What the hell?!

  Ipaka couldn't believe what he was seeing. A huge flying ship had appeared out of nowhere in the sky, with a shark skull on its prow. What was happening was absurd, even impossible! A ghost ship appearing from nowhere couldn't be normal in any world- not even their own, where magic was the order of the day.

  “W-What do we do, General?”

  “We're taking it down! Troll wizards! Bring that ship down with your magic!”

  After Ipaka's cry, a swarm of soldiers armed with staffs began bombarding the ship with fireballs. It was the most troll magic could hope for, but they had no choice—bows and arrows seemed quite useless against the ghost ship.

  As the vessel withstood the trolls' counterattack, it began to fire from its hatches onto the battlefield, killing countless casualties. The trolls' armor was unable to withstand such firepower, and many began to flee or hide in blind spots, hoping to escape.

  “General! General!”

  “What the hell is it now?!”

  “Enemy soldiers approaching from all sides!”

  “What?!”

  Ipaka felt overwhelmed by worry. An army of undead had emerged from nowhere and was advancing toward them. Everything had become so chaotic that he couldn't make sense of it. Just before, there had been no one there, and now they were surrounded on all sides. Skeletal soldiers armed with swords, armor, and shields advanced in a compact group, as if someone were commanding them.

  The undead won't be much of a problem if they aren't properly armed, but where is the commander?

  He wanted to know where the enemy general was. Eliminating him would sow discord among the undead armies, incapable of making decisions for themselves. Lower-level revenants were, after all, mindless.

  Let’s see...

  As he scanned the horizon, something immediately caught his eye. From behind the trees, a woman as pale as the moon with violet eyes had emerged. She couldn't be human; her size alone made that impossible. Ipaka couldn't recognize the enemy's race, and that alone would have been a disadvantage if they had come to exchange blows.

  The woman was moving strangely: she simply advanced toward them as if nothing was wrong with a katana sheathed at her left side. It was clear she was a powerful opponent; given her posture and demeanor, Ipaka could only come to that conclusion. The giantess's cold, stoic gaze betrayed neither pity nor hesitation nor fear.

  -She had absolute confidence in her own abilities.

  This might be a tough one to stop, but I should be able to-

  Ipaka's thoughts stopped abruptly, interrupted by something inexplicable—like everything else that was happening in that battle. The pale woman had stopped and started to unsheath her sword...and then vanished into thin air. One second she was there, the next moment she was gone.

  “Ahhh!”

  “Wahhha!”

  “Eahhhh!”

  Hundreds no- thousands of screams rang out in unison. The general whirled around and could only stare at the horrifying spectacle unfolding before him. A long line of corpses lay in the center of their formation; they were all trolls, cut in half with surgical precision. We weren't talking about a hundred soldiers, but thousands! The entire center line of their deployment had been killed in less than a second.

  “Ehhhhhh?!”

  Ipaka glimpsed the pale woman from before toward the back of the formation. Had it been her? How had she done something so absurd? Why weren't the trolls regenerating and dying instantly instead? Nothing of that followed the laws of the world he was accustomed to. It felt like one of those nightmares where you're at the mercy of impossibly powerful monsters. But this wasn't a nightmare, no—unfortunately for Ipaka, that was reality.

  Who are we fighting against? This power is absurd! It's-

  "-Absurd..."

  He couldn't help but mutter the word aloud. It was all so impossibly unreal. Hordes of undead appearing out of nowhere, a woman slicing his army in half like a slice of cheese and a ghost ship firing relentlessly at them. He even thought he saw something resembling a metallic snake in the distance. Ipaka no longer knew whether to believe what his eyes were allowing him to see or not.

  “At last, I've found a worthy opponent.”

  “Huh?”

  Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Ipaka immediately turned and saw two of his companions being killed in a single blow by the sword of a large metallic individual. It was obvious that he was not human either, and his race could not be deduced. However, his skill with the sword spoke for him and confirmed that he was a powerful warrior, also gifted with four arms.

  “Are you talking to me?”

  Ipaka asked to the mysterious creature.

  “Yeah, you look like a skilled troll—more so than these guys I just cut down. At this point, I guess we should have a fight…”

  “Yes. This is a battlefield, after all.”

  Ipaka's anxiety abruptly subsided when he met his opponent's gaze. Unlike the pale woman, this metallic being seemed respectful and interested in a fair duel. He felt an innate respect for the mysterious being who was challenging him so openly. With fear and shock subsided, Ipaka could sense the endless hunger that Ruthless Devourer was rising, increased along with his determination.

  It was then that the metallic colossus raised the great sword he held in his upper right arm, shouting his name and title in a loud voice.

  “My name is Smaug, the Glorious! What is your name, troll?”

  “I am Ipaka, the Supreme General!”

  He replied hotly, gripping his battle axe in his hands.

  “Bring it on, Smaug!”

  With that, Ipaka charged his opponent, making his way through the corpses of his comrades and the undead. He would not let fear rule him and would fight to the end for his King. Even if he died, Yeddu's victory was assured. Nothing mattered except eliminating his opponent.

  “I will use a different weapon with you—you are worthy of this treatment. Come to me, Divine Sunderer!”

  The colossus made the sword in his hand vanish and unsheathed a gigantic golden-bladed halberd, seemingly an enchanted weapon. Ipaka could feel the power of that object as it advanced on Smaug, but he did not let himself be intimidated and prepared to strike his foe with all his might.

  “It's a real shame you have to die here...”

  Smaug remained calm and simply raised his upper right arm, the one holding the halberd. The two struck simultaneously, but only one remained standing. The other's bisected body fell to the ground, lifeless and soulless. The defeated man could not be regenerated or resurrected due to the various effects of the weapon that had taken his last breath.

  The voice of the winner of that brief exchange was faintly audible as he made the weapon disappear.

  “...You would have been an excellent servant for Lord Almodesu.”

  -This was the fate of Ipaka, the one who had subjected himself to endless hunger for the King in whom he believed so much.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Fire! Fire again!”

  Eka, the leader of the army's troll-mages division and a member of the "Fearsome Five" shouted. Beside him stood Savak, another member of the Fearsome Five and an expert at breaking through enemy formations, including walls and barricades.

  “What should we do, Eka?”

  “I have no idea, Savak! We're surrounded!”

  Despite their power and the skill that fueled their endless hunger, the two generals were well aware that they could not eliminate an army of undead without suffering substantial losses. Perhaps if they had joined forces with Ipaka- their leader and strongest member of the Fearsome Five- they might have been able to repel the enemy advance. But the mysterious attack that had split their ranks in two and decimated their numbers had separated them from their comrade, leaving them alone with the few soldiers who had not fled in terror.

  “That bastard of a ship is tougher than expected!”

  Eka huffed angrily, continuing to hurl fireballs at the flying vessel.

  “I've been bombarding him nonstop with my magic for over ten minutes, and yet I don't seem to be doing anything! I'm almost out of mana!”

  “Let's ignore the ship and let the rest of the wizards handle it! We need to find a way aboard!”

  Savak was certain: the enemy commander must be safe on the flying craft. But how could he reach something more than fifty meters above the ground, firing nonstop and that was killing like there was no tomorrow? Even with all his strength, Savak couldn't jump that high.

  “Eka! Don’t you happen to have some magic that can take me up there?”

  “Huh? M-Maybe I do so! But I don't know if it'll last long enough to— “

  “It doesn't matter! Throw it!”

  The troll wizard snorted at the order, but decided to obey and began casting the spell.

  “Levitatio- Uhaaaa!”

  A cannonball crashed not far from them; the force of the explosion was such that it blew the two generals away like sheets of paper. The battlefield was completely devastated, and the trolls' numbers were visibly dwindling. Their only good fortune was that they numbered three hundred thousand, otherwise the battle would have ended soon.

  Fuck!

  Savak had been thrown into a tree, which had snapped on impact. His armor had cushioned the blow, but the jolt had still caused the troll to bleed internally—it wouldn't have been fatal, but it would certainly have hurt like hell while he regenerated.

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  “A giant snake! Run away!”

  “Retreat!”

  “Mommy!”

  He could hear the terrified voices of his subordinates in the distance. Once regenerated, Savak looked up and saw a colossal monster mauling the other trolls. It was a long creature, entirely covered in metal plates, with wires attached to its head. While the body seemed to be serpentine and limbless, its head resembled that of a dragon.

  Savak had never seen a monster like it, and he had no idea how to defeat it.

  “And who the hell is that guy?”

  The general's eyes shifted slightly back. Another metallic figure, robust and humanoid in appearance, was advancing toward the battlefield, walking among the corpses and flames with alarming disinterest. He had a red glass left-eye and a strange weapon with an opening on his left arm, which he was examining intently—as if he were reading something. He seemed more interested in whatever was on his arm that in the carnage unfolding before him.

  At that moment, one of the trolls attempted to attack the mysterious being, but the mechanical serpent devoured it in one bite. The figure remained impassive at the scene and continued to observe his arm, occasionally touching it with the index finger, as if pressing buttons. Savak had no idea what he was doing, but two things were all too clear to him: that the metallic individual was in command of the serpent was one of them; and there was also the possibility that the same person was the enemy general Savak had been searching for.

  “If I take him out, maybe I can turn the tide of the battle.”

  It wasn't easy. Frankly, the enemy seemed powerful and there was no evidence that his death would lead to victory for the trolls. For Savak, the war was already lost the moment that cursed flying ship appeared in the sky.

  However, he couldn't retreat without trying something first. If by some twist of fate they managed to win, he would miss out on all the glory and the King would likely devour him for his cowardice. Not to mention that the Ruthless Devourer skill was forcing him to fight until he had devoured everything he could eat. The monster didn't seem appetizing, but its power did.

  “Hey! You with the weird arm!”

  He roared, attracting the attention of the mysterious figure.

  “A level 32 troll, I see. Your power is above average.”

  The stranger commented in a cold, emotionless voice. His body betrayed no will, except a slight interest in the person who had called him.

  “You could be a source of interesting data.”

  “Data? What are you even talking about?! I don't understand a single word of yours, you weirdo! I am Savak, the Crusher! You are?”

  “My name is Shockwave, but that doesn’t matter – since I won’t be your opponent.”

  “Huh?”

  At that moment, the snake monster stepped between the two, roaring aggressively at the troll.

  “For now, I intend to test the Cyber Dragon's physical strength and endurance. Go, Experiment A-2100, show me how you handle an opponent above level 30.”

  With that command, the mechanical dragon began to lunge at Savak, opening its huge jaws and attempting to swallow him whole. However, the troll was quicker and managed to dodge, gaining distance.

  This thing is strong. Did he said it's called Cyber Dragon, right? It looks very strong, after all...

  Savak didn't know what Cyber meant, but if the monster had been created starting from a dragon, then he had little hope of victory. Dragons had the highest base stats in nature, surpassing even trolls. Even someone as proud as Savak would think twice before facing a dragon or wyvern, which were usually capable of using fire.

  “Look what trouble I've gotten myself into...”

  He snorted, trying to suppress the hunger that was telling him to charge blindly at the monster.

  “Dragon or not, just hit the head! If that fall off, everything dies!”

  Savak raised the massive maul in his hand and lunged at the Cyber Dragon, which greeted him with open jaws. The troll managed to strike the creature a couple of times without being swallowed, but each attack had virtually no effect.

  Those scales are too strong! I didn't even scratch it!

  It was clear by now that he would lose. A long fight between two powerful opponents rarely happens: the truth was that-in said scenario-the slightly weaker one would be eliminated immediately. Savak was the weak one in this situation. He had only one chance to survive, and that was his trump card. He waited patiently for the monster to charge at him and then...

  “Come on! Fortress Breaker!”

  ...With a furious cry, Savak swung his maul forcefully at the Cyber Dragon's head. It was no ordinary attack, but a blend of skill and Battle Arts designed to shatter the enemy's physical defenses. Even the hardest and most resistant walls crumbled under that blow, which is why Savak had been named The Smasher by King Yeddu himself.

  The blow connected without any problem, and the dragon's head bucked under the recoil. Savak hoped the monster would fall to the ground, praying he'd at least bruised it.

  "Interesting..."

  Instead, the Cyber Dragon immediately stood up after his master's comment. The creature's chin was chipped, but it didn't appear to have sustained any further damage. That alone told Savak that the fight was practically over. He had used his best card, and it hadn't been enough—in fact, now his body was giving out. He could feel his legs about to give out, and it was he who had attacked. Savak couldn't devour that monster, and so there was no point in continuing to fight. He no longer had the strength to stand up to his enemy, and even the being called Shockwave had understood that.

  “I'd say to end the experiment here. The witness is no longer fit to continue...”

  A button was then pressed and the Cyber Dragon opened its jaws, beginning to channel some sort of energy blast.

  “Let’s see how much damage Screeching Blast can deal.”

  After a few seconds, a beam of gray light left the dragon's mouth and hurtled toward the troll: it was a mixture of flame and sonic waves, bound together by a magic Savak could not understand.

  “...”

  The general stood still and did not move. The endless hunger gripping his stomach was no longer enough to give him a reason to fight. Fear and desperation had taken over, stripping him of every vestige of willpower.

  -Savak had accepted his fate.

  I didn't expect to face such a strong enemy...

  The blast connected and the troll was completely disintegrated. First, the sonic waves shattered the armor, and then the flames devoured the general's flesh, reducing him to a pile of ash swept away by the wind.

  -This was the end of Savak, whose endless hunger had robbed him of the will to live.

  “I got more data than expected, even though it was a weak being.”

  Shockwave, for his part, remained impassive and continued fiddling with the control panel he'd installed in the cannon mounted on his left arm. The only reason he was there was to test his latest creation: the Cyber Dragon. For now, he believed it was capable of eliminating enemies up to level 35, but with further modifications, he could further enhance it.

  “I'll have to increase its resistance.”

  The damage to the dragon's chin was little more than a dent, but it showed that the experiment was far from a success. The Cyber Dragon was certainly performing better than the previous prototypes Shockwave had created, but it still had some serious flaws—such as its slow speed and lack of defense against ranged attacks, aside from its external exoskeleton made of a decently hard metal.

  Shockwave still had a lot of work to do, that was for sure.

  “T-That thing killed the great Savak in one hit!”

  “Let's retreat!”

  “Yes! Let's run away!”

  The scientist shifted his gaze to some trolls fleeing in terror. Shockwave could let them get away; to him, they were worthless beings. However, he wanted more combat data, and the enemy's escape would offer insight into the Cyber Dragon's pursuit capabilities.

  “Go and kill them.”

  He gave the order in a cold tone and the dragon set off in pursuit.

  “N-No! Wait! We surrender! We surrender! No! No! Nooooo!”

  The trolls' pleas were heard, but not heeded. Shockwave could have stopped the Cyber Dragon with a thought or the press of a button—but he didn't. He turned up the aggression to maximum and let his creation reach the trolls, who were torn to pieces shortly after.

  The cries of those poor wretches were lost in the night, joining the macabre symphony of those who were being massacred alongside them across all the battlefield.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Eka awoke surrounded by undead. The cannon blast had sent him flying through the trees, right into the middle of the enemy formation. Luckily, no one seemed to had noticed that he was still alive, as they thought he was just another corpse scattered around.

  Fuck the King! Fuck the others! I'm running away!

  Once he regained his strength and understood where he was, Eka stopped playing dead and began running into the heart of the forest, as far away from the troll mountains as possible. He was a powerful level 3 troll mage, capable of even using Fireball magic, and he would never have a hard time surviving in the forest. He didn't need the Troll King or anyone else; he only needed himself.

  “I’m going to start my own crew and-Ahhh!”

  A searing pain in his stomach halted his cowardly flight. The Ruthless Devourer skill, which had given him so much power, was now demanding its price. He couldn't escape; he had to devour as much as possible before he died—that's what the skill commanded.

  “I'm incredibly hungry! I-I have to satisfy it!”

  “I see we have a fugitive…”

  “Huh?!”

  Despite the excruciating pain, Eka looked up and saw a skeleton, missing the lower jaw, approaching him. It wasn't like the other soldiers—that one was covered in gold from head to toe, was taller and more robust, with a black cloak that hung down his shoulders.

  “You are...The enemy general?”

  Eka could only ask this; the pain was truly making it impossible for him to even think.

  “General? I'm a captain, you fool!”

  The other replied irritably, dramatically moving his cloak and revealing a hook in place of his left hand. It had clearly been enchanted, and Eka could see flames blazing from his enemy's weapon.

  “I am Golden Bones, the Undead Captain! King of all Undead!”

  “King of all Undead? Hahaha! You're strong, monster...but you're nowhere near the level of a true King.”

  “Oh, I know…I know that very well.”

  Eka hadn't expected such a humble response from her enemy. He was trying to buy time to push through the pain and cast one of his spells. The only spell Eka had strong enough to defeat the enemy would be Fireball —but if Golden Bones didn't let his ego out, it would be difficult to stall.

  “What’s the matter? Are you surprised I didn’t fall into your trap? I’ve learned to bury my pride like hidden treasure, you know? That’s what happens when you have to answer to someone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just as you are a slave to your skill, I am chained to someone...”

  Eka's gaze followed Bones's. He had only just noticed a red "A" carved into the skeleton's chest. To a common troll, it would have meant nothing, but to a magician like Eka- the Fire Tyrant- that letter meant a great deal. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but was certain it held Golden Bones under the command of another being.

  “M-Maybe we can work together!”

  He declared, trying to get time.

  “I’m a powerful wizard! If you let me escape, I can try to free you from your curse!”

  “Free me, you say? And who says I want to be freed?”

  “Huh? B-But-”

  “Even if you were capable of freeing me—which I highly doubt—the demon who commands me wouldn't let me go without punishment. If I were lucky, he'd let me live and return to his service with a dressing down, but what if I were unlucky? Trust me...I've seen what my master can do. The seven seas are certainly friendlier than he is.”

  There was something in Bones's words that Eka couldn't understand. There was irritation, hatred, a sense of inferiority—but also loyalty, something the troll had never considered important. Eka had always cared only about himself. He didn't know feelings like gratitude or owing someone a favor. He had accepted the power of his King and the title of member of the Fearsome Five only because it would have been convenient for him, not because he truly cared.

  “From what I see, you're not a big deal...”

  The skeleton finished, advancing towards the troll with his head held high.

  “How dare you?! I’m Eka! The Fire Tyrant! I'll show you who's not a big deal!”

  Eka snarled at the insult. He knew his opponent was strong, but his pride wouldn't let him stay quiet. He braced himself and gritted his teeth. He raised the staff that powered his magic and used every last drop of mana in his body to cast his most powerful spell, even superior to Fireball. It was Fire Bomb, a level 4 fire spell.

  “Die! Fire Bomb! ”

  A fiery sphere appeared out of nowhere and hurtled toward Bones. The attack looked like a normal Fireball, but the explosion was four times stronger. A common troll would have been swept away: this was the magic that had earned Eka the title of Fire Tyrant. No one in the Troll Kingdom could match him in magic, especially after the power-up Yeddu had given him.

  However...

  “Huh? Impossible!”

  ...Even though the fire raged unstoppably, devouring tree after tree, Golden Bones remained motionless. His golden body had withstood the blow without serious damage—he hadn't escaped without a scratch, but the amount of damage inflicted certainly hadn't been worth the energy cost Eka had expended.

  “That shot was really powerful, I can't deny it...”

  The undead stated calmly, as if he had not been hit by anything.

  “...But my master's power seems to have empowered me beyond my wildest imagination! I can feel the damage being healed even as we speak. I was right to submit; that monster is not something I will ever understand.”

  The glow of the red A on Bones's chest had intensified, as if to signify that it was that symbol that was granting him the power he'd been raving about. But Eka couldn't understand it—no, he was too busy thinking about how to save himself.

  His most powerful attack had been taken squarely in the face like nothing, and he had no mana left for any spell. Running away would have been a perfect idea, but unfortunately the same skill that had empowered him was now eating him from the inside out. Under normal circumstances, he might have been a tough nut to crack as a troll, but with all the energy he'd expended, he'd become too weak to put up even the slightest resistance.

  “Do you know what the difference is between me and you, Eka?”

  Bones's words fell as cold as ice to the warlock's ears, and he couldn't respond- exhausted as he was. Even the muscles in his jaw ached, cramping. The other didn't seem to care and took a few steps forward, continuing his monologue.

  “Is very simple…”

  Bones snapped and his hook took Eka's throat.

  “...I am not ruled by my strength; I am my strength.”

  A gush of blood began to spurt from the troll's severed throat, which he could only endure helplessly as his strength completely ebbed away and his body collapsed to the ground like a carcass. Curse: Trial by Fire was the enchantment that Bones's hook was imbued with, allowing the weapon to inflict burning wounds on his foe even if they weren't actively burning. That alone was enough to block the general's regenerative ability, giving death the green light to come and take the soul of the troll general.

  -This was the death of Eka, the madman who thought that hunger could be used as a source of strength.