexion eased, and his breathing became regular.

The other party members, who had been watching in a daze, hurriedly thanked me.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much...!"

"Check his condition further."

Having finished my task, I turned my gaze to the side.

Ashell and the orc king were in the middle of a fierce battle.

Boom!

...It was too fast to even see the exchanges.

All I could see was that every time Ashell and the orc king clashed, the ground around them was flipped, and trees were swept away. The shock waves even reached here, despite the distance.

Seeing Ashell fight properly for the first time, I realized how monstrous she was.

In Belvargora, against a guardian over level 80, and with the enemies she faced, she hadn't been able to show her full strength.

The orc king, unable to keep up with Ashell's storm of sword attacks, was only spewing blood.

If Ashell were to use her full power, the orc king would already be dead.

A 9-level difference at levels 70 and 80 was enormous.

But Ashell wasn't using her racial traits, so she wasn't at full power.

The battle seemed to be taking longer than expected, but I was confident it would end soon, so I crossed my arms and watched.

Then, at a certain moment,

Grrrr!

The orc king, as if preparing for a final clash, let out a thunderous roar and suddenly changed direction, charging towards us.

Ashell, taken aback, was a beat late in following behind the orc king, but... he was already close.

'Oh no...'

Seeing the orc king right in front of me in the blink of an eye, I immediately used the mystery.

Immovable Barrier.

An invisible, transparent barrier unfolded between me and the orc king.

His fist stopped in front of me, and the impact caused the ground beside me to explode.

"..."

The attack that could have shattered a massive rock didn't even give me a slight shock.

I stood with my arms crossed, looking at the orc king, who was now flustered, with a calm expression, but inwardly I was relieved.

That was the orc king's last move.

Swoosh!

Ashell's sword, which followed in an instant, beheaded the orc king.