[It has been ten days since the Battle of Pyongyang ended]
[On the day the ratification of the Lionheart Federation was announced, half of the World's Tree was burned in a massive raid by the Orc Continental Federation's Grand Khan Murka Balak──]
[The situation in the coastal cities of the Greater China Continent is dire, with 13 cities submerged in seawater and countless people displaced──]
Four days after the ratification ceremony of the Lionheart Confederation, a major raid by the Orc Continental Confederation in Murka Balak coincides with the activation of the Lionheart Confederation's weapons of mass destruction.
The clash between the Orc champions and Holy Knights literally turned Pyongyang, which had been torn apart by the battle against the demons, into a shambles.
Pyongyang had made remarkable progress in the six months since Yappy's planned city reconstruction, but it was no match for the superhumans representing the power of the gods.
"Whoa, it's smashed."
Park, a reporter from the Korean National Broadcasting System, who had come to cover the situation in Pyongyang, stuck his tongue out at the devastating sight of the city in pieces.
Aside from the VIPs who had been invited, the lowest cuts of ordinary citizens were elves and tree men, so it would have been a catastrophe if there had been ordinary citizens.
"But even with that much fire, the World Tree is relatively intact."
"They say that its primary function, the creation of life, has ceased, and they're focusing on restoring it."
The capital of the Lionheart Federation, Pyongyang Special City, was hit by a fire that burned and disabled the World Tree and destroyed much of the city.
It was a shame that it happened on the day of the Federation's ratification, but no one considered it a one-sided defeat for Lionheart.
"How is the situation on the continent?"
"Disastrous. They're dying by the hundreds of thousands."
As soon as Murka's massive assault began, Leon activated the doomsday protocol he had prepared.
High-powered suicide drones from land-based unmanned drone bases controlled by the Marquis class of land-based warplanes crossed the Yellow Sea and struck across the continent,
Dominator-class warships at sea detonated dozens of nuclear torpedoes, creating massive waves on the continental shelf.
Although now stealthy and submerged, the charged-particle artillery ground bombardment from space-integrated weaponized platforms is said to have exceeded conventional capabilities by a hundredfold.
"I wouldn't be surprised if tens of millions of people were killed," he says, "but the holy law is so--- convenient."
It is surprising that even though these enormous destruction devices were activated, almost no one died except the orcs.
Even with the aid of Hi-Tech, the attack was a conceptual attack that clearly distinguished the targets, whether it was Beatrice's Death Rite, Han Ha-ri's Tide Rite, or Yappy's Iron Rite.
They unleashed attacks conceptualized to kill only orcs, not humans, and the orcs of the Orc Continental Confederacy fell before their wrath.
Although the devastating destruction swept through, the atmosphere was not kind to the Orc Continent Federation. This is because the Lionheart Federation immediately announced the plans being made by the Orc Continent Federation.
"The Ragnarok Plan. If it's real--this is not a war between Orcs and Lionheart, it's a war between humanity and Orcs."
The Ragnarok Plan was a plan that began when the demons that had long infested the land were unleashed.
A special gate would be open to summon the 'alien' foreigners to this land.
A direct confrontation between foreign gods and pantheon gods. Truly a war of gods.
No one could have imagined the catastrophe it would bring.
"There was a reason why the orcs attacked so aggressively. Thanks to that, they are being beaten all over the world."
Three days into the war, the U.S. Pacific Fleet is bombing major cities, and the Indian Army is on the ground.
The European Union is trying to provide arms to the Lionheart Federation, but it hasn't even made it out of the Council yet.
'But it does balance out the massive numbers of orcs.'
Orcs numbered over two million on the continent alone.
Even if it's a far cry from the human race as a whole, there are nearly 700,000 orc warriors of the dual warrior class, or at least B-class hunters.
Add to that the continental hunters and armies absorbed by the Orc Continental Federation, and you're talking about millions of combat troops.
Even if the Lionheart Federation mobilizes thousands of Knights and tens of thousands of Man-At-Arms, the balance of numbers is still too great.
For some reason, the United States is actively engaged in a supportive offensive, and naturally, South Korea and Japan have joined the war, keeping the balance of numbers close.
"But in the end, the strongest forces on both sides were the Lion King and the Great Khan. If just one of those demigods participated, this balance would quickly collapse."
It was a sentiment shared by all who watched the battle of Pyongyang.
* * * * *
Ten days into the war the world was in chaos.
Just when you think you've gotten used to the rampage of demons lurking everywhere, a major war breaks out, pitting 'great powers' against 'great powers'.
The 33 nations of the Lionheart Confederation, the United States, South Korea, and Japan, and the Orc Continental Confederation, which has swallowed up half of the continent, are battling it out.
The attacks on the National Guard by orc circles in the United States and the orc coups in Eastern Europe and Russia are laughable.
Not even the war against the Chaos Lord Rakshar was of this magnitude, and not since the Gulf War has humanity's reliance on a handful of superhumans led to such a massive military conflict since the dawn of the Hunter's Age.
-Crazy, part of Moscow has been taken over by orcs! Russian Guards are entering the mosque now!
-You're telling me this isn't going to be solved at the police level?
-The Hunters are being used!
The problem is that this war is so far beyond conventional wisdom.
Humanity's wars have always been man-on-man.
Armies drawn from the homeland march across the land and clash with enemy armies.
Modernization and network warfare have added connections between land, sea, and air, but the basic principle of war remains the same.
But this war was different.
-Orcs have appeared in Pearl Harbor! The Pacific Fleet's homeport is being destroyed!
-What? There aren't many orcs in Hawaii!
-The gates are open!
-The Burning Sword Knights are in Beijing! They're burning everything they can find!
-We're in Wuhan, and it's raining lightning! It's not natural, no matter what you think!
-Is there more to it than the lightning of the thunder god Ultima?
Gate Technology, this great magic of leaping through space, mastered by the magician queen Beatrice and ridden by Murka on the day of the ratification of the Federation, was being used in guerrilla warfare by the two sides to cross each other's territory.
-Gate 3 will open now, 1st Knights and auxiliary Man-At-Arms, return in 30 minutes after a swift firefight.
-I will open the gate to Tokyo, where you will kill as many Hunters of the Japan Hunter's Association as you can, then retreat in stages.
The Magician Queen and the Orc Elder, these two masters of the ages have mastered gate magic that even the demons can't handle except for the Archdemons of Wisdom.
Because of the existence of these two, the war is not just a confrontation between sides, but also a battle between two dimensions. In other words, an n-dimensional confrontation is taking place.
-Gate jump ends. The magical power of the enemy great shaman is also slowly reaching its limit.
-It's quiet at this point. Did you say she was a magician queen? She has an incredible amount of magic power······
The only thing that keeps this war from spiraling into an endless muddle is that each faction has only one genius capable of using Gate magic.
In order to retrieve the troops they sent through the gate, they must focus their energies on maintaining the gate they opened.
"Woohoo------"
"Good work, Beatrice."
Leon looked over at Beatrice, who was resting beside him, studying the tactical map.
"What do you think, do you have a good idea of his location?"
During the gate enchantment, Beatrice had backtracked the gate the orcs were opening. If the gate could be traced back, it must be the orcs' home base.
It could end this war once and for all.
"No. His anti-tracking spell is of a very high level. I've never seen anything like it."
Beatrice clucked her tongue, noting that even Archduke Quai was not this good.
"In the past, there was a famous shaman among the orcs. A great chieftain who united thirteen orc tribes."
High Shaman Kran.
Leon remembered at length.
"I couldn't go to kill him because he was from a large tribe of orcs from the northern part of the empire, but it looks like he is the orc shaman who is dealing with you."
"And the orc shaman named Maghar, Champion of Gokrok?"
Beatrice asked, referring to the orc champion Leon had encountered on his quest for the Jerea holy relic, but Leon answered with a smirk.
"Beatrice, your power is far beyond that of any Holy Knight. Your magic talent is far above for the imperious Preceptors of the Empire, and while Maghar may be the champion of Gokrok, it is Kran himself that the evil Orc Shaman truly favors."
As Murka Balak is favored by the Three Orc Gods.
"By the way, Your Majesty, is your wound still healed?"
Beatrice approached Leon and stared anxiously at the bloodied bandages.
Ten days ago, in a bloody battle in Pyongyang, Leon and Murka had wounded each other and retreated. Now, here in Pyongyang, Leon was forced to rest, commanding the battlefield.
"He's also been pierced in the shoulder with a holy sword, so he'll need time to recover. Until then, I'll leave it to my men."
Leon looked at the map.
They were under attack from all sides, thanks to the Orc Continental Alliance's rash surprise attack and the revelation of the true nature of the Ragnarok Plan.
There are several battlegrounds, but they're just localized skirmishes. The real battle is in an unexpected place.
"We can only hope that Lord Vulcanus will do well."
Leon's gaze was fixed on the great continental map.
* * * * *
War has been raging for ten days.
Despite the hyper-three-dimensional battle of gate jumping and the unprecedented clash of large forces, the world's attention is focused on one area.
The easternmost and starting point of the great wall that mainland China built to keep nomadic tribes from invading, Shanhaiguan.
For a long time, the giant fortress, which kept the nomadic tribes that threatened the settled population at bay from the entrance, has once again prevented foreign invasions.
-Crackle!
"Siege artillery!"
The pre-modern infantry advance, supported by the armored artillery of the Kikiruks and futuristic robotic mechs.
The Lionheart Federation's Vulcanus, who had rushed through the Dogma Plateau at the start of the war, was leading a massive army of over 50,000 to assault the ancient castle.
"Destroy it!"
Vulcanus' flames roared, igniting into a skull-shaped fireball.
The advancing fireball, threatening to consume everything in its path, is the power of the war god Petos.
It is not the kind of firepower that can be withstood by a dilapidated citadel, even if it has been fortified with orc architecture and enhanced with spells.
-Kaah!
China's long-standing cultural heritage was destroyed in an instant.
"Raze!"
Vulcanus and the Flaming Sword Knights march forward. The elite knights and hunters led the way, and the orcs waiting behind the crumbling walls swung their axes to block them.
"Not enough!"
Vulcanus crashed into the leading Orc with his bare back, his hardy flesh shattering in the process.
Knights pride themselves on the impact power of their mounts, but a superhuman of Vulcanus' stature would be better by simply slamming into them with his bare body.
But even with such a powerful charge, the orcs' flesh is still thick.
"Hmph, that's a lot. Even with all that pounding, I wonder how many of them there are."
Beyond the sea wall, the number of orcs pressing in was staggering.
"Lord Vulcanus! The Golems are coming!"
"Hm?"
The old man pointed with his hammer. There, huge boulders were moving.
"Grara── I haven't seen them in a long time."
-Here they come!
-Big Rock Face!
-Boulder Face!
The orcs cheered as the rock golems created by their shamans appeared.
He thought the Black Orcs were the real elite, but there were quite a few shamans among the Orcs.
Reporters observing the battle gulped as they filmed the two forces beginning to clash in earnest.
Not since the Cataclysm had forces of this magnitude clashed with each other.
Countries have fought wars against each other even when faced with the threat of gates, but they were small-scale localized wars.
It's been nearly 40 years since the Gulf War. But if there's one thing we know for sure, it's that
"This war---it will not end until one side has annihilated the other!"
Whereas previous wars were fought over practicalities and ideologies, this war is a war of species annihilation.