The aftermath of their battle against the horde left Rudra and Lucia standing at the edge of their endurance. They had pushed themselves to the brink, their breaths ragged, bodies battered. Together, they had managed to defeat an A-rank orc, a feat that would have been unthinkable not long ago. Rudra's newly acquired unique skill had granted him the strength needed to pierce through the powerful orc's defenses, while Lucia's elemental magic had bound it in place, giving them the advantage.
But now, they could barely stand.
"That... was tougher than I thought," Rudra muttered, wiping the blood from his sword. His eyes were glazed with fatigue, and his arm trembled from the effort.
Lucia slumped against a nearby tree, her magical reserves nearly depleted. "We did it, though. But if the orc lord is even stronger than this, how are we supposed to..."
Before she could finish, the ground shook beneath their feet, far more violently than before. The air seemed to crackle with an overwhelming surge of energy.
Both siblings turned their gaze to Zeyron, who remained seated on his branch, his expression unchanged. His eyes, however, were sharp, locked onto the horizon where the orc army lay in wait.
"You've done well," Zeyron said softly, almost to himself. He slowly stood up, his presence suddenly expanding, suffocating the very air around them. "But it's time I take care of the real threat."
Without another word, he raised a hand. A brilliant orb of energy formed in his palm, humming with devastating power. The wind howled as the sky above them darkened, the sheer magnitude of the magic distorting the landscape.
"Nuclear Cannon," Zeyron whispered, unleashing the spell with an effortless motion.
A beam of energy shot across the sky, so fast and so bright that Rudra and Lucia barely had time to process what they were seeing. In the blink of an eye, the beam struck the orc army. The explosion that followed was deafening, a blinding flash that tore the ground apart and sent shockwaves through the forest. Trees were ripped from the earth, and a towering mushroom cloud rose where the army had once stood.
When the dust finally settled, 300,000 orcs had been obliterated. Not a single trace of them remained in there capital.
Rudra and Lucia stared in disbelief, their mouths agape. The sheer power Zeyron had unleashed was beyond anything they had ever witnessed. The scale of destruction was incomprehensible.
"H-How...?" Rudra stammered, unable to find the words.
Lucia, still in shock, struggled to comprehend what had just occurred. "That... was one spell..."
Zeyron lowered his hand, his expression as calm as ever. "This is the power needed to deal with the orc lord and his forces. You two did well, but this is a war far beyond your current abilities."
Before they could respond, the atmosphere shifted once more. Out of the haze of destruction, a figure appeared—an orc, but unlike any they had encountered before. His muscles were taut, his body barely clothed, as though clothing was an afterthought. His eyes, however, gleamed with an unsettling sincerity.
"Humans," the orc said, his voice deep and oddly... polite. "You must be tired after such a battle. Come, join me for dinner."
Rudra and Lucia exchanged baffled looks, unsure how to respond. The orc's demeanor was so casual, so friendly, that it completely contrasted with the situation. They had just slaughtered thousands of orcs, and now this one was inviting them to eat as if nothing had happened.
Lucia quickly turned her gaze away, her cheeks flushing as she noticed the orc's lack of clothing. "Why is he dressed like that?" she whispered to her brother, covering her eyes with her hand.
Rudra shrugged, equally confused, but more focused on the orc's bizarre behavior. "Uh... are you... serious?"
The orc nodded, a strange sincerity in his eyes. "Of course. It is rare for humans to be so kind-hearted as to kill so many orcs."
"Kind-hearted?" Rudra repeated, incredulous. "We just... wiped out an army of 300,000 orcs!"
The orc smiled, as if Rudra had said something amusing. "Exactly. It was a very noble behavior. Come now, the food is ready."
Zeyron narrowed his eyes, a suspicion creeping into his mind. This orc was not normal. Turning his attention to Nova, his ever-reliable supportive skill, Zeyron asked the question that was gnawing at him.
"What's going on, Nova?"
Nova's voice echoed in Zeyron's mind, calm yet serious. [This orc... doesn't belong to this world. I suspect he's from an alternate world, one where the very rules of common sense are... warped.]
Zeyron raised an eyebrow. "Warped how?"
Instead of answering directly, Nova transferred raw information obtained from his ultimate skill directly into Zeyron's brain, a flood of data that caused his eyes to widen for just a moment before returning to their calm state.
"Ah, I see." Zeyron looked at the orc with renewed understanding. "So that's how it is..."
Lucia peeked through her fingers, still not fully understanding the bizarre situation. "Zeyron, what's going on?"
Zeyron glanced back at her and Rudra. "It seems we're dealing with more than just an orc lord. This one comes from an alternate world, where killing someone is considered very noble. It's a world where common sense, as we know it, doesn't apply."
Lucia and Rudra stood speechless, trying to process the revelation.
"So... what do we do now?" Rudra asked, gripping his sword tightly.
Zeyron smiled faintly. "Purify this world."