Giant Worm

The violent impact nearly knocked over every Ork. Only Guk held his ground. He saw it clearly: what had burst out was a colossal creature, its segments of yellowish-brown chitinous shell exceptionally thick. Its conical head alone was as big as an Ork heavy tank.

A powerful brute. It reminded Guk of the beast the Stone Fist Tribe had encountered.

"Get up, all of ya! Stop lying around!!!"

Guk unslung Dragon Tooth from his back and shouted a warning to the lads still struggling to get up. The long worm did not continue emerging, but the part above ground already stretched over twenty meters.

"This one's tough!"

Green Tooth's eyes gleamed as if he had spotted piles of teef. All he could think about was how to drag this thing back home.

"Green Tooth, don't screw around. That thing could swallow you whole!"

Guk kicked up a rock and smashed it into Green Tooth's head. He did not want this bewitched bastard to get himself killed. Having failed to catch any prey, the Giant Worm's enormous head swung back and forth.

Suddenly, its head stopped in Guk's direction. It had sensed something. Its conical head slowly split into several petals, revealing an crimson maw lined with ring after ring of fine, dense teeth. Every Ork's scalp prickled at the sight. What would happen after getting inside was beyond imagining.

Guk gripped Dragon Tooth tightly, every muscle in his body tensed. He stared fixedly at the hovering head. He knew it had set its sights on him, just as he had set his sights on it. This thing was fast. He needed to be more caref—

"Waaagh!"

One of the White-Helm Guards moved first. He seemed to think the creature had not noticed him, and charged fiercely with his axe raised high.

Crack!

The axe hacked brutally into the Giant Worm's body, but only shattered a few fragments of shell. There was no blood, no flesh. Half the steel blade had sunk in, yet it was like chopping stone.

Apparently provoked, the Giant Worm suddenly moved. But instead of attacking that lad, it rushed straight at Guk, its enormous jaws seemingly ready to swallow the white Ork whole.

"Come on!"

Guk roared, raising Dragon Tooth in preparation to meet the charge head-on.

The Giant Worm's attack was almost silent. Aside from the howl of the wind, if he closed his eyes, he would not even sense such a massive thing rushing at him. Guk could feel that power, power enough to crush rocks and tear open the earth. He could not take it head-on.

Guk shifted several steps to the left, and the huge mouth turned with him.

In an instant, that horrifying grinder of flesh was right before him. Guk suddenly kicked out. For a moment, it felt like he had kicked Blackstone Fort itself, and his entire leg went numb. But the Giant Worm's direction shifted slightly. Without caring about anything else, he swung Dragon Tooth at it.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A tremendous force surged through the blade, and Guk nearly lost his grip. Shards of shell flew into him, cutting bloody marks across his body. Borrowing the Giant Worm's own momentum and Dragon Tooth's sharpness, Guk finally broke through the outer chitin and tore into the flesh beneath.

"Ah!"

Some pale green fluid sprayed from the massive wound and splashed onto Guk's chest, immediately releasing puffs of white smoke. The Giant Worm's bodily fluid was fiercely corrosive!

"Get lost!"

With a sharp pull, Guk yanked back his blade and quickly opened the distance. After missing him, the Giant Worm ignored him and plunged straight into the earth. Amid violent tremors, its huge body vanished underground like a line of speeding tanks.

"Boss! You okay?!"

Crooked Mouth saw smoke rising from Guk's body and wanted to check on him, but Guk immediately roared.

"Don't come over! It ain't gone!"

Enduring the searing pain in his chest, Guk focused all his senses on tracking the creature's position. It was cunning, appearing and disappearing, moving cautiously and quietly, yet never straying far from him.

"Here!"

A dangerous instinct struck from behind. Without a thought, Guk spun around, gripped Dragon Tooth, and drove it into the earth!

Boom!

The moment Dragon Tooth sank into the ground, Guk felt an immense force surge up from below. The next moment, he was lifted off the ground.

"Boss!!"

The lads cried out. Guk was in grave danger now. He had been tossed into the air, and that bloody maw was directly beneath him.

"You wanna eat me? You ain't got the stomach for it!!!"

Facing layers upon layers of fine sharp teeth, Guk felt no fear. The instant he crashed into that stinking mouth, he braced his arms and legs outward at once, forcibly keeping the Giant Worm from closing its jaws.

"Hehe! That ain't enough strength!"

The teeth sliced open the skin on his hands and feet, blood streaming down his body, but Guk grew excited. It had been a long time since he had bled. He had nearly forgotten what it felt like.

Actually, it wasn't so bad.

He noticed his weapon—Dragon Tooth—was embedded in the creature's forehead, about half an arm's length away from him.

"Waaagh!!!"

The enormous roar made the Giant Worm's whole body tremble. The powerful sound waves seemed to agitate it badly. It began thrashing madly, its head slamming violently against the ground, its jaws clenching ever tighter.

"Boss!! I'm coming!!"

Taking the chance, Green Tooth leaped onto the Giant Worm's head. He drove his weapon into the beast's body as a foothold, then strained to pull out Dragon Tooth.

"Catch it, Boss!"

A flash of cold light streaked through the darkness, and a bloody, mangled hand clamped tightly around it.

"I'll make you eat your fill!"

The foreign object in its mouth left the Giant Worm unable to swallow or spit it out. Instinctively, it tried to burrow back into the earth.

It violently flung its head, and Guk used the motion to leap out of its mouth. He did not give the creature another chance to escape. As the Giant Worm neared the ground, a sharp blade barred its path.

Splat!

The Giant Worm had no room to dodge and slammed straight into the blade. The immense force forced Guk down onto one knee, but he gritted his teeth and braced Dragon Tooth against his shoulder. At that moment, he felt as if he were wrestling with over a hundred Ork tanks. He could even hear the bones in his shoulder cracking.

After a while, that immense force finally faded. Leaning on Dragon Tooth, he struggled to rise and turned around. The Giant Worm had split itself open, pale green blood spilling all over the ground and giving off puffs of white smoke. Strangely enough, Guk was covered in it too, but this time, nothing happened.

"Boss!"

"I'm fine! This bug..."

Guk walked up to the Giant Worm's corpse. Enduring the powerful stench, he kicked it with his foot. Only after confirming that it was truly motionless did he toss Dragon Tooth to Crooked Mouth. He needed to rest properly.

"Boss! Look!"

Suddenly, a White-Helm Guard cried out. Everyone gathered around and saw several Ork lads' remains inside the Giant Worm's belly!

"There are lads underground?"

Guk used his hand to stir the nearly dissolved corpses. They were soft and mushy like Squig, and especially small. He had never seen lads this tiny. They were practically like...

"No! These are lads who ain't come outta the ground yet!"

Green Tooth shouted. He had once seen a lad dug out of the earth, curled inside a thick sac, looking just like this.

Orks instinctively never harmed their kin still in the earth. It was something rooted deeply in their minds, a thought present at every moment, almost an instinct. Guk was the same.

"Could it be because of these bugs that there ain't no lads underground?"

Guk vaguely touched upon something called the truth. He looked toward the trembling Snotlings. Those fellows should know something.

"Deal with this thing."

Guk shouted at Sola. That fellow immediately nodded and called for the trembling Snotlings to carry the corpse back to the camp.

"What is this thing?"

"Big worms. They're everywhere. If there's too much noise, they come out. Very hard."

There was no large open space in the camp, so Guk simply sat down in the square where the Snotlings gathered. Behind him stood a towering torch burning Squig oil, the main way the Snotlings measured time.

"A lot of them?"

The Snotlings seemed to hate these worms. They all scrambled to dismantle the corpse, while Green Tooth picked out the parts he wanted. Crooked Mouth inspected the removed shell pieces. They were excellent material for making armor.

"A lot. The deeper you go, the more there are. Around here, two or three come out every now and then."

"Then how come you lot ain't been eaten up?"

"We're tall. If you're taller, these worms don't bite."

As they spoke, several Snotlings carried a large jar over to Guk.

"What's this?"

"Wine! Sleeping Wine. We're called the Sleepwine Tribe because of this. It's good, but you can't drink too much. Drink too much and you sleep for a long time."

When he lifted the lid, a rich scent of alcohol rushed into his nose. Guk took a bone bowl, scooped some up, and brought it to his mouth.

"Hm?"

The moment it entered his mouth, an intense flavor bloomed—but it was not the overly harsh heat of the noon sun. It was warm and gentle, like the morning sun.

"Mm!"

Sweet, crisp, cool, refreshing. Guk drained the bowl and formed his own judgment of the wine. He liked it very much.

"Too troublesome. Gotta do it like this!"

Guk tossed aside the bowl, lifted the jar directly, and began guzzling.

"Boss, this..."

Sola wanted to advise him, but did not dare say much. This Ork boss had slaughtered a Giant Worm not long ago. Those worms could easily destroy this tribe. In other words, Guk could just as easily destroy them.

"Ha! Great!!"

All the fatigue left his body, and Guk laughed heartily.

"Boss, are you... are you okay?"

Sola asked cautiously.

"I ain't you lot. You think this little bit can get me drunk?"

Guk shook his head. In truth, he was a little tipsy, but he could not embarrass himself before the Snotlings.

"This wine's made with that water, right?"

Guk could taste that coolness. It was very similar to the water in this river.

"Yes. There are fragrant mushrooms, and Tipsy Mushrooms too, but the key is hops!"

"Hops?"

"A kind of white flower that grows by the water. It's the most important ingredient in Sleeping Wine. The one you followed was going to gather hops."

Only then did Guk remember that he had indeed seen some white plants by the river earlier. He had thought those were mushrooms too.

"Good! Brew this for me from now on! I..."

Guk glanced at Green Tooth. That fellow had previously told him they needed a batch of Black Snotlings, the kind that could fight.

"I'll make you a boss. You wanna fight or brew wine?"

"I wanna fight! And I wanna brew wine!"

"Hmm."

Guk stroked his chin and thought for a while.

"Like this. Give some of the ones who can fight to that one—Green Tooth. You lead the rest."

"Understood."

Guk stretched his arms and legs. He did not intend to keep going deeper. If there were too many of these worms, he feared even he would not be able to handle them. This was enough for now. There were other Black Snotling tribes nearby, but he no longer needed to deal with them himself. He could leave them to Sola, One-Ear, and Green Tooth.

"One day, I'll kill every last one of these bugs."

They ate lads but not Snotlings. Guk did not believe that was a coincidence. There had to be something strange about these worms. But no matter what, they were enemies. For now, he still had to settle matters on the surface first. But one day, he would conquer the entire underground as well.

Everything would lie beneath his feet!