Approaching

Agugu was furious—absolutely furious. His rage could have set the entire fortress ablaze. A full dozen Snotlings had already been crushed to death by his hand, while more than ten unlucky boys had had their heads smashed open. Yet none of it could quell the fire in his heart.

"Where the hell did those bastards come from?!"

His signature iron jaw trembled slightly as the four-meter-tall warboss rose from his throne of bones. The heavy iron armor on his body clattered with every movement, while strings of skulls knocked together with dull thuds, like the sinister laughter of the dead.

"Boss, I... I dunno."

The boy being questioned below could not help trembling. He had been one of Bolba's underlings and had luckily survived that slaughter, but the danger he faced now seemed even worse.

"Don't. Know."

Agugu ground out those three words through clenched teeth, grabbed the unlucky boy, and hoisted him up. Holding the boy by the head in his right hand, he gave him a hard shake.

"I've heard those three words enough! You'd better say something else."

"I—I remembered! Those guys had white hand marks on them!"

"White hand marks?"

"Yeah, yeah! And their boss was white too! All over!"

"White..."

Narrowing his yellow-orange eyes, Agugu forced himself to think. He disliked such tiring work, but the countless facts he had learned while clawing his way from an ordinary boy to his current position told him that any Ork who could not think was either dead or destined to be driven by others.

But a timid voice interrupted his thoughts. The fellow he was holding seemed to think he had escaped disaster.

"Boss, c-can I go now?"

Agugu grinned, exposing his yellowed teeth, then clenched his right hand.

Splat!

In an instant, the huge Ork head burst like crushed fruit, thick fluid spraying everywhere. Agugu's body and face were covered in it, but he did not care. The surrounding Orks seemed used to such sights as well; no one made a sound.

He turned and returned to his seat. He felt no regret whatsoever over the death of that idiot Bolba. An Ork being slaughtered because he was too weak was only natural. At any other time, Agugu would not even have asked about it. If that fool had run back alive, he would have personally executed him instead, because he hated cowards and weaklings—especially when the two came together.

The true source of his anger was that those Orks had actually mixed with cowardly Shrimp humans. That was something he could never tolerate. Keeping company with the weak was an even more cowardly act. The weak were meant to be dominated, enslaved, and slaughtered. Those bastards' actions had insulted the very word Ork.

Especially now, when he had already prepared for an unprecedented Waaagh! Those guys could very well become a potential threat. He could not allow such a threat to exist around him, because this Waaagh! would not be carried out by the Red Eye Tribe alone. Two other tribes would participate as well. If he was ambushed after the army marched out, then even if he won, he might be swallowed up by those other two.

After weighing it over, the complicated situation led Agugu to a decision: deal with the trouble behind him before launching the Waaagh!

"Everyone! Go find them! Find those White Hand-marked bastards!!!!!!!!!!!"

The enormous roar made the entire fortress tremble slightly. Soon afterward, large numbers of boys poured out of the fortress and scattered across the wasteland.

Meanwhile, Guk returned to Blackstone Fort with ten tons of steel. The extra carts were loaded with plenty of spoils as well, including Bolba's great drum. Such gains made the boys deeply envious, because by rights they were all Guk's private property. In a sense, the wealth gap within the White Hand Tribe was quite severe.

Idea Bro, One-Ear, and Bucktooth all loved the high-strength metal. They even slept clutching the steel all night to keep anyone from stealing it. Guk's new weapon became the focus of every boy's attention, so he placed Dragon Tooth on his throne for everyone to feast their eyes on.

After the excitement of the first few days passed, Guk began arranging the practical matters. First, he had a suit of pure steel armor made for himself. Diego also volunteered to take part. His suggestion was a full suit of plate armor like that worn by ancient human knights. Its overall defensive power was the best, though it was exceptionally time-consuming and labor-intensive to make. Since the Orks had no industry, it could only be forged entirely by hand. Still, Guk chose that plan, because Orks did not need to worry about time, and they had strength to spare.

Next came the allocation of tribal supplies. Guk decided to use some of the steel to forge helmets for the Yellow Horn and Gray Horn boys who would soon be selected. That had been his earlier promise.

After that came a batch of weapons. Ork equipment was generally much larger, so it was impossible to give too many boys steel weapons. He could only arm Guk's own trusted followers and guards first, while the remaining steel would be stored away for later use.

During this busy period, Grak and Bucktooth each gathered a thousand boys. Guk awarded them each a battle banner. Grak's had a red background with two crossed axes, while Bucktooth's had a black background with a skull pierced by a sword. One was called the Blood Axe Group, and the other the Skull-Splitting Group. Guk generously issued both of them enough iron weapons, because he hoped they would become his deputy commanders.

Once all the arrangements were complete, the White Hand Tribe's first selection was about to begin. The boys had learned of it long ago. From their initial confusion to eventual acceptance, most of them did not care much so long as there was a fight to be had.

The rule for the selection was that weapons could not be used. Some boys were unhappy about that, but the gleaming Dragon Tooth was displayed right there, and no one dared challenge Guk's authority.

Since no specific venue had been designated, Guk had the various bosses supervise the selection for the warrior rank. As long as the numbers were met, it could begin anytime and anywhere. It would last for three days, and anyone who missed that period would have to wait for the next selection. During that time, boys could also replace their superiors, provided their fists were hard enough. However, Guk would only issue equipment once, which meant there were only so many slots for now.

But on the third day of the selection, a strange boy was brought before Guk.

"Red-Eye?"

Guk frowned. He had nearly forgotten about this. Ordinarily, Orks did not have the notion of avenging someone's death. If a worthless fellow died, then he died for nothing. Even Guk would at most ask one question if one of his boys got killed. This was not a comfortable human society, and there was no such thing as law.

"Yes, boss. I was out messing around with the boys when we spotted this sneaky git. We caught him, and he said he was from the Red Eye Tribe."

As Grak spoke, he stomped hard on the boy lying prone on the ground. The fellow had been beaten black and blue and looked utterly miserable.

After hearing him out, Guk waved for Grak to move his foot away, then grabbed the fellow off the ground and gave him two "gentle" slaps.

"Oi! Can you still talk?"

"Y-yeah..."

"What were you doing in our territory?"

"Boss told us to look for White Hand Marks. I saw one on him, so I figured this might be what boss was looking for."

The fellow pointed at Grak's chest, where a huge hand mark was stamped. Grak had made Guk stamp it on him personally. Not many boys in the tribe had that honor.

"Your boss... Agugu?"

"Y-yes, our boss."

Guk twisted the unlucky fellow's neck, tossed the corpse aside, and began calculating silently.

No matter the reason, Agugu looking for him could not mean anything good. And if Agugu had already learned the location of his tribe, then war was probably unavoidable.

"Go! Gather every boss for me! And get that human here to see me right away."

Once the order was given, Diego soon arrived before Guk. He had practically become Guk's personal adviser, often remaining at his side. Earlier, he had happened to be giving Idea Bro some suggestions, which was why he had not been present.

"Agugu might... no, he's coming soon."

That first sentence brought delight to Diego's heart. His goal seemed to have finally been achieved, though not completely.

"Why would he come?"

Although surprise showed on his face, Diego's reaction made Guk suspicious. He could sense that this human was not completely ignorant of the matter.

"That's what I should ask you. How did you run into them back then?"

"That was their territory. We were humans. Other things might be difficult, but at the very least, we couldn't hide our scent."

"The war's about to start. What do you suggest? I reckon we should strike first!"

"Hmm, that would be bad."

Diego shook his head, took out a map from his clothes, and unfolded it. He tapped the location of Blackstone Fort, then tapped Red Eye Fortress.

"The distance between you is too great. If you rush out and get ambushed along the way, it'll be hard to advance or retreat... Besides, they have more men and you have fewer. Sending too few will accomplish nothing. Sending too many means that if Blackstone Fort gets attacked and you still can't take that fortress, what then? I've seen Red Eye Fortress. It's extremely solid. And unlike Blood Fang, they've built many defensive works around the fortress."

"Then what should we do?"

The bosses had gradually gathered. Many wore flashy Yellow Horn Helmets and Gray Horn Helmets, but Guk paid them no mind. He knew he could not discuss anything useful with this bunch. The only one who could help him strategically and tactically was this human.

Strategy and tactics—those were new things Diego had taught him.

"Actually, the same applies in reverse. They're also far from you, so they can't send too many troops. Agugu himself probably won't come, because he needs to guard against the enemies around him."

"How many do you think they'll send?"

"At least more than you have. Their numbers are ten times yours. Sending one-tenth of their forces would be a fairly reasonable choice."

"One against one... we have a chance!"

"No. Their equipment is better, because they often raid us for supplies. And if it's one-on-one in an open-field battle, even if you win, the losses won't be small. If this keeps dragging on, you'll still lose in the end. This isn't something one or two battles can settle."

"Doesn't sound too good."

Guk snorted, somewhat displeased.

"My suggestion is to wait for them and fight with the fortress at your backs."

"Why? Wouldn't that mean we're scared of them?!"

"Only victors get to boast of bravery. No one cares about the glory of the dead. With the fortress behind you, you can bring them within range of your long-distance firepower. Don't you have plenty of bolt throwers? Those Big Boom-Booms. Carve more openings into the outer walls of the fortress and put the bolt throwers inside. Then when they attack, hit them hard! Break them beneath the walls, then use cavalry to pursue them. Victory will come much easier that way."

Guk fell silent for a while before finally nodding, acknowledging Diego's plan.

"Boys!"

Under the gaze of all the bosses, Guk walked before them and pointed at the corpse lying nearby.

"A bunch of shit-eating bastards want to make trouble for us! They've got way more boys than we do! Are you scared?!"

"Not scared!"

"Smash 'em!"

"Let's go kill those idiots with mushrooms growing in their brains!"

Naturally, none of the bosses admitted fear. Everyone was fired up, and the White Hand Tribe had been idle for some time. Many Orks had been itching for a proper fight.

"Good! Then we'll give them a hard one right on our doorstep! Idea Guy!"

"Here, boss!"

"How many Big Boom-Booms do we have now?"

"One hundred... three, four, five?"

Idea Bro counted on his fingers, but he could not count them all no matter what. He could only turn around and drag One-Ear out from the crowd of Orks.

"One hundred and forty-two! And sixteen more are still being made!"

"Finish the unfinished ones fast! Then make spears! And shields—make 'em thick!"

"Yes!"

Guk swept his gaze across the crowd before finally settling on Truf.

"Truf, take your boys north. Don't go too far. Keep an eye on Red-Eye's main force at all times. If they show up, come back and tell me immediately."

"Got it, boss!"

"Everyone else, take your boys. Starting tomorrow, dig holes outside!"

News of the approaching war quickly spread throughout the tribe. The boys erupted with excitement and began preparing for the great battle ahead. This would be their first time facing an enemy at their own doorstep.