The First WAAAGH

"Boss, I reckon there are a bit too many birds."

"Quit yappin'. I can see that."

Irritably kicking away the Snotling stuck to his heel and ignoring its annoying sobbing, Guk realized things had gone somewhat beyond expectations. He thought there ought to be fewer of these ugly birds. Or far fewer. At the very least, fewer than his boys. Though he had prepared a few "plans"—another new word. Even he was often surprised by the things that suddenly popped into his head.

A muffled gurgle interrupted his thoughts, asking whether they should retreat first.

Guk did not turn around to see which boy had asked. He simply grabbed a Snotling climbing onto his shoulder and flung it into the face of the one who had spoken. A pleasing cry of pain followed.

Naturally, no boy repeated the question.

Furrowing the muscles between his eyes into a knot, Guk squinted and tried his best to count roughly how many birds there were. But before he even got halfway, he had to give up, because more birds kept landing on the rock overhead. And that rock was strange indeed.

At least, to Guk, it looked like a stick enlarged many, many times over and shoved into the ground, then mostly shaved away. Its outer layer was covered in dense black holes, and those birds flew out from them.

The situation was not good, but Guk believed his plan would still work, especially after hearing how these birds fought. He had wasted quite a bit of time on that.

"When they come down later, don't run around, and don't move around either. Just do that."

Some boys nodded, some shook their heads, and some did nothing at all. But Guk did not need to care about that much. The ill-fitting leather suit on his body was already irritating enough, not to mention the foul stench left behind by the fellow he had killed. Guk loathed using things other Orks had used, so he was in a particularly savage mood now. He needed blood to cool himself down—enemy blood or his own, either would do.

"So that white one is the Orks' new boss? Interesting. At least he doesn't look so disgusting. Maybe... I can keep him."

Surrounded by countless gray Harpies, the brightly feathered Shalis revealed a lewd smile. Her pink tongue repeatedly licked her lips. After all, she had abandoned all her bedmates when she fled, especially that young, powerful centaur. She could not help thinking of it every night...

"Honored mistress, Orks... seem to not be that kind of thing."

Knowing full well her mistress's infamous promiscuous nature, the adjutant had no choice but to offer a quiet reminder. In return, she received only a rebuke and a glare. The Harpies around them joined in with jeers and shrieks, and for a time their piercing cries even drowned out the wind.

"Stop wasting time. Go kill them all! Leave the white one for me..."

The shrill command sent the Harpies, who had long been eager to join the feast, soaring into the air. Like a dense net, they descended upon the Orks, blotting out the sky.

"Quick! Grab your stuff! Show these bitch birds what we've got!"

Guk had learned some things from the Weirdboyz. Harpies were light and fragile, and not particularly strong. Their claws relied on the killing blow of a dive, and they could not change direction while diving. So he had made the boys prepare plenty of rocks. They were everywhere in the wilderness, but even the most ordinary things took on a different meaning in Orks' hands...

The Harpies let out whistling cries as they circled the Orks in a wide ring. When they saw that the Greenskin monsters held no weapons, only bulging sacks, they could no longer restrain themselves and dove down in flocks. A few hundred meters was enough for their dagger-like claws to punch through an Ork's skull.

But Orks would not fall in the same place twice. Roars and counterattacks followed one after another, and a storm of flying stones was hurled into the sky. The Harpies paid dearly for their recklessness.

"Meat! Bones! Meat!"

One Harpy fixed its gaze on a Weirdboy running about with his head covered. Instinct told it this was an easy target. It tucked in its wings, arched its waist, stretched out its huge feet, and used the momentum of gravity to streak down toward its target. In just a few breaths, its claws would sink into the other's skull.

Smack!

A stone the size of a fist—by Ork standards—interrupted the attack. It arced in from the side and smashed into the Harpy's folded wing. The tremendous impact sent the diving Harpy spinning out of control like rubbish caught in the wind. Its twisted, bloodied wings showed the severity of the blow. To fly, they had sacrificed thick muscles; their bones were hollow and fragile.

But this was only the beginning. Seeing enemies they had once been helpless against become as fragile as dead branches in their hands, the Orks' eyes turned bloodshot with excitement. Their arms spun like windmills as they hurled more stones into the air without pause. When they ran out of stones, they threw whatever they had. Thus, amid the Harpies' shrieks came the occasional miserable scream of a Snotling...

"Damn it! Damn it!"

The Harpy noble Shalis let out a terrified howl from the sky. She watched her gray kin tumble in agony beneath the barrage of stones. The lucky few were merely torn open and bleeding, but most Harpies that were hit plummeted straight down. Their bones shattered, and only low whimpers escaped their throats.

In that single dive, the Harpies in the air had lost a third of their number. The rest fled in panic back to higher ground. A few lucky ones broke through the rain of stones, but they faced enraged Orks. Even barehanded, Orks could tear them apart. So after taking only a few lives, nearly all those lucky ones became unrecognizable lumps of flesh.

The cracked earth quickly drank its fill of blood. Great swathes of gray corpses lay scattered around, feathers drifting through the hot wind. The Harpies who had lost their courage returned to the high sky with panicked wails, and some had already broken away and fled. The Harpy tribes of the wasteland had always been scorned by the nobles of the Flame Highlands as ignorant savage tribes. They were conscripted only in wartime. These fringe tribes had little loyalty; more often, they submitted only to strength.

"Stop!"

Seeing the Harpies scatter, Guk raised a hand to stop the boys from continuing to throw stones upward. But he was a little too late. Most of the boys had already thrown everything within reach, and the number of Snotlings trailing them had conveniently been reduced by nearly half as well.

"Filthy maggots!"

Seeing the forces she had painstakingly gathered suffer such a crushing blow, Shalis was so furious that her beautiful feathers stood on end. As she cursed, she quickly sank her mind into Hanan's Vast Ocean, taming the chaotic energy. Bright sparks began to swirl around her.

As royalty, she was not merely an excellent schemer but also a very rare Wizard, one with exceptional control over high-temperature energy. That was why, even after failure, she could still control several border Harpy tribes. Even fierce Ork bosses could not survive her flames. The ashes of her last victim had already scattered in the wind. Now she would make another.

"Fire! Fire! Boss, fire!"

The Weirdboy shouted at just the right moment. Guk raised his guard to its highest point, blood speeding through his veins. He did not know what form the other's attack would take, but his powerful sense of danger told him it would not be easy to withstand. He decided to strike first.

He grabbed one of the three wooden poles stuck beside him. These sharpened weapons could pierce a Harpy's fragile body. He did not take a running start. Instead, he forced his right arm back, tightened his waist to store up strength, then spun violently and released the javelin in his hand like a spring.

"Ah!"

Guk moved so quickly that Shalis in the air had not even reacted before the whistling javelin swept over her head. The intense shock sent huge ripples through her heart, and the sparks she had painstakingly concentrated instantly dispersed.

"This maggot..."

Still shaken, the Harpy saw that he had already raised another javelin. She hurriedly suppressed the turmoil in her heart, focused her mind, and raised an invisible barrier. To those around her, her once-clear figure soon became distorted, as if some force had wrapped around her.

Thud!

The sharp wooden javelin collided violently with the invisible barrier. The terrifying force instantly shattered the sturdy javelin into countless splinters. After a ripple passed through the air, the Harpy's distorted shape became clear again, but her formerly pale face had taken on a sickly blue-gray hue.

This Ork's strength was far more terrifying than she had expected. She did not dare gamble on whether the third javelin would strike her, so although she was not fully prepared, she still raised both hands.

"In Tlaltecuhtli's name!"

Dazzling light burst from Shalis's raised hands as she shouted. Dark red flames gathered into a fire serpent as thick as an Ork's arm, carrying wind and sand as it swept down toward the ground. Any Ork that failed to dodge was instantly vaporized into a pile of ash.

"Hot!"

Though it had not yet swept before him, the scorching pain prickling his skin told Guk this was dangerous. Without a second thought, he turned and ran. The nimble fire serpent did not immediately pursue him. Instead, it swiftly formed an encirclement along the path of his movements, like a hunting python calmly trying to strangle its prey.

Shalis giggled. She had no intention of letting the filthy Beast that had offended her die easily. She would make it melt slowly like a candle, watching its skin peel from its body and its blood evaporate.

"Attack! Attack! If you don't want to die, charge down there!"

Her deputy was not idle either. Leading dozens of retainers, she used shortbows to continually harass the Orks while trying her best to drive the surrounding Harpies into organizing another attack. When curses and reprimands failed, she had her retainers use arrows to "encourage" the servants around them.

Caw! Caw!

After more than a dozen of their companions were shot down, the Harpies' fear of the nobles finally overcame their fear of the Orks. They reformed their ranks and began another dive.

"Boss! Catch!"

Most Orks had already run out of stones. Facing the Harpies' dive, they became somewhat bewildered again. Though they still fought back desperately, some boys had begun moving toward the edge of the battlefield. Running away was not entirely impossible for Orks.

But some Orks had grasped the key issue. Leading them was Guk's first boy. They began moving closer to Guk, but the blazing fire serpent prevented them from approaching any further, so they could only throw Guk's weapons into his hands.

"Keep killing these stink birds! Anyone who runs gets done in! I'll deal with this fire-playing bitch!"

Clutching his weapons tightly in both hands, Guk felt the blood throughout his body boiling. Perhaps it was the heat around him, enough to melt metal. Perhaps it was because of the mad plan he was about to carry out. Through the air distorted by heat waves, Guk stared at Shalis cackling in the sky, then drew a deep breath...

Waaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A thunderous roar rolled across the wasteland. Its force was so great that even the tightening fire serpent slackened for a moment. At least a hundred flying Harpies were scared out of their wits by the roar, blood streaming from their ears as they fell from the sky. But its source had no time to spare for anything else. He launched himself into a full sprint. The fire serpent rapidly tightened, trying to kill its prey, but those flames could no longer stop a war Beast driven mad with fury.

Guk's eyes turned crimson, his brain seeming to boil as he charged forward without regard for anything else. When he crossed the wall of fire, the horrifying heat felt as though it would tear his skin straight off. But pain only drove him madder. His legs moved at an unbelievable speed, his heavy breathing creating a wake behind him. Nothing else existed in his mind but his prey. His vision suddenly seemed to magnify several times over, and he could even see the panic on her face...

Waaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The boys, too, seemed to ignite, answering Guk with the same roar. No Ork retreated any longer. The Harpies discovered in terror that their enemies had suddenly become so crazed that even with their skulls pierced, they would still desperately tear apart everything before them. Even the Snotlings that had only known how to run around clutching their heads leaped up from the ground with red eyes.

A force

Roars, screams, blood, and shredded flesh—the battlefield became a grinder of meat and bone as a mad will quietly spread without anyone noticing.

"Get away! Get away! Get..."

Swinging a wooden club to drive off every Harpy that approached, the Weirdboy was looking for a chance to slip away. It had no intention of dying here. But when Guk's roar came, it felt as if someone had suddenly punched its brain hard.

"Hm? Eh? Kaka... keh..."

Shaking its head vigorously, the Weirdboy felt as though it had eaten purple mushrooms. Its head spun, and strange tones appeared in its consciousness. In a daze, its legs began stamping to that rhythm, its hands gripping the club overhead. To the other boys, it looked like it had gone wild on mushrooms, muttering incomprehensible words while spinning in circles without stopping.

No one disturbed it, because with that strange rhythm, the boys fought with ever greater vigor. Their weapons swung faster and harder than before. Fine green arcs of electricity spread continuously from the Weirdboy as the center, with the other Orks as nodes. Some chaotic yet unified power was descending.

The first to feel it was Guk, still charging forward. He had temporarily escaped the fire serpent's strangling coils. Though his body was covered in burns, he became more excited than ever. He seemed able to hear that stink bird's wails in advance. She still seemed far away, but he was about to personally tear apart that false sense of safety. He believed he would do it any moment now. Immense delight made him laugh wildly, and after taking three heavy steps, he suddenly leaped!

Waaagh!!!!!

Shalis could not understand what sort of creature could leap nearly twenty meters into the air. What she understood even less was why she had suddenly lost contact with Hanan and could not even raise her barrier. As she hurriedly tried to flap her wings and turn to flee, Guk, axe raised high, had already arrived behind her.

"Ah!!!"

Intense pain made Shalis scream. Her prized feathers mixed with blood and scattered across the sky.

"No! Mistress!"

Shalis's deputy screamed as well, but when she felt her empty quiver, her face immediately turned even paler than her mistress's.

"Save me, save me! Laya... save me, quickly!"

Crashing heavily onto the ground, Shalis felt as though every bone in her body had shattered. The wound on her back hurt so badly under the blazing sun that she nearly fainted, but her will to survive still made her reach hoarsely toward her deputy in the sky. Yet to her despair, that lowborn woman who had always been meek and obedient hesitated. She wavered...

"No! You can't abandon me! You bitch! Lowborn trash! Without me, those savages would've killed you long ago! You ungrateful mongrel!"

Her venomous curses won no pity. After shaking her head, Shalis's adjutant let out a long cry and led her retainers swiftly away. With no command left, the other Harpies scattered and fled as well. In an instant, the once-noisy sky fell quiet, leaving only the ever-present wind.

"No, please..."

Shalis, sobbing on the ground, suddenly felt a huge shadow fall over her. When she raised her head, she found that terrifying white devil looking down at her. He was bathed in her blood, terrible light flashing in his eyes. The immense Oppression nearly drove her mad.

"I am willing to serve you loyally. Anything is possible. I am your sla-slave, mighty master."

Trying hard to force out a smile, though it made her expression utterly ridiculous, Shalis knew that if she wanted to live, her only option was to prove she was useful—or that she could please him. Unfortunately...

Guk could not understand a single word she said!

"Boss, I reckon this bird looks pretty tender. How about we roast her later?"

"If you want to eat, go catch one yourself. This one's useful."

Kicking away the boy who had crowded over, Guk bent down and grabbed Shalis's slender neck amid her terrified cries, lifting her up in one motion.

"Crooked Mouth!" "Here, Boss!" Guk gave Shalis a light sniff, then tossed her in disgust into the hands of the approaching Crooked Mouth.

"Hang her up, so those birds won't come back next time."

"Hang... hang her where, Boss?"

"Quit asking stupid questions! Our new territory, of course!"