The First Hunter

Chapter 52. Orc Khan, Part I

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

1.

Changchun City…

Originally, it was located in the north of the Korean Peninsula, and seven million people lived there. But now, it was hard to find any trace of them, let alone living human beings.

There were footsteps there after a long time. The main source of the footsteps was the soldiers. The footsteps of those, who wore the national flag of the Republic of Korea on their right shoulders and the divine animal Mac on the left, were cautious, but there was no cowardice.

In Changchun City, which now belonged to the monsters, they were walking more imposingly than anyone else. It was not a bluff, nor the courage of ignorance.

As if to prove it, as soon as a Giant Centipede rose from under the ground, the soldiers began to move like wolves on the hunt rather than in surprise.

Restrained shots burst out, and as the Giant Centipede struggled against them, some of them pulled back bows they were holding instead of guns.

Twang! The arrows that left the bowstring rose and drove deep into the head of the writhing Centipede.

Twang! Five arrows from all sides punched into the head of the Centipede in succession. In the head of the Centipede, flowers made of arrows bloomed. It was incredible to see such accuracy. Such archery skills, which were really close to the miraculous, made the body of the Centipede like the Tower of Pisa.

The Giant Centipede began to totter. Of course, unlike the Leaning Tower, the body of the Centipede fell to the ground without delay. There was a heavy thump, and sandy dust spread out.

“Go up and take a look.”

It was the first time they spoke. A man who was given the order immediately began to climb the ruined building. The man climbed the wall, clinging to it like Spider-Man. The man who had climbed up the building and secured his lookout point took a telescope and looked around.

“Sergeant!” At that moment the man stopped his head as if he had found something and called out to the ground. “The Orcs are moving.”

At the word, Orc, the soldiers below smiled with a deep tension.

“What are their numbers?”

“About five hundred.”

But the pale smiles disappeared like melting snow in front of the number of five hundred. The same was true of Sergeant Lim Jung-soo, who got the report. In the head of Lim Jung-soo, the report sent by the search party came to mind.

‘The search party’ report was correct; there is an Orc community near here.’

The search team, which was searching Manchuria, told him that there was a large Orc community in Changchun City. That was why Lim Jung-soo and his men were here. Their job was to remove the monsters in the north of the Korean peninsula before they crossed the Yalu River and caused problems.

It was especially important to remove monsters that gathered together, like Orcs, when they could be removed. If a powerful Orc appeared, the Orcs would become an Orc army under the powerful Orc, and it was obvious where the Orcs would head.

Of course, five hundred was not an unreasonable number.

‘Five hundred is enough to kill in the city.’

Nevertheless, Sergeant Lim Jung-soo was considering fighting instead of retreating.

Because he was stupid? It couldn’t be. Because of the resonance? Of course not.

There was only one reason to try to engage, because of the Mac embroidered on his shoulder. To a Mac unit, five hundred Orcs were not things to avoid, but creatures to annihilate. They were now the best in Korea and even the best elites in the world.

“Huh?” Lim Jung-soo heard the surprised voice of the watching soldier.

“What’s going on?”

“The Orcs suddenly changed direction.”

“What?”

“They’re heading in the opposite direction, west… toward Mongolia.” The soldier put away the telescope in his hand and immediately dropped to the ground. He landed in front of Lim Jung-soo at once reported with a firm expression.

“Not a group, but all groups of Orcs from every side are moving in one direction at once. The numbers are not normal. The Orcs around here are gathering in the same place at the same time.”

After the report, Sergeant Lim Jung-soo no longer considered combat. “I think something’s going to happen, which we’ve never experienced before.”

At the words of Sergeant Lim Jung-soo, his men’s expressions hardened. A chill ran down their spines.

________________

2.

Vatican City…

In a world where everything was falling and collapsing, something new emerged there that was even more glorious than before. Flags, new flags, were fluttering all over the Vatican. It was a beast that occupied the flag. It was a beast that has not existed in the Vatican, or in Europe.

The animal was Mac. It was amazing.

Who would have imagined that Vatican City, the real ruler of Europe, would hang the flag at the same height as their flag, an animal they had never seen?

“Did you hear the rumor? I heard that he had taken Paris back in one morning.”

“He finished it in an hour, not a morning.”

But even more surprising was that no one had any doubts about it.

“The degree of recapturing Paris is an after-lunch level of exercise compared to his display in Frankfurt.”

“I’m glad Mac Guild came to Europe. If it had not been for him, the Vatican would have been trampled by the Giants.”

“Yes, I’m so glad.”

Everyone was grateful for the flag of the Mac Guild flying there in Vatican City.

“What about my directing?”

Two men were walking down the streets of Vatican City where the flags of Mac Guild fluttered.

“For reference, I have changed our Mac mascot design a little bit, in a more ferocious way.”

Jang Sung-hoon was the man explaining things.

“Maybe next year, Mac Guild will be more famous than McDonald’s. I should have made a corporation and listed it.”

Of course, it was Kim Tae-hoon next to him, listening to the explanation.

“Oh! There it is.”

The place where the two of them were heading for a cool conversation could be called the heart of Vatican City.

“That’s the Sistine Chapel.”

The Sistine Chapel was the place where the mass of the Pope was held, and the conclave was held to elect the Pope.

“I didn’t know I would see the creation of heaven and earth and the Last Judgment like this.”

It was also the place where the masterpiece of Michelangelo’s soul, one of the most famous artists in the world, was left.

The first thing that welcomed Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon as they visited the Sistine Chapel, was the soldiers who were camping in front of the cathedral.

“Wow, they’ve collected a lot.”

The number of men was considerable. A hundred units were roughly visible.

“This is what we see, and the deployed numbers… Whew.”

If they added the number of those who were hiding around the Sistine Chapel, it was possible to say that the number would be more than a thousand. It was a large enough number that shrinking back was expected.

However, it was not Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon who were shrinking at this moment, but the soldiers facing them.

As evidence, the soldiers’ necks, which faced Kim Tae-hoon closer, were tensed. But no one thought of it as blame or shame.

Kim Tae-hoon killed the Giants and their leader alone. It would be strange if they kept a calm face, in a situation where they might face him as an enemy. In the middle of such tension, a man showed up and walked toward Jang Sung Hoon and Kim Tae Hoon.

“Welcome. Come with me.”

John Gabriel was the real owner of Vatican City. He met Kim Tae-hoon and immediately led him into the Sistine Cathedral. A short conversation was held coming and going.

“I want you to be polite to the Cardinals.”

“What if I am not polite?”

“Please, I beg you to show your sincerity. Even if anything happens… I don’t want to see blood. They’ll be angry with you, but they can’t threaten you.”

It was a conversation that was not very pleasant. The conversation made it possible to guess the atmosphere of the conversation that would take place here today, at the Sistine Cathedral.

“The moment I leave here, this place will collapse, and I have no reason to see blood.”

Today, Kim Tae-hoon was planning to deal with the Cardinals, who decided everything for the Vatican.

After the manipulation of the Six Snakes and John Gabriel, the Cardinals with the authority and arrogance, who had no idea of the changed world, now had to deal with the strongest man in the world, the man who used any means and methods for his purpose.

“… I beg you, though.” John Gabriel was confident that this conversation would not end well.

“Whew!” With a sigh of relief, Johann Gabriel opened the door of the Sistine Chapel. The Cardinals were waiting beyond. They were gathered under the west wall of the Chapel, the wall of the Last Judgment painted, as if they wanted Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon to take care of themselves and kneel before this great work.

“Wow, that is beautiful. Boss, do you want me to hang it up at Bucheon City Hall?”

However, the first words of Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon the Cardinals heard, made their bones cold, rather than satisfying their expectations.

“How dare you say that? So impertinent!” a Cardinal shouted reflexively at Jang’s words. It was a natural reaction.

The Last Judgment was a treasure of human and Vatican history that no longer needed explanation. It was a treasure that did not even allow photography to avoid any damage to somehow leave it in the posterity.

But Jang was going to take it off and use it for decoration somewhere else?

It was insulting beyond the ridicule of God. For the Cardinals, the representatives of God, it was humiliation and disgrace beyond insult.

In response to such a reaction, Jang Sung-hoon laughed. It was a smile that a predator with a very ridiculous target in front of him would make.

“Boss, I don’t think they know what’s going on yet. I don’t think they’ve heard how many monster stones chief John Gabriel pays for the Sistine Chapel a year.”

At his smile, the faces of the Cardinals were surprised at the words Jang Sung-hoon spoke. After closing the door of the cathedral, the expression of John Gabriel, who was waiting near the door, hardened.

Kim Tae-hoon had gained authority over everything in the Vatican in return for saving Europe from the Giants. The Sistine Chapel was no exception. Now the Sistine Chapel was all owned by the Mac Guild, not only just the brick, but even the dust rolling on the floor.

The Vatican City had to pay the rent for the Sistine Cathedral every year to the Mac Guild.

“Chief Gabriel! Is this true?”

Of course, the Cardinals had no choice but to find Gabrielle for this situation that had never existed in Vatican history.

“Oh, my God, you sold Sistine Chapel, what the—”

“What nonsense to sin against the Lord!”

The Cardinals were ready to burst into anger, making their old bodies redden like active volcanoes. Fortunately, John Gabriel had no trouble explaining the situation.

“Quiet.” Kim Tae-hoon opened his mouth, and everyone else quietly shut up when he spoke. It was a surprise.

‘Ugh!’

“Ha…”

The Cardinals had dedicated their lives with patience and faith to the invisible, unheard, untouchable, and unappealable God. No matter if they went in the wrong direction now, their patience and faith would not fade. They were willing to accept death for God. Such Cardinals were weighed down by a sense of oppression.

“Let’s talk about it in a short way.”

That was the extent of Kim Tae-hoon’s presence. His presence was the result of the days he had walked so far. He walked from end to end of the Eurasian continent, killing countless monsters alone.

What could they compare the weight of that process with?

“There are Orc armies coming here now.”

Above all, the monster that Kim Tae-hoon would discuss today was a very big thing.

“It is the Orcs’ Emperor, the Orc Khan, who leads the horde. A purple-grade monster.”

The Orc Khan was a monster that did not need another explanation, only the fact that it had purple eyes.

“There’s no information about it yet, and I don’t want to judge it poorly.”

The monster was leading a horde of Orcs toward Europe.

“Obviously, there are only two things: it’s coming to Europe, and Europe can’t stop it.”

Genghis Khan, the emperor of the Mongolian Empire in the past, had painted Europe as a nightmare. The wild run of Genghis Khan had never reached the Vatican, but he was not the Orc Khan. It was a monster of monsters, that would not be satisfied with trampling through the entire continent of Europe, from the Vatican to Spain and Portugal.

“I’m the only one who can kill it.”

After that, Kim Tae-hoon stopped talking. The crowd became quiet.

“So…” In the silence, one spoke. “So what do you want from us?”

Kim Tae-hoon did not answer the voice. The answer came from the formerly silent Jang Sung-hoon’s mouth.

“We don’t want anything from you.”

“What the hell is that-”

“You don’t know the reality yet, but as I said, everything the Vatican has already belonged to the Mac Guild.”

There was no laughter in Jang Sung-hoon’s voice.

“The power of the Vatican and Europe is nothing more than a toothless pig that cannot deal with even a blue-grade monster like the Great Giant. How much will that power help us in front of a purple-grade monster? It would just be a piece of meat that feeds the Orc Khan and the Orcs. So we don’t need anything, and we don’t need any help.”

The fate of Europe was not something to laugh at.

“It is your job to give us a reason for our boss to fight the Orc Khan, and defend the Vatican and Europe with his life.”

Jang Sung-hoon, who spoke the words, looked at the Last Judgment behind the Cardinals and said quietly, “Lord, please don’t ask me for my sins on the Day of Judgment.”

The faces of the Cardinals hardened in front of the low-voiced words, and Jang Sung-hoon spoke the last words toward them. “You’d better make a wise and clever decision, so that you can kneel in front of the picture behind you and not say what Paul III said.”

At the end of the words, they could hear a knock over the door as if someone had waited. The knock sounded like a heartbeat pounding.

John Gabriel, who had been standing near the door like a stone statue, opened the door halfway. A woman’s voice came through the door.

“This is a photograph of the Orc Khan and the Orc horde coming to Europe. They’re near the Caspian Sea.” Maria had appeared there. “More than five hundred soldiers were killed to take this picture.”

There was a huge Orc in the picture she handed to Johan Gabriel through the door, ripping the body of a blue-grade Gamecock apart with its bare hands.