Just as the Great Devourer had said, the World Devourer soon saw through its underdeveloped eyes that, roughly ten light-seconds away, the Tyranids' bio-ship fleet was being driven steadily back by the Ork Fleet.
By the time the battle line reached the space above Ork V, the Tyranid Fleet had dwindled from around three hundred thousand ships to fewer than two hundred thousand. The Ork Fleet had lost fewer than a thousand and only grew fiercer as the battle continued.
The waaagh energy hanging over the Ork Fleet grew denser and denser, ready to erupt at any moment.
Following its usual practice, the Great Devourer began dispersing its forces to minimize casualties, ordering the Tyranid Fleet to keep retreating.
The World Devourer, still in a half-hatched state, could not concern itself with all that. Already tormented by the pain of being born, it saw a chance for release, suddenly broke free of the Great Devourer's mental suppression, and unleashed all its firepower on the Ork Fleet.
The bio-plasma and acid spewed by the enormous World Devourer blotted out the sky, slamming into the Ork Fleet's flank and sinking or damaging over a hundred Ork warships.
Seeing that the rampaging World Devourer fought remarkably well, the Great Devourer stopped suppressing its independent consciousness. Instead, it devoted its processing power to the Tyranid Fleet, directing its ships to form a pincer with the World Devourer and attack the Ork Fleet from both sides.
It did not need to stop Boss Slick's Ork Fleet here, only inflict greater losses. After all, the longer it delayed them, the more reinforcements would pour in from the swarms behind it. Even an Ork Great Warboss could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The Great Devourer refused to believe Boss Slick had no limit!
Boss Slick was indeed