Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: I Became the Last of the Giant Clan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kang Hyuk had steeled himself before coming here.
'Orc Warlord, king of the orcs. A monster that can easily take down a B-rank hunter solo. And this one devoured three hundred hunters.'
Considering that monsters evolve by eating hunters, there was no telling how far this thing had grown.
'At least peak B-rank, maybe even A-rank by now.'
That was why he had to stop it right here, right now.
If he failed, it would devour Lee Hyun-wook and seven hundred more hunters, evolving once again.
'And then... it'd surpass A-rank and become an S-rank disaster in its own right. In other words, an A-rank gate—the kind they call hell—would open.'
An A-rank gate hadn't appeared in ages. If one popped up now, Jeju Island's annihilation would be guaranteed.
Hell, the entire southern half of the Korean Peninsula might fall into its clutches.
'That's why I was prepared to lose an arm if that's what it took. But...'
Now that he was face-to-face with the Warlord, worry gave way to a smile.
[I can tell you're strong. But you're still human in the end. You think you can brawl with me, the orc king, without transcending your pathetic species?]
A clumsy taunt.
And provocation.
[Humans call it 'suicide.' That's what you're doing right now, human.]
Kang Hyuk caught the impatience and fear peeking through.
Emotions no orc should have. He muttered in a voice thick with curiosity.
'A mutant? Or a side effect from eating too many hunters?'
Monsters were terrifying because of their blind 'will to slaughter.'
They didn't stop until their enemies were obliterated. Breaking that will usually meant killing them, which was why they had such a bad matchup against humans.
'Human wisdom and tactics mean nothing against a beast that knows no fear. But...'
This Warlord before him lacked that killing intent.
Instead, there were faint traces of human-like fear and emotion.
He couldn't help but smirk.
'A side effect. From gorging on too many humans at once.'
And if he played it right, he could exploit it.
With that thought, Kang Hyuk murmured.
"Lucky for me. You're not as strong as I thought."
At the same time, he drew up his power.
Power of the Last Giant Clan activates.
Partial Giantization Beyond Limits activates!
Giantization Synchronization Rate: 2.2%
Maintenance Time: 25 seconds
Power of the Last Giant Clan activates.
You acquire Giant's Strike Beyond Limits.
Power of the Last Giant Clan: 10%
1% of bodily functions are lost!
As that explosive power surged, sensation vanished from his thumb.
He ignored it and slammed his fist into the Warlord's gut.
At that instant...
[……!!]
The Warlord's face twisted, its massive body launching into the sky.
Kang Hyuk leaped after it, grabbing its head and demanding,
"Do I still look human to you?"
The Warlord's eyes widened at the question.
Kang Hyuk deliberately amplified his giant's aura.
Power of the Last Giant Clan activates.
You acquire Giant's Aura Beyond Limits.
Power of the Last Giant Clan: 10%
1% of bodily functions are lost!
In that moment, the Warlord's expression shifted.
[……What? A giant?]
Confirming it, Kang Hyuk smashed his fist into its face.
Boom!
The impact cratered its body into the ground with a thunderous roar.
But the Warlord's tough hide endured, and it staggered back up.
[Grrgh……!!]
Groaning, its body swaying.
Kang Hyuk dove in again.
[……Raaargh!!!]
Another thrust of his fist drew a scream from the Warlord.
That monstrous roar shook the heavens, stunning the onlookers.
"W-What the hell am I seeing?"
"……This isn't a dream, right?"
As murmurs spread and jaws dropped in disbelief...
The orcs began to retreat.
Chwiik! (Oh, the king is being pushed back!)
Chwiiik! (The intruder is overpowering the king!)
Chwiiiik! (The invader who breached our territory is trying to kill our king!)
Terror branded into them by Kang Hyuk.
The ingrained gap in power.
It overrode their instinct to kill humans, sending them stumbling back.
Chwiiik!
Meanwhile, the Night Orcs bellowed.
Chwiiiik! (Don't run! Death awaits the cowards!)
At that cry, the retreating orcs barely halted.
As they tried to reignite their fading battle spirit, a massive glacier slammed down from above the Night Orcs.
Boom!
The Night Orcs scattered in alarm. Yoon Hee-na glanced their way.
'……I can hardly believe if this is a dream or reality.'
She gripped her sword, eyes gleaming.
'But one thing's clear: Kang Hyuk just turned the tide of this fight.'
Her power blossomed.
'So we keep this momentum and seize victory. The Night Orcs... I'll pin them down.'
A chilling frost spread, binding the Night Orcs' feet.
Lee Hyun-wook, HQ chief, thought the same and muttered.
'Does this even make sense...'
A rookie hunter with less than a year under his belt.
Yet here he was, shattering common sense again.
[Raaargh!]
No matter how prodigious an S-rank talent, to match a B-rank Warlord blow-for-blow...
Lee Hyun-wook let out a hollow laugh.
And murmured,
'I've been awakened for thirty years as a hunter, seen countless heroes...'
Coincidences happen.
But stacked coincidences? That's no coincidence.
'That man's different. There's something special about him beyond his strength.'
With that, Lee Hyun-wook rose, resolve hardening.
Mana surged from his strained body!
"Ngh!"
But it wasn't enough to activate 'Grace of the Gods,' the multi-buff skill.
Whumm!
Still, he didn't give up.
'At the critical moment, I'll pour everything into Team Leader Kang!'
Meanwhile, battles raged across the field.
[……Impossible.]
As everyone else burned with fighting spirit and bloodlust...
[Impossible! How can a mere human...]
One being alone trembled in fear and terror.
[How can I sense the remnant of a giant?!]
The Warlord.
A creature meant to inspire fear.
The Warlord couldn't believe it.
'Am I... afraid?'
It had reigned as king its entire life.
Nothing had ever made it tremble in fear.
No, nothing could.
A king bestowed fear, it didn't feel it.
Yet that law had shattered. An anomaly.
'Me... afraid?'
The human before it.
He was the source of its fear.
A truly bizarre sensation.
Orcs were fated to defy death and crush foes.
Their tongue lacked a word for 'fear.'
But devouring humans had awakened language—and clarity on this new emotion.
It was afraid.
Afraid of the human before it.
More precisely...
[……!!]
Of the colossal, eerie presence looming behind him—an insurmountable wall.
Its body froze, feet inching back.
[……Raaargh!]
It had transcended its kind, become a king-slayer.
But before that, it was meaningless.
Fate. Destiny.
No effort could surpass it.
Gaze upon it, and fear. Bow before it.
But the Warlord refused to accept it.
[Raaargh!]
It thrashed and roared.
Forcing down fear and terror, it swung its fist.
Kaboom!!
Can't surpass it?
Then erase it from sight.
Conveniently, that entity was bound to a human body for some reason.
As long as it stayed sealed, the human was killable.
[I'll kill you!! Kill you!!]
Enraged, the Warlord unleashed fury at Kang Hyuk.
He murmured,
'Just as I thought. Can't handle the giant's aura.'
At 10%, the Giant's Aura was special.
Any monster facing it suffered a sharp, temporary drop in combat ability.
'That's why it made the orc shamans retreat. But on this Warlord...'
It hit even harder.
Simple reason.
'An orc with thought and emotion. No longer a true orc.'
A Warlord that knew fear would react more acutely to his aura.
Its punches lacked edge.
No, they couldn't have edge.
[Raaaaagh!]
A fist flailing in terror wouldn't be sharp—that would be weird.
Kang Hyuk smirked.
'Still a Warlord, though. No need to trade blows.'
He deflected smoothly, landing precise strikes in succession.
'Keep it clean, fast, vital hits. End it.'
His honed focus ignited the embers in the Red Mandrake leather gloves crafted by Master Park Je-woo.
[Gah!]
The Warlord swung wildly; he dodged.
Impossible angles? Parried.
[You rat!!!]
Fuming at the evasion, it sped up, swung harder.
But nothing connected.
'Experience' gap.
[Raaaaagh!]
The Warlord had never faced a peer.
Born a king, evolved beyond orcs—no high-level duels in its resume.
Kang Hyuk was different.
From awakening to national-level hunter...
No easy fights. No favorable odds.
Every bout danced with death, forging him.
He knew better than anyone:
How to face superiors. How to win.
But experience wasn't the only decider.
[Guh!]
The Warlord's intellect hobbled its raw instincts.
Thinking before punching—without experience? Useless against Kang Hyuk.
'Raw instinct would've been tougher. Death-defying charges would've forced me to take hits too.'
What should've been hard was easy.
Proving it, his fists hammered the Warlord's solar plexus and chest.
[Keurgh!]
The Warlord screamed!
Hunters battling orcs shouted.
"Holy shit!!!"
"Is this for real?!"
"Kang Hyuk! Association hunter's pushing back the Warlord!"
"We can do this! We can win!"
"Back him up! Keep the orcs from interfering—hit 'em hard!!"
The man who sparked hope from despair.
He'd dragged 'victory'—once impossible—within reach.
Hunters, morale skyrocketing, pressed the orcs fiercely.
Chik, chwiik!
The orcs couldn't withstand it.
Their king crumbling.
The intruder slaughtering their kin.
Psychological blows shook them.
One hyped hunter yelled,
"Yesss! We won! You bastards, we—"
Mid-swing at an orc...
Thud!
Earth and sky flipped.
Everyone fighting whipped around in shock.
[……Raaaaargh!!!]
The furious Warlord hefting the earth itself.
An unexpected twist narrowed Kang Hyuk's eyes.
He eyed the black smoke rising from the Warlord and muttered,
'Mana? Magic?'
Then shook his head.
Not mana or magic.
If it were, his body wouldn't tremble like this.
The giant's power ignored both.
A memory flashed.
The future.
Seoul crumbling under an S-rank gate.
'It wasn't a monster that swallowed collapsing Seoul.'
A vast abyss.
A bottomless pit that drove minds mad just looking—that devoured the city.
And now.
'Similar. No, identical.'
The energy leaking from that black hole flowed from the Warlord.
He couldn't help but think:
'Is this Warlord connected to those damn five national-level hunters who shoved future Korea into that black hole?'
His smirk returned.
'……Makes sense. No way they'd use this pipe just for soulstones and hunting. Real purpose must be something else.'
The Warlord's energy? Perfect fit.
'Experiment to open that S-rank gate. Doing it right here.'
The energy erupted from the Warlord, lashing outward.
Smashing everything.
"……Aaaagh!"
A viscous force that devoured on contact.
Hunters screamed, hastily erecting shields.
Exposed orcs wailed.
Chwiiiik!
Unable to shield, they were consumed helplessly.
A mere graze melted flesh, ensnaring bodies in goo.
Chwiiiik!
Screams and deaths echoed across the battlefield. Kang Hyuk's eyes narrowed.
[Raaargh!]
The berserk, mindless Warlord.
Its movements weren't too threatening, but that black smoke? Big problem.
Slowly, he drew back his fist.
Bang!
His thighs and calves ballooned, forming massive braces.
Sensing it, he controlled muscles and veins, peaking focus and power.
'To pierce that black smoke... not with current strength.'
He'd experienced it before.
That smoke sucked in and devoured everything with eerie hunger.
Dispelling it? Tricky without massive force.
'Needs sustained power. Impact to dissipate it.'
That's why future Kang Hyuk couldn't stop the abyss swallowing Seoul.
But now.
This smoke was the same energy—yet unstable.
Crude. Small.
Surpass limits, and he could obliterate it.
'Sacrifice my entire right arm, and I can take it.'
One hitch.
This life, he planned minimal injuries for steady growth. Losing an arm? Huge setback.
But he cast hesitation aside.
'Gains from killing it outweigh the injury. Plus...'
Fail here, and the hunters behind him get sucked in.
Warlord grows stronger.
'Can't let that happen. Finish it now.'
Resolved to sacrifice his arm, he began channeling—
"Team Leader Kang!!!"
A familiar shout from somewhere.
His eyes snapped wide. Senses sharpened, mind cleared.
"What?"
Turning, he saw an angel behind him somehow.
"Go!! Finish it!!"
Lee Hyun-wook's voice rang out again.
Kang Hyuk turned back to a popup message.
Grace of Light buff activates!
Physical abilities greatly enhanced!
Holy Shield applied!
Mana and magic recovery temporarily greatly increased!
……
His smirk widened.
Closing his eyes, he focused his mind.
Thump!
Heartbeat synced, visions appeared.
'……Yes, this feeling.'
The past.
His silhouette as a national-level hunter.
'This is the giant's power.'
Eyes opening...
"……!!"
Fear vanished from his emotions.