71 Who owns the hammer?

Suddenly attacked by Yappy's integrated weapon platform Mk.1, Rynshang didn't take it seriously and raised his axe.

"I don't know who you are, but you dare to challenge this orc warlord Rynshang Kazak──"

[Assassination mode activated.]

Machine gun bullets rained down on the orcs around Rynshang's office.

The orcs generals were engulfed by the firestorm of the ultra-high-speed machine gun that fired 6,000 rounds per minute. But only one orc officer of the lowest rank was hit by the firestorm.

At that moment, the orcs who came to the office with their weapons raised their shields to block the machine gun bullets.

"Die, you bastard!"

One of the orc officers aimed a large shotgun. It was a 17-type high-power buckshot gun developed for orc infantry. It was the most preferred weapon by the orcs who were fascinated by the hot firepower of the shotgun.

-Kwak!

The buckshot showered Mk.1 but the shotgun's firepower couldn't even scratch Mk.1.

"Guns don't work! Bring out your axes!"

The reason why the migration of orcs was strongly encouraged was because they were a combat race that attacked the gate with their axes.

The orc generals who wielded house-sized axes rushed at Mk.1 in unison.

[Special-modified ultra-high-mass 12-gauge buckshot x2 SET]

The set gun was a 35-type high-power buckshot gun secretly smuggled through domestic violent organizations for orc generals. It was a high-mass high-power bullet that was modified to the extreme.

It was fired at two orc officers who approached.

"Kuk?!"

The orc officers were torn to pieces by dozens of steel balls.

Modern equipment was effective for orcs and hunters, unlike the monsters in the gate. Not to mention the special bullets that were handmade by the God of Iron and Blacksmith along with Yappy.

"Die!"

But the orcs who didn't care about their comrades' deaths took advantage of the gap and swung their axes.

-Kang!

A clear sound of metal clashing was heard but the orc officers looked puzzled.

They were among the strongest of the orcs, being officers, their axes were unique weapons and their swinging power was comparable to A-rank hunters or higher. Even if they tried to block it with a shield, the shield would crumble…

[Organic aesthetics cannot distinguish Adamantite.]

It was an exoskeleton coated with Adamantite, which was melted from the blades of the Archdemon Androzin but that wasn't all.

The exoskeleton that made up Mk1 was filled with only the highest-grade rare minerals. Its strength was unique-level defense, even excluding the Adamantite parts.

It wasn't a defense that could be broken by an orc who had a slightly better weapon.

"You bastard…?!"

At that moment, Mk.1's palm grabbed the orc's face. The orc struggled to break free, but he didn't budge.

'Wha, what kind of power…!'

There have been many combat robots that could replace hunters.

But none of them were commercialized, because there were phenomena where mechanical devices broke down inside the gate, and more importantly, it was almost impossible to implement a power that could surpass human-sized combat machines, hunters.

To be precise, it was possible to implement a low-rank hunter level, but it was better to hire one more hunter or hire orcs than to make such a super robot.

But Yappy's Mk.1 surpassed the limits of modern military technology by far.

Yappy's small nuclear reactor produced spare batteries that could move a tank and he put five such batteries in it.

With that power, he had no choice but to hold on to the orc.

He blew off the orc's head with a 12-gauge shotgun and stared at Rynshang Kazak, the only remaining orc officer.

"Not bad. The guys you just killed were confirmed to be generals."

Rynshang Kazak raised his axe at Yappy who killed his subordinates.

Yappy fired a 12-gauge shotgun right away, but he blocked it with a large axe blade.

"WHAAAAAAAAAA──!!"

With a loud roar, Rynshang Kazak charged but Yappy made a mistake in trusting his Adamantite armor and facing his charge head-on.

-Kwaaang!

With a loud noise, Mk.1's body was pushed back. And that wasn't all. The left arm coated with Adamantite broke and bent under Rynshang's axe strike.

[…Same material used.]

"That's right! This axe is also made of pure Adamantite! Even drakes couldn't withstand this axe strike!"

Rynshang was an orc soldier of an immigrant tribe who rose to be an officer right under his enemy.

The rank of an orc was determined solely by their achievements and specialties in the gate. In other words──

[Estimated rank S.]

He was not a mere coup dictator, but a hunter of S rank.

[Firepower insufficient.]

He hastily completed the weapon, so it was lacking in armament.

Originally, in addition to the special-modified 12-gauge shotgun, he should have equipped a special-reactive machine gun or an ultra-accelerated extra-class railgun for the target species.

Originally, this exoskeleton suit was a platform for operating an integrated weapon system to replace Yappy's reduced body and he wouldn't have even deployed if he hadn't been rushed to intervene by the investors' enthusiasm.

Then there was only one way left: close combat.

[Unauthorized prototype combat system activated.]

Yappy manipulated Mk.1's body as the two thick legs split in half and turned into four.

The thick steel plate on the back turned into a huge sword and it looked like a knight with four legs. Half-human, half-demon…No, rather than that, it was closer to a spider, the spider knight that was expected to be the final result.

[Project Yacht Spinner. Prototype bayonet specification activated.]

"Kahaha! You know something! Yeah, let's fight like warriors!"

Rynshang laughed heartily and ran at him with his axe while Mk1 faced him head-on.

The axe and sword collided, sparks flew, and the friction of metal and metal splashed.

"Hmm…! Not bad!"

They were evenly matched in strength. But the sword started to lose its edge. The difference in material composition as a weapon was too great.

[Thrust activated. Activity limit 3 minutes 20 seconds.]

"Huh?!"

The thrusters on Mk.1's four legs and arms began to spray high-temperature energy. It was an overuse of output that anticipated the melting of its own battery.

He had no choice but to be pushed back by the self-destructive over-output, even if he was Rynshang.

Rynshang, who was pushed back by force, hit the wall and broke the building wall one after another.

"Kahaha! Not bad! But…!"

Rynshang twisted his body slightly, brushed off Mk.1 and swung his axe hard. He was an orc warlord who had rolled on the battlefield for a long time and avoided a head-on collision skillfully.

-Kwaduk!

One arm flew off with a skillful axe strike and Rynshang read his victory.

"Die!"

Mk.1, who lost one arm, swung his sword, but he easily knocked it off and penetrated into the center. Rynshang smashed Yappy's remaining arm with his axe strike and trampled on him.

"You're clumsy and slower than the monsters in the gate!"

As Rynshang raised his axe, a hidden auxiliary arm aimed a 12-gauge shotgun at him. But at that moment, a huge shock wave erupted from Rynshang's military boots that trampled on Mk.1.

-Kung!

The powerful shock wave shattered Mk.1 and smashed the auxiliary arm and shotgun as well. Rynshang laughed.

"Do you think you can face me, who has the blessing of the war god Helkan, with this piece of scrap metal?"

It's over now. The last struggle failed for Mk.1, and he mercilessly struck his chest with his axe, avoiding the Adamantite skeleton. And as Mk.1 shattered──

[Budget, time shortage. Field test failed.]

Mk.1's chest opened and a bright light appeared inside. Rynshang tried to strike it with his axe, but he couldn't move.

"What?"

Rynshang noticed the wires that tied his arms. As soon as his chest opened, wires shot out from inside and tied Rynshang's arms.

[Good field data obtained. With this, big data is closer to perfection.]

"What nonsense are you──!"

At that moment, Yappy's secondary arm swung the wire.

The spider web swept past Rynshang in the blink of an eye. Rynshang saw the moment that made his neck tremble in real time.

This was the end of Rynshang Kazak, an ambitious orc dictator who had taken over the Jilin Republic in a coup and waged war against its neighbors.

After slaying Rynshang Kazak, Yappy pushed past the rushing orcs and grabbed the axe Rynshang had left behind with his tiny secondary arm.

[Checked for Adamantite, will retrieve]

Binding the axe with wire and loading it into the half-destroyed Mk.1, Yappy left the command center.

* * * *

[The coup d'etat in the Jilin Republic that shook the world has come to an end. The newly established Jilin Republic government apologized and negotiated for peace──]

[The food crisis that was triggered by the invasion of the Jilin People's Republic has returned to normal. At the same time, blessed crops were discovered in the BeidaHuang Grain Field, and the market price──]

The orc troops that were advancing to the Heilong People's Republic were annihilated, and the core forces of the coup d'etat, including Rynshang Kazak, were assassinated, and the war ended.

"Wow~ I'm so relieved. The war is completely over."

Ha-ri was relieved by the fact that the war was over. She thought it was hopeless, but it seemed that there was no law that said people had to die.

"Oh, then Yappy's hedge fund will recover, right? Let's see, what? The, the return rate?!"

Ha-ri almost dropped her phone in shock when she saw the return rate announced by Yappy's hedge fund.

The good news that started to appear in the news at the same time as the end of the war, the spread of Demera's goddess worship and miasma purification in the BeidaHuang Grain Field.

Although it was small, blessed crops began to spread, and the food price soared to the sky.

The return rate that was soaring in real time was about 800% more than before the crash. In other words, Ha-ri earned more than 600 million won in profit excluding fees.

"Wow, wow! It's amazing, Yappy!"

-Kiruk

Yappy spoke to Ha-ri in a somewhat arrogant tone.

-You ignorant ants. Do you know what liquid assets and real economy are?

Yappy's hedge fund, which seemed to be doomed to fail, recorded a minimum of 1,200% return rate and soared to heaven, and Yappy immediately distributed the profits to investors and cut off investment.

-You foolish organic beings who doubted me. You can no longer trade with me.

"Oh, oh my, Yappy! We were wrong!"

"Please have mercy on us, who are ignorant and foolish!"

For a while, there were more investors who begged him to invest again than customers who came to see the hammer at TTG Guild headquarters, but Yappy ignored them.

And then he broke another piece of good news and achieved a high return rate.

-Will you support TTG Guild Foundation?

They made a historic worst unfair deal by donating nineteen trillion won of hedge fund returns to TTG Guild Foundation, and they were able to become investors again.

-12% of the target amount reached.

But it was still far away. The final plan that Heto, the God of Iron and Blacksmithing, and his Holy Knight Yappy were planning was still far away.

The Jilin coup d'etat left two legends.

The emergence of a legendary hacker Deus Ex Machina who hacked and paralyzed the US and Russian defense departments as well as using deepfake to disable the Jilin Republic.

And the dramatic revival and legendary profit surge of a hedge fund that seemed to collapse due to the war crisis.

Of course, both of them were Yakt Spinner himself.

One day after a series of events came to an end, Leon began to sort out the evaluation sheets of the knight trainees who had completed their basic training for about a month.

The academy trainees had their own characteristics, but they repeated only basic training for a month: swordsmanship, shieldsmanship and spearmanship.

Their riding skills were not enough to become cavalrymen, but at least they wouldn't fall off while running.

'I need to connect them with the gods soon.'

Originally, they would have had to go through a process of faith after receiving education as an apprentice priest or a knight.

'There is no time.'

Who knows when those villains will interfere again? Although it is still at the stage of speculation about the identity of the gate, it is clear that demons are involved.

As the Gods said they would exceptionally simplify the process, their guidance would be somewhat influenced.

'Han Ha-ri.'

She is one of the young ones who has both talents and she was born with fire energy and attracted attention from God of War and Fire.

She has a good and pure nature. Leon also paid attention to her.

'Han Soo-ho.'

He has a cautious personality but has a strong will when needed. He has an excellent talent for protecting others as his name suggests.

He is second to none in swordsmanship but his shieldsmanship is also remarkable and he fulfilled one of the virtues of a knight.

His unique skill is also defense enhancement so he might be compatible with Goddess of Life and Abundance. If he holds Georgic's hammer──

"Hmph."

There is no choice. It is up to the hammer to choose its owner. Whether he has the qualifications to be recognized by the sacred object or not is another matter.

He might not see his successor for the rest of his life but Leon thought he could do that.

'Kim Jae-hyuk.'

He is a boy who uses a spear as his main weapon but he is a surprisingly stable type apart from his fierce spearmanship.

He also looked through the profiles of other knight trainees and saw a girl.

'Chen So-yeon, was it?'

She is the granddaughter of the strongest swordsman in this country and one of the few talents who silently completed the basic training for a month.

She has a surprisingly stubborn and orthodox personality so she is suitable for the knight's subject. But…

'Greed…Is it.'

The next successor of the best guild in the country came to TTG Guild just to join. There is no naive thought that she was fascinated by the power of the gods. Most of the trainees were like that, but she looked impatient.

Leon recalled a familiar face from her appearance.

"She looks like him…"

He was reminded of someone who was cold and blunt──

「You killed him, Your Majesty. You are the greatest king in Lionheart history.」

"Hoo…"

Leon sighed dryly and made a bitter expression.

"It's too late."

He turned his eyes to work as if trying to forget his thoughts, and it was right then.

"Hmm?!

Leon's senses captured all movements within 30 km in all directions.

What he has been paying attention to lately is Georgic's hammer, the sacred object that emits powerful sacred power just by existing and who it will choose as its owner.

And just now the sacred object showed some movement.

Leon hurriedly ran out to the training ground where the hammer was. And there──

"This is… unexpected."

Very slightly. It was so vague that it was hard to say that he moved it, but compared to the previous challengers, it was incomparable.

'The hammer itself' judged the suitable person. He saw Leon and rambled.

"Yo, Your Majesty! No, that is…It was break time, so I just tried it once…!"

The one who moved the hammer a little bit. He was──