(Make sure to go back to the last chapter to read the part I added at the end of the chapter if you read the version that didn't say updated. It felt like it would fit better in there than at the beginning of this one.)
Gelmud was a bit tired. He had taken a hands-on approach to the creation of the orc disaster. And, he had to admit that dealing whit those under the influence of starved was the most frustrating thing he had ever done. He had met zombies easier to deal with than them. It had gotten to the point where he would go out of his ways to defeat strong monsters to feed the orc lord in hopes of triggering his evolution. They were getting closer to the lizardman tribe and he was hoping that they would be enough. He flew near the orc lord and asked him.
'How are you doing you big starving piece of shit? Feel any different yet? More hungry? Maybe I should lock you up in a cell and see if starving more than you are right now will help ya evolve. What do you think about that?"
"..."
No response.
The orc lord's mind was clouded. All he could think of was feeding his people. He was somewhere deep in his mind but the hunger had made him lose all reason. At this point, he was moving on instinct to wherever he could find food. He could hear Gelmud, the Magic born who had named him, talking to him. However, He couldn't understand him, it was as if anything that wasn't food was clouded. It didn't feel great but it was the only way to keep the orcs alive. Ironically enough the only thing that kept the orcs from dying of starvation was Starving itself.
However, he could begin to feel the changes inside of him deep down he knew that once the change fully took place he would be in a better position to help his fellow orcs.
He could feel the change getting closer and closer… He could feel the clarity returning.
…
They were heading directly toward the direction that Treyni had given them. Due to the fact that they were a week ahead of schedule, the orc lord was quite a bit away from the lizardman territory. So he had sent Souei and two other Kijin toward the Lizardman territory as a diplomat while the rest of my group made a b line to the orc lord. Since we are both heading in similar directions we should be arriving at their location in two days.
…
Once we were a mile from the direction of the orcs we stopped. We were preparing for a sneak attack. Whilst we could go in guns blazing it would cause too many unnecessary casualties on the orc's side. And even if I were not to care for their deaths, though I was stronger at the moment than my original counterpart, it didn't mean I should just jump right into the middle of 190,000 hungry orcs.
We had set up the ambush at our location close enough that if we were to be detected while infiltrating them the ones staying behind would reach the battle quickly. I and a few of the now 23 Kijin in our group who had the shadow motion skill would go and hide in the shadows of the orc lord and his generals.
Sneaking in was fairly easy. Though I could not say I was prepared for what I was about to see. Gelmud flying towards the direction of the orc lord carrying some huge corpses.
"Here you go you useless piece of bacon." gelmud said as he dropped off the corpse. " Can't even hunt for themselves without disappearing into nothingness. I swear I am going to enjoy bossing you around once your brain can process any orders other than 'eat' you piece of…"
Gelmud kept on throwing his temper tantrum at the orc lord. I could see the location of the ambush getting close. But then I got launched into damage control mode. The orc lord's eyes appeared to gain clarity as he ate the snake. He gave one look at Gelmud and the next thing I knew he had picked him up and eaten him.
"Shit this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Attack now!" I screamed through my mental link.
We all jumped into action at that moment. The Kijin hiding in the shadows jumped out and grabbed a hold of the orc generals through various means, whether by using threads or by using different types of spells to freeze, shock, or trap in the dirt. The ones who stayed behind jumped out and created barriers using a similar method as the ones hiding in the shadows. By doing this we had effectively rendered their army of 190,000 to less than 50 inside the barrier. The few that made it through were stopped by the goblin riders and pushed back.
This left the Orc Lord, or should I say, the evolving orc lord for me. The plan was to use dark thunder to shock him long enough for me to use predator on him. This unfortunately did not work. The dark thunder struck him but he was more shocked by the surprise attack coming out of nowhere than by the actual thunder.
"Chaos Eater:" he yelled.
Snake-like tendrils of energy shot out from his back heading in my direction. I quickly fell back down through his shadow so that they would hit the ground.
'Shadow magic: Shadow expansion' I thought
The shadow of the newly awakened Orc Disaster expanded all around him.
'Shadow magic: Dark tendrils'
Surrounded by his own shadow the orc disaster saw tendrils grow from underneath him and wrap his whole body rendering him immobile.
"You think this is enough to stop me?!? I am Geld, the Orc Disaster! I shall feed you all to my urhg.."
He had just gotten hit by a Debilitate Spear. Let this be a lesson to you kids, don't do speeches in the middle of a fight.
Jumping out from his shadow I saw him using his chaos eater to try to eat the shadow tendrils. And, while it was working, it would take too long for him to be freed from them.
"How the hell are you eating literal shadows? Well, I guess I am using shadows as some sort of rope so I am not one to talk."
I jumped towards him and used predator. The actual process of eating him was far easier than expected due to the circumstances he now found himself in.
"Don't worry big guy, I promise I'll help the orcs find food. You know that this isn't the right way to do it. They are not themselves anymore. I made a deal with the dryads and they are going to help me feed them. So please, do not resist."
By the time I had finished using thought communication to send my message I was 90% of the way to finish covering him to eat him. I saw his eyes look at me with panic, frustration, anger, and then acceptance. If it was because he heard my message or because he had realized that the fight was lost he stopped resisting. He took one last look at the battlefield and saw that not one of his orcs had died during this fight. The last emotion that appeared in his eyes was relief.
And so the short life of the Orc Disaster ended.