Blood Duel

"Ahhh!!!!!"

The blade drove cleanly into the Four-Legged Serpent's eye socket, but Guk had not expected a jet of black fluid to spray out from within, drenching his entire upper body. It was corrosive liquid, and Guk truly suffered for it. The pain of his skin dissolving drove him to his knees, and he could not help screaming.

But the monster was not faring well either. Blinded in one eye, it fell into a frenzy and attacked everything around it wildly. Yet the red Big Hopper had clamped down hard on its rear right leg and would not let go, leaving it both enraged and helpless.

"Boss! You—"

"Get lost!!!!!!!"

With one punch, he sent the approaching boy flying. Guk rose to his feet, the piercing pain leaving nothing in his mind but the urge to fight. His eyes were bloodshot as he charged at the monster with a low growl, swift as lightning. Before the other boyz could even see what had happened, his axe had already hacked viciously into one of the beast's forelimbs.

Hissss~~~!

The axe handle snapped in two at once, but the blade pierced its tough scales and buried itself deep in flesh. Howling in pain, the long serpent flung aside Grak, who had been struggling on its tongue, then twisted around and swept toward Guk amid waves of foul stench.

"Hey! Come on, then!!!!"

The crimson tongue lunged straight at him. Guk neither dodged nor moved aside. The once-agile serpent seemed as slow as a Slime Squig in his eyes. Just as the tongue was about to bite into his face, Guk's right hand shot out even faster and seized it. With a twist of his wrist, he wound the slick tongue tightly around his arm.

This caught the beast completely by surprise. It hurriedly tried to pull its tongue back. At first, it managed to drag Guk a short distance, but Guk soon erupted with even more terrifying strength. His legs were nailed firmly to the ground, refusing to move even an inch. The two beasts remained locked in a deadlock.

"Kill it!!!!!"

But the Orks nearby had not been idle. Seeing their chance, they grabbed their weapons and swarmed forward again. With the experience from before, they easily dodged the beast's sweeping tail. All kinds of battered junk began raining down on the savage beast, with the boyz especially focusing on its soft belly. In no time, they had made quite a few wounds.

Provoked by this, the beast suddenly abandoned its struggle against Guk and lunged madly forward. Its jaws opened wide, intending to swallow this hateful bastard in one bite and vent its rage.

"Hahaha! Now that's more like it!"

As though he thought the enemy was coming too slowly, Guk began yanking hard on the tongue in his hand even as the Four-Legged Serpent pounced. When that gaping maw was about to engulf him, he took several steps back, braced one hand against its upper jaw, and pushed up its lower jaw with the other, instantly controlling its movements. But the beast's full weight and momentum crashed down on him as well. Under the crushing pressure, he felt every bone in his body creaking.

"Roar roar roar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

In the span of a few blinks, every muscle in Guk's body swelled. He vented the pressure inside him with an impassioned roar, then, amid the cheers of all the boyz, twisted his waist and slammed the beast heavily into the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Let me see what's in your belly!"

Before the beast could turn over, Guk planted one foot on its upper jaw and propped up its lower jaw with his left hand. Grinning viciously, he began wildly pulling the Four-Legged Serpent's tongue out with his right hand. The Big Hopper stood behind him, biting off a section every time Guk pulled one out. The agonizing pain made the beast bounce and writhe madly on the ground, but it could not break free of Guk's hands and feet. The boyz could not get close either and could only watch helplessly.

"Here it comes!"

Suddenly, Guk felt resistance. He knew he had pulled the tongue all the way out, so he began tugging even harder. The Four-Legged Serpent went completely mad. The excruciating pain of its organs being torn out alive made it convulse violently, while the flying dust completely obscured everything around it.

Pop~

Before long, the boyz heard something like a water bag bursting, followed by the sound of fluid pouring out. When the dust settled, the once-ferocious beast lay limp and motionless like a heap of mud. Multicolored innards slowly slid from its mouth alongside dark red blood, and a powerful reek of gore spread through the air. Covered in blood, Guk stood atop the beast's corpse, holding a severed tongue high in his hand.

"Waaagh!!!!!!!!!!!"

That victorious cry sent every boy present into a frenzy. They all joined in the roar, while even the Big Hopper excitedly ran circles around Guk.

"Boss! You all right?!"

Green Tooth appeared from nowhere. He ran over, inspected Guk carefully, then reached out and felt him over.

"You piece of crap! I oughta stuff you into the Snotlings' toilet! Don't think I don't know you'd been hiding nearby all along!"

Guk kicked the sneaky bastard away. He was in a great mood now, so he could not be bothered to make too much of it. But Green Tooth patted his backside and hurried back over.

"No, Boss! I was studying where this thing's weak spots were so I could tell you. But look."

He pointed to where he had touched earlier. Guk lowered his head and saw that it should have been splashed by venom there, yet there was not a trace left. He touched the other places that had been sprayed and found rotten flesh and dead skin on them. It seemed his skin really had been corroded, but it had rapidly healed and regrown.

"Boss, I reckon... you ain't scared of poison."

"Hmm, could be."

Guk nodded. He figured that was not bad. Better to have it than not.

Behind him, the boyz had already begun gutting the beast. They could not possibly pass up the occasional wild meal, but when they cut open the creature's stomach, they made a discovery...

"Boss! Look!"

Its stomach was large and full of powerful acid. The boyz who had been eaten earlier had already been dissolved without a trace, yet somehow the boyz fished a sheathed sword out of the acid.

"Where'd this thing come from?"

Taking it, Guk found that the black leather sheath wrapped around the blade was incredibly soft. It was hard to imagine it could have survived in acid strong enough to corrode metal. The pale blue metal hilt was the same. Guk grasped the handle and gave it a slight pull. A broad, leaf-shaped blade slowly slid out of the sheath.

The blade was about three fingers wide by Ork standards, with a fuller down the middle. It was smooth all over without the slightest flaw, and its edge was incredibly sharp. With a light thrust into the beast's corpse, Guk made a hole; with a slash, he cut a deep groove. At the joint between blade and hilt was a strange engraving: some kind of unknown beast holding what looked like a piece of wood in its mouth. Its only flaw was probably its length. At Guk's current height of three meters, it was only a little better than a dagger.

Still, he liked it very much. He casually swung it several times, and the chaotic flashes of the blade reflected dazzling light. It made him sincerely feel that he had been fighting with garbage before, so he accepted the trophy without hesitation.

"This hide and these bones are mine! The rest is yours."

At those words, the boyz cheered and happily began skinning and cutting up meat. Green Tooth also hurriedly squeezed into the crowd to collect the venom and whatever else he needed. Guk, meanwhile, used his new weapon to cut away the dead flesh on Big Roarer's back. That fellow had suffered badly just now, but luckily his hide was thick enough that he had only sustained superficial wounds.

The Orks worked until sunset. Only when darkness was nearly upon them did they happily carry heaps of loot back to the fort, causing another commotion. That night naturally brought the usual revelry, feast, and grand brawl. Thanks to Green Tooth's quick brewing techniques, Blackstone Fort's fine traditions were preserved.

"Green Tooth, where'd you say this came from? What sort of thing made it?"

Sitting on a throne pieced together from the savage beast's bones, Guk held a tankard and suddenly blurted out the question. Green Tooth, who was stuffing himself beside Guk's right foot, did not react at all and merely stared at him blankly.

"I'm asking you!"

After getting kicked, he finally understood. Guk was obviously referring to that sword.

"I came from the north..."

"What's north? I always hear you talking about south and north."

"Hmph, Stinkers sure know a lot of useless stuff."

Crooked Mouth curled his lip from the side, glancing sideways at Green Tooth. Every time he wanted to eat some Squig, this guy would stop him.

"Don't call me a Stinker!"

Green Tooth threw down his tankard and prepared to have a fight with Crooked Mouth, but Guk gave each of them a kick, and they settled down.

"My old boss used to say there're lotsa places outside, huge places, where some... Shrimp live? I don't remember! Anyway, that's south, that's north, that's east, and this is west. That's what they call 'em."

Watching Green Tooth draw two crossing lines on the ground with a finger dipped in ale, Guk froze for a moment, then slapped his forehead.

"Right! Ain't it supposed to be like this!"

With that, he stood up and raised his voice in a roar.

"All of you! Remember this!"

He pointed behind himself.

"This is west!"

West? The boyz were a little confused.

"This is east!"

East? East? Some of the boyz seemed to get it, shaking their heads one moment and nodding the next.

"This is north!"

North? North! Most of the boyz began to understand what Guk meant.

"This is south!!"

South!! Every boy raised the drink in his hand at once and drank a toast to their boss and to themselves.

"So you're saying these things weren't made by Orks?"

After sitting back down, Guk threw the question at Green Tooth again. The other blinked, thought for a while, then shook his head.

"I dunno, but I ain't seen any boyz or bosses that can make stuff like this."

"Would be nice if I could get hold of someone who can make these things."

Guk sighed regretfully, then began playing a new game called Snotling Roulette with Green Tooth and the others. He was in a good mood today, so it was worth having some proper fun...

"Achoo!"

Wrapped in a blanket and lying in a hidden cave, Alatriste suddenly shivered, then abruptly sat up. But after looking around for a while, he could not find the source of that sudden malice.

"Maybe I'm too tense."

After comforting himself, he lay back down. Yet all sleepiness had vanished. He had been deep in the Sinister Wasteland for twenty days now, and what he had seen was even worse than expected. The number of Orks was growing wildly, and large tribes that had once been rarely seen were taking shape. The Orks' warlike nature meant they would inevitably devour one another, growing larger and larger like a snowball rolling downhill.

Near the Imperium's border, at least three enormous tribes were forming. The bloodthirsty war bosses would soon settle their internal problems, and their eyes would certainly turn toward nearby Aswan Fortress. It would be an Ork army numbering in the millions...

Whenever he thought of this, Alatriste felt as though he was racing against time in a race he could not possibly win. The Imperium could not rapidly deploy large numbers of troops to the distant southern frontier in such a short time, especially with the western provinces now falling into unrest one after another. He had considered assassinating those war bosses, but the difficulty was too great with only himself, and it could easily provoke those madmen into starting the war early. So he could only warn Yusuf first, then think of another way.

"Perhaps..."

A bold idea suddenly sprang into Alatriste's mind. It was a thoroughly mad plan, but he considered it for a long, long time. Even after daylight brightened outside, he still felt it was highly feasible. If it succeeded, it would greatly delay the Ork invasion and give the Imperium time to prepare its defenses.

"It's decided!"

He would do it. Leaping up from the ground, Alatriste pulled a map from his pack. Several black dots had been marked prominently on it. He pondered for a while, then circled the middle black dot.

"I'll go take a look there first."