I reconstituted my broken form amidst the chaos I had ignited, the flickering flames casting eerie shadows across the Ork settlement. Pain was an abstract concept now, a distant memory of what it meant to be human. The plasma grenade explosion had torn through my makeshift wings, sending me hurtling to the ground like a meteorite. But within moments, my flesh was knitting back together, tendrils writhing and reshaping as if nothing had happened. It was a strange thing, I noted idly, to feel such agony from moving my flesh and bone around, but being so detached from that agony that I could just... ignore it.
[Gamer's Mind] likely helped quite a lot in that regard, I supposed.
The night reverberated with the raucous sounds of Orks turning on each other, a symphony of violence and confusion that echoed through the mountain. It was exactly what I had intended – to sow discord among them, to turn their crude aggression against themselves. Perhaps, it worked a little too well, in this regard.
From my concealed vantage point among the rocks, I watched with detached fascination as the Orks, fueled by their own innate aggression and the sudden chaos, descended into brawls and skirmishes. What had been a loosely organized settlement mere moments ago now resembled a battleground, with groups of Orks engaging in brutal melees, heedless of the larger picture. This was... interesting, because all of it was happening almost too quickly. At this point, I wasn't even sure if the explosion itself mattered at all to them or if the Orks simply used it as a sign to start killing each other the first chance they got, which – to be certain – was exactly how Orks acted.
One group of Ork Boyz, their faces contorted in fury, turned on another band over what seemed like a dispute over a crude metal contraption that might have passed for a communication device. They grappled and roared, swinging their jagged weapons with abandon. The skirmish quickly escalated into a chaotic brawl, fists and kicks landing indiscriminately. See, the odd thing was that these ones were... quite a fair distance away from the Oil Refinery Settlement, which meant there really shouldn't have been much of a reason for them to suddenly start fighting.
Elsewhere, a pair of Nobz, their massive frames towering over the smaller Boyz, clashed with vicious intensity. Each seemed intent on proving their dominance, their thick, muscular forms absorbing blows that would have incapacitated lesser beings. Once again, I wasn't entirely sure what these ones were fighting over, specifically, because they were nowhere near the burning settlement. But this was a good thing. The Nobz themselves were leaders of their own settlements, commanding vast armies of Ork Boyz. That two of them were fighting each other in this manner meant that whatever semblance of order the Orks had was now falling apart rapidly.
Everywhere I looked, the Orks were fighting each other. The strange thing was that most of the settlements hadn't turned on each other as I'd hoped. No, the Orks simply... started fighting the Orks closest to them. And so, what happened, instead, was that every single Ork on the mountain, possibly triggered by the oil explosion, started bashing each others' brains out, heedless of leadership or settlements.
The flames and fumes of burning oil began to spread everywhere, setting the mountainside alight, alongside quite a number of Orks and their tents and supplies. The initial explosion, fortunately enough, was powerful enough and sizable enough to cause a string of smaller explosions from unrelated sources, likely igniting caches of explosive devices or other smaller fuel tanks. All the flames and all the explosions decimated the Orks – at least, the ones on this side of the mountain. There were still plenty of them, down there, who remained untouched by the flames, but were now suddenly engrossed in a wave of violence and death that, frankly, baffled even me. Because this was all happening a lot faster than I'd anticipated.
The sounds of Orkish voices, guttural and harsh, filled the air. They cursed and shouted, their language a mix of crude threats and boasts. Though I understood their tongue, it was difficult to discern what they were actually saying. Amidst the chaos, I noted the occasional gunshot – stray bullets fired in anger or confusion. The frequency of it was increasing, however, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before the Orks began fighting in earnest. Once the shootas were brought out and fired, then there was no stopping them anymore. Most of the fighting, for now, at least, was done in melee. The gunshots likely came from the Gretchins, who operated the defensive guns and otherwise had no capacity or ability for melee combat.
Despite the violence unfolding below, I remained still and silent, hidden within the rocky outcrop. My enhanced senses picked up every detail – the scent of blood and sweat, the metallic tang of Ork weaponry, the rhythmic thuds of bodies colliding, of bones breaking and flesh tearing. I wondered if, more than any other, now was the right time to scale the mountain with my squad and disable the Communications Jammer. The Orks were certainly distracted with each other. But... no, this wasn't chaotic enough for my liking. Certainly, there was plenty of carnage, but not the total descent into pure violence that I wanted. I needed the Orks to be so caught up in killing each other that they failed to notice anything else.
As of now, I estimated that maybe a fourth of all the Orks were engaged in fighting. The others, the ones too far from the explosion, were likely in a state of excitement and confusion, but otherwise retained enough of their discipline to not start killing each other as the others were doing. If they weren't going to do that, then I'd just give them an enemy to turn their attention towards. Smiling, I pumped several hundred kilograms' worth of biomass into my right arm as I then extended it further than what it should've been capable of, hundreds and hundreds of feet, crossed almost instantly. I kept the bones hollow and the muscles rigid. All I needed was range and nothing else. Once my right hand was directly above the portion of the mountain that wasn't embroiled in a free-for-all, I summoned the [Catachan Devil] right out of my [Inventory] and dropped it right over the Orks – or, at least, the ones closest to my overstretched limb.
The creature that emerged was a... gargantuan thing that, at a glance with the eyeball I spawned on my overstretched hand, was made of interlocking sections of armor, with thorny limbs jutting out of each one and ending in a barbed tail. Its body was sleek, but powerful, like an insect – almost – but far greater. The front limbs, closest to its relatively small head, bore the shape of massive scythes. The whole creature, from head to tail, must've been more than fifty meters in length, with a torso that was thicker than any armored vehicle I'd seen. It let out an ear-piercing screech-like wail that had even the Orks covering their ears; in my case, my eardrums ruptured outright, a surge of blood flowing right out. Eh, didn't matter. The moment the [Catachan Devil] crashed into the ground, it slithered forward with impressive speed, blurring right into the Ork Settlement, crashing into their vehicles and buildings and generally making a mess of things.
Its tail and claws swiped left and right, eviscerating just about anything and everything it hit. A few of the Orks were certainly unfortunate enough to be swallowed whole, sent right into its hissing gullet. Despite its monstrous and vicious nature, I could not help but find the [Catachan Devil] to be a fascinating and oddly beautiful beast.
I suspected that, as a wild animal, it was as afraid as it was angry. If nothing else, however, both of those things aided its rampage. Everywhere it went, death and destruction followed, the two things Orks enjoyed most of all. Naturally, the Greenskins engaged the [Catachan Devil], hoping for a good scrap. That was a good-enough distraction, I suppose. Or, this was probably going to be as good as it could possibly get. So, now was the time to return to my squad. And so, seeing as I'd done enough destruction, I stood up and began sprinting back, reabsorbing my overstretched arm as I did.
The violence was escalating, I noted, the sound of shootas becoming more and more prominent as the Orks made a mess of themselves and the [Catachan Devil] made a mess of everything else. Perfect.
If I had another-
Hidden Objective Completed: Cause the Deaths of a Combined Total of 1000 Orks!
Reward/s:
1 Epic Gacha Token
1 Rare Gacha Token
2000 Kg Biomass
Oh, hey, I'd almost forgotten about Hidden Quests. Thank the God-Emperor they were still active. The added biomass was very welcome, as well, especially with the constant drain from my curse. Almost immediately, I crushed both, one after the other, Epic to Rare.
Epic Item Received!
Mjolnir (Replica) – The hammer of Thor, forged by the Dwarven brothers Brokk and Sindri; whosoever wields it commands thunder, lightning, and storm. Grants its user a limited form of flight, alongside a small portion of Thor's physical strength. Since this is only a replica – a very good one, at that – the weapon's destructive properties have been reduced and its other enchantments have been removed entirely.
I raised a brow, but otherwise found myself utterly bewitched by the cackling hammer in my hand, which I willed forth from my [Inventory]. It might've been a mere replica, but both [Warp Shaping] and [Concept Shaping] told me that this... this weapon was far above any other weapon I had in my [Inventory]. Actually, looking into my [Inventory] more closely revealed two other things that, for some odd reason, held far more power than I'd realized, the [Glass Spoon] and the [Normal Punch] skill card. I somewhat understood the former, but the latter hardly made sense to me. It literally said "normal" punch.
In any case, I suppose I could test the [Normal Punch] on an Ork Boy and see what it did. No harm done. The [Glass Spoon] would stay in my [Inventory] until such time that I had need of it.
Rare Item Received!
Shard of Infinity – A tiny sliver of the concept of infinity. Crush it and envision a place, and no matter where you are in any multiverse, the power of the shard will take you there. Be careful with its use. The Shard of Infinity is a pathway to many places undreamed of.
Oh, this was was interesting. The Shard of Infinity intrigued me deeply. It was a concept beyond the physical realm, a fragment of infinity itself. Holding it in my palm, I could sense its latent power, waiting to be unleashed – yet another item that my [Warp Shaping] and [Concept Shaping] told me had immense power. This was no ordinary artifact; it held the potential to transport me across realities, to places beyond my current understanding. The fact that it could only used once, I figured, was probably the only reason it was merely considered to be a 'rare' item. It was dangerous, too, for by its very nature, using it improperly could send me somewhere far far far away. For now, however, it wasn't particularly important to me. So, I secured it safely within my inventory, knowing its value could be immeasurable in the right circumstances.
I sprinted back to my squad, boosting myself with [Possessing Spirit] and using [Muscle Burst] in my legs to propel me forward faster than even the fastest Astartes could possibly sprint. The ground broke beneath my feet. At this point, my allies were already aware of the fact that I possessed unnatural abilities. They did not judge me for it, however, which was all well and good. So, none of them seemed at all surprised when I reached them, after racing up the mountain. Markus stood up and nodded at me. All of them were ready. After all, the flames were quite the signal, if nothing else. "The Orks should be distracted; let us continue our mission."
AN: Chapter 55 is out on (Pat)reon!
