A few minutes earlier.
In the resting quarters of the Varuk Kingdom, shadows flickered across the walls.
Several hazy figures crept silently toward a wooden building. Under the dim glow of street lamps, their bodies shimmered oddly—distorted, blurred, as though a few low-resolution figures had been dropped into a high-definition world.
"Is this the place?" one whispered.
"It's here," another answered.
"Good. Then we move in and steal the cannon's blueprints."
These weren't ordinary thieves. They were great knights of the Golden Lion Principality, sent secretly by the Duke of Golden Lion himself. Along with them came two magicians who had cloaked them in spells of concealment and illusion, masking their presence from guards and magic sensors alike.
The leader pushed open the door. "Huh? It's unlocked."
The wood creaked. "There's no one inside," he said after peering in.
"They must have gone out to eat," another replied, eyes narrowing. "That makes this our best chance. Move!"
The three knights entered. Their boots echoed softly across the polished floor.
Inside the dim room stood the object they sought—a gleaming bronze cannon, its barrel resting proudly in the center of the hall. The metal shimmered faintly under the lamplight.
"Beautiful…" murmured one of them.
He walked up to it and ran a gloved hand along the smooth barrel. "Look at this craftsmanship. Such weapons in the hands of mere mortals from the Ross Empire? Impossible! It must be some kind of advanced magic creation."
To their eyes, the cannon's engraved decorations weren't just artistic—they looked like ancient magical runes, symbols used to seal or control great powers.
They could not imagine a weapon that worked without magic. In their minds, anything beyond human strength had to be magic.
The lead knight smirked. "So that's the secret. The runes on this weapon must hide its magical power. That's why no one can sense it."
He placed his palm lovingly on the cannon's muzzle, eyes gleaming with greed. "Once we take the blueprints, the Golden Lion Principality will rise above the world. Those 'mortals' from the Ross Empire will kneel before us!"
"Enough," another knight snapped. "Find the blueprints. We can't carry the cannon itself—it's too large. Check the inner room."
He turned and crept toward a smaller door at the back of the chamber.
But just as his hand touched the handle, a chill raced down his spine. His instincts screamed danger.
He tried to leap aside—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted. A solid iron cannonball blasted straight through the wooden door, hitting him square in the chest before he could even draw breath.
For an instant, he saw nothing but blinding white light—then his world split apart. His body was torn cleanly in two, hurled backward through the air, and crashed out into the street outside.
His comrades froze in horror.
No human could react that fast. The bronze cannon's projectile had flown faster than their eyes could follow.
To dodge such a shot, one would need to move faster than sound itself—a feat even the greatest knight could never achieve.
The other knights stared at the hole in the wall, realizing the truth: someone was waiting for them.
---
Meanwhile, outside…
The sound of the explosion shook the night. King Wallace IV and King Gunther III, who were still dining nearby, rushed to the window just in time to see half a man's body crash onto the cobblestone street.
Blood splattered across the stones.
"What happened?!" Wallace gasped.
Before anyone could react, laughter echoed from inside the orc quarters.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
From the shattered doorway stepped Varuk, king of the orcs, clad in heavy black armor that gleamed in the firelight.
Behind him, smoke still rose from the bronze cannon that had just fired.
"Your Majesty Gavin Ward was right," Varuk said with a grin. "He predicted you Golden Lion bastards would try to steal from us. You walked straight into the trap!"
The two surviving knights snarled, drawing their swords. Their faces twisted in rage and disbelief.
"So this was a setup," one hissed. "Gavin Ward gave you that cannon deliberately—to bait us!"
"Clever," the other spat, "but you'll pay for this!"
They raised their swords, their blades glowing faintly with magic.
"You think you're powerful knights?" Varuk barked, his tusked mouth curling into a grin. "Don't underestimate the orcs!"
He swung a massive double-edged battle axe from his back, its edge gleaming wickedly.
"Come! Let's see whose blood paints the street!"
The two knights lunged at once, blades flashing in perfect synchronization. They aimed for the weak points in Varuk's armor—beneath the shoulder, along the waist seam, and behind the knee joints.
Their movements were fast, precise, deadly.
But Varuk was faster.
He roared, spinning his axe in a wide arc that forced them to leap back. Then, suddenly, he sidestepped—revealing the room behind him.
The knights blinked.
"What—?!"
Inside, two Ross Empire soldiers stood ready—faces hidden behind steel helmets and iron masks, each holding a submachine gun.
Before the knights could even react—
"Chug-chug-chug-chug!!!"
The thunder of automatic fire filled the room. Sparks flashed as dozens of bullets tore through armor, flesh, and bone.
The great knights, who prided themselves as the elite of the Golden Lion Duke's army, barely had time to scream.
When the gunfire stopped, their bodies fell to the ground in pieces—riddled with bullet holes.
Varuk wiped blood from his cheek and glanced at the soldiers. "Nice shooting."
The soldiers saluted sharply.
The orc king turned to the shattered doorway, where the remains of the knights smoked on the street. "So much for noble thieves."
---
Later that night, word of the incident spread quickly through Los Angeles.
Whispers filled the taverns and alleys—
"Did you hear? Golden Lion knights tried to steal the Empire's new weapon!"
"And they were killed by orcs!"
"Not just killed—cut in half!"
For the people of the Ross Empire, it was proof of their Emperor's foresight. For the foreign envoys still trapped in the city by curiosity or fear, it was a chilling warning:
Gavin Ward had expected everything.
Nothing escaped his control.
And from that night on, even the proudest kings of other nations began to realize—
the Ross Empire was not just powerful. It was untouchable.
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