Annihilation

"Blackface! Bring your wagons! Charge through!"

The Red Eye Tribe was not without mobile forces. For this expedition, Agugu had assigned Lu Cha a full two thousand chariots. Having fought humans with guns and cannons for so long, the Red Eye Tribe's chariots generally prioritized speed and impact. They were smaller and compactly built; each usually carried two Boyz and a Snotling. One Boy drove, one attacked with a polearm, and the Snotling handled miscellaneous chores and "shot" arrows.

At first, Lu Cha had intended to use all the chariots as the vanguard assault force, but Aluba had managed to hold him back. Because of that, the chariots had not sunk into the mire of the front lines and had instead been watching from the rear.

"Yes, Boss!"

Upon hearing Lu Cha's call, the one-eyed Ork boss immediately raised his long-handled battle axe and let out a roar:

"Boyz! Follow me!"

Over a thousand wagons rumbled into motion, charging toward Grak's force. The Boyz driving them accelerated like mad while roaring crude curses, swearing to crush those scraps ahead into paste!

"Wagons! Move!"

Although Grak himself was on foot, he had not come without chariots. Guk had entrusted all the wagons to him and Bucktooth.

"Here we come!!!!"

From the surging ranks, hundreds of massive wagons raced forth. They had been left behind by the Bloodtooth Tribe, each one a full size larger than the Red Eye Tribe's chariots. Facing the far more numerous enemy, they formed a loose battle line.

"Catch!"

From a White Hand Tribe wagon, a Boy heaved a chain toward the nearest wagon. The Boy atop it caught the chain and gave it a hard tug. A wooden beam studded with iron plates appeared between the two wagons. This was Grak's idea.

One wagon after another was linked together. The rolling beams formed an impassable barrier, and the originally loose formation instantly became a moving high wall. There was no longer any room for either side to dodge!

"Charge!!"

"Kill!!!!!"

For several seconds, time seemed to freeze. Both sides could clearly see the other's savage face...

Boom~!

It was an utterly brutal collision. Squigs slammed into Squigs, wood into wood, blades into blades, blood into blood. Everything crashed together in its most primitive form, and every so-called solid thing twisted and broke apart in that instant. The immense momentum sent many Boyz flying straight off their wagons, while heavy wagons flipped over and crashed down ahead.

Timbers broke with agonized groans. Squigs screamed and fell. Boyz roared as they slaughtered one another. The White Hand Tribe's wagon force was nearly wiped out, but they had dragged almost all of the Red Eye Tribe's chariots down into hell with them. The surviving Boyz continued fighting amid the wreckage.

"You and your Boyz go over there! The rest, follow me!!!"

Grak did not care about losses. After sending a handful of Boyz to help, he led the majority straight through the battlefield, killing all the way.

"I'll take you on!!"

Lu Cha immediately noticed that conspicuous red figure. He shoved through the crowd with all his strength and led a large group of Boyz to meet him.

"Die, bug!!!"

"Roar!"

The heavy great axes smashed together, bursting with dazzling sparks. From that single blow, Grak felt both his hands go numb. This was the strongest opponent he had ever encountered aside from Guk!

"Now this is interesting!"

The stronger the opponent, the more he liked it. Spitting to one side, Grak raised his axe again and charged forward. The two beasts began a savage, bloody struggle.

With Grak's legion joining the fight, the battle began to tilt. Attacked from the flank, the Red Eye Tribe fell into tremendous chaos. Some Boyz rushed forward, some ran to the right, and others dodged the javelins raining down from above. Those bolt throwers had already claimed countless lives, and the toll was still rising.

Ooooooh~!

The horns sounded. Bucktooth had finally brought his force to the left side of the battlefield. Beneath the Skull-Splitting War Banner, waves of Boyz surged forth. As they charged, they hurled the javelins in their hands into the Red Eye Tribe. Naturally, Bucktooth and his retainers led the charge, while over a hundred Snotling chariots circled around from the rear to complete the encirclement. Those cowardly creatures did not even dare charge the flank and could only harass the enemy's backsides with arrows.

The battle was completely reversed. Nearly a hundred thousand Red Eye Tribe Boyz had fallen into desperate straits. Ahead lay an unyielding defense and crossbow bolts falling like rain. Enemies were on both sides, and apparently behind them as well. The Boyz' resolve was beginning to waver. Lu Cha, locked in fierce combat with Grak, noticed none of it. If he had chosen to retreat then, those Snotlings clearly could not have stopped him. But now, he could think of nothing except killing Grak.

"Congratulations, Boss Guk. Another glorious victory."

"Hahaha, but it's still not enough... perfection. Don't you always talk about that word?"

With a laugh, Guk picked up Dragon Tooth. This time, Diego did not stop him, nor did he have any reason to.

"A boss whose blade is still clean after a fight isn't a good boss."

"Of course, but remember: kill as little as you can. You still need to build up your strength. This victory won't change much."

"Got it! I'll talk to you when I get back!"

With that, Guk grabbed Dragon Tooth and leapt straight down from the high platform. He did not notice the faint smile on Diego's face, which contained not only joy, but also a trace of mockery...

"Here I come!!!!"

Jumping down from thirty meters up—was that crazy? By human standards, it certainly was. But Guk loved that sensation, like flying. Roaring, he adjusted his landing posture and raised the blade in his hand.

"What's that!"

"Boss Guk! Boss Guk is here!!"

Amid the Boyz' cries of shock and cheers, Guk crashed heavily onto the ground. The impact was so immense that both his legs sank deep into the earth. Yet even at the moment of landing, he did not forget business. The gleaming Dragon Tooth, driven by terrifying momentum, split two unlucky Red Eye Boyz in half.

"White Hand Boyz!! Hit them hard!"

"Roar!"

Morale soared on Guk's side, while Boyz on the Red Eye side had already begun turning to flee. But Green Tooth's cavalry had poured out from the fortress and begun pursuing the runners.

"Out of my way!"

Sweeping aside the ones blocking his path like trash, Guk charged all the way to where Lu Cha was. That fellow's contest of strength with Grak was about to reach its conclusion.

"No! He's mine!"

Grak lay on the ground, blood spilling from his mouth. His weapon had been knocked over ten meters away, but he still roared as he struggled to rise. His body bore no fewer than ten wounds, and crimson blood had dyed him into a true "Red Demon."

"Hm?"

Feeling a fierce gust strike from behind, Lu Cha, who was about to finish Grak, immediately spun around and swung his axe.

Clang!

With that crisp impact, Lu Cha felt as if he had been struck head-on by a wagon. He involuntarily staggered back several steps, and the hands gripping his great axe trembled slightly.

"You've got some strength! Again!"

Clang clang~!

Guk praised him, then pressed forward again. The huge blade in his hand whipped up gusts of wind. Lu Cha could only struggle to block with his axe, retreating with every defense, without even a chance to counterattack.

"Ha!"

After feinting with his blade and drawing out Lu Cha's response, Guk suddenly raised his hand and punched him squarely in the jaw, sending the massive Ork flying more than three meters away.

"You've got some muscle. How about it! Join me! I won't kill you!"

Shaking his head hard, Lu Cha heard Guk's words and fury immediately flared in his eyes. He sprang up from the ground, raised his great axe, and charged over with a roar.

"I'm stronger than you, freak!!!!"

Guk kept his eyes on that stubborn fellow until the enemy's axe was about to fall, then suddenly moved.

"Heh heh..."

The huge iron long-handled battle axe crashed heavily onto the ground. Lu Cha lowered his head and looked at his chest. Why was he moving? Why was there so much blood? Why couldn't he speak...

As Lu Cha's upper body slowly slid down, his lower body collapsed to the ground as well. His organs spilled everywhere. Guk kicked his weapon over to Grak, but the other seemed somewhat angry. He wiped the blood from his face hard and walked away without a word.

"That guy..."

Shaking his head helplessly, Guk picked up a spear and raised Lu Cha's upper body high upon it, roaring:

"Your boss is dead! If you don't want to die, throw down your weapons!"

In an instant, the Red Eye Tribe Boyz completely broke. Everyone began turning to flee, but there were truly not many who dropped their weapons. It made Guk furious. If Diego had not talked to him about it, he really would have slaughtered them all.

"Green Tooth!!!"

"Coming, Boss!"

Green Tooth, with a head skewered on his spear tip, immediately rushed over from the edge of the battlefield upon hearing Guk call his name.

"Take your men! Catch every one you see! Kill anyone who resists! Bring the paint! Make the ones you catch press their handprints right away!"

"Yes!"

This was also Diego's idea. Once they were marked, those Boyz would never be able to return to the Red Eye Tribe, no matter what. Wash it off? Heh heh, finding water in the Sinister Wasteland was harder than finding women. That was according to Diego.

Press-ganging was the name Diego gave this. In Ork society, numbers determined everything. Since that was the case, they should increase their numbers desperately. In any case, Guk did not need to feed or house the Boyz, because whenever a Boy emerged from the ground, Snotlings and Squigs emerged alongside him. It was a unique ecosystem. Only Guk himself was an exception; he had never seen his own Snotlings or Squigs.

Guk strongly approved of this theory. Not only this time, but from now on, he would also vigorously expand his number of Boyz. Green Tooth had happened to produce a kind of Paint Squig that could spray various colors of sticky fluid depending on the mushrooms it ate, and it dried extremely easily.

"Red Eye..."

Watching his Boyz begin madly hunting down the fleeing enemies, Guk picked up a Red Eye Tribe banner. A savage grin spread across his lips.

"...Agugu, sooner or later, I'll take everything from you!"

"Boss!"

Suddenly, a helmeted Sergeant walked over. Behind him, two Boyz were dragging along a dejected, skinny Ork.

"What is it?"

"There's a guy here who keeps asking to see you!"

"Hm?"

Walking up to the fellow, Guk tilted his head and studied him for a moment before suddenly slapping his forehead.

"You! I remember you!"

"Guk, I never thought you were a boss! No Freak Boy has ever been a boss!"

This Ork was none other than Aluba, who had previously passed out. When he awoke, he discovered the army had already collapsed. Just as he was about to run, White Hand Tribe Boyz caught him. Left with no choice, he could only claim that he knew Guk to save his own life.

"Hahaha! I'm not some Freak Boy! Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. We know each other, after all. You always chased me in the dreams, and now I've caught you!"

"I wasn't chasing you, it was, it was..."

After stammering for a long time, Aluba himself did not know why he had always followed Guk in the Hazy Realm. In that expanse of green, Guk's patch of "white" was simply too conspicuous, making Weirdboyz like them unconsciously follow him.

"Enough! Are you willing to follow me!"

In this situation, Aluba had no room to think otherwise. Lowering his head, he muttered vaguely:

"Y-Yes..."

"Hahahaha! Good!! Tonight, we'll drink together!!"